Carrot and ginger layer cake

I let Man pick a cake from my recipe books for his birthday last week and he chose the carrot and ginger cake from Hummingbird Bakery's "Cake days" book.

Although I have baked many recipes from this book I haven't made this one before which is surprising considering how much I love trying different carrot cake recipes. I can now happily report that this is another winner of a carrot cake recipe which I can add to my repertoire. 

Admittedly it is a gigantic beast of a cake (even my Kitchenaid struggled with containing the batter!) so it's definitely more of a celebration cake. However there's no reason why it can't be scaled down for a more everyday sized cake. I've done this before with Hummingbird Bakery cake recipes and it has worked well.

This was also my first time using root ginger in a cake. I fully expected the ginger to be really fiery and dominant in flavour, but it thankfully wasn't overpowering. It produced a lovely, warmly spiced carrot cake. 

Another first was roasting the pecans before adding to the cake batter. Sometimes I can find pecans a bit chewy(?) but roasting them first gives them a lovely, toasty crunch. Normally walnuts are my nut of choice for a carrot cake but this has potentially converted me to pecans.

And I can't finish this post without waxing lyrical about the orange cream cheese icing. My goodness it is tasty and perfectly compliments a carrot cake. I don't know why it took me until last year to try adding orange zest to cream cheese icing but it has fast become my favourite flavoured icing. I did my own thing when it came to icing quantities as I generally find Hummingbird Bakery icing quantities to be excessive. I also prefer a higher ratio of cream cheese to icing sugar. Cream cheese icing needs to be cream cheese-y!

Ginger and carrot cake

450g peeled and grated carrots

2 tbsp peeled and grated root ginger

80ml buttermilk

3 eggs (large)

1tsp vanilla extract

350ml sunflower oil

420g caster sugar

500g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon 

1 tsp ground ginger 

80g pecans, roasted and chopped

Icing:

Admittedly I didn't accurately weigh things out, but it's roughly the following:

300g icing sugar

125g butter (softened)

445g Cream cheese (1 bigger pack + standard size pack of Philadelphia)

Zest of 1 orange.

Preheat the oven to 170c / 150c fan/ 325f/ gas mark 3. Grease and line 4 8" round cake tins.

Roast the nuts first. Tip them into a non stick saucepan and toss them over a medium-high heat for a few minutes until they smell toasty. Leave to cool them chop into small chunks.

In a large bowl combine the carrots, root ginger, buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, oil and sugar. In a separate bowl combine all the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and spices. Add the dry mix to the wet mix in 3 batches, mixing well after each addition. Once fully incorporated, stir in the chopped pecans.

Divide the batter between 4 tins (or divide and portion into quarters if you only have 2 tins and need to bake the cakes in 2 batches like me.) Bake for approximately 30 minutes until risen, firm to touch and a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool on a wire rack before icing.

For the icing, mix together the butter and the icing sugar. Add the cream cheese and orange zest and mix for a few minutes until fully combined, light and fluffy.

Level the cakes if needed. Spread the icing on top of each sponge and stack them. Crumb coat the outside of the layered cakes (if you can be bothered) or just use the remaining icing to smooth round the outside and top of the cake. Decorate with extra pecans on top.

pastel sprinkle birthday carrot cake

What do you do when you've made a bit of a botched job at smoothing down the icing on the sides of your cake? Cover it in a sugary, pastel rainbow!

Pastel rainbows, however, don't cover up structural problems. I was a bit lazy with levelling my layers so the cake ended up somewhat freeform. Not to matter though, I was fairly confident I was onto a winner flavour wise as the batter tasted good.

The finished cake was very tasty indeed. Hurrah!

I have been wanting to try out the Hummingbird Bakery's carrot cake recipe for years and since my sister in law's only stipulation for her birthday cake this year was "cream cheese icing" I thought now was as good a time as any. 

I'm not sure if I love it quite as much as their Hummingbird layer cake, but that really is just personal preference. It's a very satisfying, well spiced carrot cake and I'd definitely bake it again. My only regret is not having a dusting of cinnamon on top, which is what I usually do with carrot cakes, but I feared it would clash with the sprinkles!

