Boozy Coconut Milk Layer Cake

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Queen of Everything

For my cake pledge for the Its Good To Eat Cake event, I couldn’t decide what to make. I wanted to make something different, but not too difficult, so I turned to Dan Leopard’s Short & Sweet and this is where I found this tasty recipe for a Coconut Milk Layer Cake (think Pina Colada in cake form!)

Now, I did make a few slight changes to the recipe. Firstly, I boozed it up a little. I just found (on my trial run!) that the small amount of rum he adds doesn’t make any difference to the flavour of the cake, so I added more! In this recipe Dan just fills it and covers it in a Meringue Butter cream frosting. Whilst smooth, silky and tasty, I found it a bit rich, so I added some lime curd and the frosting in the middle and just topped with a layer of frosting and a sprinkling of coconut and lime zest!

I used Dan’s recipe for Lime Curd which is also in the book, it was quick and easy to make!

Dan Leopard’s Lime Curd (Makes a decent size pot!)

Ingredients

5 Large Egg Yolks
1 Large Egg
125ml Lime Juice
150g Caster Sugar
225g Unsalted Butter (cut into small cubes)
Finely grated zest of 3 Limes

Method

Place a large sieve over a clean mixing bowl
In a saucepan over a moderate heat, whisk the yolks, whole egg, lime zest and juice with the sugar until evenly combined
Then add the cubes of butter
Bring to the first ‘plop’ of a boil, stirring all the time across the base of the pan to check it isn’t sticking
Quickly spoon the mixture into the sieve and press through with the spoon a remove the zest, then cover and leave to cool

The curd should be stored in the fridge. The left over egg whites here can be used to make Meringue Butter Cream Frosting if you want to use this, or you could just make a meringue!

I managed to transport the cake to the venue in one piece (thankfully Stuart gave me a lift I don’t think it would have survived public transport!), and I even managed to get it onto a cake stand without dropping it!

Whisky Mac Ginger Cake

Posted on April 7, 2013 by Queen of Everything

Caol Ila Single Malt

Whisky is something that I didn’t used to like. But with a husband who loves the stuff I have managed to try enough over the years that I actually do like it now! And a cocktail I do sometimes enjoy is the Whisky Mac, combining Whisky with Ginger, another favourite flavour of mine!

So when browsing through my Google reader I spotted this Domestic Sluttery post for a Whisky Mac Ginger Cake, and I knew straight away I had to make it! Now, I am pretty sure there will be whisky connoisseurs out there who will wince at the fact I have used a 12 year old Caol Ila Single Malt to bake a cake with, but I don’t really care, whisky is made to enjoy and how better to enjoy it than in a cake! (Plus there was only 1 dram left in the bottle!)

Whisky Mac Ginger Cake

This recipe uses a lot of ginger, including fresh ginger, and this give me a chance to christen my new ginger grater that I got from Nishiki Market in Kyoto, it was wrapped and presented so nicely and they even engraved my name on it in Japanese Characters. Unfortunately it does mean that if it ever goes blunt I will need to go back there to get it sharpened (any old excuse eh!)

Pretty Wrapping Fancy Box Engraved Grater

It was reasonably straight forward to make, the smell of ginger was wafting through the house as it baked and we couldn’t wait to dive in! The recipe only calls for whisky in the cake mixture, but I did add a little into the syrup to pour over the cake to give it an extra kick and depth of flavour. The Ginger and Smokey Islay malt worked well together, and we devoured a slice each while it was still warm, washing it down with a little dram!

Slice of cake and a wee dram

Good Old Irish Wheaten Bread

Posted on March 23, 2013 by Queen of Everything

One thing I miss about home (besides my family and friends that is!) is the bread. I love Wheaten Bread, and although Mr Rankin has kindly delivered wheaten bread to the masses across the country, its actually not really like real Northern Irish Wheaten Bread, its more of a brown soda really. Real wheaten bread is solid, oaty wheaty and tasty, and it’s pretty straightforward to make.

