3 for the price of 1

It's been a little while, so I apologise firstly if you have stopped by, only to find that nothing has been added. Well just like waiting an age for a bus, then 3 come along at once - here are 3 cakes in 1!

Coffee and Walnut Cake

It's safe to say we don't like coffee cake in this house so Charlotte and I approached this cake with very little enthusiasm. Oh well, Harry will like it I'm sure. So off we go. Kitchen aid is prepped (Charlie is now a confident Kitchen Aid user) it was either share it with her or my Kitchen would of had two before very long - she had already started saving her pocket money and even I couldn't take the shame of having to admit to the fact my poor daughter had to save her own pocket money because her mummy was too mean to share a food mixer! Sad, but true

The good book calls for 2 x 7 inch sandwich tins - I don't have those, but I'm sure 8-inch tins will be fine. I have to be honest Charlie was not convinced but I persuade her it would be okay and she sets about creaming butter and sugar. The recipe says put everything in at once but we've discovered that if you use a food mixer you can over mix the flour which gives rubbish cakes - so this is my first hot tip - if you use a food mixer, ALWAYS cream the butter and sugar until very pale and light then add the eggs in one by one. Whisk the mix until really light and almost mousie, then add the flour on a low speed but only mix together till just mixed.  I don’t care what the recipe says, trust me this works and you then don’t over beat the flour.  They come out really light and as long as you don't leave your cake too long in the oven, they will be moist and yummy.

A very poor effort

Anyway back to our cake - I left it in the oven too long, so it was a bit "well done" around the edges. Charlie was totally unimpressed. I think it was due to the fact she had made the coffee butter cream whilst holding her nose and gagging at the smell only to find that due to the tins being too big, the cake was thin and crispy - whist great on a pizza, not so great on a cake. She decorated the cake and we appraised our effort - rubbish! We couldn't possibly give it away - poor Harry might crack his teeth so Charlie, being the brave trooper that she is, said she would try it - apparently, as far a crispy cakes go, it tasted pretty foul too.  Needless to say, down the waste disposal it went - sorry Harry, but I'm sure the next coffee cake will be better. 

So what did we learn from this?  If you don’t have the right sized tin – it does make a difference so you will either have to adjust your cooking time or your ingredient quantities – in Mary’s book, she gives quantity adjustments for different sized tins in the Victoria Sandwich recipe – use them it really really does matter.

Harry has a Request…

Whilst Charlie and I were ruining a perfectly good Coffee and Walnut cake, Harry popped round.  His 7^th Grandchild was having his 1^st Birthday and could Charlotte make him a cake for the party.  There would be all the grandchildren, their parents and of course Harry and his wife Rikki – Charlotte was delighted to accept the order and she wandered off to my cookbook shelf. 

 I like most women, have a multitude of cookbooks, which I have rarely opened let alone used.  One book I have is a Debbie Brown’s 50 Easy Party Cakes.  This is a great book for the armature cake decorator – perfect for Charlie and me.  Charlie flicked thru the book and found the “little blue train” this should be ideal.  Firstly it’s a blue train, which is great for a little boy and also its covered in liquorice All Sorts. If you have ever met a Dutchie, you’ll know they absolutely love liquorice.  It’s called “Drop” and comes either sweet or salty and the local supermarkets have every type you could imagine.  All Sorts are called “Engelse Drop” so we know we can get them.  All we need to do is bake a cake, cover it in fondant and stick the sweets on… easy right?

We made a simple vanilla sponge and baked it in a square tin (7in) and when it was baked and cooled we cut it in half.  The first half was then cut into three to form the 3 carriages and the second half was cut into two, one slightly larger than the other which will form the engine.  Everything was covered in butter cream and we set about kneading the fondant.  Fondant needs to be kneaded to make it soft and pliable if you don’t knead it enough, it will crack and give you a terrible finish.  Turns out Charlie is a natural Fondant kneader!  It was lovely and warm and easy to work with.  So we covered the engine and the carriages – this is a first for us so if I’m making it sound easy, it wasn’t! It was the blind leading the blind but the book gives really clear instructions so we were still confident.  It was my job to cover the engine and carriages, which was quite tricky.  It just didn’t seem to stick and wouldn’t go smooth even with a smoother.  Then the butter cream kept coming out of the bottom….Ace of Cakes or Cake Boss doesn’t have this problem!  I think this is the problem with watching too many cake programmes – they make it look so simple and it really isn’t.  I guess this is because they are trained and qualified and we are just having a go.  

