Bakewell Tart

The Bakewell tart is a traditional English dessert or cake that has developed from the Bakewell Pudding, although the modern tart is quite different form the original pudding. Bakewell is a small town in Derbyshire, England and local legend has it that it was eaten as far back as the 1500s at Haddon Hall. More popular belief is that the actual appearance of the Bakewell Pudding was 300 years later in the 19th century.

The Bakewell Pudding was first created in the 1860s when Bakewell's coaching inn was the White Horse. The White Horse was built in 1804 on the site of an earlier inn. Back in the coaching days it was the landlady of the White Horse, Mrs Greaves, who usually did the cooking but on the monumental day, when entertaining important guests, the task of making a strawberry tart was left to an inexperienced assistant. The egg and sugar were omitted while making the pastry. Then the jam was spread over the unusual pastry base, and the egg and sugar mixture was put on top and an extra (secret) ingredient was added. The customers liked this new sweet, and the rest is history.

Modern day Bakewell tart consists of a shortcust pastry base, spread with jam and covered with a sponge-like filling enriched with ground almonds (known as frangipane).

The thing I like about bakewell tart is that it makes a great warm dessert with cream or custard but is equally good as a nice slice of ‘cake’ with afternoon tea. My recipe is a combination of different recipes and techniques but I think makes the perfect Bakewell Tart.

To watch a 10 minute video of how to make the tart on YouTube click here, or on the blog posting:

Equipment required
Greased 10inch tart tin or flan dish
Large mixing bowl
Electric mixer (or wooden spoon and elbow grease!)
Sieve

Sweet Pastry
Buying ready-made pastry is perfectly acceptable these days (even Delia Smith says so in her book ‘How to cheat at cooking’). However if you want to make your own pastry here is a recipe for a nice dessert or sweet pastry:
125g unsalted butter
90g golden caster sugar (regular caster sugar is fine)
250g plain flour
1 egg

To make the pastry, sift the flour into a mixing bowl and stri in the sugar. Ten rub in the butter using the tips of your fingers. When the mixture resembles breadcrumbs add the lightly beten egg a bit at a time to bring it together to a smooth dough. It should leave the bowl clean but not be sticky. If you have added too much water then add a little more flour. Knead it for a couple of minutes and then leave it to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes in a polythene bag or cling film.

Once rested roll out the pastry so it is slightly bigger than the dish you are using. Carefully line the dish with the pastry ensuring there are no gaps. Overlap the edges by about 1 inch as the pastry will ‘shrink’ when it is cooked. ‘Blind-bake’ the pastry for about 20 minutes i.e fill the pastry case with baking beans if you have them and bake the pastry so that you do not end up with soggy pastry when the tart is cooked.

Once the pastry has been blind-baked take it out of the oven and leave it to cool (it is not essential it is completely cold before the next stage).

Filling

6oz (150g) caster sugar
6oz (150g) soft margarine
3 eggs
6oz (150g) self-raising flour
½ teaspoon almond essence
1 egg-cup milk
strawberry jam
20z (50g) grated marzipan

Cream the margarine and sugar together using a wooden spoon or electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat into the mixture. It is a good idea to add one tablespoon of flour before the last egg to stop the mixture separating. Mix the almond essence with the milk and beat in to the mixture. Then fold in (using a metal spoon with a figure of 8 movement) the remaining flour.

Mix a few tablespoons of jam in a bowl so that is becomes runny and then spread this on the pastry case. Cover the entire base. Then add the grated marzipan on top of the jam. It looks like you are adding cheese but don’t be put off!. Then spoon in the frangipane filling ensuring no jam or marzipan is visible. Add it carefully so that you so not mix the jam or marzipan into the mixture but it stays under the frangipane.

Bake in the oven at 200 Centigrade (400 Fahrenheit, gas mark 6) for 20 minutes and then turn it down to 180 centigrade (350 Fahrenheit, gas mark 40 for a further 15 minutes. The sponge should be firm but ounce back up when you press it. Some people like to add pastry to the top or even ice the tart but I think it is great as it is.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Watch a 10 minute video on how to make these cupcakes by clicking here to watch on YouTube or watch on the blog posting:

red velvet cupcakes

Red velvet cakes are an american tradition with cream cheese frosting. They were made famous in the film Steel Magnolias when they were featured as a wedding cake and are a very popular cake made by The Hummingbird Bakery. Below is a recipe for red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

cupcake

Ingredients
90g unsalted butter, softened
225g caster sugar
2 medium eggs
30g cocoa
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
40ml red food colouring
225g self-raising flour
3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
165ml buttermilk


