The Cake Slice February 2010: Mississippi Mud Cake

This month we baked a Mississippi Mud Cake. Normally I think of mud cakes as being tall, dense, sticky cakes but this cake is quite different – a cross between rocky road and brownie. It consists of a chocolate pecan studded sponge, topped with mini marshmallows and drizzled with hot chocolate sauce. Rich, sticky and very indulgent!

This cake received mixed reviews in our group, people either seemed to love it or loathe it. Personally I was firmly in the ‘love it’ category. A lot of bakers complained it was far too sweet, I didn’t find this to be the case. It was still sweeter than your average cake, but not unpleasantly so. However, I didn’t use the mound marshmallows as part of the topping which probably reduced the sweetness level quite considerably. The reason I left out the marshmallows is that no one in my family are fond of them and I wanted people to eat the cake.

I think brownie is a better description for this baked treat than cake. I consider cake to be soft, fairly light and spongy but this recipe resulted in a single layered moist, rich and sticky chocolate gooey brownie square. It was scattered with chunky pecans which added a nice textural contrast, were utterly delicious and made it seem even more brownie like.

To really push this ‘cake’ over the edge the whole thing is drizzled in a gooey chocolate glaze that sets into a thin chocolaty sugary crust. Mmmm it was divine. Just look how moist and fudgy it was. I may even use this recipe next time I want a batch of brownies! I also halved the recipe and baked it in an 8inch tin, as the full recipe made quite a large amount. My advice would be forget the marshmallows and enjoy the rich chocolaty fudgy cakey-bronwieness YUM!

Mississippi Mud Cake (brownie)
(Recipe from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott)
For the Cake (brownie)
200g butter, cut into big chunks
55g cocoa powder
4 eggs, beaten well
1 tsp vanilla extract
450g caster sugar
180g plain flour
¼ tsp salt
115g chopped pecans or walnuts

Mississippi Mud Frosting
400g icing sugar
55g cocoa powder
100g butter, melted
110ml milk or evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g mini marshmallows or large marshmallows, quartered


Method – Cake (brownie)
Heat the oven to 180C. Grease and flour a 13x9 inch pan. In a medium saucepan combine the butter and cocoa powder and cook over medium heat, stirring now and then, until the butter is melted and the mixture is well blended, about 3 – 4 minutes. Stir in the beaten eggs, vanilla, sugar, flour, salt and pecans and beat until the batter is well combined and the flour has disappeared.
Quickly pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the cake springs back when touched gently in the centre and is beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan.
While the cake bakes, prepare the frosting so it is ready to pour over the hot cake.

Method – Mud Frosting
In a medium bowl combine the icing sugar and the cocoa powder and stir to mix well. Add the melted butter, milk and vanilla and beat everything together well. Set aside until the cake is done.

To Serve
Remove the cake from the oven, scatter the marshmallows over the top and then return the cake to the hot oven for about 3 minutes to soften the marshmallows.
Place the cake, still in the pan, on a wire rack. Pour the frosting all over the marshmallow dotted cake and eat straight away or allow to cool to room temperature. Cut the cake into squares and serve.

Note: The recipe also works well when halved and baked in an 8inch square tin.

Celebrating 3 years of Apple & Spice with an Overnight Apple Spice Cake

Today is my blogs 3rd birthday. I can’t quite believe it. Three years ago I was at university and sitting in an attic bedroom with my laptop, huddled under the sloping eves and deciding to make my first tentative steps into blogging. A lot has changed since then, both for me and my blog. I feel I have developed more as a cook, baker and general foodie, the world of blogging opening my eyes and imagination to new recipes, cooking techniques and flavours. So thank you to all my fellow bloggers, commenters and followers for your support and inspiration, you help make my day shine.

Every year on this date I always ensure I have an apple and spice themed dessert to celebrate my little blog. The 1st year was a delicious apple packed Spiced Apple Cake and last year some yummy Apple & Cinnamon Oat Crumbles. This year is no exception, and I present to you an overnight apple spice cake. It’s basically LOTS of apple layered with spiced sugar and slowly baked until soft, tender and bursting full of concentrated apple flavour. It couldn’t be more apple packed if you tried!