Anyway I managed to cover the train in blue and Charlotte set about sticking on the All Sorts over the carriages along with the liquorice wheels with Sugar Glue.  The wheels kept falling off! So we resorted to butter cream to stick the jellies on the wheels and the wheels on the cake.  Luckily it worked, and didn’t look too bad – not quite as neat as the book, but we’re happy.  The carriages however are a work of art thanks to Charlie – she did a great job and they made the train look amazing. 

When we finished we assessed our work – not quite as good as the one in the book, but we were very proud – wonder what Harry will think?

Harry and Rikki were delighted – they had never seen a cake like this before and it was not what they were expecting.  The party was the following day and Charlie and I kept our fingers crossed that the wheels didn’t fall off before the cake got to the party – we shouldn’t of worried, the following day we received an email with lots of photos of a very happy little boy and really positive comments that they all loved the cake and especially the “drop”.

 

We really enjoyed making the cake, but I don’t think that we’ll do another.  I have a lovely friend who makes this sort of celebration cake and I have a re-newed admiration for her skill and patience – there is a link to her blog from here its Baking for Shoes – check her out – she has make some fantastic cakes.

Cappuccino Cake

Oh no another Coffee Cake. 

I think the reason we haven’t been that busy in the baking department is that there have been too many coffee cakes for our liking.  Oh joy, another one.

There’s a lovely picture in the book for this one so we know what we should be making.  The ask for 2 x 8inch tins – great, we’ve got those.  This is basically a very rich chocolate cake with a coffee whipped cream filling and topping.  So I sit down with a cup of coffee and read out the quantities while Charlotte is busily weighing out and whisking away.  The cocoa powder is mixed with hot water to form a paste and the butter and sugar are creamed into that.  Charlotte creamed them all until the colour went quite pale and then added the eggs one at a time.  All the dry ingredients were then added and it was poured into the tins and baked.

The best bit

Charlie then tootled off and watched the football with her daddy while I watched the cake – after the last time, I’m feeling a little under pressure not to leave it in too long.  My oven is, I think, 20 degrees hotter than it says, and cooks 5 –7 mins quicker than the recipe says.  Now this isn’t a problem once you have worked it out as you can make allowances for it, but I’ve had the oven for 5 years and its only since Charlie and I have been baking that I have noticed it.  So if you are having problems with your cakes, it might be worth either turning down your oven or buying an oven thermometer to check what the temperature actually is in there.  Ooohh I think that was another hot tip! (Pardon the pun)

The cake was ready 7 mins early! But wasn’t over cooked at all thank goodness – I really can’t take the look of disappointment on Charlottes face when I let her down. 

When the cake was cool enough, Charlotte whipped up half a pint of whipping cream with some coffee essence (very little) and spread it between and on top of the cake.  We sprinkled it with cocoa and assessed our cake.  It looked lovely, wonder what it tastes like?  Should we give it to Harry or try it ourselves?  Sorry Harry – there’s chocolate in that cake, we’re trying it!  Oh my goodness! It was fantastic.  If you are not sure about Coffee cake, this is the one to try.  The Chocolate cake is very light and moist but tastes really Chocolaty because of the coffee and because we didn’t add too much coffee to the cream it has only a hint of coffee – everyone loved it in our house – poor Harry didn’t get a look in, but another time I’m sure it will find its way to him.

Next time its Battenburg cake – I definitely don’t have a tin for that!

American Apple and Apricot Cake

Well, hello – it’s been a while since we have been baking.  There have been lots of things happening in our little household, well a lot for us anyway. 

