My Own Version of Red Velvet

Totally backwards but sure do I ever follow recipes :)!!
Using exactly the same method as the chocolate vanilla cupcakes. I just added a tbsp cocoa and some strong red food colouring to the butter icing instead for a change.... :)

Chocolate and Vanilla Cupcakes

These are delish! I used the chocolate mayo recipe for the cupcakes as it is a liquid batter and i figured they would come out nice and even and they did  :) i used a third of the recipe for the full cake and it made a perfect 12 cupcakes .. yay! I then topped them with my favourite, vanilla buttercream and a couple of chocolate buttons for good measure... they went down a treat.

Recipe :
1egg, 91g caster sugar, 1/3 tsp vanilla extract, 75g mayonnaise, pinch bread soda, 91g self raising flour, 17g cocoa, 100ml cold water.. ***i know the amounts are totally random but it is a third of the other recipe and it makes exactly 12!

Beat the egg sugar and vanilla for a couple of minutes, then beat in the mayo until it's nice and fluffy. Sift the flour cocoa and bread soda together in a bowl and then fold half of it into the egg etc. Beat in the water and then fold the rest of the flour in to the mixture. Voila done in a couple of mins! The mixture will be really liquid but its perfect for pouring. Fill regular size queencake cases 3/4 full . Then bake at 180C for 15mins until risen and a skewer comes out clean.

Cool and Ice with piped vanilla buttercream
200g icing sugar, 100butter (room temp), tsp vanilla and a tbsp of milk.
Beat together very well for a minute or two until creamy and no lumps of sugar left!

The full cake recipe can be found here *Choc Mayo Cake* !

Choc and Vanilla Marble Loaf

This is such a great recipe, it's so simple to make, its basically a madeira recipe, it's really cool the way it marbles together! I made this as a loaf, but I've made it in a round cake tin aswell before and it works just as well. It takes a good bit longer to bake as a loaf so I ended up putting a bit of foil on the top to stop it from browning too much... it didn't dry out or anything though!

Recipe:
225g butter, 225g caster sugar, 4eggs, 2tsp vanilla extract, 225g plain flour, 2tsp baking powder, 50ml milk, 50g cocoa powder.

Grease and line a large loaf tin. Cream the butter, and beat in the sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one by one, beating well in between. Mix in the vanilla. Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold in gently. Add the milk and mix to combine. Split the mixture evenly and fold the cocoa into one bowl. Spoon the mix into the tin, alternating spoonfuls of vanilla mix and chocolate mix. When all the mix is in the tin, swirl with a skewer or sharp knife to make a marble effect. Bake at 180C for 35 to 40 mins, keep and eye on it!! It's done when risen nicely and its springy to touch and a skewer comes out of the middle clean.

Ice with Chocolate buttercream :)

150g icing sugar, 75g butter, 2tbsp cocoa, 2tbsp milk.... Beat together mad ;)                         

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

I usually make this as a loaf, but decided to try it a different way for a change! The recipe for the loaf makes about 24 cupcakes, and they were still as moist and light as they would be if I made it as a full cake. The recipe for the carrot cake is here

Bailey's Mocha Cupcakes

I wanted some sort of a coffee cupcake, then decided to add a dash of chocolate to the mix for good measure! I was going to top the cakes with coffee butter icing and I thought sure why not add a splash of Bailey's ... They were divine! I'm going to recreate this idea as a drink some evening after work when I need a serious wind down .. yum!

Recipe @ 190C, Gas 5
175g self raising flour, 50g cocoa, 225g light brown sugar, 175g butter melted, 4 eggs separated, 60ml strong coffee**, 3tbsp water

**I diluted 2 tsp of instant coffee in hot water, bringing it up to the 60ml and let it cool.

In a spotless dry bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Meanwhile in another large bowl, sift in the flour and cocoa, then add the sugar and mix well. Using a wooden spoon beat in the egg yolks, melted butter, water and cooled coffee until nice and smooth. Gently fold the cake mixture into the egg whites, until no white can be seen. Spoon into cupcake cases filling to only 3/4 of the way. Bake for 15mins

Coffee Butter Icing with a Baileys Twist :)
200g icing sugar, 100g soft butter, 1-2tbsp baileys, 3tbsp cooled coffee
beat the butter until very soft, beat in the icing sugar gradually add in the liquid and beat until creamy and smooth. Decorate away! I topped them with some cadbury Flake aswell... whats a few more calories :)

Lemon QueenCake :)

Considering it is the name of my blog I decided I'd better make some lemon queencakes :) They are delicious! These particular ones are made with ricotta cheese, they are light and fluffy, melt in your mouth cupcakes .... damn new yr resolutions gone out the window again! I cant resist lol

Recipe for a large batch of regular size cakes (yields about 30):

2eggs, 300g caster sugar, 240g butter*melted*, 300g ricotta, 2lemons zested and juiced, 2tsp vanilla extract, 3tsp baking powder, 400g plain flour

*****if using self raising flour, still add 1tsp baking powder
******substitute one lemon for one orange, it makes a nice mixed citrus cupcake

Method:
Beat the eggs and sugar together for 3 mins on medium to high speed until light and creamy, mix in the melted butter , ricotta, juice and zest of fruit and the vanilla. Beat well for another minute or two. Fold in the flour and baking powder and mix well. Spoon the mixture into cupcake cases in a tray, fill 3/4 of the way. Bake in a moderate oven at 180C for 20 to 25 mins

When cooled thoroughly, ice with a creamy lemon butter icing
400g icing sugar, 200g soft butter, 2tbsp milk, lemon juice to your taste (i love it almost bitter!) Beat together well!

