Neapolitan Cake

I've been sticking to lower fat/sugar bakes for the last couple of months as part of my new year (mostly) healthy eating regime but last weekend while back home at my parents' I was desperate to just go nuts and make a proper double decker sponge with lashings of scrummy frosting. I've wanted to try a tri-colour Neapolitan ice cream inspired cake, with layers of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, for a while so this was the perfect time to give it a go. I'm really pleased with how it turned out and think it looks really pretty and cheery!

The frosting I used in this recipe is just egg white beaten with icing sugar plus flavouring and food colouring and this makes for a lovely light, almost marshmallow-like texture which is less sickly than buttercream. However, a word of warning: it starts to shrink and evaporate after 24 hours or so so if you're making the cake in advance I'd recommend using buttercream icing instead as it will last much longer.

Side note: A lot of my previous cake recipes on here have listed the quantities in ounces but I've decided to start using metric only from now on in order to be consistent.

INGREDIENTS

For the cake:

• 225g self-rasing flour
• 225g caster/granulated sugar
• 225g butter/margarine
• 4 eggs
• 2 heaped tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 50g chocolate chips (optional but very yummy)

For the icing/jam filling:

• 1 egg white
• 2 tbsp icing sugar
• 1 tsp strawberry extract
• Few drops of red food colouring
• Handful coloured vermicelli
• 4 tbsp (approx.) strawberry jam

METHOD

For the cake:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C and line two round baking tins with parchment paper.
2. Whisk the butter/margarine and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until pale then whisk in the eggs.
3. Fold in the flour and vanilla extract until a batter of a soft dropping consistency has formed.
4. Separate half of the mixture into a second bowl and and fold in the cocoa powder and chocolate chips.
5. Pour the mixtures one each into the two cake tins.
6. Pop in the oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes until a cocktail stick inserted into the sponge comes out clean.
7. When baked, place on a wire rack and leave to cool before turning the cakes out of the tins. At this stage the cakes can be frozen for decorating at a later date if you wish.

For the icing/filling:

1. Spread the strawberry jam onto the top of the cooled chocolate sponge and sandwich the vanilla sponge on top.
2. Separate the egg white into a clean bowl and whisk with the strawberry extract until stiff peaks form while adding the icing sugar a few teaspoons at a time.
3. Add the food colouring a couple of drops at a time and whisk again until you have your desired shade of pink.
4. Spread the icing over the top of the cake using a palette knife - tap roughly with the palette knife to achieve the fluffy effect in the photo - and then sprinkle with vermicelli as a colourful finishing touch.

Maria's Ridiculously Good Best Ever Blondies

I normally find it quite arrogant when people put their names on recipes but I couldn't resist putting my stamp on this one as it's my definite favourite of all the baked creations I've made up myself so far, and their irresistible butterscotchy flavour really makes them ridiculously good!

I was reluctant to reveal my secret ingredient to my eager samplers but I shall share it here for the benefit of the baking community at large (ahem). And that secret ingredient is...*drum roll*...custard powder. This idea came about when I was simply too lazy to look up a blondie recipe and decided just to go by my fail safe brownie recipe (available here: http://cloudninepointone.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/best-ever-jack-daniels-brownies ) and substitute the milk chocolate for the white variety. It then dawned on me that I had no idea what to add in place of the cocoa powder. There's no such thing as white cocoa powder (to my knowledge?!) and I was worried that making up the cocoa quantity with more flour would affect the flavour and make them too plain so, in the absence of butterscotch Angel Delight, I reached for the vanilla scented custard powder. And hey presto! The rest is scrumptious cakey history.

The lovely golden blondies pictured with their darker chocolate bretherin, pre-cutting...

INGREDIENTS

• 200g granulated/caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 80g self-raising flour
• 120ml cooking oil
• 130g white cooking chocolate
• 4.5 tbsp custard powder
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• Few drops of Lakeland buttery caramel flavouring (optional but really makes the butterscotchy flavour pop!)

METHOD

• Grease the baking tin with margarine/butter or line with baking parchment.
• Briefly whisk the sugar, eggs, oil, vanilla extract and caramel flavouring together in a large mixing bowl.
• Chop the chocolate into small chunks and melt in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of hot water or place in the microwave and heat in blasts of about 1 minute until smooth, then pour into the mixing bowl.
• Fold the flour and custard powder into the mixture and pour into the lined tin.
• Pop in the oven and bake at 180 degrees C for about 20 minutes until a cocktail stick inserted into the cake comes out pretty much clean then leave to cool.
• Cut the blondies into squares using a sharp knife and marvel at their deliciousness as you dive in.

