Coloured Cupcakes

Having lost my baking mojo yet again I was forced to make a comeback this evening. Boy is having an impromptu sleepover at his aunties tomorrow night along with her friend and her two boys. Not only did I have to chuck on a load of washing to make sure he had some clean socks (note the summer holiday slacker!) but there was also the question 'Is there any cake?' so I had to come up with something in a hurry. It seems that getting rid of Boy for the evening comes at a price.

Those figures to the left, to the untrained eye, may just look like a bunch of muppets in costumes. Not if you are 6 years old, To Boy, being a Power Ranger is an actual job description and he firmly believes he will grow up and go to Power Ranger school for training. He wants to be the red one. I haven't had the heart to tell him that in real life the world does actually suck a fair bit and no amount of Mystic Morphers and Delta Blasting is going to change it. He quite happily goes through the day starting every sentence with 'When I'm Power Ranger I can watch tv/ go to the cinema/ blast down the neighbours gate whenever I like. The programmes are truly awful though. They don't appear to have any storyline whatsoever and are full of cheesy lines such as 'Welcome to my sty, hope you like it coz you're never leavin' which does make me laugh. I'm actually considering having that made into a welcome sign to hang in the front porch.

So Power Rangers were the inspiration for my cupcakes, I figured they would be popular with the boys. I had most of the colours of food colouring paste from other projects, the only thing I am lacking is a yellow which I also need for Girls' birthday cake in a couple of weeks (I'm attempting to make her a Teletubbies cake), I bought the coloured paper cases while in the cook shop searching for the yellow colouring. All the cakes are iced in matching colour apart from the yellow ones which had to be done in white which does ruin the effect somewhat. I also had nothing more exciting than the ubiquitous sprinkles to put on top but all in all not a bad effort for short notice.

The recipe I used was the one size fits all cupcakes made in muffin cases. They came out perfectly flat so no need to trim any peaks off them. According to a discussion on Damsels, peaks are made when the oven temp is too hot. Learn something new every day.

Victoria Sponge Birthday Cake

My Nigella cake stand got it's first outing recently and for a special occasion too! Boy was 6 years old. I've no idea how he got to that age so quickly, hasn't helped my broodiness one bit! I'm always a little bit fazed by celebration cakes as I have a deadline to meet (so no time for Bad Things to Happen) and it has to look at least halfway nice. Boy wanted me to make him a cake which I was secretly pleased about as he is very into Power Rangers and I thought he would prefer one of the themed cakes from the supermarket. I did look at them in a moment of desperation but the use by date was over 3 weeks away. There is something not quite right about a cake that keeps that long in my opinion. Sinister, I tell thee. He calls any sponge with jam and butter-cream 'birthday cake' so i thought that would be a good place to start. The recipe was from Gorgeous Cakes by Annie Bell. From her instructions it says to bake it all in one in a 9cm deep baking tin which I don't have and to be honest, I don't think you need. All the mixture would have fitted in my 5cm deep tin I'm sure but I did it in two halves anyway as I wanted a nice flat top for the icing.

Victoria Sponge Cake

225g unsalted butter, diced (or spread suitable for baking, I prefer this)
225g golden caster sugar
225g self raising flour
2 teaspoons baking powder (I'm presuming it means level ones)
4 eggs (book says medium but I always buy large and it doesn't seem to make a difference)
100ml milk

• Preheat oven to 170c fan/190c/Gas 5. Grease and base line one 20cm x 5cm deep tin, preferably with a removable base or two 20cm sandwich tins.
• Cream the butter and sugar together until light
• Add the eggs and milk and mix until incorporated
• Sift the flour and baking powder into the mixture and mix until smooth
• Transfer to tin(s) and smooth the top
• Bake for 50 mins for whole cake and 30 mins for sandwich layers, until a skewer in the centre comes out clean. Run a knife around the edge to loosen and leave to cool.

Filling and icing
50g raspberry seedless jam
55g unsalted butter, cubed
110g icing sugar, sifted
2 tsp boiling water
1 pack ready-to-roll white icing, enough to cover 1 x 20cm cake

• Trim the domes from the cake layers so they fit together as neatly as possible. I used the cut sides innermost to leave the flat base at the top.
• Spread the cut side of one layer with the jam
  
• To make the butter-cream whisk the butter, icing sugar and boiling water together until fluffy. Spread this on the cut side of the other layer and sandwich together.
• Using about 3/4 of the white icing, roll out into a circle slightly bigger than the top of the cake. Spread the icing with warmed jam and smooth onto the top of the cake then trim round the edge with a sharp knife.

Then you can decorate with icing pens, writing icing or whatever else. I used the rest of the icing and made it red with some food colouring paste (liquid would make it too runny) and cut out a number 6 freehand. I do have some number cutters but they weren't quite big enough and to be honest I was rushing at this point as Z was due back from school and I wanted it ready for when he came back. It's not hugely artistic but was a lot better once the candles were on.

Banana and Apple Loaf

I got the Tana Ramsey book for myself at Christmas, even though it has meat things in and we are all veggie. I was lured by the homemade Jammy Dodgers recipe. I haven't made those yet but hope to do them very soon. I got put off proper JD's when I watched a kids programme that did a visit to the factory. It really is quite yuk and very offputting!

The first thing I have made is the Banana and Apple Loaf (yes, another banana recipe!) The kids had loads of chocolate and biscuits for Christmas so I hadn't baked anything to give them chance to get through it all but I had complaints from them (which I'm secretly pleased about!) so had to make this in a hurry. In Girls' case complaining consisted of pointing at every tupperware box she saw and screeching. It's nice to be appreciated.

