Built to perfection!

How's this for the bodger, I mean builder in you life?

This white iced cake has been surrounded by red bricks cut from orange/brown sugar paste/fondant.
The dents are made with a bone tool before leaving then to dry. When dry they can be assembled around the cake using ivory coloured royal icing as mortar.
You can't see the back view of our builder model but I can assure you he does have the obligatory "builder's bum" and mug of tea!
A few tools have been added to help him in his quest, such as trowel, spirit level and hammer!
If you have a DIY fanatic in your midst, why not give it a try?

The Beatles & West Ham?

Mad about "The Beatles" and support  "West Ham"! If so this cake fits the bill.

"The Beatles" logo was copied from the internet, printed to required size and cut out. The templates were then used on rolled out flower paste to cut all the required components before being left to dry.
The Electric guitar was from a cutter but this could have been done in the same way.
The scarf is blue and burgundy oblongs/rectangles the same height as the cake, cut from sugar paste/fondant. These are then attached close together, making sure there are no gaps and made to meet in the middle, front of the cake. Small cuts are made on the join to give a fringe effect.

What will it Bee!

Novelty baby shower cake, covered in yellow sugar paste / fondant, decorated with sugar daisies and bumble bees with the caption "What will it Bee?"

Pearl Anniversary Cake!

 This two tier 30th anniversary cake is covered with ivory sugar paste / fondant, with a pearly finish and edible beads, oyster shell and pearl.

Ruffles, Pearls and Lace, three tier Wedding cake

Pretty in pink, this three tier cake has been decorated with rose effect ruffles, pearl beads with drops and embossed lace. Roses finish off the top tier which has a lustre shine.

Perfect For Breakfast On The Go!

Love this fruit and oat slice, perfect for breakfast on the go or as a lunch box addition!

Here's what I used:

• 140g light brown sugar
• 3 tbs golden syrup
• 140g butter
• 250g oats
• 85g raisin/sultanas
• 85g walnut pieces or any other nut you may fancy
• 50g sesame or mixed seeds
• 25g dried cranberries
• 50g dried apricots, finely chopped

Here's how I made it:

Heat oven to 160C/fan140C/gas 3 and line a 23x23cm tin with greaseproof paper.

Now heat the butter, sugar and syrup in a large saucepan until melted before adding the oats, raisins, nuts, seeds, cranberries and apricot.
Mix well, before spooning into your prepared tin.

Make an even layer of the mixture by pressing down firmly with the back of a metal spoon before baking for approximately 35 minutes, or until golden brown.
Leave to cool completely before cutting into 16 slices. 

Mix it all together!

Golden brown!

Ready for a taste test!

What quantities of ingredients do I need for my cake tin?

How much mixture do I need for this tin, what recipe and quantities should I use?

These questions are regularly asked and it is very difficult to give a straight answer as there are so many variants, size, shape and height of tin for example, hopefully this chart will help?

As a general rule, measurement of ingredients for round tins are the same for petal, heart, hexagonal and octagonal. 

Square tins however need more mixture, so for a 6" square use the 7" measurements, 7" square tin the 8" and so on.

Madeira Cake Ingredients for different sized round cake tins all 3" deep

Here's what to use;	6" (1200ml)	7" (1800ml)	8" (2100ml)	9" (3000ml)	10" (4000ml)	12" (4500ml)
Butter, softened	150g	226g	276g	376g	500g	560g
Caster Sugar	200g	300g	366g	500g	660g	750g
Vanilla Essence	1 tsp	1½ tsp	2 tsp	2½ tsp	3 tsp	3½ tsp
Medium Eggs (53g)	3  (159g)	5  (265g)	6  (318g)	8  (424g)	10  (530g)	11  (583g)
Plain Flour, sieved	225g	338g	412g	566g	745g	845g
Baking Powder	1½ tsp	2½ tsp	3 tsp	4 tsp	5 tsp	6 tsp
Milk	3 tbsp	4 tbsp	5 tbsp	7 tbsp	9 tbsp	11 tbsp
Approx Baking Times	35-40 min	45-50 min	60-65 min	70-80 min	90-100 min	110-120 min

Approximate baking times are based on;

Pre heated oven 170°C/150°C fan/gas 3


Here's how to make it;

Line your tin with greaseproof paper and sieve the flour and baking powder ready for later.

Beat together the butter and sugar until light and creamy before adding the eggs gradually, continue beating until it is all incorporated. This is best done in a mixer or with a hand blender.
Now you can add the vanilla essence, flour and baking powder.
The milk is added at the end, add enough to make the batter loose, so it will fall off a spoon.

Tip the batter into the cake tin and make sure that the top is smooth before baking.

Test that your cake is ready with a cake tester or skewer, insert in to the middle of your cake, if it comes out clean it is ready.
Baking times are only a rough guide as all ovens are different, so always keep an eye on your cake so as not to over or under bake it.

Leave the cake to cool for a while before removing it from the tin, peel off the paper and leave on a wire rack until completely cool.

It will keep for a few days in an air tight container or alternatively, wrap it in plastic and freeze, for up to a couple of weeks, celebration cakes are much more easily decorated from frozen.

I hope you find this information useful and it helps you achieve the perfect cake!

Who Doesn't Like Coconut Ice?

