Iced Ginger Ring.

Was in need of some comforting food and really taste as well this afternoon. So I made this and boy! did it hit the spot. Ginger is so good for the tummy and the digestive system. Now I should have used all golden syrup but I didn't have enough, so used some treacle, which gave it that lovely dark colour.

Prep time 20 minutes... Cooking time 35 minutes.

Ingredients..
340 g Self Raising Flour.
1 tablesp. Bicarb of Soda.
1 tablesp. Ground Ginger.
1 tablesp. Ground Cinnamon.
170 g Sugar (I used white)
170 g Butter.
110 g Golden Syrup.
110 g Treacle.
2 Eggs.
230 mls Milk.
120 g Glazed Ginger (chopped)

Method...
Melt butter, sugar and golden syrup in a saucepan, stirring the whole time.
Set aside to cool.
When cooled, add the rest of the ingredients, leaving the chopped ginger to last.
Mix well. I used a wooden spoon.
Grease a ring tin (or loaf tin) and bake in the oven at 180c (less for fan-forced) for 35 minutes.
Allow to cool and ice with a runny icing.

I dare you to stop at one slice. Enjoy.

Margarita cupcakes with a Lime glaze.

Boozy cupcakes for adults, had fun making these.
Taken and adapted from an American lass called Gail Wagman.

You will need..
150gms S.R. Flour. (sifted)
125gms unsalted Butter (room temp)
150gms Sugar.
3 Eggs.
1 tablespoon finely grated Lime rind.
2 tablespoons Tequila.


Lime Glaze
2 tablespoons fresh Lime juice.
150gms Icing Sugar.
1 tablespoon Tequila.
Green food colouring.
Coarse Salt and Lime slices for decoration.


Method....
Preheat oven to 180c
Cream the butter and sugar until very pale and fluffy.
Add eggs, 1 at a time and beating well each time.
Add the lime rind and Tequila.
Fold in the flour until it is all absorbed.
Fill the cupcake cases 1/2 full or a little over. (We need room to put the glaze on later)
Place the cupcake trays in the oven for 20-25 minutes, when touched they should spring back.
Allow to cool, while you make the glaze.


In a bowl, put the icing sugar, lime juice and Tequila and mix until totally smooth. Now add the green food colouring to the desired green and mix well.
Spoon over the cupcakes and smooth a little. This will level out itself in a few minutes.
Decorate with lime slices and a straw for fun. Sprinkle the coarse salt over the top, not too much now.
Makes between 15-18 cupcakes (depending on their size)

Cinnamon and Sultana Cakelets.

A delightful little cake to have with a cup of tea.

You will need..

1 cup of black tea (no sugar)

1 and 1/2 cups Sultanas.

2 Eggs.

1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground Cinnamon.

1 and 1/2 cups S.R. Flour.

1/2 cup Milk.

125gms unsalted Butter (room temperature)

155gms Raw Caster Sugar (or normal caster sugar)

Cinnamon Sugar (to finish)

Method..

First up, make the black tea and put the sultanas and tea in a bowl to soak, set aside.

Preheat the oven to 180c and place cases in little cake tray.

Cream butter and sugar together until light and creamy, add 1 egg at a time and mix. Now put in the milk.

Sift the flour and cinnamon together and fold in to the butter mix. Drain the tea from the sultanas and mix gently in to the batter.

Spoon in to the cases until 3/4 full. Place in the now hot oven for 20 minutes or until cake skewer comes out clean.

While still hot from the oven, sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the top of each one and allow to cool.

Enjoy at any time of the day with a cup of tea.

Carrot Cake for 35 people

What a FAB and GROOVY 60th Birthday I had. It was themed The Sixties. Everyone came in sixties dress, we had sixties music and as close as possible sixties food. The cake was Carrot cake, first started in the sixties by the vegetarian hippies. (I didn't know that)
I did one large cake that would feed 35 people and 24 cupcakes.
This was the first time I have made such a large cake, and was really worried about the centre cooking and rising as it should, so used a new product to me called a cake core, made by Wilton, which you place in the middle of the tin with the cake batter in it and around it. Cooks very evenly and simple to use.

Find the cupcake recipe in my *labels*Ingredients...
2 2/3 cups S.R. Flour (sifted)
2 2/3 cups Plain Flour (sifted)
4 1/4 teasp Ground Cinnamon.
2 3/4 teasp Ground Ginger.
1 1/2 teasp Ground Nutmeg.
2 teasp Bicarbonate of Soda.
475 ml Rice Bran Oil.
2 1/2 cups Brown Sugar.
8 Eggs.
3/4 cup Golden Syrup or Honey.
1.1 kilos finely Grated Carrot.
2 cups Sultanas.
1 cup finely chopped Walnuts.


