I can’t stop for long. I’m off to London. I have one of those small, annoying wheely cases packed full to the brim with brownies, candles and small bottles of inferior toiletries reserved usually for hand luggage only flights. I’ve had to bring them out of retirement given my bag is 78% sugar and shoes. READ MORE
Was there a name you wanted as a child? I was always drawn to the letter C. For a long time I wanted to honour my Irish roots and be a Caitlin. I wasn’t even sure how to pronounce it but that didn’t trouble me, I’d work it out. I could handle not knowing how to pronounce my name, because I’d be all willowy and Irish and interesting if I were called Caitlin. Then I discovered Nirvana and decided Courtney was the name I really needed. Along with a propensity to wear baby doll dresses, sport bleached hair with black roots and hang a baby called Frances Bean from my hip.
I was mighty excited when just over a year ago I met a lady called Caitlin. She was every bit as exciting as I thought she might be and she has Irish roots and she’s fabulous. This is a cake just for her as she’s rather partial to rosy cakes and drinks. I made another version of this cake recently. You could say her addiction has passed to me.
One year ago: Choc dipped ice-cream cones and Sweetie covered ice-cream wafers and Razzamatazz ribs
Two years ago: Banana and custard melts and Thomas fairy cakes
Rose, vanilla and raspberry cake
Ingredients:
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4 and check the rack is in the middle of the oven. Grease and line 2 x 20cm (ish) tins. If yours are larger simply decrease the baking time a little, if smaller increase it. This is all about the thickness of the cake – the thicker it is (in height) the longer it takes to bake.
Cream the butter and sugar together in your stand mixer/with an electric mixer/with a wooden spoon until really light and creamy looking. Then add the eggs a dribble at a time, beating well after every dribble. Add the vanilla extract and do the same. Then sieve the flour, baking powder and bicarb together and fold through the cake mixture. Split the batter equally between the two tins, level with a spoon and then bake for about 20 minutes or until well risen, golden brown and a toothpick comes from the centre of the cakes clean. The cake should also be shrinking away from the sides of the tins a little. If you are baking each cake on a different rack don’t forget the higher the cake the quicker it will bake. Either rotate or whip the top one out earlier.
Remove from the tins and cool on a wire rack as soon as your hands can handle it. Then decorate with rose buttercream which you can find the recipe for here. If you don’t have a stand mixer then beat your butter with a wooden spoon/electric handheld mixer and then add a tablespoon of the icing sugar at a time, beating until the mixture looks like mousse. Add rose water to taste. Decorate with freeze dried raspberries.
Yesterday I was on QVC again talking about the wonder that is Kitchenaid. The ‘theme’ of the show was versatility I try and theme each show but I do wonder whether this is just for my own personal amusement or if it’s any help at all. Having spent more time blogging and on social networks that I have on TV I still find the whole one sided process of TV alien. There’s rarely real time feedback from the viewer. Yesterday a lovely lady called in – it made my day! But of the thousands who watch you just don’t know what they’re all thinking. That is until you post the pictures of what you’ve made on Facebook and some kind soul tells you your ice-cream cake looks like mushrooms. Honesty can be overrated.
Anyway, here’s a very simple recipe for a Victoria sponge cake and then five ways you can dress her up or down. Think of her as your little black dress of a cake. And if you do try the cherry Bakewell ice-cream version then I assure you, the filling does not in any way taste like fungi like.
All comments gratefully received. I love reading them.
One year ago: Octonauts cupcakes and Walnut, fudge and Fleur de Sel cookies
Two years ago: Mutter paneer and Hot cross biscotti
Victoria sponge
Makes 1 large cake
Ingredients:
Mix all the ingredients together using the flat beater until light and creamy – takes about 4 minutes and should look like whipped double cream when done. Pour into two greased and lined round tins and bake in a preheated oven at 180C/Gas 4 for 20 – 25 minutes until well risen and golden brown. A toothpick should come out of the centre clean when done. Cool on a wire rack and remove from the tins once you’re able to stand the heat.
Way no. 1 – Traditional buttercream filling with sweeties on top
Use the flat beater to cream the butter until soft and light – about 4 minutes. Then add the icing sugar spoon by spoon, mixing on a low speed until all incorporated, add the extract. Then beat on high for 7 minutes until the buttercream looks like mousse – flecked with air bubbles, then use to sandwich the cakes together. Place more buttercream on the top and add sweeties! I used Smarties and a plain tipped open nozzle to pipe the centre and topping. Oh and a couple of tablespoons of jam looks and tastes great too.
