Chocolate and Almond Cake

4oz Butter

4oz Caster Sugar

4oz Plain Chocolate (Melted)

4 Eggs (Separated)

2oz Self Raising Flour

1Tsp Baking Powder

4oz Ground Almonds

Cooking time: 50 minutes on a preheated oven of 160c

Serving: 7" square tin

1. Pre heat the oven and grease the baking tin

2. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water

3. In a bowl whisk together the butter until it has doubled in volume

4. Slowly whisk in the sugar into the butter unto it is all creamed together.

5. Whisk in the melted chocolate into the creamed mixture (use a spatula to get all the chocolate into the bowl)

6. Add all the 4 yolks from the eggs and whisk into the mixture for a few minutes on a high speed

7. Add the ground almonds, flour and baking powder and fold in slowly and smoothly into the mixture unto it is fully combined

8. In a separate bowl whisk the 4 edd whites together unto they are stiff this can take up to 5 minutes on a high speed

9. Slowly add the egg whites to the mixture a bit at a time and slowly fold in with a metal spoon. Be gentle here as you do not want to loose the air

10. Once all combined pour into the tin and pop in the oven

11. Half way through the cooking tin, cover the cake with greaseproof paper so it does not burn

12. Remove from the oven when golden / 50 minutes (unsure it is cooked through by putting a knife in it and making sure it comes out clean)

Buttercream and Decoration

4oz Butter (Softened)

2Tsp Milk

12oz Icing Sugar

1Tbsp Cocoa Powder

1 Chocolate Flake

Glace Cherries

1. Cream the butter ina bowl with a fork and then whisk to soften

2. In batches slowly sieve in the icing sugar (Do not add it all at once, add a bit at a time. Between each batch whisk the mixture for 2-3 minutes with a whisk, this makes the icing nice and fluffy and light)

3. Once you have whisked in all the icing sugar sieve in the cocoa powder and add the milk

4. Mix this in with a fork and then whisk with the whisk on a high speed for 4-5 minutes

5. Once the cake is cool, cover the cake with the buttercream

6. Chop some glace cherries in quarters and cut up a flake to sprinkle on top

N.B. Between adding each bath of icing sugar, I always mix it with a fork before then mixing, otherwise the icing sugar goes everywhere

Hannah and Andrews Engagement Cake

6oz Butter
6oz Caster Sugar
6oz Self Raising Flour
1Tsp Baking Powder
1Tsp Bi Carbonate of Soda
2Tsp Vanilla Essence
3 Eggs
8oz Cherries (Chopped)
4oz Desiccated Coconut
1Tbsp Milk




Cooking time: In a pre heated oven on 160'c / Gas Mark 4 for 45-55 minutes
Serving: 8" round spring bottom tin



1. Grease the cake tin and pre heat the oven
2. In a bowl whisk together the butter and sugar until the mixture has formed together and formed a nice smooth, fluffy consistency
3. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs and vanilla essence together for a few minutes until the mixture has doubled in volume
4. Slowly whisk the egg mixture into the creamed butter mixture. Whisk for a good couple of mixture until the mixture is all mixed together and formed a good smooth consistency. Using a wooden spoon to scrape around the edges
5. Sieve the flour, baking powder and bi carbonate of soda into the bowl
6. Using a spoon, fold the mixture in slowly, a figure of eight is good for this
7. Once it is folded in, weigh out the cherries and coconut together and coat the cherries in the coconut
8. Add the cherry mixture and milk to the rest of the ingredients and fold in
9. Once the mixture if all folded in, you should have a nice dropping consistency
10. Put this into the cake tin and level out
11. Put into the oven to bake, half way through cover with greaseproof to prevent it from burning
12. Once done, remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes before removing from the tin and transferring to a wire cooling rack



Decoration
Ready to Roll Fondant Icing
3oz Butter
1Tbsp Milk
9oz Icing Sugar
1Tsp Vanilla Essence
Strawberry Jam
Blue Food Colouring
Silver ball balls
Writing Icing Pen
Red ribbon (held in place by a pin)



1. Once the cake has cooled, cut it in half (horizontally). Do not worry if it is not perfect
2. Make up the buttercream icing, by putting the butter into a bowl and whisking with a whisk
3. Slowly sieve in the icing sugar and with a whisk bring it to a smooth fluffy consistency with the butter
4. Add the milk and vanilla essence and whisk for a further few minutes
5. Spread approx. 1/2 of the buttercream icing onto one of the cakes (which will form the middle)
6. Place the over half of the cake on top of this
7. Spread the sides and top of the cake with a thin layer of jam
8. Roll out the fondant icing till it is the correct size (Big enough to cover the top and sides of the cake)
9. Using a rolling pin to help you, put this under the fondant icing to lift from the surface to transfer over the cake
10. Slowly put it over the cake
11. Press the fondant icing gently down on top and around the sides of the cake and using a sharp knife cut off any excess icing
12. With the rest of the buttercream icing add 1.5 Tsp of blue food colouring
13. Mix this in with a fork and then put the icing into a piping knozzle / bag
14. Around the edge of the cake, pipe swirls
15. With the icing pen, write the letters you wish, in this case A and H
16. I then piped 3 bigger swirls at the bottom and top and put silver ball balls in the middle
17. There you are you have one lovely yummy cake! We then put red ribbion around and sparkles in to make it even more special!

N.B. You can use chocolate chips instead of cherries
N.B. You can colour the icing what ever colour you wish, you can also use buttercream to write the letters
N.B. With the left over fondant icing you can make little models for the cake

Cranberry and Vanilla Cupcakes

60z Butter

6oz Soft Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

6oz Self Raising Flour

1Tsp Bi Carbonate of Soda

1Tsp Baking Powder

2Tsp Vanilla Essence

4oz Semi Dried Cranberries

1Tbsp Milk

Cooking Time: Pre heat oven to 180c / Gas Mark 4. Cook for 15 minutes

Serving: 12 cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven and prepare a cupcake tin with cupcake cases

2. In a bowl cream together the butter and sugar until smooth, with a whisk. Do this for a few minutes

3. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs together for a couple of minutes until they have doubled in volume

4. Slowly whisk the eggs into the creamed mixture, using a wooden spoon to scrape round the edges, to ensure the mixture is fully mixed in and combined

5. Weigh out the baking powder, bi carbonate of soda and flour

6. Sieve this mixture into a separate bowl

7. Add the dried cranberries to the flour mixture and stir, coating the cranberries in the flour

8. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir in with a wooden spoon. (Using a figure of eight is a good way to ensure it is all mixed in)

9. Add the vanilla and milk and stir a few times so that the mixture is a nice smooth consistency and forms a good dropping consistency when dropped

10. Divide the mixture between the cupcake cases

11. Put in the oven and bake for 15 minutes / until golden

12. Once done, remove from the oven and leave for 5-10 minutes to stand while they cool

13. Once cooled a bit transfer the cupcakes to a wire cooling rack

N.B. For the Icing we used the normal icing method which is on this blog. (12oz Icing Sugar, 4oz Butter, 1Tbsp Milk and 1Tsp Vanilla essence whisked in together) We then put a cranberry on each cupcake to make them look pretty!