Banana Bread with Coconut and Pecans

I had bananas left over from the vegan banana bread I made recently so I wanted to try out a new banana bread recipe I had come across.

Ingredients:

3 cups plain flour

11/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup canola oil (I used coconut oil)

11/2 cups sugar

3 eggs, beaten

11/2 tsp vanilla extract

11/2 cups bananas, mashed

3/4 cup sour cream (I used plain yoghurt)

11/2 cups chopped pecans, toasted

3/4 cup desiccated coconut

Preheat oven 180°C (350°F) Gas Mark 4

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.  In a large bowl, beat together the oil and sugar.  Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.  Add the bananas and sour cream and beat well.  Add the dry ingredients and mix until everything is just combined.  Stir in the pecans and coconut.  Pour batter into greased loaf tin until it is half full (I got 2 banana bread loaves from one batch).  Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the loaf.  Allow to cool for at least an hour before removing it from the pan and serving.  Tastes great plain, or with a little bit of butter.

To toast pecans: place nuts on a baking tray and heat in the oven (180°C/ 350°F/ Gas Mark 4) for 15 minutes or until light brown and fragrant.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies

Continuing with the classic combination of chocolate and peanut butter, this time in the form of a whoopie pie!

Ingredients:

1 egg

150g caster sugar

125g plain yoghurt

25ml milk

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

75g unsalted butter (melted)

275g plain flour

75g cocoa powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

60g crunchy peanut butter

Cream the sugar and egg together until light and fluffy.  In a separate jug or bowl, pour the yoghurt, milk and vanilla and stir.  Gradually add this to the sugar and egg mixture.  Mix on a low speed until everything is well combined, then mix in the melted butter.  In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder.  Add half to the batter and mix well on a low speed and then add the remainder of the dry ingredients and mix until the mixture is smooth.  Add the peanut butter and mix it in.  Chill the batter in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.  Preheat oven 170°C (325°F) Gas Mark 3.  Line some baking trays with greaseproof paper, or grease your whoopie pie tins.  One the batter has cooled, spoon the mixture onto the trays/ whoopie pie tins.  If you are using a baking tray the mounds of dough should be 3-5cm in diameter, with enough space around each to allow them to expand (2-3cm) the mixture should make between 16 and 20 mounds.  (When I made them I used my whoopie pie tin and it made a lot more).  Bake in the oven for 10-13 minutes or until the sponge bounces back when pressed.  Allow them to cool completely on a wire rack.

Filling:
170g unsalted butter (room temperature)
280g icing sugar
220g marshmallow fluff

While the sponges are baking, get a new bowl and mix the icing sugar and butter together until smooth.  Add the marshmallow fluff (available from sellers on eBay, or if you live in Northern Ireland I know that it is available from the Rinkha in Islandmagee) increase the speed and mix until the filling is light and fluffy.  Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.

To finish, layer your whoopie pies, one piece of sponge, spread 1 tbsp of filling on top of it then top with another piece of sponge.

The sponge mixture for these whoopie pies was a much more firm than the mixture for the sponge of the Banana Cream Whoopie Pies I had made before and didn't spread at all in the whoopie pie tin so I pressed the batter into the tin.

Oatmeal Cookies

These cookies are my dad's favourite and they are super easy to make.

Ingredients:

1 cup margarine

2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups plain flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups oatmeal

Preheat oven 180°C (350°F) Gas Mark 4

Cream the sugar and margarine together, add the beaten eggs and vanilla.  Add the dry ingredients and combine well.  Roll the dough into small balls (walnut sized).  Place on a greased baking tray, leaving space for them to expand.  Press flat with a floured fork.  Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes.

Pupcakes!

This one is for all the readers out there who have a canine companion.  Have you ever been in the kitchen cooking or baking and look down to see a little pleading face looking up at you with hope in their puppy dog eyes?  Why not use your baking skills for your furry friend as well?  These pupcakes are so easy to make and will have their tails wagging in appreciation!

