O Canada!… Maple Syrup Cake Weekly Bake-Off

So, regular readers may have noticed it has been a while since I published a Weekly Bake-Off post.

I was thrilled last Monday when I saw the Weekly Bake-Off challenge… Maple Syrup Cake.
Well, my little heart skipped a beat. Those who know me personally will know I have spent two decades dreaming of life in Canada, since a holiday there with my parents as a teenager, and 2 subsequent trips as an adult. I spent the Summer or 2001 living and working in Vancouver, and count this as one of the happiest times in my life. I love this beautiful city and its beautiful surroundings!

So a cake made with Maple Syrup is a lovely reminder of the land of the Maple Leaf!

Also what’s not to love about maple syrup?
Delia Smith describes maple syrup as ”a unique ingredient, smooth and silky textured, with a sweet, distinctive flavour – hints of caramel with overtones of toffee will not do- and a rare colour amber set alight. Maple flavour is, well, maple flavour, uniquely different from any other, and ultimately quality is determined by what they call the long mouth feel”.

I am pleased with how the Maple Syrup Cake turned out. The sponge is lovely and moist, and the flavour of maple syrup is delicate throughout. This is a recipe I will definitely try again.

The recipe below is adapted slightly from Mary Berry’s 100 Cakes & Bakes.
I have omitted pecan nuts from the recipe for the benefit of Mr Hungry Squirrel’s nut-allergy.

Check out the other entrants’ submissions to the Weekly Bake-Off Challenge.

The Recipe

Ingredients
Cake 225g unsalted butter, softened 225g light muscovado sugar zest of 1 orange 4 large eggs 100ml maple syrup 350g self-raising flour 2 level tsp baking powder ½ tsp ground ginger	Filling & Topping 500ml double cream, whipped 3 tbsp maple syrup zest of 1 orange

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C.
Lightly grease a deep, round 8 inch cake tin and line the base with baking parchment.

Put all the cake ingredients into a large bowl and mix until well blended.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin, and level the surface.

Bake for 1 – 1¼ hours.
After 30 – 40 minutes, place a disc of baking parchment over the top to prevent the cake from browning too much.
A fine skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean.

Allow to cool in the tin, for 10 – 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack, remove the baking parchment and allow to cool completely.

Whip the cream (careful not to over-beat it), and then fold in the maple syrup.

Split the cake into three layers.

Spread a layer of cream between each layer and over the top.

Decorate the top with the orange zest.

Enjoy!

Weekly Bake-Off Secret Santa… Thankyou Nelly!

In November the lovely Amy from Weekly Bake-Off announced she was organising a Secret Santa for the Weekly Bake-Off participants.
I signed up straight away, and last week I baked and sent my Secret Santa gift on it’s way to my designated recipient.
Then, I eagerly awaited the arrival of my own Secret Santa gift…

I was anxious that my gift would arrive, as one of my batches of cookies from The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap went missing in the post. I am convinced Mr Postman couldn’t resist the smell of freshly baked cookies through the packaging, and just couldn’t help himself!
It turned out that my missing package of cookies was from the lovely Nelly of Nelly’s Cupcakes. I was gutted to miss out on these wonderful looking cookies, and was also really disappointed for Nelly as I can appreciate how much time and effort went in to making her cookies for the Cookie Swap!

So, when I got in from work on Monday night to find the Sorry We Missed You card from Royal Mail, I had my fingers and toes crossed that this parcel was my Secret Santa gift!
I dragged my husband out of bed a little earlier than usual on Tuesday morning, so we had time to go to the sorting office on our way to work.
Before I unwrapped the parcel, I opened the card attached to the front, and was completely touched that my Secret Santa had gone to the trouble of finding me a squirrel-fronted Christmas card.
Inside the brown wrapping paper I was thrilled to find this box of delights…

Inside were four gingerbread men lollipops, a bag of mini gingerbread men, some sea salt caramel fudge (which I am saving until after Christmas to try), and some chocolate coins (which I have almost finished already!).

I especially love the little dungarees and bow ties on these cheeky looking gingerbread men.

Thankyou Nelly for your hard work in putting together this lovely box of treats.

Happy Christmas everyone!