Preheat oven to 180c and grease and line a 30 cm/12 inch tin.
Sift together in a large bowl, the first 6 ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon. Make well in centre and set aside.
In another bowl, mix the oil, sugar, eggs, golden syrup.
Pour in to the flour bowl and stir in well.
Now fold in the rest of the ingredients and pour in to the prepared tin.
Place in centre of the oven and cook for 2 hours and 30 minutes. (Mine didn't take that long because I used the WILTON CAKE CORE) So keep checking yours every half an hour, we don't want it to burn now do we?
For the icing, I used Philli cream cheese, a little butter, vanilla extract and icing sugar.
This cake will store well in an air tight container for up to a week (I did this and iced it the day before required) or will freeze for up to 2 months.

The new year

A huge apology for not being around as much of late. So many things have kept me away from blogging. My old oven dying and having to learn the new one. The pressure cooker also died, but now have a you beaut electric one, which I am also learning about.

Christmas was at our house this year and I did the full formal Christmas dinner, made special by using Ron's fabulous Apricot glaze on the turkey. Thank you The Merlin's Menu blog.

Now it is full steam ahead, getting ready for my 60th birthday party, which is themed 60's. Did a test run on the marque yesterday, and it will fit where we want it to go. Guest invites have been sent, food organised, tablecloths, plates, cutlery all got. I will be making my own cake, but keeping the design and flavour secret.

Photo of Chocolate and blackberry Torte made yesterday. Chocolate mouse at the bottom, blackberry compote and mascapone in the middle and fresh cream and a crumbled Flake on the top.

Wishing you all a properous NEW YEAR.

Boiled Fruit 'n Whiskey Cake.

This fruit cake will make an excellent Christmas or wedding cake. It keeps for up to three months, mine didn't 'cos I have hungry men in the house. But I shall do another one for Christmas this year. Use any fruit that you have, or go and do a special shop just for this. As long as you end up with around six and a half cups of mixed fruit. Ingredients....
2 1/4 cups Sultanas.
1 1/2 cups Raisins. (chopped)
1 1/2 cups Currants.
1/2 cup mixed Peel.
1/2 cup Glaze Cherries. (halved)
1 cup tinned Pineapple. (chopped)
1/4 cup Apricots (chopped)
250g Butter.
1 cup Brown Sugar.
1/2 cup Whiskey. (or Brandy)
1/2 cup water.
5 Eggs (lightly beaten)
1 tablespoon Treacle.
1 3/4 cups Plain Flour.
1/3 cup S.R. Flour.
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda.

Method....

Sift dry ingredients (flours) together and set aside.

Combine butter, fruit, sugar, whiskey and water in a large saucepan and simmer until sugar has dissolved, stirring all the time. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer with a lid on for ten minutes. (Stirring now and then) Set aside to cool. This is very important as the next step is adding the eggs and we don't want them to cook.

When the fruit is at room temperature, add the eggs and treacle and stir to combine. Then stir in the flours. Spread the mixture in to a greased and lined 23cm round tin. Bake at 150c for about 2 and a half hours. Test with a cake skewer, if it comes out clean, it is ready.

My cake tin was not that large so I had mix left over. So I quickly got cupcake cases ready and put those in the oven at the same time. These were done first of course, but it gave me an excuse to open the oven door and take in the beautiful aromas.

Cupcakes fit for a princess.

It was my grand daughter's birthday recently and I made her these cupcakes. Also found these delightful cupcake wrappers which I was dying to use, so........

Ingredients..

125g Butter (unsalted)

155g Castor sugar.

2 Eggs (lightly beaten together)

225g S.R. Flour. (Sifted twice)

125ml Milk.

Vanilla essence or strawberry food flavouring.

For the icing..

250g Butter (unsalted)

400g Icing sugar.

Colouring of your choice. (I used paste Grape Violet and Rose Pink)

Method..

Preheat oven to 180c. Line a cupcake tray with cupcake cases (makes 20)

Using an electric mixer, beat together the cream and sugar until very light and creamy. Add the eggs a little at a time, beating well between each addition. Now fold in the flour, flavouring and the milk until just combined. Do not over work the flour.

Spoon in to the prepared cases and bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the skewer comes out clean. Set a side to cool while you make the icing.

