Chocolate layer birthday cake

It was my sister-in-law's birthday yesterday so I knew a special chocolate cake was in order. Instead of my usual chocolate recipe I tried a Primrose Bakery recipe (which can be found through Cupcake Crazy Gem and French For Cupcake) as I fancied trying a recipe which used real chocolate rather than cocoa powder.

Like Gem, I actually got three 20cm round cakes from the recipe instead of two, so it became a big chocolate layer cake! The rose swirls were piped on using a 1M Wilton nozzle, working the swirl from the inside outwards as I usually do with cupcakes. I had a bit of a problem piping my swirls on the side of the cake, so some of them are a bit botched, but I didn't feel it detracted from the overall effect.

The cake was quite heavy, but not in a bad sense, just super chocolatey, rich and moist. I used 74% cocoa Lidl chocolate, which I thought worked really well, and roughly based my main icing on the Hummingbird Bakery's chocolate buttercream. I made a raspberry buttercream (just ordinary buttercream with some sieved raspberries) to sandwich together the layers. It added a great contrasting colour as well as a slightly tart flavour to cut through the rich chocolate.

I don't think it is physically possible to eat a slice larger than this in one sitting. I felt myself sliding into a chocolate induced coma, but then again I had been heavily taste testing the chocolate and icing all day as well (please tell me that I'm not the only person who eats spoonfuls of icing!)

This cake recipe takes a bit of work (I think I used five different mixing bowls in total!) which I don't mind doing for a celebration cake or a treat as it is a beauty, but if I want quicker results or a lighter cake my usual chocolate cake is hard to beat. It's good to have options though.

I have a few more bakes to update from the last week or two so please bare with me whilst I organise myself! I'll hopefully post another bake later on in the week after you have some time to admire this cake. Mmmmm, I want another slice.

Lemon cupcakes

I have declared Spring! Fresh flavours and cheery yellow crockery. All I'm missing is a vase full of daffodils.

A very light, fluffy sponge with lemon zest, a sneaky dollop of lemon curd in the middle and a swirl of lemon buttercream on top. Perfect for zingy lemon lovers, which I definitely am. Sometimes I wish I categorised my blog posts better and added ingredients to my labels as I'd be interested to see how many times I've baked with lemons. They're definitely one of my favourite flavours. Does anyone else have an obvious ingredient they bake with again and again?

I followed the fresh lime meringue cupcake recipe from the Primrose Bakery book, page 26, although I swapped the lime for lemon and the meringue for lemon buttercream.

For the cupcake:
110g unsalted butter, at room temperature
225g golden caster sugar
2 large eggs, free range or organic
90ml semi-skimmed milk
30ml freshly squeezed lime juice (in my case, lemon)
1 tbsp sour cream
150g self-raising flour
125g plain flour
1 tsp grated lime/lemon zest

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Line a 12 hole muffin tray with muffin cases. (I halved the recipe and used 12 standard cupcake cases.) In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together using an electric hand mixer, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition. Measure the milk into a jug, add the lime/lemon juice and sour cream and combine well.

Sift the flours into a bowl and stir together. Add alternate amounts of the flour and the lime flavoured milk to the creamed butter and sugar as follows: add 1/3 of the flour and mix well; add 1/2 the milk and mix well; add another 1/3 of the flour and mix well; add the remainder of the milk and mix well; finish by adding the last 1/3 of flour and then the lime/lemon zest and beat well. If the mixture looks as though it is curdling slightly don't panic - simply add another spoonful of plain flour and beat well. Spoon the mixture evenly into the muffin/cupcake cases, filling them about 2/3 full.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 25 minutes. To test if the cupcakes are cooked insert a skewer into the centre of a cupcake - it should come out clean. They should be light golden in colour. Leave to cool in their tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Once cooled, cut a small hole in the top of each cake using a small sharp knife, insert a teaspoon full of lime/lemon curd. (I put the tops back on rather than discard them and then iced with a lemon buttercream which I just mixed to taste).

Banoffee cupcakes

As well as baking an orange cake last weekend I made the Primrose Bakery's banoffee cupcakes. I used my colourful silicone cases for the first time too despite receiving them at Christmas.

The banana flavour came through really well and I absolutely loved the sweet, fudgy icing. As the icing set quickly I just swirled it on with a palette knife. Although called cupcakes these were actually meant to be baked in muffin cases but I halved the recipe to make 12 standard sized cupcakes.

I also went for a walk with my cameras (DSLR and manual) last weekend as it was lovely weather for taking photographs. Although I am no fashion blogger I thought I'd show you my pair of £2(!) floral tights from Tesco. What a bargain. Strolling along the beach with flowery legs is great fun.

Sorry about my scruffy old boots, definitely not fashion blogger worthy. They've seen better days but I love them nonetheless.

Banoffee pie cupcakes
Recipe from The Primrose Bakery Book by Martha Swift and Lisa Thomas, 2011 page 74

For the cupcakes:
125g unsalted butter, room temperature
250g golden caster sugar (I think I used ordinary caster sugar)
2 large eggs, free range or organic, lightly beaten
1 tsp good quality vanilla extract
250g plain flour, sifted
2 tsp baking powder
4 ripe bananas (preferably turning black), mashed with a fork or broken by hand into small pieces.

For the caramel buttercream topping:
45g unsalted butter
4 and 1/2 tbsp semi-skimmed milk
165g light, soft brown sugar
180g icing sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp good quality vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Line a 12-hole muffin tray with muffin cases (or half the mixture and use standard sized cupcake cases)/ Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl with an electric hand mixer until the mixture is pale and smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing briefly after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and beat again briefly. Gradually add the flour and the baking powder and beat again until well combined. Do the same with the bananas. Divide the mixture evenly between the cases, filling each to about two-thirds full. Bake in the centre of the oven for 25 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre of one of the cakes comes out clean. Leave the cupcakes to cool in the tin for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Combine the butter, milk and brown sugar in a heavy based saucepan and put on the hob over a high heat. Stirring continuously, bring the mixture to a boil. Allow it to boil for 1 minute, then remove from the heat and stir in half of the icing sugar. Allow the mixture to cool slightly, then add the rest of the icing sugar and vanilla extract and stir until it thickens to the desired consistency. If it starts to set just transfer to a microsafe bowl and soften it for a few seconds in the microwave before beating again (or to safe extra washing up just heat it up on the hob for a few seconds, it worked fine).

It says you can leave any unused icing in the fridge for up to a week, but honestly, it's so tasty there won't be any left over.

Mother's Day orange cake

Being the lovely daughter that I am, I made a cake for Mother's Day (not that I take much persuasion to make a cake). I decided on the orange cake from the new Primrose Bakery Book I bought last week. It leapt into my shopping basket, demanding to be bought. I really had no choice in the matter.

The recipe made a light, fluffy sponge cake. It was a basic Victoria sponge mixture with the grated zest of an orange, nothing too complicated.

The cake looked beautiful, especially with the orange glaze drizzling down the sides. Somehow it makes a cake look even more appealing.

My only complaint is the orange buttercream. It tasted a bit..... odd? Not bad, but odd. Maybe too buttery and not enough icing sugar. I usually taste my icing before using it but for some reason I didn't bother this time. I find unsalted butter a bit strange in general, in fact I often use slightly salted butter in my buttercream and I like the flavour (just don't use it in cooked frosting, it tastes AWFUL.) That's the only thing I would change with the cake.

I also made a little Mother's Day card to go with the cake. It's fun to do a bit of (scruffy) embroidery every so often.

Now I need to turn my attention back to Desperate Housewives on tv. Hope everyone had a great weekend!