Coffee and Walnut Cake

As requested I baked this for the Birthday cake.  It is full of coffee flavour and very moist. 
Butter cream is tricky to make as it almost split.... but I just managed to hold it together to make a soft creamy texture. The key points for making perfect buttercream is NEVER use butter straight from the fridge.  Be patient to make sure the butter is soft. It's also important to mix the icing sugar little by little. This apply to adding the coffee as well. Fat and water do not merge together unless you do this carefully.
Anyway, this is a great cake for any occasion. It's one of my favourites.

Ingredients

For the cake            

• 225g (8oz) unsalted butter            
• 225g (8oz) caster sugar
• 225g (8oz) self-raising flour
• 4 free-range eggs 
• 50ml (1¾fl oz) strong espresso coffee
• 75g (2½oz) walnuts

For the buttercream topping 

• 125g (4½oz) unsalted butter
• 200g (7oz) icing sugar
• 50ml (2fl oz) strong espresso coffee
• 12 walnut halves, to decorate

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2. In a bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until very light and pale.
3. Add the eggs one at a time to the butter and sugar mixture, beating well to completely incorporate each egg before adding the next egg.
4. Add the espresso to the mixture and stir well.
5. Add the flour and chopped walnuts and stir well to completely combine.
6. Spoon the cake mixture into two lined and greased 20cm/8in cake tins.
7. Transfer to the oven to bake 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean and the cake is golden-brown.
8. Remove the cakes from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.
9. For the buttercream topping, beat the butter and icing sugar together in a small bowl until pale and light.
10. Add the espresso and mix well.
11. Spread the buttercream over the top of each cake, then place one cake on top of the other.
12. Decorate the top of the cake with the walnut halves and serve in generous slices.

  

Just like mayonnaise and hollandaise sauce, buttercream is an emulsion of fat and liquid that can break into its component ingredients if not handled properly. You'll know when it happens because your buttercream will suddenly look like cottage cheese.

Cream together the butter/margarine until it turns light and fluffy.

Beat in the icing sugar powder gradually. Keep beating until the resulting mixture becomes smooth.

Add the coffee liquid. Only add small amounts until the icing becomes of a spreadable consistency. It is always better to add less than too much.

For the busy baker, you can use instant coffee instead. That's what I normally do anyway.
                 

Coffee Buttercream

100g/3½oz unsalted butter

200g/7oz icing sugar

2 tsp coffee granules

1 Tbsp boiling water

Salted Peanut Flapjack

I found an unopened bag of salted peanuts in the cupboard.  Ah, I know what it was. I bought two of those for a party as nibbles.  These classic nibbles weren't as popular as other stuff I offered and here they were in the cupboard.  So, I thought, I could made some Flapjack with them ........
Well, but they were "salted" peanuts.... for sweet flapjack?
"Salted caramel" has been really popular recently, hasn't it?  A bit of salt actually intensifies the sweetness.  So, here are my "salted caramel" inspired peanut flapjack.
They were surprisingly good.  A hint of salt creates a toffee like flavour.  Lovely with a cup of latte.

Ingredients 

• 7oz butter or margarine (butter, if you prefer) 
• 2oz golden syrup
• 2 tsp black treacle
• 7oz muscovado sugar
• 12oz porridge oats
• 3oz plain flour
• 3oz salted roasted peanuts 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160C and line a 20cm/8in square baking tin with baking paper.
2. Mix the dry ingredients, (oats, flour, sugar, salt and peanuts) in a bowl. 
3. Melt the butter or margarine in a medium pan over a low heat.  Add the golden syrup, black treacle and sugar to the margarine and heat gently. Once the sugar is dissolved and the butter is melted, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the mixed dry ingredients. 
4. Pack the mixture into the baking tin and squash down. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes.
5. Once cooked, remove from the oven, leave to cool for 15 minutes, then turn out on to a chopping board and cut into squares. 

Pear caramel upside-down cake

There were some sad looking small pears in my fruit bowl. They had been there for a while but somehow they hadn't ripened. Some people prefer crunchy pears to soft and sweet ones, but I thought it was time to do something about them. So here it is. "Pear caramel upside down cake" It's a simple cake, but it turned out rather pretty, so I decided to put this in my new post. I hope this inspires your Easter baking.

Ingredients  (for 19cm round cake tin)

• 5 oz selfraising flour 
• 5 oz caster sugar
• 5 oz butter or low-fat spread 
• 1 tsp baking powder 
• 1 large egg
• 2 Tbsp milk 
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 small pears
• for caramel: 3 oz granulated sugar + 3 Tbsp water

Method

To make the caramel sauce: 

Place the granulated sugar and water into a stainless steel pan.

Stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved and there are no granules.

Remove the spoon and increase the heat.