Alex's Vedett Birthday Cake

A very good, regular customer and friend asked me to make him a birthday cake for Friday just gone. I was given total reign over the cake, he didnt specify even a flavour haha so I was left to my own creativity ! :) As I know that he has a little obsession with the Belgian beer Vedett, I decided this had to be the idea for the cake and I took a major risk in making it with Chocolate Mayo Cake and vanilla buttercream. It turned out superbly though and he was so surprised.. YAY! :)

I made a double batch of the choc mayo recipe, and baked it in square tins, each 9inch. I put the cake together on a board 2cakes on the bottom, iced together with buttercream. Then i sandwiched those with the other 2 cakes so all in all I had an 18inch rectangle to work with. The bottom part was the perfect size for the base, so I cut out the shape of the Vedett bottle on the top. I buttercreamed the whole cake, and cover it in a fondant icing that i had dyed using Sugarflair Christmas Green, I made the bottle top out of plain white icing, and the label also out of fondant dyed with Christmas Red, Black, and Gold Dust.

It was a teeeny bit stressful, ok maybe a LOT! But only because I'm a bit of a perfectionist :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX :) xxx

The Weirdest But Nicest Chocolate Cake I Have Ever Made

Introducing Chocolate MAYO Cake.. yes yes made with mayonnaise???????? I came across this recipe on odlums.ie and thought oh maybe it has something to do with Co. Mayo or something, but no no I clicked on it out of interest and the recipe actually includes mayonnaise? I suppose it replaces the fat and some egg as that's basically what mayonnaise is but I still found the concept bizarre! I obviously used the family as tasters and the faces on them as they were about to eat it were that of curiosity and disgust haha, but it went down a treat! It was, no lie, a savage chocolate cake!!MMM!! Everybody loved it :)

Recipe:
3eggs, 275g caster sugar, 1tsp vanilla, 225g mayonnaise, 275g Self Raising Flour, 50g cocoa, pinch of bread soda, 300ml cold water
Temp:
180C Gas 4

Grease and line 2 round sandwich tins, 18-20cms. I actually used 22cm and it still came out risen high
Mix the flour, cocoa and soda in a bowl and set aside. In a separate large bowl, beat the sugar, eggs and vanilla, until light and creamy. Beat in the mayonnaise well - med to high speed for 4-5 mins.
Alternately beat in the flour/cocoa/bread soda mix and cold water. Starting with the dry mix and also finishing with the dry mix.

Divide into tins and bake for 35 to 40 mins until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

ITS A VERY LIQUID BATTER SO DONT BE ALARMED LIKE I WAS :) :)

When the cakes are completely cooled, sandwich and ice using a chocolate butter icing:

75g butter, 175g icing sugar, 3tbsp cocoa, 2tbsp warm milk (makes enough to sandwich together and ice the top of the cake). I popped a few chopped almonds around the the top aswell cuz i had half a bag spare from something else! decorate how you wish.. be creative :)

Baileys and White Chocolate Cupcakes....MMMMM

I think white chocolate and Baileys is a match made in heaven :) the cupcakes are yoghurt cupcakes, super moist, sweet and oh so nice. I tried so hard to make Snow White butter icing, I ended up using a white shortening in place of the butter, clear vanilla extract but the baileys still added a creamy tint.... still though they turned out really well!

Recipe
115g butter, 220g caster sugar, 1 egg, 250g flour, 5g baking soda, 2g baking powder, 175ml natural yoghurt, 60 ml melted white chocolate

Icing

normal a ratio of 2:1 sugar to butter, but the shortening demands you use 10% less than the recipe

so...

200g icing sugar, 90g shortening, 1/2 tsp clear vanilla and a good dash of baileys

I honestly don't think i ever fully follow a recipe for butter icing. Once i have the sugar and butter beaten together(2:1) i mix in flavours until it tastes right and if i need to add more sugar to firm it up i do... so play around with it

Happy Baking and Happy Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Joes Birthday!

So one of the first movies myself and Joe went to see was Watchmen, so I decided for his birthday cake I would attempt to make the smiley face badge into a cake! God I was running around the kitchen like a blue arsed fly trying to get it perfect... it was hilarious! The cake itself was a white chocolate cake with vanilla butter icing, covered in bright yellow fondant icing with a bit of raspberry jam underneath for good measure! It was the blood spatter on it that caused me the most grief, one wrong move and I would have ruined the whole cake covering! So I practiced dropping candle wax and royal icing from a height to try get it right but nothing worked properly so i eventually dabbed it on with my finger .... after all that!!

The real icing on the cake was Joes reaction :) well chuffed! xx

Recipe:

225g soft butter, 225g caster sugar, 4 eggs, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 250g plain flour, 2tsp baking powder, 50g white choc melted, 50 ml milk
Gas Mark4, 180C , 350F
Grease and line 2 x 8inch spring form tins

• Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
• Beat in the vanilla and then eggs one by one, beating well in between
• Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold in gently
• Add the milk and cooled melted chocolate and combine thoroughly
• Put mix into the two tins evenly and bake for 20 to 25 mins
• Cool on a wire rack and sandwich with vanilla butter icing. Jam the tops and sides and cover in ready to roll fondant icing(dyed yellow!)**. Using a black icing pen draw on eyes and smile and dab on the blood spatter with royal icing (icing sugar red colouring and water).

Vanilla Butter Icing
150g butter softened, 300g icing sugar, 1tsp vanilla, dash of milk.
Cream together

** I used Sugarflair colour in Melon available HERE