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!

Ginger Cake

6oz Butter

6oz Caster Sugar

3 Eggs

7oz Self Raising Flour

1Tsp Groun Ginger

1Tsp Bi carbonate of soda

1Tsp Baking Powder

3oz Preserved Ginger (Chopped)

2Tbsp Ginger Syrup

Cooking time: Pre heat oven to Gas Mark 4/180c and bake for 1 hour

Serving: 8" Sping bottom cake tin

1. Cream together the butter and sugar in a bowl with a whisk for a few minutes until smooth. Use a wooden spoon to scrape around the edge to ensure it is all mixed in well

2. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs together for a few minutes until it has doubled in volumte

3. Whisk the egg mixture slowly into the creamed butter mixture until it is combined and forms a nice consistincy

4. Weigh out the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and ground ginger and sieve into a bowl

5. Add the chopped ginger to the flour mixture and stir in, so that it is coated in flour

6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredient mixture and stir in well, using a figure of eight is best, be careful not to over mix

7. Once the mixture if stirred in, add the ginger syrup and stir in well to the mixture is all mixed in together and you have a nice smooth dropping consistency

8. Grease the cake tin and pour the mixture into the tin and smooth out with a knife

9. Put in the oven and bake (Half way through baking, cover the cake with greaseproof paper to prevent the top of the cake from burning)

10. Once the cake is done, remove from the oven

11. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes (10) before removing it from the tin and transferring it to a wire cooling rack to cool

Ginger Icing

8oz Icing Sugar

2oz Butter

2Tbsp Ginger syrup

1. In a bowl cream the butter into soft

2. Sieve in the icing sugar a bit at a time and mix in with a fork and then a whisk

3. Once you have added all over the icing sugar, whisk the mixture together for a couple of minutes, this makes the icing nice and fluffy and light

4. When nearly done, add the ginger syrup and whisk for a further few minutes

5. Once the cake is cool, dollop the icing on top of the cake and smooth over

6. Decorate with ginger slices and glace cherries

7. Tuck in with a nice cuppa!

Chocolate Tiffin (Williams and Catherines Alternative Cake)

8oz Digestive Biscuits (Or any)

40z Butter

3 Tbsp Golden Syrup

2oz Cocoa Powder

4oz Mixed fruit including glace cherries

60z White Chocolate (Melted)

Spinkle of coconut

Chilling time: 30 minutes then 1 hour

Serving: 8" square tin cut into 9 good size pieces

1. Grease the tin

2. Crush the biscuits in a food processor or in a bag with a rolling pin

3. In a saucepan over a low heat melt the butter and golden syrup

4. Once melted, remove from the heat and sieve in the cocoa powder

5. Add the mixed fruit and stir in well

6. Add the crushed biscuits a bit at the time, mixing in well

7. Tip the mixture into the tin and press firmly down and smooth out

8. Place in the fridge / freezer and chill for 30 minutes

9. Once chilled, in a heat proof bowl place the white chocolate broken up and place over a pan of simmering water

10. Slowly melt the chocolate and stir so as to prevent it from burning

11. Pour the white chocolate mixture onto the chilled biscuit mix and spread out

12. Sprinkle with coconut

13. Chill again for at least a further hour

14. Remove and cut into 9 good size pieces and tuck in

N.B. Be aware, these will go as soon as they are finished because they are delightful!

N.B. You can use any kind of chocolate to melt on top, but I love white chocolate!

Chocolate Hedgehog Cake

6oz Butter

6oz Caster Sugar

8oz Self Raising Flour

3 Eggs

4oz / 100g Dark Chocolate

2oz Cocoa Powder

4oz Chocolate chips

1 Tsp Baking Powder

1 Tsp Bi Carbonate of Soda

2 Tbsp Milk

Cooking time: 45 minutes on a pre heated oven of 180c. Half way through cooking you need to cover the sponge with greaseprrof paper

Serving: 8" square spring tin

1. Pre heat the oven and grease proof the cooking tin

2. Place a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water and break the chocolate into the bowl and slowly melt on a low heat, stirring occasionally to prevent it from burning

3. In a bowl cream together the butter and sugar, do this until the mixture if fully combined

4. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs together for a few minutes

5. Slowly whisk the egg mixture into the creamed mixture, using a wooden spoon to scrape around the edges to ensure the mixture is fully combined together

6. Sieve in the flour, baking powder and bi carbonate of soda. Fold this in slowly

7. Once this nearly done, add the melted chocolate, chocolate drops and milk and fold in slowly but firmly so the mixture forms a good chocolately consistency and it is all combined

8. Pour the mixture into the tin and smooth out

9. Put into the oven, about 20 minutes through the baking time, place some greaseproof paper over it and continue to bake.

