Monday Inspiration - Olympic Torches

We have had a very busy Olympics weekend.  We all enjoyed the Opening Ceremony on Friday - it really was amazing, we all were saying "that is the REAL Queen with James Bond!".  Minibakebakegirl and Niece2 wanted to stay up to see who was going to light the cauldron, however, as Minibakebakegirl was to get up early on Saturday morning they managed till 11.15pm.  I think they lost interest watching all the teams arrive, there were lots of countries I had never heard of!  I thought it was a nice touch that they had the next generation of British competitors to light the cauldron which once lit was beautiful, a very, very clever design.

Minibakebakegirls early start was for Olympic girl's football in Coventry with Hubby.  She was lucky enough to win the tickets in a draw at school.  They watched two matches Sweden v Japan and Canada v South Africa.  The best match was the second one according to Minibakebakegirl!

Then yesterday we all went to Earls Court to watch men's volleyball.   We watched Australia v Argentina and USA v Serbia.  We quickly picked up the rules, however I was surprised to see players jumping into where the officials were sitting to hit the ball!  I was very taken by the group hugging by the teams - mostly when they scored but sometimes when they didn't.  There was also a lot of handshaking and patting on backs!  Great team spirit. 

Our journey from home couldn't have gone better, the tube wasn't too busy and we all liked the Boris announcements :o)  He is the Mayor of London and apart from that I am not sure how to describe him! 

Inspired by our weekend, today we made Olympic Torch cupcakes.   I have seen cupcakes baked in icecream cones before with the icing piped like icecream and when I saw ones made to look like olympic torches I thought I would give it a go.

I used my standard cupcake mix and just filled the cones like cupcake cases. 

They took the same amount of time to bake as normal ones.





I then made red and yellow buttercream for the flames and spooned it alternately into the piping bag.

I am really pleased with how they turned out and Hubby has asked for me to make some more for him to take to work.

Hope you are enjoying the Olympics too, this is our television viewing for the next few weeks.

Bakebakegirl

Todays top three random Ipod songs:

1.  She's So Lovely - Scouting For Girls

2.  Wow - Kylie Minogue

3.  Pack Up - Eliza Doolittle

Monday Bake - Coconut Loaf Cake

For once it seems the weather has been paying attention and it has been lovely since school broke up on Friday.  We had our first barbeque of the year yesterday at Hubby's Sisters and lovely it was too.  A perfect afternoon sitting in the sun, chatting and eating :o)  Sisterinlaw had made Nigellas Nutella cheesecake for pudding, which was delicious.    

Minibakebakegirl and I were going to spend the first official day of the holidays on our bikes, however our tyres needed pumping up and the pump was in the car and Hubby is at work with the keys....so we will cycle another day.   We walked to our picnic spot via the nature reserve, spotting some damselflies along the way (such a gorgeous blue) and sat in the shade.  After lunch I read my book and Minibakebakegirl did some drawing.   We both decided it was probably too hot for cycling today anyway!   

I don't know where I got this recipe from originally, it probably came from a Sunday magazine as I have written it in a notebook. I like the way the top of it forms a sort of crust and the inside is almost fluffy. 

Ingredients:
75g dessicated coconut plus some extra for sprinkling
150ml milk
175g caster sugar
175g margarine
2 eggs
225g self raising flour
Raspberry jam

Method:
Soak the coconut in the milk overnight in the fridge, if not leave to soak for as long as possible for the coconut to absorb the milk.

Preheat the oven to 160c/Fan 150c/GasMark3
Line a 2lb loaf tin with a loaf tin liner (I use Lakeland)
Place the margarine and sugar in a large bowl. Cream together with an electric whisk until light and creamy.
Add the eggs one at a time beating well between each one.
Add the coconut/milk and mix again.
Fold in the flour.
Spoon into the tin and cook for about 1hour 15minutes. 

