A very special cake....

   Once Upon A Time.....

.....I was asked to make a cake. A very special cake, in my opinion. For a very good friend of my dog. 

My dog, Gnasher.

 This is my dog, Gnasher. If you knew her,  you'd know that she is basically ever so slightly bonkers. But in a very good way. Doesn't have a grumpy bone in her body! She makes friends very easily, human & doggie. This particular friend was a human. A small one, called Rosie, who is the daughter of a lovely friend of mine.
 Rosie, or rather her Mum, asked me if I would like to make a cake for Rosie's 8th birthday. A cake based on the Disney movie, Tangled. Maybe a Rapunzel's Tower cake?  'Would love to' was my reply (well she & Gnasher are very good friends!!).  

Can you see the board? No, I can't either!!

 So I had a good think, a few mugs of tea, looked at some pretty pictures of cakes...and spoke to some of my lovely cakey mates. My friend Julie gave me an intensive masterclass in making castle cakes ~ Thank you lovely Julie!!
My friend Kellie gave me strict instructions on how I 'must cover the board properly & use a ribbon!!' So I did just that and doesn't it look professional?
  The first time I have ever covered a cake board!!  I have made a step by step album (you all know how much I love doing these!!) on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.292284777508972.66128.134501389953979&type=3, so I won't bore you with it all again.


 Here we go, the finished Rapunzel's Tower cake!!

Rosie's Cake!!

  And here is Rosie with her cake. I think she liked it!! Well, only the best for one of Gnasher's friends!!

Anyone for Afternoon Tea?

Afternoon Tea, Cake Fairy style!!

  I spent Mothers Day afternoon in the kitchen. I was in the zone, the 'baking zone'...I loved it, every minute of it!!
   I finally got to use my mini Victoria Sponge tin from Lakeland, and the mini loaf tins my menfolk treated me to on Mothers Day. 

 I made some coconut & lime macaroons, some cherry & almond mini loaves, some mini loaves of a very zingy lemon drizzle cake. And the mini Victoria sponges too!

Very Zingy Lemon Drizzles

  All my sponge recipes use the same basic formula ~ weigh your eggs, and use the same amount of butter, sugar and SR flour, with some liquid to loosen. (Easier for me this way as my hens all lay different size eggs!!). 
   So for the Lemon Drizzle I used 3 eggs, creamed the butter & sugar together, along with the zest of two lemons, then added the eggs and flour. Then I added the juice from the two lemons...well I told you it was zingy, didn't I?  This made enough to fill 4 of the mini loaf pans, which went on a baking tray into the oven @ 160 fan for about 30 mins, then when cool were topped with icing made with lemon juice & icing sugar, more zinginess!!

Mini Vic sponges...

Same basic formula for the mini vics, except no lemon anywhere, just a splash of vanilla essence when Betty the KitchenAid beat the butter & sugar together, and some milk give a dropping consistency. For the 12 hole tin from Lakeland, I used 2 large eggs, but I think I slightly overfilled them, so had to trim the bases a little to stand them upright!!  They were filled with raspberry jam (I opened the last jar of homemade!!), piped whipped double cream, and fresh raspberries. Icing sugar on the top, I really needed a miniature paper doilie too, to make the pattern on the top my Nana always used to do!!

Coconut & Lime macaroons

  Now to the macaroons! Not the posh French Maccaron (please, don't make me try again!!) but traditional rough edged coconut ones, that should really come stuck on rice paper. One of my lovely bakey mates, Frankie, found me a lovely simple recipe for these, it was a recipe by Jill Dupleix, which I tweaked a bit, as the eggs I had were enormous ones!! (One actually came from a hen named Coconut, the other was called Poached).
  So this is the recipe I used ~ 2 large egg whites, 200g of dessicated coconut, 120g caster sugar, zest of one lime, and the juice of the lime too. I like to whip up the whites using Betty the KitchenAid, but you don't actually have to whip them at all, just mix all the above together. Then using a tablespoon, dollop out 12 rounds, and flatten them a little, onto a baking paper lined tray. Oven @ 160 fan for about 12 ~ 15 mins. When they cooled, I drizzled them with melted white chocolate.. I had a very hard time not eating all of these, as they were a special request from my coconut mad brother..

