Afternoon Tea - Alice in Wonderland

I love afternoon tea, whether it's at home with friends or out somewhere to be spoilt.

For my mum's birthday I treated her to an Alice in Wonderland themed tea at the Sanderson Hotel in London. The magic and mystery didn't disappoint. From riddles on napkins, beautifully mysterious china, exotic teas to try (we opted for strawberries and cream!) to a drink me potion on the table the scene was set. 

The sandwiches and cakes weren't the best I have ever eaten but their charm certainly was. Highlights included ham sandwiches with a twist on sundried tomato bread. A chocolate tea cup filled with green tea mouse and a vanilla cheesecake with hidden mango centre. 

The tea also included a glass of fizz and a jelly bar! I definitely recommend! 

Carly xx

Birthday Cakes - Part 3 - Rose and pistachio sandwich cake

This rose and pistachio sandwich is a simple elegant cake, not crying out for attention but effortlessly pretty. Very fitting for Carly's birthday cake! Pistachio and rosewater is a cake flavour combination I’ve been wanting to try out for a while. But, although I’m a big fan of rosewater I'm also aware that there are many who aren’t and so I was a bit apprehensive about how it would turn out, hoping I’d get the balance of rosewater right; not overpowering, but still present in a pleasant sort of way. If you are not a fan of rosewater, I would recommend reducing the quantity to about 1 tbsp in the cake and then it will be almost non existent.

INGREDIENTS:

Cake:
225g unsalted butter, cubed and softened, plus extra to grease
225g white caste sugar
3 tbsp rose water
4 eggs, beaten
225g self-raising flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt

Pistachio Brittle:
100g golden caster sugar
65g chopped pistachios

Buttercream Filling:
80g soften butter
115g icing sugar

METHOD:

· Preheat oven to 180C/gas 4. Grease and line the bases of 2 round 20cm sandwich tins.
· Cream together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until pale and fluffy. Mix in the rose water.
· Gradually mix the beaten eggs into the creamed mixture. Fold in the flour, baking powder and salt with a large metal spoon until just incorporated.
· Evenly divide the cake mixture between the 2 cake tins and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, until golden and cooked through.
· Leave to cool in the tins for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. In the meantime you can make the filling.
 · Gently melt the sugar in a nonstick pan over a medium heat, without stirring. When the sugar is a golden caramel, sprinkle in the chopped pistachios and quickly pour into a lined baking tin. Leave to cool. Bash the pistachio brittle so you have a mix of big chunks and finer bits.
 · Cream the softened butter and sifted icing sugar with an electric mixer or spatula until you have a smooth, creamy butter cream. Add a splash of rose water and beat for a further minute. Taste and add more if needed; the strength of rose water varies a lot.
 · Place one cake on a board, gently spread with the rose buttercream and sprinkle over the pistachio brittle. Top with the second cake and dust with icing sugar.

Biting into this cake, with it’s hint of fragrant rosewater and crushed pistachio nuts, I really did feel like I was having afternoon tea in a garden of roses!

Charlotte x

Birthday Cakes - Part 2 - Sticky stem ginger cake with lemon icing

I recently made this cake for my Gran’s birthday; a huge lover of ginger cake. In the past I have always ended up with ginger cakes tuning out slightly on the dry side but with this cake, wow, it was so moist and tasty - it’s definitely a winner!

The recipe is listed on BBC Good Food, here.

I mostly followed the recipe spot on except I used semi skimmed milk instead of whole. I also reduced the amount of treacle used and substituted with syrup from the stem ginger instead. The recipe states to grate the drained stem ginger but I just chopped this and added a little extra. I was worried by how wet the combined mixture is and suspected it would leak out of my loose bottom tin, as comments left on the site also mentioned this, so do make sure you have a good tin that doesn’t leak - I placed a tray under my cake tin to catch the few drips and will look to buy a better cake tin soon.

I iced the following morning after baking and the lemon was such a nice contrast to the ginger, it did not last the day! Both my Gran and husband, who is not a keen ginger cake lover, loved this!

Catherine x

Birthday Cakes - Part 1 - Lemon, lime and white chocolate mud cake

For my mum's birthday this year, I was keen to find a lemon cake which is her favourite but with a twist. The Women's Institute of Australia's lemon, lime and white chocolate mud cake certainly provided that - Link here.

The method itself was a little unusual in that you had to melt in a pan, the butter, sugar, white chocolate and lemon and lime rind. I would definitely advise good quality white chocolate here and to stir regularly to avoid the mixture splitting. To cool it down so it could be mixed with the eggs and flour in good time I cooled the mixture in a larger bowl of cold water. The cake itself was a triumph, moist, sticky and delicious. I used smaller tins than recommended cutting each half to make a four layer cake.

Buttercream filling wasn't needed in the original recipe but I just made a simple buttercream using butter and icing sugar and added some of the passion fruit syrup that Cat and I discovered at the recent food festival. I followed the white chocolate and coconut ganache which made a delicious but sickly topping. I could only get hold of solid coconut cream which wasn't easy to work with. I would recommend using the liquid version if possible. To change the texture I added dedicated coconut which I think added to the presentation.

