cake

Chocolate Nut Cake

13 Comments / cake, chocolate, gluten-free, vegetarian /

The name for this cake could indeed have a double meaning.  I get asked if we can make a chocolate cake at least once a week, and it is very often more regular than that.  Well, the request was sounded at about 6.30 am on Sunday morning, something along the lines of  ‘Can we make a chocolate cake that we can ice and decorate’.  The request was, of course, answered with a bleary ‘Later, maybe’.  Well, I am afraid my children are determined little creatures and so after a trip to the garden centre and before making sunday lunch for my parents and our neighbours, this chocolate cake was made and iced.  It was then decorated after dinner and before pudding – very extravagantly I have to say, and there was no time to take pictures, it needed to be eaten. Needless to say it involved a lot of sugared orange and lemon slices, hundreds and thousands and silver balls.

Here is a slice I finished off about mid-morning today.

The recipe is based on Rachel Allen’s Italian Hazelnut Cake in her Bake book (ISBN 13 978 0 00 725970 0), with the added chocolate and the addition of ground almonds as I didn’t have 200g of hazelnuts in the house. Then it was iced with a fudge frosting, which is not entirely necessary but does make a very good addition.

If you use gluten-free baking powder, then this makes a delicious gluten-free cake.

For the cake:

100g whole shelled hazelnuts
100g almonds (ground or whole, depending on what you have available or go for 200g of hazelnuts should they be available to hand)
50g good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
1 tsp baking powder
100g softened butter
5 eggs separated
175g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Butter and line the base and sides of a 20 cm springform tin.  Preheat the oven to 170°c (gas mark 3) or use the baking oven of a 3 or 4 oven Aga.

Whizz the hazelnuts, almonds, baking powder and chocolate in a food processor until they are fine crumbs.  Add the butter and pulse until just combined.

Beat the egg yolks and the sugar with an electric whisk until the mixture has a mousse-like texture. Add the nut and chocolate mixture and the vanilla extract and mix until combined.

Whisk the egg whites in a very clean bowl until they are stiff.  Add one-third of the egg whites to the mixture and mix in well to loosen the mixture.  Add the rest of the egg whites in two batches, folding in very gently to retain as much air as possible.

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 45-60 minutes.  I placed mine on the oven rack placed on the bottom rung of the baking oven of my Aga and it was cooked in 40 minutes, so do adjust according to your oven.  The cake is cooked when it is firm to the touch and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle.

Leave the cake in the tin for 15 minutes, then take the side off, leave for another 15 minutes and then remove the base and then leave to cool completely.

For the icing:

25g good quality dark chocolate
100g icing sugar
25g butter
1 ½ tbsp milk
½ tbsp vanilla extract

Method
Place all of the ingredients into a heavy based saucepan and heat gently until melted and stir well to combine.  Beat for a minute or two until cooled and spread onto the top of the cake.

Decorate, or not, to your heart’s desire.

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Crispie or cornflake cakes

13 Comments / cake, chocolate /

I couldn’t decide what to call these little beauties –  Easter egg nests/ Crispie cakes/ Cornflake cakes?  Obviously the ones in the picture are crispie cakes (made with rice crispies), but they could just as easily be made with cornflakes and with it nearly being Easter they could be nests.  We made them (my three-year old and I) this afternoon, ready to take to school tomorrow so that they can be sold at the Easter Fayre.  I am not sure there will be many left though by that time, I keep noticing the box being opened and another sneaked away.  There are not many people that don’t love these cakes.  If I am making them for a party I make sure I make plenty as they are always the first cakes to go and are just as popular with adults as they are with children.

I sometimes make them more simply by melting a bar of Dairy Milk and then stirring in as many rice crispies or cornflakes as the chocolate will coat. However, I do have to plan ahead for this as I always have a cupboard full of 70% chocolate but have to purposefully buy Dairy Milk.  I am afraid that my children love 70% chocolate as much as I do, I think this may be a result of the amount I consumed when I was pregnant and feeding them.

They are very easy cakes to make and very easy to polish off!

I can’t really give you an indication of the weight of the rice crispies or cornflakes, as you will need more rice crispies than cornflakes and they will make more cakes than when you use cornflakes, which need more chocolate to coat them.   Strange but true.  Just pour in as many as you think the chocolate mixture will coat easily and then add more if you think you can get away with it.  You want a good coating on every grain or flake.

Method
50g unsalted butter
100g good quality dark chocolate
4 tbsp golden syrup
Rice crispies or cornflakes (as many as you need)
Sugar coated chocolate eggs or other decoration (optional)

Melt the butter, syrup and chocolate over a very gentle heat until melted and smooth.  Add the cereal and stir well and pour spoonfuls into cake cases. Decorate with the eggs or other decoration or leave them unadorned.  Allow to set, if you can bear to, and then enjoy.