Ingredients:

375g wheat free and gluten free flour

300ml semi-skimmed milk

250g peanut butter (no added salt and no added sugar)

2 eggs

1 mashed banana

4 tbsp honey

4 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven 160°C (325°F) Gas Mark 3

Mix all the ingredients together until they are well incorporated.  Divide evenly between the baking cases (mixture should make 20 pupcakes).  Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until they are golden in colour and spring bake when pressed (insert a cake tester/ toothpick to make sure they are done).  For smaller breed dogs, or younger pups I suggest making mini cupcakes.  If you decide to do this, adjust your baking time accordingly.  Place pupcakes onto a wire cooling rack, when they are completely cool you can decorate them.

Pupcake frosting:

250g low fat cream cheese or quark

125g peanut butter (no added salt and no added sugar)

4 tbsp olive oil

10 glacé cherries (optional)

Combine ingedients and beat until they become fluffy and then pipe it onto your pupcakes.  You can draw anything you want on top.  I did some with paw prints on them and the others had cat faces drawn on them, using the glacé cherries as noses and eyes.

Hope your pups enjoy them as much as the ones who got mine!

Banana Bread (Vegan, Gluten Free, Wheat Free, Sugar Free)

Everything I have ever baked has been full of eggs, butter, milk etc.  I have wanted to try out vegan recipes as well as gluten free/ wheat free for a long time so I got myself some recipes and sourced ingredients for them.  I have always loved banana bread so when I saw this I knew it would have to be one of the first things I tried out.  I have to say, for somebody who has always been a little wary of gluten free baking, it was pretty darn good!

Ingredients:

300g Doves Farm plain white gluten-free flour (available in Tesco)

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp xanthan gum (available in Tesco)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

125ml coconut oil [melt the oil before measuring], plus more for the tin (available in Holland & Barratt)

150ml agave nectar (available in Holland & Barratt)

150ml rice milk (available in Tesco and Holland & Barratt)

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract (I got mine on eBay)

6 medium bananas, mashed

Preheat oven 170°C (325°F) Gas Mark 3

Lightly grease the loaf tin with some coconut oil.

In a bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt and cinnamon.  Add the coconut oil, agave nectar, rice milk and vanilla to your dry ingredients and mix until smooth.  Using a spatula fold in your mashed bananas until they are evenly distributed in the mixture.  Fill the loaf tin halfway with your mixture.  Bake in the centre of the oven for 35 minutes, rotating it 180 degrees after 20 minutes.  When the banana bread it ready it will bounce back when pressed and a cake tester/ toothpick will come out clean when inserted.  Let the banana bread cool for about 20 minutes.  After the 20 minutes, run a knife along the edges to loosen.  Cover the loaf tin with a cutting board and turn out onto the board.  Get another cutting board and carefully turn the banana bread onto it so that it is right side up once again.  Can be eaten warm or cooled and stored for up to 3 days at room temperature, in cling film.

Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake

This cake is lemony and moist, just delicious.  Great if you're having a friend over for a cuppa and a chat.

Ingredients:

85g unsalted butter (room temperature)

245g caster sugar

Lemon zest from 11/2 unwaxed lemons

15g poppy seeds (plus extra to decorate)

165ml whole milk

235g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 egg whites

Lemon syrup ingredients:

Freshly squeezed juice and zest from 1 lemon

50g caster sugar

Lemon glaze ingredients:

Freshly squeezed juice from 1 lemon

250g icing sugar (sifted)

Preheat oven 170°C (325°F) Gas Mark 3

In a bowl, mix the butter, sugar, lemon zest and poppy seeds and beat until the ingredients are well incorporated.  Slowly add the milk (don't worry if the mixture looks slightly split).  In another bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt.  Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in 3 additions, make sure you scrape the sides of the bowl after each addition to make sure everything is incorporated and the mixture is light and fluffy.  In a separate bowl, whisk the egg white until stiff peaks form.  Fold the egg whites into the mixture with a metal spoon.  Pour into a greased ring mould and use a palette knife to even out the batter.  Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the sponge bounces back when touched.

