Very very chocolately cookies from Cox Cookies & Cake

Over the last few years as my baking habit has grown, so it seems has my collection of cook books, most of which I have very gratefully recieved as gifts. I love looking through them for inspiration & to drool over the pictures, but if I think about it, it's not that often I actually choose a new recipe from a book & try it out. I have my staple recipes that I pretty much know off by heart, then the rest is a series of experiments, some more successful than others!

So I've decided to branch out, broaden my repertoire & try out at least one new recipe from each of my books. The first is from Cox Cookies & Cake, a collaboration beween baker Eric Lanlard & the designer Patrick Cox.  The book is a technicolour spectacular divided into themed chapters, my particular favourite is the Styling Cupcakes section.  Although where one is meant to find a beach bum mould & skin-coloured edible paste I have no idea, (Cheeky Cupcakes on page 100 if you get a chance to look at the book!)

Easing myself gently into this somewhat eccentric cook book, I decided to make double chocolate & marshmallow cookies, the Man Cakes (page 108) will have to wait for another day.

They really should be called Choc as much choc as you can into a cookie cookie.  They have melted chocolate, cocoa powder & chocolate chips in them, topped off with a good drizzle of melted marshmallow.  The texture was quite cakey rather than crunchy cookie, but oh my god they tasted good!  Next on the hit list for this book is the Orange Marmalade Cupcakes, it's worth a look if you want some more unusual ideas & if anyone knows where I can find a torso mould let me know :-)  Till next time, Rebecca x 

Boozy Barefoot Cupcakes

Increasingly I am being approached by companies to receive samples of their products, I have to admit it gives me a touch of the warm & fuzzies that someone has read my blog & wants me to try out their stuff! That said I am quite fussy & have probably said thanks but no thanks to more offers than I have accepted. (One day I might build up the courage to share the most random offer I have ever received!) If it's an exciting new product or a brand with a unique point of view, then I will usually say yes. What I promise to you is that I'll always be honest when I have received a product to try & I will always give you my honest opinion. Policy statement over :-)

It seems one of the big baking trends at the moment is using alcohol in recipes, so when Barefoot Wines sent me a cupcake recipe using their new Moscato, I thought I'd see what the fuss was all about? I had to convert the recipe to metric from cups & sticks, but the quantities seemed to work out ok.

For the cakes
120g butter
225g caster sugar
2 eggs
60ml milk
60ml Barefoot Moscato
1tsp baking powder
200g plain flour
Pinch of salt

For the frosting
250g mascarpone
500g icing sugar
2 tbsps Barefoot Moscato
1tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate sprinkles for decoration

1. Cream together the butter & sugar until light & fluffy, gradually beat in the eggs then the wine & milk until you have a lovely smooth & creamy batter.

2. Sift in the flour, salt & baking powder & mix until all combined. Line a 12 hole bun tin with paper cases & divide the mixture evenly. Bake in the oven at 190c/GM5 for 14-18 minutes until well risen & just turned golden on top.

3. To make the frosting, beat together all the ingredients until smooth. I found chilling it in the fridge until ready to use made it a little easier to handle. When the cakes are completely cooled, top with frosting & some chocolate sprinkles.

The result is a lovely fluffy, buttery cake, I can't honestly say I can taste the wine, but it certainly adds a certain something to the flavour. Enjoy with a delicious chilled glass of the left over Moscato, well you can't let it go to waste can you? If you're inspired to try out cooking with wine, have a look at the Barefoot recipe archive.

Before I go I just wanted to share one other thing with you. Barefoot Wines began in California in 1965, their ethos 'there's no point in doing well if you're not doing any good' is evident in the number of community projects they are involved in. I was especially interested in their Barefoot Friendly Beach Rescue Tour. I grew up on the beautiful North East coast line & cannot imagine why people would want to spoil it by dumping rubbish on it. The reality is they do, so Barefoot have teamed up with Surfers Against Sewage to encourage volunteers to come along to beach clean up events. Click here for more details of this great initiative.

Till next time, Rebecca x

Tynemouth Sands - Barefoot Friendly Beach Rescue Tour visits on 26th August

The most complicated cake ever - Patience Cake!

I thought I'd completed a pretty big challenge when I finished my 52 week baking marathon earlier this year, but that seems like a walk in the park compared to this weekends creation! I first came across a Patience Cake on the blog Confections of a (Closet) Master Baker. It's written by Gesine Bullock-Prado who as well as being a whizz with all things sugar, also happens to be Sandra Bullock's sister! I remember being in awe of it, promising myself I would have a go at it at some point & with Mothers Day on Sunday I took the plunge...

It's an American recipe so I've converted the quantities from cups, I also changed the flavours from pomegranate & key lime to blueberry & vanilla. Have a look at the original blog post for the full method, I just wanted to share a few highlights of my experience. This is not a cake you can just 'knock up', it took me around 4 hours from start to finish, so you do need an awful lot of patience & when you read the ingredients list, your own chicken could also prove useful!

So deep breath, are you ready? Here goes....

First off you need to make the cakes, you need 2 layers of each flavour so you'll need double the quantities of ingredients listed here.

420g plain flour
300g caster sugar
8 eggs
150ml vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
4tsp baking powder

For the vanilla layers you'll also need 125ml milk & 125ml water mixed with the seeds from a vanilla pod.

Vanilla batter looking lovely & creamy

For the blueberry layer I made a puree by gently heating 250g blueberries in a pan with 1tbsp sugar & a dash of water until they mush down. Pass it through a sieve to get rid of the bits, which should give you around 150ml, then top it up to 250ml with milk. It was a beautiful purple colour, then I added it to the cake mix & this is what happened...