Triple layer carrot cake

Recipe from Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

300g soft light brown sugar

3 large eggs

300ml sunflower oil

300g plain flour

1tsp baking powder
1tsp bicarbonate of soda

1tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

300g carrots, peeled and grated

100g walnuts (I used pecans instead) chopped 

cream cheese icing:

600g icing sugar

100g butter, softened (I use slightly salted)

250g full fat cream cheese

I also added 1/2tsp vanilla bean paste for extra flavour

Preheat the oven to 170C/150C Fan/325F/Gas 3. Grease and line 3 round 20cm (8 inch) cake tins. Beat together the sugar, eggs and oil until well combined. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger and slowly add to the egg mixture until fully combined. Stir in the grated carrots and chopped nuts until evenly dispersed then divide the mixture between the cake tins. Bake for 20-25mins until well risen, firm to touch and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire cooling rack.

For the icing, combine the butter and icing sugar. I find this easier to start off by hand with a spoon as the mixer just makes massive dust clouds! Once combined, add the cream cheese icing in one go and mix together (by mixer) for 5 minutes until the mixture is light and very fluffy. Use to generously fill and cover the cooled cake. I had enough icing left over to pipe a simple star border around the top of the cake.

For the pastel border I patted the sprinkles into the cake in their colour rows, working from the bottom up. I used my right hand to press them on and held my left hand underneath, with the edge of my palm lightly touching the side of the cake to catch and press in any falling sprinkles. It was quite a messy procedure (and there's probably a better way of doing it!) so I recommend keeping a baking tray underneath where you're working.

cranberry and orange cupcakes with white chocolate icing

January has been the "bake things I never got round to making in December" month. First the gingerbread biscuits and now these cupcakes from the Hummingbird Bakery Home Sweet Home book.

There are some gorgeous looking baked goods in this book. HOWEVER... is it just me or are a lot of the cupcake/cake recipes basically their chocolate or vanilla cake batter with slightly different presentation or an extra ingredient/flavour thrown in? I hadn't noticed this in their two previous books, so I felt a bit disappointed, although I will undoubtedly bake more from this book.

One more gripe regarding Hummingbird Bakery recipes... is it just me or is 1 tablespoon of baking powder for a cupcake batter excessive? For a recipe containing 200g-ish of plain flour I would normally think 1 teaspoon or maybe 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder is sufficient. I have had mixed results with Hummingbird Bakery cupcake recipes (something to do with their baking powder ratio perhaps?) and these cupcakes certainly turned out interesting looking. I've never had a mixture turn out like this before. Have you?

In the interest of comparison I baked another batch using a standard victoria sponge mixture, adding in the same amount of orange zest and dried cranberries. I photographed the two batches side by side for your amusement.

After sampling both batches, dare I say, the pimple-tastic volcano cupcakes possibly win in flavour! They have a creamy flavour and soft, close texture whereas the victoria sponge cupcakes are much fluffier. It's a tough contest to call as both are very edible, but I really enjoyed the creamy sponge against the creamy, sweet icing.

 creamy volcano

fluffy cupcake

It was really lovely to bake with orange for a change. So often I bake with lemons, forgetting there are other citrus fruits. It's less in your face than lemon but still really fresh. I always find orange pairs very well with dried fruit, whether it's cranberries or sultanas.

And not enough words can express my love for white chocolate icing. It's just the most delightfully creamy, sweet thing to grace the planet. I must refrain from eating spoonfuls of it like a bowl of ice-cream.

Cranberry and orange cupcakes with white chocolate icing
Recipe from Hummingbird Bakery "Home Sweet Home" book

70g (2 1/2oz) unsalted butter, softened

210g (7 1/2oz) plain flour

250g (9oz) caster sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

210ml (7 1/2fl oz) whole milk (I used semi skimmed)

2 large eggs

60g (2oz) dried cranberries

1 tsp grated orange zest

white chocolate butter icing:
I would suggest halving this as it easily covered both cupcake batches. Unless you're happy to eat a bowlful of it like myself.

