Coconut Meringue Cake

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!

This is a Hummingbird Bakery recipe, a coco-nutty sponge with a really fluffy meringue frosting.

I knew I wasn't going to have time to make it on her birthday so I made the sponge a week earlier, froze the layers wrapped in greaseproof and cling-film.

They defrosted really easily the night before then that morning I whipped up the frosting which is done on a water bath, its final consistency similar to that of a marshmallow!

Click here for the recipe.

St Patricks Guiness Cake

Happy St Patricks day!

All I knew in preparation for this cake was that I wanted to make it as Irish as possible. I scoured my books and a Guinness Cake was quite common with really good feedback so I had a go, using the Hummingbird Bakery recipe.

The sponge ended up being surprisingly light and moist, with a light cream cheese frosting it tasted delicious.

Highly recommended. 

Lonely Valentines

I realise the title doesn't sound too appealing, who wants a lonely valentines day? But that's what they are, individual portions of scrumptious valentines cake.

Linked in with yesterdays recipe, today I used a Peggy Porschen victoria sponge recipe since the two companies are similar I wanted to see how much their cakes varied. I paired this sponge with a cinnamon buttercream and it was perfect. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for chocolate yesterday but in any case, hats off to Peggy.

http://www.peggyporschen.com/

Pretty in Pink

It was our friends daughter's birthday, she was turning seven so wanted something a little bit more grown up but still girlie so I wanted to practice... What do you think?

The ribbon around the bottom is from a beautiful ribbon shop in the Jewish Quarter called "Entree des Fournisseurs"... But be warned, if you take photos you will be asked to leave the shop.

http://www.entreedesfournisseurs.fr/

Next week: Lemon Meringue Tart!

Zesty Madeleines

Nearly two weeks of no baking and I was getting antsy! This morning, still dressed in my pyjamas, I got to work. Everyone dunks into their tea/coffee...the English have digestives, the Italians have their biscotti and the French have tender madeleines.

12 sleeps till christmas!

11 days, 8 hours and 20 minutes until christmas day! These are the cakes that I made way back in September, feeding them brandy every so often. No-one in my family actually likes the christmas cake, it's now simply down to tradition of actually having one, that's the best part about christmas I think... having family traditions and a routine. It actually made me feel quite sorry for the French when I realised that their tradition is 'Buche de Noel' the chocolate log. Hmm. 

Layer Cake

I was recently shown a great blog http://iambaker.net that I just can't get enough of! One of my favourites was her layer cake, my version is definitely not as amazing as hers but it's only my first time. I am determined to get it right as when it's done properly it could suit any occasion. This one is a Hummingbird Red Velvet cake and Mary Berrys Victoria Sponge. Check out her blog and let me know what you think.

Religieuses and Eclairs

Originally 'Relgieuses' the french choux pastry were supposed to depict a nun on her knees praying, the bun would be her praying from behind, the icing being her habit, her head hidden between her knees... The story has been lost along the years, hence why bakers have added the 'head' of the nun, the upper bun. 

I filled these with Creme Patissiere, a french custard. Yummy! Let me know if you'd like the recipe!

Bundt Coffee Cake

I apologize, I've had to cut down on my amount of cake baking due to being very busy but also not having any room left in our freezer! This recipe is from the first Hummingbird bakery book and as usual I have nothing bad to say about their recipes which are seemingly faultless apart from the quantity that this one gave me! I ended up with one massive bundt cake and another to go with it. Next time I will definitely be halving the ingredients.

Although the cake is very nice on its own, it does need the yummy espresso frosting which was incredibly easy to make, just butter, icing sugar, milk and coffee all whisked up together. 

Happy Birthday Dad

This weekend was spent celebrating my dads birthday in Brighton with the family -and plus ones!-. Having made this cake the day before in France, we took it over in the car only to have it fall over after ten minutes. Thus it definitely did not say 'Happy Birthday' when he ate it and why I had to pour a last minute icing over the top once we arrived.

Apple Crumble

This recipe is off bbcgoodfood and allowed me to fill one big and one individual pie pot, it's a little bit modified because I have a slight problem with not checking I have the right ingredients before I start! I used Bramley apples which ended up being so sweet and tangy at the bottom of a nice chunky crumble topping, using only the best, Lizi's Granola.  Even though apple crumble is probably the dessert I dislike the most, I really enjoyed eating this, probably due to the fact is was so easy to make!

Thanksgiving Pecan Pies

These were my first attempt at pecan pies, using a recipe from BBCgoodfood. They were extremely easy to make, pop all the ingredients in a bowl and mix! The pastry was so crumbly that it wasn't rolled but pressed into the tins and tasted deliciously buttery.

Traditional British Battenburg

After seeing the team bake a Battenburg cake on the Great British Bake-off I was enticed to make one myself. It was tricky to get the strips equal but tasted worth the effort!
Next time I would make the pink strips more of a deeper pink to have a bigger contrast with the vanilla ones.