Cake mix the colour of cement...not good!


Rescued to something that looks edible with some red food colouring

So by this point I had 4 layers of sponge cake, 2 vanilla & 2 blueberry, I left them to cool while I got on with making an epic quantity of frosting! Ingredients are...

600g caster sugar
250ml water
15 egg whites
Pinch of salt
900g butter
Few drops of red food colouring




So if you've been counting so far, that's 2 x 8 eggs for each batch of cakes plus 15 egg whites for the frosting, a massive 31 eggs in total, hence the chicken comment!

By this point, I'll be honest it was starting to turn into a 'I'm losing Patience Cake!' But no turning back, had to push on to construction & I did pick up a really helpful hint on how to evenly slice a cake into layers. Use a ruler to measure up the cake & pop in a cocktail stick at regular intervals so you end up with something looking like a UFO. Guide your knife using the markers & you'll be amazed at how even they end up!

With each layer sliced into three, I had twelve layers in total. The top layers I left to nibble on as they were too uneven to use, then I picked the four neatest & sandwiched them together alternately using the frosting. The cake went into the fridge for about an hour to allow the frosting to set.


To get the puzzle effect I cut a crater out the middle, spread a thin layer of frosting inside the crater & over the top, added an extra layer to cover the hole, inverted the whole cake, inverted the chunk I'd taken out & squished it back in the hole. Sounds simple doesn't it, but by this point it had turned into the 'I don't have the Patience for this Cake!'

Anyway, I'd got this far, had to get to the end....final thing was to cover the rather bashed looking cake with the remaining frosting, which resulted in this!


I was frazzled & was now referring to it as 'this bl***y cake!' Anyway, I had a moment, drank a large glass of Rose & took another look at it. I was quite chuffed I'd done it! But I guess the final test was how it looked when I cut into it & most importantly how it tasted. So, did it look like Gesine's? No, but it didn't collapse into a heap of crumbs & I was quite pleased that I'd managed to create the general effect intended. It tasted nice, but if I'm honest considering the amount of time & ingredients that went into it I was expecting to be blown away. It's not as sweet as it looks, particularly the frosting which is a good thing, but I'm sorry to say I found it a bit on the bland side :-(

Anyway, mission accomplished, I have made a Patience Cake, it wasn't to my taste, but that's not to say you might love it! I'm going for a lie down to recover! Rebecca x

Sweet Nostalgia #2 - Wham Bar

Following on from Flumps, this week I've re-discovered Wham Bars. A toxic pink chew bar with super sour fizzy bits, they are one of the few sweets that doesn't seem to have got smaller as I've got bigger! I'm sure these are a dentists worst nightmare & if I had any fillings it would have pulled them out, but I enjoyed every bit of it! My next mission is to try & track down a Highland Toffee bar...anyone know where they still sell them? Rebecca x

New challenge - recipe testing!

One of the nicest things about writing a blog is that along the way you get to meet lots of lovely people who are as obsessive about things as you are! Just as I had come to the end of my baking challenge I replied to a tweet request asking for people who fancied recipe testing. The tweet came from a lady named Vanessa Kimbell, who very excitingly is launching her first cook book later this year. After a chat on the phone it was decided that I would test Vanessa's recipe for Orange & Cardamon Barfi, I would continue writing my blog & that I had an invite to visit Northampton sometime in early June (Vanessa is a very persuasive person :-) So I'm happy to say that I am now a....
The ethos of the book is to provide recipes for time short foodies, allowing you to prepare as much as possible in advance, thus being PREPPED! I get so frustrated when recipes don't quite work for me, so I love the fact that Vanessa has shared her recipes for people to test, making sure that everything works as it should. So how did I get on?

I must admit Barfi doesn't have the most appealing name! It's a traditional Indian sweet made mostly from milk, flavoured with spices, fruit & nuts. Vanessa's version adds orange zest & cardamon powder which gives it a delicious fragrant flavour.

It was really simple to make & didn't require any real cooking (other than a bit of melting!) You just need to allow a few hours to leave it to set in a pan before you can cut it into pieces. Barfi has a deliciously rich flavour & I'd recommend it as something different to have with an after dinner coffee.


Thanks to Vanessa for the opportunity to test this & play a teeny tiny part in what I'm sure will be a very successful book!

Why not pop over to Prepped to view the this recipe & lots of other yummy ideas .

Good luck with the launch! Rebecca x

Week 52 - Coffee & Walnut Cake

Hello cake mates, it's with a tinge of sadness that I'm bringing you the final treat from Rebecca Bakes Cakes. The past 52 weeks have gone really quickly & I'm honestly dead chuffed that I've done it! It was this time last year that I made a batch of Spiced Apple Muffins & had the crazy idea to bake something every week for a year & blog about it. Reading back over those early posts it's funny to see how my writing has changed & as it turns out I've enjoyed the writing just as much as the baking! My biggest triumph was probably the Malteser Cookies that became finalists in the My Dish chocolate lovers competition. Biggest disaster, the Crumpets in week 44, you can relive the whole debacle with video commentary.

But enough reminiscing...lets stick to the matter in hand & get onto the cake. As you know I do have a day job working in the marketing department for Douwe Egberts coffee, therefore it seemed fitting to finish on a classic coffee & walnut cake. In a final shameless plug for one of our products, it was made with Pure Indulgence instant coffee!