Equipment required
large mixing bowl
sieve
electric whisk
muffin cases
muffin tin

Beat the butter and sugar together using an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and continue to beat together.
In a separate bowl mix together the cocoa, vanilla essence and food colouring. It does seem a lot of food colouring but dont worry about it! Mix them together so that it becomes a dark coloured paste. Add to the butter/sugar/egg mixture and beat together. Then add half of the buttermilk, beat together, add half the flour, beat together and then repeat this process. You will then just have the bicarbonate of soda left. Add this and beat slowly to start with and then increase the speed so that everything is mixed together and you should have a lovely deep red mixture.

Divide between the muffin cases - this recipe should make about 18 cupcakes. Fill the cases about 2/3 full. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for around 20 minutes on 170C or 325F or gas mark 3. The cakes should be springy to the touch when properly cooked. Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Creamcheese frosting
Ingredients
200g cream cheese
75g unsalted butter, softened
450g icing sugar
1tbsp warm water
1 tsp vanilla essence

Beat together the sugar and butter with the water. Then add all of the cream cheese and beat together until smooth and glossy. Add the vanilla essence and mix together. Using a spoon top the cupcakes with the frosting. A nice touch is to crumble one of the cupcakes and sprinkle a little of the crumbs on top of the cake for decoration.

Tips
Try and use a deep muffin tin if you have one - this keeps the cupcakes in shape in their muffin cases while cooking.
Don't be put off by the amount of food colouring that is required - it gives the cake the deep red colour.

Back to Basics - Victoria Sponge

The most popular recipe on the blog so far is this traditional and evergreen classic for Victoria Sponge.

To watch a 10 minute video of how to make the cake on YouTube click here, or on the blog posting:

Victoria Sponge

The traditional British Victoria Sponge was named after Queen Victoria of England (1819 – 1901). One of Queen Victoria’s ladies-in-waiting Anna, the Duchess of Bedford, is said to have been the creator of ‘teatime’. Because lunch was traditionally served at midday, the Duchess often became peckish about four o'clock in the afternoon. The Duchess spent most summers at Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire. It became common practice for friends to join the Duchess for an additional afternoon meal in her rooms at Belvoir Castle. The menu consisted of small cakes, bread and butter sandwiches, assorted sweets, and, of course, tea. This summer practice proved so popular, the Duchess continued it when she returned to London, sending cards to her friends asking them to join her for “tea” The practice of inviting friends to come for tea in the afternoon was quickly picked up by other social hostesses. Queen Victoria adopted the new craze for tea parties. By 1855, the Queen and her ladies were in formal dress for the afternoon teas. Rather than having lots of small individual cakes this simple large cake became on the Queen's favourites. After her husband, Prince Albert, died in 1861, Queen Victoria spent time in retreat at her residence Osborn House on the Isle of Wight. According to historians, it was here that the cake was named after her.


Today the Victoria Sponge is seen to be a simple basic cake to make. Traditional English fetes and Women’s Institutes often have a ‘bake-off’ for the best Victoria Sponge. I believe that a good Victoria Sponge is one of the best cakes but all too often they are not made well and is just a flat heavy sponge rather than the light and fluffy sponge that it should be, sandwiched together with strawberry or raspberry jam and buttercream. I have tried a number of recipes and have come up with the one I think works the best. It is a simple all-in-one recipe that uses a higher quantity of ingredients than most other recipes. With the right amount of baking powder you end up with a well-risen light sponge that looks great.

Victoria Sponge Ingredients
285g Self-raising flour
2.5 teaspoons (12.5ml) Baking powder
285g Margarine
285g Caster Sugar
5 Eggs
Raspberry or Strawberry Jam

Buttercream Ingredients
150g Softened Butter
340g Icing Sugar
3 tablespoons (45ml) Warm water

Equipment required
2 greased 8-inch sandwich tins
Sieve
Large mixing bowl
Electric whisk

Cake
- Sieve the flour and baking powder into a large bowl
- Add all the other ingredients into the bowl
- Using an electric whisk beat the ingredients together, starting slowly then medium until you get a smooth, creamy consistency
- Divide the mixture between the two sandwich tins and bake at 170 degrees centigrade (340 degrees Fahrenheit) for 30-40 minutes. The cake should be springy to the touch.
- When cooked immediately turn out onto a wire rack.

