Chocolate Birthday Cake

Suddenly Baby turned one this week. Don't know how it happened so quickly but there we are. As she doesn't have any friends yet, she had to have her cake in the middle of Scrap's Hallowe'en party, in amongst the bats and the eyeball jellies. Not that she noticed.
This is a good chocolate cake for kids as it's very light and not actually very chocolatey and I find that it suits those below five better that way. It's basically a big red velvet cupcake but a lot easier and without all the unnecessary red food colouring.

Serves 18 - 20
300g caster sugar
120g butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
280ml carton of buttermilk
25g cocoa powder
300ml plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 tbsp wine vinegar
sprinkles, to decorate
FOR THE FROSTING
600g icing sugar
150g butter
200g soft cheese
75g milk chocolate, chopped

1 Preheat the oven to 170C / Gas 3. Using an electric whisk, beat the sugar and butter together until soft and pale - this takes a while and once you've had enough of whisking add the eggs one at a time followed by the vanilla and buttermilk then cocoa and flour. Add the bicarb and vinegar and whisk again for a couple of minutes until light and voluminous.

2 Divide between three buttered and lined 20cm cake tins and bake for 25 minutes. Lift onto wire racks and leave to cool.

3 Whisk together the icing sugar and butter - I find it easier to add the icing sugar a bit at a time so the whole kitchen doesn't get coated in a fine layer of dust. Once it's well beaten, add the soft cheese and whisk again - don't over beat at this stage or the icing can start to over-soften.

4 Take a third of the mixture and stir in the chopped ch0colate, use this to sandwhich the cakes toegther then swirl the rest of the icing all over. Decorate with sprinkles (I cut a heart out of a piece of paper and used as a template) and leave to set. Happy Birthday!

The Bellenden Bun Fight

Your local charity bake-off is back! You have exactly two weeks to get your jams, jellies, biscuits and scones up to scratch. This season's Classic Cake category is The Lemon Drizzle. We have brilliant prizes courtesy of our friends at delicious and yours truly is in charge of the judging panel! Hurrah!
More details here.

Hannah Jones' Prize-Winning Chocolate Ginger Biscuits

225g soft unsalted butter

110g caster sugar

275g plain flour

25g crystallised ginger

200g bar dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 170C. Cream the butter, then add in the sugar and beat until pale and soft. Chop the ginger into small pieces and mix it with the flour. Add the ginger and flour to the sugar and butter and mix until you have a dough.

Break off walnut-sized balls and roll in your hands until smooth. Place on a baking tray and press into them with the back of a fork to pattern 'n' flatten. Bake for around 15 minutes or until they are nice and golden brown. Near the end of the cooking time, watch them obsessively so you don't miss the optimum colour, as biscuits are sly and will burn on you in a second.

Take them out of the oven and immediately transfer them from the tray to a wire rack. When they're cold, melt the chocolate in a bowl. You will have far more chocolate than you need, but melting a large quantity makes it much easier to coat the biscuits smoothly. Dip the biscuits halfway into the chocolate, gently combing off any drips or runners with a teaspoon. Leave on greaseproof paper until the chocolate has set.

Winter Carrot Cake

This cake really is for idiots - there's no technique required, not even any vigorous whisking, just a bit of grating and stirring and it turns out beautifully. Top with traditional frosting or just mix together the juice and zest of a clementine and a bit of icing sugar and drizzle over the top.
It sets rather firmly so it's good for baking and taking.
Enough for 8
200g coarsely grated carrot
100g sultanas
250g self raising flour
1 tsp ground mixed spice
2 tsp baking powder
150g light muscovado sugar
150ml vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten

Preheat the oven to 160 C / Gas 3. Butter and line a 20cm spring form tin and sit it on a baking sheet. Mix together all the ingredients and spoon into the tin. Level off the surface and bake for an hour or so until a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean. Leave in the tin for a few minutes then turn onto a wire rack and leave to cool.

Winter Collection: Yule Log

This is one of those really old-fashioned cakes that I've not made since domestic science at school and thought would be easy, but actually, there's a lot here that can go wrong.
But as we're going to be away for Christmas and we were having a little neighbours' tea party yesterday, I thought I'd give it a go. I like to have everything sorted the day before but this really has to be eaten on the same day. I didn't enjoy the risk of making it on the morning of the party and although it was a bit of a faff and me and melted chocolate don't get on so well, it was a big hit and the icing covers a whole lot of cracks! Have a go!

