A Little Christmas Shopping

Whilst out and about today, I did pick up some lovely christmas presents, but also managed to get myself some very lovely decorations too, well who can blame me! I found some really gorgeous scandinavian style shabby chic baubles and a lovely felt flowery heart.
Plus a Missoni scarf, but we'll skim over that bit quickly...!

Cake Decoration - Large Open Roses and Snowflakes

This weekend I have been working on decorations for a couple of cakes I will be working on in the next couple of weeks. The first for my Nan's birthday, and the second is a commission for a colleague at work.

To make the large open roses for my Nan's cake, I followed a tutorial in the Cake Masterclass book by Mich Turner (If you don't have it get, it, such a useful book!) using white fondant icing. I had never used a ball tool or a petal pad before, but thinning and shaping the petals turned out to be a lot easier then I had imagined, and they looked almost life-like when they were placed on the crinkled foil. For the centers I used a fairly runny dark grey icing and then dotted the detail on with a thicker white icing.

The second items were snowflakes for a wintry themed cake! (I wont let the cat out of the bag until I've finished it but I will make sure I put up some photos) I bought some cutters last year to use for a christmas cake, but until now I've never got around to using them. The detail is really intricate and when dusted with some edible silver luster and a pearlescent ball in the centre, I think they will look really pretty!

A Weekend of Baking...Mini Victoria Sponges and Triple Chocolate Brownies

Last Tuesday it was my one year work anniversary, so I decided to make some treats to take in for my colleagues. I recently bought an individual loose-bottomed mini cake pan from Lakeland, so I was looking forward to trying it out to see what I could achieve.

The tray came with a victoria sponge recipe, so using this I set about making the cakes. Everything was going very well until I put the trays of batter into the over, went back to check on them a few minutes later, to find that four of the loose bottoms had sprung slight leaks and were dripping down into the tray below!

I was worried that I would have uneaven bakes with some burning and some still raw, but amazingly, they all turned out rather well! By the time I had trimmed some down, neatened them up, iced them and filled them, they were rather tasty!

My second bake was my triple chocolate brownies, a recipe I keep as a very closely guarded secret as they really are that good! (I'll let you into the secret...you need a lot of chocolate!) Delicious, moreish and decadent, they are the perfect thing to have for elevenses with a cup of tea.

A Weekend of Baking...An Excellent Steak and Ale Pie

Last weekend, as a bid to expand my baking repertoire, I decided to try my hand at an old favourite, a double-crusted Steak and Ale pie.
My family, boyfriend and I all love The Lamb in Stoke Goldington,  for its delicious real ales, proper scrumpy cider and amazing pies. Piled up with fresh vegetables and hand-cut chips, there really is no better way to spend an evening. If you fancy visiting, here is their website to take a look at. They were voted CAMRA Pub of the year in 2008, so it's definitely worth a look.

http://www.thelambatstokegoldington.co.uk/about.html

Before...

So, in an homage to them, I decided to have a go and make my own. I decided to make a simple but tasty steak and ale pie using proper butchers meat, a can of dark ale and some thyme. We used a traditional metal pie plate for the recipe, and this helped to create a beautifully crisp and brown bottom, nothing soggy about that! Glazed with beaten egg and with pastry leaves on top, it made the perfect hearty warming meal for a chilly Saturday night.

...and After! Obviously you can see that it was horrible!

Tip: When lining the tine with my handmade shortcrust, I made the mistake of trimming it before putting the meat in. This of course meant that it slipped down a little into the pan, and when I put the top on, there wasn't a lot of pastry to crimp. Next time, I will leave trimming both sections of pastry until last and then crimp them, hopefully this will mean that they will stick together better when baking.

The Cake and Bake Show 2013

Last month I was very excited to go and visit the second Cake and Bake Show in Earls Court, London. I went on Saturday with a friend, and had the most fantastic day wandering around all of the exhibitions, stalls, classrooms and shops. There is no way I could record every amazing thing I saw in just one post, so expect a few over the coming weeks. I bought some beautiful mugs and a whole host of useful cake decorating goodies, but for now, I will share some of my favourite cakes from the show, enjoy!

