Updated Coffee Cake

I ended up making this cake by multiplying the ingredients of the original coffee cake by 1.5 so the measurements are a little bit funny, but it made for a really delicious cake. What was also handy was I used gluten free flour and it turned out delicious. 

This recipe makes 3 sponges using 6" tins - this allows for a higher cake which looks more impressive when decorated. 

Cookie Monster Cupcakes

Recently we had a Bake Sale in work and I made my Cookie Monster Cupcakes. They are quite tedious and messy to make so I only made 8 but they flew out the door in the first 5 minutes so in hindsight I should have made a larger quantity.

Double Chocolate Vanilla Cake

Okay so you want to make a cake and you want it to look special without a lot of extra cost or effort?! You might have your own recipe for the cake, but if not here is one we used in the past from Dr.Oetker ... Just using the cake from that you can match it with the icing below and create something that looks, and tastes, delicious!

Vanilla Buttercream Icing

This buttercream icing is amazing. It goes so well with chocolate cake or cupcakes and provides a deliciously creamy break between bites of chocolate cake. It tastes a bit like ice-cream as well which makes it even better!

Christmas Cupcakes

I wanted to make another Christmas item to bring into work (yes they're a lucky bunch) and I decided on Cupcakes! I had already picked up the Dr. Oetker chocolate stars and chocolate balls in gold for a specific thought in my mind but wasn't sure if it would work or not. I said i'd give it a try anyway and if it failed miserably nobody would need to know!

To make the buttercream (enough for about 28 cupcakes) I used the following ingredients:
400g Butter, room temperature
1KG Icing Sugar, sifted
1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
200ml Milk
2 tsp Green Food Colouring

Method:
1. Beat together the butter and icing sugar until combined.
2. Add your vanilla extract and mix to incorporate.
3. Add the milk gradually (Take note here that you can add a bit more or a bit less depending on the consistency you want your buttercream icing to be at. So add it bit by bit to ensure you don't put in too much. You want a thick consistency to the buttercream for piping so that it doesn't fade away)
4. Add your food colouring and mix until it is evenly distributed throughout the buttercream.
5. Fit the piping bag with a star shaped nozzle and then fill it with the butter cream.
6. Hold the piping bag above the cupcake and squeeze out the buttecream at a slow pace while circling around the edges of the cupcake, getting higher as you move towards the centre. (Imagine an ice cream cone being filled with soft serve icecream).
7. Add the gold covered chocolate baubles and place the chocolate star on top.

Coffee Birthday Cake

COFFEE CAKE

This 6" or 8" cake has an inner layer of coffee buttercream and also a top layer, with some more around the sides so that the sponge biscuits can stick on. A simple ribbon and coffee beans complete the simple look to make an elegant cake. Its perfect for a birthday and so easy to prepare!

Ingredients for 6" cake:
175g Butter
175g Caster Sugar
3 Eggs
175g Self Raising Flour
1 Tbsp Coffee Essence
50g Chopped Walnuts (Optional)

Ingredients for Icing:
100g Butter
300g Icing Sugar
1 Tbsp Coffee Essence
1 Tbsp Milk

Decoration:
Ribbon
Sponge Biscuits
Coffee Beans

Method: Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees. Grease and line TWO 6" tins.
1. Beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy.
2. Add the eggs one at a time, with a Tbsp of flour, and beat to incorporate.
3. Add the flour and beat again.
4. Add the coffee essence (I use IREL) and the walnuts if using.
5. Once all combined, put half the mixture in each baking tin.
6. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

1. Beat butter until soft, and add icing sugar bit by bit, beating until it is all combined.
2. Add Coffee Essence and Milk and beat again.
3. Once cakes have cooled, put bottom layer on plate/board (you can make sure it sticks by putting a small bit of icing on the plate or board and then putting the cake on top.)
4. Use a third of the icing on the bottom layer and place the other cake layer on top.
5. Use the rest of the icing to ice the top and sides of the cake, leaving a small bit for decoration.
6. Place the sponge biscuits around the edge of the cake, making sure they stick to the icing.
7. Pipe the leftover icing around the top of the cake and place coffee beans on each bit.
8. Add a ribbon around the biscuits to finish.

Lemon Yogurt Cake - Loaf

As I did before, but this time in a loaf format with Lemon Icing

I also made it in a mini loaf tin, which is really cute... with the lemon icing as well.

And as cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Icing..

Golfing Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes for a golf fanatics birthday.

I started by colouring desiccated coconut green.
I then iced each cupcake green, using green buttercream icing.

Then for the "green" cupcakes (as shown above), I rolled the outside of the cupcake in desicated coconut, and added the flag and ball. The ball is made out of a small piece of white fondant.

The "Tee" cupcake (as seen below) is iced with the buttercream and i added two fondant markers and a golfbag made out of fondant as well.

For the fairway it was just a case of making the rough grass by rolling the cupcake in the coconut again.

The bunker one is a small hole dug out with crushed digestive biscuits in it.

Birthday Cake

This cake is a chocolate cake with buttercream icing on the inside layers and on the outside.

The buttercream is then died green for the grass.

It is a nottingham forest birthday cake i made for a friends birthday..

Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Dr. Oetker Cake

Ingredients for the cake:
225g (8oz) butter or margarine
225g (8oz) caster sugar

4 medium size eggs

175g (6oz) self-raising flour - sieved

50g (2oz) cocoa powder

For the icing:
115g (4oz) unsalted butter
225g (8oz) icing sugar
4 tbsp cocoa powder
milk or warm water

Pre-heat oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas Mark 4.
Grease and line two 20cm (8 inch) sandwich tins. (I used 9 inch and they still rose fine)

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs and if the mixture starts to curdle, add a little flour.
Fold in the remaining flour and the cocoa powder with a metal spoon.

Divide the mixture between the two tins and bake for approx. 20 - 25 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch. You can double check by sticking a skewer into the middle of the cake, and if it comes out dry, then the cake is done! Leave to cool before turning out onto a cooling rack.






To make the butter icing:
Place the butter in a bowl and beat until soft.
Gradually sift and beat in the icing sugar and then add enough milk / water to make the icing fluffy and spreadable.
Sift and beat the cocoa powder in to the icing
Use it to sandwich the two sponges together and also put it on top and around the cake, or however you please.
(The recipe on the website had smaller amounts for the icing so i made a small adjustment to it so that there was a bit more for on top and around the edges)

I then decorated it with cholate shavings, and a band of chocolate pieces..