While the cake is in the oven make your lemon syrup.  In a small saucepan, add the lemon juice, zest, sugar and 100ml of cold water and bring to the boil on a low heat.  When the syrup starts to boil, raise the heat and boil until the mixture has reduced by half or until it has a thin syrup consistency.  When the cake comes out of the oven and is still in the tin, pour the syrup over the top of the cake.  Leave the cake to cool slightly before turning it out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

When your cake has cooled entirely, make your lemon glaze by mixing the icing sugar and lemon juice in a bowl.  The juice from the lemon should be enough liquid to make the glaze, it should be thick, but pourable.  If the glaze is too thick add more lemon juice or water to get it to an acceptable consistency.  Place your cake on a stand or plate then pour the glaze over your cake and sprinkle the extra poppy seeds to decorate.

I was able to find poppy seeds on eBay for a decent price.  They have lasted ages, so it was definitely money well spent.

Banana Cream Whoopie Pies

These are the first whoopie pies I've tried out so far.  I got a whoopie pie tin on Amazon to keep all my whoopie pies at least similar in size.  The recipe is sort of a whoopie pie version of a banana cream pie.  It's topped with salty caramel which was to die for, I literally could've just sat and eaten it with a spoon. Deelish!  The mixture makes 9 large or 24 mini whoopie pies.

Ingredients:

280g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 large banana
150ml crème fraîche
125g unsalted butter (room temperature)
100g caster sugar
100g light brown sugar
1 egg

Preheat oven 180°C (350°F) Gas Mark 4
If you're going to be using baking trays, line them with greaseproof paper, for whoopie pie tins, make sure you grease them.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda.  Stir in the salt and set the dry ingredients aside.  In a separate bowl, mash up your banana and then mix in the crème fraîche and set it aside too.  In a third bowl, cream the butter and both sugars together until they are light and fluffy.  Add the egg and mix well.  Add the banana mixture and continue to beat until everything is combined.  Add the dry ingredients until everything is just mixed.  Chill the batter in the fridge for 30 minutes.

While the batter is chilling you can make your vanilla custard cream for the filling, for this you will need:

Pinch of salt
50g caster sugar
15g cornflour
1 egg
225ml whole milk
1/2 vanilla pod, seeds scraped
25g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
50ml double cream (optional if you just want to make vanilla custard)

In a bowl, mix together your sugar, salt and cornflour.  Whisk in the egg to form a paste.  Heat the milk, vanilla pod and seeds in a saucepan until it begins to froth, but before it starts to boil.  Remove the pan from the heat.  Slowly pour half of the hot milk mixture into the bowl, whisking as you add it.  Pour the conents of your bowl back into the saucepan and whisk.  Return the pan to the heat and whisk until the custard thickens.  Strain the custard into a heatproof bowl.  As it begins to cool gradually stir in the butter.  Cover the custard with clingfilm, pressing the clingfilm right onto the surface so as to prevent a skin forming.  Leave the custard to cool for 20 minutes, then chill for a further 2 hours.  (Custard will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days, so this can be made in advance).  Before using the custard, whip the cream and fold into the custard.

Remove your chilled batter from the fridge and using a teaspoon drop your batter onto the baking tray/ whoopie pie tin.  Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 10-12 minutes for large whoopie pies, or 8-10 minutes for mini whoopie pies.  Remove the whoopies from your tray/ tin and place on a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

While your whoopie pies cool you can make the salty caramel topping.  For this you need:

2 tbsp cold water
100g caster sugar
120ml double cream
25g unsalted butter
Pinch of sea salt

Put the water in a heavy bottom saucepan.  Add the caster suagr and heat gently to dissolve, swirling the pot around without mixing the contents.  Once the sugar has dissolved, turn the heat up to high and bring it to the boil.  Continue to heat until the caramel is darkening (keep an eye on your pot, the caramel quickly darkens and can get very bitter if left for too long).  Whisk in the cream, be sure not to splash the mixture!  Add the butter and sea salt next and continue to whisk until smooth.  Let the caramel sauce cool before using it.  (Can be kept in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week).

