Lemon layer Birthday cake

I had such fun making this cake for a work colleagues birthday. The recipe is adapted from a Magnolia Bakery book, which is American and the measurements were in cups, so I have converted them as best I can into grams as I've never been able to get on with cup measures in baking. This cake is lovely and moist. The mix of flours giving a denser consistency that still manages to stay light and airy.

Ingredients:-

For the cake (all ingredients should be at room temperature)

227g unsalted butter, softened (I now prefer to use "Stork with butter" it keeps the cake moist and also lasts for longer)

400g caster sugar

4 large free range organic eggs

190g self-raising flour

160g plain flour

180ml milk

60ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tsp grated lemon zest

For the frosting

250g unsalted butter (actual butter is best here)

550g icing sugar

2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp grated lemon zest

A tiny bit of yellow food colouring

I also sandwiched the cake together with (shop bought) lemon curd. And I added a generous handful of sprinkles and mini party rings.

Method:- 

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees and grease and line 3 8 inch round cake tins.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. This is always longer than you think, I'd say a good 5-7 minutes. I usually set a timer for this because you'd be surprised at just how long 5 minutes really is, especially when you're impatient like me!

Next alternate adding your dry and wet ingredients to the butter sugar mix so a spoonful of flour, a egg and milk, lemon juice and zest etc. It's always best to start with flour and end with flour. Your mix may at this point look a little curdled (that's milk and lemon mixed together for you) but don't worry.

When everything is combined mix the batter for a few minutes longer and then distribute evenly between the 3 cake tins. I like to weigh mine to make sure that they have a pretty similar amount of batter in each but you can absolutely just eyeball this if you'd prefer.

Then pop the tins into the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the cakes are light golden in colour, have come away from the sides of the tins and bounce back in the centers.

Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes and then transfer to cooling racks until completely cooled.

While the cakes are cooling you can make the frosting, which is super easy. Add the already room temperature butter to your mixer and whip this up for a little bit just to aerate it ever so slightly. Then add the icing sugar in small amounts unless you want your kitchen covered in the stuff! Again mix this for quite some time to ensure that the frosting is as silky as possible. I don't think I mixed mine for quite as long as I should have today (I was too impatient to frost it!). 

Then sandwich the layers together with lemon curd, chill the cake for 10 minutes and then do the first crumb coat of frosting, chill again for 20-30 minutes and then do the final coat of frosting. If you want any tips on frosting a layer cake, I highly recommend heading over to YouTube and CupcakeJemma's channel. She is my absolute idol and I'd like to be her please! She has a bakery in Soho called Crumbs and Doilies and really knows her stuff when it comes to cakes.

Decorate the cake however you wish, I piped swirls all around mine with a Wilton 1M tip, popped mini party rings on top of each swirl and finished with a shower of confetti sprinkles and ta-da!

Cookie Monster cupcakes

I can't get over the sheer cuteness of these little guys! 

Ingredients:-

For the cupcakes:-

6oz self raising flour

6oz caster sugar

6oz butter

3 medium eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbs milk

All room temperature.

(I generally use grams when baking however, this a tried and tested sponge recipe and super easy to remember as 666! If you want to convert it I think it works out at 170g but just check to make sure.)

For the frosting:-

Blue food colouring (I use Wilton gel in Royal Blue)

Wilton large candy eyeballs (link here)

Wilton 233 grass tip (link here)

Disposable piping bag

1 pack of Maryland cookies

250g unsalted butter

500g icing sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

Method:-

Line a 12 pan muffin tin with muffin/cupcake cases.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.

Cream the butter and caster sugar together using a stand mixer, for a good 5 minutes. You want the mixture to become quite light and fluffy.

Next add 1 of the eggs, followed by a spoonful of flour, mixing until combined. Continue adding each egg with a spoonful of flour after each addition until everything is fully combined.

This is where I add some vanilla extract and a tablespoon of milk, just to loosen the mixture ever so slightly.

Then using an ice cream scoop, add the batter to the cupcake cases and bake in a preheated oven for 15 - 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

While the cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting. Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter for a few minutes, then add about 1/3 of the icing sugar (merely to prevent an icing sugar cloud in the kitchen!) and beat until combined, continue to add the rest of the icing sugar in stages and then add the vanilla extract. You want your frosting silky, light and whipped so really go for it with mixing this, Then add enough blue food colouring to get your desired Cookie Monster hue.

When your cupcakes are fully cooled, load up your piping bag with grass tip already in place and start piping Cookie Monster's fur on all of your cupcakes.

Next place Cookie Monster's eyeballs and cut your Maryland cookies in half and stick them in the frosting to make his mouth (it's worth noting here that the Maryland cookies go soft very quickly so it might be best to do the mouths just before you're about to serve the cupcakes).

Enjoy!

Strawberry vanilla layer ombre watercolour cake

My latest foray into layer cakes sees this gorgeous 4 layer strawberry vanilla cake with ombre watercolour frosting.

There are 4 layers of vanilla sponge, sandwiched together with strawberry jam, then frosted with a vanilla buttercream with freeze dried strawberries on top.

The PERFECT brownies (Rolo)

Behind the scenes I've been lusting after shiny topped brownies. You know, the kind that have that meringue like crust on top? Well I've sussed it! There's no change in the ingredients to my old brownie recipe, BUT there is a change in the method. Lets begin...

Ingredients:- 

85g unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for greasing baking tin 

40g cornflour 

30g unsweetened cocoa powder 

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1/2 teaspoon fine salt 

340g dark chocolate 

170g caster sugar 

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract 

3 medium eggs

Optional handful of Rolos

Method:- 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Lightly butter a 20cm by 30cm rectangular baking tin and line with grease-proof paper, leaving a 1 inch overhang on all sides. 

Combine the cornflour, cocoa, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. On the hob, gently melt the chocolate and butter. 

When the chocolate and butter have melted, leave to one side to cool.

In a stand mixer, whisk the eggs and sugar until is resembles a frothy milkshake like consistency. Then add the cooled chocolate mix, but pour it in gently, you don't want to knock any of the air out of the egg and sugar mixture that you've just whipped into oblivion! Then gently fold the chocolate and eggy sugar mix together.

Once combined, sieve the cornflour, cocoa, cinnamon and salt mixture over the top of the brownie mix and again GENTLY fold the mix together until combined . 

Pour the batter into your pre-greased and lined brownie tin and smooth over the top with a spatula.

At this point I added a massive handful of Rolos - it was a happy day!

Pop the brownies in to bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 30-35 minutes, rotating the tin halfway through.

Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

It turns out (after some good old Google research) that it's the method of mixing the sugar with the eggs that gives the brownies their infamous shiny tops, who knew! Well I do know, and so do all of you :)