The dessert is baked in a very low oven overnight – 12 hours of gently baking to be precise, to allow the water from the fruit to evaporate and become more concentrated. The fruit softens and becomes more compact as it bakes. It’s not so much a cake, more of a layered compote. I saw this recipe on Desert Candy’s blog using orange zest and apples, but being a lover of spices I removed the orange and used a lovely warming blend of spices in its place. The result was heavenly.

I put the cake in the oven before I went to bed and in the morning I opened the kitchen door to be greeted by a cloud of intoxicating spiced apple aroma, filling the kitchen with its sweet fragrance. Just divine. Once baked, the cake is inverted while the apple juices that seeped out during baking are reduced and drizzled over the top as a sticky glaze.

Cutting a slice revealed the layers of apple and spices. You need to use firm apples that will survive a long cooking or else you’ll end up with mush. I was pleased to see mine stayed together well, whilst still becoming soft and tender. I enjoyed my first slice au natural, letting the full burst of intense apple flavour shine through but I think it would be wonderful served in a pool of custard too. Or, seeing as it’s also Pancake Day today, on top of some fluffy American style pancakes!

Overnight Apple Spice Cake
(Recipe adapted from Desert Candy blog)
Ingredients
2kg firm fleshed and quite tart apples (I used 1kg Breaburn & 1kg Granny Smith)
Juice of 1 lemon
150g caster sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground cardamom

Method
Line a 7-8inch/18-20cm deep springform tin with a layer of greaseproof paper.
Peel and core the apples using an apple corer, to allow the apple to remain whole. Alternatively, cut into quarters and remove the core this way.
Add the juice of the lemon to a large bowl of water. Finely slice the apples into 2mm thick rings and place them into the liquid to prevent them from turning brown while you slice the remaining apples.
Mix the spices into the sugar and stir together to mix.
Preheat the oven to 85C.
Drain the water from the apple slices and pat dry with a kitchen towel. Arrange a layer of apple rings into the base of the tin. Sprinkle over 2-3 tsp of the spiced sugar and cover with another layer of apple. Repeat the process of apple, sugar, apple…until both are used up.
Cut a disc of greaseproof paper the size of the tin and place on top of the layered apples and press down lightly.
Wrap the tin in a sheet of foil and place into a baking tray to catch any juices that escape during baking.
Place the tin in the oven for 12 hours (yes really!).
Once the 12 hours are up, remove the tin from the oven and carefully remove the foil. Do this over the baking tray as lots of juices will have collected in the base and you want to keep them.
Press down gently on the top of the apple cake to extract any remaining apple juices.
Invert the apple cake onto a plate and remove the greaseproof base.
Pour the apple juices into a small pan and bring to a simmer. Allow to bubble slowly for 10-12 minutes until reduced by half and syrupy.
Drizzle the apple syrup all over the upturned apple cake and serve.
Also tastes delicious cold and can be served with custard, cream, yogurt or simple on its own.

Chocolate Raspberry Buttermilk Cupcakes for Valentines Day

Valentines Day is nearly here and it provides the perfect excuse to start thinking of pink, cute and heart shaped sweet treats. I decided to bake some Valentines themed cupcakes to share around with my friends and family, as even though I am currently without that special someone, I see that as no reason not to enjoy the baking opportunity it provides.

As chocolate and Valentines Day seem to go hand and hand, I obviously settled on chocolate cupcakes but wanted to add a little something extra to make them a bit more special. After thinking of flavour pairings I decided to mix some raspberry jam into both the cake batter and the frosting. I’m sure some people will disagree, but in my opinion chocolate and raspberries are a wonderful flavour pairing, more so than chocolate and strawberries as I find the raspberry flavour more intense against the bitter chocolate.
I have recently been experimenting with replacing some of the butter in cake mixes with buttermilk. I have found it results in a slightly denser, more fudgy yet moister cake. You don’t always want fudgy cupcakes but for a chocolate Valentines themed cake it’s perfect. When topped with a swirl of pink raspberry buttercream and a scattering of cute teeny tiny heart sprinkles it is a sweet treat emulating love and romance. A combination of fudgy chocolate base with sweet and creamy frosting finished with a hint of fruitiness. Go ahead and bake some for your friends or loved ones and whatever you do this weekend for Valentines, I hope it’s a happy one.