To assemble your whoopie pies:
Take one whoopie half, add some of the custard cream, then another whoopie half.  Top with a drizzle of salty caramel and chocolate shavings (optional).

Yum yum yum!!

Lemon Bars

These lemon bars are the perfect mix of sweetness and tangy lemon.  They have been a big hit with my friends and go great with a cup of coffee.

Ingredients:

210g caster sugar

3 eggs

100ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

3 tsp lemon zest

Ingredients for base:

290g plain flour

70g icing sugar

Pinch of salt

230g unsalted butter

2 tsp lemon zest

Line a 33 x 23 x 5cm baking tray with greaseproof paper

Preheat oven 170°C (325°F) Gas Mark 3

To make the base, mix the flour, icing sugar, salt, butter and lemon zest in a bowl until the ingredients come together to form a breadcrumb consistency.  Using your hands, press the dough together.  Move the dough into your baking tray and press out to fill the base of the tray.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until the dough is golden brown in colour.  Remove and leave to cool sllightly.  (Keep the oven on)

Put the sugar, eggs, lemon juice and lemon zest into a bowl and whisk with a metal whisk until all ingredients are mixed togehter.  Carefully pour the mixture over the base and return it to the oven.  Bake for a further 20 minutes, or until the edges of the bars are golden brown and the topping has set.  Leave to cool completely, cover and keep it in the refrigerator overnight.  The bars are much easier to cut when they have been left to set.

They are super yummy and it's difficult to eat just one.

More Posts Coming Soon...

I have a few more recipes to post this week including Lemon Bars, Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake (I bought a lot of lemons last week) and Banana Cream Whoopie Pies.  This weekend I will also be trying out a vegan/ gluten-free recipe or two and homemade treats for man's best friend.

Watch this space.

#18 Star Tip: Zig Zags & Rope Patterns

There are so many patterns and decorations that you can do with the #18 tip.

I'm going to put up videos I've found on Youtube that have come in useful for me.  There really is so much you can find on that site!  So to save you having to spend time searching for videos I'll add them here.  The first video I'm going to add is to show you how to pipe zig zags and rope onto cakes or cupcakes. 

It's really quite easy to do and looks great.  I just used frosting from a tub this time (I'd run out of butter to make my own).

Lemon Cupcakes

Since I started baking I have made a bunch of different cupcakes.  I love trying out new recipes, regardless of how disastrous they turn out (red velvet were my cupcakes kryptonite for a while), but these lemon cupcakes have always been a crowd pleaser, a favourite among my friends.

Ingredients:

120g plain flour

150g caster sugar

11/2 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp lemon zest

40g unsalted butter (room temperature)

120ml whole milk

1 egg

Preheat oven 170°C (325°F) Gas Mark 3

Combine the flour, baking powder, lemon zest and butter in a bowl and mix on a slow speed until the mixture has a sandy consistency.  Slowly add the milk until everything is incorporated.  Add the egg to the mixture and continue to mix (scrape any unmixed ingredients off the sides of the bowl with a spatula).  Spoon your mixture into the cupcake cases until they are two-thirds full.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or  until a cake tester/ toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the cakes. When your cupcakes are completely cool, decorate with your choice of frosting and sprinkles. Makes 12 cupcakes.  When your cupcakes are completely cool add the frosting.  Lemon buttercream frosting is almost exactly the same as the Vanilla Buttercream Recipe but you also add 2 tbsp of lemon zest and a little yellow food colouring.  Top the cupcake with some shreds of lemon zest, or sprinkles.