For the cake
250g butter
225g caster sugar
4 eggs
2tsps vanilla essence
250g self raising flour
2tbps instant coffee dissolved in 25ml warm water
80g walnut pieces

For the frosting
100g butter, softened
400g icing sugar
1tsp vanilla essence
1tbsp instant coffee dissolved in 10ml water

To decorate (optional)
Walnut halves
Chocolate coffee beans
Chocolate sprinkles

1. Cream the butter & sugar together until light & fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each one, next add the vanilla. Sift in the flour & fold together until you have a lovely smooth batter. Finally stir in the coffee & walnuts until all combined.

2. Line the bottom & grease the sides of 2 cake pans. Divide the mixture between the pans, bake in the oven at 180c/GM4 for around 25 minutes until they are well risen, golden & springy to the touch. Lift out & leave to cool in the pans.

3. To make the frosting cream together the butter & sugar, then add the vanilla & coffee. Beat well until you have a silky smooth texture. I had quite a subtle coffee flavour in my icing, you could easily increase the amount you use if you like a stronger taste or cut it out completely for a vanilla frosting?

4. Next level off one of the cakes & spread a thick layer of the frosting on the top. Place the second cake on top of that & cover it with the remaining frosting. Decorate at will!

So there we go, all done! Thank you to everyone for reading over the last 52 weeks & for all your lovely comments & emails. I have a feeling this won't be the last you see of me, I think I've been bitten by the blogging bug & will be back. But for now, that's all from Rebecca Bakes Cakes, it's been a blast. Take care, Rebecca x

p.s. I've put together a round up of all my creations. Click here to see it...

Week 51 - Devils Food Cake

Happy new year everyone, hope you all had a lovely weekend & are looking forward to 2011. It seems a bit strange that as most people seem to be talking about fresh new challenges for the year ahead & new years resolutions, I'm about to bring my year long baking challenge to a close. Feel a little bit behind with things!

So this week I am baking to take part in a blogging event called Forever Nigella. I got a copy of her new cookbook, Kitchen, for Christmas so I thought this was a perfect opportunity to crack it open! I have quite a collection of her books & if I'm honest like to imagine myself as a bit of a Nigella in the kitchen. The reality is I don't look half as glamorous & usually have flour in my hair! Here's me at Christmas in my Mum's kitchen trying to do my best Nigella impression, complete with posh pinny & gin & tonic in hand!

The Forever Nigella event is hosted by Maison Cupcake, visit her blog to find out more details, but the idea is basically to pay homage to the Domestic Goddess by making & blogging about her recipes. Each month there will be a different theme, this month it's Seasonal Sensations, so there's loads to choose from. I've chosen to make Devils Food Cake as an indulgent treat to help ease me back into the work routine. I always find that post-Christmas can be a bit tricky, it's cold, daylight is in short supply so it's a good excuse for comfort food. I know everyone seems to be on a diet or detox, but lets face it, life's too short, so lets us eat cake! I'm not able to publish the actual recipe on my blog unfortunately, so here's a link to it as featured on the BBC Food website. Devils Food Cake was featured in episode 12 of Nigella Kitchen on BBC1


This is the most delicious, indulgent chocolate cake I have ever made & I love it as it's not sickly sweet as some milk chocolate cakes can be. My only challenge now is how on earth do I get it off the cake stand & into a tin?? Oh well might just have to eat it...can't have it going stale! See you next week for the Rebecca Bakes Cakes 52nd week finale! Rebecca x

Week 50 - Windsor Mess

Happy Christmas everyone! I hope you've all had a lovely break? Me, I had lovely few days relaxing at my Mum's, thankfully I managed to shake off the cold I had & my appetite returned to something resembling normal. I hope you were all good this year & Santa brought you lots of lovely things? I had an early Christmas present on Christmas Eve, the local paper published an article about my year long baking, blogging challenge! The article also invited readers to send in suggestions for my final recipe...it is only 2 weeks away, yikes! I extend that invitation to you too, if you think I've missed an essential recipe, or you have a favourite you'd like to suggest I'd love to hear from you. Just leave a comment on this post or send me an email at rebeccabakescakes@hotmail.com. I was quite chuffed with the article, although having my photo taken in my kitchen was a little stressful! Click here to have a look at the online version of the article.

So this weeks recipe is a dessert rather than a cake, but after copious amounts of Christmas cake, mince pies & Christmas pudding over the last week, I thought this might be a welcome change. It's my twist on the classic Eton Mess, as I live just a hop over the bridge in Windsor, I thought I'd call it a Windsor Mess (apologies if this is already copywritten or in existence!) Eton Mess is made with raspberries & for me tastes like Summer, my version uses spiced oranges & tastes altogether more wintry & Christmassy! I also added orange rind to the meringue which gives a really subtle flavour.

For the meringue
2 egg whites
100g caster sugar
Grated rind of 1 orange

For the orange sauce
40g butter
120g demerera sugar
1 tsp mixed spice
2 tbps water
3 large oranges

Pot of whipping cream

1. Beat the egg whites until stiff, add half the sugar & orange rind then beat some more until they go stiff again. Finally fold in the other half of the sugar with a spoon. Line a baking sheet with baking paper, place dollops of the mixture onto the tray & pop in the oven at 130c/GM1 for a couple of hours until they have dried out & are crisp. My batch made 6 meringues.

2. To make the orange sauce, place the butter, sugar, spice & water into a pan. Heat gently until melted together, then bring up to the boil & bubble for a couple of minutes, take off the heat.

3. Top & tail the oranges, then carefully slice down the sides to remove all the skin & pith, then cut into small chunks. Stir the oranges into the caramel sauce & leave to cool completely. Finally whip the cream until it forms soft peaks.