Buttercream
- Soften the butter and beat until smooth
- Gradually add the icing sugar, beating well
- Add the water and beat until smooth

Spread some jam on one half of the sponge and buttercream on the other and sandwich together. Sieve icing sugar on top

Tips
My tips for a good Victoria Sponge are:
1) Use good quality 8-inch sandwich tins. Line them with greaseproof paper to avoid the cake sticking
2) If you have a fan oven, do not use the fan feature. Cakes cook much better on the traditional oven setting
3) Be careful not to use too much jam or buttercream otherwise the cake may slide apart when sandwiched together. Do however spread the jam and buttercream to the edge of the sponges as this will enhance the appearance of the cake
4) When turning out the cakes onto the wire rack, try turning one out onto a solid surface (like a chopping board) and then put it on the wire rack so that the top of the cake does not get the marks from the wire rack. This will make it look much better.

Victoria Sponge

Easy Chocolate Cake

Here is an easy recipe for a yummy chocolate cake that is sure to impress. I added chocolate curls to the top to make it look a bit better. It tasted really good and didn't take very long to make. The buttercream has melted chocolate in it which makes it really tasty and creamy and you don't get that bitter cocoa taste you get if you just make buttercream with icing sugar and cocoa.

Chocolate cake

with fudgy buttercream

chocolate curls on top

Chocolate Cake

Ingredients
150g self raising flour
30g cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
165g muscavado sugar
170g softened butter (it is important it is not straight out of the fridge)
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
50g dark chocolate (I use Bourneville)

Equipment Required
Large bowl
Electric whisk
2 8" sandwich tins
sieve
bowl for meting chocolate
saucepan

Put the chocolate in a bowl that fits neatly on top of a saucepan of simmering water and melt the chocolate. While it is melting put everything else into a bowl and when the chocolate is melted add that too. Whisk everything together until it is smooth and combined. If the mixture still seems very stiff then add a couple of tablespoons of water and whisk again.

Grease the sandwich tins (ideally put some greaseproof paper on the bottom) and then split the mixture between the two tins. Spread evenly but try not to really push the mixture down in the tin and it will make it less light and springy when it cooks. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius (if you have a fan oven and can turn the fan off then do that - use the normal oven setting). It should take around 30 minutes to cook but check it after 25 and if it is springy then take it out. Leave it to cool for 5 minutes in the tin and then turn out in to a cake rack. Allow to cool completely before adding the buttercream.

Ingredients for chocolate buttercream

200g butter (softened)

200g icing sugar

200g dark chocolate

Equipment required

Large mixing bowl

Saucepan

Bowl for melting chocolate

Electric whisk or wooden spoon

Melt the chocolate over a pan of simmering water as you did for the cake. While it is melting whisk the butter for about 15 seconds and then add the icing sugar and whisk with the butter. Then add the chocolate and whisk again. The buttercream should look creamy and light.

Choose the sponge that has the flattest top and keep it to one side. Put half the buttercream on the other sponge (on the side that was the base) and then put the other one on top. Then carefully spread the rest of the buttercream on top of the other sponge trying not to move it around too much or putting too much pressure on the cake otherwise the buttercream in the middle will come out. You could add the buttercream to the top of the top sponge before sandwiching it on the other - you just have to be careful when picking it up to put it on top.

I then added dark chocolate curls to the top - do this straight away before the buttercream sets. The best way to get good chocolate curls is to use a potato peeler and run it firmly along the long side of a bar of chocolate. You get good short curls which are perfect for this purpose.

Wedding cupcakes

I recently made some cupcakes for a friend’s wedding. They wanted chocolate cupcakes with buttercream. I made the buttercream in both a cream and a green which matched the bridesmaids’ outfits. To add a bit of sparkle the cupcake cases were silver and I used silver chocolate beans also as well as white chocolate curls. As they wanted to cut a cake on the day I also made a chocolate cake which was covered in buttercream and then had white chocolate cigarellos round the outside.

Using the cake stand I have it all came together really well and with the flowers on top made a great centrepiece.


wedding cupcakes

wedding cupcakes 2

close up

top cake

It took a fair amount of research to find everything that was right for these cakes and I spent a while finding the right colouring to get the desired shade of green. A really good shop that I can recommend is Surbiton Sugarcraft. They have a small shop in Surbiton that has everything you can imagine for cake decorating and it can all be ordered online. I used the Sugarflaire colour powder to make the buttercream the desired colour. I wasn’t sure how well it would work initially as I have been used to using liquid colouring but it was great and really easy to use.

