Marble Cake

Cake:

225g/ 8oz butter, softened

225g/ 8oz sugar

4 eggs

225g/ 8oz self raising flour

50g/ 1.5oz cocoa powder

35ml/ 2 tbsp sour cream

Icing:

150g/ 5oz butter, softened

100g/ 3.5oz plain chocolate

200g/ 7oz icing sugar

Sprinkles to decorate

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Grease an 8/9” baking tin and line with grease proof paper (unless it it loose based in which case coat with flour).

1. Cream together the butter and sugar. And add the eggs one at a time. 
2. Once fully incorporated add the flour and stir until combined.
3. Separate the mixture into two bowls.
4. Add the cocoa powder and sour cream to one bowl.
5. Use a spoon to create a layer of mixture alternating between plain and chocolate. 
6. Add another layer so that you have contrasting colours on top until all the mix is used.
7. Use a skewer or knife to swirl through the mixture creating a marble effect.
8. Gently shake the tin to even out the depth of the mixture.
9. Place in the oven and bake for between 1hr and 1hr 20. Check after 50 mins just in case your oven is very hot!
10. The cake is cooked when a skewer comes out of the top clean.
11. Leave to cool in the ten for 10 mins.
12. Use a knife around the sides of the tin to loosen the cake before turning out onto a cooling rack.
13. Using an electric mixer beat together the butter, icing sugar and melted chocolate for 2-3 mins.
14. Using a rose tip nozzle and a disposable piping bag pipe chocolate roses onto the cooled cake.
15. Finish by decorating with the sprinkles of your choice.

Client Event for 02 and Samsung

There is pretty much nothing I like better than coming up with a new idea. So when Samsung asked me to create an experience to celebrate the launch of the Samsung Note I thought that icing and decorating gingerbread men would be ideal. The 02 staff had so much fun, popping down in their lunch break and throughout the day between meeting etc. I was very impressed by the standard of some of the biscuits. Particularly the mermaid, the children and the Halloween characters.

CARAMELISED PECAN & BANANA LOAF

Ingredients:

 Topping:

100g butter

100g brown sugar

100g pecan nuts

 Batter:

6oz plain flour

1.5 tsp baking powder

1tsp salt

4 medium free-range eggs

9 oz sugar

5 floz sunflower oil

2 ripe bananas, mashed

 Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Butter a 2 litre loaf tin or similar

 Method:

 Melt the butter and sugar in a pan and cook for a few minutes until it has turned into a toffee sauce. Turn off the heat and add the pecan nuts, stir until covered with the toffee sauce. Tip the pecans and sauce into a buttered ovenproof dish.

 Sift together flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Whisk together the sugar and eggs until they thicken up, then beat in the oil. Add the mashed bananas and mix well.

 Tip the batter into the ovenproof dish to cover the toffee mixture. Bake for around an hour or until a knife comes out clean.

Leave to cool for 10 minutes then turn the cake out onto a plate or board.

Nutella Cake

Hazelnut Nutella Cake

This recipe is based one that was given to me when I was around 17. It was hand copied from a scribbled note into my beautiful Liberty recipe book that is stacked full of treasured recipes. In order to change what was a chocolate cake into a Hazelnut Chocolate Cake I switched the chocolate for the same weight of Nutella. I didn’t use any sugar the in the ganache, sweetening it instead with 2 tbsps of the Nutella.

I have to say the result was amazing light textured but rich in flavour with an icing that you could eat with a spoon. My husband says it may be my best recipe yet!

Ingredients:

100g butter, softened

250g sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

100g Nutella

100g cocoa powder

150g self-raising flour

1tsp baking powder

250ml milk

Topping:

Gananche:

100g 70% plain chocolate (I like Green & Blacks)

100ml double cream

2 tbsp Nutella

Butter 1 x 9 inch cake tin.

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.

Method:

Mix together the butter and sugar then add the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time. Stir in the Nutella followed by the sifted cocoa powder. Mix in the flour and baking powder followed by the milk. Give the mixture a good stir.

Pour mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for around 50 mins or until a skewer comes out clean.

Leave the cake to cool for 10 mins then turn out onto a cooling rack.