4. Now for the construction! I used my martini glasses, but a sundae dish would be just as good. Take 1 of the meringues & break it into small pieces, place a spoonful of oranges in the bottom of the glass, then sprinkle over half of the crushed meringue. Add a layer of cream, the some more oranges & a couple of spoonfuls of the sauce. Finally sprinkle the rest of the meringue over the top.

I really liked this combination of the tangy oranges with the sweet caramel sauce, meringue & cream. It's perfect if you have people over for dinner as you can make everything in advance & just throw it together when you're ready to serve, well it is meant to be a mess!

All that's left for me to do is wish you a very Happy New Year, Rebecca x

p.s. don't forget to suggest a recipe for my final week!

Week 49 - Christmas Cookies

Hello! How are we all this week, survived the big freeze? I know a few weeks ago I said the snow in the Shire was a bit pathetic, well it certainly made up for it this week & it tipped it down on Saturday! It all made for a very pretty looking Windsor, but now it's all just turned into a yucky, mucky mess & I'm hoping it'll all melt away soon. I don't know about you, but I've also had to have an emergency re-think on the present front too as some things are stuck in the post! Thankfully I've finished work for the year, so it's into town for me today for some last minute shopping.

As well as the recipe this week I've also decorated my family Christmas cake, click here if you want to have a look at the finished article, must admit I'm quite chuffed with it. There's also a suggestion as to what to do with the marzipan you generally always get left with!

So this weeks recipe is a really simple sugar cookie, they make lovely tree decorations & I have heard a rumour that they are in fact a favourite of Santa Claus!

125g butter
150g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
225g plain flour
Few drops of vanilla essence
100g icing sugar mixed with water to a thick paste
Edible decorations (optional)


1. Cream the butter & sugar together until light & fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk & vanilla, then finally stir in the flour & combine until you get a firm dough. My kitchen is quite cold & I have granite surfaces, so I found kneading it a little to warm it up helped it along, it was quite crumbly otherwise.

2. Roll out the dough to around 5mm thick, then cut out into whatever shapes you like. I made stars, then used a skewer to poke a hole for the ribbon in the top. Bake in the oven on a baking sheet lined with paper at 180c/GM4 for 8-10 minutes. Keep an eye on them as they turn from light golden (what you want) to burnt (not what you want!) very quickly!

3. Leave to cool thoroughly, then attach a ribbon or string through the hole & decorate at will! I used the silver balls & sugar snowmen I had left over from last weeks Gingerbread House.

So that's all from me for this week, I hope you all have a lovely Christmas. Thanks for all your support & comments on my marathon blogging baking challenge, it's very much appreciated. I'll see you again next week as we head closer towards the Rebecca Bakes Cakes finale, only 3 weeks to go!

Happy Christmas!

Rebecca x

Week 48 - Gingerbread House

Hello my festive friends! Please be nice to me this week, I've come down with a horrible cold & am rapidly losing my voice. I currently sound like Mariella Frostrup, which to be honest would be quite nice if it didn't hurt so much. Sadly it also means most of my tastebuds have gone on strike so I'm not really enjoying my food at the minute which is torture! There's only 10 days to go until Christmas, so I'm hoping for a speedy recovery, Christmas in our house is all about the eating & drinking, it's not going to be much fun if I can't taste it :-(

This week I've finally got round to doing something I've planned for about the last 3 Christmases, I've made a gingerbread house! I'm not sure why I've had this desire, maybe it was being read Hansel & Gretel as a child!? Maybe it's because I used to love building Lego houses & the thought of an edible one was just too tempting? The gingerbread itself is really easy to make, you just need a bit of time & patience to construct & decorate it. It's quite therapeutic really, although I think I probably ended up eating more sweeties than ended up on the house! I used mini marshmallows to create the snow, milky way stars for the roof & a mixture of jelly tots, smarties & tooty frooties for the rest of the decoration. I also had some really cute little sugar snowmen & white sugar sprinkles that looked like ice. You can use whatever you want really, let your imagination run wild! I've also included a house template below, I just cut mine out of baking paper.

100g butter
100g demerara sugar
200g golden syrup
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsps bicarbonate of soda
1 egg
500g plain flour
200g icing sugar
Assorted sweets to decorate
Cake board

1. Put the sugar & syrup into a pan & bring it up to boiling point over a gentle heat. Add the bicarb & give it a good stir, it will turn cloudy & froth up a bit so make sure you have room in the pan!

2. Chop the butter into small chunks & put into a large mixing bowl. Add the syrup mixture to the butter & stir until the butter is melted. Beat in the egg, then mix in the flour a little at a time until you end up with quite a stiff dough.

3. Dust a work surface with flour, then roll out the dough to about 5mm thick. Cut out 2 of each of the template shapes & place them onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake in the oven at 170c/GM3 for 10-15 minutes. I baked mine in 3 batches, leaving them to cool completely on the paper

4. Now comes the tricky bit! Firstly trim the sides of each panel, this makes it fit together a little easier. Next mix the icing sugar with a little water until you have a stiff paste. Take one of the side panels, spread a thin layer of icing on the bottom & stick it to the cake board. Repeat with all the sections using the icing as cement, putting the roof on last. You might need to hold this in place for a couple of minutes to leave it to set. Then go wild with the decorating! Leave to set in a cool place.