60g (2oz) white chocolate, chopped

500g (1lb 2oz) icing sugar

160g (5 1/2oz) unsalted butter, softened (I used half unsalted half salted)

50ml (1 3/4fl oz) milk (semi skimmed)

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3 and line a muffin tray with paper cases. To make the sponge batter mix together the butter, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until it resembles breadcrumbs. In a jug, whisk together the milk and eggs with a fork. Pour half the eggy milk mixture into the flour mixture and whisk on a slow speed until everything is combined. Turn up the mixer to a medium speed and beat until there are no more lumps. Once smooth, slowly pour in the rest of the eggy milk mixture and mix until the batter is fully combined. Fold in the orange zest and dried cranberries until even dispersed.

Spoon the batter into the cupcake cases filling them about 2/3 full. I think I got 15 or 16 cupcakes from this mixture. Bake for 20-25 minutes until well risen (hopefully not like oddly formed volcanoes) and springy to touch. Leave to cool in their trays for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

For the icing, start by melting the chocolate in a heatproof bowl in short bursts in the microwave (or in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, whichever technique you prefer.) Set aside to cool. Mix the icing sugar, butter and milk in a large bowl. Start off mixing by hand to minimise the dreaded icing sugar dust cloud, then continue whisking with the mixer for 5 minutes until the icing is light, smooth and fluffy. Add the melted chocolate and whisk until fully incorporated.  Spoon the icing into a piping bag fitted with a nozzle (Wilton 1M tip) and pipe swirls on Mr Whippy style, working from the outside edge swirling in.

Hummingbird birthday cake

It was my Dad's birthday last Wednesday so I thought I'd try the Hummingbird Bakery's Hummingbird cake from their first book. I think this wins the award for fastest disappearing cake as there was none left to snack on the following day!

I loved the flavour of this cake: warm and fruity. Banana, cinnamon, pecan and pineapple make brilliant cake making buddies. It's similar to a carrot cake in terms of texture and spice, but the bananas and pineapple make it extra juicy.

 

And everybody loves a bit of cream cheese icing, you just can't go wrong with it. I must say that Bee whipped up a very smooth batch. She did an excellent job with her first triple layer cake.

 

We decided to really go for it and put 54 candles on the cake (no need to guess Dad's age!) It was an impressive blaze. Thankfully we didn't need to call the fire brigade.

 

This was a really nice sized triple layer cake and easy to cut. Triple layered without being ginormous! With previous layered cakes I've found that they can be unstable to cut and difficult to eat if they're really deep and high. I worried that these sponges hadn't risen enough but on cutting and tasting they were absolutely fine. It's definitely a recipe I'd be happy to use again. I wonder if it would work as a bundt...

 

I'm feeling too lazy to type out the recipe, but you can find it here through Ros, The More Than Occasional Baker. She also has a nut chopper!

Caramel cupcakes

I had some left over dulce de leche after making sticky toffee cupcakes so I used it up in these caramel cupcakes.

I made these once last year, here, but I was slightly disappointed with them. I seem to remember them not rising as much as I had hoped and the texture not being quite right. However, this time they were perfect! Very light and fluffy, although incredibly sweet (I'll let you judge whether that's a good or bad thing. It didn't stop me eating them that's for sure!) I love sweet things, hence my blog, but I'm not sure if it's necessary to have so much sugar in the recipe in addition to the dulce de leche.

I've not always had 100% success with Hummingbird Bakery recipes but I certainly have been on a role with them lately. I think the trick is to make sure absolutely everything is at room temperature (butter, eggs, milk) and to follow the recipe to the letter. This may seem glaringly obvious, but I'm really bad at not having my butter and milk at room temperature. All I can say is thank goodness for microwaves!

I've just read through my old post of these cupcakes and noticed that I said that I'd add the recipe at "a later date." Is nearly seven months "later" enough?

Caramel cupcakes

Recipe from The Hummingbird Bakery, Cake Days.