Black Forest Cake Weekly Bake-Off

Here at Hungry Squirrel Cakes, I have had one busy week.
First, I had to contend with the day job, 2 nights out on the trot at the weekend, baking and decorating a dozen cupcakes for a 40th birthday for one of these nights out, and finally baking and posting 3 dozen cookies for The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap (blog post coming soon…).
PHEW!

So, I wasn’t sure if I could fit in this week’s Weekly Bake-Off challenge. However, I couldn’t resist baking this Black Forest Cake. I just love the combination of chocolate and cherries, so managed to fit this bake in to my busy schedule.

The recipe below is adapted slightly from Mary Berry’s 100 Cakes & Bakes.
I have omitted the flaked almonds from the decoration, as Mr Hungry Squirrel has a nut allergy!

If I use this recipe again, I think I would make a few changes.
I would slice the cake into 2 instead of 3. I found the sponge layers a little thin.
I would also reduce the amount of cream, omitting the cream from the sides of the cake. I found the cream in the layers and all round the outside of the cake a bit much.

Check out the other entrants’ submissions to the Weekly Bake-Off Challenge.

The Recipe

Ingredients
Cake 4 large eggs 100g caster sugar 75g self-raising flour, sifted 25g cocoa powder, sifted	Filling & Topping 2 x 420g tins black cherries 2 level tbsp cornflour 3-4 tbsp Kirsch 600ml whipping cream, whipped dark chocolate curls to decorate

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C.
Lightly grease a deep, round 8 inch cake tin and line the base with baking parchment, or a disc of Bake-O-Glide.

Break the eggs into a mixing bowl, add the sugar, and using an electric whisk, beat for approximately 5 minutes, until the mixture is pale and thick enough to leave a trail when the whisk is lifted out of the bowl.

Carefully fold in the flour and cocoa powder.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin.

Bake for 40-45 minutes. A fine skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean.

Now to make the filling…

Drain the tins of cherries, reserving the syrup.
Sift the cornflour into a small saucepan and gradually stir in the cherry syrup.
Bring slowly to the boil, stirring all the time, and then simmer for 2 minutes.
Remove from the heat, and allow to cool.
Add the Kirsch and drained cherries to your thickened syrup, and stir to combine.
(I used Chambord Liqueur, as the shop was out of Kirsch, and I had seem Amy from Weekly Bake-Off had substituted Chambord Liqueur for the Kirsch).

Cut the sponge into 3 layers with a long sharp knife.

Sandwich the layers together with ½ of the whipped cream and all of the cherry mixture.
You should have a layer of sponge, then cream, then cherries, sponge, cream, cherries, and finally a layer of sponge  on top.
Spread the remaining whipped cream around the sides of the cake and over the top.
Retain some of the cream, so you can then pipe rosettes of cream around the top edge of the cake.
Decorate the top of the cake with the chocolate curls and fresh cherries.

Enjoy!

Choc & Vanilla Marble Loaf Weekly Bake-Off

It’s Weekly Bake-Off time again, and it’s another chocolate-based one… perfect!

As this is part of the Weekly Bake-Off, this recipe is from Mary Berry’s 100 Cakes & Bakes.

I made a slight tweak to the method.
The method suggests that you randomly spoon the vanilla and chocolate cake mixtures into the tin to create the marble effect.
I am not sure that is how the effect in the picture accompanying the recipe was created (see below), so I layered the mixture to give a more even effect.
I know mine is nowhere near as perfect looking as Mary Berry’s, but nonetheless, I am pleased with how it turned out.

I have to be honest, I found the loaf a little dry.
The icing saves it from being too dry, but I am not sure I would use this recipe again.

Mary’s Marble Loaf…

Image © http://www.mykitchentable.co.uk

My Marble Loaf…

Check out the other entrants’ submissions to the Weekly Bake-Off Challenge.

The Recipe

Ingredients
Cake 225g unsalted butter, softened 225g caster sugar 275g self-raising flour 2 level tsp baking powder 4 large eggs 2 tbsp milk ½ tsp vanilla extract 1½ level tbsp cocoa powder 2 tbsp hot water	Icing 25g unsalted butter 15g cocoa powder 1-2 tbsp milk 100g icing sugar, sifted about 25g white chocolate, melted

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C.
Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin with baking parchment, or use a loaf tin liner like I did – super quick and easy!

Measure the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract into a large bowl and beat until well blended.
Divide the mixture into 2 bowls.

In a small bowl, mix the cocoa powder and hot water together until smooth. Allow to cool slightly, then add to one of the bowls of cake mixture, mixing well until evenly blended.