Put the butter in to the bowl of the electric mixer, and beat for at least 10 minutes, scrapping down the sides every now and then. The longer you do this, the paler the butter becomes. Almost white. Still using the mixer, add the icing sugar a bit at a time until smooth, then add your colouring. Put the icing mix in to a piping bag and just start making your pretty designs on the top of each cupcake.

Lastly, decorate with sprinkles, little marshmallows or flowers and birds, all edible.

Have fun!

Chocolate Raspberry Roulade

I put off making this cake, because it actually scarred me! But after a little research on YouTube on how to *roll*, I took the plunge. And I can honestly say "There is nothing to be afraid of" Most importantly is to *roll* straight from the oven using the prepared baking paper and a damp but clean tea towel. I added some booze to the cream to make it a little more adult, but you can leave it out if you wish.Ingredients...
100g Caster Sugar. (Plus a little more for turning out the roulade)
5 Eggs.
25g S.R. Flour.
40g Cocoa.
50g Almond Meal.

For the Cream filling....
250g Mascarpone.
100g Plain Chocolate (melted)
100g Icing Sugar. (Sifted)
2 tbsp Booze (I used VOK's Martini Chocolate)
200g Raspberry.
Cocoa or Icing sugar for dusting.

Method...
Preheat the oven to 180c. Line and butter a 30cm Swiss roll tin, and dust with caster sugar, shaking off any excess.
Beat the eggs until three times the volume, they should be pale and thick enough to leave a trail when the whisk is taken out. This could take up to ten minutes so I hope you have a fabulous mixer like me! (The new KA)
Sift all the dry ingredients together and gently fold them in to the egg mixture, using a metal spoon and being very careful not to knock the air out of the eggs.
Spoon carefully in to the prepared tin and spread to the corners.
Bake for 12 to 18 minutes until the cake is firm to touch in the middle. Turn out on to a piece of baking paper scattered with caster sugar.
Peel off the backing paper and then start to *roll* lengthwise using the paper it is now on. When rolled, dampen a tea towel and then roll again. This will help to keep it moist while it is cooling.
Meanwhile, make you cream filling. Beat the mascarpone, melted chocolate, icing sugar and the booze together. Then fold in the mashed raspberries. Holding back a few for decoration. Put this in the fridge to set. When the *roll* and the cream filling are ready, unroll and spread the filling to all edges. Re roll, cutting off any tatty edges. Then dust and decorate. Put back in the fridge for a wee while. (I couldn't wait that long!) To firm up.
Now stop yourself from having more than one slice. ENJOY.
* Leave out the fruit and just have all chocolate.
* Note I didn't dust mine, I used shop bought chocolate swirls.

Chocolate Stout Cake.

This delightfully gooey and chocolaty cake I have made before. It comes from Nigella's FEAST. And I am sure she would not mind me playing around with it. In fact, I think she has said that recipes are meant to played with.

I found Young's Chocolate stout at Dan Murphy's grog shop, and thought this would be as good as Guinness. It is and more so. I also cooked the cake in two tins rather than one as Nigella suggests. Then I made the icing, adding cocoa and sandwiched the two together and put the remaining cheesy/chocolaty icing on the top.
For those of you that don't have Nigella's FEAST, you will find the original recipe here under CHOCOLATE GUINNESS CAKE.
Thank you Nigella.

Victoria Sponge.

My very first sponge that I have made, all by myself (with a little help from my new love, KA) Well, I got the ingredients out, all it did was mix it! Ha ha. Why have I always bought these in the past? They are so easy to make.

Ingredients...
175g Butter (unsalted and softened)
175g Caster Sugar.
175g S.R. Flour (sifted twice)
1 teaspoon Baking Powder.
3 Eggs (medium size)
1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence.
1 teaspoon Water (room temperature)

Method...
Preheat oven to 180c and grease and flour two 8 inch tins.
Cream the butter and sugar until it is white (this took under two minutes in the new KA)
Beat eggs, water and vanilla essence in a separate bowl or jug. Add the eggs in a very slow trickle to the butter mixture while still mixing. This should take a wee while, around 2 minutes.
Mix the baking powder and flour together and gently fold in to the creamy mixture.
Divide the mix between the two prepared tins and cook for 20-25 minutes until springing back from sides when pressed.
Leave them to cool a while before turning out. When totally cold spread thickened cream on the bottom of one and strawberry jam on the other. Then sandwich together. Dust with icing sugar, then it is ready to devour.
Enjoy.

