Fat Friday #37 Sacher Torte

First of all Happy Birthday Sofia!! Its her birthday and it falls on a Fat Friday which is totally awesome! So happy birthday Sof! I'm sure she would approve of a dark chocolate sacher torte. Its more like a brownie then a cake, which makes it horrid to cut, but with the dark glaze it tastes amazing. Its not a cake that you can keep moonching on, its a rich cake so take it easy. But it IS Fat Friday so go for it!

Torte (recipe kindly provided by my pastry tutor) ingredients:

• 6oz bitter chocolate
• 3oz butter
• 4 egg yolks
• 4oz sugar
• 5 egg whites
•  ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup of flour
•  A little apricot jam to brush on the cake and put in the middle of the cake

Glaze Ingredients:

• 6oz dark chocolate
• 1oz butter
• 2oz double cream
• Plus a little extra melted white chocolate or milk if you like to pipe on top of the cake.

Equipment:

• Whisk/handwhisk
• Heatproof bowl
• Pan of hot water
• Wooden spoon
• 9 inch cake tin lined with silicone paper
• Pastry brush
• Piping bag
• Serrated knife

Cake Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180c/Gas Mark 4/350f.
2. Combine the chocolate and butter and melt over a pan of water
3.Whisk the yolks with 1oz of the sugar until pale.
4.Beat the egg and sugar mixture into the melted chocolate.
5.Whisk the egg whites with the remaining sugar to create a meringue.
6.Combine 1/3 of the meringue to the chocolate then gently fold the remaining meringue.
7.Pour into a 9 inch cake tin and cook for 40 minutes. Once cooked leave to cool on a wire rack.
8.Cut into 2 layers with the serrated knife and, using a palette knife, spread a little layer with apricot jam. Assemble the cake back together and brush of the crumbs.

Glaze Method:

1.Combine the chocolate and butter and melt together.
2.Boil the cream and fold in the chocolate mixture.

To Complete:

1.Place the cake on top of the wire rack with a tray underneath to catch the glaze.
2.Using a spoon and a palette knife spread the glaze on the cake and let it drip down the sides of the cake. Wait until the glaze has set. 
3.Traditionally, you can pipe ‘Sacher’ on the top of the cake using extra chocolate and a piping bag.

Happy Birthday Sofia! Have a great weekend!

Happy Easter 2015

Happy Easter! Lent is over, so you can go back to eating chocolate, drinking or generally whatever you promised not to do for all of Lent. But now its over, so in order to celebrate "the day of guilt free Chocolate day" try these Easter recipes to get you in the mood. Or just eat a Lindt Rabbit, your choice.

Hot Cross Buns Cupcakes

Easter Lemon and Ginger Cupcakes

Simnel Cake

Steamed Lemon Pudding

Farewell Blondies
 
Have a wonderful Easter

Happy St Patricks Day 2015

Happy St Patricks Day Everyone! Whether you're Irish or not, you can celebrate in the form of baking one of these yummy recipes:

Chocolate Guinness Mini Cupcakes

 

St Patricks Day Pishachio Cupcakes and Soda Bread

Have a Guinness and pop a little of Mrs Brown on the TV. Have a great day!

Fat Friday #27 Aztec Cookies

 Its been coffee mania at our house. My boyfriend and I have been consuming our weight in coffee, thanks to my new coffee machine. We've been trying to find excuses to make lattes and cappuccinos. So in honour of all things coffee related were making coffee cookies for Fat Friday. Not just coffee however, but with additional dark and white chocolate. Why the name? When you think of Aztec's dark chocolate and gold comes to mind, as well as the Road to El Dorado film. Also because why not? Its Fat Friday and cookies are what Dr Penny is prescribing after a hard week.

You can increase the caffeine hit, by adding an additional teaspoon of instant coffee or omit it all together if you don't like coffee.

Recipe: Makes 18 cookies (Recipe adapted from The Great British Bake Off Showstoppers by Linda Collister, Marry Berry & Paul Hollywood)

·       140g dark chocolate

·       2 teaspoons of instant coffee

·       65g unsalted butter

·       2 eggs

·       ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract

·       130g golden caster sugar

·       185g plain flour

·       1 teaspoon of baking powder

·       100g white chocolate, roughly chopped

·       Gold paint/glitter/dust

Equipment:

·       Mixing bowl x 2

·       Wooden spoon

·       Sieve

·       Saucepan

·       Heatproof bowl

·       Baking sheets lined with baking parchment x 2

·       Wire rack
·       Paintbrush (optional)

 

Method:

1.Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl.
2.Break the dark chocolate into pieces with the butter and instant coffee into a heatproof bowl.
3.Place in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir occasionally until completely melted. Set aside to cool for about 5 minutes.
4.While the chocolate is melting, put the eggs, extract, salt and sugar into a bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until combined. Add the melted chocolate mixture and stir.
5.Sift in the flour and baking powder into the cookie dough and mix in with the wooden spoon.
6.Throw in the white chocolate and roughly mix in. (At this stage you can add the gold paint and mix a little)
7.Leave the mixture to firm up for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 160c/325f/Gas Mark 3.
8.Drop heaped tablespoons of the cookie dough onto the baking sheets (put 5 lumps of cookie dough on each sheet), well spaced to allow for spreading.
9.Bake for 15 minutes, when the cookies come out leave on the tray for about 5 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
10. Once ready to serve dust the cookies with gold glitter or dust for real Aztec feel. Or paint MORE gold paint on.

Have an excellent caffeine filled weekend!

Red Velvet Cake with Blue Lace Butterfies

"Remember, Sofia has no idea about this birthday meal. Keep it quiet! So I'm thinking red velvet cake?" I read the message that my friend sent and was like: "Yessss!! Cake commission!!"