Chocolate Raspberry Buttermilk Cupcakes for Valentines Day
Chocolate Raspberry Buttermilk Cupcakes
120g self raising flour
100g caster sugar
60g butter
80ml buttermilk
20g cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp raspberry jam

Raspberry Buttercream
130g butter
260g icing sugar
2 tbsp seedless raspberry jam
Pink food dye
Heart sprinkles to decorate

Method
Preheat the oven to 170C. Line a cupcake tray with 12 paper cases.
Your butter needs to be soft so either leave it out for a few hours or warm it gently in the microwave to soften.
Weigh out the flour, sugar, butter, baking powder and cocoa powder into a bowl. Add the eggs and beat until the mixture starts to form a thick batter. Add the jam and pour in the buttermilk. Whisk until smooth, creamy and slightly lighter in colour, about 1 minute.
Divide the batter equally between the paper cases and bake for 20-22 minutes until the cupcakes are risen and springy to the touch.
Allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
Meanwhile, make the buttercream. Beat the butter until soft and creamy before sifting in half the icing sugar. Beat until all the sugar has been incorporated and then add the remaining half of the sugar.
Tint the buttercream a pale pink and beat in the seedless raspberry jam. If the mixture seems very stiff add milk, half a tablespoon at a time, until it becomes a soft spreadable consistency.
Once the cupcakes have cooled, pipe on the raspberry buttercream and decorate with heart shaped sugar sprinkles or other sprinkles of your choice.
Share, eat and enjoy with friends or loved ones.
Makes 12, easily doubled.

Pumpkin & Butternut Squash Soup

Soup is so warming and comforting at this time of year. I am especially fond of winter and root vegetable soups whose natural sweetness always cheer the soul on a cold day. So, when I was recently given a pumpkin as a present I knew instantly that it was time to make some soup.

Pumpkins and squashes are quite unique in that despite them being tough and often frustratingly hard when raw, once cooked they transform into soft and tender flesh that almost seems to melt like butter, adding a lovely creaminess to soups. For this soup I decided to go all out for silkiness and combined pumpkin and butternut squash together.

The resulting soup was heavenly. I think it may in fact be my favourite soup to date. Thick, and so velvety smooth that a spoonful seemed to caress the back of my throat, flooding my senses with a deep earthy sweetness. This soup just made me smile and sigh with contentment as it warmed me from the inside.

There is something so comforting about its beautiful orange amber colour, watching the floating spirals of steam drifting up from the bowl and breathing in its creamy earthy aroma. It’s hard to believe that something so simple can taste so good. All that’s required is some bread for dipping and you’re good to go. This is truly a soup for the soul.

Apparently it’s also National Homemade Soup day! Souper!

Pumpkin & Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
1kg pumpkin – I find the small ones with the deep orange flesh are best (e.g. Ambercup, Onion or Kabocha varieties)
1kg butternut squash
1 large onion
1 baking potato
2 small or 1 large garlic cloves
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp thyme
2 pints water
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt & pepper

Method
Peel and roughly chop and onion, potato and garlic. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the prepared veg. Give it a stir and then put the lid on and leave it for 10-15 minutes to soften and sweat. If they catch slightly on the base of the pan don’t worry, this will only add to its depth of flavour.
Meanwhile, carefully slice the skin off the pumpkin and squash. Cut in half, scrape out the seeds and fiberous membrane from the middle and chop into rough chunks. (If you find them too hard to cut, cook in the microwave for 4 minutes to soften the skin to make peeling and slicing easier).
Add the pumpkin and squash to the pan along with the herbs and season with salt and pepper.
Boil the kettle and pour over 2 pints of water. Bring the mix to the boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover with the lid and leave to cook for 45 minutes.
Check the vegetables with the tip of a knife to make sure they are fully cooked. When ready, blitz the soup until smooth using a liquidiser or hand held blender.
Serve in warmed bowls with bread for dipping.
Serves 6

