Lemon and Raspberry Loaf

The sun is shining, and my garden is filled with daffodils, so I wanted to make something light and delicious to celebrate the start of Spring: a lemon and raspberry tea loaf. The cake is light and fluffy with a subtle lemon flavour, topped with juicy, zingy raspberries. Perfect for a sunny afternoon tea!

Based on this recipe I found on Pinterest. I love Pinterest far too much. It has ALL the things.

Ingredients:
135ml sunflower oil
135ml milk
1 tsp vanilla exract
75ml lemon juice
2 eggs
250g self-raising flour
200g caster sugar
50g raspberries

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Serves: 10

1.  Preheat the oven to 160 and line a loaf tin with baking paper.
2. Pop all of the ingredients except the raspberries into a large mixing bowl and whisk until they come together to form a smooth batter.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and pop into the oven, make sure to set a timer for 15 minutes. 
4. After 15 minutes, quickly open the oven door and sprinkle the raspberries of the top of the loaf. This should mean that they don't sink too far into the cake, but instead rest nicely on the top where they will go soft and leave lots of yummy juices.
5. Bake for a further 45 minutes, until golden brown on top (between the raspberries) and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin. Once cooled, cut into slices and serve with a cup of tea! (You could also serve with a dollop of clotted cream, if you're after a really indulgent spring-time treat!)

Happy Thoughts
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Cake'n'Bake Wednesday: Raspberry Meringues

This is another recipe I baked for September 2012's "Five-a-Day" theme, and it's one of my favourite EVER recipes. The meringues take a long time to cook, but are SO worth the wait. You can use either fresh or frozen raspberries.

4 large egg-whites (room temperature)

1tsp cream of tartar

115g caster sugar

115g icing sugar

50g raspberries

Prep time: 15-20 minutes

Cook time: 1hour 30 minutes

Makes 18 meringues

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 1 and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. Chop the raspberries into small pieces.
2. Whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar together until the egg whites are thick, opaque, and stand in stiff peaks.
3. Whisk the caster sugar into the egg whites one tbsp at a time, being sure to whisk well between each addition. If your sugar doesn’t dissolve into the egg whites properly at this stage you will end up with weepy meringues later! When all of the caster sugar has been added you should be left with a mixture that is stiff, smooth and glossy.
4. Gently fold half of the icing sugar into the meringue mixture until combined, but be careful not to beat out too much of the air you’ve whipped in! Add the remaining icing sugar and the raspberries to the meringue bowl, and fold these in gently.
5. Scoop the meringue mixture onto the baking tray using two tablespoons to shape into rough ovals, then bake for around 1 hour 30 minutes until golden brown and crispy on top.  Turn off the oven, but allow the meringues to cool inside the oven – this will create meringues which have a really crispy outer-layer, and a really gooey inside! Once completely cool, store in an airtight container until ready to serve.

Happy Thoughts,
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Raspberry Ripple Ice-Cream

Raspberry ripple is my favourite flavour ice-cream, so it was the first I wanted to try for an Ice Cream Sunday. (If you recall, January was healthy baking month so we had a healthy fruit sorbet rather than an actual ice-cream!)

This recipe uses the same base as the pistachio ice cream I made for Fun and Fancy Free all those many months ago. Due to the raw egg in this, please do not eat it if you are pregnant or poorly!

Ingredients:
For the raspberry syrup:
30g fresh raspberries
3 tbsp caster sugar
1tbsp water

For the ice cream:
1 egg
30g caster
150ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla paste
heart sprinkles, to decorate (optional)

Prep time: 30 mins
Freeze time: Minimum 6 hours
Serves: 2 to share, or 1 for an indulgent evening in!

1. Start by making your raspberry syrup, as you'll need to give this time to cool! Chop the raspberries into small chunks, then pop them into a saucepan with the sugar and the water. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally, until the sugar and raspberries have dissolved and the mixture has a syrup like consistency. Remove from the heat and set to one side to cool.
2. For the ice cream, separate the egg and place the yolk to one side. Whisk the egg white until stiff, then whisk in the sugar 1tbsp at a time, being sure to beat well between each addition to make sure the sugar dissolves. Continue to beat until the mixture is stiff and glossy.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the double cream until thick and pillowy, but not too stiff.
4. In a final bowl, beat together the egg yolk and the vanilla paste.
5. Fold the whipped cream and the egg yolk into the egg white mixture, being careful not to loose too much of the air you've worked in to each. When the mixture has come together, pour in the raspberry sauce and swirl through with a spatula. Pour the ice cream mix into a plastic container, and top with sprinkles (if using). Place the lid on the container, and freeze for at least 6 hours before serving.
6. Enjoy :-)

Happy Thoughts
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Cake'n'Bake Wednesday: Raspberry Yogurt "Cheese"cakes

January 2012 saw our lowest turn out at the Cake'n'Bake Club, mostly because people felt they had over-indulged at Christmas and needed some time off. So this year we decided to embrace the January cut-back/detox/eat-well mentality and have the theme be "Healthy New Year".