80g (3oz) unsalted butter, softened
280g (10oz) caster sugar
240g (8 1/2oz) plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
240ml (8 1/2fl oz) whole milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
2 large eggs
150g (5 1/2oz) tinned caramel or dulce de leche

For the frosting (I recommend halving the amount):
500g (1lb 2oz) icing sugar
160g (5 1/2oz) unsalted butter, softened
50ml (1 3/4fl oz) whole milk
100g (3 1/2oz) tinned caramel or dulce de leche

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5 and line a muffin tin with muffin/cupcake cases (12-16). Using a hand held whisk or freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment whisk together the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt on a low speed until crumb like in consistency. Place the milk and vanilla essence in a jug with the eggs and whisk by hand until combined. Pour 3/4 of this mixture into the dry ingredients and mix together on a slow speed, then increase the speed to medium and keep beating until smooth and thick. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the remaining milk mixture and the tinned caramel, and continue to mix until all the ingredients are incorporated and the batter is smooth. Divide the batter between the muffin cases, filling each by two thirds. Place in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes or until well risen and springy to the touch. Leave to cool for a while in the tin then transfer to a wire rack to cool down fully.

Using the electric whisk or freestanding mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the icing sugar with the butter on a low speed until combined and still powdery in texture. Slowly mix in the milk, and once it is incorporated, increase the speed to high and whisk until light and fluffy. Add the caramel and beat in well. Spoon the frosting onto the cupcakes once they have cooled, smoothing it on with a palette knife and swirling the frosting.

Apple pie cake and sticky toffee cupcakes

Last week was my brother's birthday (my eldest brother was the week before) so I got to make another celebration cake! After showing him various recipes he decided on Edd Kimber's apple pie cake.

The sponge layers were light and packed with cinnamon flavour, but not in any ways overpowering. Sandwiched between the layers were cinnamon cream cheese icing (seriously tasty), caramelised apples and a drizzle of sticky syrup made from the apple juices. I think this was my tallest cake yet. It was huge! Huge and delicious.

Mmmmmm, look at that drizzly syrup!

As I want to support Edd Kimber with his first book I won't type out the recipe, but I can highly recommend it. I'd quite like to try all of his layer cakes as they look so impressive.

I also baked some sticky toffee cupcakes last week. These were iced in a mad rush so apologies for the lack of pretty decoration. I've made them before, for bonfire night last year, but they were so good I didn't get a chance to photograph them! They were just as tasty as before: a sticky date sponge with a dulche de leche butter icing (yes, it really does taste as good as it sounds!)

They may even be my favourite cupcake flavour to date (ooh I love a pun), or at least tie with nutella cupcakes, although I think I'm sliding into dodgy territory here, a bit like when Kate raised the difficult question, "if you could only have one type of cake for the rest of your life which would you choose?" It's so hard to pick an absolute favourite!

On a separate topic, I acquired some duck eggs this week. Can anybody recommend any recipes they'd be extra tasty in? I've never baked with them before so I'm quite excited.

Sticky Toffee Cupcakes

Recipe from Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days, p.185

For the sponge:

180g (6 1/2oz) pitted and chopped dates

180ml (6 1/2fl oz) boiling water

80g (3oz) unsalted butter, softened

150g (5 1/2oz) soft light brown sugar

2 large eggs

180g (6 1/2oz) plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla essence (use extract, it's better!)

For the frosting

160g (5 1/2oz) unsalted butter, softened

500g (1lb 2oz) icing sugar

50ml (1 3/4fl oz) whole milk

100g (3 1/2oz) tinned caramel/dulce de leche

12-16 dates, pitted and chopped, or small pieces of soft toffee to decorate

Place the chopped dates in a bowl, pour over the boiling water and leave to soak for approx. 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5, and line a muffin tin with cases. Using a hand held electric whisk or a freestanding mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until soft and fluffy. Break the eggs in one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl and mixing well on a medium speed after adding each egg. Sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Add these dry ingredients in 3 batches to the egg and butter mix, then adjust the speed to medium-high and continue mixing until the batter is smooth and even. Scrape around the sides and bottom of the bowl to pick up any ingredients that might not be mixed in, then beat again briefly to ensure everything is well encorporated. Next add the vanilla essence to the date mixture and mix this into the cake batter by hand, making sure the dates are evenly dispersed throughout the batter.