Spoon one third of the chocolate mixture into the tin and level the surface.
Spread one half of the vanilla mixture over the top, and once again level the surface.

Repeat these steps, until all the mixture is used.
You should have one layer of chocolate, then vanilla, then chocolate, then vanilla, then chocolate on top.

Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour. A fine skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean.

Allow to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack, peel off the parchment/loaf tin liner, and leave to cool completely.

To make the icing, melt the butter in a small non-stick pan, add the cocoa powder, stir to blend, and cook gently for 1 minute.
Stir in the milk and icing sugar, remove from the heat and mix thoroughly.
Spread the icing mixture onto the cold cake.
Drizzle with the melted white chocolate, and leave to set.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Fudge Cake Weekly Bake-Off

 

This week I celebrated my birthday. What better way to celebrate than with a Chocolate Fudge Cake!

The original recipe has a layer of chocolate ganache in the middle of the 2 sponges, and a layer on top.
I decided to increase the quantities for the ganache from the original recipe in order to cover the whole cake. After all, a birthday celebration calls for a celebration cake!

I found these edible gold stars in Lakeland, and thought they would add the perfect finishing touch to my Chocolate Fudge Cake.

This has been my favourite Weekly Bake-Off recipe so far, most definitely one I will use again!

Check out the other entrants’ submissions to the Weekly Bake-Off Challenge.

The Recipe

Ingredients
Cake 50g sifted cocoa powder 6 tbsp boiling water 3 eggs 50ml milk 175g self-raising flour 1 rounded tsp baking powder 100g butter softened 275g caster sugar	Ganache & Filling 4 tbsp apricot jam 200g dark chocolate 200ml double cream

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C.
Grease and line two, deep, 20cm sandwich tins with baking parchment.

Blend the sifted cocoa powder and boiling water in a large bowl, then add the remaining cake ingredients and beat until smooth.
Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared tins and level the surface.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until well risen and the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly pressed.
A fine skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out, peel off the parchment, and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the ganache, break the chocolate into pieces and put into a heatproof bowl with the cream, over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate has melted.
Remove the bowl from the heat and stir the mixture to ensure it is smooth.
Leave to cool until it is on the point of setting. (I put the bowl into the fridge for between 1-2 hours, checking regularly, until it is just starting to set).

Warm the apricot jam in a small pan, and then pass through a sieve.
Spread a little over the base of one cake and the top of the other.

Using a palette knife spread a generous layer of ganache over the top of the apricot on your first cake. Set the second cake on top and then spread the remaining ganache over the top and sides of the whole cake.

Decorate as you wish.

Enjoy!

Apple & Cinnamon Cake Weekly Bake-Off

So, it’s time for the Weekly Bake-Off Challenge again. This week I was thrilled to hear it was Apple & Cinnamon Cake… perfect for this time of year.

I love the memories that food can evoke!

Apples at this time of year remind me of my Mum making Apple Sponge Pudding for Halloween when I was a child. She would wrap a £1 coin in greaseproof paper and bake it in the sponge. There was much excitement between my brothers and I to see who would be the lucky recipient of the £1 coin!

Cinnamon always reminds me of my Danish Grandfather’s Christmas Rice Pudding (Risalamande)!

So, a cake with apple & cinnamon makes one happy squirrel!

I made a couple of tweaks to the original recipe from Mary Berry’s 100 Cakes & Bakes. I baked my cake at a slightly lower temperature than what the recipe recommends, and for a shorter time. I also omitted the nuts (for the benefit of my lovely, nut-allergy, husband).

I was pleased with how the cake turned out. It tastes delicious, and is really lovely served warm, with a Cinnamon Mascarpone Cream.

Check out the other entrants’ submissions to the Weekly Bake-Off Challenge.

The Recipe

Ingredients
Cake 225g unsalted butter at room temperature 225g light brown muscovado sugar 3 large eggs 100g sultanas 225g self-raising flour 2 tsp baking powder 400g cooking apples, grated 1 tsp ground cinnamon	Cinnamon Mascarpone Cream 250g mascarpone 142ml single cream 2 tbsp icing sugar 1tsp cinnamon

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C.
Grease and line a tin with baking parchment.

Put the butter, sugar, eggs, sultanas, flour and baking powder into a large bowl and beat until thoroughly blended.