Woodland Cakes and Cookies

Beautiful Handpainting

Burlesque

Vintage Gold

Modern Florals

White Lace

Lilac Floral

Art Deco

Vogue

Period Drama

Feathers and Pearls

Country Garden

A Weekend of Baking...Lemons, Lemons and more Lemons!

It seems like a long time since I have been in the kitchen as I have been on holiday, so I thought I'd share a few baking exploits centered around lovely lemons.

Since I made the Lemon cake for the 50th birthday, my mum has been keen on having her own slice, so for her birthday, I made another lemon cake and this time I decided to leave it plain with a simple filling of buttercream and lemon curd. Yet here is the surprise, I made the lemon curd entirely from scratch! I was a little nervous at first, having never made it before, but following a recipe from Delia Smith, I was delighted with the results! The curd was thick and creamy with tiny flecks of lemon rind, and best of all, a deliciously fresh and pungent lemony taste, just what you want from your very own homemade curd.

I baked the cake and it came out just as delicious as before, pricked all over with a skewer before pouring the lemon juice and sugar mixture over the top and allowing it to sink in. I would definitely recommend you leave it overnight to make sure that all of the liquid has been absorbed before you remove it from the tin.

I then filled the cake with a little vanilla buttercream and dollops of the fresh lemon curd, a perfect accompaniment to the rich and juicy lemon sponge.

Tip: When using a mixer, make sure you scrape the sides every few minutes to make sure you don't have any large buttery lumps. This will give your cake a stodgy and undercooked middle and quite a soggy bottom, and nobody wants that!

We also had a Macmillan Coffee Morning at work, and I decided to use my lemon curd agin, making Lemon Curd and Almond buttons (A shortbread style biscuit with a hidden centre of gooey lemon curd) and Lemon Curd and B
lueberry muffins (a rich and creamy muffin made with vanilla yoghurt and a dollop of lemon curd on top). I made both in the evening after work, and in my slightly tired state I forgot to take any photos, but suffice it to say, they were both absolutely delicious and raised some money for an excellent cause.

Bra Celebration Cake

Last weekend I completed my first cake commission! My Team Leader from my last job was turning 50, and her colleagues wanted to present her with a cake. They originally asked the restaurant to make it, but when they said they would not have enough time, they came to me. They presented me with a picture of the sort of cake they wanted, a decorated bra with flowers and some writing. I had to admit I was daunted originally, as I had never attempted anything quite so complex before.

Originally they said that they wanted just a plain sponge cake, but I think for a special birthday cake, you need a little more interest than that! So I found a gorgeous-sounding recipe in my Mich Turner cookery book, a luscious lemon cake. Like a lemon drizzle cake but in her opinion better, and who am I to argue!

I started off with a much larger cake tin then I had ever used before (10") with a similarly large amount of cake mix (9 eggs!) and I was definitely glad I had the KitchenAid, and even then I was wishing I had a bigger bowl. Being a lemon cake it involved a lot of zesting and squeezing, but this gave it a gorgeously strong lemon taste.

Top Tip: To get the most zest off your grater as possible, use a dry pastry brush to remove it.

Once the cake was baked, I poured the juice of six lemons and granulated sugar over the top and let it all sink in. I was nervous about it being too wet, but it all sank in and made a very moist cake, that stayed that way until this Thursday, 5 days after making it! Ordinarily I wouldn't have recommended that they leave it that long, but they wanted to give it to her on her birthday. To make the bra, I used a dome mould and baked a simple madeira cake, which is a fairly close crumb, and is easy to mould and cover. Whilst the large cake was cooling, I cut out the bra cake up and covered the sections with a double layer of icing to get them as smooth as possible.