Fill each paper case up to two thirds full with the batter. Any remaining batter can be used to fill extra cases in a second muffin tin. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes or until risen and springy to the touch. Leave to cool slightly before removing from the tin and placing onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Using the electric whisk or freestanding mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together the butter and icing sugar on a low speed until sandy in texture and no large lumps of butter remain. Still mixing on a low speed gradually add the milk and mix in well, then increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy. Finally add the tinned caramel, beating it in thoroughly to ensure the frosting is evenly mixed. Spoon generous amounts of the frosting onto each cupcakes, then gently smooth over with a palette knife making a swirl on top if you wish. Scatter over the chopped dates or toffee pieces if using. (I strongly advise halving the frosting quantity. I iced generously and still had loads left over!)

Nutella cupcakes

I don't know why it has taken me so long to try this recipe but it was worth the wait. Words cannot describe how deliciously chocolatey and nutella-y these are. I can see myself baking these again this week because they are that good. If you love nutella, please refrain from eating it all (like I usually do) and use it in this recipe. You will love it!

I took these to work this week for my coworkers as I'm leaving my job on Thursday. They can't be too upset if I give them cake before I go. Some may say I am mad to leave even a poorly paid job in this rubbish economic climate to become a full time artist, but I feel ready for a change and it'll be exciting.

I can't decide what I like best about these cupcakes. The smooth icing, the fluffy sponge, or the thick dollop of nutella in the centre. I was so pleased that the sponge turned out so big and fluffy as the last couple of times I used Hummingbird cupcake recipes the sponges came out a bit stodgy.

If you fancy making these (which you should!) the recipe can be found in the first Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook or you can find it through Helen's blog. I can now see why this is one of her favourite recipes.

Do you like the new blog header? I fancied a change but unfortunately I am completely useless when it comes to photo editing. Does anyone know why the image is slightly blurry? I do very basic editing (colour balance/lighting/cropping) through Windows Photo Gallery and added my text this time through Picnik. I saved it at as high a quality as possible (least amount of compression) but I'm still not 100% happy. Then again I thought my last header was a bit blurry too! Any suggestions or tips will be greatly received!

Chocolate orange cupcakes

I had been eyeing up this recipe in the Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days book for a while and I finally got round to making them a few days ago.

The icing is absolutely delicous, although I didn't pipe it particularly well. I would quite happily and greedily eat an entire bucket of this icing. It's like a Terry's Chocolate Orange in liquid form. Can't get much better really.

However I wasn't bowled over by the cupcake itself. They came out the oven beautifully risen but when I came back to them a few minutes later they had sunk. Not in an undercooked way, they were definitely cooked, but they went flat and quite dense. The icing outshone the sponge which I found just a bit too heavy in texture although the flavour was good. This has happened to me before with Hummingbird cupcake recipes. Am I alone with this? Are Hummingbird Bakery cupcakes maybe denser and milkier in texture (more like a muffin) or have I baked them incorrectly? Despite my concerns my Dad absolutely loved them. In fact he thought they were the best cupcakes ever so it's probably just personal preference.

Chocolate orange cupcakes

Recipe from The Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days cookbook

For the sponge:
70g (2 1/2oz) unsalted butter

210g (7 1/2oz) caster sugar

105g (3 1/2oz) soft light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence (I used extract)

1 tbsp finely grated orange zest

255g (9oz) plain flour

50g (1 3/4oz) cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

240ml (8 1/2 fl oz) whole milk

For the icing/frosting:

600g (1lb 5oz) icing sugar

100g (3 1/2oz) unsalted butter, softened

250g (9oz) full fat cream cheese

60g (2oz) cocoa powder

3 tsp finely grated orange zest

Candied orange peel, thinly sliced to decorate (I used edible glitter and hearts instead)

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5 and fill a muffin tin with muffin cases. Cream together the butter and both types of sugar until pale and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time on a medium speed, followed by the vanilla essence and orange zest. Sift together the remaining ingredients, then add to the creamed mixture in three batches with the milk, alternating between each and mixing on a low speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition, and once everything has been incorporated, raise the speed to medium and continue beating until the batter is well mixed and smooth. Divide the mixture between the paper cases, filling each up to two-thirds full. Place in the oven for 18-20 minutes or until the sponges spring back when gently pressed. Allow to cool for a short while in the tin, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

To make the frosting, whisk the icing sugar with the butter on a low speed (or by hand otherwise it's seriously messy!) until crumbly in texture and no large lumps of butter remain. Add the cream cheese and cocoa powder and continue to mix on a medium speed until the frosting is smooth and light. Add the orange zest and stir in by hand. Smooth the icing on by palette knife or pipe with a star nozzle.