Boil until a golden straw colour and immediately pour into a tin.

1. Preheat oven to 180 °C.  
2. Place chopped pears in the cake tin when the caramel is cool and set.
3. Put all ingredients (butter, sugar, flour, lemon juice, vanilla, eggs and milk) in a bowl.
4. Mix with electric whisk.  
5. Pour the mixture on top of the pears.
6. Bake in a pre-heated oven for about 40 minutes. When the cake cools down turn the cake tin upside down.

Just a little gift

I love baking and I love sharing something nice.  So, when I bake something nice I love to share it.

Sometimes a simple gift can be very effective if it's home-made with a bit of care. I often make cakes and biscuits for dinner party presents. The tip is making it simple so that you won't stress over it but enjoy making it. Take this is simple lemon cake for instance. I made it in the evening of the day before the Sunday lunch that I was invited to. It only takes 10 minutes to put together and the oven does the rest.
I wrapped it nicely with ribbons and a label. Nice little present. This cake recipe is one of my simplest and reliable recipes, so it's hard to get it wrong. The photo above is baked in a 2Ib loaf tin.
Here is the recipe. (click here). 

I stock clear cellophane bags in the cupboard for present wrapping. These are very handy. I also stock some labels and ribbons which are also available online to buy. A home-made gift is a great alternative to a bottle of something if you have a little time to spare.

I was looking for a small loaf tin to bake a smaller cake to fit in my cellophane bags. 2Ib loaf tins are very common and you can find them very easily. In fact, most of the loaf tins you can find in a baking section in a supermarket are 2Ib tins.  I finally found this small 1Ib loaf tin in a small local household shop.
For my new 1Ib loaf tin, I adjusted my simple cake recipe.

• 3 oz butter (or low-fat spread) 
  
• 3 oz caster sugar (or soft brown sugar)
• 3 oz plain flower
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1 eggs
• lemon or orange zest
• 2 tsp lemon juice

Put everything in a bowl and mix with an electric hand mixer. Pour the mixture into the 1Ib loaf tin and bake in a preheated oven (180c / 170c fan) for about 40 minutes.  

Strong Bread Flour for Cake Making??

Grrrr. Oh my goodness. I’ve just added strong flour instead of plain flour....

Well, I was making cake …. Not bread.  However, I put strong bread flour in the bowl instead of plain flour.

I was using an all-in-one method which means putting all the ingredients (butter, sugar, flour and eggs) together in one bowl to mix.  The flour was the last item in the bowl, so I couldn’t take it out. I only realized what I was doing when half of the flour was in the bowl, but I managed to stop.  What should I do? I was in a panic, so I grabbed the plain flour bag and poured the other half quantity….. So there was half strong flour and half plain flour in my cake mixture.   I knew there is a reason not to use strong flour for cake.  It makes it heavier, rise less and liable to sink.

Strong flour is made from 'hard' wheat varieties which are high in gluten. This makes it ideal for bread-making where dough needs to expand and rise well and create a chewy texture. Strong flour is not suitable for cake recipes because cake shouldn’t be chewy but light and short.

Ok, but it was too late and I didn’t want to waste all the ingredients.

So, I added a little more baking powder than usual and tried very carefully not to over mix it. This should have stopped gluten stands forming to some extent.

The result? Surprisingly good.  It didn’t sink much and rose quite well. Best of all it had a nice slightly spongy texture which I don’t normally have in plain flour only cake mixture. 

Pity that I can’t show you the photo of the cake when it came out from the oven. However, there were only 2 slices left within a few hours, so this may tell you how good it was.

Anyway, here is the recipe. Try it if your are curious. However, do not over-beat when you mix it. :)

Ingredients 

• 6 oz Low-Fat Spread (or butter if you prefer)
• 6 oz Castor Sugar (or light brown sugar
• 3 oz Strong bread flour + 3oz Plain flour
• 3 tsp Baking Powder
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Lemon or Orange zest
• 1 Tbsp  Milk
• 1 Tbsp  Lemon Juice
• 1 tsp Vanilla paste or extract  

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 °c  (fan: 160°c)
2. Put all ingredients in the bowl and mix with an electric hand mixer. (Do not over-mix it.)
3. Bake it in the oven for about 50 minutes
4. When the cake is baked, let it stand for 5 minutes, then turn out on a plate.
5. Decorate with lemon juice + icing sugar mixture

Bûche de Noël

Happy Christmas everyone! 

Here is my Christmas log.  This is a great alternative to the traditional Christmas cake. I made the sponge a day before and rolled it in baking paper. It was easy enough to fill with whipping cream and decorate with chocolate ganache.  Oh, and don't forget the holly leaves. 

