Minecraft Birthday Cake

I've had a few cake orders from work this month mainly for children's birthdays. The first is this Minecraft Cake for Josh who turned 8 yesterday so Happy Belated Birthday! I had no idea what Minecraft was so I had to learn quickly! Essentially it's a game about making and placing blocks. You then build structures and there are different 'characters' in the game like Creeper, pig and chicken all of which I made from fondant icing. I wanted to make Steve as well but I ran out of time!  I did some research online and came up with this cake which I am pleased to announce was a huge success. Josh was really impressed with the cake and to be honest so am I! I really wasn't sure I could pull it off but I think it's not too bad for a first attempt. Just don't look too closely at the imperfections!! 

He wanted a vanilla sponge with strawberry jam so I baked 2 large square cakes (6 egg sponge x 2) and made 4 layers using strawberry jam and vanilla buttercream to sandwich the layers together. I then made some chocolate frosting by adding melted chocolate to the buttercream and used that to cover the outside of the cake. The 'crumbs' is made from crushed oreo and rich tea biscuits which actually gives it a slight pixelated effect which I was hoping for. The top is covered with a piece of green fondant covered with green buttercream and green coconut which resembles the grass. The figures are made from ready rolled icing and I shaped them by hand using pictures from the internet as a guide. 

The entire cake took 2 evenings to make. I baked the cakes and made the fondant figures on day 1 and assembled the cake on day 2. Top tips - either use a large roasting pan or place a large piece of parchment paper over your worktop before pressing the crumbs on the cake. This makes it much easier to clean up the mess after! Place the dessicated coconut in a ziplock bag, add the food colouring and seal the bag then give it a good shake to get green 'grass' - no mess and no washing up! Remember to save some vanilla buttercream to make green buttercream before adding the melted chocolate as it's quite difficult to make brown green afterwards! 

As this contains strawberry jam in the middle of the cake layers I'm sending it to Tea Time Treats hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage and co hosted by Jane from The Hedgecombers. The theme this month is jams, curds and preserves. 

 weigh eggs in their shell and use the same amount of flour, butter and caster sugar for the sponge.

 I baked 2 cakes in my square tin 

 making the layers with strawberry jam and vanilla buttercream 

 This is going to be a tall cake! 

 cover with chocolate frosting on the outside but not the top 

 I drew this pattern freestyle on a piece of parchment paper - the square is the size of my cake tin and I made random blocks around the edges 

 cut out the pattern and place it on top of rolled green fondant and cut out the pattern with a sharp knife 

 ready to go on top of the cake 

 slightly wonky but it's starting to look like a minecraft block! 

 cover the fondant with green icing then cover with dessicated coconut which has been dyed green to resemble grass. 

 Place the figures on top using a toothpick to support them. I used cutters to cut out the name and age - his favourite colour is green but you can of course using contrasting colours to make it stand out more. 

Cranberry, Coconut and Cream Cheese Bundt Cake

Isn't this cake beautiful? I love the shape of the cake and the dusting of icing sugar makes it look so inviting. I have to say a huge thank you to John for buying me this cake tin for Christmas. It has been on my wish list for a while now and I'm so pleased that I finally own one. I absolutely love Nordicware tins and have started a small collection of them.  I'm sure he had an ulterior motive buying the cake tin - a cake from the tin! I promised that he would have the first cake out of the tin and I knew I had to choose a good recipe to impress and show my gratitude. 

I saw this recipe on Jo's Blue Aga and bookmarked it immediately to use with my new bundt tin as it looked and sounded amazing. I'm so glad I did as I made it twice in the same week and have had endless positive comments about the cake. It's a lovely light sponge with coconut and cranberry and a delicious cream cheese filling in the middle. The cake is fragrant and looks stunning especially with a dusting of icing sugar. It would be perfect for Christmas as it has a festive look and feel to it or for any special occasion. 

John's reaction was "Wow- Ros's cake is amazing. One of her best yet!" Other reactions were " Too beautiful to eat", "How did you get that shape?" "Terrifyingly good!" "It's like a hidden treasure puzzle - there's a different taste and texture to every bite" 

I have to admit that I really did enjoy the cake even though I don't like coconut. I'm not just saying that because I baked the cake! It really was that good and I'd recommend you try it for yourself. 

I'm entering this to Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes. 

I'm also sending it to Tea Time Treats guest hosted by Jane from The HedgeCombers and run by Karen from Lavender and Lovage. The theme this month is eggs, eggs, eggs! This would make a stunning tea time treat.

 my lovely new bundt tin :) 

 

 I love the colours of the cranberries and coconut - reminds me of Christmas! 

