Weekly Bake Off : Apricot Swiss Cakes

It's been a while since I've baked with the Weekly Bake Off where the aim is to bake a recipe chosen at random by Amy our lovely host, from Mary Berry's 100 Cakes and Bakes. The chosen recipe is announced on twitter (@weeklybakeoff) every Monday and you have until Sunday to send in a picture of your bake via twitter. 

Apricot Swiss Cakes were chosen this week. I decided to make these late at night after a particularly stressful day as I needed something to cheer me up.  They were quick and easy to whip up but I do need to practice my piping skills! The cakes retained some of the 'swirl' shape which I was pleased about. I didn't have any apricot jam so I used strawberry and raspberry jam which is what is used traditionally.

I would call these biscuits rather than cakes as it has a really soft, buttery and crumbly texture similar to shortbread and absolutely delicious with the jam in the middle. You can use any type of jam with this. I am definitely making these again as they are really easy to make and taste great! Plus they look really cute and are perfect with a cup of tea. 

 pipe the mixture into the paper case 

 slightly overcooked... oops! 

 add a small teaspoon of jam in the middle. I forgot to sprinkle icing sugar! 

To see all the excellent entries to the weekly bake off, click here

Recipe is from Mary Berry's 100 Cakes and Bakes page 71 

Weekly Bake Off: Maple Syrup Cake

Another week, another weekly bake off challenge. I was not planning to join in due to time constraints but when I saw the choice was a Maple Syrup Cake, I just had to!  I love maple syrup and I've made a similar cake with carrots which was a huge success.  Coincidentally, I was sent this lovely sample box from the people at Clark's so there really was no question about making this cake.

Its a lovely, tall 3 layer cake, so tall that it won't fit into my cake carrier! I'm not sure how to transport it now but I'll worry about that later. I've not had a chance to try the cake so I can't comment on the taste but the topping was very good :) I'm probably the only person that slices into a cake before giving it away so I can photograph it for my blog! I felt it would have been rude to eat a slice as well so I will update you tomorrow on the taste.

*Update: I've decided to slice the cake and bring it to work on a tray.  It does say to keep in the fridge and there's no way the whole cake will fit plus I still had the transport problem.  It does not look as nice but hopefully it will taste good enough!  It also meant that I could sneak a cheeky piece and can now tell you what I think. The maple syrup is quite subtle in the cake. It's a moist and rich sponge with good flavours from the pecan.  I may add a little orange juice next time and possibly more maple syrup. The whipped cream filling and topping goes well with the cake as a buttercream frosting would have been too much. *

 the sliced up cake! 

 assembling the layers 

 spread the cream between the layers...

 

 ...and on top and around the sides to make a super tall cake! 

 

Recipe from Mary Berry's Cakes and Bakes page 19

For the cake 
225g butter
225g light muscovado sugar
zest of 1 orange
4 eggs
100ml maple syrup
350g self raising flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
50g pecan nuts, chopped

For the filling and topping
450ml double cream
2 tablespoon maple syrup (I used a little extra as I couldn't quite taste the maple syrup)
zest of 1 orange

• Preheat the oven to 160C.
• Lightly grease and line 3 x 20cm cake tins (Mary suggests using a deep 20cm cake tin and slice the cake in 3 but I just used 3 small tins)
• Put all the ingredients for the cake except the pecan nuts into a large bowl and mix well.
• Stir in the chopped pecan nuts. 
• Spoon into the cake tins and bake for about 20-25mins (longer if using only 1 tin).
• Allow to cool slightly then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely. 
• For the filling and topping, whip the cream until it just holds its shape and then add in the maple syrup. 
• Fill and cover the cake with cream as shown.
• Decorate the top with orange zest.
• Store in the refrigerator. 

Thank you Clark's for providing the maple syrup. 

Weekly Bake Off: Devil's Food Cake

I'm really excited to participate in my first Weekly Bake off, the brainchild of Amy from Weekly Bake Off.  The premise is simple, to bake her way through Mary Berry's 100 cakes and bakes. A random recipe is selected by Amy every Monday and bakers have a week to bake and post a photo by Sunday evening. I bought this book months ago but due to other commitments was unable to participate at the end of last year. So I was really excited for the first January challenge which is a devil's food cake. However, all did not go to plan and I debated if I should post it or not. I think I'm often too hard on myself and this blog is about sharing my experiences - good or bad. So I present to you the Lopsided Artistic Devils' Food Cake :) 

I made this in a hurry (I never learn my lesson!) which is partly what cause the downfall (no pun intended!) I had a really busy week but really wanted to bake this cake. I had to go to a friend's birthday dinner and drinks and had less than 2 hours to bake, frost and get myself ready for a night out! Could I do it? Well I do like a challenge so I decided yes. I whipped up the cake quickly and it turned out beautifully. I was a little nervous about the icing as it involves a sugar thermometer and the last time I tried making a meringue buttercream, it didn't turn out well. Sadly, I have not perfected the meringue buttercream. Perhaps I should have whisked it longer as it didn't stand in peaks. Remember I was against the clock here so I just put the icing on and left it to set while I had a great night out. When I got back at 1am, the top layer had slid off! :( 

The plus point is the cake is delicious!! It's quite a sweet frosting but it works well with the cake. The sponge was light and moist and you can taste the cocoa in it. I'm dubious about chocolate cake that uses cocoa powder rather than real chocolate but it worked well here. It's a good cake to bake to impress (if you get it right of course) 

A note on the frosting - it really does set very quickly so you have to be quick. I would also half the frosting recipe next time as I had a lot leftover. I think I didn't whisk it long enough to achieve the peaks. Any thoughts on this? 

 cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy - i could just tell the sponge was going to be good :) 

 ready to go in the oven 

 using my sugar thermometer 

 the lopsided cake 

 I like to call this my 'artistic cake' :) 

 Glad I still managed to get a layer slice so really if you didn't see the above pictures, you'd have been none the wiser :) 

Recipe from Mary Berry's 100 Cakes and Bakes Page 162-163 

For the cake 

55g cocoa powder

280g caster sugar

115g butter

2 eggs, lightly beaten

175g plain flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder 

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

For the American frosting

450g sugar

2 large egg whites 

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Grease and line 2 x 20cm sandwich tins.
• Whisk the cocoa powder into 225ml water and set aside. 
• Whisk the sugar and butter in a separate bowl until light and fluffy as shown. 
• Add in the eggs until well combined. 
• Sift the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl.
• Alternately fold in the flour and the cocoa mixture to the butter mixture.
• Divide the batter evenly between the tins (I usually weigh mine).
• Bake for 30 - 45 minutes until well risen and firm to touch.
• Allow to cool in the tine for a few minutes before turning out on to a wire rack to cool completely. 
• To make the frosting, heat the sugar with 135ml water gently until the sugar has dissolved.  
• Next, bring it to a boil and boil until it reaches 115C/240F on a sugar thermometer. The mixture will bubble and thicken. 
• Whilst you are heating the sugar, whisk the egg whites until stiff. 
• Once the sugar syrup is ready, allow the bubble to settle then pour slowly into the egg whites, whisking constantly. 
• Continue whisking until the mixture stands in peaks. 
• Sandwich the cakes together with a LITTLE frosting (I used too much which caused the cake slide plus the frosting was not stiff enough).
• Spread the remainder of the frosting over the top and sides. 
• Work quickly as the icing sets rapidly.