Serves 12
75g self raising flour
50g cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
100g golden caster sugar, plus a little extra for sprinkling
5 large eggs
FOR THE FILLING
250g mascarpone
icing sugar, to taste
splash of double cream
FOR THE ICING
200ml double cream, broken into pieces
200g dark chocolate

1 Preheat the oven to 190C / Gas 5. Line a 30x40cm Swiss roll tin with baking parchment and rub with a little butter.

2 Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder into a bowl. In a second bowl, whisk the sugar and eggs until thick and airy – they should roughly triple in volume. Sift over the flour mixture and gently fold in, making sure there are no pockets of flour hiding in the bottom of the bowl.

3 Pour into the tin as evenly as possible then bake for 10 – 12 minutes until just firm to the touch. Sprinkle some sugar onto a sheet of baking parchment and turn out the sponge. Peel off the paper then roll it up with the new sheet of paper inside. Leave to cool completely.

4 Make the icing. Pour the cream into a small and bring to the boil. Add the chocolate and stir to melt. Leave to cool completely then chill until thick enough to spread – keep your eye on it as it cools - it’s runny for ages then suddenly changes from runny to thick to too-thick-to-spread in quite a short time.

5 Make the filling: beat the mascarpone with a wooden spoon to soften a little then add icing sugar to taste – it may be a little to thick to spread so a little cream to soften.

6 Open out the sponge and spread with the mascarpone mixture, if you like, grate over some chocolate then roll up. Cut a diagonal slice off and place next to the log to look like a branch. Spread with the chocolate icing in a wood-like pattern and leave to set. Dust with icing before serving.

Winter Collection: Chocolate Brownie Cake

A bit squidgy in the middle and crumbly on the outside. With so many nut allergies around I swapped the usual chopped nuts for sultanas.
Serves 12
225g unsalted butter
350g dark chocolate
4 large eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla essence
350g light muscovado sugar
225g plain flour
75g small sultanas
small handful chocolate buttons
cocoa powder for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Grease a 23cm and line a 23cm loose-bottomed cake tin.

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a small pan. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar and vanilla until pale and airy. Stir in the chocolate mixture, flour and sultanas and pour into the tin. Scatter over the chocolate buttons.

Bake for about an hour until risen and craggy. Shake the tin gently, a slight wobble in the centre is good. Leave to cool in the tin for a while. Dust lightly with cocoa before slicing.

Winter Collection: Afternoon Apple Cake

Serves 6 - 8
150g golden caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
150g butter, room temperature, pus extra for dotting
2 large eggs, beaten
250g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground mixed spices
2 Bramley apples
100g small sultanas

Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Grease and line the base of a 1kg loaf tin.

Whisk together the butter and sugar until creamy then beat in the eggs, flour, baking powder and spices – it’s quite a stiff mixture.

Peel the apples and dice one and half of them. Thinly slice the remaining half. Stir the diced apple and sultanas into the cake mix then spoon into the tin. Smooth the surface them arrange the apple slices on top. Dot with butter, sprinkle with sugar and bake for 50 – 60 minutes – turn the oven down a bit if it starts to get too dark.

Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Winter Collection: Cheese Scones

Makes 8
450g plain flour, plus extra for kneading and dusting
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
150g mature Cheddar, coarsely grated
284ml buttermilk or low fat natural yogurt
3 tbsp semi-skimmed milk
2 tbsp wholegrain mustard

1 Preheat the oven to 220 C, gas mark 7. Mix the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and Cheddar in a large bowl.

2 Mix together the buttermilk, milk and mustard then add to the bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon then using your hands, bring together to make a soft dough. Knead lightly until smooth then shape into a 22cm round loaf.

3 Cut the round into eight wedges then transfer to a non-stick baking sheet. Sprinkle with a little flour and bake for 20 – 30 minutes until browned and crusty. Cool a little and eat warm or split and toast the next day for breakfast.

Children's Chocolate Party Cake

One of the mums at Scrap's nursery organised a leavers' party this weekend. It was held in a lovely sports pavillion and while the nice girls quietly joined in with the juggler and his plate spinning, all the grubby boys spent their time running the full length of the fields, only legging it back when he started fire-eating.
Anyway, I made the cakes - some little fairies and a very basic chocolate sponge made to look exciting with curly wurlies and rolos.Serves 20
6 eggs
300g caster sugar
275g self raising four
25g good cocoa
300g softened butter
FOR THE ICING
180g dark chocolate, melted and cooled
250g butter, softened
280g icing sugar
chocolates: minstrels, buttons, planets, maltesers etc

Mix together the cake ingredients with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Divide between two lined, 23cm, loose-bottomed tins and bake at 180C for 20 minutes or so until risen and just set. Leave to cool.