 Half fill the tin 

 add a ring of cream cheese - you can just about see it here then fill with remaining batter 

 fresh from the oven 

 looks better with a dusting of icing sugar 

 you can see the cream cheese filling 

Recipe from Jo's Blue Aga

For the cake

270g unsalted butter, softened
250g caster sugar
4 large eggs, beaten
270g self-raising flour
100ml double cream
100g desiccated coconut
100g Dried Cranberries

For The Filling
200g full fat Philadelphia
3 Tbsp Caster sugar
30g Desiccated coconut

• Preheat the oven to 170c
• Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl and gradually add it to the creamed butter and sugar mixture. 
• Sift in the flour and mix well. 
• Add the cream and mix again until smooth.
• Stir in the coconut and cranberries. 
• Spoon half the mixture into the prepared tin and spread level using a palette knife. 
• Mix the ingredients for the filling in a small bowl. 
• Place the filling in a ring on the cake batter as shown above.
• Cover with the remaining cake batter. 
• Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• Allow to cool in the tin for 15-20 minutes before turning out to a wire rack to cool completely 
• Dust generously with icing sugar. 

English Madeleines

As you can tell, I've been on a bit of a baking spree lately! I decided to make another entry for this month's AlphaBakes. I looked through my books for 'E' inspiration and found this in my Mary Berry Ultimate Cake Book - English Madeleines.  I've made French madeleines before but never English Madeleines.  The main difference is their shape - the French ones are traditionally shell shaped whereas the English ones are made in dariole moulds and are covered in jam & dessicated coconut and topped with a cherry.

AlphaBakes is a monthly blogging challenge hosted this month by myself and co-hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes. Each month, we pick a random letter and the idea is to bake something with that letter as the main ingredient or name of bake. This month, the letter is "E".  Today is the deadline for Feb AlphaBakes so make sure you've emailed them across.

 I knew I'd get a chance to use my dariole mould one day.

 dessicated coconut, glace cherries and strawberry jam. 

 ready to go in the oven 

 Have everything ready to assemble your madeleines. 

 Use a fork to hold the cake, brush jam over it, roll it in coconut and top with half a cherry.

 Cute little cakes

Recipe from Mary Berry's Ultimate Cake Book 

Makes 12 madeleines

100g butter

100g caster sugar

2 eggs

100g self raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4-6 tablespoons strawberry jam, sieved

50g dessicated coconut

6 glace cherries, halved

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Place all the ingredients for the cake in a mixer and mix until smooth.
• Fill the dariole moulds until 2/3 full.
• Bake for about 20 minutes or until well risen and firm to the touch. 
• Allow to cool completely.
• Trim the bottom of the cakes so they stand independently. 
• Warm the sieved jam in a pan and set aside. 
• Use a fork to spear the base of the cake to hold them.
• Brush them with the warm jam, then roll in the coconut to coat.
• Add half a glace cherry on top to finish.

Dog Birthday Cake

Hi everyone! I'm back in London safe and sound. I have been meaning to update my blog for days now but have not gotten round to it. Sorry! It's been quite hectic since my return - catching up with friends, dealing with admin and more importantly looking for a new place to stay. I found a lovely new place and will be moving in this weekend so will be offline until I can get myself set up. Normal blogging services will resume after a few weeks. 

This is a special cake that I made for my brother's birthday a few weeks ago. He loves dogs so the obvious choice was a dog cake. The family pet dog is a silky terrier but my cake decorating skills won't stretch that far so this is what I came up with. Glad he loved the cake! 

 family pet dog

I have to thank Daisy from Never Too Sweet who suggested I look at Not Quite Nigella's blog for inspiration. I  had actually bookmarked the recipe but forgot about it when I was deciding how to make a dog cake. If you used a bit of imagination you could say there is a resemblance between the dog and the cake :) 

I'm submitting this to AlphaBakes a monthly blogging challenge hosted on alternate months by Caroline from Caroline Makes and myself.  The letter this month is "D" for Dog cake. 

 easy swiss roll recipe from my aunt - thank you 

 perfect roll - phew! :)

 adding cupcakes for the head, tail and ears. 

 cover in frosting 

 use a grass tip to pipe "fur" over the dog 

For the face you will need 2 giant chocolate buttons, 3 M&M's and a piece of strawberry rollup cut to shape.   I made some additional decorations using a candy mould I found - bone, food bowl, dog house and  puppy. I also coloured dessicated coconut green to resemble grass. 

 cross section of the swiss roll 

For the swiss roll

4 large eggs, separated

60g self raising flour

55g caster sugar 

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup sunflower oil 

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until stiff.
• In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolks, sugar, milk, oil and flour until smooth. 
• Fold into the egg white mixture and spread onto a swiss roll tin. 
• Bake for 14 minutes.
• Spread jam or cream and roll into a swiss roll. 