Apricot & Hazelnut Cake with Caramel Meringue Frosting

It was my mums birthday last week and naturally birthdays always mean a special cake. This year I wanted to deviate away from the traditional sponge and try something a bit different. My mum is a lover of baked goods with nuts, so I decided on making a hazelnut cake by substituting some ground hazelnuts for some of the flour. Nuts can sometimes result in dense cakes, so after a little hunting I chose to bake a butterless whisked cake that relies on separating the eggs and whisking the whites to add lightness.

I was a little worried the nuts would make the layers too heavy and they wouldn’t rise properly, but they puffed up beautifully and were very flat and even. The toasting hazelnut aroma as the cake baked was wonderful. When hot the cakes were quite delicate so it’s best to let them cool in the tins, but once cooled they are quite easy to handle. On tasting the cake the ground nuts were quite apparent, adding a great flavour and nobly nutty texture which was a hit with my mum – less so with my dad but he doesn’t like cake with ‘little bits in.’

As the cake was very light it seemed pointless to choose a rich buttercream or whipped cream filling to accompany it. Instead I hit upon the idea of making a caramel meringue by beating hot caramel over egg whites to create a very light and airy frosting. This worked well and created pillowy soft mounds of meringue which literally dissolved in tiny bubbles on your tongue.

Apricots and hazelnuts complement each other well so I sandwiched the cake together with some apricot conserve and sliced apricots. Over time the juice from the fruit dissolved a little of the meringue frosting, creating a delicious syrup that seeped into the cake layers making them incredibly moist. It’s the sort of cake you could easily serve as a dessert but it also made a delicious birthday cake. If you don’t want to go the fruity route I bet it would taste delicious with some sort of chocolate filling too.

Apricot & Hazelnut Cake with Caramel Meringue Frosting
Hazelnut Cake
100g skinned hazelnuts
75g self raising flour
175g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp baking powder

Apricot Filling & Caramel Meringue
100g apricot jam or conserve
8 fresh or tinned apricots
3 egg whites
150g caster sugar
100ml water

Method – Hazelnut Cake
Preheat the oven to 175C. Grease and line two 8inch/20cm cake tins and set to one side.
Place the hazelnuts and flour into a food processor and blitz until you have a nutty flour with a few tiny chunks of nut remaining.
Separate the yolks and whites of the eggs into two bowls. Add the caster sugar to the egg yolks and beat until thick, pale and creamy, about 3 minutes.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold a third of the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mix to slacken it. Then add the rest of the egg whites and fold in gently.
Scatter the nutty flour and baking powder over the surface of the batter and fold in gently until no streaks remain.
Divide the batter between the two cake tins and bake for 20 minutes until golden in colour and springy to the touch.
Allow the cakes to cool in the tins before running a knife around the edge and inverting them out onto a plate.

For the Caramel Meringue
Place the water and caster sugar together in a small pan. Heat gently, stirring often, until the sugar has dissolved. Then allow the liquid to bubble and take on a light golden caramel colour. You don’t want it too dark.
Meanwhile whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Once the caramel is ready, slowly drizzle it over the egg whites while still whisking. The egg whites should take on a thick glossy look and turn amber in colour. Continue to beat for 3-4 minutes once the syrup has been used up.
Use to sandwich and frost the cake immediately.