This pink and white coconut ice is delicious and needs no baking: what colour will you make yours?

Here's what I used:

• 397g can condensed milk
• 350g desiccated coconut
• 350g icing sugar
• few drops vanilla extract
• pink food colour
• 23cm x 20cm x 4cm deep tin

Here's how I made it:

Pour the condensed milk into a large bowl before adding the desiccated coconut, icing sugar and vanilla extract. Mix well with a wooden spoon, spatula or your hands as I do, a bit messy but quick and effective.

Half the mixture into a lined tin and press down flat, damp fingers work well for this task.

Line your tin with greaseproof or baking parchment, this prevents the mixture from sticking and eases the lifting of the coconut ice from the tin ready for cutting.

Add a few drops of your chosen colour to the bowl with the remaining mixture. I chose pink for this batch but it looks great in bright green too. You can use whatever you like and be creative.

Spoon the coloured mixture onto the the first layer and press down evenly smoothing the top.

Cover loosely with cling film and leave overnight in a cool place to dry out and set firm.

Lift from the tin and cut into about 40 pieces before storing in an airtight container. It will last for up to 3 weeks if kept cool. I don't think you will need to test this out cos it won't last that long!

I hope you like this recipe, I've tried a few different ones and this is undoubtedly the easiest and the best tasting yet! It makes a lovely gift that is always well received or of course you can just spoil yourself with a special treat.

Enjoy!

Hands off it's mine!

Colour free coconut ice!

First layer in place!

Pink coloured coconut ice!

Top layer done!

It's Only Fudge!

My Favourite: Creamy, salted caramel flavoured fudge. What's your favourite flavour?

Oh no, have to eat it now!

Here's what I used:

• 100g butter
• 550g demerara sugar
• 200g golden syrup
• 350ml double cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp sea salt flakes

Here's how I made it:

Simmering!

You must leave it to set!

Cut into small pieces, or not!

Melt the butter, sugar, syrup and cream in a medium sized high sided, heavy based pan.
It needs to be a high sided pan as the mixture will double in volume when simmering.

Stir until the sugar has dissolved then simmer over a medium to low heat until it reached 100°C, stirring occasionally.
Turn it down if it starts to stick, you don't want it to burn.

Now stir more regularly until the temperature reaches 116°C.
What ever you do, don't leave it!

Take off the heat and add the vanilla extract and sea salt.
The better the quality of the vanilla the better the flavour!

Give the mixture a  good beat with a wooden spoon or spatula for a couple of minutes until it thickens and loses it's shine.

Pour into a lined 23x23cm or if you prefer, 9" square tin.
Line your tin with greaseproof or baking parchment, to prevent the mixture from sticking and so the fudge is easy to lift out when cooled.

When it has started to firm up, after about an hour, cut into small squares and leave until completely cold.
Don't be tempted to remove it from the tin at this stage, it won't be set enough.

When set it is ready to test, but be warned, you may need a couple of pieces just to be sure it's up to standard!

It will have a longer shelf life if you keep it refrigerated. Not that it's going to last long enough to go off!

See how long you can resist?

It is possible to add other ingredients to this fudge to spice it up a bit, such as cherries, raisins, other dried fruit or even nuts.
What will you add to yours?

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

Spooky Halloween Cake!

This three tier novelty cake is the perfect table centre piece for a Halloween party. Made from 10" and 8" round cakes and a 6" sphere for the pumpkin.

The base cake is covered in purple sugar paste and allowed to dry over night in order to ease the addition of the decoration. This is done with a black edible pen by copying haunted house pictures found on internet, first with an outline and then colouring in to achieve dark silhouettes.
The moon is a large circle of bright yellow sugar paste, attached with edible glue and painted round with orange food colour to give a more subtle but spooky appearance.
Grave stones, which are just crosses are added between the houses and a tree branches break up the moon along with a few bats in flight.
Grey food colour is painted in the sky for haunting clouds and finally twinkly lights add the finishing touch to the houses with bright yellow food colour painted on with a very fine brush.

The mummy tier is covered in white before adding strips of pale grey sugar paste cut randomly then attached with edible glue. Two eyes are made from bright green balls of paste with smaller black, red then yellow balls added to make scary eyes, these are stuck on with the glue and more strips are added around them to give the effect of them peeping through the bandages. A dusting of dark grey food colouring to finish makes it look old and dirty.

In order to cover a sphere you will need your orange sugar paste to be quite thick, this gives you more time for moulding and makes it less likely to crack. Place the paste over the cake and wrap around with your hands smoothing as you go, the base need not be covered as it will sit on top of the mummy. When covered mark on some grooves going from top to bottom with the back of a knife and
add a green stalk and with some leaves to the top.
The features are cut from black sugar paste, the eyes are triangles, the smiley mouth a zigzag line turned up at the ends, attached with glue.

After the cakes have been stacked, roll out a strip of red sugar paste about an inch wide with one straight edge, this sits against the cake and one wavy edge. Attach to the cake drum, you'll need to use one that is 14" round in order to take the decoration, then add some tear drop shaped balls of paste to look like blood dripping from the cake down the board.

That's about as frightening as I can do, what a wimp! It's not too terrifying for little tots either!
Hopefully it's given you some ideas for your own SPOOKY Halloween cake.