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Eccles cakes

8 Comments / cake, pastry /

My parents have an old friend who makes the most wonderful Eccles cakes.  Since I was little I have looked forward to the appearance of Joan’s old Roses tin with a batch of the most sublime cakes inside.  Her pastry is wonderful, so delicate, and that combined with the crunchy caramelised sugar topping and the sweet spicy bite of the currants and you are transported to cake heaven.

As a result of Joan’s marvellous cakes I have always been a bit put off from trying to make my own Eccles cakes in fear that they wouldn’t even come close to comparing to hers with her years of experience and pastry skills.

This weekend though I thought I would jump in at the deep-end and give it a go.  The girls were asking to make mince pies and the mincemeat from Christmas has all been used up.  I thought these may be an acceptable alternative.

I am really pleased with how they turned out and to my surprise they were nearly as good as Joan’s.  My youngest daughter, at three, surprised me with her pastry folding skills, some that she made were better than mine. It was a lovely way to spend an early Sunday morning.

I used Delia’s filling recipe as a basis for mine, but this did provide a little too much filling for the amount of pastry I had.  This isn’t too much of a problem though as I have just put the leftover filling in the fridge and I will make some more cakes with it, hopefully later today if I get a chance.  I have fetched it out of the fridge in anticipation.

Delia and Rachel Allen both use mixed peel, so you could substitute 50g (2oz) of the currants with mixed peel if you wanted to, but as I was trying to recreate Joan’s wonderful cakes and I have never discerned mixed peel in her filling I kept to a currants only filling.

500g (1lb 2oz) ready-made all-butter puff pastry (fully defrosted if frozen)

For the filling;

75g (3oz) butter
150g (5oz) soft brown sugar
200g (7oz) currants
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
grated rind of 1 orange (or of 2 clementines)

For the glaze:

2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp demerara sugar

Method

To make the filling, melt the butter and add all the rest of the ingredients and mix well.  Leave to one side.

Roll the pastry to about 3 mm think and using a round cutter (mine is 8cm) cut out circles, re-rolling the dough as necessary.

Place a teaspoonful of filling on to each circle. Using a pastry brush, brush a little water all around the edge and fold one edge over to the other and seal well.  It should look like a little Cornish pasty at this stage.  Turn it over so that the seal is underneath and roll carefully with the rolling-pin to flatten it into a round.  Place on a baking sheet.  Repeat with all the other circles. Make three slashes in the top of each with a sharp knife and brush lightly with milk and sprinkle with the demerara sugar.

Bake in a preheated oven at 220°c (gas mark 7, roasting oven of the Aga) for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

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Chelsea buns

10 Comments / bread, cake, yeast cookery /

These were last weekend’s breakfast baking.  As I have said in earlier posts, the girls get me up early, so at the weekends I have used the opportunity to try baking or cooking something new.  Chelsea buns make a very decadent breakfast, but a very delicious one too.   The recipe again comes from Daniel Stevens’ Bread book (River Cottage Handbook No. 3).  I think next time I will bake them a bit longer than I did this time, as they were a little bit doughy, but I was very pleased with them.  They were lovely and buttery and were still good the next day.  All you need to accompany these is a good cup of tea.

For the buns:

550g (1lb 6 oz) strong white bread flour
50g (2oz) caster sugar
7g (1 sachet) of easy bake yeast
10g (½oz) salt
150 ml (¼ pint) milk
225g (9 oz) butter
1 egg

For the filling:

25g (1oz) melted butter
100g (4oz) caster sugar
200g  (8oz) currants

For the glaze:

50 ml (2 fl oz) milk
50g (2 oz) caster sugar

Method

You will need a deep sided 30cm square baking tin, buttered and coated with a sprinkling of caster sugar.

Place the butter and the milk into a pan over a gentle heat until the butter melts and the milk gets to hand hot. In a large bowl, mix the flour, caster sugar, salt and yeast and then add the egg and the butter and milk.  Using your hands mix to a sticky dough.  Knead the dough, as described in the spelt bread recipe until the dough is silky and smooth. Rinse the bowl clean and dry well and place the dough into this bowl, cover with clingfilm or a plastic bag and leave to double in size.

