A Tale of Two Cakes

Yesterday saw me spend a lot of my day in the kitchen and I already told you about the two loaves I made, but I also decided to experiment with cake (again!).

A chat with my friend Jo at the cinema, while waiting for Robert Downey Jr to blow up a crap load of stuff on a momumental scale, saw a plan slowly develop.  I already knew I wanted to make cinder toffee but I also wanted to make it a little different and incorporate it into cake.  Unfortunately it didn't turn out quite as I'd hoped.

First thing first, here's the recipe I used for the cinder toffee.  Be warned; this makes a significant amount!  My plan was to add toasted pecans, which is what did, however my first attempt with a different recipe went very wrong and my pecan supply was somewhat depleted for the second attempt.  The result was that you can barely taste the pecans, which is a huge shame because they're sooooo good!  What I did do right though was to break it into chunks and coat them in milk chocolate.

Chocolate coated Pecan Cinder Toffee

Yes, it all sounds like a lot of effort for what is essentially a Crunchie bar, but it's nowhere near the amount of hassle you think it will be and at the end of it you have a huge amount sweet, crunchy goodness.  Bonus!

So how did I incorporate this into cake?  It was a bit of a no-brainer, really.  I made cupcakes using chocolate sponge topped with icing made from mascarpone and a rather lovely toffee sauce, and sat them on top.  Not elegant, perhaps, but certainly eye-catching!



Chocolate Pecan Toffee Crunch


Next time I'll use more pecans, grind them finer and spread them on the bottom of the tin before pouring over the bubbling toffee.  I'll also think of something to hide beneath the icing, because I love people to find a nice little surprise when all they expected was cake (extra chocolate coating perhaps with toffee sauce inside, or some fudge).  Maybe I'll add ground pecans to the cake batter.  This is one of my problems; I have so many ideas that I don't know where to go next!

Another idea I had recently involved an attempt at a bribe plus a small thank you to a very interesting person.  A couple of weeks ago I went to see Derren Brown's new stage show, Infamous (fabulous, btw... stunning, sensitive, personal, impressive and well... astounding!), and one of the people I went with is not only a huge fan herself, but so is her son Harry, and she was taking him to see the show a few days later.  Because I'd been a (small) part of one of his shows last year I decided to attempt flattery, a thank you for the positive effect the experience had on me, and a bribe.  The purpose was for Harry to have a few moments with his hero.  So I went to the stage door afterwards armed with cakes and a letter for Derren about Harry (and a little ego-stroking too, of course.  Well deserved, I might add!).

As it turns out, the handwritten letter that accompanied the cakes wasn't read until the day after they met, but Rachel, Harry's mum, reported back to say that he thought the cakes were "amazing" and he had a hard time believing they were homemade.  The following day I was surprised and ever so chuffed to find a message from Derren directly saying that both the cakes and Harry were "terrific".  Now here's the thing; I don't hold his opinion any higher than anyone else's, but I rarely get feedback from people I don't know about the things I bake.  I always assume there's a degree of flattery involved because people who know me don't want to hurt my feelings.  So to find out that not only he adored them, but that one of his trusty team, Max, scoffed five down his gullet like a feckin' hoover, well that just made my day!  I'm also chuffed to bits to say that pre-letter, Derren was downright fabulous with Harry and broke his own rule about not posing for a photograph.  He's a delightful, charming, kind person, and I know one little boy who will never, ever forget that evening in the presence of his hero.

Okay, so back to the cakes.  Today I recreated the bribe because a friend wore me down over the last week at work and I could stand it no longer.  Today is her birthday, so I could hardly refuse.

These cakes were and are Blueberry & Lemon Cupcakes (a slight tweak on an earlier experiment).

They're lemon sponge with a small well cut into the top (like you would do for butterfly cakes).  In that well I put a spoonful of home-made blueberry and lemon curd (recipe is here, with the addition of lemon zest and juice to taste).  I then made two butter icings.  One was flavoured with the same blueberry and lemon curd, and the other was flavoured with just lemon curd.

I then spooned each butter icing carefully into the piping bag, each flavour on its own side, and swirled it on the top in a kind of Mr Whippy stylee, and topped them with a few sugar crystals.



Blueberry & Lemon Cupcakes


I have to admit, they're tangy and delicious.  When I first made these a couple of weeks ago I didn't get to taste a full one myself.  As I type I have a cake sat on the desk beside me just begging to be eaten.  Just a sec...

