Wednesday 5 December 2012

Easiest Cake Recipe Ever (Promise): Bakewell Cake!



Bakewell Cake

It feels like I haven't been on here in forever! But as I have been struggling through the joys of 1st trimester pregnancy sickness, cake has pretty much been off the menu until this weekend! Yes my sweet tooth made a welcome return and said cake is needed urgently! As I still have a energy level of zero, I thought baking could be a problem, then I remembered I could make a Bakewell cake, which would take minimal effort, but taste absolutely divine! It really is a matter of mixing all of the ingredients together and letting the oven do the rest.. Here's the recipe for anyone that needs a quick impressive cake for any occasion!

You will need a 22-24cm spring-form cake tin for this recipe

  • 150 g butter, softened
  • 150 g caster sugar
  • 150 g self-raising flour
  • 150 g ground almonds
  • 2 large free range eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 6 tsp raspberry jam
  • 1x 150 g punnet raspberries
  • 50 g flaked almonds

Similar to Bakewell Slice

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160C/Gas 2. Line the cake tin with baking parchment.

Using a food processor or an electric whisk, blitz or whizz the butter, sugar, flour, ground almonds, eggs and vanilla extract. Plop half of the mix into the lined cake tin and smooth out.

Now, dot the jam, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, all over and scatter with the raspberries. With the remainder of the cake mix, drop dollops over the fruit to cover but don't worry about the holes, just use your fingers to spread it about a bit.

Scatter the flaked almonds over and bake for 45-50 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature. 

It can last for a few days if you store it in the fridge!



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Tuesday 2 October 2012

Ace of Cakes at Macmillian Coffee



Macmillian Coffee Morning
 
 

The last week has been a haze of cakes! My Mum arranged a coffee morning for Macmillian Cancer Nurses, so I baked a range of cakes for the occassion. As the coffee morning was open to the general public, and lots of family, friends and neighbours had been invited, I thought it would be really nice to provide them with as much choice as possible. So I got my thinking cap on and thought about all the cake possibilities...
After much testing and tasting, I decided to challenge myself to make 8 different sweet treats for the event, they were:
 
- Brownies
- Malteaser Cake
- Bakewell Cake
- Banana Up-side Cake
- Carrot Cake 
- Blueberry Muffins
- Shortbread
- Jam Tarts

This meant my house became a constant bakery in the lead-up to the coffee morning, but it was sooo worth it as the cakes were temptingly yummy, and people donated generously for them! As a bonus I now have some new receipes to add to my collection. :-) Despite all the hard work and baking, the morning was only successful because everyone came along and supported us, so thanks a million!

Malteaser Cake



 

Monday 24 September 2012

Welcome to my Cake World

So I have finally taken the plunge and decided to share my love of cake. I have always had a soft spot for sweet things, but in the last few years my appreciation for sweet indulgence has far surpassed anyone I have ever met. So I'm officially admitting it, I'm a cake addict, and proud of it!!!! I love to admire cake, eat cake, bake cake and generally conversate about cake if the opportunity arises. You may ask why, and the honest answer is I don't know. But I have realised that rather than fighting my love and appreciation for the decadence that is cake (or any dessert!) I have chosen to embrace it, and where possible enjoy it. So this blog will be my journey of cake, what things I learn along the way no one knows, and with my new-found love for baking, cakes are never short in supply!! :-)