Double chocolate cupcakes - makes about 12

Ingredients
125 softened butter
125g caster sugar
2 medium eggs
90g self-raising flour
30g cocoa
100g milk chocolate drops

Equipment required

12-hole muffin tray
silver muffin cases
large mixing bowl
electric or hand whisk
sieve

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius. It is better to use a regular setting rather than a fan setting.
Beat the butter and sugar together
Add eggs to the bowl and sift the flour and cocoa on top
Beat all together until smooth
Stir in the chocolate drops
Fill the cases about two-thirds full and bake for 12-15 minutes or until springy to the touch

Buttercream – enough for 12 cupcakes
175g butter softened
350g icing sugar
3tbsp boiling water
few drops of vanilla essence

Beat together the butter until soft and smooth
Add everything else and beat until smooth and pale in colour

Tips
For these cupcakes I then used an icing bag with a large nozzle and iced them using that. It gave a much more professional look and was quite quick to do once you get used to it.

To make a good buttercream it is also vital to ensure your have softened butter - so leave it out overnight in a cool room. the beat it on its own first before adding the other ingredients - this makes a really light and fluffy buttercream.

More Cupcakes!

I was recently asked to make some cakes for another 40th birthday party. The idea was to have something that could create a centrepiece that guests would see when they arrive. We agreed that I would make some creative cupakes and use the 5-tier cake stand to present them on. Here are some photos of them

prepared at home

setting up at the party

chocolate and violet cakes and maple syrup and ginger

top layer had shards of rose flavoured chocolate

Basic Halloween Cakes

Halloween Sponge Cake

Another excuse to make some fun cakes has to be Halloween. There are only a couple of weeks until 31 October! I have made some Halloween cakes for a friends party previously and rather than create a big iced cake on the shape of a pumpkin (and let’s be honest we don’t really want to eat bright orange fondant icing!), I have used some basic recipes I have already talked about on my blog and decorated them with some Halloween decorations. It is surprising how just using some black and orange colours instantly make cakes look like Halloween cakes. Marks and Spencer sell some great jelly sweets with bats and spiders on which can be put on cakes and you can always pick up some good orange and black sprinkles from supermarkets and kitchen shops at this time of year.
Because I like to talk a bit about the history of cakes I thought I would add a bit to the blog about the history of Halloween.
Halloween
Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter. Over time this has turned into the Halloween we know today where kids go ‘trick or treating’, pumpkins are turned into lanterns and everything becomes orange and black!

Here is a photo of a cake I have previously made for Halloween. It is basically the Victoria Sponge recipe below, but use Apricot jam in the middle to be more of a Halloween colour. On the top I then used a basic icing with some orange food colour and orange juice added to it. The recipe for the icing is:

2-3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
200g icing sugar, sifted
few drops food colouring

Put 2 tablespoons of orange juice into a bowl and gradually sift in the icing sugar, stirring as you go until smooth and spreadable. Add more orange juice of required. Add afew drops of food colouring until you get the desired colour. Decorate immediately with black and orange sprinkles and any other Halloween decorations you can get!

Halloween Cupcakes

You could also make some basic cupcakes with buttercream which again you could colour orange and add some fun decorations on.

Halloween Cupcakes

Basic Cupcake recipe
115g butter (at room temperature)
115g caster sugar
2 eggs
115g self-raising flour
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
grated zest of one orange (optional)

Buttercream recipe
150g softened butter
340g icing sugar
3 tablespoons (45ml) warm water
Few drops orange food colouring (black could be used for Halloween also)

Equipment required
1 12-hole muffin pan tray
muffin cases
sieve
large mixing bowl
electric whisk

• First preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius or 160 if it is fan assisted.
• Put the muffin cases in the muffin tray
• Beat the butter and sugar together using an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy
• Beat in the eggs one at a time
• Sift in the flour and fold in by hand using a figure of eight movement
• Stir in the milk and orange zest (if used)
• The mixture should be a smooth, creamy, spoonable mixture.
• Spoon into muffin cases (fill them just over half-full) and bake for 15-20 minutes until firm and springy

Buttercream
• Soften the butter and beat until smooth
• Gradually add the icing sugar, beating well
• Add the water and beat until smooth
• Add a few drops of food colouring
• Spread generously the buttercream over each cake and decorate with sprinkles and Halloween treats!

Cupcakes