Nutty Fruit Cake

This cake I originally found in GOOD HOUSEKEEPING (U.K.) Cakes and Bakes. And was called "30 minute fruit cake". But as is my want, I had a fiddle. 30 minutes is how long it takes to cook, well! After my fiddle and adding a few other things, I had to change it's name. So THANK YOU Good Housekeeping for the original recipe. Now, here's mine.
You will need....
125 gms softened Butter.
125 gms light brown Sugar.
2 Eggs.
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract.
150 gms S.R. Flour. (Sifted)
50 gms Glaze Cherries. (chopped)
200 gms Mixed Dried Fruits (I used Sultanas, Craisins)
100 gms mixed and chopped Nuts. (I used Walnuts and Pistachios)
1 tablespoon Raw Sugar and a small amount of chopped Pistachios for the top.

Method....
Preheat oven to 190c and grease and line a 22 cm round tin.
Beat together the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, add the flour. If this is a little dry at this stage, add a small amount of milk until you are happy. Stir in all fruits and nuts. Spoon in to the prepared tin and level the surface. Now sprinkle the raw sugar and Pistachios on top of the mixture.
Bake until golden brown or the skewer comes out clean. Mine took 45-50 minutes.
Leave to cool in tin before turning out.
Do hope you enjoy this. Have a fiddle yourself and change the fruits and nuts used here. I won't mind.

Cupcakes for Halloween.

A very simple recipe to use and so very quick, all done my hand, no mixers at all.
These were meant to be decorated with the help of my grand daughter, as she was having a sleep over. But she was ill and spent the time on the sofa while Grandma played by herself. Quick and Easy Cupcakes.
Ingredients...
2 cups S.R. Flour (sifted)
3/4 cup Castor Sugar.
3/4 cup Milk.
125g Butter. (melted and cooled)
2 Eggs. (beaten)
1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence.
Assorted sweets and/or decorations.
Icing...
1 and 1/2 cups Icing Sugar.
Food colouring.
1 to 1 and 1/2 tablespoons water.

Method...
Heat the oven to 190c. Put cupcake cases in to tins.
Combine the flour and sugar in a large bowl, and make a well in the centre.
Now add the butter, milk, eggs and vanilla. Use a large metal spoon and stir gently to combine. Spoon mixture in to prepared cases and bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes. (Or until skewer comes out clean)
Allow to cool on a rack. Mix up the icing while this is happening. I used two colours, so had two bowls going. When the cakes are cooled, ice the cakes and decorate with your choice of decorations.
Have fun.

Orange slice or cake.

This cake can be made in to a round or square, or cut in to a slice. Ingredients...
125g Butter (softened)
1 cup Castor Sugar.
Zest and juice of an Orange.
3 eggs.
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract.
2 cups S.R. Flour.
1/4 cup Buttermilk.

Icing...
1 and 1/2 cups Icing Sugar.
1 tablespoon Orange Juice.
A little zest of an Orange.

Method...
Preheat the oven to 180c. Grease and line a 20cm square or round cake tin. I used my brownie tin again.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix. Now add the vanilla, orange juice and zest and the buttermilk and mix for a short while. Sift the flour in to the cake mix last, but do not over work.
Pour the cake mix in to the prepared cake tin and bake for around 35 minutes, or until the skewer comes out clean.
Allow to cool before turning out.
I iced some of mine with the icing mentioned above.
Put all ingredients for the icing in to a bowl and mix well, pour over the cake.
Also tried something I had not done before. James Martin used this method of decoration on one of his shows.
Sprinkle sifted icing sugar over the cake. Heat a metal skewer with a kitchen blow torch until it is very hot. (Mind you don't burn yourself here) Then using the HOT skewer make marks in a pattern, in the icing sugar.
Thank you James, so clever yet simple as well.

Sultana and Marmalade Cake

This is what happens when you want to bake and are not sure what you want to do!
I had loads of sultanas and jars and jars of marmalade to use up, just as well because the first time I started, I put the sultanas in the saucepan with the water to boil, then went out side to get the washing in. Result = smoke coming out of kitchen and very burnt sultanas. Please don't do as I do, do as I say. (Do not leave the kitchen when you have something on the stove)

Ingredients.
1 cup brown Sugar.
3 Eggs.
3 tablespoons of dark Marmalade.
2 cups S.R. Flour.
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract.
1 teaspoon Cinnamon (ground)
250g Butter.
500g Sultanas.