 Firstly, I am so pleased to say that at long last I have a mixer, it arrived on Friday and I wasn’t home.  The lovely driver said or rather I think he said, I could call the office and they would deliver some time next week – I was far too excited for that and I persuaded the nice English speaking lady to let me collect it and now my beautiful shiny new Kitchen Aid has arrived to its new home – it’s a little sad, but I keep popping into the kitchen and smiling, it just makes me feel happy plus I just love the colour.  Charlie is completely in love with the machine and strokes it lovingly, I feel like Im turning into that horrible character in Lord of the Rings who has the ring and calls it his precious – I must share the Kitchen Aid I know but…….

 Anyway back to the cake its American Apple and Apricot Cake this week.  I position myself on my kitchen chair with Mary’s Baking Bible in front of me and begin directing Charlie.  She is confident and chatty today and informs me she is getting “really good at this” Im a little concerned that I might have to not only grease the tin, but also her head to get it out of the kitchen – harsh I know, but come on, were only on page 50 and there are 385 in the book – I think we have a little way to go yet.

This is an All in One recipe – hoorah Mary at last we can do that! So all the dry ingredients go into the mixer and then she melts the butter in the microwave then adds that.  The Apples and Apricots are added once everything else is mixed together.  The batter is quite thick and sticky, but transfers easily into Charlottes new deep 8 inch tin.  The recipe says that it will take 1 – 11/2 hours to bake.  It was only afterwards that I realised that I forgot to sprinkle the sliced almonds on the top before it was baked.

 The house smelt incredible!

It only took just an hour to cook, this is a lesson we are learning quickly - either my oven is hotter than it says it is or Mary’s oven needs a service! 

The recipe says that this cake is good with coffee or as a dessert and its best served warm – so warm it was after dinner and it was …… wonderful.  The almond cake is delicious plus the apples keep it moist and the apricots give it little sweet accents.  I think that if I had remembered the almonds then they would of given a nice crunch on the top but unfortunately we didn’t.  –Everyone enjoyed it, I even broke my diet and tried a bit – Im so pleased I did.

Its Coffee and Walnut cake next week – I guess Harry will be receiving another cake!

Do you want to try baking on your own?

What 10 year old wouldn’t?  Certainly not Charlotte!

Charlie came home from her skiing trip to Austria with the school on Friday morning, and I can tell you, we were two very relieved parents.  After the tragic accident earlier in the week involving school children from just over the boarder in Belgium, we had 7 very sleepless nights – but there again we weren’t on our own, everyone else felt exactly the same. 

 I’d love to say she had a wonderful time, but she developed a cough and fever whilst away which made her feel terrible and homesick, it was such a shame as she had been so excited, counting the days since last August.  Anyway, home she came tired and a little smelly but we were very pleased to see her anyway.  On Friday Georgia, my other daughter, was sent home from school with the same problem – great two sick little chicks all weekend.

By Sunday, Charlie had decided she was feeling better, well enough to bake – does nothing stops this girl baking? Well yes, actually – The plan was to bake the American Apple and Apricot Cake however, I forgot to get the Apricots on Saturday and in Holland NOTHING is open on a Sunday so there was no chance of baking that cake.  (Mistake No1) The wrath of slightly sick, over tired, hormonal, baking deprived 10 year old is quite impressive unless you are on the receiving end which of course, I was.  I suggested “hey lets just do the next cake and do that one next time” Not a chance, we are doing the book in order and that is that.  “Okay, how about you bake something else” I suggested, “maybe try some cupcakes on your own?”  A look of pure delight spread across her face and I was ushered from the Kitchen. (mistake No2) 

 About 20 minutes later, she came to find me.  “it doesn’t look quite right, can you come and have a look”  What could have possibly gone wrong I thought, how do you go wrong?  The bomb site that was my lovely kitchen was a little surprising, but the gloop in the bowl was a real shocker!  "What did you do?" I asked “What it said to do!” She answered indignantly “Okay (deep breath) step by step what did you do?”

She had decided as there were 17 people in her class she would double the recipe so “creamed” the butter and sugar, added flour, vanilla, and then the eggs.  That’s all very well if you have a mixer that can cope with this amount of ingredients, but we don’t - you cannot mix it together in that order, you end up with a concrete gloop stuck to your whisk (apparently) not to mention up your walls and on the windows! (deep deep breath).