I love my gingerbread house, although I don't think I could ever bring myself to destroy it! So with that in mind I have wrapped it up & donated it to our annual Christmas charity raffle at work. Hopefully it will go to a good home & it will be happily broken up & devoured, herein fulfilling it's Christmas Gingerbread destiny! Have a good week, see you next time, Rebecca x

Week 47 - Florentines

Blimey it's cold! Hope you're managing to stay warm & haven't been snowed in, we've had rather pathetic flurry in the Royal Borough so sadly no snow days for me :-( I'm very excited that the Windsor Ice Rink returns this year! It's in Alexandra Gardens in the centre of Windsor, right by the banks of the river, it's a beautiful setting & sure to make you feel in the Christmas spirit. It opens this weekend, take a look at the website for opening times & booking information.

So I'm launching into full on foodie prep for the festive season & this weeks recipe has become a bit of an annual tradition. I really like making foodie gifts at Christmas & these are perfect to take to dinner or a party as a thank you gift. Last year I also made Santa cookies for my friends at work, the idea was to leave them for Santa on Christmas Eve, but if I'm honest I don't think many of them made it out of the office! Florentines are really easy to prepare, but if I'm honest once they come out of the oven they are a little fiddly to finish. But have patience & it'll be well worth it in the end!

150g butter
150g light brown sugar
100g flaked almonds
50g chopped nuts
40g mixed peel
100g glace cherries
100g raisins
150g dark chocolate, melted

1. Melt the butter in a pan, stir in the sugar & heat gently until it dissolves & just starts to bubble. Take off the heat & stir in all the other ingredients.

2. Line a baking sheet with baking paper & place small dollops of the mixture, leaving space in between for them to spread. Bake in the oven at 180c/GM4 for 8-10 minutes.

3. Lift out the oven, slide the paper off onto a wire rack for the florentines to cool. Line the tray with fresh paper & spoon out the next batch.

4. Once all cooked & completely cooled, carefully peel them off the paper, you might need to slide a knife underneath to help. Place them face down on the paper & cover the bottom with the melted chocolate & leave to set.

When the chocolate was completely set I packed them into sellophane gift bag. I bought mine from Morrisons supermarket, but did also notice them in Sainsburys. They were around £2 for a pack of 10, with ribbons & I just added a simple silver gift tag. My batch made 28 florentines, but you could easily half or double the quantities depending on how many you need. Enjoy! Next week I think I'll be trying my hand at some baking construction, until then, Rebecca x

Week 46 - Red Velvet Cupcakes

Pinch & a punch for the first of the month, it's December so the Christmas countdown starts today! The tree will be going up at the weekend & I'm really looking forward to the party season. We're starting early with our work do tomorrow evening, outfit is sorted, nails are done, just need to work out how exactly you use a velcro roller & I'm ready to go. I bought a gorgeous new pair of heels which are pretty much sky scrapers, even by my standards. I've been off work today so thought I'd better try them out, you should have seen me, teetering round the house in my jammies & a pair of 4 inch heels, actually it's probably best you didn't see me! They're remarkably comfy, but I think as back up I should try & get a pair of those fold able ballet pumps to stick in my handbag...I have a feeling I might have to abandon the stilts at some point!

So entries to my second giveaway closed yesterday & thanks to the random number generator I'm happy to announce the Kel of Writings, Ramblings & Reviews is my lucky winner! Well done Kel, I hope you like the mugs, given the Arctic conditions I hope you enjoy using them to warm up with a nice hot brew? With only 6 weeks left to go in my baking challenge, I'm hoping I can bring you a finale giveaway soon...watch this space.

This weeks recipe is something that I've wanted to try for quite some time & comes from the very beautiful Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. The red velvet is created by mixing together red food colouring with cocoa powder & vanilla essence to form a paste. Word of advice, do not mistake this as melted chocolate & lick the spoon...eh Mum? I baked this week at my Mum's house & before I could stop her she did exactly that, looked like she'd gone all vampire like & had to spend 20 minutes brushing her teeth!

For the cakes
60g butter
150g caster sugar
1 egg
10g cocoa powder
20ml red food colouring
1/2tsp vanilla essence
120ml whole milk
150g plain flour
1/2tsp salt
1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2tsps white wine vinegar

For the frosting
300g icing sugar
50g butter
125g cream cheese

1. Beat together the butter & sugar until light & fluffy, then beat in the egg. Mix together the cocoa powder, food colouring & vanilla until you have a smooth paste. Add this to the butter mixture & beat well until all combined.

2. With the mixer on a slow speed, beat in half the milk, then half the flour. Repeat with the remaining ingredients until you have a lovely smooth mixture. Finally add the salt, bicarb & vinegar, then turn up the mixer & beat well for a couple of minutes.

3. Line a 12 whole bun tin with paper cases & fill each about 3/4 full with mixture. Bake in the oven at 170c/GM3 for around 20-25 minutes until well risen & springy to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin.

4. To make the frosting, beat the icing sugar & butter together, then add the cream cheese & beat for around 5 minutes until fluffy, spread this frosting all over the top of the cakes when cool.

These are really delicious & as the name suggests, have a lovely velvety texture! Have a good week, I'm giving my Christmas cake it's final drink of brandy before tackling the decorations! See ya, Rebecca x

Week 45 - Cherry Upside Down Cake

Evening everyone! Hope you're all well? I'm trying to relax (with a glass of red!) after a rather stressful day at work. I had a minor meltdown when I thought I'd lost my 3 year marketing plan presentation I'd been working on for weeks, with only an hour to go before I was due to present it to the whole company...arrgghhh! I was dealing with it quite calmly, but panic quickly set in & my poor colleague who I share an office had to deal with tears which could have quickly descended into a full on tantrum! Turns out our delightful IT system had saved it in a completely random place (to be honest that could have been me, it was late when I left the office last night!) & the presentation was safe & sound. Big sigh of relief, but man alive today has been a long day.