Spoon half the mixture in to the prepared tin and level the surface.
Spread the grated apple on top.
Next sprinkle the cinnamon over the layer of grated apple.
Spoon the remaining cake mixture on top and level the surface.
Sprinkle liberally with light muscovado sugar.

Bake for approximately 1 hour, or until the cake is well risen and golden brown.*

*Keep your eye on the cake during baking, you may need to cover the top with baking parchment halfway through the bake, to prevent the top from burning.

Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out, remove the baking parchment, and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Before serving, sprinkle with a dusting of icing sugar.

To make the Cinnamon Mascarpone Cream, simply beat together the mascarpone and cream in a mixing bowl, then sift in the icing sugar and cinnamon and mix well.

Enjoy!

Mixed Berry Meringue Roulade Weekly Bake-Off

Last Monday I was thrilled to hear a little thud as the post fell through my letterbox. Mr Postman had brought me my copy of Mary Berry’s 100 Cakes & Bakes. I was now fully armed and ready for every challenge Weekly Bake-Off would set.

I was also excited by this week’s choice of Weekly Bake-Off Challenge… Raspberry & Meringue Roulade. I love raspberries, and meringue ain’t so bad either, so was looking forward to trying this recipe out.

I decided to add blackberries to my roulade to give it more colour, and another dimension to the flavour. I also omitted flaked almonds from the recipe, so my lovely, allergic to nuts, husband could enjoy this one too.

I am really pleased with the end result and love the decoration with the berries .
Hope you like it too…

Check out the other entrants’ submissions to the Weekly Bake-Off Challenge.

The Recipe

Ingredients
Roulade 5 large egg whites 275g caster sugar	Filling 300ml whipping cream 350g berries (I used half raspberries & half blackberries)

Method

Preheat the oven to 220°C.
Line a Swiss roll tin (33x23cm) with baking parchment.

Whisk the egg whites until stiff. I used my Kenwood freestanding mixer for this… much easier than a handheld mixer!
Gradually add the sugar a teaspoon at a time, continuing to whisk throughout. Whisk until very stiff.

Spread the meringue mixture into your lined tin.

Place the tin in the preheated oven and bake for approximately 8 minutes until pale golden in colour.
Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C and bake the roulade for a further 15 minutes, until firm to the touch.

Remove the meringue from the oven, and turn out onto a sheet of baking parchment covered in a dusting of icing sugar. Remove the parchment from the base of the meringue, and leave until cool.

While the meringue is cooling, whisk the cream until it reaches the stiff peak stage.
Fold in the berries.
Spread this mix over the cooled meringue.
Roll from the long end fairly tightly to form your roulade.
Decorate and chill before serving.

Enjoy!

The Battenburg Bake-Off Weekly Bake-Off

 

So, last week’s Weekly Bake-Off challenge was the Battenburg Cake.

Thankfully, this had just been featured on the Great British Bake-Off Masterclass programme, which I had recorded, so I had the lovely Mary Berry to refer to on the V+ Box for hints and tips!

On the programme, Mary did a twist on the traditional recipe by going for a Coffee & Walnut Battenburg.
I am not a huge fan of either of these flavours (without chocolate accompanying them), so I decided to go for the traditional recipe, in all it’s pink and yellow glory. I loved this cake as a child… very girly!

So I started off by prepping my cake tin.
On the GBBO Masterclass Mary used foil-lined baking parchment – definitely worth investing in if you plan to make Battenburg. I spent too long fiddling round with my flimsy baking parchment, and ended up inserting a piece of card in the fold until I was happy that it was rigid enough to support my mixture.

Next step: prepare the sponge batter, then fill the tin, admire my handywork, and then bake!

Once cooled: I cut the cakes into even strips, paste with the apricot jam, assemble, and cover with marzipan.

Now this was my first time using marzipan, and I think it shows.
Next time, I will do better. Sadly, I rolled the marzipan out too thin, which meant the finish was not as smooth, or as even, as I would have hoped for.

Finally I decorated with little pink and yellow sugarpaste flowers, et Voila…

This was one of the more stressful cakes I have baked lately. Next time, I would be much more confident, and hope to achieve a better looking cake also!

Now, you can see all the Weekly Bake-Off entrants’ attempts at Battenburg and read Judge Urvashi’s comments.