To Assemble
Spread a generous layer of a good quality apricot jam or converse over one of the cake layers. Cut the apricots into segments and arrange over the top of the jam, reserving a few for decoration on top.
Spoon half of the caramel meringue over the top of the jam and fruit and spread gently to the edges.
Top with the remaining cake layer. Use the remaining half of the meringue to cover the top of the cake and decorate with the reserved apricot slices.
Serve straight away. Best eaten on day of baking as if left, the meringue starts to break down due to the moistness of the fruit in the cake.
Eat within 2 days. Serves 8-10

GU Goodies: A Review

Last week I opened the door and was presented with a selection of the latest indulgent chocolate GU puds, packed in an appropriately named special goodie bag. I had been asked if I would like to review some of their products a few weeks back but the original delivery date got cancelled due to the snow, so it was a lovely surprise to open the door to them last week.

I opened the bag with glee and found a box of their chocolate mousses, a box of hot chocolate soufflés, a tub of millionaires flapjack and a most decadent looking chocolate brownie cake. You can only imagine the squeal of delight from my chocolate-obsessed family at seeing all these goodies. I managed to prevent them from ripping open the boxes straight away and instead set up a taster session over the next few nights to ensure we all got a taste of the goodies.

First on the list was the Chocolate Brownie Cake, the newest addition to the GU range. Its appearance is one of insane chocolate indulgence. Two layers of dense chocolate brownie cake sandwiched together with a chocolate cream, topped and covered in a rich chocolate icing, finished with dark chocolate curls and studded with chocolate teardrops. Now that’s a lot of chocolate! It’s cute and dinky in size but so rich that we found it served 6 quite easily.

The cake/brownie layers I found to be very dense and stiff, so much so that it was quite hard to cut through, but it was a very cold day so I don’t think that helped. The layers were very sweet and fudgy with a slight chew. The appearance of the cake looked quite soft and gooey but unfortunately I found them to be a little dry. I tried warming a slice in the microwave and this improved the cake immensely. The chocolate melted and the brownie layers softened and turned gooey. I think GU should suggest heating the cake as a serving suggestion, as warming it made it taste divine.

Next on the list were the Deeply Decadent Choc Mousses. I liked how they came in their own glass ramekins, which made them seem much more sophisticated than if they had been served in a plastic container. Plus, you get to keep the ramekins after you’ve eaten the pud. The mousse itself was thick yet studded with tiny air bubbles which kept it light and helped it melt deliciously on the tongue. It tasted of real chocolate, rather than cocoa powder and was not too sweet nor too bitter as it was made with a good high percentage milk chocolate.

GU have recently launched three different tubs of chocolaty themed treats, all appropriately named Naughties. I was sent a tub of Millionaires Flapjack – flapjack base topped with a layer of caramel and a thick top coating of chocolate, oh so naughty but oh so nice. The flapjack was chewy yet not too sweet with a good texture from the oats. The caramel layer was smooth and creamy and the thick top coating of chocolate added a nice contrast. I can imagine a tub of these disappearing in minutes if left unattended on a desk.

The Hot Chocolate Soufflés were the puds I was most looking forward to and they didn’t disappoint. They start off looking similar to the chocolate mousses, but after a short bake in the oven they form a thin delicate sponge crust which when pierced with a spoon reveals a dark oozing hot chocolate gooey centre. The aroma that wafted up from the soufflé was amazing, a deep dark chocolate that just made my mouth water. As I tasted the first spoonful my mouth filled with an intense chocolate flavour, so intense that it almost tasted like there was some Brandy in it (there’s not – I checked).
The warm bubbly soufflé mixture was wonderfully light and airy and the oozing centre so indulgent. They also came in their own glass ramekins meaning you could easily serve them to guests without having to try and transfer them into another dish before serving. I would definitely recommend these they were pure chocolate indulgence.

Kiwi Honey & Lime Jam

A few months ago my grandmother bought a jar of kiwi and lime jam from a farmers market when she was visiting some friends. It wasn’t one she had tried before but she is a lover of kiwis and is quite adventurous in her food purchases and always willing to try new foods. It turned out to be quite delicate and floral and she absolutely loved the jam but wasn’t able to find anything similar locally. Not being one to pass up the opportunity of a challenge I snuck a look at the ingredients listed on the jar and decided to try and make a batch for her myself.