Anyway enough about work, can you believe it's only 31 days until Christmas? I have finally given in & made a start on my Christmas shopping at the weekend. To say thank you for the blog support I've had over the last year, I bought an extra gift which I'm giving away this week. Click here for details. The other thing I need to start planning is how I'm going to decorate the Christmas cake. I think it's ready, there's enough brandy in it, I realised the other day it's been fed the best part of half a bottle! I did say it usually comes with an ABV rating.

So this weeks recipe is my alternative take on a pineapple upside down cake. I love cherries & think they work really well in cakes. I've used my latest find, frozen sweet dark cherries, which I bought from Sainsburys. They are delicious & I've taken to adding them to desserts, yoghurt, as a garnish...anything really.

100g butter
225g self raising flour
100g caster sugar
175g frozen cherries
1 beaten egg
1/2tsp vanilla essence
75-150ml milk

1. Rub in the flour & butter until you get fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar, then the egg & vanilla & enough milk until you get a soft dropping consistency.

2. Grease a loose bottomed cake tin & spread the cherries over the base of the tin. Pour over the cake batter & spread our evenly. Bake in the oven at 180c/GM4 for 1hour - 1hour15 until golden brown & firm to touch. (I'd recommend putting a baking tray on the shelf below in case the cherry juice leaks out!)

3. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out carefully onto a rack to cool.

The cherries sink into the cake mix, producing a delicious gooey topping & the cake itself is quite dense & rich. It goes really well with a cup of tea, but it would work equally as well as a dessert served warm with either a good lashing of custard or a scoop of vanilla ice-cream! Hope you enjoy, have a good week & don't forget to enter the giveaway, Rebecca x

Week 43 - Viennese Biscuits

Afternoon folks, I've had a day off today so I'm feeling all relaxed & am writing this with a cup of tea & one of this weeks biccies! Can you believe that I'm in to the final 10 weeks of my blogging challenge. It's gone so fast, but I'm wondering what to do with all the recipes I've tried over the year? A book maybe? :-) For now I have to concentrate on the final 9 recipes, if anyone has any suggestions please let me know...

This week I had some good news, the blog has been nominated in the Dorset Cereals Little Blog Awards! It's a monthly award & voting takes place throughout November. So if you like my blog & enjoy reading then please vote & spread the word. You could also be in with a chance of winning a delicious Dorset Cereals goodie bag too! Click here to vote or follow the link on the right, thank you x

I thought we'd go all continental like this week with a Viennese Biscuit, they were meant to be Viennese Fingers but it didn't quite go to plan! These were really easy to make, they're pretty much a very short shortbread & this recipe came from my vintage Be-Ro book. Once you've made the mixture, you are meant to put it into a piping bag with a rosette nozzle & pipe 6cm strips of mixture onto a baking tray. Well I have a piping gun & could not for the life of me squeeze anything out of it as the mixture was so stiff, so I popped it in the microwave for 10 seconds! That seemed to do the trick, but rather than keep their traditional spiky shape, as soon as I put them in the oven they flopped into a splat!

150g butter
50g caster sugar
150g self raising flour
Few drops vanilla essence
100g plain chocolate

1. Cream together the butter & sugar, make sure it's really well beaten & soft.

2. Stir in the flour & vanilla. Scoop it into a piping bag or gun & pipe 6cm strips onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake in the oven at 160c/GM3 for 15 minutes until just golden.

3. Leave to cool & crisp up, then melt the chocolate & dip one end of each biscuit.

So they may not have the shape of the shop bought ones, but they are delicious none the less. Let me know if or how you managed to get yours to keep their shape! Have a good week, don't forget to vote, Rebecca x

Week 42 - Toffee Apples

Evening everyone, how are you adjusting to the clocks going back? I'm not liking the dark evenings, it feels like I'm leaving work in the middle of the night! Never mind only what, 6 months until we're back on BST?!

So it's Guy Fawkes Night this Friday & I thought I'd mark the occasion with a Bonfire Night treat. I'm not quite sure why I associate toffee apples with this time of year, but I do remember as a kid nagging Mum to buy one for me (I also liked the chocolate ones that were covered in sprinkles!) Growing up in a small town in Northumberland, Bonfire Night was a big deal, it started with a candle lit procession through town up to the bonfire, then a fireworks display that was sure to bring out the oohs & aahs! The event was usually newsworthy for the local paper & yours truly even got her picture in the paper one year. We've dug it out of the Hodgson archive & here it is. Yes I do look like the Michelin man, Northumberland in November is a very cold place!

So question of the week...you probably know the start of the rhyme, but do you know how it finishes?

Remember remember the 5th of November, gunpowder, treason & plot. I see no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.


Useless information of the week over, back to the baking...Now I know these aren't strictly cake, but I'm exercising creative licence & I have made the toffee from scratch, so there was some element of cooking involved :-) This recipe came from my traditional 1970's Good Housekeeping cookbook, can't go wrong!

450g demerera sugar
50g butter
10ml vinegar
15ml golden syrup
150ml water
6-8 apples & lolly sticks

1. Put all the ingredients (except the apples!) into a large heavy bottomed saucepan. Heat gently until the butter & sugar have dissolved, then turn up the heat & boil it rapidly for 5-8 minutes. The recipe said to use a sugar thermometer, but I don't have one. I tested it by dropping a small dollop into a glass of cold water, if it holds together & set immediately then it's ready to use.