The recipe that follows is a composite of the Hairy Bikers’ recipe and Mary Berry’s recipe.

The Recipe

Ingredients
Cake 175g butter 175g caster sugar 3 eggs 175g self-raising flour ½ tsp baking powder 50g ground almonds ½ tsp vanilla extract 3 tsp milk pink food colouring paste	Covering 6 tbsp apricot jam 500g marzipan icing sugar, for rolling

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C.
Grease and line a 20cm/8in square, shallow cake tin.

Cut out a piece of foil-lined baking parchment that is 7.5cm/3in longer than the length of the tin.
Fold the paper in half widthways.
Open out the parchment and push up the centre fold to make a 4cm/1½in pleat.
Line the base of the tin with this, making sure the pleat runs down the centre of the tin, making two rectangular ‘tins’ within the tin.

Beat the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder and ground almonds in a large bowl for about 2-3 minutes, or until smooth.
Spoon half the mixture into a separate bowl and stir in the vanilla extract and 1½ teaspoons of the milk, and set aside.
Add a small dab of the pink food colouring into the remaining mixture, along with the remaining 1½ teaspoons of the milk, and stir until well combined, and colour even.
Spoon the cake batters into each side of the prepared tin and smooth the surface with the back of a spoon.

Bake in the centre of the oven for about 25 minutes, or until the sponges have risen.
A fine skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean.
Cool in the tin for five minutes, then slide a knife around the outside of each sponge and turn them out onto a wire rack. If the sponges have risen unevenly, press the surface gently until level. Leave until completely cold.

Warm the apricot jam in a saucepan then press through a fine sieve.

Trim the crispy outer edges off the cooled cake with a serrated knife, then cut and trim into 4 equal strips.
Brush the long side of one of the sponges with jam and sandwich together with a sponge of a contrasting colour. Do the same with the other two sponges.
Sandwich the two pairs of sponges together like a chequerboard and brush the top and sides with jam.

Cut two pieces of string, one that is the length of the assembled cake and one that will wrap all around it.
Roll the marzipan out, on a work surface lightly dusted with sifted icing sugar, into an oblong the length of the cake and sufficiently wide to wrap around the cake, using the pieces of string as your measuring guide.
Turn the cake upside down on the marzipan and brush the underside of the sponges with jam.
Wrap the marzipan around the cake, pressing it gently onto the surface of the sponges, and press the edges together to make a firm join.
Turn back over with the seam underneath, trim a thin slice off each end and place on a serving plate.

Enjoy!

Carrot Cake (nut-free version) Weekly Bake-Off

As a keen home-baker, hoping to improve and expand my baking skills, I have found Twitter a great place to discuss baking tips, recipes, and tutorials.

This weekend I decided I would like to try a Carrot Cake recipe, and @WeeklyBakeOff kindly answered my request on Twitter for a good recipe.

Recently, I have been following @WeeklyBakeOff on Twitter.
She has set herself a weekly challenge to bake her way through Mary Berry’s 100 Cakes And Bakes, in order to improve her baking ability. I admire her drive and dedication to bake her way through all 100 recipes, and think this is a great idea!
Find out more about the Weekly Bake Off challenge.

As for the recipe, I decided to use Weekly Bake Off’s own recipe. I did adapt it slightly as I have a husband who is allergic to nuts.
For my recipe, keep on reading…

I am thrilled with this recipe. The cake turned out really well, with a great consistency and a beautiful flavour.

I am most grateful to Amy from Weekly Bake-Off for this recipe.

I know this is one I am going to use over and over again!

Here, you can see all the Weekly Bake-Off entrants’ submissions for Carrot Cake.

The Recipe

Ingredients
Cake 150g plain flour 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1tsp baking powder 1tsp cinnamon 150g caster sugar 2 eggs, beaten 250g carrots, coarsley grated 150ml corn oil 1tsp vanilla essence	Frosting 50g butter at room temp 75g full fat cream cheese 1/2tsp vanilla essence 150g icing sugar

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4.
Grease and line a deep 18cm cake tin.

Put all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix until combined.

Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 35-40 minutes, until the cake is well risen, golden and beginning to shrink away from the sides of the tin.
A fine skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean.

Leave in the tin to cool for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Meanwhile, beat the butter until smooth then add the cream cheese and vanilla essence and mix well.

Add the icing sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

Cover the cake and decorate.

Most importantly, ENJOY!