A birthday in April

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* !

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 :)