Place the dough onto a floured surface and roll to a rectangle measuring 60cm x 40cm or as close as you can get to this. Brush with the melted butter, leaving a 2 cm border along one of the longest edges.  Sprinkle the sugar all over the butter, top with the currants and then press them lightly into the dough.  Roll up the dough like a swiss roll, starting with the edge opposite to the one on which you left the 2 cm border. Brush the border with water and seal the edge well.  Slice into 9 pieces, place each piece into the tin, leaving space for expansion between each bun and flatten slightly with your hand.

Preheat the oven to 200°c (gas mark 6, bottom of the roasting oven of the Aga ) whilst you cover the tin with the clingfilm again and leave to prove for about 30 minutes until doubled in size again. Sprinkle with a little caster sugar and bake for about 20-25 minutes (mine needed 25 minutes but I was a bit too eager) until golden brown.

Just before the end of the cooking time warm the remaining caster sugar and the milk together in a pan over a gentle heat and when the buns come out of the oven, brush them immediately with this mixture to give them a delicious sticky glaze.  Leave to cool a little but make sure you enjoy at least one whilst it’s still warm from the oven.

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Mocha cupcakes

7 Comments / cake /

I have to share these cakes with you.  In my haul of cookbooks, recently purchased, was Rachel Allen’s Bake and on page 266 of this book there is a picture of  20 cupcakes all decorated differently with an assortment of pink, blue and yellow icing, topped with an array of goodies including orange and lemon slices, jelly diamonds, silver balls, sugar flowers, sugar sprinkles and hundreds and thousands. My girls were both captivated by this picture.  When I asked which one was their favourite they showed their true selves.  The five-year who will more often than not choose a piece of fruit over a slice of cake chose one pretty pink cake with jelly diamonds on top.  The three-year old who will eat fruit only occasionally if really pushed decided that to pick just one favourite was an impossible task and decided that she would eat them all.  In fact she carried the book open at page 266 for the rest of that evening and most of the next morning.  I took the hint and asked her if she would like to make some and the answer was an emphatic ‘yes’.  You can see from the picture that she couldn’t wait for Mummy to take the photograph before diving in.

The recipe is Rachel Allen’s Mocha Cake from the same book and the topping is her cream cheese icing, with the addition of pink and purple colouring obviously optional.  We used all the decorations we had available in the house.  We saved five cakes to be decorated by the five-year old when she came home from school and my parents bought the contents of the decoration shelf of the local supermarket for her to use, so we have plenty of decorations in stock for the next batch!

The recipe made 24 fairy cakes, which is perhaps one too many even for my three-year old so we took them with us to school when we picked up her sister to share with her friends and they seem to have been well received by all involved.

For the cakes:

175g (6oz) self-raising flour
50g (2oz) cocoa powder
175g (6oz) soft brown sugar
175g (6oz) melted butter
4 eggs, separated
60 ml (2 floz) espresso
3 tbsp water

24 paper cake cases, two patty tins (otherwise it will make 12 muffin-sized cakes)

For the cream cheese icing:
75g (3oz) cream cheese, cold from the fridge
25g (1oz) butter, softened
75g (3oz) icing sugar

Method

In a large bowl, sift the flour and the cocoa together and stir in the sugar. Beat in the melted butter, egg yolks, the cooled espresso and water until well combined.

In a clean bowl whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks and then add this in three batches to the cake mixture, making sure it is all combined.

Spoon the mixture into the cake cases placed in the holes of the patty tin for support and bake in a preheated oven at 190°c (gas mark 5) for 10 minutes for fairy cake size and 15 minutes for muffin size. They should spring back when touched lightly with the tip of your finger when cooked. Leave to cool completely.

For the cream cheese icing, beat the softened butter until really soft and then beat in the cream cheese until well combined and smooth.  Sift the icing sugar into this mixture and mix well. Add flavourings (e.g.½ tsp vanilla extract) or food colouring as you please and decorate decadently or otherwise.

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Carrot cake

5 Comments / cake /

This is my first attempt at carrot cake, I have often thought about making it but never got around to it.  My eldest daughter was asking for it on Sunday and we placated her with the bought version as we were out and about, but I thought I should give it a go and surprise her with it when I picked her up from school.  She was of course unimpressed, as five-year old’s are when the moment has passed for them.  Oh well, I was impressed with it and think it’s very tasty indeed, but I do hope someone will help me out with eating it or any good intentions for the New Year are straight out of the window.

My version is based on the recipe for Passion Cake in Best-kept Secrets of the Women’s Institute Cakes and Biscuits by Jill Brand, except I added cinnamon to the cake mix, used pecans instead of walnut and made my version of icing using a mix of icing sugar and soft light brown sugar.