Beat together the chocolate, butter and icing sugar. Use a quarter of it to sandwich the cakes together then spread the rest up the sides and over the top. Scatter the chocolates on top and leave to set.

Summer Berry Tart For Tonight's Tea

Got a thing for baking at the moment. Sorry. I'll make this the last sweet thing for a while. It's very very easy to make and I think it's going to taste nice.

Serves 6 - 8
375g sweet shortcrust pastry
50g dark chocolate
300g custard
200g creme fraiche
1 - 2 tbsp icing sugar
berries

Preheat the oven to 180 / Gas 4. Use the pastry to line a 20cm fluted tart tin. Prick the base, line with greaseproof and fill with baking beans, bake for 20 minutes then remove the beans and cook for a further 10 or so minutes until light brown. leave to cool.

Melt the chocolate and brush the inside of the pastry case with it. Leave to set - this will 'waterproof' the inside and stop it going soggy.

Mix together the custard and creme fraiche and sweeten a little with the icing sugar. Spoon into the case then scatter over some berries. Chill until ready to eat.

A Nice Old Fashioned Victoria Sandwich

Serve on a sunny afternoon with a pot of Earl Grey.
Here's a recipe.

Chewy Chocolate Biscuits

Makes 18

75g dark chocolate

100g butter

125g brown sugar

100g plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

125g any chocolate (dark, milk, white or mixture) roughly chopped

These biscuits are good. Crunchy on the outside, chewy in the middle. Add some nuts too if you like them.

Preheat the the oven to 180 C/ Gas 4. Melt together the dark chocolate and butter. Add the sugar, flour, bicarb, vanilla and egg and whisk until smooth and well blended.

Stir in the chocolate and place heaped teaspoons, well spaced apart on non-stick baking sheets. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes - the biscuits rise and then flatten out - take them out as soon as they flatten. Leave to firm up a bit on the tray then lift off and cool completely on a wire rack.

Toffee Flapjacks

Makes 16
200g butter
200g brown sugar
200g honey
350g porridge oats
100g mixed dried fruit and seeds
75g Maya Gold or other good dark chocolate, melted

Preheat the oven to 160 / gas 4. Heat the butter, sugar and honey together until melted. Stir in the oats, fruits and seeds and press into a rectangular non-stick baking tin. Bake for 20 - 40 minutes until golden. The longer you bake, the firmer and more toffee-ish the flapjacks. Leave to cool and harden before removing from the tin and cutting into squares or bars. Drizzle over the melted chocolate and leave to set.

Brandy Snaps Are Very Easy To Make

I was doing a food-styling job the other day and the recipe said 'Take the brandy snap baskets out of the packet, place on a baking sheet and warm in the oven for a few minutes until they open out to make flat discs'. I opened both my packets of 6 Askeys Brandy Snap Baskets (FROM WAITROSE!) and do you know, all but one of them were broken into at least four pieces! So I rummaged through the cupboards, all in a tizz, mixed some everyday stuff up and in 10 minutes had much nicer (and cheaper!) brandy snaps than you can get from Waitrose.
Try them, they're so easy! Then sandwich a stack together with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce and eat very quickly.
And don't buy anything made by Askeys because it might well ruin your dinner party.

Brandy Snaps
Heat together equal quantities of butter, golden syrup and sugar (50g will make about 8 snaps). Stir in the same amount of plain flour, a bit of ground ginger and a squeeze of lemon or lime juice. Spread out thinly on a non-stick baking sheet and bake at 190C for 6 - 8 mins until golden brown. Leave to cool into discs or while still warm, roll into tubes round a wooden spoon handle or drape them over the bottom of a glass to make baskets.

Hot Fudge Sauce
Place 170g evaporated milk and 225g dark chocolate in a bowl set over simmering water and warm together for about 10 minutes until smooth and fudgy. Use warm.

Dan Lepard's Carrot Cake

Scrap and I called in at Angela's yesterday just as she was cutting the scrummy carrot cake she'd made earlier (on a Monday afternoon!). From a Dan Lepard recipe she said. Here he is showing us how to make it.

Brownies

I love chocolate with cherries. This is a basic recipe but the brownies turn out nicely.

150g good dark chocolate
100g unsalted butter
2 tbsp golden syrup
2 large eggs, beaten
few drops vanilla extract
100g self raising flour
150g icing sugar
25g cocoa powder
50g chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Break the chocolate into a small pan and add the butter and syrup. Heat gently, stirring until melted; leave to cool slightly.

Stir in the eggs, vanilla, flour, icing sugar, cocoa and chocolate chips, mixing until well blended. Pour the mixture into a 15cm square tin and bake for 25 minutes until set and crusty.