One of the interesting ingredients listed was honey. Ah-ha! That explains the floral note. So armed with my ingredient list I set about concocting my jam.

It turned out to be quite a straightforward process. The main issue I had was that the kiwi’s did not cook down into a mush as I expected, but remained relatively intact in their small dice. I solved this problem by giving them a quick squish with a potato masher. This resulted in a slightly coarse yet spreadable jam.

Once cooked, I adored the colour of jam – such a bright glossy emerald green and studded with tiny jet black seeds. It had a slightly sharp and tangy flavour with just a hint of citrus thanks to the lime. The sugar and honey kept it sweet yet with a mellow floral overtone.

This jam had two purposes for not only was my grandmother delighted with it, but I discovered I can eat cooked kiwi. Normally when I eat raw kiwi my tongue and mouth go all prickly and sore within a few minutes, but I found on tasting a tiny bit of the jam (out of curiosity as to its flavour) that it didn’t affect me in the usual way. I suppose boiling it denatured the enzymes. I’m not sure how useful this piece of information would be to me, but it’s interesting to know.

The jam wasn’t quite the same as the one my grandmother bought on the market, but this doesn’t mean it was any less delicious. It certainly added a bit of zing to some morning toast.

Kiwi Honey & Lime Jam
Ingredients
11 ripe kiwi fruit
175g caster or granulated sugar
100g runny honey
1 lime

Method
Place 2 or 3 jam jars and their lids into a cold oven. Heat to 120oC for at least 10 minutes to sterilise the jars. Once heated, turn off the heat but leave the jars in the oven so they remain hot while you make the jam.
Peel the kiwi fruit, cut into quarters and roughly chop into 5mm pieces. Remove the white core from the fruit if it feels particularly hard or woody.
Add the chopped kiwi’s, sugar and honey into a medium sized saucepan. Heat gently, stirring occasionally, until the honey has softened and the sugar dissolved.
Stir in the finely grated zest of the lime and its juice. Bring the mixture to the boil and allow to bubble for 10 minutes, stirring every so often to prevent it from sticking to the base of the pan.
Then reduce the heat and use a potato masher to gently squash/crush the kiwi into a chunky mush. You don’t want (and won’t get) it smooth, but you want an easily spreadable consistency.
Allow to simmer for 2 minutes before removing from the heat. Take the hot jars from the oven and divide the jam between them while both the jam and jars are still hot. Be careful not to get any on you as it’s very hot!
Wear rubber gloves to screw the lid onto the jars and leave to cool before storing in a cool dark place until required. The seal button in the lids will suddenly pop back down as the jam cools, as a sterile vacuum is created within the jar. They will give a loud ‘pop’ when this happens, so don’t be alarmed.
Once opened, store in the fridge and eat within 2 weeks.
Makes 2-3 jars

The Cake Slice January 2010: Red Velvet Cake

With over 50% of the votes, The Cake Slice bakers cake of choice to kick start 2010 was a Red Velvet cake. It seems we were all eager to start the new year off with a little colour and excitement. A Red Velvet cake is a unique and instantly recognizable cake due to its deep dark red colour thanks to a hint of cocoa powder and lots of red food dye. It has a soft and tender crumb thanks to the inclusion of vinegar and buttermilk in the cake and is often topped with a cream cheese or buttercream frosting. However, this cake is a little different as it called for a cooked milk based topping mixed with coconut and pecans which resulted in a nutty, nobly fluffy icing.

Red Velvet cake is relatively unknown here in the UK, although you do occasionally see it in London cupcake shops. I have only eaten it once, when I was in Chicago during the summer, and have longed to try baking one myself ever since, so I was particularly excited by this months choice.

I had no call for a large cake and so instead I halved the recipe and baked a batch of cupcakes instead. This also allowed me to use some of the cute red and white spotty cake cases I was given at Christmas. Just perfect for Red Velvet cupcakes!
The colour of my sponge turned out quite a lot darker than I expected, not the vibrant red colour I was anticipating but I think this was because I used gel food dye rather than the liquid version called for. Gel is more concentrated and so I reduced the amount – I now realize I reduced it a little too much, but the crumb still had a nice earthy red hue to it. Will add more next time!

