Mother's Day Delights

Yesterday was Mothering Sunday here  in the UK, so I created some delights for the local coffee shop to sell on Saturday morning (they're closed on Sunday!)

The first was a Salted Caramel Cake. I have to be VERY careful with this, to get it made & delivered as soon as possible because I absolutely crave it! The combination of sweet & salty is irresistible to me....I love salted peanuts & chocolate more than most things edible. Not good for the waistline, great for the soul (in extreme moderation!)

The recipe is adapted, once again from Baked's 'Sweet & Salty Cake'. The difference is that I make my own, failsafe, gorgeous, soft dark chocolate cake instead of theirs (and if you have a favourite recipe, try doing the same here....)

then I made a salted caramel by boiling together approx 1 cup sugar with 2 tbsp cold water (remember never to stir the mixture or it will crystallise...shake the pan if necessary instead) until golden brown and smelling toffeelike. You need to wait until it's on the edge of burning to give the right taste, but only on the edge - watch it like a hawk! Remove from heat & add 1 cup heavy (double) cream. Be careful as it will spit! Then stir gently until it melts into a beautiful burnished sauce. Add about 1 tsp sea salt flakes (I always use Maldon) and leave to cool, but don't refrigerate.

I also made a whipped milk chocolate frosting a la Baked by placing 1lb (500g) good quality milk chocolate broken into pieces in a heatproof bowl....heating 1 cup heavy (double) cream with 1 tbsp light corn syrup until just boiling, then pouring the cream mixture over the chocolate. Leave for a few minutes then stir gently. The chocolate should have almost melted, and should finish by the time you stop stirring! Leave to cool, stirring occasionally. When no longer too warm, whisk in (I use a hand held electric whisk) 1 cup (250g/2 sticks) very soft unsalted butter. It will whip into a glorious, shiny, pale brown delight!

To assemble the cake, cut in two......place the bottom layer on a serving dish or cake board....drizzle bottom layer with salty caramel....spread caramel with half the frosting...sprinkle lightly with salt flakes (trust me, it's divine!)....then top with the remaining layer and this time reverse things so you spread the frosting over first, the drizzle that with caramel....and finish with a final sprinkle of salt. You can add other decorations - I put some pastel sugar flowers around, as it was Mother's Day - but it's beautiful left alone too...

Et voila! Now get it OUT of my sight........please???

I also made some pretty little Vanilla Cupcakes, which gave me a license to sprinkle the sparkle...which I love to do!

I know that Mother's Day in the USA & Australia isn't until May...so maybe you could try these recipes out, just to perfect them in good time, of course!

have a HAPPY WEEK XOXO

Marble Cake, Birthday Cake....

I made this gorgeous Sour Cream Marble Cake for our local coffee shop yesterday. Sadly, because it was an order, I can't show you inside! But the batter tasted so gorgeous...

I glazed it with a simple dark chocolate ganache. It made a really big, tall cake that would be wonderful for a special tea or birthday party - I can just see it with gold candles all over it!

It's adapted - once more - from Baked. I can't recommend this book highly enough, constant ideas & surprises. The original recipe was for a bundt cake, but my customers prefer plain round ones so that's how I made it. It probably took an extra half hour to cook this way, but I'll reproduce the recipe as it was originally and leave it to you!

Sour Cream Marble Bundt Cake

{from Baked - New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis & Renato Poliafito}

For the chocolate swirl:

6oz good, dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder

For the sour cream cake:

3 1/2 cups all purpose (plain) flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup/2 sticks unsalted butter, soft but cool, cut into small pieces

2 1/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs

16 floz (about 450ml) sour cream

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Grease the inside of a 10"(23cm) bundt pan & preheat oven to 350 degrees

To make the chocolate swirl, melt the chocolate over simmering water (again, I used a microwave but carefully!) and when completely smooth, whisk in the cocoa powder, remove bowl from heat & set aside

Sift flour, baking powder & soda & salt together and set aside.

Cream the butter until smooth (I use an electric hand mixer but a stand mixer - or wooden spoon if you're strong! - are also good) Scrape down the bowl & add the sugar, beating until the mixture is smooth & fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating each in well & scraping down the bowl in between. Add the sour cream & vanilla and beat until just incorporated. Add the dry ingredients in three additions, scraping down the bowl in between & only beat until each addition is just incorporated. Don't overmix.