This recipe is the more traditional way to make it, and though I would love to be able to say that this recipe has been handed down generations – it hasn’t. This was one my Primary 4 teacher used when she was showing us how to make it! So, I guess it’s at least 25 years old!

Wheaten Bread (Makes 2 loaves)

Ingredients

600g Wholemeal Flour
150g Pinhead Oatmeal
150g Porridge Oats
150g Butter
100g Caster Sugar
3 tsp. Bicarbonate of Soda
1 Egg
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
1 pint Buttermilk

Method

Preheat the oven to 175 C / 155
Add all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix together well
In a separate bowl mix the buttermilk and egg together
Add this to the dry ingredients and mix well together. This won’t come together like normal bread dough, just make sure its well mixed
Grease two 2 lb. loaf tins and divide the mixture between the two
Bake for about 40 – 50 mins or until an inserted skewer comes out clean
Remove from the tin immediately and wrap in clean tea towels, set on a rack and leave to cool

Wheaten Bread is great to use for a number of things – in a Ulster Fry, toasted with melted cheese, topped with smoked salmon, or how I like it – toasted with lashings of butter and homemade jam. The taste of home!

Brigadeiros

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Queen of Everything

When deciding what to make for last night’s Edinburgh Bakers Towers of Terrific Tray bakes (Take Two), I had wanted to make Fifteens since they are my most favourite tray bake in the world!! For my second choice I decided on Brigadeiros, which is what I took along – there was another Fifteen lover on the scene!!

Two years ago I was out in Brazil for a month working (hard gig I know!) and one of my colleagues girlfriend made these traditional Brazilian / Portuguese sweets for me, and I fell in love with them! What can be worse than the sweet creamy combination of condensed milk and chocolate?! (Note: Fifteens also contain condensed milk… I quite like it in case you hadn’t guessed!)

They are so easy to make and only contain really 2 main ingredients – Condensed Milk and Drinking Chocolate. Traditionally I believe in Brazil they use unsweetened cocoa powder, but I was advised that Brazilian Condensed milk was a lot sweeter than the UK version so Nesquik (other hot chocolates are available) would be better used instead.

Brigadeiros (Makes about 20 small ones, or 10 bigger ones)

Ingredients

1 tin of condensed milk
3 tbsp. Nesquik (or similar)
1 tbsp. Butter

Method

Put all the ingredients into a saucepan over a medium heat
Continually stir the ingredients until the mixture thickens up, which is around 10 minutes. When you drag a spatula through it it should do this:

Tip the mixture into a lightly greased bowl and leave to cool down
Once its at a temperature were you can hold it, lightly grease your hands and roll the mixture into small (or large!) balls.
Toss them in some chocolate sprinkles
Put them in the fridge for an hour or so to firm up a bit

And there you have it, an easy little morsel to have with a nice cup of tea!

Coffee and Walnut Cake

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Queen of Everything

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A couple of weekends ago the theme for the Sunday Baking Club was Retro Bakes. The easy option would have been a Victoria Sponge, however I went for the second easiest option – Coffee and Walnut Cake! A favourite of my mums and mine when I was growing up. I chose this recipe from Mary Berry’s Baking Bible

Ingredients

For the Cake

100g Soft Butter
100g Caster Sugar
2 Large Eggs
100g Self-raising Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
50g Chopped walnuts
1 tbsp. Coffee Essence (Or mix 2 tsp. of instant coffee with 1 tbsp. boiling water)

For the filling and topping

75g Butter, softened
225g Icing Sugar, sifted
2 tsp. Milk
2 tsp. Coffee Essence
8 Walnut Halves, to decorate

Method

For the cake, preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
Grease and line the bases of two 18cm/7in diameter sandwich tins with baking parchment.
Beat together all the cake ingredients in a large bowl with an electric hand whisk until well combined and smooth.
Divide the mixture between the cake tins and gently spread out with a spatula.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
Allow to stand for five minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool. Peel off the parchment paper.
For the filling and topping, beat the butter and gradually add the icing sugar.
When all the icing sugar is added, add the milk and coffee essence and beat until smooth.
When the cakes have cooled, spread half the coffee icing on one cake and sandwich together with the other half.
Ice the top of the cake with the remaining coffee icing and decorate with walnut pieces.

