Victoria Sandwich

If you read my last post, you'll probably remember me saying that I was going to post a recipe for Victoria Sandwich Cake. Well, as promised, here is said recipe...

Ingredients

175g (6oz) Margarine
175g (6oz) Caster Sugar
175g (6oz) Self Raising Flour
3 Eggs (Beaten)
Pinch of Salt

Strawberry Jam
Whipped Cream (optional)

1. Beat margarine in a large bowl until soft/fluffy.

2. Add the sugar to the margarine, mix both together with a wooden spoon.

3. Beat three large eggs in a bowl, before adding them a little at a time to the margarine/sugar mixture, beating well inbetween each addition.

4. Sift the flower into the mix and gently stir in. (If the mix becomes too thick, add a drop of milk until it reaches a dropping consistency)

5. Add a pinch of salt and stir in.

6. Grease and line two sponge tins and divide the mixture between both.

7. Put in the oven for 27 minutes at 180C (160C FAN)

8. Take the sponges out of the oven, removing them from their tins (using a sharp bladed knide around the edges if necessary) Leave to cool on a wire rack for half an hour.

9. Spread Jam (I like to use almost a whole jar of Bon Maman Conserve) over one of the sponges and place the other on top, creating a sandwich. (you can add cream as well if you like!)

10. Dust with icing sugar and serve!


Happy Baking!

X

21st Birthday Cupcake Tower

So last week was my twenty-first Birthday (I know, old or what?) and to celebrate, I decided to make my very fist cupcake tower yay!
Originally I'd wanted to order some cakes from Oh Crumbs but unfortunately they've ceased trading for the time being, so into the kitchen I went, and here are the results...






Soo what do you think? To be honest, I'm pretty impressed with the results since they actually turned out okayish - One might even say that they look semi-professional! (or is that taking it a bit too far!)

They were actually a lot easier to make than I'd expected and once I got going I managed to have them all baked and decorated in no time. In total, I made 45 cakes (using the regular recipe, which I'll paste below!) and it cost around £50 (including stand!) - So all in all, I saved around £70, which helps a lot when you're a poor student!

The recipe for four cakes is...
(Just multiply to the quantity you want!)

Ingredients

55g (2oz) Margarine
28g (1oz) Caster Sugar
55g (2oz) Self Raising Flour
1 egg
1stp Baking Powder
2tsp Vanilla Essence

Recipe

1. Mix the flour, sugar, egg and margarine together in a large mixing bowl for two to three minutes until fully combined.

2. To this mixture add the Vanilla essence and Baking powder and stir again until completely mixed.

3. Fill the muffin cases to just over half way.

4. Put in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 190C (180C Fan) Gas 5 until springy and a light golden colour.

I'm usually quite ambiguous when it comes to icing repipes and I'm going to remain that way. However, I will say that milk and vanilla extract really help to create the perfect buttercream, so just add a splash of those to your mix and you should be good to go!

What do you think of my first tower? Let me know.

Check back soon for more baking advantures!

Happy Baking,

X

Black Olive Focaccia

Last Friday, I finally got around to making the Black Olive Focaccia that I promised you about a million years ago, so voila!


Having never really made bread before, apart from the occasional pizza base, I hoped and prayed that it would turn out right, and as you can see, it kinda did.
Now it's not something that I would recommend making if you don't have a lot of time, because you really need a whole afternoon to dedicate to it, but if you do I would definitely suggest that you try it (It goes really well with pasta, but is also pretty nice by itself, and gets even better when left for twenty four hours - I really don't know why, do you?)


So you'll want the recipe, because I know it's all you've been thinking about since you saw it on the list, so here goes:

Ingredients

500g/ 1 lb 2oz Strong White Bread Flour, Plus a little extra for dusting
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Easy Blend Dried Yeast
350ml/ 12fl oz tepid water
6 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
115g/ 4oz Pitted Black Olives coursely Chopped (Plus Extra for Topping)
1 tsp Rock Salt
Sprinkle of Rosemary

Method

1. Sift Flour and salt into a warm bowl and stir in the yeast.

2. Pour in the water and 2 tablespoons of olive oil and mix until a soft dough. (If dough is too sticky add a little more flour)

3. Knead dough on a floured work surface for five to ten minutes.

4. Place kneaded dough into an warm, oiled bowl and cover with clingfilm , before leaving it to stand in a warm place for an hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.

5. After an hour take the dough and punch it to knock the air out of it.

6. Knead the dough on a floured work surface for one minute.

7. Add the chopped Olives and knead again until fully combined. Divide the dough in half and flatten each half into an oval (roughly 28 x 23cm) and place them both onto seperate pre oiled baking trays.

8. Cover the trays with oiled clingfilm and leave in a warm place for an hour, until dough is puffy.

9. Press fingers into dough to make dimples, drizzle over 2 tablespoons of oil and sprinkle with rock salt. Top with whole olives and a sprinkling of Rosemary.

10. Bake in a pre heated oven at 200C/ 400F/ Gas Mark 6, for 30 - 35 minutes.

11. Remove from oven and drizzle with Olive Oil and enjoy!


Okay, so that's all... Oh other than to be careful to only use 1 teaspoon of rock salt and not a tablespoon like I accidentally did, because it really does make the bread very salty, which isn't always a good thing!

So until next time,

Happy Baking!

X

Soft Centred Chocolate Bites

So what do you think?

This week was the turn of the Soft Centred Chocolate Bites, which were taken from a lovely little recipe book called Everyday Baking, given to me by my friend Laura for my last Birthday.

It's a fantastic book and contains pretty much everything you could ever wish to bake, so you won't be surprised to hear that I'll be using it several more times, as I make my way through the Challenge list!

(Incidentally here's a photo of the book's cover, if you want to look for it - It's very good and very easy to understand!)

Go on, go look for it!

The recipe itself was very straight forward and oh so delicious (I've adapted it everso slightly, but not so much as you'd tell!)

So what you'll need...

* TO MAKE 7/8 CHOCOLATE BITES*

• 4 Tablespoons of Soft Margarine
  
• 55g/2oz Caster Sugar
  
• 1 Large Egg
• 85g/ 3oz Self raising Flour
  
• 1.5 Tablespoons of Cocoa Powder
• 1 Teaspoon of Baking Powder
  
• 1 Bar of Plain Chocolate (Segmented is best)
• Icing Sugar for Dusting
• Strawberry Garnish
  

Recipe

1. Put 8 paper cases in a muffin tin.

2. Put the margarine, sugar, egg, flour, baking powder and cocoa into a mixing bowl and beat together until smooth.

3. Spoon half the mixture into the paper cases. Using a teaspoon make an indentation in the centre of each cake. Break the chocolate into eight segments and place a piece in each indentation (although I would recommend you use two, because one isn't quite enough!)

4. Spoon the remaining cake mix on the top of each cake until the cases are almost full.


5. Bake the cakes in a pre heated over at 190C/ 375F/Gas Mark 5 for 20 minutes.

6. Remove from oven and leave to stand for two minutes, before lightly dusting with icing sugar for presentation.

Fresh out of the Oven

The Verdict?

These mini chocolate bites were incredibly delicious - even if I do say so myself - and I would certainly recommend them to anyone who wants make them - really, go on make them, you won't regret it!
The only thing I would say is that the chocolate quantities in the centre should be doubled (I've noted this in the recipe) but this can be easily adjusted to make them the perfect cakes.

Next week I'm jumping over to the savoury side of the wall to make Black Olive Focaccia so check back soon to see how that goes!

Until then,

Happy Baking!

X