Method.
In a large saucepan, put the sultanas and 1 cup of water and bring to the boil until most of the water has been absorbed.
Add the butter and marmalade and stir until they have melted. Allow to cool now for a wee while.
Then, beat in the eggs and sugar. This was done with a wooden spoon.
Now add the vanilla and then fold in all dry ingredients. (Still with wooden spoon)
Pour the mix into a greased 22 cm round cake tin. I topped mine with some raw sugar. Bake in oven set at 175c for 1 hour, testing with a skewer for the last 10 minutes.

I have now made this cake twice, as above the first time and the second time, I used a good quality port instead of the water, so that is an option for you too.
Do enjoy.

Rich Fruit Cake.

It was hubby's birthday recently (his 66th) and he's my little devil, hence the devil's horn's on the cake. His other love apart from food is whisky, so not wanting to use a really good one for this cake, I choose BLACK DOUGLAS, THE BLACK, RESERVE 12 year old whisky. Although very nice in itself, he tells me.
Can't bare the smell of it, so this really was a labour of love. The recipe was given to me by Brenda from http://teandwheatenbread.blogspot.com/ and I made a few changes to it as there was a couple of fruits we didn't like. As long as you have the right measures in the end, you can do the same. The original recipe uses brandy or rum, as you see, I used WHISKY.
Ingredients....
3 cups Sultanas.
1 1/2 cups Raisins (chopped)
1/2 cup Currants.
1/2 cup Pitted Prunes (chopped)
2/3 cup Glace Cherries (halved)
3 tablespoons good dark Marmalade.
1 cup WHISKY. (and more for later)
250g Butter.
1 Orange (zest only)
1 Lemon (zest only)
1 cup Dark Brown Sugar.
4 Eggs.
2 cups Plain Flour.
2 tsp. Mixed Spice.
Method....
Line a deep 23cm round or deep 19cm square cake tin with 2 layers of baking paper. Bring paper 5cm above edge of pan.
Combine fruit, marmalade and whisky in a large bowl, mix well with a wooden spoon and leave to stand over night.
Beat butter and zests in a small bowl with electric mixer, add sugar, beat until combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating only until combined between additions.
Stir creamed mix in to the fruit mix. Mix in sifted dry ingredients until all combined
Spread the cake mix in to the prepared tin.
Bake in a slow oven 125c for 3 and 1/2 hours.
HINT..... I wrapped the outside of my tin in double foil to protect it from burning.
When the cake is cooked, turn off the oven, pierce the cake with a skewer in several places, pour more WHISKY over the cake and top with Golden Castor Sugar. Place back in to the oven and leave over night again. This gives it a lovely crunchy crust. See below for the cut cake.

ENJOY!

Chocolate and Raspberry Cake

This recipe was found in a lift out magazine called Sunday Life, dated May 2004. The cake is based on a prize winning recipe from Peter Bennett, a regular entrant in the cooking section of the Royal Melbourne Show.

Dead Easy Chocolate Cake.
Ingredients:
200g S.R. Flour.
25g Cocoa Powder.
250g Dark Brown Sugar.
125g Butter (at room temperature)
2 Eggs.
2 tsp Vanilla Essence.
160ml Water.
200g fresh or thawed Raspberries.

Chocolate Glaze:
80ml Pouring Cream.
150g good quality Dark Chocolate. (chopped in to small pieces)

Method:
Preheat oven to 170c. Grease and line a 20cm cake tin.
Place all ingredients (except the raspberries) in a large mixing bowl and mix for 2-4 minutes until all combines , light and fluffy.
Fold in most of the raspberries (keep back some for decoration if you like). Pour the cake mix in to the prepared tin and smooth the top with a spoon. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Stand cake for 5 minutes in tin to cool a little, then turn out on to a rack to cool more.
Meanwhile, make the chocolate glaze.
Heat the cream in a saucepan until almost simmering. Pour the cream over the chocolate that is in a heat proof bowl. Let stand for 1 minute, then stir until smooth.
Pour over the now cooled cake and decorate with the spare raspberries. Allow the glaze to set a little before cutting. Enjoy, we did.

Chocolate Cola Cake

I am totally in love with James Martin, a yorkshire lad who knows his way around a kitchen, and the way to my heart with a wonderful selection of cakes and desserts. This cake is from his book called DESSERTS
I did change the icing a little though, used softened butter only and added the icing sugar cocoa and cola, then mixed until smooth. The sugar flowers on top of my cake are from my 50th birthday cake and were not made by me.