Banana and Apple Loaf
150g light brown sugar
85g butter, softened
2 large eggs, beaten
4 medium bananas, mashed
1 apple, grated (it doesn't say if it's meant to be peeled or not, I peeled mine)
250g self raising flour
1/4 of a tsp fresh nutmeg (I used jar stuff)
1/4 of a teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt

• Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin and preheat oven to 180/Gas 4
• Cream together butter, sugar and eggs
• Stir in the mashed banana and apple then sieve in the flour, nutmeg, salt and cinnamon
• Mix well to combine, pour into loaf tin and bake for 40-45 minutes until skewer comes out clean
  
• Remove to a wire rack and cool for 30 minutes. Turn out from tin and continue cooling. Allow to cool completely before cutting into slices.
• Serve. (Yes it really says this in the book, has it's own bullet point and everything. Do we need to be told? If so you really shouldn't be allowed to play with the oven.)

The resulting cake is quite dense, I'd have thought it would take more raising agent than just the self raising flour but it was fine. It smells lovely.

One-size-fits-all cupcakes

It was Boy's class Christmas party today. I was hoping to make lots of little cakes for him to take in but the plan was that each child brought in their own food on a paper plate wrapped in clingfilm with their name on. So that rained on my parade a little. I suppose I can see the sense in it as they could have either ended up with mountains of food or none at all and I suppose offering food around to 60+ children takes time so I can forgive them (just about!) I promised Boy I would make him something cakey especially anyway. At least this is one thing I have minimal chance of making Bad Things Happen. I've been having one of those type of weeks to be honest. I've had to break out the emergency freezer pizza twice in a week. I seem to have lost my kitchen mojo. Just the thought of the wasted food makes me so ashamed. Jinxed, I'm sure.

Anyhow, continuing my obsession with mini muffin cases I decided to make my cupcakes teeny sized. Boy expressed a preference for Jelly Tots and I made them festive and green too. The recipe I use exactly fills 24 mini muffin cases or 12 cupcake cases so they are rounded and full when baked, but not overflowing or 12 muffin cases that are to be filled up with icing to the top Nigella-style. I like the way they don't peak and need trimming down before icing, they just go into a nice dome with minimal cracking on top. They are so light and fluffy too and don't stick to the cases.


One-size-fits-all cupcakes

4oz/110g butter (softened) or margarine
4oz/110g golden caster sugar
2 eggs
4oz/110g self raising flour, sifted

• Preheat oven to Gas 5/190c
  
• Cream together butter and sugar until light and well combined
• Add the eggs and whisk until incorpotated
  
• Add the sifted flour and fold/whisk in until mixture is fluffy with no lumps!!
• Divide between 12 cupcake, 24 mini muffin or 12 muffin cases.
• Bake for 10-20 minutes (depending on size of cakes) until a pale golden colour.
• Ice with buttercream, frosting, sprinkles, Smarties, chocolate etc etc etc!!
  

I know it's tempting to shove all the ingredients in all at once and just mix but I think adding it in stages makes them a lot nicer.

Blueberry and Apple Loaf Cake

Please excuse the picture, I was having new camera trouble and that's the clearest one I managed to get before the cake was attacked in an after dinner frenzy. Boy managed to negotiate himself two slices as apparently it is 'really fantastic cake.'

I was having a pre-Christmas clear out of my freezer and I happened upon half a bag of blueberries I had bought to make Delia's Blueberry Muffin Cake. I wasn't overly keen on it and the rest of the bluberries got forgotten underneath the sweetcorn until today. Though to be honest I wish the sweetcorn was forgotten, it's vile stuff.

I didn't feel like making muffins and went online (ok, when aren't I online?) to find something else that I could make with my limited ingredients, I haven't been shopping and don't really feel like it in this weather! I'd probably end up letting the trolley blow into someones paintwork. I really do have to go tomorrow though or dinner will be very unusual.

Anyway I managed to find a simple recipe at my first port of call, Nigella.com. I didn't do the layering thing I just mixed the apple and blueberries into the mixture as I hadn't got anything to glaze the top and I thought the kids would prefer it like that anyway. I was a bit worried about using the berries straight from frozen I always imagine they will make the cake all purple and soggy. I rinsed all the excess ice off them just as a precaution. I was surprised when I cut into it and they had behaved themselves. Really pleased with this one, will definitely make it again.

Hello cake lovers

This is my new blog, and it's all about cake and my attempts to make them. I'm not saying I'm fantastic or anything so don't be expecting the Statue of Liberty in sugarcraft, truth be told my cakes aren't usually very pretty but on the whole taste good and that's enough for me. I'm not here to show off either. If I f*ck up as I so often do, then the results will be here for all to see. Baking is just something I enjoy doing. I have a obsessively large collection of bakeware and always have every type of sugar and flour ready and waiting in the cupboard in case the baking bug strikes.

I'm mum (or mom, as is said round here) to 2 cake-loving children so my oven is kept very busy (so to speak) Boy is 5 years old and Girl is 14 months. She can already say 'cake' and has a penchant for lemon poppyseed muffins from Cafe Nero. I've been trying to recreate them myself but they aren't the same just yet. I have a husband who doesn't eat chocolate but I try not to hold that against him. Ok, I bloody hate that he doesn't eat chocolate. He's a freak, a freak of nature dammit!

The 'Rock' element of the blog title relates to my love of very noisy expletive-ridden music, mostly enjoyed in my car where I can sing as badly as I like and no-one can hear me.

So that's me. I hope you enjoy reading as it gives me an excuse to take pictures of my cakes. If nobody read then it would make me look quite sad.