Way no. 2 – Cherry Bakewell ice-cream cake
Add a teaspoon of almond extract to the cake mixture if you wish. Take the morello cherries and mix through the ice-cream with the flat beater – then pop back in the freezer to re-solidify. Spread the cake with the cherry conserve then add the ice-cream carefully. Add the second layer of cake and then mix the icing sugar with a little lemon juice to a stiff paste and pour over the cake. Cover with flaked almonds and serve immediately!
Way no. 3 – Amaretto coffee after dinner cake
Brush the sponge layers with the coffee amaretto mixture and then whisk the double cream on a medium speed with the wire whisk until just holding peaks. Sandwich the sponge together with cream then top with more cream and chocolate sprinkles.
Way no. 4 – Banoffee cake
Whisk the double cream on a medium speed with the wire whisk until just holding peaks. Sandwich the sponge together with the caramel, then a layer of banana slices and then a layer of cream. Repeat on the top. Add chocolate shavings and serve immediately.
Way no. 5 – Lemon drizzle curd cake
Add lemon zest to the cake mixture if you wish. Heat the lemon juice and the sugar in a small saucepan until all the sugar has dissolved and the sugar syrup is bubbling – takes about 2 minutes. Allow to cool and then brush over one layer of the sponge. Then use lemon curd to sandwich together, add whipped double cream if you like and then add the second layer of cake. Add more lemon sugar syrup and top with double cream and a teaspoon of lemon curd watered down to a pouring consistency (like single cream) and drizzled in circles over the cream. Use a toothpick to pull the circles out like a spiders web if you wish.
A few months ago a strange urge came over me to learn to sew. I’m not talking furry pencil cases and cushions, I’m talking the real thing; dresses, jackets, maybe curtains if I fancied something easy. It couldn’t be that hard, my Nanna was a bespoke tailor(ess) so it’s in the blood you see.
20 hours of teaching and £170 on tuition and materials and I’m officially remedial when it comes to all things sewing related. Mr B had to thread the borrowed machine for me, I cut the sleeves of a babygro too short and the dress I’ve made gapes in some rather compromising areas, or maybe that’s the pregnancy induced gargantuan breasts? The borrowed sewing machine has gone back to the lovely Alison and I’ve instructed Mr B to stop me taking up any other craft related hobbies in future. My other Grandma taught me how to make a simple sponge cake, so sticking to what I know, here’s her recipe which is traditional and I think, foolproof. It also serves as a good thank you present for people who kindly lend you their sewing machine. Everyone loves a sponge after all.
Ingredients:
Preheat the oven to Gas 4 and grease two sandwich tins with butter, then line with greaseproof paper. I bloody hate doing this but like a lot of boring things, it’s unfortunately essential.
Weigh the 4 eggs in their shells. make a note of the grams/oz. Then weigh out the same amount of flour, caster sugar and butter, keeping them all separate. Using a wooden spoon/hand held mixerstand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until lighter in colour than when you started and creamy looking.
Beat the eggs for 2 mins and then add a little at a time to the mixture, beating as you add each dribble. Some people seem to be able to add more than a dribble and not end up with a curdled mixture, but not me. (If it does curdle add a couple of spoons of the flour and whizz together.) Continue adding the beaten eggs until they’re all whizzed into the mixture. Add the salt if you need it and also the flavouring, then fold in the flour using a metal spoon. Spoon into the two tins and smooth with a knife then cook in the middle of the oven for about 20 mins. The tops should be golden and springy when you touch them. Remove from the oven and pop on a wire rack for 5 mins, then de-tin them and leave to cool back on the rack.
Once cool you may need to carefully slice the peak off one of the cakes in order for the bottom sandwich to hold the filling and top cake ‘lid’ fit easily. Otherwise the top cake may balance in a precarious fashion. I ate the discarded lid of mine whilst standing next to the fridge and debating which jam to use. After some poor calculations I ended up using both strawberry and raspberry. So a straspberry filling I guess. I can reliably inform you you will need about half a regular jar of jam to fill a regular sized cake.
The recipe is foolproof (according to my Grandma) as you can scale up or down and the ratios always remain the same due to the weighing technique. I guess this method was used before eggs were sold in large, medium or small sizes. It tastes lovely made with some lemon zest and filled with lemon curd. Or fresh raspberries and whipped cream and very good too. I also like to use a tea strainer to add a dusting of icing sugar to the top. It hides a multitude of sins.
Holly Bell 