Begin again, but first darling, wash up and get that off my wall please! (yet another deep breath but this time accompanied with a forced smile)

 So, she started from scratch.  This time, creamed butter and sugar, added the eggs and some milk with a tsp of vanilla. She then sifted the flour and baking powder into the egg mix and used the hand whisk (in the sink so it doesn’t go up my walls) and ended up with a lovely smooth batter.  Hoorah!

 
She decorated them with buttercream and sprinkles – I think they looked cute.  She was very pleased with herself and I was very pleased to have the kitchen back relatively in one piece. 


Next time I’ll remember the Apricots!

A Cake for Harry

As School for Charlie finished at lunchtime due to her going on the ski trip, she had lots of time to make the cake for Harry.

 Harry is our lovely Dutch neighbour who helps us out when ever I’m stuck.  Over the last 6 years he has been like a dad to me and another grandfather to my girls.  He is simply wonderful and was over the moon when Charlotte gave him her Coffee Victoria Sponge.  He and his family enjoyed the cake so much that he asked her to bake a cake for his brother’s birthday.



Harry with Charlotte and his Cake



 Charlie decided that for a birthday, she would make a chocolate cake – well everyone likes chocolate on a birthday don’t they?

Harry was delighted with the cake and even paid Charlie 5 euros – she was equally delighted – is this the start of something big?



Chocolate Victoria Sponge - with a cherry on top!



Maple Syrup Cake

I’ve got to be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to making this cake for a couple of reasons – firstly, I don’t really like Maple syrup unless its on crispy bacon or pancakes and secondly, I’ve just started a diet and Im not allowed ANY cake - not my idea of heaven today.

In the Baking Bible, you don’t get pictures of all the bakes which I think is a shame, but for this cake there is a lovely photo – I always like a photo as it gives me an idea what we should be aiming for. 

First things first lining the tin…..

Oh no! The recipe calls for an all-in-one method, but as you all know by now, we can’t do that due to technical difficulties/injuries/lack of muscles. My lovely hubby has promised me a mixer, and Im currently weighing up my options – I would really like a Kitchen Aid, but my dilemma is which colour do I go for? Im leaning towards the hot pinks or pale pinks or mellow yellow or pale blue or or or or – too many choices for me, so it could take some time to arrive. There is only one thing for it............. sorry Mary babes, but we are changing your method again – does it really make any difference? I think I will Google it to find out!

The big difference today with our baking was that Charlie really wanted very little help. I sat like lady Muck on my chair and “directed” her thru the process.  I have to be honest, I was sitting on my hands and was itching to interfere, but she was adamant that this was her cake and she could do it – hands off mummy!  She is very confident and not always in a good way, sometimes rushing each step, but I guess she is learning. 

This cake takes 1- 11/2 hours baking at 160, after an hour I realised that Charlie hadn’t set the temperature correctly, so it had an hour at 175 – now this really does make a difference! So a little well done around the edges, but I trimmed that off before we frosted the cake.

very wobbley layers

The one thing Charlie let me do was cut the cake into 3.  I don’t have a cake cutter, and think I need to invest in one – needless to say, I made a bit of a hash of it, ooops – Charlie wasn’t impressed.  She covered the layers in the cream and put them back together.  I helped smooth the cream on the sides and she finished with the orange zest which I had cut.  Charlie said it tasted really nice, Georgia spat it out with a very descriptive yuuuuuk, I however, don’t know what it tastes like so I can’t tell you – but it smelled very Mapley so I probably wouldn’t of liked it either. 

 

looks a bit like it should

We are not baking next week as Charlotte is going skiing with the school for a whole week and as long as she doesn’t break anything, see you in two weeks for an American Apple and Apricot Cake.

Whats the difference between a Swiss and a Dutch Roll?

A little later this week for our baking instalment due to a very good friend celebrating her 40^th Birthday on Saturday night.  Needless to say, the last thing on my mind was baking on Sunday.  Charlotte was overcome with sympathy for my delicate state, offering to cook scrambled eggs, or poached eggs, or fried eggs or even French toast – now she’s not bad with an egg is our Charlie, but I think there was a little devil in her and she was enjoying seeing me squirm – at least it helped her get over her disappointment.  I took the girls instead to see the Muppet movie, which apparently was great – I had a little nana nap and felt much better.