To make the topping:

To make the icing bring the cream to boiling point in a small saucepan then add the chocolate which should have been broken into pieces. Turn off the heat and stir until the chocolate has melted. Now add the Nutella and mix until combined. Leave to cool and thicken up. You can put it in the fridge to speed things up.

Once the ganache is spreading consistency you can spread it over the cake. Leave a thicker edge around the cake and fill the centre of the cake.

Bake 4 Refugees Launch

Fundraising

The launch of our fundraising initiative Bake 4 Refugees was a huge success. We were lucky enough to be joined by the wonderful Jess Mill from Help Refugees who gave a great talk to explain to everyone about how the different ways the money we were raising would be used to support refugees across Greece, Calais and the Middle East . The best thing about fundraising for this organisation is that ALL the money goes directly to those in desperate need. They don't spend money on advertising or CEO's.

Cake Sale

On this occasion I did all the baking myself. I think next time I will encourage people to donate some of them as it was a lot of extra work! We had a great turnout of around 20 adults and 10 kids. They were a mixture of old friends (some of whom I hadn't seen for ages, it's a great opportunity to get in touch with everyone), family, neighbours and soon to be friends (parents from my daughters school who I didn't know yet).  I baked; Chocolate Nutella Cake, Cinnamon & Salted Caramel Bundt, Caramelised Pecan & Banana Cake, Red Velvet Cupcakes, Vanilla Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, Wheat Free Brownies & Violet Blueberry Cupcakes. Recipes to follow....

Getting Involved

The idea of this fundraising initiative is to create a ground swell of people hosting their own bake sales. You can do one at work, school or even at home (like I did). It doesn't matter how much you raise the main thing is to spread the word. Every time one takes place it gives us all the opportunity to share the idea with other people. The idea is that at each sale at least one person takes the baton and goes off and does their own event. This way we can grow the movement exponentially. If we all work together we can create an ongoing fundraising movement that will make a huge difference to the lives of human beings that are being forced to live as refugees through no fault of their own.

What to do

Go to this page for all the information you need to get your own event up and running: http://www.cookiegirl.co.uk/bake-4-refugees-1/

Don't forget to keep us posted with pictures etc @RealCookieGirl (Twitter & Instagram) and Bake 4 Refugees (Facebook). Please use #bake4refugees as much as you can to help spread the word.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

red velvet cupcakes

red velvet cupcakes

Makes 12

140 g/5 oz plain flour

1½ tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

 a pinch of salt

4fl oz buttermilk

1 tsp vinegar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp red food coloring paste

170 g/6 oz sugar

55 g/2 oz unsalted butter, room temperature

2 egg

Soft Cheese Frosting

110 g/4 oz soft cheese, room temperature

110 g/4 oz butter, room temperature

450g/1lb icing sugar 

seeds scraped from ½ a vanilla pod

1 tsp vanilla extract

coloured sprinkles to decorate

 Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Line a 12-hole non-stick muffin tray with paper cases.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder (or cream of tarter), and salt into medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla, and food coloring together until blended.

In a large bowl, cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the flour mixture, a third at a time, alternating with a third of the buttermilk mixture until all is mixed in.

Divide the mixture between the paper cases. Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 20 minutes until springy to the touch. Remove and turn the cakes out onto a wire rack to cool.

To make the frosting, beat the butter and cheese until creamy. Add the icing sugar and beat until combined. Split the half vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds into the frosting. Add the vanilla extract.

Spoon the frosting into a piping bag with a star nozzle and ice the cupcakes. Start from the outside and work in towards the middle. Decorate with coloured sprinkles.

Condensed Milk Cookies With Chocolate Chunks

These are dangerously moreish!

Makes 20

200g/ 7oz butter

50g/2 oz caster sugar

125ml/4 fl oz sweetened condensed milk

250g/9oz plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

200g/7 oz dark chocolate

100g/3.5 oz roughly chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas mark 4

Line a couple of baking sheets with baking parchment.

Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and then add the condensed milk. Mix till combined.

In another bowl stir the baking powder into the flour. Now add this to the butter mixture along with the chocolate and walnut and mix thoroughly.

Roll into tbsp. sized balls and place onto the baking sheets.

Bake for 15 to 20 mins.