Check it after an hour if the top is browning too quickly, cover with some foil.
Check the cake is cooked (when an inserted skewer comes out clean - if it doesn't pop
the cake back in the oven for another 5 minutes - then check again - repeat as necessary) The top will crack - this is fine.

Leave to cool in the tin. Once cool spread a thin layer of raspberry jam over the top of the cake and sprinkle with the remaining coconut.

Thanks for visiting, have a good week, see you next Monday.
Bakebakegirl

Todays top three random Ipod songs:

1. We Are The People - Empire of The Sun
2. I'm Yours - Jason Mraz
3. Hips Don't Lie - Shakira

Minibakebakegirl Monday - Cupcake Farm

Hi, it's Minibakebakegirl here. I really enjoy baking and cooking especially with my Mum.  I have been looking through my cookbooks and found a really cute and easy recipe….a cupcake farm!  This recipe is from my first cookbook and is a really fun way of decorating cupcakes.

Here are some photos to show what I did.

I will be having a very busy week because I am doing my school production (The Pirates of Penzance) three evenings in a row, the year 5/6 BBQ on Thursday and the last day of school on Friday. BUSY!!

Thanks for reading my blog post and I hope to do another one soon. 
Minibakebakegirl

Todays top 3 random Ipod songs:

1. Ed Sheeran - This 
2. Will.i.am - This is Love
3. The Beatles - Drive My Car

Monday Inspiration - Lemon Meringue Cup Cakes

I love all things lemony! Lemon drizzle cake, lemon tart, sherbet lemons (even though they cut my mouth), lemon possett, the list is endless!   I saw a recipe for lemon meringue cupcakes in my Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook and couldn't wait to try it out. 
The buns were easy to make, the recipe states it makes 12-16 but it made 20.

The meringue involved getting the sugar to the soft ball stage - time to use my jam thermometer.

Adding the boiling sugar to the frothy egg whites and then whisking until glossy and voluminous!





Scooping out a bit of the cupcake and adding lemoncurd. Then putting the meringue on top and blasting with a cooks blow torch!  





I would make this recipe again - maybe halving the quantities - especially as it means I get to use my cooks blow torch!!!

Next week there is a special blog post as it's going to be by Minibakebakegirl.

Bakebakegirl

Today's top three random Ipod songs:

1. Green Grass - I Am Arrows
2. House Of Fun - Madness
3. Ray Of Light - Madonna

Monday Bake - Gluten Free Cupcakes

Every wednesday a work friend and I would share a slice of cake from the staff restaurant, then the quality of the cakes went downhill rapidly.   My work friend who also loves baking said to me "we can do better than this" and Cake Club was formed.  There are 5 of us now and one is my friend who is coeliac.   I have a few gluten free recipes such as my brownies but these use ground almonds instead of flour.  This week I decided to try out some gluten free flour and make some cupcakes.  I used Doves Farm.

The recipe came from Goodtoknow.   It was a case of putting all the ingredients in one bowl and whisking until smooth.   As the recipe says the mixture was very runny but I was pleasantly surprised that once baked they had risen!!!

                   

                                                                          (This photo shows how clean

                                                                 and shiny my new oven is! )

I made bright blue buttercream (not the one from the recipe) and then Minibakebakegirl and I went to work decorating them - edible glitter was required.

                   

They taste good, not too dry, I will make them for Cake Club when it is my week but maybe with less garish decorations!

Todays top three random Ipod songs:

1. Asereje - Las Ketchup
2. Hey Ya - Outcast
3. 9-5 - Dolly Parton

Monday Ta-da! - Hello Kitty Cake

Yesterday was Minibakebakegirls birthday, I can't believe she is 10!   This photo is from her second birthday, it was cold that day.  Her main present was a sand/water table and she played with it all day, her little hands were bright red but she wouldn't come indoors!

For the past three years I have made her a chocolate birthday cake and used fondant for a Hello Kitty design on the top, it has now become a bit of a tradition, which she may not want when she is a teenager, but I enjoy making it.