I wonder why it used to be called Passion Cake?  You very rarely see it called that now, it sounds far more tempting than carrot cake.  In fact when I was young I wouldn’t entertain the idea of carrot cake – it sounded too weird. Then I braved it one day. I can still remember it, the trepidation, followed by the surprise that it was absolutely delicious and sweet.  I wasn’t expecting that!

For the cake:

225g (8oz) butter, softened
225g (8oz) soft light brown sugar
4 eggs, separated
finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
175g (6oz) wholemeal self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp ground cinnamon
50g (2oz) ground almonds
115g (4oz) pecans, chopped chunkily
350g (12oz) carrots, peeled and grated

For the icing:

40g (1½oz) softened butter
40g (1½oz) cream cheese
25g (1oz) icing sugar
50g (2oz) soft light brown sugar
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp lemon juice
pecan nuts to decorate

Method

Grease and line a 20 cm (8 inch) round cake tin and preheat the oven to 180°c (gas mark 4).

Whisk the softened butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks and then add the lemon zest and juice. Sieve the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into the bowl, making sure you add all the bran left in the sieve when you have finished. Fold this gently into the mixture. Stir in the ground almonds and the pecan nuts.

In a very clean bowl and using very clean whisks beat the egg whites until stiff.  Add one-third of the egg white to the cake mix and mix in well. Add the carrots and mix in well.  Fold in the remaining egg white very carefully to keep as much air as possible.

Spoon into the prepared tin and level the top.  Bake on the middle shelf for 1 to 1½ hours until golden and firm to the touch.  I baked mine in the baking oven of my Aga and it took 1 hour and 10 minutes to cook, so do check at 1 hour and then keep checking.

Leave the cake to cool in the tin for ten minutes and then remove to a cake rack and leave to cool completely.

To make the icing, mix the butter and the cream cheese until really well combined.  Add the icing sugar and the soft light brown sugar and beat well until smooth, stir in the grated lemon zest and the lemon juice.

Spread on top of the cake and decorate with pecan nuts.

Take a big slice, make a cup of tea and enjoy!

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Victoria sandwich – the all-in-one method

8 Comments / cake, vegetarian /

It is my Mum’s birthday, which of course means a cake. My choice would, of course, be chocolate, but it wouldn’t be my mum’s so a Victoria sandwich fits the bill nicely.

This one is very easy and quick to make. You can have the cake in the oven in minutes.

I have taken the advice of Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and Fizz Carr in their excellent Family Cookbook and weighed the eggs in their shell and then used the same weight of butter, sugar and flour. I have not followed their creaming method though which calls for the butter and sugar to be beaten first and then the eggs incorporated and then the flour folded in.  Instead, I have used the all-in-one method as used by Mary Berry in her The Aga Book. For the all-in-one method to be a success it is crucial that the butter is soft, so you must remember to bring it out of the fridge a couple of hours before you want to make the cake. It is also important to add a teaspoon of baking powder to the self-raising flour as you won’t be beating in as much air with this method.

It is delicious with raspberry jam and softly whipped cream but you could sandwich it just with the jam of your choice or lemon curd or even a buttercream.

4 eggs – weigh them in their shells and then use the same weight for the sugar, flour and butter.  (My four eggs from my lovely hens weighed exactly 200 grams so I used 200g butter, 200g sugar and 200g of self-raising flour for the cake above).
soft butter
caster sugar
self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
a splash of milk

The jam of your choice
150ml double cream, softly whipped
1 tsp icing sugar to dust the top of the cake

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°c (gas mark 4).  Grease 2 sandwich tins with a smear of butter and line the bases with greaseproof paper.

Put the butter, sugar and eggs in a large bowl and sieve the flour and baking powder in. Add the vanilla extract and a splash of milk.  Using an electric whisk on medium speed whisk the mixture until all combined.  Divide the mixture between the two tins and spread evenly.

Place in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes until golden and springs back when touched lightly.

Turn out onto a cake rack and allow to cool completely.

Spread one of the cakes with the jam and then the cream (or the filling of your choice) and then place the other half of the cake on top.  Dust lightly with icing sugar.

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Chocolate tiffin or refrigerator cake

6 Comments / cake, chestnuts, chocolate, vegetarian /

This is another of those recipes with a variety of names, some call it tiffin, others refrigerator cake, others still a no-cook chocolate cake. I am sure there are other names for it too.  This is my version and although there are a list of ingredients below it really is one that you can play around with and add whatever is your favourite fruit and nut combination or add whatever you have in the cupboard. This week I had a packet of vacuum packed roasted chestnuts, some dried cranberries, dried blueberries and macadamia nuts in my cupboard.  I used milk chocolate Hobnobs because they were the only biscuits I had in the house, but you could use digestives or Rich Tea or any other biscuit you have in the tin.