For the peanut butter cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes

75g butter
130g smooth peanut butter
190g dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
120g plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
60ml semi-skimmed milk

• Preheat the oven to 160C.
• Line a 12-hole muffin tray with cupcake cases. 
• Cream the butter, peanut butter and sugar until well blended. 
• Add the eggs, one at a time and then stir in the vanilla extract. 
• Combine the flour, salt and baking powder in a separate bowl.
• Add 1/3 of the flour to the creamed mixture and beat well.
• Pour 1/3 of the milk and beat again.
• Repeat until all the flour and milk have been added. 
• Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases - I used a large ice cream scoop. 
• Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 

Painkiller Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

I celebrated my birthday a few days ago. It's nice to have someone else make the cake for a change and I had 2 delicious cakes - lemon drizzle and chocolate, both firm favourites of mine. Of course, I couldn't resist baking something myself hence these Painkiller Cupcakes. I initially planned on making pina colada cupcakes but came across these on Hazel's blog and decided that with a few tweaks, I could enter this to multiple blog challenges this month!  

A painkiller cocktail is made from dark rum, orange juice, pineapple juice, sweetened coconut cream and shaved ice, topped with nutmeg. It was originally invented at the Soggy Dollar Bar in the British Virgin Islands. I decided to make a coconut and pineapple cupcake filled with homemade orange curd topped with a white chocolate cream cheese frosting and a sprinkle of nutmeg on top. Unfortunately, the orange curd was a failure (should have stuck to my normal recipe for lemon curd) so I had to improvise slightly. The result was a really moist and fruity cupcake and the flavours worked well together. They were a real hit at work and even though I don't like coconut, I really enjoyed these cakes. 

I'm entering them to AlphaBakes which I co-host with Caroline from Caroline Makes. The letter for this month is "P".  You can use the letter in the name of the bake or as the main ingredient. It's a double whammy here with painkiller and pineapple. 

I'm also entering them to We Should Cocoa which is celebrating it's 2nd anniversary this month. Happy birthday WSC! Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog has chosen cocktail inspiration as the theme this month.  We should Cocoa is hosted on alternate months by Choclette and Chocolate Teapot. The idea is to make something with chocolate each month. WSC was the first blogging challenge I ever entered and I've not missed a month since then!

I'm also entering them to Calendar Cakes hosted by Laura from Laura Loves Cakes and Rachel from Dolly Bakes.  The theme this month is cupcakes as it's national cupcake week in September. 

I discovered a new blog challenge this monhth (thanks Caroline!) called Baking with Spirit. It's hosted by Janine from Cake of the Week who challenges us to bake or cook with alcohol each month. This month, she chose rum so these painkiller cupcakes are perfect. 

Finally, I'm entering them to Cupcake Tuesday hosted by Liz from Hoosier Homemade. 

 key ingredients - pineapple, coconut milk, rum flavouring and dessicated coconut

 adding pineapple and coconut to the batter 

 ready to go in the oven 

 how cute are these? 

 view from the top

For the cupcakes - makes 11 cupcakes of size shown 

120g flour
120g caster sugar
1.5 teaspoon baking powder
40g butter
120ml coconut milk
1 egg
30g dessicated coconut
1 teaspoon rum flavouring (or real rum) *
5 pineapple rings, chopped
5 tablespoons of homemade unset orange curd - you can either fill the cupcakes with proper orange curd or use the zest of 1 orange plus 1 tablespoon of orange juice

* I used rum flavouring as these were for work, didn't want to get everyone tipsy!

For the frosting

30g white chocolate, melted
100g cream cheese
50g butter
1 teaspoon orange water
250g icing sugar, sifted

For the decoration
Ground nutmeg to sprinkle
Cocktail umbrellas
Cherries

• Preheat the oven to 170C.
• Combine all the cake ingredients except for the pineapple and dessicated coconut in a large bowl. 
• Stir in the pineapple and dessicated coconut by hand. 
• Spoon into cupcake cases and bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
• Allow to cool completely before frosting.
• To make the frosting, melt the white chocolate in the microwave or in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. 
• Beat together the cream cheese, butter, icing sugar and orange water until smooth. 
• Stir in the white chocolate and continue beating for a few minutes. 
• Pipe the frosting on the cupcake. 
• Sprinkle with ground nutmeg.
• Decorate with half a cherry on top and a cocktail umbrella.