I make a standard victoria sponge cake for each layer, adding a tablespoon of cocoa to make it chocolatey. I made three layers this time, I was catering for 11 people, sandwiched together with chocolate buttercream.   This year though I made my buttercream so so so so quickly. How? I hear you ask. Well look.......

I have drooled over a Kitchenaid for a long time.  Minibakebakegirl gets embarrassed when I make a bee-line for them in John Lewis and then spend the next hour stroking them until I am asked to leave.  There come in so many pretty colours but I have always wanted a cream one and it looks sooo good in my kitchen. Ahhhh, happy Bakebakegirl, sad I know. Anyhoo this is amazing for making buttercream. I just put all the ingredients in the mahooosive bowl, covered with a teatowel, switched it on and ta-da buttercream! 

Minibakebakegirls only request for her cake was that it wasn't girly so I tried my best. The Kitty whiskers were a nightmare - I bought black writing icing and it just seemed to slide off. I went to bed hoping that there wouldn't be a lot of bald Kittys in the morning. Luckily just a couple needed touching up. 

Minibakebakegirl was very pleased with it and I think the rest of the family enjoyed it too.

Minibakebakegirl had a lovely birthday, lots of lovely presents, including some crafty ones.  The three of us went out for tea last night, she even managed to make room for a chocolatey pudding.

Thanks for visiting,
Bakebakegirl

Minibakebakegirl's top three random ipod songs:

1. Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5
2. I Gotta Feeling - The Black Eyed Peas
3. Yellow Submarine - The Beatles

Monday Bake - Caramel Apple Loaf Cake

There was a Coffee Morning at Minibakebakegirl's school today to raise funds for Compassion, a charity involved with child sponsorship.  The child that KS2 sponsors lives in Uganda and the school have a monthly sponsorship commitment to meet.   They asked the parents/children to provide cakes so yesterday Minibakebakegirl made a caramel apple cake (I supervised). 

Ingredients:
175g margarine
175g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
225g plain flour - sifted
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 tbsp greek yoghurt
2 eating apples - peeled, cored and chopped into small chunks
100g soft toffees
splash of milk

Method:
Preheat the oven to 170c/Fan 150c/GasMark3
Line a 2lb loaf tin with a loaf tin liner (I use Lakeland)

Cream the margarine and sugar with an electric whisk in a large bowl until light and creamy.
Add the eggs one at a time beating well between each one, whisk in the vanilla extract.

Fold in the flour, baking powder and cinnamon.

(look at Minibakebakegirl's perfect cinnamon flour mountain!)

Then mix in the apple and greek yoghurt.
Spoon into the tin and cook for about 1 hour 20 mins.
Check the cake is cooked (when an inserted skewer comes out clean - if it doesn't pop
the cake back in the oven for another 5 minutes - then check again - repeat as necessary)
Leave to cool in the tin.

Melt the toffees in a small saucepan over a gentle heat until runny.  Add a splash of milk if needed and mix well.   Pour over the cake and allow to set slightly before serving. 

Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the cake when it was finished! Will have to add in a photo at a later date when I make it again.

The two year 5/6 classes worked very hard at the coffee morning, Minibakebakegirl was one of the meeter and greeters to take the parents to the school hall, where other pupils brought you coffee, tea and cakes, others cleared up and collected donations.  They did a fantastic job, raised over £300.00 and I had a lovely catch up with a friend. 
Oh before I go I have to show you my new scales.......

As a lover of all things union jack I couldn't resist when I saw them in the sale yesterday!  I will still use my traditional scales as well but we liked the fact you could weigh the marg then reset the scales to add the sugar to the same bowl.  This will be handy for all in one recipes which Lorraine Pascale likes.

Thanks for visiting, next week will be a special post as its Minibakebakegirls birthday next Sunday so it's time for the annual Hello Kitty cake using my new kitchen gadget :o)
Bakebakegirl.

Todays top three random Ipod songs:

1. Video Games - Lana Del Ray
2. Like A Prayer - Madonna
3. Just A Ride - Jem