Prepare for the festivities.

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Hello, unless you live under a rock you will know Christmas day is only two sleeps away and Christmas means food. I'm going a bit over the top this year as we are having Christmas day at our house as opposed to my auntie's where we usually go. Tomorrow it shall be full steam ahead preparing the desserts as I wanted them to be as fresh as possible. This year I'm baking mince pies (I'm only using ready made pastry and filling out of a jar due to time restrictions), a yule log (see previous post for recipe), chocolate truffles and mini vanilla and chocolate cheesecakes as well as shop bought Christmas pudding and Christmas cake. You can expect to see posts on all of these dishes including a mince pie competition between my cousin and I, which is not to be missed. However in the meantime, I thought I would show you how we have decorated the table.

Firstly, these cute crackers are from Marks and Spencer's. They were supposed to be £9.50 but they were having a 50% off sale so they were only £4.75 for 12. The name place cards were free from Microsoft office templates and I wrote the names in Edwardian Script ICT and finally the napkins are also from M&S but I folded them into crown shapes from a youtube video.

Merry Christmas and check back soon for more recipes!

Birthday hockey pitch cake.

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For my friend's birthday on Wednesday I made a hockey pitch themed birthday cake. It was so simple to make but it looked really cute and the colours were really vibrant.  Here's what it looked like:

Method:

1. To start off,  make a chocolate cake using the recipe in my standard sponge cake post. Bake it in a spring roll tin (the cake type) in order to create the rectangle shape of the hockey pitch. 
2. Once baked and cooled, cut in half width-ways.. 
3. Make chocolate butter cream (see previous post for recipe) and sandwich together. 
4. Cover in vanilla butter cream (100g of butter, 100g of icing sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla extract and green food colouring) 
5. To create the hockey pitch, make some icing of a thick consistency. Put into a piping bag and draw on pitch markings. 
6. OPTIONAL Add some red food colouring to this and draw on the desired number (it's the number on the back of her hockey shirt, not her age) and cover in sprinkles. 
7. Used leftover chocolate butter cream to create hockey sticks and leftover red food colouring to draw balls.
8. To finish off, I use black writing icing also to write a birthday message!

I hope this inspires you. Enjoy!

Cake pops.

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Upon request from a good friends of mine, today I will be sharing my recipe for cake pops. They're really fun to make and are a a great twist on your average slice of cake or cupcake. There are also several ways to make them but here is the one I tried. 

They taste better than they look, trust me!

Method:

1. Use the sponge cake recipe from last post to make the cake, in this instance I made a chocolate cake but that was just out of preference.

2. Once the cake has come out of the oven, leave it to cool completely for around 1-2 hours.

3. Next you need to make a frosting, it can be butter cream or frosting out of a pot from the supermarket, Betty Crocker for example. I used a chocolate butter cream recipe (100g butter, 100g icing sugar and 75g melted chocolate) but any combination of frosting and cake should work, again it is preferential.

4. Take the cooled cake and break it up into crumbs in a large mixing bowl, try to ensure there are no big pieces of cake left.

5. Add half of the frosting and using your hands mix the cake and frosting together until thoroughly combined. Then add the other half of frosting and combine.

6. Now take a lump of the mixture, size again is preferential and mould it into the desired shape, round balls are standard but I made them oval for my Halloween mummy cake pops.

7.  You can use lollipop sticks if you have them, but I didn't. Dip the stick into melted chocolate before you insert them into the cake pop to ensure they stay in.

8. One you have used up all of the mixture, put the cake pops in the fridge for 2 hours or until hard. Alternatively, you can put them in the freezer for 20 minutes or so. They must be solid.

9. To coat them, melt chocolate and spoon it over them or dip them in it. I found it difficult to dip them in without sticks though.

10. There are hundreds of ways to decorate your cake pops, I made them into little mummies for Halloween by melting white chocolate over, letting them set and then drizzling more white chocolate (with a drop of yellow food colouring in) over to create a bandage effect. I then used mini smarties as eyes.

If you have never tried cake pops, the texture is quite similar to chocolate truffles. Be careful not to make them too big, as I did, because they can be quite sickly and filling (especially if it's all chocolate!)

Enjoy!

Standard Sponge Or Chocolate Sponge Cake Recipe.

I am planning a number of posts about themed cakes I have made for friends' birthdays. However first, I thought it's important to show you what recipe I used to make the actual cake. I have adapted this over the years and now I think I have perfected it so I use this every single time I make a cake.

Ingredients:

6oz/170g of margarine (I use the brand 'Stork')
6oz/170g of caster sugar
3 eggs
6oz/170g of self-raising flour
2 tsps of vanilla extract

Method:

PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 180 DEGREES
1. Blend the margarine in a large mixing bowl with an electric whisk until pale.
2. Add the caster sugar and combine thoroughly.
3. Crack one egg in a cup or bowl to ensure there are no shells (if there are, simply scoop them out with a spoon).
4. Put the egg into the sugar and margarine and mix.
5. Repeat this with the other two eggs, ensure you crack and mix them individually.
6. Add the self-raising flour and FOLD in using a wooden or metal spoon.
7. Add the vanilla essence.
8. Pour batter into a greased cake tin.
9. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven.

To grease the cake tin you must line it with a thing layer of butter as a sort of adhesive and then either tap flour around the tin or stick greaseproof/parchment paper inside. You can also buy cake tin liners which make removal of the cake easier.

Baking times vary from oven to oven but it shouldn't be any less than 20 minutes. Ensure the cake is golden brown and use a cake tester/knife/fork (I actually use a fondue stick that came with a set which works just as well) to test whether the cake is baked all the way through. Insert it into various points, when you pull it out of the cake it should be clean. If not, put it back in the oven and test it again in 5 or so minutes. Never open the door of the oven before 20 minutes, the cake will not rise properly if you do.

If you are looking for a chocolate sponge cake, the recipe is exactly the same except you substitute 1oz/30g of self-raising flour for cocoa powder (i.e. use 5oz/140g of self-raising flour and 1oz/30g of cocoa powder).

Enjoy!

Chocolate Cake In 5 Minutes!

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Today I have a super quick and easy chocolate cake recipe for you. This only takes 5 minutes and it is great as a snack or a pudding after tea. I found this recipe on a youtube video, it tastes quite good but obviously isn't as nice as a normal cake that has been cooking in the oven for half an hour.

(Yes, it is in a Bratz mug but if you watch the video you will see why).

All you need to do is thoroughly combine 2 tablespoons of sugar, 2 tablespoons of self raising flour, 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of oil and 1 tablespoon of oil in a mug or microwave bowl. Chocolate chips are optional, I did not use them but I regret that. I would also advise using more milk as it did turn out a bit dry. Then put the mug in the microwave for 2 and a half minutes. It will rise quite a bit but watch that it does not overflow. Use a knife to ensure it is cooked properly, but it should be.

Leave for a few minutes to cool as it will still be cooking after it has come out the microwave. However, eat it while it is still warm for the best taste. Try adding chocolate sauce, custard or condensed milk! 

Enjoy!