The lemon cupcakes I made this time were for a friend's birthday so I topped them with mini white chocolate chips.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

I have always thought that candy company Reese's had the right idea by combining chocolate and peanut butter.  I love their products whether it be the peanut butter cups, Reese's pieces, and don't even get me started on the Nutrageous bars (heaven)!  So I have had a bag of their peanut butter chips in my cupboard for a while now and took a notion to make cookies after work yesterday.  The chips are not that easy to come by and UK sellers who stock them usually charge a bit for delivery (especially to Northern Ireland) but they are a nice little treat for every now and again.  One seller I found online who had them in stock was American Sweets, but sellers on Amazon and eBay sometimes stock them (P&P is usually quite expensive there too).

Ingredients:

2 cups plain flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

11/4 cups of butter (room temperature)

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 bag Reese's Peanut Butter Chips

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F)

In a large bowl sift together the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda then set aside.  In a separate bowl cream the butter and sugar until it's light and fluffy.  Add the eggs and vanilla extract and continue beating.  Gradually add the flour mixture and beat until all ingredients are incorporated.  Stir in the peanut butter chips.  Line a few baking trays with greaseproof paper and using a teaspoon, drop cookie dough onto the baking trays allowing room for them to expand.  Bake for 8 or 9 minutes then remove from oven and allow to cool slightly on the baking trays before moving the cookies to your cooling rack to cool completely.  The cookies will flatten slightly during the cooling process.  One batch makes 40+ cookies.

Marshmallow Fondant

I keep seeing videos on Youtube of how to make your own marshmallow fondant so I ran out and bought some marshmallows to try it out.  There are LOADS of instructional videos but the one I have included below was my favourite, purely because I loved her outfit.

The fondant is very easy to colour, if a little bit messy (my hands were blue, green, yellow and brown for a couple of days afterwards).  I forgot to buy the vegetable shortening to coat my hands in.  If you try this out make sure you get some!  I had marshmallow goo EVERYWHERE!  At one stage I even had a box of icing sugar stuck in my hand, it was kinda funny. 

Well, here is how my first attempt at marshmallow fondant turned out:

It took a bit of getting used to, I had a couple of tears and folds in it but practise makes perfect!

Butterscotch Marshmallow Bars

Looking through one of my recipe books I came across the recipe for these.  They looked so good, even if my teeth hurt just looking at the picture, so I grabbed the ingredients I was missing when I was out at the grocery store.

Ingredients:

150g plain flour

40g icing sugar

120g unsalted butter (room temperature)

100g pink and white mini marshmallows

210g caster sugar

150g soft light brown sugar

190g golden syrup

70g unsalted butter

60ml double cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

60g crunchy peanut butter

30g mixed chopped nuts

Preheat oven 170°C (325°F) Gas Mark 3

Line a 9 x 121/2 inch baking tray with greaseproof paper.  In a bowl, mix together the flour, icing sugar and butter until a dough forms.  Press the dough into your baking tray (make a lip around the sides to stop the topping from pouring over the sides later).  Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and the middle is slightly more pale.  Set it aside to cool slightly.  Spread the marshmallows evenly over the base.  Put both types of sugar into a saucepan with the golden syrup and 240ml water and bring to the boil.  Let the mixture boil until it reaches the soft-ball* stage, then remove from the heat and add the butter, return to the heat and bring it to the boil again for around 3 minutes.  Remove the pan from the heat and add in the double cream, vanilla and peanut butter.  Stir continuously until the peanut butter has completely melted into the mixture then pour the liquid over the base, ensuring you coat all the marshmallows with the sauce.  Sprinkle the chopped nuts over the top and let it set at room temperature for at least a few hours (preferably overnight).

Once it has set completely cut it into bars (makes about 10-12) and enjoy.  They are so sweet!