The texture of the cake was wonderful. It was very light, quite tender and moist thanks to the buttermilk. It had a faint cocoa richness that paired with the sweet creamy topping perfectly, without being obviously chocolaty. The icing was soft and creamy and I loved its quirky nubbly appearance and texture. A bite resulted in a great contrast between the nutty sweet coconut icing and the soft cake beneath.

The icing itself was unlike any other icing I have made before. You heat some milk and flour together until it forms a thick paste, just like a rue when making a béchamel sauce. You leave the paste to cool and then beat in butter, caster sugar and a little vanilla. You end up with an icing the consistency of spreadable butter into which you stir the coconut and pecans. I was quite dubious about how it would taste but it was surprisingly smooth and creamy, thick without the need of too much sugar and I didn’t notice any graininess from the caster sugar either. Who would have guessed?! I think I still prefer cream cheese icing myself, but I would urge you to give it a go, for learning a new technique if nothing else.

Red Velvet Cake
(Recipe from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott)
For the Red Velvet Cake
300g plain flour
½ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
225ml buttermilk (see note below)
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp red food colouring
200g butter
400g caster sugar
2 eggs
1½ tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cider vinegar or white vinegar

For the Coconut Pecan Icing
225ml milk
2 tbsp all purpose flour
200g butter, softened
200g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
75g sweetened shredded coconut
100g finely chopped pecans or walnuts


Method – Red Velvet Cake
To make the cake, heat the oven to 180C. Grease two 9 inch round cake pans and line them with waxed paper to kitchen parchment. Grease the paper and flour the pans.
Prepare three separate mixtures for the batter. Combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl and use a fork to mix them together well. Combine the cocoa powder and the red food colouring in a small bowl, mashing and stirring them together to make a thick smooth paste.
In a large bowl, beat the butter with a mixer at low speed for 1 minute until creamy and soft. Add the sugar and then beat well for 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl now and then. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each one until the mixture is creamy, fluffy and smooth. Scrape the cocoa-food colouring paste into the batter and beat to mix it in evenly.
Add a third of the flour mixture and then about half the milk, beating the batter with a mixer at low speed. Mix only enough to make the flour or liquid disappear into the batter. Mix in another third of the flour, the rest of the milk and then the last of the flour in the same way.
In a small bowl, combine the baking soda and vinegar and stir well. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to quickly mix this last mixture into the red batter, folding it in gently by hand. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans.
Bake at 180C for 20 to 25 minutes (20 for cupcakes) until the layers are spring back when touched lightly in the centre and are just beginning to pull away from the sides of the pans.
Cool the cakes in the pans on wire racks or folded kitchen towels for 15 minutes. Then turn them out onto the racks, remove the paper and turn top side up again to cool completely.

Coconut Pecan Icing
Combine the milk and flour in a small or medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking or stirring often until the mixture thickens almost to a paste, around 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and scrape it into a small bowl to cool completely.
Meanwhile, beat the butter with a mixture at high speed until light and fluffy. Add the sugar in thirds, beating well each time until the mixture is creamy and fairly smooth. Add the cooled milk and flour mixture and beat for 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down the sides now and then to combine everything well. Using a large spoon or spatula, stir in the vanilla, coconut and pecans, mixing to combine everything well into a thick, fluffy, nubbly icing.

To Assemble
Place one cake layer top side down on a cake stand or serving plate. Spread a third of the icing on top. Place the second layer, top side up, on top. Frost the sides and then the top of the cake with the remaining icing. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to help the icing set.
Makes one 9inch double layer cake or 24 cupcakes

NOTE: If you can’t find buttermilk, stir 1 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar into 225ml of milk and leave to stand for 10 minutes before using.

10 Things Award

A few days ago I was delighted to receive award from Issy of Cupcakes and Cornwall. The idea behind the award is to list 10 things that make you happy and then pass the award on to 10 bloggers whose blogs brighten your day.