White chocolate and cranberry biscuits

Biscuit or cookie, which do you say? I'm all about the biscuit. I can only assume it's the British in me.

I actually started my Wednesday evening baking maple and pecan cupcakes from a new book I received for Christmas, but they ended up a bit funny. I had a feeling this would happen as I didn't like the look of the batter. It contained so much syrup. The cakes are nice reheated though (and would be even better with hot custard!) but not particularly blogworthy, so I went with these biscuits instead which I originally planned to bake at Christmas.

I don't know why I don't bake biscuits more often as I absolutely love them. If I was ever to become morbidly obese, the humble biscuit would be my downfall. It is not safe to leave a biscuit barrel in my direction, I will eat them all, especially if they're of the Fox's variety. I pretty much survived my final year at university on biscuits as I lacked energy and time to cook. My dissertation was produced purely on a diet of chocolate digestives and tea.

Back to these biscuits, I really liked them. Notice the use of past tense, they disappeared very quickly. Before you quickly assume (cheeky!) I didn't eat all of them by myself, my family and my work colleagues got to enjoy them too. I would definitely make these again.

White chocolate and cranberry biscuits/cookies

Recipe from Cake Days, The Hummingbird Bakery.

135g (5oz) unsalted butter (I used mostly margarine and a little salter butter as that's what I had.)

80g (3oz) caster sugar

80g (3oz) soft light brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

190g (7oz) plain flour

1/2 tsp salt (I ignored this as I didn't used unsalted butter)

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

100g (3.5oz) dried cranberries

60g (2oz) white chocolate chips (I made little chunks from a block of chocolate)

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3 and line two baking sheets with baking parchment. Cream together the butter and both sugars, add the egg and vanilla essence and mix all together well. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, salt, cinnamon and bicarbonate of soda, then add to the creamed mixture in two batches. Mix thoroughly until a dough forms (I used a fork for this instead of my mixer). Lastly stir in the chocolate chunks and cranberries.

Break off pieces of the dough (about two tablespoons in size), roll them into balls and place on the prepared baking sheets. Allow five or six balls per tray, remembering to space them well as they will spread during cooking. The recipe says it makes 10-12 cookies although I'm sure I made at least 15. It depends how large you want them!

Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cookies/biscuits are a light golden on top. Leave on the sheets for about 10 minutes to cool and set before transferring to a wire rack.

I've just realised I forgot to say happy new year in my last post, so happy new year everybody! Let's hope there will be more excellent baking in 2012.

Also I want to say a massive thank you to Alex of Culinary Conquests for passing on a Liebster blog award to me. What a lovely way to start the new year, my first blog award!

Last minute festive baking

Christmas Eve was spent giggling and baking with my best friends. This is the latest I've left making mincemeat pies but I got there in the end. We just used ready roll pastry and shop bought mincemeat (I know there will be an audible intake of breath, but it just takes too long to make it all!)

Usually we like to make gingerbread men and dinosaurs (it has become a tradition) but this year we decided to make gingerbread cupcakes from the Hummingbird Bakery's Cake Days book. They have a lovely flavour but I find them a bit stodgy in texture. The cream cheese icing really pulls it all together. I'm definitely finding Hummingbird Bakery recipes a bit hit or miss, and it's difficult to tell whether I'm at fault with my mixing (beating air out) or perhaps it's just the recipe.

Edible glitter and festive cases make everything better.

Merry Christmas to everybody in blogland, hope you all have a lovely day tomorrow!

custard and cinnamon tart

What do you do when you have a surplus of eggs? I don't know about you, but I immediately thought about making the custard tart recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days book. I also thought about omelettes, which we did make for lunch today, but they're not half as exciting.