*Soft-ball: To check if your syrup has reached the soft-ball stage get a spoon and drop a small amount of it into a small bowl or glass of very cold water.  If the syrup has reached the correct heat, it will form a soft ball in the water but when it is removed will not retain it's shape in your hand.



Snickerdoodles

I have heard of Snickerdoodle cookies for years on all the US television shows I watch and always wondered what they were like so when I stumbled across a recipe and discovered I had all of the ingredients in my cupboard already I knew I had to give them a try.

Ingredients:

60g unsalted butter (room temperature)

160g caster sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

240g plain flour

3/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

(You will also need an additional 11/2 tbsp caster sugar and 1 tbsp ground cinnamon for the coating on the cookies).

Start by creaming together the butter, sugar and vanilla extract until it becomes light and fluffy.  Add in the egg and continue to beat mixture, scraping any unmixed ingredients off the side with a spatula, until everything is well incorporated.  Sift the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and cinnamon into the bowl and mix until the dough forms a smooth ball (I found that kneading it together by hand was easier).  Put the dough ball into a bowl, cover with cling film and refrigerate for 40 mintues so the dough can chill and rest.  While waiting for this you can preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F) Gas Mark 3 and line a couple of baking trays with greaseproof paper.  In a small bowl add together the caster sugar and cinnamon.  Remove the dough from the refrigerator and break off small pieces and roll them into balls.  Coat the dough balls in the sugar/ cinnamon mix and place onto your baking trays (be sure to leave space for the cookies to spread).  Bake in the oven for 10-13 minutes or until they go golden brown, then remove them from the oven and let them cool slightly on the baking trays before moving to a cooling rack.  (One batch makes approximately 18 cookies).

They go great with a cup of tea.  Enjoy!!

New Page Added

Unit conversion page added.  I always find it a really handy reference to have at your disposal.  Hope it comes in useful for you!

Basic Recipes Section

I have finally gotten around to posting a few items on the Basic Recipes page.  On it you will find ingredients lists and instructions for Vanilla Buttercream and Chocolate Buttercream frostings and Vanilla Cupcakes and Chocolate Cupcakes.

Cupcakes For The Office

My office is one of those places that when it's your birthday you have to bring in buns/ cakes/ traybakes for everybody.  The guy who sits beside me drives a motorbike, making the task of bringing in treats for 20 people a little tricky, so he paid me to make cupcakes for him.  I planned to make 12 chocolate and 12 vanilla and per his request made the vanilla buttercream green.  To make them look a little more interesting I split the vanilla frosting in two and coloured one half electric green and the other leaf green and piped them on together, this gives the frosting a really good look. I also used lime green cupcake cases I had purchased on eBay to tie it all in and since he is an avid death metal fan I made the chocolate cupcakes in black cases (also bought from the same seller).  The vanilla cupcakes were topped with rainbow sprinkles and the chocolate with chocolate flakes.

Previous Baking Endeavours

As mentioned in my 'About Me' section the first thing I ever really baked (that wasn't a school project or under some form of supervision or instruction) was a cake for a Leverage premiere party.  I happened to have a box of Betty Crocker Devil's Food Cake mix in my house so I ran out to the supermarket to buy frosting and decorating supplies.  I made a stencil of the show's logo (using the printer and photocopier in the office to print it out, then used greaseproof paper to trace it and a scalpel to cut it out) and used some blue ready made icing in a tube to do the lettering.  I had also bought edible lustre spray to highlight the logo.  Basically, this is how it turned out:

It looks a bit messy between the V and the R but for a first attempt at something like this I was happy with the result.

The next cake I was asked to make was one for my mom for Halloween.  She had bought a silicone cake mould last time she had been visiting family in Vancouver and wanted me to bake and decorate the cake.  By this stage I still didn't own any proper decorating supplies so I had to buy liquid food colouring from the supermarket.  I don't really recommend liquid food colouring, unless you're making red velvet cupcakes, simply because if you use too much the frosting can taste very bitter and can make it runnier than normal too.  I learned that from making this cake because the store was all out of orange food colouring so I had to buy yellow and red and make it myself.  The end result however really did look the part.