Cream Soda Cupcakes

This is one of my go-to cake recipes as they're so easy to make but never fail to impress. I've always been a fan of the unusual but lovely fragrant vanilla taste of cream soda and I think it's the perfect addition to a cupcake, especially the icing. In fact, I think they should manufacture a perfume with the scent of these cupcakes - it's divine! The little straws were a nifty last minute brainwave for a simple but eye-catching finishing touch and I'm rather proud of them though I say so myself :)

Just an aside, but cream soda makes a delicious addition to the raspberry ripple ice cream flavour squash I mentioned in my post here: http://cloudninepointone.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/raspberry-ripple-ice-cream-cupcakes.html - perfect with ice and a straw on a hot summer's day :)

INGREDIENTS - makes approx. 12 

For the cakes:

• 4 oz self-raising flour
• 4 oz caster sugar
• 4 oz margarine/butter
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp cream soda
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

For the icing:

• 5 oz butter (unsalted if preferred)
• 10 oz icing sugar
• 2 tsp cream soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  
  + 4 stripey plastic straws in colours of your choice (optional)

METHOD

For the cakes:

1. Line a baking tray with 12 paper cake cases.
2. Whisk the margarine/butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until pale then whisk in the eggs.
3. Fold in the flour, baking powder, vanilla extract and cream soda until a batter of a soft dropping consistency has formed. If it's too runny, add a little more flour.
4. Drop the mixture into the paper cases using a teaspoon until they're each about two thirds full.
5. Pop in the oven and bake at 180 degrees C for about 12-15 minutes until a cocktail stick inserted into the sponge comes out clean.
6. When baked, place on a wire rack and leave to cool. At this stage the cakes can be frozen for icing at a later date if you wish. 

For the icing:

1. Place the butter, vanilla extract and cream soda into a bowl and stir/whisk while gradually adding the icing sugar until a thick, fluffy mixture has formed. If it's too runny, add some more icing sugar. The longer you whisk it for, the whiter the icing will become.
2. Spoon the icing into a piping bag with a nozzle of your choice attached (I used a large circular one) and pipe onto the cakes or simply spread it on using a palette knife.
3. Use scissors to cut the four plastic straws into pieces of about 3-4ins in length and push one piece into the side of each cake for a neat finishing touch. You could also add some rainbow sprinkles if you fancy.

Cheer-Me-Up Angel Cake

Of all the cakes I've made this is certainly not one of the most elegant - I even overcooked the sponges (although I seem to have mastered the art of nice even cupcakes my large round cakes always come out abysmally) - but after a horrible week of suffering from a severe chest infection and generally feeling rubbish, by the weekend I had a serious craving for a massive dose of unapologetically sinful sweet, spongey, jammy, melt-in-the-mouth, no-frills CAKE. CAKE just for me!! And the result was blissfully delicious, though unfortunately so much so that my family managed to devour the majority of it! I used my favourite vanilla buttercream icing and, being a sucker for girly prettiness, I made pink and yellow angel cake sponges topped off with rainbow sprinkles for added cheeriness. As I said, this is by no means the most sophisticated of cakes but it's super easy and certainly won't fail to raise a smile!

INGREDIENTS - makes 2 sponge layers of 8in/10cm diameter

For the cake:

• 8 oz self-raising flour
• 8 oz caster sugar
• 8 oz margarine/butter
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• Few drops red food colouring

For the filling/icing:

• 2 tbsp (approx.) jam of your choice (I used strawberry)
• 10 oz icing sugar
• 2 oz cream cheese (at room temperature, full-fat works best)
• 2 oz butter (unsalted if preferred)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Coloured sprinkles, to decorate

METHOD

For the cake:

1. Grease two round cake pans of around 8in/10cm in diameter or line with baking parchment.
2. Whisk the margarine/butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until pale then whisk in the eggs.
3. Fold in the flour, baking powder and vanilla extract until a batter of a soft dropping consistency has formed.
4. Pour half of the mixture into one of the cake pans - it shouldn't be any more than two thirds full.
5. Add a few drops of red food colouring to the remaining batter until it has turned a pale pink colour. Don't worry too much if it doesn't look the perfect shade, it will look different when baked.
6. Pour the mixture into the second cake pan - again, it shouldn't be any more than two thirds full (if you have any leftover batter at this stage why not fill a few cupcake cases? :)
7. Pop in the oven and bake at 180 degrees C for about 15-18 minutes until a cocktail stick inserted into the sponge comes out clean.
8. When baked, remove the cakes from the pans (I still haven't mastered the art of this!!) and leave to cool on a wire rack. At this stage the sponges can be frozen for assembling and decorating at a later date if you wish.