Cherry & Almond mini loaves

  Last bake on the menu was the Cherry & Almond mini loaves, and you've guessed it, you start by weighing the eggs again. This time there is a slight difference, as I replaced 1/3 of the SR flour with ground almonds, and added a splash of natural almond essence whilst Betty the KitchenAid was hard at work again (I do get my money's worth from that machine!!). I used 3 eggs again, and a full 200g tub of naturally coloured glace cherries, as I LOVE cherry cake to have lots of cherries in it! Half of the cherries were mixed into the batter, and the other half were just popped onto the top of the cake as they were put into the oven. After about 15 mins in the oven, I sprinkled some flaked almonds on the top too.
 
  The menfolk were gathering now, brought by the aroma of baking, and impatiently waiting for the goodies to be served, so I had to shoo them away whilst I took my piccies... They said that the first one I gave them was okay, but that they really needed to try another one just to be sure.....Hmm..

  So there you are, Afternoon Tea, Cake Fairy style. Enjoy!!

I'm back!!

  Oh, Hello!!  So sorry for the lack of posts, since changing my working hours to full time last year, I have been rushing about like a mad thing, but I have got myself organised now I think!!  Watch this space for new post soon!! 

Oh go on then! I'll make the wedding cake!!

My First Ever Wedding Cake!! 

  One of my closest friends lives next door to me, my friend Stephie.  When I drop off some cakes (can't keep them all, so I have a circuit of friends & neighbours who share my baking!!)  she says 'Oh the Cake Fairy is here!!'  You can tell where I get my blog name from, can't you?  A couple of months ago, we were having coffee and she asked me to do a wedding cake for her sister 'Oh No, couldn't possibly, far too important, what if I make a pigs ear of it?'.   Phew! Close Escape!! 
  She didn't give up though, a couple of weeks later, she asked again and I heard these words come out of mouth 'Oh, go on, I'll make it!!'

Nudey Wedding Cake!!

  Aaaggghhhh!!!   What had I done!    Panic stations!!  The next day when I had calmed down somewhat, I sat down and had a think about the design. All I had been told was 2 tier, traditional fruit cake, serve about 120 people, and white with blue accents.  Hmmmm.....   So, I got busy!!

Finished cake!!

  After baking a test cake, I soon had the two fruit cakes made and wrapped in greaseproof paper. Feeding the cakes with lovely brandy became a ritual ~ as I unwrapped the cakes and trickled the brandy on, the scent would fill the kitchen, delicious!  That went on for about 6 weeks, and then it was time to assemble the cake!!  This is the scarey bit!
  So, I covered them in marzipan, left them about a week to dry, then covered them with fondant. Blimey, covering a 10 inch cake, that is 4 inches tall, you have to roll the marzipan/fondant out to a circle about 20 inches in diameter!!  Thats about 4 kg of fondant, and a lot of rolling! 
  Whilst the fondant was still soft and fresh, I embossed a design of flowers, butterflies, ladybirds and bees on to the sides, and then painted the cakes all over with a pearlescent lustre dust ( got that everywhere in the kitchen, its so light, it floats about!).  Then the next day I popped dowels into the bottom tier, and stacked the cakes. I made about 40 sugar roses, and coloured them to match the ribbon, and stuck them around the step between the two cakes. Then all I had to do was pop on the mini bride & groom that Stephie had chosen for the top. So there we are, my first ever Wedding Cake!
   Oh, and Stephie told me the couple loved the cake, and all the children at the wedding were running off with the roses!! Result!!
  I really enjoyed making this cake, despite my reservations at the start.  I have learnt loads about cake decorating, and had tonnes of support and advice from people on the Cake Fairy page, couldn't have done it without them!! 

Sticky Toffee Pudding, something I have never made before, but will definitely be making again!!

Yum! Sticky Toffee Pudding.....

Simon Hopkinson's Sticky Toffee Pudding!!