I used edible glitter to add finishing touches to it, the green around the top and the glowing effect in the eyes, nose and mouth.

The following February was my godson's first birthday and I was asked to make the cake.  This was the first time I didn't use a boxed cake mix (sorry Betty Crocker!)  Instead I used the Brooklyn Blackout recipe in the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook.  I purchased a teddy bear shaped tin and gave it my best shot.

Henry (as he was so named) was finished off at around 2 o'clock in the morning.  It was my first real attempt at piping frosting onto a cake.  His eyes are white chocolate buttons, the nose milk chocolate button and the mouth was made from liquorice.

Shortly after that in March I decided to make a birthday cake for my good friend.  This particular friend is a big country and western fan so I decided to go for a cowgirl theme on the cake.  I managed to find a good image on Google to use as a template and again used greaseproof paper to create a stencil.  The cake was Devil's Food Cake made from the Magnolia Bakery cookbook, as was the chocolate buttercream frosting.  I made an extra batch of vanilla buttercream and coloured it to look like rope.  After watching an instructional video on Youtube of how to pipe rope I went about it.  The cowgirls were done with the edible lustre spray and have blue sugar stars as well.  The end result:

2011 Belfast Pride Rainbow Cake

I have been going to the Belfast Gay Pride parade every year for the last 5 years.  This year I thought I would make a sweet treat for me and my friends.  Having looked up "pride cake" on Google images I thought I would have a go at creating a rainbow cake.  Google image search is fantastic for inspiration or getting ideas to adapt for your own creations.  So after sneaking a look at step by step photos that somebody had posted while in work, I went home intent on trying it out.

I decided to start off simple.  I threw together the ingredients for a vanilla cake and then pulled out 5 extra bowls to divide the batter between, one for each colour (I figured it would be okay to forego the indigo layer of the rainbow).  I had varying amounts of batter in each bowl, smaller amounts for each colour.  First in the pan was red (which was going pink so I added some cocoa powder to darken it down), then orange, yellow, green, blue and finally violet, making smaller layers as I went.  I LOVED how it looked before I put it into the oven, I had used my new Americolor gels and they worked just great.

I set the timer for 30 minutes and after the buzzer went I checked the cake with my tester, it still needed a good while before it was done, so I set the timer again... This went on for varying increments of time until an hour had passed.  The tester eventually came out clear and I put the cake on the cooling rack to cool overnight (it was 11pm by this stage).  The next morning I got up and made a batch of vanilla buttercream and added my Americolor Bright White gel to brighten up the frosting and decorated the cake with rainbow sprinkles.

After all of this effort I was DYING to cut into it to see what it actually looked like inside...

I really am quite pleased with how it turned out, the colours still looked beautiful after baking.  This could be replicated with any combination of colours, if the mixtures are added into the pan in a less uniform way the result will be more psychadelic, it could also be applied to cupcakes, though in that instance I would use piping bags to get the batter neatly into the cases.

Graduation Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes for my brother's graduation in June this year.  The cupcakes themselves are standard vanilla with vanilla buttercream frosting (coloured green as this was the colour of the trim on his graduation gown).  The little caps are made from mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups turned upside down with After Eight chocolates on top.  I bought some ready made icing in a tube to stick the two together and also used it to stick the tassels to the top of the caps (tassels are made from Regal Icing rolled into strips).

The peanut butter cups are not easy to come by in Northern Ireland so I had to buy them off eBay.  They were a bit expensive but I think the end result was really cute (though if I make them again I think I'd refrigerate the peanut butter cups to avoid the chocolate peeling off the sides when the wrapper is taken off, which happened on a few of them).  Alternatively you could use Rolos but they are slightly smaller than the peanut butter cups.