Overall I was very pleased with the result and a great variation of a lemon sponge!

Carly x

Catherine's Baby Shower

In the last two posts, Carly and Charlotte shared their recipes for the lovely cakes they made for my recent baby shower.  It was a great Sunday afternoon spent with friends and family at The Feathers, Taplow. A lot more cake was provided by guests and my sister also ordered a Welcome celebration baby cake from Kelly Rose Cakes - It was very yummy! Light sponge with a tasty vanilla buttercream filling and the icing was nicer than any shop bought ones! It all went down well.

With cake on the mind, there's a few birthday cake posts on their way.

Catherine x

Catherine's Baby Shower - Cranberry, Orange & Macadamia Nut Cupcakes

I love the flavour combination of cranberry and orange and by incorporating toasted nuts and white chocolate, these cupcakes make a decadent treat!

For the cupcakes:
225g unsalted butter
225g caster sugar
225g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
50g white chocolate chips
50g dried cranberries
1 tbsp orange zest

For the icing:
200g white chocolate chips
5 tbsp milk
175g icing sugar, sieved
3 tbsp chopped toasted macadamia nuts

Preheat the oven to 175C/gas mark 4. Place 18 paper baking cases in muffin tins. Combine all the cupcake ingredients, except the chocolate chips and dried cranberries, in a large bowl and beat until smooth and pale, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the chocolate chips and cranberries.

Spoon the batter into the cases. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove tins from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Then remove the cupcakes and cool on a rack.

To make the icing, melt the chocolate and milk in a medium bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring frequently, remove from the heat and beat in the icing sugar until smooth. Spread over the cupcakes and sprinkle with the nuts.

Charlotte x

Catherine's Baby Shower - Carrot Cake

I love baking cakes. I remember being in my grandmother's kitchen stood on a foot stool so I could reach the work top to sieve the flour, cream the butter and sugar and of course lick the spoon when Nanny Jones wasn't looking :)

I agree with Cat about Mary Berry's cake recipes. Simple with stunning results and her carrot cake recipe  is no exception. I did however add some vanilla essence, cinnamon and nutmeg to my cake as I love those flavours in carrot cake. I also found the frosting worked better with a large tub of cream cheese instead of mascarpone. The addition of bananas makes it so moist and tasty.

The finished cake looked pretty with some white chocolate carrots on for Cat's lovely vintage afternoon tea baby shower!

Carly x

Easter Baking - Part 4 - Pudding

My ham, vegetables and mash was followed by the classic bread and butter pudding however I used leftover panettone that had been given to me in January and I’ve still not managed to finish it.
This was so easy to make after dinner, with the family chilling, I through this together in about 10 minutes - recipe here.  Delicious served with ice cream!

Lots of cake recipes and reviews to come next week.

Have a good bank holiday weekend!

Catherine x

Easter Baking - Part 3 - Another Ham

Like Carly, I also cooked a ham for Easter Sunday, but in Cider. The recipe was very similar to her ham in coke but instead of coke, a litre of cider and once slow cooked in a pan, I spread wholegrain mustard, dark muscovado sugar, cinnamon, mixed spice and a little honey swell as being studded with cloves, before going into the oven for 15/20 minutes, spreading any leftover glaze halfway. It was nice but out of the two options, I would prefer the coke option for its extra sweetness, but none of the ham went to waste, the leftovers were used in a mash topped pie and a simple ham and leek pasta bake later on in the week.

I served the ham with roasted vegetables and cheesy mustard mash which was really tasty - Recipe can be found here . I will definitely be making this version again!

Cat x

Easter Cooking, Part 2 - Beef Brisket

I love American style food for feeding a crowd of hungry people and this beef brisket recipe, which as it cooked made a delicious BBQ sauce, didn't disappoint over the Easter weekend. It is inspired from a Gordon Ramsay recipe.

First you will need a 1.5 kg good quality beef brisket joint from the butchers or supermarket. Start by making a dry fun using 4 tsps of smoked paprika, 2 tsps mustard powder, 2 tsps of cayenne chilli pepper, 2 tsps celery salt and salt and pepper. Rub into the meat.

Preheat the oven to gas mark one, about 110 degrees. In a hot pan using a glug of oil seal the meat on all sides and set aside. Take 3 large onions and slice, fry in the meat juices with 2 tablespoons of light brown sugar and 1 tablespoon of tomato puree until the sugar is caramelised and onion soft. Tip the onions and juice into a large roasting tray and place the sealed meat on top. Next de glaze the pan with 300mls of lager and pour into the roasting tray. Add 2 bay leaves, 350ml beef stock and seal the tray tightly with foil. Cook for 3.5 hours basting occasionally with the juices. When the meat is soft rest it for 15 mins on a plate and reduce the sauce in the roasting tray adding a glug of white wine vinegar. The meat is then ready to slice into chunks, pour over the tasty sauce and serve with homemade coleslaw and potato wedges.

Carly xx