Has any one been watching Simon Hopkinson's The Good Cook?  I can recommend it, I have tried a couple of his recipes from the first episode and both have worked amazingly well. When my lad was away on a school trip for the whole weekend (first time ever!!)  I thought I would make this Sticky Toffee Pudding and all I can say is WOW!!

This recipe is so easy to make and produces such a lovely light sponge,  and you really do have to make BOTH of the sauces, AND have it with double cream.......
  When I made it, I could find no mention of what size baking dish to use, so I used a tin roughly 7 in by 11 in. This made enough for 8 very generous portions, so next time I am going to use 2 x 6 in square pyrex dishes and freeze one of them, as I froze half of this last weekend and reheated it covered with foil for pud tonight (It seemed fitting with such dreadful weather, its not stopped raining heavily all weekend!!).

Here is a link to the recipe on the BBC site ~ http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/sticky_toffee_pudding_50947

Butterscotch sauce and double cream!!!

  Oh, and by the way, my lad really loved this!!

  (The other recipe was for a beurre blanc, and that was absolutely gorgeous, too!)

By special request - Banoffee Pie!!

Banoffee Pie!!

   My son, who is 12, made a special request the other day, for Banoffee Pie. Apparently the poor child has never had Banoffee Pie, and was feeling a bit pie deprived, poor thing!!
  I've never made this before, so had a bit of a think. For the base, it has to be a classic crunchy digestive base, and for the caramel I wanted it to be fairly soft and gooey, so maybe add some cream? Then of course, lots of piped whipped cream on top!
  So away I went, bashing biscuits into smithereens with a rolling pin, stirring caramel frantically, so it didn't stick to the pan, and piping stars of whipped cream everywhere!!

Yum!

Here's the recipe -

For the base,
250g digestives, crushed
100g butter, melted

For the caramel,
400g tin of condensed milk,
100g butter,
100g brown sugar,
2 tbsp golden syrup
100ml double cream




For the topping about 200 ml  double cream
chocolate powder, to dust on top


Oops, and 2/3 bananas!!

   Method -

  Do the usual thing with the melted butter and the digestive bikkies, and press into a loose bottom/springform tin about 20cm size.  Chill while you make the caramel. Put all the caramel ingredients (except the cream) in a sturdy saucepan, and use a medium heat until coming up to the boil. DO NOT attempt to do anything else for the next 5 minutes, as you need to stir the caramel constantly, and don't forget to get into the corners! Don't answer the doorbell, or make a phone call, just stir!!
  When it comes to a boil, reduce the heat slightly and allow to simmer, stirring for about 5 mins.  The mix will darken slightly and thicken too, when this happens remove from the heat and add the double cream. Keep stirring!!  Then take the base out of the freezer, and quickly slice 2or 3 bananas on top of the base, and cover with the caramel mix. Allow to cool completely, before topping with the whipped cream.

  This was really strongly banana-y at first, but the next day it was much nicer, the banana flavour had mellowed a lot.  Went down well in our house, and got the thumbs up from my lad!!  Job done!!

Cake Project Time - Mandy the Cake Fairy does a Peggy Porschen!!!

Posy Cake

  For my birthday recently, I was really lucky and was given lots of cake dec books for pressies!  One of them was the new Peggy Porschen book,   http://www.amazon.co.uk/Peggys-Favourite-Cakes-Cookies-Porschen/dp/1844009505/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309296192&sr=8-1
  Its a fab book, lots of amazing cookies and cakes, and one of them especially caught my eye, so I thought I would have a go, and here we are - I made a tray of best ever brownies, and cut out rounds using a scone cutter. These were filled with apricot jam, and covered in white fondant.
  Then I coloured some fondant in 3 different shades of green, and rolled pieces into long strips, akin to the plasticine worms we all used to make a little kids!!  I stuck these strips onto the cake using liqud glucose, and trimmed the excess off at the top. I used some more white fondant to make a dome which I put on top of the cake.
 A few days ago I made about 3 dozen white glowers out of flower paste, and I stuck them on to the cake using thick royal icing.
  So there we are, Project Porschen's Posy done!!  And I loved every minute!!