For the filling & icing:

1. Whisk the butter, cream cheese and vanilla extract together in a bowl and then gradually add the icing sugar until a pale spreadable mixture has formed. If too stiff, add a little milk and if too runny, add some more icing sugar.
2. If the sponges have risen up too much in the middle, saw off the tops using a sharp serated knife so that they're nice and flat, otherwise they'll be horribly wobbly when stacked together. See below for an idea of what to do with the offcuts!
3. Place the yellow sponge on something flat that it will not need to be moved from when completed, e.g. a cake board, tray or tin lid (moving the finished cake is best avoided if possible!), then spread a thin layer of jam all over the top of the yellow sponge followed by a thin layer of the buttercream icing. If any bits of the sponges have fallen off these can be 'glued' back on with jam :)
4. Firmly place the pink sponge on top then spread the buttercream icing all over the assembled cake with a palette knife, smoothing out the top and sides as you go, while attempting to resist repeatedly sampling its fluffy, vanilla-y deliciousness.
5. Decorate with rainbow sprinkles for some extra colour.

Leftover sponge and icing...?

Simply layer torn up chunks of pink and yellow sponge and jam in small individual containers (e.g. ramekins or teacups) then top with icing and sprinkles to make some cute little trifle-style angelic desserts!

Cheat's Creme Brulee Cupcakes

I adore a good creme brulee so I leapt at the chance of transforming this silky, creamy dessert into a cupcake. However, after much Googling and continuously seeing the words 'separate egg yolks' and 'blow torch' I immediately decided they were too much effort. Because I'm lazy like that.

I then stumbled across an American recipe where the cupcakes were filled with vanilla flavour 'pudding' which sounded like minimal faff but, sadly, what the Americans refer to as 'pudding' (a kind of creamy dessert usually served in individual pots if I remember rightly from watching Scrubs) is not widely available here in the UK. Luckily I discovered the perfect substitute in the form of vanilla flavour Alpro soya dessert! This can be bought as a pack of four individual pots from most major supermarkets and can usually be found among the gluten/dairy-free products (they're also available in dark chocolate, milk chocolate and toffee which are all yummy too, just FYI). I decided to take the plunge and attempt some spun sugar decorations (actually not as scary as they sound) for an authentically crisp but refreshingly blowtorch-free creme brulee-esque topping. Rounded off with a simple vanilla buttercream icing, these little beauties went down a treat, with many 'ooh's of admiration :) And they're so ridiculously easy to make!

You'll only need to use a small amount of the soya dessert for the cakes but any that's left over is delicious poured over sponge puddings, brownies, other warm desserts etc as a tasty alternative to custard (or of course you could just eat it straight out the pot if you haven't fallen into a sugar coma brought on by sampling icing like me...)

INGREDIENTS - makes approx. 12

For the cakes:

• 4 oz self-raising flour
• 4 oz caster sugar
• 4 oz margarine/butter
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling/icing/spun sugar decorations:

• 12 tsp (approx.) vanilla flavour Alpro soya dessert
• 5 oz icing sugar
• 2 oz butter (unsalted if preferred)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 oz caster sugar

METHOD

For the cakes:

1. Line a baking tray with 12 paper cake cases.
2. Whisk the margarine/butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until pale then whisk in the eggs.
3. Fold in the flour, baking powder and vanilla extract until batter of a soft dropping consistency has formed.
4. Drop the mixture into the paper cases using a teaspoon until they're each about two thirds full.
5. Pop in the oven and bake at 180 degrees C for about 12-15 minutes until a cocktail stick inserted into the sponge comes out clean.
6. When baked,  place on a wire rack and leave to cool. At this stage the cakes can be frozen for decorating at a later date if you wish.

For the filling, icing & spun sugar decorations:

1. When they have cooled, use a teaspoon or small sharp knife to carefully cut out a hole (about 2cm in diameter and 1.5cm in depth) in the top of each cupcake, being careful not to cut too deep into the sponge. Don't discard the sponge bits you've cut out!
2. Put about a teaspoon of the vanilla soya dessert into each hole and gently push the sponge part that was cut out back into each one.
3. Add the caster sugar to a small pan over LOW heat until it has turned brown and melted to a thick, sticky consistency - DO NOT STIR! Be patient and don't be tempted to turn up the heat to speed up the process as it will burn horribly, trust me!
4. When all the granules have disappeared, scoop the melted sugar out of the pan using a spatula and spread onto baking parchment or the opened-out clean inside of a cereal packet (sounds odd but works really well for this kind of thing, and it's always good to recycle!) Do this quickly as the sugar will begin to set rapidly.
5. While you're waiting for the spun sugar to cool and set, place the butter and vanilla extract into a bowl and stir/whisk while gradually adding the icing sugar until a thick, fluffy mixture has formed.
6. Spoon the icing into a piping bag with a nozzle of your choice attached (I used a large circle one) and squeeze onto the top of each cake, or simply spread the icing on using a palette knife.
7. Break up your sheet of spun sugar into randomly sized shards and place some on top of each cake just before serving. Any leftover shards can be stored in an airtight container for about a week or so.