Well here we are cakes fans...we've hit the half way point in my baking challenge & I'm happy to share with you my 26th recipe!It's been a bit of a challenging week this week, my fridge broke down last Monday & as yet has not been fixed (got to love landlords!) Not ideal given we've probably had the hottest weather of the year & I had people over on Friday for tea! But we muddled through & with a bit of help from my mum & a large quantity of ice...we pulled it off! It was a gorgeous sunny afternoon, everyone ate cake, drank Pimms & generally had a lovely time, thanks to everyone who came along.
It seems my kitchen is revolting against me though, not only has the fridge broken down, but the toaster has started throwing blue sparks & the kettle is leaking. I also learnt a valuable lesson when using baking paper in the oven...don't let it touch the top of the oven. I managed to set fire to a batch of brownies, the flames were fairly impressive so in my panic I threw it into the washing up water! Needless to say they were beyond rescue :-( For my own personal safety can anyone recommend a no cook, no fridge needed recipe for next week?!
So, after lusting after a giant cupcake pan for I don't know how long (yes...I do realise how sad that sounds!!), I finally bit the bullet & bought one. I'm dead chuffed with the result, although I think I could do with a little more practise on getting cooking times & mixture quantities spot on. I love the fact that you'd never have to make the same cake twice, there are so many different variations you could choose. I used smarties to decorate the top, but I'm on the lookout for a good site where I can buy other assorted cake bling, can anyone recommend one?
For the cake
220g plain flour
220g self raising flour
350g butter
350g golden caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
6 eggs
2-4 tbsp milk
For the icing
175g icing sugar
75g butter
Dash of milk
1. Cream together the butter, sugar & vanilla. Beat in the eggs a little at a time until you have a light fluffy mixture.
2. Fold in the flour, adding a little dash of milk to make a smooth mixture that should easily drop of the spoon.
3. Divide the mixture between the 2 sections of the cupcake pan allowing room for each to rise. Bake in the oven at 180c/GM4 for 50-60 minutes, until a skewer comes out of the centre of the cake clean. I found I had to take the top part out a little early to avoid over browning, you just need to keep an eye on it.
4. To make the icing, cream together the butter & icing sugar, adding a little milk if it's a bit too stiff to spread. Level off the top & bottom sections of the cake with a sharp knife, then use a few blobs of the icing to sandwich them together. Spread the icing all over the top of the cupcake, then decorate with sweets of your choice!
This really did look i
mpressive on my tea table & I've already had a request to make one for a forthcoming birthday! If you don't have a giant cupcake pan, you could try making a regular Madeira cake, just half the quantities for the mixture. See you next week, when I hope calm will have been restored to my kitchen! Rebecca x
Oh yum Rebecca that looks fab. Why don't you do a rocky road next week- oh that won't work without a fridge will it? nor will a cheesecake... hmm?? If I come up with anything you will be the first to know!
ReplyDeleteAs for cake bling - Jane Asher online is pretty good- or just go on ebay there are some fab little shops on there with alsorts of goodies.
You will be pleased to hear that, planning a day out tomorrow and having the "job" of baking something for it your blog was the first place I thought of for inspiration =O)
Jx
Looks fabulous!
ReplyDeleteI had to host a cake decorating/cookie design party as part of a hen do recently and got loads of glitter etc from here
http://www.cakescookiesandcraftsshop.co.uk/
Really good selection x
yum! That looks so good!
ReplyDeleteWhat a cupcake!I have to say, that is really impressive!If you won't mind I'd love to guide Foodista readers to this post.Just add the foodista widget to the end of this post and it's all set, Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWow...that is fantastic! Love it.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I can think of that you could make are Rice Krispie cakes/Cornflake cakes (and really even they are better out of the fridge).
Not much use am I....sorry!!
Sue xx
I've been enjoying the blog for several weeks now, and am enjoying stocking up (with cake in my belly) for the winter! Some say it will good for winter cycling!
ReplyDeleteI like the recipe. please post more photos of making cakes for brief demonstration..
ReplyDeleteSweet Revenge