So 10 things that make me smile are:
1. The aroma of a cake baking in the oven
2. Going for walks and being rewarded with finding secret hidden views
3. Sinking into a hot bath on a cold day
4. The taste of freshly baked bread
5. Reading a good book snuggled up in bed
6. A hug
7. Sharing life’s ups and downs with a friend over dinner
8. Finding a new variety of apple to taste
9. Spending a day with the family
10. A good nights sleep (I’m a bit of an insomniac)

The 10 bloggers who I am passing the award on to for brightening my day are:
1. The Caked Crusader
2. Lick The Bowl Good
3. Maltese Bakes and More
4. Let Her Bake Cake
5. Feeding My Enthusiasms
6. Green Gourmet Giraffe
7. Antics of A Cycling Cook
8. Pig Pig’s Corner
9. Technicolour Kitchen
10. Katie Cakes

If you want to take part in this blogging award you can! Just follow these instructions:
1. Copy the award image into a post
2. Then list 10 things that make you happy
3. Tag 10 bloggers who brighten your day
4. Put in a link to their blogs
5. Notify the award receivers
6. Award recipients must link back to sender's blog

So, what makes you smile?

Jordans Cereals HQ

I count myself very fortunate and lucky to live in the countryside. I love looking out over open fields, seeing a rabbit run across the path in front of me and watching the trees and plants blossom and grow with the changing seasons. I think it would such a shame if all our farmland was to disappear. After meeting up with Jordans Cereals last month for their Country Crisp Appreciation Society day, I realised they share my love of nature and the countryside. They are based just a few minutes down the road from where I live so when they contacted me recently to ask if I would like to visit them in their HQ and learn a bit more about the company I was delighted. It’s always good to learn a bit of local history.

It was a cold snowy morning when I drove out to meet them, and thanks to my fantastic sense of direction I got a little lost. I knew I must be close as the air was filled with the aroma of hot, toasting grains. It really did smell like a bowl of steaming porridge, warm, wholesome and comforting.

Upon arriving at Jordans I met up with Mathilde, a fellow blogger who had also been at the Country Crisp day. She had brought along her friendly photographer Dave to take some photos – how cool is that, her own photographer! We were greeted by Rachel and Julia who talked us through the history of Jordans and the development of all their cereal range of mueslis, crunchy oats, cereal bars, country crisp and porridge, all displayed in big trays for us to look at and sample.

Jordans Cereals is still a family run business and they try to source as many of their ingredients as locally as they can. All their oats and grains are grown for them by local farmers and to conservation grade, meaning they have to be done in a way good for the environment. There was actually a very good article published in the Telegraph about them recently, which you can read here for more information.

Mixing their cereals in not such a straightforward task as it may sound. They are passionate about only using natural wholesome ingredients which has sometimes proved a problem when sourcing particular items. For years they restrained from using dried apricots due to the sulphur dioxide which is added to make them retain their colour, but there has been a foodie breakthrough by using natural fruit juices as the preservative. Another time their shipment of specially selected ingredients was being brought over by boat and the boat got hijacked, taking the ingredients with them!! I can imagine that was rather a surreal day when they got that phone call!

They also baked up two bowls of porridge for us to try. One using the traditional jumbo rolled oats and the other a finer milled oat for people who need porridge in a hurry. Both were very creamy and we had an interesting discussion about different toppings and various recipes.

We then got to visit the original Jordans Mill which is now sadly un-operational but is still very much a part of Jordans. It’s the buildings featured on all their boxes and is on the site of their outlet shop in Biggleswade. We were treated to a look inside and it was fascinating seeing the old flour milling machines. The mill may not be operating as a working mill, but it is still useful as a water wheel generates the electricity for their on site shop, thanks to it being situated next to the river.

We ended our tour with a visit to the shop which is a treasure-trove of raw ingredients and of course, their cereals, it’s well worth a visit. I love how colourful they look displayed on the shelves. Thanks Rachel and everyone at Jordans for such an insightful and enjoyable morning.