This is rich and decadent but delicious and a real treat with a good coffee and five minutes peace and quiet, although the latter is highly unlikely in this house.

150g best quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
50g butter
4 tbsp golden syrup
50g dried cranberries
50g macadamias
50g pecan nuts, chunkily chopped
25g dried blueberries
80g Hobnobs (or any other biscuit you may have in the tin) broken into chunks
60g roasted chestnuts

Method

Place the chocolate, butter and syrup in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water until they have all melted.  Stir to combine.

Add all the other ingredients and stir to combine.

Line a loaf tin (mine measures 20cm length x 12cm width x 6.5cm depth) with clingfilm, with plenty to overhang the sides. Pour the chocolate mixture into the tin and smooth the top.  Place in the fridge for a few hours until set.  Remove from the tin and peel off the clingfilm. Cut into slices and serve with a lovely cup of coffee and put your feet up and enjoy.

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Chocolate buns or fairy cakes

4 Comments / cake, chocolate /

Are these called buns or fairy cakes?  I have no idea so I opted for both. It was the Christmas Fayre at my eldest daughter’s school the other day and they asked for cake donations so these were ours. Show me a kid who doesn’t love milk chocolate and hundreds and thousands…

I liked these too.  I added milk chocolate chunks to the cake mix so there was a very satisfying bite to these little cakes. The ones I held back from donating (well you have to enjoy the rewards of baking!) were soon polished off by me and the girls.

I hope those who bought them at the Fayre enjoyed them as much as we did.

Make sure the eggs and the butter are at room temperature before you start as they will mix much easier and rise better.

Makes 18 cakes

110g caster sugar
110g softened butter
120g self-raising flour
20g good quality cocoa
2 eggs
30g milk chocolate, drops or chopped
splash of milk (if needed to make the mixture a soft consistency, if your egg is big you probably won’t need it)

18 paper cake cases and 2 patty tins (cupcake tins)

For the topping:
50g milk chocolate, melted
your choice of decoration

Method
Put the butter, sugar, flour, cocoa powder and eggs into a bowl and using an electric mixer beat together until just combined. If the mixture is a little stiff add a splash of milk and stir to combine. Add the chopped chocolate and stir to mix in evenly.

Put the paper cases into the holes of the tin. Put a spoonful of the mixture into each paper case, you want to half fill the cases to give space for rising.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180°c (gas mark 4) for 15-20 mins until springy to a slight touch.

Leave to cool, then top each cake with a spoonful of melted chocolate and sprinkle your choice of decorations on top.

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Chocolate and coffee cake

4 Comments / cake, chocolate /

It was my husband’s birthday yesterday and the girls wanted to make him a cat themed birthday cake.  They are both a bit obsessed with cats it has to be said.  So this is it.  The cake is Nigel Slater’s Chocolate Espresso Cake (from Real Food), which always works wonderfully and is popular with everyone who tries it. It is rich and fudgy and very moreish.  The cat is a whipped ganache and complements the cake very well.

For the cake:

180g 70% cocoa chocolate, broken into pieces
3 tbsp espresso (very strong coffee)
140g butter, cut into small pieces
5 eggs, separated
200g caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp good quality cocoa powder
90g plain flour

Topping:
100ml double cream
50g 70% cocoa chocolate, broken into small pieces

Method for the cake

You will need a 20cm springform tin, lined with baking parchment.
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of just simmering water.  Be careful that the steam does not make contact with the chocolate and make sure the water doesn’t boil.  Too much heat will seize the chocolate. When the chocolate begins to melt add the warm espresso and leave to continue to melt.  Add the diced butter, (the smaller the better), and stir gently until it is all melted and combined.

Whilst this is happening beat the 5 egg whites in a very clean bowl until stiff and then fold the sugar in as gently as possible.

Remove the melted chocolate from the heat and stir in the 5 egg yolks, then slowly fold this into the egg whites, trying to be as careful as possible to retain as much air as you can.

Sieve the flour, cocoa and baking powder together into the mixture and fold in until just combined.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180° c (gas mark 4) for about 30 minutes, until it is springy to the touch.  Leave it in the tin to cool completely.  It can be served like this, dusted with cocoa powder.  It is lovely with double cream poured over it. However if you want to recreate the topping read on.

For the topping, beat the cream until it’s aerated but still soft, (adding the chocolate will thicken it up quite a bit so you don’t want it to be thick at this stage). Melt the chocolate gently over a pan of barely simmering water.  Add the chocolate to the cream and stir to combine. Spread onto the cake and if you want it to look like  a cat then use jelly tots and spaghetti to decorate.

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