Tag Archives: cake

September 14, 2012

Buttermilk Cake with Nutella Frosting

By Rock Salt

Those of you who follow me on Facebook or Twitter may have seen me bemoaning the dark art of tidying up. I managed to throw out the recipe (scribbled on the back of an envelope) for the best vanilla sponge I’ve ever made – this lovely, soft buttermilk sponge that I want to share with you today. I am pretty annoyed with myself about it; the cake really was a triumph, and I’d love to be able to replicate it. I’ve had a go at it again since, and I’ll give you the second version of the recipe, but I’ll be mogadored if it’s as good as the elusive original.

I took inspiration for the decoration of this cake from a photo I found on Pinterest, from Sweetharts Cakes and Bakes. I loved the idea of lining up Mikado biscuits around a cake to make it into a wee fort. What better way to stop cake theft? So, I had a go at making my own version – I used my sadly lost buttermilk sponge and the white chocolate and macadamia nutella for frosting, then surrounded the cake with milk chocolate Mikado biscuits. Here are a few photos:

For the life of me I couldn’t get a good photo of the whole cake – my mojo wasn’t working that day. Still, you get the idea. The chocolate spread is delicious as icing, and sets up nice and firm to hold those biscuits in place as it cools. You will have to heat it a little to get it spreadable, but make sure it’s spreadable and not pourable; if it’s too soft it won’t hold the Mikado buttresses and they’ll fall off and then snap when you try to stick them back on. Confession: I had a second cake that fell victim to this self same problem. Here is is, poor denuded thing:

So that’s the first of my tips for making a Mikado cake: make sure your icing is nice and thick, and almost cool, before gently pressing the biscuits in around the edges. My second tip is probably even more important: don’t put the Mikado round the edges until the cake is on the serving plate or base board that you will be presenting it on. I made this second, fatal error which compounded the doom of the second cake’s biscuity fortifications. I decorated the cake on an icing turntable, left to cool overnight and then had to lift into a cake carrier and *then* on to a serving plate later. The first cake was alright, with the sticks being anchored on there firmly by the frosting, but the second one was a goner. So frustrating, and then kind of embarrassing as I presented both cakes at once, and one had patently fallen apart in the kitchen moments before…

To focus back on the positive, then, let me quickly tell you about the topping on both cakes. When I made the plain chocolate Nutella and white chocolate and macadamia Nutella, I reserved a few of the toasted nuts after the first stage. I ground these up to a coarse powder with a few bigger chunks, then made a sort of nut brittle crumble for use in cake decorating. I made it up as I went along, and the basic steps to make macadamia brittle are as follows:

  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp water
  • 5 macadamia nuts, coarsely ground

Heat the sugar and water in a frying pan over a medium heat, until the sugar has melted and mixed with the water. Add the ground nuts and mix thoroughly, then cook until lightly browned and very bubbly.

Be careful because this will be extremely hot and liable to leap out and burn the unwary baker.

Once browned, pour the mixture out onto greased paper or tinfoil and allow to cool. When cool, break and crumble into bits – job done!

This was such a simple idea but it really made the cake. It adds crunch and flavour, and it looks really fancy into the bargain. Depending on your definition of fancy, I suppose.

Finally, then, here is the recipe for second best every buttermilk cake. I’m going to continue to work on it. This makes one six inch, five layer cake.

  • 250g plain flour
  • 250g margarine
  • 250g golden caster sugar
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 250ml buttermilk
  • 1 tbsp vanilla essence
  • 3 large eggs

Put all the ingredients in a bowl, and mix until just combined – no need to overdo it, that’s the secret to a light sponge. Maybe. I think it’s one of them, anyway.

Pour a fifth of the batter into a lined cake tin and bake at 170C for 10 – 15 minutes. If you have more than one six inch cake tin, you can bake several layers at once. I had to do them separately, which is fine but you do get sick of hearing the oven timer. It’s really important that you line the tin with a circle of greaseproof paper when you’re reusing a cake tin, to prevent sticking. Also brush the sides with butter before ou pour a new load of cake mix in.

As you remove each layer, place it on a cooling rack. This is also important for keeping the sponge light – if you cool a cake in the tin or flat on a worktop, it will end up more dense as more moisture remains inside the cake. Once all five layers are done and cooled, fill and ice with your favourite homemade Nutella, then stack Mikado round the outsides.