Happily for Charlotte, there was a national teacher strike on Tuesday, so it was all systems go for Swiss Roll production. There are three in the book; a plain one, a lemon one and a chocolate one so we are going to do the lot and hopefully by the end of today we’ll know what we are doing.  Swiss Roll for me really takes me back to being a kid, I used to love them in all there guises especially the Cadbury individual chocolate ones with the yummiest chocolaty filling wrapped in chocolate (you get the picture) and do you know what, I used to be able to eat the entire pack of 8 without feeling sick (or gaining weight) oh how times have changed.  I loved the thick covered Yule log at Christmas with the fake robin stuck in and a liberal dusting of icing sugar – naff but nice, oh happy days.

I find the whole idea of making a Swiss Roll a little intimidating having never made one or seen anyone make one, but Mary is confident, so we will have a go.  Charlie is true to form, and knows the recipe backwards before we begin so we are set to go.

very frothy eggs

Firstly, beat 4 eggs and caster sugar until they are really light and frothy – they double in size and when you pick up the whisk it leaves a trail or trace in the eggs.  You then add the self-raising flour and fold in.  This is transferred into a lined tin and baked for only 10 mins – simple!?  After 10 mins of baking it should be light and golden and you turn it onto a baking paper sprinkled with caster sugar – the sugar sticks to the warm cake and gives the nice finish you get on the cake.   Quickly peel off the paper, let it cool slightly, spread with raspberry jam, score a line 1 inch into the sponge which gives you a starting point to roll up and roll into a lovely Swiss Roll – Simple!  NOT!!!! 

looks Omelette like!

It didn’t actually go quite to plan for us – Charlie did a stirling job whisking the eggs and sugar and we added the flour, but we did not mix it enough – the batter was really loose and had a couple of lumps – we decided it would be okay and carried on.  After 10 mins of baking the smell of the sponge can only be described as fried egg not cakey at all.  It was also very “rubbery” a kind of cake omelette if you will.  When it came to rolling the omelette up, I just went for it and it wasn’t perfect and split in a couple of places, but being our first attempt, we weren’t too disheartened.  Charlie had the honour of the first taste – disgusting! Not only did it smell like omelette, it tasted like a dodgy omelette with the texture of a sponge you clean the loo with – really not good.  

Charlies rubbish rolling!

Right say I, lets do the lemon one – but what did we do wrong with the first one?  The flour wasn’t mixed enough and we rolled it too soon maybe?  So, with the lemon one we mixed the flour in much better and the batter looked like cake batter.  We spread it in the tin, waited 10 mins and turned it onto the paper.  We peeled off the back paper and it looked great – yippee.  We let it cool for longer and spread the lemon curd on it and Charlie rolled it up (after she ridiculed my rolling attempt with the first cake I wanted revenge)  – it looked ….unusual! – Tasted fantastic, but looked rubbish! 

Right Chocolate one next – What did we do wrong last time? – Let it cool too long (and Charlie rolled it).  So we whipped up the eggs and sugar, added the flour and cocoa powder, baked for 10 mins, threw it on the caster sugar sprinkled paper, whipped off the baking paper, covered it with chocolate butter cream and the two of us rolled it up.  Guess what…. Still looked a bit dodgy, a little on the flat side, but we were so proud.  It took 12 eggs, 300g of sugar and 300g of flour a little stress and a lot of team work, but we got somewhere in the end.  It wasn’t perfect, but the Lemon and Chocolate versions, whilst not exactly Swiss (more like flat and Dutch), were very edible.  As for the first one – it found its way into the waste disposal system. 

alittle flat

so proud!

Onwards and upwards – Maple Syrup Cake next week.

Good bye!

Victoria Sandwich, Coffee Sandwich and Chocolate Sandwich Cakes

Three cakes, same method, different flavours – Right Charlie which one do you want to do? – “ALL OF THEM” Thankfully this week is half term and I don’t have to go looking for tins as this recipe calls for two 8-inch tins that I have.  Mary very kindly puts in the alternate measurements for different sized tins so if you have 6-inch or 7-inch tins that’s not a problem – thanks Mary.

