Wedding Cakes...

I'm just about to leave to watch The Wedding (capitals!) with my Mum...but I thought I'd quickly post a few pictures of some of the cakes I made yesterday for different customers...these vanilla cupcakes were for The Coffee Tree (which is closed today) and I made extra to take there tomorrow morning too...

Especially pleased with the hearts & the Union Jack wrappers...I made 2 extra for Mum & Dad too!

Next was a huuuge chocolate cake (14 inches square) for a Garden Party this afternoon with 60 guests. I wasn't given any real instructions, just that it be chocolate. So, being me, I went a bit mad...

everything is edible bar the little flag picks above the hearts...

And there's red, blue and gold glitter there too...it doesn't photograph too well...

I love the Union Jack sugar buttons...

I made the sugar crowns and brushed them with gold lustre powder...the initials are picked out in gold glitter too!
Hope you like them...I have to deliver the big cake on my way to the farm now...so I hope THEY like it too!!

Happy Wedding Day everyone xoxo

Finally it was Easter!

It doesn't often happen, but this weekend - with Easter orders and the Farmer's Market today to bake for - I was actually fed up with baking!! But we had a wonderful couple of day's break in London...and Paul took me out or cooked every meal so I could have a complete rest from the kitchen...and although I'm so tired right now (see my post on Mozart's Girl for the early morning expedition that contributed to this...not that I regret a moment!) I know that I'm already looking forward to the Royal Wedding weekend and planning the treats I'll be making for the holiday...

So first thing on Friday morning came the spicy Hot Cross Buns...

I added to their fragrance this year with a special - and very authentic - ingredient. Beautiful essence of cloves from a fantastic company....Bakery Bits ....which sells all sorts of hard to find and indispensable bread baking ingredients and accessories. They were recommended to me by the British food writer, all round guru of local produce & radio broadcaster Vanessa Kimbell, and what a find they are. It was less than 24 hours after ordering that my parcel arrived (I bought some other lovely bits too!) Fabulous service and products...so now I'm recommending them as well!

Next, a Simnel Cake. I decided to leave the traditional sultanas, currants & raisins out of this one to give it a twist. I used dried apricots, plums & dates instead...but I had to stick with tradition for the 11 marzipan ball decorations on top to represent Jesus' disciples...or the customers would have balked!

Not really my kind of cake - to make or eat - but most religious celebrations demand traditional foods and I find it's best not to tamper with them too much!
Lastly...and because I knew there would be lots of child visitors to The Coffee Tree at the weekend...

Chocolate Truffle Caramel Nests. Don't they look cute? Rich dense chocolate truffle cake with homemade caramel sauce & sugar coated eggs...

So that was Easter made & delivered. And then we escaped for a couple of days...absolute bliss. I wanted to show you some of the gorgeous produce I bought on Sunday at the Farmer's Market...it all looked so beautiful!

Inspirational...already thinking of ways to cook it all. You see? It doesn't take me long to be refreshed & revived!

Have a wonderful Tuesday xo

Easter Week Creations...

Fresh Raspberry Shortcakes....delivered this morning & two were ordered before I left the shop! Looked so pretty...

I use mascarpone instead of cream inside...it holds it's shape better and keeps a little longer too...I'll be making these again in a month or so, when English strawberries arrive at the market...

Peach & Apricot Shortbread...buttery polenta shortbread top and bottom, sandwiched with fresh ripe peaches and tart apricot preserves...

Lemon Curd Layer Cake....I have a real weakness for anything lemon...so  I make sure there is lots of zest in the sponge and juice in the frosting so it's really sparkly & zingy in your mouth...

Malted Coffee Cake....in the UK, coffee cake means that it's coffee flavoured! I know my friend Nancy will be curling her lip at that...as she doesn't like it at all - so apologies to you sweetie & I hope you enjoy some of the other treats in this post instead!! I use malted milk powder in the sponge, and real espresso...but it's quite a subtle coffee rather than a caffeine smack in the mouth!

And with the Malteser decoration, it looks so yummy doesn't it?

Monday is ANZAC Day....more on my Mozart's Girl blog later in the weekend about that. But the traditional biscuits/cookies to commemorate the day are called....Anzacs! They are actually incredibly popular all year round at The Coffee Tree...so I make plenty...

oaty, coconutty, syrupy & crunchy. I'm giving you the recipe in case you want to make some...they keep really well in an airtight tin. Apologies for the metric measurements...

Anzacs (makes 16)

Preheat oven to 180c/375f

Line a large baking sheet with non-stick parchment

85g oats
85g coconut
100g plain flour
100g sugar
100g butter
1tbsp golden syrup/dark corn syrup
1tsp baking soda
2tbsp boiling water

Place oats, coconut, flour & sugar in a bowl and mix well. Melt butter in a small pan with the syrup and set aside. Dissolve soda in boiling water in a small cup. Add soda mixture to butter & syrup...it will foam up! Quickly add liquid to dry ingredients and mix well. Take small balls of the mixture (I find it easier to have wet hands for this) and place, spaced about an inch apart, on baking sheet. Flatten slightly with the heel of your hand & bake for 8-12 minutes, turning pan halfway through baking time. They will be dark golden brown when ready. Remove from baking sheet with a palette knife and cool on a wire rack - they will firm up as they cool down. Store in an airtight tin.

Enjoy - with love from me! xoxo

Twas the week before Easter...

Lots to show you today, from my recent deliveries to The Coffee Tree. This is a Chocolate & Salted Caramel Cake....

Dark, soft chocolate cake with milk chocolate whipped frosting in the middle & on top...drizzled with sea salted caramel....it's one of those cakes that I have to get out of the house quickly....as I'm in danger of burying my face in it otherwise!