I was a bit late finishing it yesterday, so it only had about three hours to set in the fridge before my brother insisted on needing his pudding. Although this is by far my best pastry effort to date (I've decided to be more forceful with it, no timid prodding, show it who's boss!) I didn't think it was quite as tasty as the Bakewell or lemon tarts I made previously. We weren't sure if it maybe needed another flavour or to be sweeter, although we all liked the custardy/cheesecake texture. All uncertainties disappeared today as we had another slice after lunch and it was so much tastier. This tart definitely benefits from being left to set overnight.

Although it was a bit faffy to make, I really enjoyed it. Sometimes it's fun to try a more challenging recipe, especially if you're a fairly unadventurous baker like me!

Custard and cinnamon tart

Recipe from Hummingbird Bakery "Cake Days"

For the pastry

100g (4oz) unsalted butter, softened. (I tend to use salted, don't think it matters much)

225g (8oz) plain flour

80g (3oz) caster sugar

1 large egg

For the filling

500ml (18fl oz) whole milk

1 tsp vanilla essence (I use vanilla extract, it's better)

5 large eggs, separated

100g (3 1/2oz) plain flour

100g (3 1/2oz) caster sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tbsp unsalted butter (Once again I used salted butter so I omitted the above salt)

1 tsp ground cinnamon for dusting

Use one 23cm (9inch) diameter loose-bottomed tart tin

Rub the butter and flour together with your fingertips, then stir in the sugar and egg. When a dough forms, take it out the bowl and knead gently on a lightly floured surface to bring it together (Remember the less you handle it the better! It also helps to have cold hands.) Wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.

Take the pastry out the fridge and roll onto a lightly floured worktop to a thickness of 5mm (1/4 inch) and wider all round than the tart tin. Carefully press the pastry into the base and sides of the tin (I roll the pastry round the rolling pin to transfer it) Cut away any excess pastry and prick the base a few times with a fork. Put the tin in the fridge to rest for 20-30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas mark 3. Take the tin out the fridge and line it with parchment paper and baking beans to blind bake for 12 minutes. Then remove the paper and beans and put back in the oven for another 15 minutes or until the pastry is cooked through and a light golden colour. Leave to cool whilst you make the custard filling.

Pour the milk and vanilla essence into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, place the egg yolks in a bowl with the flour, sugar (and salt) and  mix to a thick paste. Loosen the mixture with 1 tbsp of milk if necessary. Once the milk has boiled, remove from the heat and add 4-5 tbsp to the egg and sugar paste. Stir until combined and the paste has become a thick liquid, then pour into the pan with the remaining milk mixture (I did this in stages) and set over a low heat. Stirring constantly, bring the custard to the boil for at least 2 minutes to fully cook the flour. Once it has thickened, add the butter, allowing it to melt and stir it in. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.

Using a hand held electric whisk, whip the egg whites until they form stiff peaks (I forgot how much fun that is!) then fold into the custard. (My mixture unfortunately went a bit lumpy at this point, but it didn't matter in the end.) Pour the custard into the prepared tart case and place in the fridge to set for a few hours or preferably overnight. Leave the tart in the fridge until you are ready to eat it and dust the top with cinnamon just before serving.

Boston cream cupcakes and new crockery!

*DRUM ROLL*

Ta-da! Here are my new ebay purchases. This is the beginning of my Woods Ware (Utility) China collection for my future house.

I first came across Woods Ware after googling "1940s kitchen" some time last year (yeah, I look up kitchen porn occasionally) and came across this page. I pretty much decided it was going to be my main crockery in my future house as I love the shape and and mix and match colours. Then earlier this year I came across blogs such as Kitschen Pink, Little Gem's World  and A Thrifty Mrs who collect the crockery too. If you want to die of crockery excitement then check out the Utility China flickr page. After not finding the crockery the old fashioned charity shop way, I went to good old ebay to start me off. Next mission is to get some of the blue Woods Ware (iris).