14 comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Cake, Original recipes, Snacks, Vegetarian

May 4, 2012

May the Fourth Be With You

By Rock Salt

I will properly blog this next week, but I wanted to share the photo before the day was done. It’s a devils food cake Death Star. This photos was taken as I finished the final spraying, surrounded by colleagues taking photos on their iPhones – this is one kindly donated by Miss R, who incidentally writes a splendid health and beauty blog, H2TBeauty.

The cake is a prize in a raffle being held today and tonight at The Flying Duck in Glasgow. It’s in aid of the MS Society, and arranged by Laurie of Too Much TV. If you can’t make it along – as so many of you won’t be able to! – there is information about making a donation to the cause here (though you won’t have the chance to win a Death Star cake): http://www.mssociety.org.uk/get-involved/donate

UPDATE: You can now donate directly to Laurie at http://www.justgiving.com/Laurie-Cowan. Recently I’ve been getting 100 hits a day; if everyone gave £1 to MS Society Laurie would be half way to her target. Just sayin.

May the Force be with you, and if you’re coming to the Flying Duck later I’ll see you there.

22 comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Cake

April 16, 2012

Herman the German Friendship Cake

By Rock Salt

Herman the German Friendship Cake is cropping up here and there – he’s obviously come into fashion again! I was explaining him to people at work today, and one of the ladies says she remembers her mum making him (though he wasn’t called Herman, then) about thirty years ago! I said, wouldn’t it be nice to think that my Herman was a descendent of your mum’s? She kind of looked at me a bit funny. I think people who don’t have sourdough starters don’t really know what to make of the whole business.

Anyway, if you’re not familiar with Herman, he’s a sourdough cake that’s said to have Amish origins. When he comes to your house (assuming you know someone who wants to give you a Herman baby, or like me you’re willing to come out and ask for one to be POSTED to you…), you keep him in a big bowl at room temperature for ten days, stirring often and feeding twice with flour, milk and sugar. When the ten days are up, you use part of him to make a lovely, moist cake, and pass on three parts to other people who would like to make their own Herman. They do the same thing, passing on three parts and baking the fourth, and the people who they pass on to do the same, and so on. Yes, it’s like a chain letter, but much nicer and there’s cake involved.

I had a bit of trouble finding people who were interested in taking a Herman baby (or a Hermanite, as Fee so wonderfully phrased it when she asked for one). I think it sounds like a lot of work, which it isn’t, and I know at least one person said it sounded like mass food poisoning. I tried to explain that this is how bread and cakes were risen, before we had commercial yeast or baking powder. I think I just came across as a bit of a smart arse… But it’s true! People also seemed afraid of killing Herman, which is in fact very difficult to do unless you completely ignore the instructions that come with him – yes, he comes with a list of very clear instructions. The main one is ‘do not put me in the fridge!’, though you can freeze portions of starter for later use, if you like.

I took a photo of Herman every day, while I had him. They all look more or less the same, but you can see a bit of rise and fall and rise again in how bubbly he looks – on the last couple of days he was really active, very keen to get baking if you ask me.

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As I mentioned, I saw that my friend Miss T had a Herman in her house, and cheekily asked her on Facebook if she would send one my way from her home in West Chiltington to mine in Glasgow. I’m glad to report that Herman made it safely all that way, having been sealed up in a tub and wrapped in a padded envelope. I would like to thank Miss T for passing him on to me, and I have done my bit in the Karmic chain by posting him a little further up the road, to Fee in Perthshire.

Apart from the part where you have a house guest for ten days (Louie was glad of the company), you get to make some lovely cake at the end of it. In fact, you can proceed directly to making the cake without growing and feeding your starter, if you prefer. My instructions for Herman came with lots of different variations, and I made two of them, with a little adjustment to each. What I didn’t do was get great pictures of the cakes, so we shall have to make do with what we have.

Firstly I made a spicy triple ginger loaf, as follows:

  • portion of Herman the German friendship cake
  • 150g self raising flour
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • pinch of salt
  • 60g dark brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 60g chopped crystallised ginger
  • 1 tsp ginger extract
  • 150g agave syrup
  • 1 medium egg
  • 1 heaped tbsp sour cream
  • 150ml milk
  • 60g butter, softened

Simply put all of those ingredients in a big bowl and mix until combined. The batter will be very loose.

