Cake
On the fourth day of Christmas The Pink Whisk sent to me………ideas for decorating your Christmas Cake!
I feel like we’ve been working on our Christmas cakes for such a long time lovingly stirring boozy fruit, baking our precious cakes and feeding them with brandy it’s really exciting to be at the final stage – decorating!
Berry Tea Loaf
A super quick recipe if you’re organised and soak the fruit the night before, just do it when you’re brewing up. I created this when I had an urge to bake tea loaf, but went to the cupboard to find I’d used most of my dried fruit for the vat of boozy fruit I’ve got on the go.
Blue Peter Apple Cake
This is the recipe for a cake that I started making in my early teens, I used to make it for family occasions around this time of year when we were lucky enough to have apple trees in the back garden.
Christmas Cake – Boozy Fruit Part 2
So you’ve been lovingly stirring your boozy fruit for the past few weeks and enjoying inhaling the fumes as you do so! Now it’s time to turn that jar of loveliness into this years Christmas Cake. If you missed the Boozy Fruit post you can find it here, get going with it now, even a weeks soaking is going to create some Christmas Magic!
Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes and Meringue Buttercream Frosting
I’ve spent ages trying to find the right recipe to make delicious vanilla cupcakes – light and moist with nicely risen domed tops – no volcano effects here. Something like this should be simple to do and it is – as long as you use the right recipe.
Mint Ginger and Blackberry Miniature Cakes
Here are the miniature cakes that I made for The Great British Bake Off Final – despite Mary not liking them I do and I’m sure you will too!
Ingredients:Cakes200g butter200g caster sugar4 eggs 200g self raising flour20g fresh mint30g fresh root ginger150g fresh blackberries
Buttercream125g softened butter250g sifted icing sugar1tbsp milk1tsp vanilla extract50g blackberries
This recipe will make you 12 buns if you make them in the large style paper cases and if you use the individual cake pans like I did it will make 8.
Boozy Christmas Fruit
Yes yes, I’m ready for you to lynch me with all your squeals of ‘it’s nowhere near Christmas’. I don’t care I love Christmas, the sooner the mince pies are in the shops the better as far as I’m concerned! I’ve got my tree up already – haven’t you?
Chocolate & Banana Loaf Cake
Another of my really simple cakes – it’s definitely a firm favourite in our house and uses up the bananas I bought because the children begged for them and they’ve gone brown in the fruit bowl because no-one’s eaten them.
Ingredients:
250g plain flour
2tsp baking powder
125g butter
225g dark muscovado sugar
5 bananas – super ripe
1tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
200g dark chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 180c/160c Fan/Gas Mark 4.
How to pipe swirls on cupcakes…my guest post
I’ve done a guest post for the lovely Thrifty Mrs over on her blog A Thrifty Mrs – so if you want a tutorial on piping beautiful buttercream swirls on cupcakes head over to her fabulous blog here AThrifty Mrs
Chocolate Orange Panettone
Panettone isn’t difficult to make but it does take a while – not actual work mind just a lot of waiting about! I find it’s best to do it at the weekend when you’ve nothing planned but pottering around the house.