I think it's the smooth silkiness of the frosting, the deep chocolate flavour and the crunch of the salt flakes with the ultra sweet caramel....mmmmmmm!

Toasted Coconut Cake....another beautifully fragranced offering to the Gateau Gods!

We don't get the lovely moist flaked coconut that's available in the US & Australia, so have to make do with sort of shavings that I toast myself...

Lemon Passionfruit Muffins went down a treat....all gone in 2 hours!

The actual muffins were just very lemony  quite plain...with a very zingy fruity fresh passionfruit glaze which I put on while they were still warm...

And here are two trays of my famous Cranberry Carmelita Bars. Difficult to show you because I couldn't cut into them to photograph...but imagine an oaty, buttery, crunchy top & bottom with dried cranberries, chocolate chips & caramel sauce in the middle...again, very popular (I make variations on them too...one with walnuts replacing the cranberries, which I prefer...)
So that's a little selection. There will be lots of egg-themed delights this week of course....so watch this space!

Happy Monday xo

Treats for Saturday

Pistachio Cake...I wanted a Spring theme to my Coffee Tree delivery this weekend, as the weather has been so amazing. This cake was pale green inside from the ground nuts...I frosted it with vanilla meringue buttercream...there was some in the middle as well...

then a Rhubarb Crumble Slice. Butter shortbread base, rhubarb tossed in brown sugar, oaty crumble topping. This was adapted from a recipe in the Nordic Bakery Cookbook I spoke about yesterday...a piece sold before I'd left the shop at 8am, which augered well...!

I love Battenburg Cake, but I already had one big gateau with nuts in & didn't want to have another with the traditional marzipan covering because of that. So instead I took the general idea...and expanded it. I'm not sure if you can see from the photo, but there are 4 alternating layers here of pink & yellow sponge...sandwiched with homemade raspberry jam...and topped with vanilla frosting & Spring coloured M & Ms!! I was very pleased with it...even though the slices will be HUGE! Huge but so pretty!
I made a 4th cake too, a Finnish Rye, Date & Spice Cake which smelt absolutely delectable and was lovely and sticky...but it didn't photograph too well...it just looked, well, brown! So I didn't bother showing you. Another Nordic Bakery adaptation though, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it went down at the cafe.

I'll leave you instead with another photo of the Pistachio Cake, because it;'s the one that I would have ordered if I'd been a customer!

I hope you've had a wonderful sunny weekend and enjoyed every minute! xoxo

A place in the sun...

This was where I sat this sunny morning...drinking coffee and planning my Saturday baking. Sheer bliss! You can see my newest book...The Nordic Bakery Cookbook which is from one of my favourite places to drink coffee in London. Their famous cinnamon bun recipe has already featured on this blog, and I'm trying out two more recipes this weekend, which I'll let you know all about soon.

Earlier today, I delivered a batch of these...

Plum, Almond and Cinnamon Muffins to The Coffee Tree. The recipe was the very first I posted on this blog, so I won't repeat it here. But it's from the first Ottolenghi cookbook and is absolutely delicious. Full of good things including orange zest...perfect for celebrating the beginning of the weekend!

Happy Friday to you...enjoy the day...whatever you do!

xoxo

A happy accident...

Today is such a gorgeous, warm sunny day...hardly like early April at all. If it weren't for the lack of leaves on some of the trees, I'd be convinced it was late May. To celebrate I made this Sunshine Orange Drizzle Cake for the Coffee Tree this morning. Flavoured with orange zest, soaked in orange syrup while still warm and then finsihed with an orange sugar glaze. When I took the lid off the delivery box we all 'aahhed' as we breathed in the smell!

Sometimes, a mistake can turn into something unexpectedly good. So it was when I created these Pecan Caramel Custard Bars...

I was going to make something completely different, and began to make my favourite caramel sauce. I boiled the sugar and water, and when I had a beautiful burnished brown colour & that unmistakeable toffee smell, I added double cream. But in my enthusiasm, I added far too much! I was left with a thick, creamy caramel custard that would never have done for what I'd intended...but of course, i couldn't waste it! I'd already made a shortbread base, so I toasted some pecan nuts I had....added some egg yolks to the custard ...added the nuts and poured it over the cooked shortbread before baking it for around half an hour at a low temperature. It turned out perfectly...smooth and rich and the caramel went perfectly with the pecans.

The recipe is now going in my book! You'll know the story behind it ...it proves that sometimes it can be good to make mistakes!

Have a great day xoxo

Mother's Day Treats

These are the Strawberry Chocolate Fudge Bars I made for The Coffee Tree yesterday, part of their Mother's Day weekend offerings! I have to thank the wonderful Jaz of October Farm who posted this amazingly delicious and easy recipe on her beautiful blog on Friday. Her description caught my imagination immediately, and I had to try it out. I used a different frosting, as you'll see...I wanted an all-chocolate cake, so the shiny dark chocolate ganache seemed appropriate. But I'll be using this recipe a lot - and I urge you to try it too, it's sticky and intensely flavoured and, above all, quick!!

Have I convinced you to try it yet?!

So that was my chocolate fix dealt with - and now I wanted to make something vanilla-y and light...fitting for a gorgeous Spring weekend...

You may not be able to see the glitter, but these are Vanilla Cupcakes with Meringue Buttercream frosting...as you can tell, I eschewed the traditional pink colouring for violet...which I adore! The frosting recipe was taken from Sarabeth Levine's Bakery book...another discovery that I'll be making a lot from now on! Despite being full of unsalted butter, the gorgeously light, whipped texture means that the frosting isn't at all sickly or sweet. A real winner and so versatile too...

I made a few extra to take to MY mum today...I'm very lucky to have a mother who's also a wonderful friend and I love her very, very much!

Have a wonderful Sunday, whether you're celebrating Mother's Day or not! Blowing a kiss to you....xo