Pour into a greased and floured loaf tin and bake at 170C for 40 minutes, until a wooden skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in tin for half an hour, then carefully remove and finish cooling on rack for several hours before slicing.

The second loaf I made was double chocolate and cranberry. I definitely don’t do things by halves. This recipe was of my own devising and was very much put together on the spot. Luckily I took notes:

  • one portion Herman the German friendship cake starter
  • 150g self raising flour
  • 60g unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 100g golden caster sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 100g white chocolate chips
  • 60g craisins (dried cranberries)
  • 60g butter
  • 150ml milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Again, combine all the ingredients in a big bowl until mixed with no streaks of white. This is a more standard cake mix, the kind that drops off your spoon in big splodges when you lift it out of the bowl.

Scrape into a greased and floured loaf tin, and bake at 170C, uncovered for 35 minutes and then covered for a further 20, or until a wooden skewer comes out clean from the middle. For this cake, it’s best to cool it completely in the tin for several hours or overnight, before turning out and slicing. Don’t try to slice it while it’s still warm. I’m serious about this.

 

Both of these cakes were highly praised and thoroughly enjoyed – people came round to the idea of Herman more when there was moist, full of flavour cake in evidence. I was initially worried that the ginger cake would be too gingery but it wasn’t at all – in fact, it could have stood a little big more heat without being over the top. Perhaps a splash of ginger beer or wine in place of some of the milk? Quadruple ginger cake, now we’re talking. The double chocolate and cranberry cake was chocolatey without being dense or too rich, and very soft – this is why you need to wait until it cools before you slice it. I was too eager and ended up with a bit of a mess on my hands. I soon cleaned it up by eating almost every last crumb that fell by the wayside – it was a good chocolate cake.

Thus end my adventures with Herman! If you’re offered a starter yourself, don’t be afraid of taking it and looking after him for a while. You’ll be rewarded with cake and with the knowledge that you’re part of a chain that, in spirit if not in actual factual reality, unites bakers around the country and, indeed, the world. It’s a nice thought. Plus, being able to bake sourdough cake and bread will be a bankable skill come the zombie apocalypse.

28 comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Cake, German food, Original recipes, Snacks, Vegetarian

July 13, 2011

The Strawcumber Saga Part Two

By Rock Salt

The concluding part of this tragicomic tale is here at last. Sadly, I haven’t invented a time machine that enabled me to go back and take more photos of the cake in its various stages of construction, and nor has there been occasion to make it again in order to get those same photos but without all the impossible space-time business. We will have to rely on words alone, and my vague concept of what the recipe might have been for the constituent parts…

We left the tale as I was gloomily munching on cake offcuts and staring at a cake that looked as though it had been crushed by an ACME ton weight and then sliced in half. I decided to just go ahead and slice the cake horizontally and fill it with jam and buttercream, even though it was so thin. I should have just done this in the first place, as it now had the added difficulty of being in two halves already. I used my trusty cake wire to make the cut, which was happily successful and drama-free, then applied the cucumber jam to the cut surface of the cake. This much-doubted jam was made as follows:

  • Grate one 9oz cucumber into a small pot and heat until bubbling
  • Reduce for ten minutes or so, or until the flesh has broken down into liquid
  • Add the sugar and boil until softly set, about 20 minutes? This is a guess. You’ll know it’s ready because it will be sticky and syrupy looking and will drip from the spoon rather than pour. I’m not a jam expert in anyone’s book, but this how I judged it and it worked out alright.
  • Set aside to cool, then decant into a jar and store in the fridge.

The jam is a little like lime marmalade in appearance, with the cucumber rind remaining intact in the face of being boiled. It gives a pleasant crunch to the jam which contrasted well with the soft sponge and creamy frosting. The flavour is sweet and delicate, with only a hint of cucumber, really. There was enough to fill a ten inch cake.