2. Stick the lolly stick into the apple, then dunk it in the toffee, be very careful, hot sugar can be lethal! Lift it out & keep twirling it to even out the toffee, then dunk it in a bowl of cold water for 10 seconds, still twirling. Place it onto a piece of baking parchment to set completely. If your toffee sets in the pan before you can coat all the apples, simply put it back on the heat & bring it up to the boil again.

Do you know these almost didn't happen, there wasn't a lolly stick to be found in my local area, I ended up having to buy ice lollies just to get the sticks! It was either that or spearing them with a plastic fork. I hope you enjoy them & sorry but I can't be held responsible if the toffee causes havoc with your fillings! Have a fun Bonfire Night & please remember the fireworks code (that's the public service announcement for this week!) Take care, Rebecca x

Week 41 - Chocolate Raspberry Muffins

Hello, how are we all this week? I can't believe how quickly the weeks are whizzing by & to be honest I've been so busy with the day job there's nothing much exciting been happening! So this week I've decided to stay true to the cake & just share this weeks recipe with you. Oh & by way of a public service announcement, don't forget the clocks go back this Sunday, an extra hour in bed...yey!!

125g butter
200g caster sugar
2 eggs
175g plain flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
35g cocoa powder
250ml greek yoghurt
100g raspberries (fresh or frozen)

1. Melt the butter, beat in the sugar then the eggs, finally stir in the yoghurt.

2. Sift in the flour, baking powder, bicarb & cocoa powder & fold the ingredients together.

3. Line a bun tin with paper cases & spoon in the mixture. Finally sprinkle the raspberries over the top of each muffin & bake in the oven at 180c/GM4 for around 20 minutes. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then lift out onto a rack.

I think these are delicious, the sharp raspberries really balance the sweet chocolate & the yoghurt gives them a lovely soft texture. Hope you enjoy them! Don't spook yourselves too much this halloween & I'll see you next week with a bonfire night treat, not strictly cake, but something I've always wanted to have a go at making! Until then, Rebecca x

Week 40 - Apple Cider Cake

I have to start this weeks post with a confession & apology! Last week I mentioned I would be making something for my best friends birthday & it would be a bit of a challenge for me...I wasn't wrong there. As a result I had to turn up to my BF's birthday dinner, sans cake! Dear readers, my experience last weekend has just confirmed that I really can't do pastry. At the request of my BF I attempted to make Profiteroles, my mum had said she'd made them years ago & thought they were pretty straight forward, how hard can it be I thought...silly Rebecca! Here's a picture & yes I am a little embarrassed to call myself a home baker after this...

Needless to say I didn't bother filling them with cream & topping them with chocolate. Mum was suitably confused as to what went wrong & as she was stuck in the house poorly, decided to have a go herself. This is what she produced...
All I can say is good work Mum! I also got to taste one & they were delicious, maybe I should hand over the reins to Mum, could always change the blog to Val Bakes Cakes!

Anyway onto more successful cakes & this weeks recipe. This week is National Baking Week & Thursday is also Apple Day. Apple Day was founded in 1990 by Common Ground to celebrate apples, orchards & local distinctiveness, what better excuse for an apple cider cake? This recipe is one I've had in my scrap book for a number of years, I think it originally came from BBC Good Food magazine.

For the cake
330ml cider
150g unsalted butter
300g plain flour
2tsps bicarbonate of soda
1tsp mixed spice
1tsp ground cinnamon
4 apples, peeled & grated
150g soft brown sugar
2 eggs
200g sultanas or raisins

For the topping
250g marscapone
1tsp cinnamon

1. Put the cider into a pan & simmer it until it reduces by about two thirds. Place to one side to cool a little.

2. Melt the butter, then stir in the grated apple & sugar. Stir in the eggs & sultanas, then finally sift in the flour & spice & fold together.

3. Pour the mixture into a buttered springform tin & bake in the oven at 180c/GM4 for 45-60 minutes. You need to keep an eye on it, the top of mine over browned a little! It's done when a skewer stuck in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

4. Beat the marscapone with the cinnamon until soft, spread it all over the top of the cake when it's completely cold.

I love this cake, the apples & cider give it a really moist texture. Hope you enjoy it & if anyone else is inspired by National Baking Week I'd love to hear what you create. See you next week, Rebecca x

Week 39 - Christmas Cake

Hello, how are we all? So bad news out of the way first, I didn't win the Brownie Bake Off :-( Lets get straight on to happier news from cake towers!!

You may remember a couple of months back I told you I'd joined a gym to try & counteract all the cake I was scoffing as a result of this challenge. Well it was a 6 week trial & in true me style I got bored & have decided not to join up full time, so that leaves a big exercise shaped hole in my week. You might not know this, but as well as being an amateur baker & fluffy marketer, I'm also a tap dancer & go to a class once a week! Inspired by Strictly starting again I decided I'd have a go at a new dance class. I say dance, it's aerobics really, but takes it's moves from a number of different dance styles & it's the new 'thing' to do apparently. It's ZUMBA & quite honestly it's bonkers! You really have to leave your self consciousness at the door & are encouraged to shake what your Mama gave you as much as possible (sadly mine shakes in different directions at the same time!) It's a brilliant work out & a lot of fun, I've never laughed so much through a class before, I'll definitely be going back. I hope I won't get bored of it, I'm starting to run short of exercise options!