10. Once done, remove from the oven and remove the sides of the tin, leave to cool before moving the bottom and transferring to a wire cooling rack

Buttercream Icing

1 quantity of the 'perfect buttercream icing' from this website

3oz Cocoa Powder and 1 Tbsp milk

2 Ripple Chocolate Bars

3 Flake Chocolate Bars

Glace Cherries

1. Make the icing as described on this wesbite, but adding 3oz Cocoa powder and 1 Tbsp milk to the mixture.

2. To prepare the cake, cut the cake vertically in half and using a little of the icing, put some on one side of the cake and then stand both of the cakes up on to the flat sides and stick together

3. You will now have a narrow but tall cake

4. At the front you need to cut a slight diagonal shape for the face, slicing a bit of the cake from both sides, to form a point at the end

5. Now cover the whole cake in icing!!!

6. Cut the flake and ripple bars up into strips of chocolate, and then stick them into the icing

7. I put chocolate flake on top of the hedgehog and ripple bars down the sides

8. For the nose, I used a bit of the sponge that was cut from the side and cut it into a square shape

9. For the eyes, cut a cherry in half and place them at the front but more towards the side

10. There you have it one, very chocolately hedgehog cake!!

N.B. This cake went in one sitting as it is so yum!

80th Birthday Cake

6oz Butter

6oz Caster Sugar

8oz Self Raising Flour

1 Tsp Baking Powder

1 Tsp Bi Carbonate of Soda

3 Eggs

12oz Glace Cherries (Halved)

2 Tsp Vanilla Essence

1 Tbsp Milk

Cooking Time: 35 minutes on a pre heated oven of 150c / Gas mark 3. Make sure half way through you cover the cake with greaseproof paper

Serving: 8" deep Spring round cake tin

1. Pre heat the oven and grease proof the baking tin

2.Cream together the butter and sugar with the whisk for a few minutes

3. In a separate bowl whisk together the vanilla essence and eggs together for a few minutes

4. Slowly whisk the eggs into the creamed mixture a bit at a time until the mixture becomes soft and fluffy in consistency and has increased in volume

5. Use a wooden spoon to scrape around the edges to ensure all the mixture is mixed in

6. Into a separate bowl sieve the baking powder, bi carbonate of soda and flour

7. Chop the cherries in half and put into the bowl with the flour and coat the cherries in the flour

8. Fold the flour mixture slowly into the creamed butter mixture a bit at a time with the milk, do this until all the mixture if mixed in thoroughly and forms a good consistency

9. Pour the mixture into the tin and put into the oven to bake

10. Half way through the baking, cover the cake with greaseproof paper

11. Remove the cake from the oven and leave in the tin for a few minutes before transferring the cake to a wire cooling rack to cool

12. While it is cooling you can make the buttercream icing

Buttercream Icing

3oz Butter

8oz Icing Sugar

1 Tsp Vanilla Essence

1/2 Tbsp milk

1. Cream the butter in a bowl with a whisk until soft

2. Sieve the icing sugar into the bowl a bit at a time

3. Use a fork and then a whisk to whisk the icing sugar in with the butter

4. Add the vanilla essence and milk to the icing and mix in well but not too much that it becomes runny

5. When the cake is cool, cut the cake horizontally in half and spread the buttercream on to one of the sponges

6. Then place one sponge on top of the other with the buttercream icing in the middle and place on to a plate or board

Decoration

1 packet of Fondanct Icing

1 quantity of Buttercream icing as above divided in two

Yellow and red food colouring

Ribbon

Silver ball balls

Strawberry jam

1. Cover the top and side of the cake with a smooth thin layer of jam, this helps the icing to stick to the cake

2.Roll out the fondant icing onto a level surface sprinkled with a bit of icing sugar so it does not stick to the surface

3. Once the icing is rolled out, using a rolling pin, cover the rolled icing onto the rolling pin (this makes it easier to then cover the cake)

4. Put the edge of the rolled icing onto one side of the cake and using the rolling pin flip the icing over the cake

5. Once it is over the cake, gently press the icing around the cake

6. Using a sharp knife cut off any excess icing and press the icing in firmly around the bottom of the cake

7. With the buttercream, divided into 2 bowls, add a few drops of yellow food colouring to one and red to the other

8. Using a fork mix the food colouring into the buttercream until it has coloured the icing and is one colour throughout

9. Fill a piping tube / bag with the yellor food colouring and a medium size twirl nozzle

10. On too the cake pipe swirls around the edge of the cake and near the bottom of the cake pipe 4 swirls and then 1 underneath. Do these swirls slightly bigger and place a silver ball ball in the middle of them

11. With the red food colouring, put in the pipping bag / tube with a small swirl knozzle at the bottom and write 80th on to the cake

12. I used red food colouring to match the red ribbon I used and I chose yellow as it is a colour of spring.

13. Then when the cake is done, you can tuck in!

14. You can eat these on the day or make in advance by up to 2 days