I topped the layer of jam with a layer of strawberry buttercream. I made the buttercream as follows:

  • Puree some strawberries in a blender – three or four is enough
  • Take 100g of butter at room temperature and mix in the strawberry puree with a hand mixer, until the two are softened and combined
  • Add icing sugar gradually; you’ll need about 250 – 300g? Again, a bit of guesswork here, I got fed up measuring as I had to add more and more icing sugar to make up for the liquid in the strawberries. I also ended up with far too much buttercream, if there is such a thing…

Once the sponge was filled, I replaced the top halves and squished down a little. The good thing about buttercream is that it will hide a lot of mistakes. Unfortunately, one of the mistakes it won’t hide is the fact that you’ve lopped off two slices from the edges of a round cake… I did my best though, and then finished it off with some strawberry halves and glitter, because there are few cakes that glitter can’t improve.

The photos of the strawcumber cake are from after girls night portions were handed out and devoured. When I announced that the cake was a sponge (ooooh…) with strawberry buttercream (mmmmm…) and cucumber jam (oo…ooooh?) there was a general feeling of uncertainty, to say the least. This was soon resolved as everyone took a bite and thoroughly enjoyed the flavour combination. It’s a bit like Pimms, but a cake, and better.

Since the sponge ended up being very plain, I won’t go through the recipe and method; you can get a nice, clear recipe for a plain sponge in a hundred places, but cucumber jam is a different story, and one I’ll tell properly before too much longer. For now, thanks for bearing with me while I muddled through this cake stress. It’s a learning curve sometimes, this baking malarkey.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , | posted in Cake, Original recipes

July 13, 2011

Year of the Cake Part Twenty Two: Hearts and Stars Cake

By Rock Salt

Sunday, the day of rest. Or, if you’re me, the day of increasingly frantic tidying, a failed cake and melted scales – and this all before lunch (which, incidentally, you also have to prepare before your guest arrives). Now, once again I am exaggerating for comic effect – I wasn’t frantic, though the melting scales did threaten to tip me over the edge, and it was all more than worth it because I had a lovely, peaceful visit from my friend Mrs P and her adorable new baby. That said, we mostly let the baby do her own thing while we had a good old chat; she was fine, there weren’t any live wires or wild animals about. I stuck with my two recent favourites for lunch and did carbonara and chocolate fondant puddings. I got the recipe right this time by using much shallower ramekins, ramekins that had originally held two Gu chocolate banoffee desserts.Those were nice, though I understand that some of their other products are really to die for, plus you get free ramekins with them… The to-die-for-ness of gu products notwithstanding, the hot chocolate fondant puddings are really something else and honestly so easy to make. I made the batter for them in advance today and just let it stand, covered, on the worktop until I was ready to bake them. I gave the mix a quick whisk with a fork to get some air back in and then poured into the ramekins and baked – perfect result. There it is, a chocolatey island in a sea of double cream. I think the discovery and mastering of this recipe could be my downfall.

The point of this quick post, though, is just to show the wee sponge cake I made for Mrs P to take home with her, to share with Mr P (though she is at liberty not to share, of course). I wanted to do something that said ‘congratulations’ or other such on it, but time was against me. I just kept the whole thing really simple in the  end and made a vanilla sponge with a dusting of icing sugar and some pretty sprinkles on top.

I hope it’s enjoyed by all; here is the recipe for one five-inch cake:

  • 4oz golden caster sugar
  • 4oz margarine
  • 4oz plain flour
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 eggs

I used the all in one method, or the ‘I’ve run out of time’ method as it’s sometimes known, and just threw everything in to the bowl and mixed with a wooden spoon. Once it was combined, I spooned into a greased cake tin and baked at 180C for 20 minutes, then turned down to 160C for the final ten minutes. It rose a lot, so I had to slice off a bit then invert the cake to give a nice smooth top surface. Then I dusted with icing sugar and sprinkled with sugar hearts and white chocolate stars. Yay!

Oh, I melted the scales by trying to use the weighing tray bit to melt chocolate and butter in the microwave. I swear I’ve done this before with no ill effects, but today it was having none of it. I concluded my weighing business using an empty 250g margarine container, in case you were wondering. I do need new scales now, though, that’s not really a longterm solution.

To finish on a completely different note, this is what I served for breakfast today:

Best girlfriend ever? Well, yes, when I’m not asking the G man to just get OUT if he’s going, so I can get on with all the things I have to get on with… Well, it’s swings and roundabouts, innit?

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , | posted in Cake, Dessert, Original recipes, Other people's recipes

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