Ingredients:
oil, for greasing
250g self-raising Flour
generous pinch of Bicarbonate of soda.
3 heaped tbsp unsweetened Cocoa powder.
300g golden Caster Sugar
2 Eggs, (beaten)
1 tsp Vanilla extract
250g Butter.
175ml Cola
250ml Milk.

For the frosting:
200g Icing Sugar.
100g Butter.
2 tbsp Cola.
2 tbsp unsweetened Cocoa powder.


Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4. Grease a 24cm loose-bottomed cake tin.
2. Sift the flour into a bowl. Mix in the bicarbonate of soda, cocoa powder and sugar.
3. Stir in the eggs and vanilla extract.
4. Put the butter in a saucepan and melt over gentle heat.
5. Add the cola to the butter and stir to mix, making sure mixture does not boil. Stir in the milk and remove from the heat.
6. Quickly whisk the cola mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix gently but thoroughly.
7. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Bake for about 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
8. Leave to cool in the tin for about 15 minutes.
9. Meanwhile, make the frosting. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl. Put the butter in a saucepan and melt over gentle heat. Stir in the cola and cocoa powder. Bring the mixture to the boil, then pour it over the icing sugar. Beat until smooth.
10. With the cake still in the tin, pour the frosting over it and leave in the tin until completely cool.
Hope you enjoy this cake as much as I did, have eaten 2 pieces now in an hour. YUM YUM

Chocolate Cake (Oxfam)

Chocolate cake, sandwiched together with cherry jam and Chantilly cream. 175g (6oz) plain flour.
3tbs Fair Trade cocoa.
1tsp baking powder.
1tsp bicarbonate of soda.
150g (5oz) fair Trade golden caster sugar.
1tbs black treacle.
2 eggs.
150ml (5fl oz) vegetable oil.
150ml (5 fl oz) milk.
apricot jam, cream or butter icing to finish.
Method..
Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas3 and grease 2X18 cm. (7inch) cake tins.
Mix all the dry ingredients together in the food processor and whiz the ingredients until thoroughly blended.
Add the liquid ingredients and process again scraping the sides of the bowl until they are all incorporated. If you do not have a food processor you can do it by hand.
Pour the mixture into tins and bake in the oven for 45mins. Cool and sandwich with apricot jam, cream or butter icing - whatever you prefer.

This is a recipe from Michael Barry. He was one of the first TV cooks to give publicity to Fair Trade products. This recipe is from Oxfam's Fair World Cookbook, published by Cassell in 1997.

I used St. Dalfour's Black Cherry conserve and a Chantilly cream to sandwich my two halves together. And dusted with icing sugar.

Marmalade Cake

Yesterday, I had a complete disaster in the kitchen. I followed a new recipe from a little book I had got from the supermarket. On the cover, it said that all recipes had been tested three times. It looked easy enough and sounded delicious. But the cake did not rise at all, thinking that it would be alright, I carried on with making this super icing using the very best of chocolates. Then that did not set! So the lot went into the rubbish bin.
A bit fed up at this stage, as you can imagine. Today I went back to the supermarket and bought a packet cake mix. Vanilla Butter cake, No Name brand. Shock, horror! Have you ever used them? I got quite a surprise, add two eggs, milk and butter, and mix for three minutes.
I greased a tin and put a thick layer of Roses marmalade in the bottom. On went the cake mix and into the oven. This is the end result. We had it after dinner tonight with some lovely creamy custard. Amazingly good.
What am I saying here? These are good for people like me who have a disaster in the kitchen or simply lose their cooking mojo. Next time I am in the supermarket, I shall stock up on these I think. (There's one in chocolate, Yippee)

Brandy Cupcakes

Delightful little cakes.
You will need..

2 Eggs.
110g Castor Sugar.
60g Butter, melted and cooled.
1 tablespoon Brandy.
100g Plain Flour.
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder.
40g Currants or Sultanas. (I used currants)

For the Syrup..

110g Castor Sugar.
125mls Water.
1 tablespoon Brandy.

Method

Syrup.
Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan, stir over low heat until sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and boil for two minutes, cool and then add brandy. Now set aside for later.
Preheat oven to 180c.
Beat the eggs until really fluffy, gradually add the sugar, beating until light and thick.
Fold in the melted butter, brandy, sifted flour and baking powder and last, the currants.
Divide mix between 12 cupcake cases in tin.
Bake for about 12-15 minutes or until golden brown in colour.
Take out of the oven and brush tops of cupcakes with the brandy syrup, while still hot.
Allow to cool on a wire rack. Can be eaten straight or served with cream or ice-cream.