Smartie Cookies

Makes 10 large or 20 small

4oz White Granulated Sugar

3oz Soft Brown Sugar

4oz butter, softened

1tsp vanilla

1 egg

8oz self-raising flour

3-4 packets smarties

1. Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/Gas 5. You will need a large un-greased baking baking sheet.

2. Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, then add the vanilla, followed by the egg. Add the flour, a tablespoon at a time, and keep mixing until you have a soft dough.

3. Break the bar of chocolate into squares and cut each square in half to make about 50 pieces. Take a heaped tablespoon of the mixture and push in a couple of pieces of chocolate, making sure that the pieces are covered by the dough.

Place on the baking sheet, flatten with the palm of your hand and press in 5 or 6 Smarties. Repeat until all the dough and chocolate are used up, placing the cookies 5cm/2in apart on the baking sheet.

4. Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes. Remove the cookies when they are just turning golden on top but before they look cookies through. They will continue to cook once removed from the oven. Leave them to cool on the baking sheet for 5- 10 minuets until they are firm enough to transfer to a wire rack. You can also make these cookies with chocolate in which case you will need a 200g bar. Cut the chocolate into half square pieces and push three of these into each cookie and place one on top. Bake as above.

Fork to Fork Festival

What an incredible experience it was being a part of the force that was Ark Franklin’s annual fund raiser ‘Fork to Fork’ last Saturday.

This goes way beyond the remit of your usual school fair. It is a huge street food experience involving most of the top London restaurants and delicious local eateries. 

This year we also created a fun filled kids area including stunt bike riding, face painting and, you guessed it, cake decorating by yours truly.

Wow, we were mobbed. I hardly got to take a breath as sprinkles were emptied across the table and cakes were piped with more icing than you would think humanely possible. The results were incredible and the kids had a fab time. I couldn’t have down it without the lovely Hannah and Gracie stepping in when they could see I needed help. 

Also thanks to Orville, Darren and Deborah allowing me to invade their brilliantly managed kitchen. And Michelle and Christina who helped me set up. I got to know lots of teachers and TAs whilst preparing in the kitchen and it made me realise how fortunate we are to be sending our children to such a brilliant school.

Asfor the event itself, brilliantly orchestrated by the tireless Laura Halpern - Hinton, it raised 50,000 pounds! This means we are able to do the next stage on the fantastic Open Air Classroom Project.

Sable Biscuits

We had our lovely new neighbours around for supper last night. It's only taken us a year to get round to it! We had a wonderful time where the conversation flowed effortlessly and before we knew what had happened it was 1am! Not the best time to go to bed when you have toddlers to get up with in the morning. My mum was here and was not only great company but also effortlessly took on some of the cooking which was a huge help. We had sliced lamb with hummus, Greek salad, sweet potato and my mums crisply, sliced potatoes and garlic broccoli.  I wanted to make dessert but didn't want to spend ages baking (busman's holiday!) As we had summer berries and Greek Yoghurt in the fridge I decided to quickly knock up some light crumbly shortbread type biscuits to elevate a simple assembly job into something dinner party worthy. I really should have put a lot of the unbaked biscuits in the fridge because I ended up eating rather a lot of the left-overs the next day....

So here's the recipe:

450g/ 1lb plain flour

165g/5 1/2oz icing sugar

300g/10oz butter

2tsp vanilla extract

*1 egg white

2 tbsp granulated sugar

Line 2 baking sheets with greaseproof paper. Mix the flour and icing sugar together and rub in the butter. Once the mixture begins to come together add the vanilla essence. Lightly knead the dough then roll into four x 4cm wide logs. wrap them in cling film and place in the freezer to firm up of an hour or so )If you are in a rush try 10 mins in the freezer). If you don't want to make too many you can store some of the logs in the freezer for up to 3 months. Preheat the oven to 190 C/ 375 f/ Gas mark 5. Brush each log with the egg white and then roll in the sugar. Cut into 6mm/1/4 inch thick slices. Place the cookie slices on the sheets and bake for 8-10 mins. Cool on a wire rack.

Serve with mixed berries and yoghurt, mousse or syllabub. Or simply a cup of tea!

*If you are vegan or intolerant to eggs you can leave this out and just sprinkle the sugar onto the biscuits. Vegans can also swap the butter for soya margarine.