Pour 1/3 of the mixture into the chocolate swirl bowl & mix gently to make a smooth chocolate batter. Spread half the remaining cake batter into the prepared pan, then dollop the chocolate mixture on top of the plain, leaving some plain batter peeking through. Pour the remaining plain mixture on top & pull a butter knife through the whole lot, swirling gently to create a marbled effect. Bake in the centre of the oven for approx 1 hour, rotating the pan halfway through. Check by inserting a skewer or cocktail stick into the middle of the cake - it should come out clean when cooked!

Cool in the pan,on a wire rack, for 30 minutes then loosen the edges with a knife and invert onto the wire rack before leaving to cool completely.

I made my glaze from about 1 cup dark chocolate, 1/4 cup double (heavy) cream & 1/4 stick butter which I gently melted together over a very low heat until shiny & smooth. Again you could do this over simmering water or in a microwave.

This morning I went over to a local restaurant that I supply - Annie Bailey's to build an 18th birthday brownie cake for a party at lunchtime today...

It takes quite a while to build one of these, using chocolate sauce as 'mortar' - but I think you'll agree it's worth it. I love the roman numeral candles especially (found on our Autumn trip to the States) and the long thin ones are sparklers...

Wish I could see it all lit up....but after a quick cup of coffee with my friends up there, I was off home!

No more baking today....time to relax!

Enjoy your weekend xox

Baked Honeycomb Bars

We're having a late Valentine's Lunch for friends on Sunday, so I'll post about that soon...planning it now, sifting through menus...my favourite part, almost!

But today, I wanted to let you have another fabulous recipe from my other baking book of the moment:

the wonderful Baked - New Frontiers in Baking. Even though I've had it for a while now, this book still inspires me every time I pick it up!

For our local coffee shop this morning, I made a tray of Honeycomb Bars...luckily, when I cut them up there were some 'rough edges' that I got to try....oh wow! had to eat ALL those trimmings with a cup of strong black coffee at break time! So I wanted to share it with you here - although I strongly recommend hat you buy the book too if you don't have it already, it will transform your baking!

Honeycomb Bars

{from Baked - New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis & Renato Poliafito}

For the base:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp heavy (double) cream

1 large egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose (plain) flour

pinch salt

Cream the butter & sugar until combined. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, cream & vanilla. Add this to the butter & sugar mixture and beat until combined. Scrape down the bowl and add the flour & salt until just combined. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface & form into an oblong disc. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap & refrigerate for 30 mins. ** {I actually skip this step....it seems to work out fine, but you may want to follow the recipe exactly!}**

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180c). Butter the bottom & sides of a 9 x 13" glass or light coloured metal baking pan {I just lined mine with baking parchment paper}

Transfer the dough to the pan & press into the bottom (not up the sides) Bake blind for 10 mins (ie. cover the dough with a sheet of parchment paper & weight with dried beans or pie weights) Remove weights & paper and bake for another 5 mins. Remove from the oven & cool while you make the filling.

Filling:

3/4 cup dried cherries, chopped

1/2 cup diced, candied orange peel

2 tbsp cake flour

1 1/3 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups heavy (double) cream

1/3 cup honey

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

shot of brandy or bourbon (optional but good!)

2 1/2 cups sliced (flaked) almonds, toasted

{I also used 1/2 cup dried cranberries}

In a medioum bowl, toss together the dried fruits & cake flour.

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, stir together the sugar, cream, butter & honey. Bring the mixture to a slow boil & simmer to the soft ball stage (approx 240 degrees f on a candy thermometer) Don't stir the mixture while it's getting to this stage.

Add brandy/bourbon if using and remove from the heat.

Fold the dry ingredients & the almonds into this hot sugar mixture and pour onto the sweet tart crust....

smooth the top and bake for about 15 minutes until the top is brown & bubbly (you may need to rotate the pan halfway through).

Remove from the oven & allow to cool completely before cutting. I like to leave them overnight to really firm up! The can be stored for up to 4 days, covered and sealed at room temperature.

There we have them....beauteous, delicious Honeycomb Bars. I hope you make them and enjoy them as much as my customers have today (& me, of course ;-) )

Enjoy xox