Victoria Sandwich plain

 Plain Victoria Sandwich

 Saturday, Our baking adventure continued with the first Victoria Sandwich.  The recipe is an All in one, which basically means you put everything in one bowl and beat it at the same time.  This causes me problems, having attempted the Madeira cake this way; I knew this wasn’t going to be easy.  Now, forgive me Mary, I know you have billions of years experience and I can’t believe that after one cake we are doing this, but I'm going to change your method.    We creamed the butter and sugar until very pale and fluffy then added the eggs and beat until mousey and really light.  We then sifted the flour and baking powder and mixed well.  The batter was really light and dropped easily of the spoon - apparently this is a good sign; again don’t ask me why, it just is.

Charlie drew round the tins and cut the circles of baking paper to put inside the greased tins.  She divided the mixture into two and baked for 20 mins – the recipe called for 25 mins baking, but was perfect after 20.  It was sandwiched together using raspberry jam.  My husband didn’t believe that we actually made this; it was so incredibly light – could all the cakes be like this? 

 Coffee Sandwich Cake

upside down trying to even them out

The Coffee Sandwich was done using the same creaming method (Really sorry Mary) I had a little panic as I didn’t have any coffee essence or instant coffee granules however, I found some decaffeinated granules at the back of the cupboard (goodness knows how long they have been there!), oh well, they will just have to do.   Charlotte really didn’t enjoy making this cake and at one point was holding her nose whilst mixing to stop herself from gagging at the coffee smell – she’s such a drama queen. This cake sank in the middle, so we turned it upside down on the cooling rack and hoped it would even out – Come on Mary, lets see if your tip works.  Blimey, it did!

It is sandwiched together using a coffee butter cream with a couple of walnuts on the top – I think it looks pretty fantastic! 

Coffee Victoria Sandwich

Coffee is not a favourite in this house so we decided that a lovely neighbour might enjoy it – so off we went to Harry’s.  Harry is a great man, who has taken my girls under his wing since we moved to Holland.  He is like another grandfather, and if ever I'm in need of help, I know Harry won’t mind.  Bless him, he even built my Chicken koop, helped me get the chickens and keeps them alive and healthy – He is probably the nicest Dutch man I know.   He was delighted to see us, but having never sampled an English style cake he wasn’t sure what to make of it, but was very happy to accept it.  Two days later, he appeared at my door and placed an order with Charlotte to bake a cake for his brother’s birthday – all his family including the grandchildren really enjoyed it, Needless to say, she has her first order and is over the moon!

Chocolate Sandwich Cake



Chocolate Victoria Sandwich

Thankfully Sunday has arrived and, hoorah its school tomorrow.  Its also baking day and our last Victoria Sandwich – We saved the Chocolate Victoria till Sunday as Charlie is going to take this one into school tomorrow to share with her friends and save my waist line.  Again, apologies to Mary, but we creamed the butter and sugar first – we like this method, the batter is really light and it rises wonderfully and pretty evenly too.  Charlie has become a little over confident since Harry’s visit, and it showed – she wanted very little help from me and rushed everything.  My patience was a little lacking and I snapped at her a couple of times for rushing and splattering my kitchen with butter, flour and cocoa powder – I think the problem was that one of us is a little grumpy and tired -  but I think Charlie forgave me.  She sandwiched it together with the butter cream and grated plain chocolate on the top. I think she's going to be very popular at school tomorrow.

Ive put pictures of all three cakes on here so you can see just how big they are, I was delighted that the first cake wasn’t a fluke and the others rose just as well. 

I’ve got to say, I think she is taking to baking like a duck to water and soon I'm going to be out of a job!  There are a couple of things I must remember for the future, firstly.. make sure Charlie brushes her hair before we take the photos, secondly, make sure she's not wearing the same clothes - scruffy little oink! and lastly don't try to do too much in one week - we all end up a little tired and emotional.

Next week its Swiss Roll – oh lordie!