On to the baking..... I'm steadily working my way through the Hummingbird Cake Days book (as is my sister in law. She has been a baking like a demon recently.) Last night I made the Boston cream cupcakes which are a little bit more fiddly than I would usually bother with because it involves making custard for the filling. This is the first time I have made home made custard (woohoo!) It went a tiny bit lumpy, not much, a little bit of sieving did the trick.

Do you like my rubber duck cake cases?

Mmmmmmm custardy centre.

Blueberry crumble loaf

Another tasty recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days book. I was actually going to make the coconut jam sandwich bars this weekend (I'm sure I will get round to it eventually) but noticed we had lots of blueberries in the fridge and instantly felt an urge to do something with them. I love baking with berries.

The cake has a really lovely texture, little chunks of pecans, juicy blueberries and a crumbly topping. The mixture also made a lot of batter, so I got to make a few buns with the excess (any excuse for a bun!)  I would maybe put slightly less cinnamon in next time, but that's just me, Mum loves it as it is. She says I can make it again anytime!

I also have some VERY exciting ebay purchases to share with everybody next week, so watch this space!

Blueberry crumble loaf from Hummingbird Bakery "Cake Days"

For the sponge

190g (7oz) unsalted butter, softened, plux extra for greasing

190g (7oz) plain flour, plus extra for dusting

190g (7oz) caster sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

25ml (1fl oz) whole milk

100g (3 1/2 oz) fresh or frozen (and defrosted) blueberries

50g (1 3/4oz) pecans, chopped

For the crumble topping

25g (1oz) plain flour

10g (1/3 oz) unsalted butter

15g (1/2 oz) soft light brown sugar

20g (3/4oz) chopped pecans

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 170C/Gas mark 3 and grease a 8.5 x 17.5cm loaf tin with butter and dust with flour. To make the crumble topping rub together the flour and butter with your fingertips until it has a breadcrumb texture. Add the remaining ingredients and stir together. Set aside.

For the sponge, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and make sure everything is incorporated. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon, and add in three stages to the butter and sugar mixture, pouring in the milk after the second batch has been added. Mix well after each addition and mix until the batter is smooth and even. Stir in the blueberries and chopped pecans by hand and pour the batter into the tin. (I had enough excess batter for 5 regular buns.) Scatter the crumble mixture on top and bake in the middle of the oven for 50-60 mins (mine took 1hr 15-20 mins so keep an eye on it). It is ready to take out the oven when a skewer/knife inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Let the loaf cool a bit before removing from the tin.

My first whoopie pies!

Since discovering where I could buy marshmallow fluff, I've been itching to try my hand at whoopie pies. I liked the idea that they looked like a cross between a cake and a kiss. There are quite a few whoopie pie recipes in the Hummingbird Cake Days books, but I decided on the chocolate chip whoopie pies.

Here are my whoopie pies, or "bombs" as Mum likes to call them. They're massive! As you can tell I went for the more rustic, lumpy approach. I tend to only start baking around midnight so I generally can't be arsed faffing about with piping bags to make them look even and perfect. I really liked the flavour of the sponge, a bit like a sweet oven scone, and the yoghurt gives it a nice, smooth texture. If I was to make them again I don't think I'd use the marshmallow fluff icing as it is a bit sickly sweet. I would also make them smaller, maybe more like a kiss, just so they're a more manageable size to eat.

As much as I love my Hummingbird Bakery book for its fun recipes and glorious pictures, I have a few niggles: I always end up with far too much icing (I hate wastage), everything seems to need an at extra 10 minutes baking time in the oven, and the recipes are destroying my poor little food mixer with their thick batters!

.....Still a great book though :)

Apple and walnut cupcakes

After a few weeks of dithering, and very little persuasion from Sarah, I finally bought the new Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days cookbook today. Boy that is one exciting book! It was hard deciding which recipe to try out first, but I went with the apple and walnut cupcakes. I also have my beady eyes on the maple and pecan layer cake but that'll be for another day.

Needless to say the cupcakes turned out beautifully. They are very tasty and look pretty in the new cupcake cases which I also bought today.

I shall be baking cake and trifle tomorrow in preparation for my brother's birthday on Monday, so watch this space!