Cut into squares and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Lemon And Cardamom Cake

This a dense, moist and very fragrant cake, not really the light sponge you might associate with birthdays but very good if you like your slice in the afternoon with a cup of tea.

Serves 8 - 10
175g butter
100g sugar
3 eggs, beaten
225g plain flour
11⁄2 tsp baking powder
1⁄2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
50g ground almonds
12 cardamom pods, shelled and coarsely ground
150ml carton soured cream
Finely grated rind and juice of 2 lemons
For the topping
200g soft cheese
2 - 4 tbsp icing sugar
grated rind of 1 lemon and juice of 1/2
2 tbsp lemon curd
sprinkles (if it's a birthday cake)

Preheat oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Grease and line a 23cm round loose-bottomed tin.

Whisk together the sugar and eggs until pale and fluffy then add the eggs, a little at a time until well blended. Sift the flour, baking powder and bicarb into the bowl and gently fold in along with the almonds, cardamom, soured cream and lemon rind and juice.

Spoon into the tin and bake for 45 – 50 minutes until firm and golden. Leave to cool in the tin.

Mix together the soft cheese, icing sugar, lemon rind and juice until sweet enough and shiny. Spread on top of the cake then swirl in some little dollops of lemon curd. Once cut, keep in the fridge.

With Great Cake Comes Great Responsibility

Scrap had his super-brilliant Superheroes party today. Everyone pitched in with hotdog making, face painting and sweeping up at the end but it was mostly a good party thanks to gorgeous Sharky and George who played lots of exciting games including squirming around under a giant parachute silk pretending to be rats. I made a big spiderweb cake based on lovely Jane Hornby's chocolate wedding cake, and it was webzellent!

Coffee and Walnut Cake

225g caster sugar
225g butter, softened
4 eggs, beaten
4 tbsp strong coffee
225g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
75g walnut halves, finely chopped, plus a few for decoration
FOR THE ICING
100g butter, softened
225g icing sugar
2 tbsp strong coffee

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4. Beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy then add the eggs and whisk again, then beat in the coffee. Sift over the flour and baking powder and gently stir in along with the walnuts.

2 Divide the mixture between two 20cm non-stick cake tins and bake for 20 – 25 mins until just firm. Leave to cool a little in the tins then turn out on racks to cool.

3 Beat together the butter, icing sugar and coffee and use half of it to sandwich the cakes together. Spread the rest on top and decorate with the walnut halves.

Bakewell Tart

Bakewell tart is nothing like the real Bakewell Pudding it is derived from. Though I am from Derbyshire, even I will admit that the tart is much nicer, really, than its flabby ancestor. In the Anchor & Hope, they do a very good one with damson jam in it.

Serves 10
300g sweet or regular shortcrust pastry
100g unsalted butter, softened
3 large eggs, beaten
1/2 jar good red jam
125g golden caster sugar
1/2 tsp almond or vanilla extract
150g ground almonds
25g flaked almonds
vanilla ice cream, to serve

Preheat the oven to 190°C, gas 5. Line a deep 20cm tart tin with the pastry and chill for a bit, if you have time. Line with parchment, fill with baking beans and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the baking beans and parchment and return to the oven for 5 minutes until lightly golden and set.

Cool a little then spread the jam over the pastry. Turn the oven down to 180°C, gas mark 4.

Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Begin adding the eggs, a little at a time then stir in the almond extract and the ground almonds. Spoon the mixture over the jam and level it out with the back of a spoon.

Sprinkle over the flaked almonds. Return the tart to the oven for 30–35 minutes until golden and just set. Leave to cool a while before getting out of the tin.

Easter Chocolate Tarts

Makes 24
500g shortcrust pastry
80g dark chocolate
40g butter
25g plain flour
50g golden caster sugar
2 eggs
TOPPING
50g dark chocolate
2 tbsp milk
icing sugar
Cadbury’s Mini Eggs

Heat the oven to 180C /gas 4. Roll out the pastry thinly and use to line 2 x 12 hole tartlet tins. Prick with a fork, line with a bit of foil and bake for 8 minutes then lift out the foil and cook for a minute more.

Melt the chocolate and butter together and leave to cool a little. Beat in the flour, sugar and eggs. Spoon into the cases and bake for 6-8 minutes until just set. Leave to cool.

Melt the chocolate and milk together then leave to cool a little. Add a bit of icing sugar to sweeten and thicken - if it starts to set before you're ready, just give it a few seconds in the microwave. Place a little dollop of the chocolate mixture on top of each tart and sit some eggs on top.