      Ingredients

For the chocolate sponge

• 4 large free-range eggs
• 100g caster sugar
• 65g self-raising flour
• 40g cocoa powder

For the chocolate ganache topping

• 150ml double cream
• 150g dark chocolate (around 35-40% cocoa solids), broken into small pieces

For the filling

• 150ml double cream, whipped
• bramble jelly 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Lightly grease a 33x23cm/13x9in Swiss roll tin, and line with non-stick paper or baking parchment, pushing it into the corners.
2. For the sponge, in a large bowl whisk the eggs and sugar using an electric hand whisk until the mixture is pale in colour, light and frothy. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the bowl and carefully cut and fold together, using a spatula, until all the cocoa and flour are incorporated into the egg mixture. (Be careful not to beat any of the air out of the mixture).
3. Pour the mixture into the lined tin and spread evenly out into the corners. Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 8–10 minutes, or until well risen and firm to the touch and the sides are shrinking away from the edge of the tin.
4. Place a piece of baking parchment bigger than the Swiss roll tin on the work surface. Dust with icing sugar generously. Carefully invert the cake onto the paper and remove the bottom lining piece of paper.
5. Cut a score mark 2.5cm/1in in along one of the longer edges. Starting with this edge, begin to tightly roll up the sponge using the paper. Roll with the paper inside and sit the roll on top of its outside edge to cool completely.
6. While the cake is cooling, make the ganache topping. Heat the cream in a pan, just so as you can keep your finger in it. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate, stirring until it is melted. Cool to room temperature, then put into the fridge to firm up (this icing needs to be very thick for piping).
7. Uncurl the cold Swiss roll and remove the paper. Spread the bramble jelly and whipped cream on top, and re-roll tightly. Cut a quarter of the cake off from the end on the diagonal. Transfer the large piece of cake to a serving plate and angle the cut end in to the middle of the large cake to make a branch.
8. Withe spatula, cover the cake completely with the chocolate ganache. Create rough bark texture with a fork.
9.  Dust with icing sugar and garnish with fresh holly.

Very Berry Muffins

These little beauties are my all time favourite.  They are so easy to make and great for breakfast... and well, really nice to eat any time. I found frozen berries are so useful for this recipe. It's not only because you can make them whenever you feel like it but frozen berries keep their shape better than fresh berries when you mix them. I like using mixed berries rather than one kind. It's lovely to enjoy different berries in every bite. Literally bursting in flavour.  I posted this recipe in the summer as these berries really are summer berries, but as I suggested using them frozen, they really are "any time berries". So I always have a bag of frozen berries in the freezer. They really are handy.

Ingredients (8 muffins) 

• 200g Plain Flour

• 150g Sugar

• 2 tsp Baking Powder

• ¼ tsp Salt

• 100ml Milk

• 60ml Vegetable Oil  (4 Tbsp)

• 1 Egg

• ¼ tsp Vanilla Extract 

• 1 tsp  Lemon juice 
• 125g Frozen mixed berries   

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200c (180c Fan)  and add paper cases to a muffin tray.
2. Measure out flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl and mix well. Then add the frozen mixed berries. (DO NOT defrost the berries. When the berries are added do not mix until the wet mixture is added)  
3. Measure milk and oil in a large measuring jug. Add egg, lemon juice and vanilla, then whisk well.
4. Add the wet mixture (3) into the dry mixture (2).  Stir until just combined. The mixture will be lumpy.  Do NOT over mix.    
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.

"Ruby" cranberry flapjack

I was invited to a Ruby Anniversary lunch party.  I was wondering what I should bring.
It was a friendly "just bring your self" party, but I wanted to give the couple something cute.
The idea of this "Ruby Flapjack" using cranberries came to my mind when I was looking at the invitation card which had pictures of ruby stones.  So, here they are, my little gems in the Ruby flapjack.
I hope they bring a smile to the faces of the happy couple. :)

Ingredients 

• 7oz butter or margarine 
• 2oz golden syrup
• 2 tsp black treacle
• 7oz muscovado sugar
• 12oz porridge oats
• 3oz plain flour
• 1 lemon (or orange), finely grated zest
•  pinch of salt
• 3oz dried cranberries 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160C and line a 20cm/8in square baking tin with baking paper.
2. Mix the dry ingredients, (oats, flour, sugar, salt and cranberries) in a bowl. 
3. Melt the butter or margarine in a medium pan over a low heat. Dip a brush in the butter and brush the baking tin with a little bit of it. Add the golden syrup, black treacle and sugar to the butter and heat gently. Once the sugar is dissolved and the butter is melted, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the mixed dry ingredients and lemon or orange zest. 
4. Pack the mixture into the baking tin and squash down. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
5. Once cooked, remove from the oven, leave to cool for 15 minutes, then turn out on to a chopping board and cut into squares.