On Sunday, I had to get on with the daunting task of cutting the large cake in half, filling it, covering it in butter cream for the crumb coat and then covering the whole thing in icing, the part I was most scared of! However, it all went fairly smoothly, (despite a few crumbly bits) and the cake turned out to be the smoothest one I have ever iced! Despite the fact I had icing sugar in my eyebrows by the end of it.

Then all that was left was to assemble it. I cut out a plaque of icing, left it to dry overnight and then wrote the message on with edible gold ink. I would have liked to use stamped out letters, but I think this adds more of a personal touch and saves a lot of room. I used some of the flowers and leaves left over from my own birthday cake and a cream grosgrain ribbon around the bottom gave the finishing touch.

As it was such a large cake, I set it on a 10" cake board for stability, and then placed the cake on a square board for decoration, and then packaged it in a big white box, it definitely gave it a professional touch! Then as this was my first commission, I printed out my 'Little Bunting Bakery' logo, and stuck it on the top. I was very nervous about wether everyone would like it, but from the comments that I received from my colleagues and from the Birthday girl herself, I was assured that if my current career didn't work out, I would soon have orders pouring in for my handmade cakes!

My Baking Recipe File

Whilst on the hunt for a nice yet practical way to display my baking recipes, I decided to customise my own A4 folder. It's a practical size to have in the kitchen, the recipes lie flat and can be taken out and it's easy to make any notes. I'm really pleased with the results, so I'm going to show you how I made my own pretty folder.

You will need:

One plain lever arch / ring binder file (I used a Kraft one from Paperchase - Matt surfaces adhere much better)
Wallpaper of your choosing (make sure it's fairly good quality or it may tear)
Ruler
Pencil
Rubber (we all make mistakes!)
PVA Glue
Ribbon
Paint + Primer
Wooden Letters

1. Start by drawing around your folder onto the wallpaper to get the correct size and shape. Then remove the file and add on the flaps that will fold around the edges of the file. It's good to make them a little longer than you think, as when the file opens and shuts, it will need a bit of give.

2. I was brave enough to choose a lever arch file that has cut outs, so if your does too, measure them carefully by replacing the folder and drawing into the gaps, and then cut out using a craft knife (If they don't match up exactly when you fold your paper around and over, do not despair, that just adds to its homemade aesthetic!)

3. Once you are happy with your measurements, cut out the wallpaper, it's time to get glueing! Mix a little water with your PVA and using a fairly large brush, cover the wallpaper, making sure you go all the way to the edges. Then apply neat PVA to the folder. Wait for the wallpaper to soak up the glue for a few minutes, then carefully stick the paper to the folder, being careful to smooth out any air bubbles. Once you're happy it's flat, fold the flaps over. I did mine one side at a time, letting each one dry a little first before moving on. Tip: If you're flaps aren't sticking, use clothes pegs to hold them down. Continue around the folder until everything is stuck down tight (remember to pay particular attention to the edges of the cutouts if you have any.

4. I wanted to cover the sides of the spine of my folder with ribbon (which turned out to be a good plan as my Cath Kidston paper started to pull slightly, don't worry if this happens to you, you're going to cover it with the ribbon!) Cut the correct length of ribbon and stick down using PVA glue, pegs on the ribbon ends is essential to get them to stay stuck.

5. Once everything is dry, you can move on to your decoration! I ordered some cut out wooden letters from a brilliant company (www.inf.co.uk) They will cut letters depending on your preference of font, size and type of wood. Simple type your phrase into their easy calculator, and they will cut the letters bespoke to your order (so make sure you spell everything right!) Again, prime and paint as usual and then go mad with your decoration! I chose similar colours to my paper, but feel free to go as wild as you want. When you're happy and they're dry, stick them on using PVA glue and a ruler to help keep them straight, et voila! A beautiful individual and personal file to keep whatever you want in.

I'm currently in the process of designing the interior pages and dividers for each baking chapter, so I'll keep you posted on how that goes!