Enjoy with a cup of tea, or in the spirit of the Sunday Baking Club, something a little stronger!

Pancakes!

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Queen of Everything

Fluffy Pancakes

I love pancakes, and we often make them at the weekends as part of a lazy breakfast. So, given today is officially Pancake day it would seem unsporting not to indulge!

I had a wonderful stack of pancakes during the summer in Cornwall, and I decided to recreate them this morning. I used the following recipe for Fluffy American Pancakes that I found on the BBC website and then sandwiched some fresh Strawberries and Greek yogurt in between – yum!

Fluffy American Pancakes (Serves 4-6)

Ingredients
135g Plain flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
½ tsp. Salt
2 tbsp. Caster Sugar
130ml Milk
1 Large Egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp. Melted Butter (allowed to cool slightly), plus extra for cooking

Method

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a large bowl.
In a separate bowl or jug, lightly whisk together the milk and egg, then whisk in the melted butter.
Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and, using a fork, beat until you have a smooth batter. Any lumps will soon disappear with a little mixing.
Let the batter stand for a few minutes.
Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and add a knob of butter.
When it’s melted, add a ladle of batter (or two if your frying pan is big enough to cook two pancakes at the same time). It will seem very thick but this is how it should be.
Wait until the top of the pancake begins to bubble, then turn it over and cook until both sides are golden brown and the pancake has risen to about 1cm (½in) thick.
Repeat until all the batter is used up. You can keep the pancakes warm in a low oven, but they taste best fresh out the pan.

The good thing about Pancake Day is that its OK to eat Pancakes all day! Crepes for dinner I’m thinking!

Orange and Almond Tea Cakes

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Queen of Everything

Orange and Almond Teacakes_12

Or an adaption of Lily Vanilli’s Pink Grapefruit, Almond and Brown Sugar Tea Cakes, as it really should be! I recently bought Lily Vanilli’s Sweet Tooth as a post Christmas gift to myself! I was tempted by the colourful, pretty cover as well the reviews I’ve read of it and having seen the bakery for myself a while back when on Colombia Road.

I was trying to avoid studying so thought it was a good opportunity to bake something from this beautiful book. I choose these Tea Cakes but didn’t have a pink grapefruit, but did have a pile of oranges that needed using!

Orange and Almond Teacakes_22

Pink Grapefruit, Almond and Brown Sugar Tea Cakes (Makes 12)

Ingredients

1 Pink Grapefruit (or large Orange!)
30g Flaked Almonds
1 tbsp. Light Brown Sugar (for sprinkling)
2 tbsp. Apricot Jam
150g Unsalted Butter
150g Light Brown Sugar
200g Ground Almonds
Finely grated zest of 1/2 Pink Grapefruit
2 Eggs
35g Plain Flour

Method

Preheat oven to 180 c / Gas Mark 6
Line a baking tray with baking parchment
Grease well a 12 hole muffin / cupcake tray
Top and tail the zested grapefruit, cut away the peel, then carefully cut out the fruit segments from just inside the membrane.
Discard the membrane and juice, then place the segments on your prepared baking tray and bake for 20 mins
Remove from oven and allow to cool. Leave the oven on
To make the frangipane, beat the butter and sugar together for approx. 3 mins
Beat in the ground almonds and zest, followed by the eggs and then the flour
Spoon evenly into your prepared muffin tray and press a cooled grapefruit segment on the top of each
Sprinkle with the flaked almonds and brown sugar
Bake for 20 mins, or until a cocktail inserted into the centre comes out clean
To make the optional glaze, mix the apricot jam with a few drops of water in a heavy-bottomed pan and heat over a medium heat until runny but not bubbling hot
Brush a little of the glaze over each tea cake as they come out of the oven.
Allow to cool in the tray for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely

Enjoy with a cup of tea!!