For the healthy theme, I decided to bake some mini-raspberry cheesecakes. These cheesecakes are low-fat, low-calorie, sugar-free, and cheese-free. Yep, no cheese. I shouldn't really call them cheesecakes, but "yogurt and tofu-cakes" just sounds a bit weird. Anyway, the recipe I started with was Chocolate Covered Katie's Greek Yogurt Cheesecake, but I made one or two tweaks along the way. (As a side note, I love Katie's blog - everything looks so yummy and is usually low-fat/sugar-free!) I baked my pretend-cheesecakes in a mini-muffin pan, firstly because I thought they would be easier to share this way, and secondly because I thought a bite-sized treat was more in-keeping with the month's theme! I did some very, very rough working out and found that each mini-cheesecake had 38 calories and 0.9g fat - not too shabby (although, it goes without saying that this will vary depending on the brands you use!) They didn't really taste like cheesecakes though, and if I'm honest I wouldn't make them again. They mostly tasted just like raspberry yogurt, but the stevia made them taste a little artificial. Still, it was fun to experiment and they didn't taste bad - they just didn't taste cheesecakey enough for me! :-)

Please note - you will need a blender for this recipe!

Prep time: 20-25 minutes
Cook time: 30-35 minutes
Chill: at least 2 hours, preferably overnight
Makes 24 mini-cheesecakes

Ingredients:
100g Almond Biscotti (my recipe for home-made almond biscotti is here)
5 tbsp almond milk
Punnet of raspberries
150g silken-firm tofu
350g low-fat natural Greek yogurt
5 tbsp stevia-extract sugar alternative
15g cornflour

1. Lightly grease a mini-muffin pan and pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4.
2. Start by whizzing the biscotti in your blender until it's in fine crumbs. Add the almond milk, and whizz again until they combined to form a paste. Put 1tsp of the biscuit mixture into each muffin hole and press down with the back of the spoon. Pop this in the fridge whilst you prepare the "cheese" filling.
3. Count out 24 raspberries and put these to one side. Put the tofu into your blender and puree until smooth. Add the yogurt, the remaining raspberries, the stevia and the cornflour and blend until all have combined.
4. Spoon 2tsps of the yogurt/tofu mixture onto each biscuit base, then gently press one of the reserved raspberries on top of this. 
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes until set and starting to brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before popping into the fridge to set overnight.
6. When ready to serve, carefully turn the cheesecakes out of the muffin pan. I'd recommend you try one before serving, just to make sure they are OK ;-)

Happy Thoughts
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Raspberry Milkshake Layer Cake

I'm taking a little break from posting the Halloween Style bakes as today is Wear it Pink day!

Wear it Pink day is Breast Cancer Campaign's biggest annual fundraising event, and the idea is simple – everyone makes a donation to the charity and wears something pink to show their support. If you're feeling particularly charitable today and would like to make a donation, or to find out more, just visit www.wearitpink.co.uk

Anyway, to mark the occasion, I wanted to share this recipe for my raspberry milkshake layer cake. The reason I call it raspberry milkshake cake is because it gets it's flavour from some raspberry Crusha – the milkshake flavouring syrup.

Ingredients:

For the cake:

200g margarine

200g caster sugar

2 medium eggs

1tbsp milk

1tbsp raspberry Crusha

Pink food colouring

200g self raising flour

For the icing:

150g vegetable shortening (Trex)

400g icing sugar

2tsp vanilla extract

A little milk, if necessary

Pink food colouring

Prep time: 15 – 20 minutes

Cook time: 20 - 25 minutes

Makes 8 – 10 slices

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 5 and grease and line three 6 inch cake tins.
2. Beat the margarine and sugar together until smooth and creamy. In a separate bowl or jug, beat the eggs, milk, raspberry milkshake syrup and pink food colouring until smooth and slightly frothy.
3. Mix a little of the wet mixture into the creamed butter and sugar, followed by a little of the flour. Repeat this process until all of the ingredients have been incorporated into a smooth batter.
4. Put even amounts of the batter into the cake tins and bake for 20-25 minutes until the cake layers are golden brown on top and springy to touch. (Please note: if you're cooking all three layers at the same time, you may find that they take different times to cook depending on which shelf they're on in the oven – just keep an eye on them and give them longer if need be!)
5. Remove the cakes from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
6. Once the cakes have cooled completely, make the icing. Beat the Trex, icing sugar and vanilla extract together until you have a smooth icing, adding a little milk if necessary to achieve the desired consistency. Use the icing to layer the three cakes, then spread icing evenly over the top and sides of the cake. Colour any remaining icing pink, then pipe this on top of the white icing to decorate.