Oh...

Mmmmmmmm...

Oh my.  Um.  Yes, that was mmmm...

See, this is a problem.  How's a girl to lose any weight while she makes cakes for other people?  Not that I'm especially complaining.  Not really.

So there they are.  Two successful (if one needing a slight tweak) experiments, and one happy birthday girl.



Happy Birthday, Rachel!


I get the feeling there aren't many of these remaining!

Like Mum used to make

Today has been rather productive and I'm a tad knackered!  It's a good knackered, though; the kind that gives you an ache in your bones and reminds you that you've actually done something with your day, and the kind that sees a freezer restocked with goodies.

Over on H.A.P.P.Y. last week I talked about why I bake so much and what originally inspired me.  Or rather who inspired me.  To this day I maintain that it was mum who gave me the love of baking that I have now, and with that in mind I wanted to make something from her recipe folder that I would be allowed to eat!

So the first loaf of the day came from her very own hand, and it's a fruit loaf.

I remember mum making this years and years ago.  I used to wonder how it could be that a bowl full of All Bran cereal and milk could create something so moreish, and I do still wonder the same today.  I did make a couple of small adjustments to her recipe.  I halved the sugar because quite frankly it was just way too sweet, and I added cinnamon because I just really, really like it!

This is possibly one of the simplest recipes I've ever used, and it gives fab results.

Fruit Loaf

1 heaped mug All Bran cereal
1 heaped mug mixed fruit (I just used sultanas and raisins)

½ mug caster sugar

1 mug milk (I use skimmed to keep the fat content low so I can still eat it)
1 heaped mug self raising flour
1½ teaspoons cinammon

• Put the All Bran, mixed fruit, sugar and milk in a bowl and mix.  Leave it to stand for 1 hour.
• Add the flour and cinammon, and mix well.
• Bake in a lined and greased loaf tin for 1 1/2 hours at 180°C (160 fan)

 It really is that simple.  This is the one I made today.



Almost me mam's Fruit Loaf

Sometimes I add orange and lemon zest and leave out the cinnamon.  Sometimes I crush some pecans and mix them with demerera sugar and sprinkle it on top of the loaf before baking.  Next time I might add some apple.

The loaf freezes well, and it's bloomin' gorgeous toasted and slathered in butter.  Not quite the healthier option when served like that, but rather good for an occasional treat!

I did say I was busy today, and I did also make bread.  This wasn't one of mum's recipes (I don't remember seeing any bready things in her folder at all, come to think of it), but one of Paul Hollywood's.  It's a seeded bread from his 'How to Bake' book, and it's... ohhhhh... it's so good!

This loaf incorporates pumpkin, sesame, poppy, sunflower and linseed.  There should have been another but I can't remember what it was and can't be bothered going to look!  I just used a little extra of the other seeds instead.  It uses a combination of white, wholemeal and rye flour, and there's some black treacle thrown in there for luck.  Or flavour.  Perhaps it's more for flavour.



Seeded Bread
A bit gashy, but bloody lovely!

In hindsight I may have cut the dough too deeply before it had its second prove, because rather than a nice detail of a bit of a cut down the middle, instead it has a big, gaping gash!  Oh well, at least it proved that it proved!

If you do make this, don't skimp on the mixing.  The recipe suggested using a mixer with a dough hook, and in total the mixing time is around 10 minutes.  I don't have a standalone mixer so I used a hand mixer with small dough hooks.  It worked, but it could have been much better; the loaf is a little closer in texture than it should be (but then, wholemeal flour will do that, too).  This is a wet dough that needs the intense mixing time that hands just won't easily give.

I'm using christmas vouchers to buy myself a mixer.  Yes, I know; I still have christmas vouchers!



Seeded Bread
With actual real butter...

If you love seeded bread, you'll bloody well adore this one!  I've only had one slice but could have so easily eaten half the loaf in one sitting.  As it is, I've frozen most of it and kept some aside for tomorrow's breakfast.  The will power it's taking not to go toast it right now is more than you could know!

So there you are, two loaves for the price of one; fruity and seedy.  No, it doesn't remind me of anyone, either.  Nope.  Not at all.

Anyway...

I did also make cakes and cinder toffee today but that blog entry is for tomorrow because I have more to do, so until then please wish me luck in not devouring what's not in the freezer.  I need all the help I can get!