Now you may look at the title of this weeks post & think, give over, it's only October I can't possibly think about Christmas yet? But it's exactly the right time to make the cake, especially if you're like me & want it to marinade in brandy for the next 10 weeks. This is a bit of a tradition in the Hodgson household & usually comes with a ABV rating!  The recipe is taken from an old Good Housekeeping cook book that has been in the family for years.
225g currants
225g sultanas
225g raisins
100g mixed peel
100g glace cherries chopped
50g flaked almonds
225g plain flour
1tsp mixed spice
225g butter
225g soft brown sugar
Grated rind of a lemon
4 eggs, beaten
2tbsps brandy

1. Cream the butter, sugar & lemon rind until light & fluffy, then add the eggs a little at a time, beating as you go. Fold in flour, spice & brandy, finally mix in the fruit & nuts.

2. Cut out a piece of baking paper to line the bottom of the tin, then cut another piece that will fit around the inside of the tin. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin & bake in the oven at 150c/GM3 for 3 3/4 - 4 hours. To stop the top over browning I cover it with a piece of baking paper after about an hour and a half.

3. When cooked, lift it out & leave to cool completely in the tin. I leave mine in the baking paper & store it in an airtight tin. About a week later, poke holes in the top of the cake using a skewer, then drizzle a tablespoon of brandy over the top. Repeat once a week (or as often as you like!) until Christmas.

I usually decorate my cake the week before Christmas, so I'll keep you posted about my decoration of choice this year. Enjoy your week, I'll be back with a treat I'm creating for my best friends birthday...it's set to be a challenge for me! Till then, Rebecca x

Week 38 - Lemon Drizzle Cake

Evening! It's been a busy week this week with lots to tell you, but first I'd like to say thanks to those of you who shared your Victoria Sponge secrets. It really was the most pathetic excuse for a cake, but I think I've picked up a good few tips & will be testing them out in the coming weeks. I'll let you know how I get on...

So as well as the weekly recipe, I've also been practising for the Great Brownie Bake Off this Saturday. I've just about perfected the recipe so bring on the competition! You can find more details about the event here If you're in the area come along, it looks like a great line up of demonstrations from various bakers as well as appearance by Edd, winner of the Great British Bake Off. Fingers crossed, results next week.

Thanks to everyone who voted in my poll last week, it was a bit of a contest between Peanut Butter Cookies & Lemon Drizzle Cake, poor old Carrot Cake didn't seem to get a look in! Lemon Drizzle won, so here's my take on the tea time classic. This week I was kindly sent a selection of products from Total Greek Yoghurt to experiment with in my baking. I have used yoghurt before in muffins & it really does give a delicious soft texture. So I thought I'd try adding it to a Lemon Drizzle Cake, it's the perfect addition to ensure a squidgy, gooey cake...for me, exactly what Lemon Drizzle should be!

300g plain flour
200g caster sugar
170g butter melted
250ml Total Greek Yoghurt
2 eggs
1 heaped tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 lemons zested & juiced
100g granulated sugar

1. Beat together the sugar & eggs, add the melted butter, yoghurt & lemon zest. Finally stir in the flour, baking powder & bicarb.

2. Pour into a baking tin & bake at 180c/GM5 for around 45-55 minutes until well risen & golden on the top. Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then lift out onto a rack.

3. To make the drizzle, mix together the lemon juice & granulated sugar. Once cooled, using a skewer poke small holes into the top of the cake, then pour over the drizzle. This doesn't have to be exact as it will all seep through the cake. Leave it to set & you should have a gorgeous sugar crust on the top!

So there you have it, delicious Lemon Drizzle Cake & as its got yoghurt in it, we can kid ourselves it's healthy. I'll be trying out a few other things with the yoghurt including a dessert my Kiwi colleague recommended called Ambrosia (no not custard), which looks like a variation on an Eton Mess! Enjoy, till next week, Rebecca x

Week 37 - Victoria Sponge (attempt 1!)

Hello! I'm so excited, after weeks of procrastinating & deliberating over colours I am now the proud owner of a shiny new Kitchen Aid mixer! It's an absolute lump of a thing, but it's soooo pretty. I think it's going to take a bit of trial & error to get the best out of it, it's a bit different from my battered old food processor. I love having such an icon in my kitchen, makes me feel like a proper grown up! The next big decision was what to make this week to christen it? I settled on a classic Victoria Sponge cake which to be honest I've never had much success with in the past. I thought I'd see if the Kitchen Aid helped me any, short answer...it didn't!

I'm not really quite sure where I'm going wrong? The mixture did seem a little lumpy, but it rose quite well (but dropped back just as quickly!) The texture is moist, but it was a little on the heavy side. If anyone has any tips on making the perfect Victoria Sponge I'd love to hear them. I will be practising, I want to get to the ultimate cake by week 52! Don't worry it won't just be the same recipe for the next 15 weeks, that would get a bit boring eh? But I'll keep you updated on my progress.

For the cake
100g butter
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
100g self raising flour

For the filling
75g butter
175g icing sugar
3tbsp strawberry jam

1. Cream the butter & sugar until light & fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Finally fold in the flour.

2. Grease a cake pan & pour in the mixture, spreading it evenly. Bake in the oven at 190c/GM5 for around 20 minutes. Leave to cool on a rack.

3. Cream together the butter & icing sugar to make the butter cream filling. Using a bread knife, cut the cake through the middle, then sandwich the two halves together with the butter cream & jam.

I think I could have split the mixture between 2 tins, maybe I'll try that next time? Granted it's not the most attractive looking cake (not as pretty as the Kitchen Aid!!), but I have to say it tasted good. Just need to improve on the light & fluffiness!

You may have noticed a new feature on the blog, a poll for you dear readers! I'd like you to choose next weeks recipe for me, I've chosen 3 recipes that I haven't yet got round to baking, just vote for your favourite & that's what I'll make next week, simples! Enjoy, Rebecca x

My new baby!