Happy Thoughts
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My Name is Dug. I Have Just Met You, and I Love You.

Disney Pixar # 10 - Up

Up is amazing. I remember being slightly disappointed by it the first time I watched it, but every time I've watched it since, I've wondered why. The first 10ish minutes of the film are so beautifully, heart-breakingly, cinematic-history-making-ly perfect that it's impossible not to fall in love with Up. The rest of the film is pretty good too.

Aside from the opening sequence - which I didn't want to touch as I could never possibly hope to do justice to it - my favourite moment of the film is when Carl releases his balloons and the house floats up into the air; it has just the right mix of awe and magic to make you suspend disbelief and that's what I decided to create in cake form.

Now, being a veteran reader of Cake Wrecks, I was a little dubious about creating a cupcake-cake, however, I couldn't think of a better way to do this and stick to my remit of "all the Disney/Pixar films have to be made with cupcakes", so the cupcake-cake was made. I don't think it turned out too badly (at least I hope it's good enough not to be deemed a wreck!). I decided to go with a raspberry flavouring for these cupcakes, as I thought it would be reminiscent of candy-floss and bubble-gum and the manner of treats Carl might have enjoyed as a young balloon-seller. The recipe for the cupcakes is one I adapted from The Hummingbird Bakery's Cake Days, as it makes really fluffy light cupcakes.

These cupcakes have A LOT of icing on them, so this one is best saved for when you have a very, very sweet tooth.

Prep time: 45 minutes
Cook time: 15-18 minutes
Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:
40g butter
140g caster sugar
120g plain flour
1tsp baking powder
1 large egg
120ml milk
raspberry flavouring - to taste

For the butter cream:
100g butter
200g icing sugar
A few drop of raspberry flavouring
Blue food colouring
Milk (as required)

To decorate:
200g fondant icing
Pink, Green, Yellow, Ice Blue and Navy food colourings
Edible glue

• Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4 and line a bun tray with cupcake cases.
• Beat the butter, sugar, flour and baking powder together in a bowl until the ingredients come together to resemble bread crumbs. Mix the egg, milk and raspberry flavouring together in a jug, then beat this wet mixture into the dry mixture a little bit at a time until you have a smooth batter. Spoon the batter into the cupcake cases, filling the around 3/4 of the way full.
• Bake for 15-18 minute until golden brown and firm to touch. Leave to cool completely on a wire wrack before decorating.
• Whilst the cupcakes are cooling, prepare your butter cream by beating the butter, icing sugar, raspberry flavouring and a little blue food colouring together until creamy. Add a little milk to achieve the desired consistency if necessary. Keep the butter-cream in the fridge until ready to use.
• To prepare the decorations, split the fondant icing into 5 pieces, and colour each one with the colours listed above. I split my icing again so that I had a pale and a vibrant version of each colour. The pale colours were mostly used for the house, and the vibrant colours for the balloons. To make the house, cut out the pieces (see photo below for step-by-step) and assemble using the edible glue to stick the pieces together. Paint on the detail with a little blue food colouring. To make the balloons, roll a chunk of icing into a ball and cut this into two halves. Pinch one end of the circle into a teardrop shape, trying to keep the bottom flat. I ended up making around 100 balloons, but didn't use them all. 

• When the cupcakes have cooled, spread a layer of blue butter-cream over them, then arrange 8 of the cupcakes onto a cake board in a 1, 2, 3, 2 formation (see the pictures for explanation!) Place the fondant house onto the bottom cupcake, then layer the balloons onto the other cupcakes, curving the edges to make the shape of a large balloon.
• Now watch your friends get a little awkward as they really want to eat the cakes, but don't want to ruin your pretty mosaic ;-) 

Next time it's Toy Story 3, and I'll be paying homage with some cuddly cupcakes that smell (and taste) like strawberries!

Happy Thoughts
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15 Layers with Pink and Blue Forget-Me-Nots!