Orange and Almond Teacakes_26

Rainbow Ruffle Cake

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Queen of Everything

Cake_Ladies_East_meets_West_001

The cake I went for for the Edinburgh Cake Ladies East Meets West event was a Rainbow Ruffle Cake, which was essentially the same cake as I did for Dad’s 80th, but with only 5 layers and not 6, and also using pastel colours

I had spotted this cake ages ago on Pinterest, and thought I wanted to have a go at that someday, but never really had the excuse. Well given the theme was Showstoppers, I now had that chance! I used the same recipe as I did before, and I followed the instructions from Bubble and Sweet on how on decorate it.

Cake_Ladies_East_meets_West_058

It took ages to do, and was quite fiddly as the fondant is so thin for the ruffles. However, as I did tweet after the event I do think this is the prettiest cake my man hands have ever made!

Easts meets West

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Queen of Everything

Cake_Ladies_East_meets_West_034

Yesterday afternoon East met face to face with the West, in what was to be later referred to as a Cake Convention of the Edinburgh Cake Ladies and Glasgow Bakers. The theme this time was showstoppers, and as you can see from the tasty photos below, we weren’t disappointed!

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This amazing cake by Kirsteen Oliver has even made an appearance on STV!!

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And for mine, well I went all pastel and pretty with my Rainbow Ruffle Cake

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As usual, we left in a near sugar coma state, clutching our little boxes rammed full of pieces of cake to take home to eat later, the next day, or dare I even mention it… share.

Manly Mo Cupcakes

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Queen of Everything

The 1st December was the day I had been waiting for throughout November – the grand shave off day of Stuart’s moustache! Stuart and a team from his work spent the last month cultivating interesting ‘taches and raising money for Movember. In total they have raised just shy of £2500 – which is a good effort!

To celebrate the demise of the mo and a successful fundraising effort I decided to make these rather manly mo cupcakes. Ages ago I spotted a moustache-shaped chocolate mould which I had to buy!! So I was able to make some chocolate moustaches to top each cake.

I made Chocolate Stout and Peanut Butter Frosting Cupcakes – combining two of Stuart’s favourite things! This recipe came from Septembers Living Etc. magazine:

Chocolate Stout and Peanut Butter Frosting Cupcakes (makes approx. 15)

Ingredients

Cupcakes
250ml Stout (I used Guinness)
225g Butter, chopped
75g Cocoa, sifted
2 Eggs
160ml Sour Cream
300g Plain Flour, sifted
1.5 tsp. Bicarbonate of Soda, sifted
440g Caster Sugar

Peanut Butter Icing

160g Icing Sugar
280g Smooth Peanut Butter
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
80ml Single Cream

Method

Preheat the oven to 160 C / Gas Mark 3
Place the stout and butter in a saucepan over a medium heat and stir until the butter is dissolved
Remove from the heat and whisk in the cocoa. Set aside
Whisk the eggs and sour cream together
Add to the stout mixture with the flour, bicarbonate of soda and sugar. Whisk to combine
Pour into the cupcake cases
Bake for around 30 mins or until they spring back when touched
Cool on a wire rack
For the icing, place the sugar, peanut butter, butter and vanilla in an electric mixer and beat for 6 minutes or until fluffy
Add the cream and beat for another 2 minutes
Put in a piping bag and pipe onto the cupcakes or decorate whichever way you like!

Queen of Everything

A blog about… well… everything!

Category Archives: Baking

Boozy Coconut Milk Layer Cake

Whisky Mac Ginger Cake

Good Old Irish Wheaten Bread

Brigadeiros

Coffee and Walnut Cake

Pancakes!

Orange and Almond Tea Cakes

Rainbow Ruffle Cake

Easts meets West

Manly Mo Cupcakes