This particular cake was for a good friend who I've made birthday cakes for in the past.   

Red velvet is one of those cakes that has that luxury feel, and it wouldn't be the same without a white icing but trying to incorporate blue, (which is Sofia's favourite colour) was tough. But after a great deal of thinking, inspiration came in from an insect form. 

I was waiting for the bus when a butterfly flew past me and as I got home I was reading my cookery books for inspiration and a royal icing tutorial jumped out at me and guess what? It featured butterflies. Clearly a sign right? Or maybe just an odd coincidence? Whatever the case, the end result was worth the extra effort. 

I was very please how this cake turned out. Not because it was tasty and super sugary (because that's what you need after a heavy meal...), but more because my best friends was thrilled with the cake. 

I hope that we made your birthday really special Sofia.

These delicate butterflies are just that, DELICATE! Make extra because there will be causalities but there worth the effort in the end as they look so pretty. You have to leave these to dry overnight, so do these before you bake the cake. 

Recipe: Lace Butterflies (Adapted from Divine Cupcakes by Tamara Jane)

Ingredients:

·       1 egg white

·       Ice blue colouring paste

·       300g icing sugar

·       ½ teaspoon lemon juice

Equipment:

·       Electric mixer/hand-held electric whisk

·       Sieve

·       Bowl x 1

·       Baking paper

·       Foil

·       Paper

·       Pencil/pen

·       Edible glitter in pink

·       Disposable piping bag

·       Scissors

Step 1. Beat the egg white

1.    Beat the egg white with an electric mixer until foamy.

2.    Add the icing sugar gradually beating well after each addition.

Step 3. Colour the icing

3.    Icing is ready when peaks appear and holds shape. Beat in lemon juice and food colouring. 

Step 4. Trace a butterfly template

4.    Trace a butterfly template (use a simple one as a complex template will be tricky) onto paper and place the baking paper on top.

Step 5. Fill the piping bag

5.    Fill the bag with royal icing and cut the point off the bag so there is a 1mm diameter.

Step 6. Pipe the thin line to create the butterfly

6.    Pipe a thin line over the template. Once finish sprinkle with edible glitter and allow to dry overnight.

Step 7. Place on decorated cake 

7.    Peel off the paper and use to decorate the cake by placing around the sides of the cake.

8.    With the remaining icing pipe your message on top of the cake.

Recipe: Red Velvet Cake

·       75g unsalted butter, softened (plus a little extra for greasing)

·       300g caster sugar

·       2 eggs, beaten

·       1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·       225g plain flour

·       3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

·       1 ½ teaspoon red food colour paste

·       125ml buttermilk

·       1 tablespoon white vinegar

Equipment:

·       Wilton Tasty Fill cake pan

·       Electric mixer/hand-held electric whisk

·       Sieve

·       Bowl x 2

·       Tablespoon

·       Teaspoon

1.    Pre heat the oven to 180c/350c/ Gas mark 4. Grease and flour cake tins.

Step 2. Sift all dry ingredients together

2.    For the cake, cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl, then beat in the eggs and vanilla extract. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a separate bowl. Stir in the food colour paste into buttermilk.

3.    Alternately add the flour and buttermilk mixtures to the creamed mixture. Stir in the vinegar, mixing well. Pour the mixture into the prepared tins, dividing it evenly. Bake in the oven for 30-35 mins or until firm to touch. Cool in the tins for 10 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

Recipe: Bulk Vanilla Buttercream frosting (Adapted from Divine Cupcakes by Tamara Jane)

·       200g unsalted butter, softened

·       125ml milk

·       1 tablespoon vanilla extract

·       2kg icing sugar, sifted

Equipment:

·       Electric mixer/hand-held electric whisk

·       Sieve

·       Bowl x 1

        Palette knife

       Optional piping bag fitted with a nozzle

1.Using a large mixer, cream the butter for 1-2 minutes.

2. Add the milk, vanilla and half the icing sugar and beat for 3 minutes or until light a fluffy.

Step 3. Beat until spreadable

3. Add the remaining icing sugar and beat for a further 3 minutes or until it is a spreadable consistency.

Step 4. Spread  the buttercream into the middle of the cake.

4. Once the cakes are completely cooled you can start putting some of the buttercream into the middle of the cake. 

5. Spread the rest of the buttercream over the top and sides of the cake using a palette knife ensuring it is as smooth as you can get it. 

6. If you have any leftover buttercream (depends on how thick you like it on your cake), you can place some in a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle to swirl around the edges. 

Its not as hard as it looks and is worth the effort and the smile on peoples faces when they see a 3-D cake.

Happy Pancake Day!

Happy Pancake day! Make these no fuss pancakes and top with sweet, savoury or indifferent toppings. Bacon and chocolate works... but concoction will you come up with?

Recipe: Pancakes (Makes 6 pancakes or more)

·       110g plain flour

·       Pinch of salt

·       2 eggs

·       250ml milk

·       50g butter, for frying

Equipment:

·       Bowl

·       Whisk

·       Frying pan

·       Large palette knife

·       Jugs

·       Sieve

1.    Sieve flour into a bowl and add salt.

2.    Make a well in the middle, add the egg and ½ of the milk.

3.    Whisk until the lumps have disappeared. Then add the rest of the milk and whisk until the mixture looks runny.

4.    Put into a jug and rest for an hour at room temperature.

5.    Heat the butter in a saucepan to coat. Make sure it’s not too oily. Pour a little of the batter into the saucepan, so has a thin layer of batter.

6.    When the pancake begins to blister, flip over using a palette knife. Cook on the other side, until a light brown colour.

7.    Serve hot with sugar, lemon, chocolate sauce, bacon, the cat etc. Be creative. 
Make sure if your flipping pancakes make sure you don't hit the ceiling >.< (I did twice erg.)