Disney Classic # 16 -  Sleeping Beauty

Ah me. So I had another disaster - but thankfully managed to avert this one!! Originally (and up until the day before baking/serving the cake) I had planned to try out my icing techniques and create a beautifully detailed cake. It was going to be vanilla sponge, covered in white fondant icing, and topped with an image of Sleeping Beauty and Prince Phillip. Around the sides of the cake I was going to ice and/or paint images of the three good fairies, of rose bushes and thorn bushes, and a fiery silhouette of Maleficent. It would have been lovely. However - I knew that I do not posses the drawing skills required to ice a picture of Aurora/Phillip straight onto the top of the cake (the ones on the side would be fine, as they are much smaller and require less detail) - so instead I decided to create a sort of topper, by tracing the image in royal icing. I traced two of these, as I couldn't decide whether I wanted Phillip in the picture, and also just in case one of them went wrong.

Well they both went wrong. The idea was that the royal icing would set, and I would be able to remove the greaseproof paper from underneath and gently place the applique/topper on top of my iced cake. However, after I finished tracing them it soon dawned on me that I had used a very very thin icing nozzle, and that would probably cause issues. I realised that the royal icing would be too long and thin to hold together, and that my toppers would probably crumble at my touch.

Whereas the fairies decide to use their magic to fix their wreck of a cake - for me that wasn't an option, so I decided to come up with a couple of back up plans. I'm clutching at straws ever so slightly, but I decided to base the cake around the scene where Briar Rose/Aurora goes out into the woods to collect berries - brilliant! Black forest gateaux!! Except that as it was very last minute I was unable to get hold of any cherries (my local shop doesn't sell them, the grocers is closed on Sundays and I didn't have time to go up to the major supermarket) so I used strawberries and raspberries instead. So it's sort of a forest berry cake - ish.

Originally I had hoped to stick to plan A and make the vanilla sponge iced lovely thing, but then I realised that I should try to handle the toppers as little as possible, which meant waiting until the cake was baked and iced before moving them, which meant I wouldn't know whether to make vanilla sponge or chocolate sponge until it was too late. Gah!! So plan B was to make the chocolate sponge, go out and buy the cherries (which ended up being strawberries and raspberries), and to place the topper on top of that (given that the topper worked...) Plan C was the same as plan B, but without the topper.

Well, coming to the end of my very long story about how we arrived at the cake we did - when I lifted the greaseproof paper from the baking sheet this happened:

So here's the recipe for plan C! Briar Rose's woodland berry* cake.

*do strawberries and raspberries even grow in woodlands? I don't know - but for the purpose of this cake, let's just pretend that when Briar Rose went out into the woods to pick berries, she picked up some strawberries and raspberries.

I've yet to come across the perfect recipe for chocolate cake. Don't get me wrong, I've never found a bad recipe for chocolate cake, I've just not come across a perfect one yet... so I'm still looking! This time round I based my cake on a recipe found here. The flavour of the chocolate cake was delicious - not too rich as some can be, but by no means not chocolate-y enough, as I've also come across before. However, the sponge was a little too crumbly for my liking, I would have preferred it to be much more moist, and the mixture did not seem to rise in the pan at all! Hence my search for the perfect chocolate cake recipe goes on... nevertheless this was a pretty tasty cake! (I'm just being extremely picky here - there were no complaints for the finished product, and everyone [except me, I was trying to be good] went back for a second slice!)

Prep time: 20mins Cook time: 25-30mins Serves: 14

Ingredients:

150g dark chocolate
30ml milk
150g margarine
150g caster sugar
3 medium eggs
150g plain flour
50g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsp cocoa powder
half a punnet of strawberries
half a punnet of raspberries
50g icing sugar
200ml double cream
white and milk chocolate, for decorating

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 and grease and line two baking tins (of the same size!)
2. Break the chocolate into chunks and place this and the milk into a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. Stir until the chocolate has completely melted and then place to one side to cool slightly.
3. In a large bowl, beat together the margarine and caster sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then fold in the chocolate mixture.
4. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and continue to fold until all of the ingredients combine.
5. Divide the mixture between the two tins and bake for around 25-30mins, until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cakes to rest for 5 minutes before removing them from their tins and leaving them to cool on a wire rack.
6. Once the cakes have completely cooled, prepare the filling and topping. Set aside 2 strawberries and 3 raspberries for decoration. Hull and slice the the strawberries, and half the raspberries. Arrange the fruit on the bottom layer of the cake, completely covering.
7. Whip together the double cream and icing sugar until it is thick and pillowy. Carefully spread this over the berries then place the second layer of cake on top of this.
8. Melt a little white and a little milk chocolate and drizzle this over the cake to decorate. Place the strawberries and raspberries that were set to one side earlier in the centre of the cake.
9. Cut into chunky slices and enjoy! (Due to the fruit/fresh cream in this cake it is best kept refrigerated and eaten the same day.)

Next time it's 101 Dalmatians, and I'll be making some chocolate chip cookies :-)

Happy Thoughts
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