Baking | Cinnamon Apple Bundt Cake

INGREDIENTS

225 grams soft butter

(plus more for greasing the bundt tin generously)

300 grams caster sugar

6 large eggs

350 grams plain flour

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

4 teaspoons vanilla extract

6 apples

4 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon allspice

ICING

8 heaped tablespoons icing sugar

dash milk / water to make a thick paste

1 or 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Baking | 80th Birthday Cake

For my Grandad's 80th Birthday I made a large eight-zero cake for 30 people.

I was going to hire an 8 shaped baking tin and a 0 shaped baking tin but in the end I decided that among my 30+ tins I would probably be able to construct my own and save £30 on the hiring fees which seemed pretty steep!

I used a few different shaped tins, carved them into shape using a sharp serrated knife and then to flatten the tops perfectly I used a baking wire which guarantees a perfect level surface.

I made my chocolate cake recipe which is heavy on cocoa powder, the ratio of cocoa to flour is almost half and half which creates a rich, light cake.

I "dirty iced" the bare cake with icing, as well as the the filling which glued everything together, I put the cake in the freezer for 10 minutes which quickly solidified the outer buttercream so when I added the warm (but cooled down) chocolate ganache, it wouldnt melt off the sides.

I tried to make a thick ganache but it didn't seem any thicker than my usual ganache, however as it cooled down it become a firm truffle consistancy. I could have rolled it into balls and used them as chocolate truffles.

I melted some white chocolate to decorate, as well as using ganache to glue raspberries to the edges. The white chocolate was very thin, I wish I had used something thicker or less see-through. 

I added some dark chocolate curls I made from using my sharpest knife to shave chocolate that had been in the fridge for 24 hours.

I added orange roses to the centre of the numbers and then I felt the cake needed some green so I finely grated some lime zest over it too. 

The cake was dry, I think it was because I carved them and the dried out, plus the un-tested baking times of using random measures of cake mixture in a variety of tins, my family said it wasn't actually dry, but it was a dry mix for my usual standards. Especially when my chocolate cakes are light and moist after perfecting the recipe.  With all the gananche and raspberries I suppose the cake wasn't that noticeable! The important thing is that Grandad enjoyed it!

Baking | Tray Bake: Quick lemon drizzle

Pretty much Mary Berry's Lemon Drizzle but with slight changes to the bake, different sugar and more lemon for the topping. I like lemon cakes to be really, really lemony and fresh tasting.

Cake:

6oz butter

6oz golden caster sugar

6oz self raising flour

6oz eggs (3 large free range)

1 tsp baking powder

Finely grated rind of 2 lemons

Juice of 1 lemon

Drizzle:

Juice of 2 lemons

Finely grated rind of 1 lemon

170g golden caster sugar 

Beat together the butter and the sugar until pale and well creamed. Add the lemon rind. Golden caster sugar is delicious because it creates a more golden sponge and it's unrefined which also, in my opinion, seems to create a richer flavour. 

Lightly beat the eggs and add to the bowl along with the lemon juice.

Sift in the flour and baking powder and then beat the whole mix together, use a spatula to clean down the bowl and give a final mix. Do not over stir. 

Pour/scoop into a greased and lined tray, I use my brownie tin which is about 30cm x 20cm.

Cook in the oven on Gas Mark 4 for 20-30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin.

While the cake is cooling, make the drizzle topping. Juice the lemons and simply combine with the sugar in a small bowl. Pour or spoon over the cake evenly when still warm. 

When the cake is completely cold, place in an airtight container. 

The icing / drizzle will firm up and become a crunchy topping while keeping the cake extremely moist.

I can make the batter of this cake in 10/15 minutes, then the cake goes in the oven for 25 minutes and can be iced warm so it is a very quick and simple cake to knock up in a hurry. 

It's also a rather shallow tray bake so very forgiving, if it doesn't quite fit the tin you have to hand you can cook for more or less time. 

The drizzle topping makes the cake moist and keeps it moist, even if you have been heavy handed with mixing or have over cooked it.