Two Tiered Animal Themed Cake

August 1, 2015August 1, 2015 ~ bakedbysarah ~ Leave a comment

Last week it was my friend’s little boy’s first birthday and I was really excited to be making his cake for him.

I wanted to start experimenting with tiers so this was a good opportunity for this and I also wanted to make it fun and colourful.

Initially I researched some animal designs online and settled for an elephant and a lion, both were actually quite straight forward – the elephant was extremely simple. I didn’t have orange fondant at home so I used some orange food colouring to tint some white fondant myself which again was very straight forward, although I would recommend using some gloves if possible. My other little saviour was the edible glue which I used to keep the pieces together, a lot of blogs and recipes suggest using some water and a paint brush to attach the fondant pieces however, I am a bit of a worrier and the last thing I would want is a lion’s ear falling off during the party so the glue definitely gave me piece of mind. I also coloured the grey fondant myself for the elephant, for this I used some black food colouring, a much cheaper option than buying grey fondant.

For the sponge I used 2 simple vanilla sponge recipes. The top tier consisted of a light sponge which I use to make my vanilla cupcakes as I wanted this to be as light and fluffy as possible. The base tier was a heavier, dense sponge. The reason for choosing 2 varieties of sponge was because the base had to hold a layer of fondant as well as the weight of the top tier therefore I wanted to make it strong yet still light and fluffy.

After making both tiers I applied a vanilla buttercream base coat to each and put them in the fridge for around an hour.

As this was my first time stacking 2 cakes I decided to use straws as opposed to dowels because I didn’t have any dowels at home (the straws worked perfectly well) I inserted 8 straws into the base tier, trimming them to make them level and then balanced the smaller sponge on top of the base.

To cover the base layer of the cake I coloured a packet of fondant with blue food colouring, adding drop by drop until I reached the pale blue colour which I was after and a plain white to the top tier before stacking them. In order to make the cakes as smooth as possible I try to apply a thick smooth crumb coat of buttercream and a thick layer of fondant and then smooth it with the base of my hand to make it as smooth as possible.

To make the spots I rolled out some coloured fondant and used two different sized cutters to create small and large circles and affixed these with the edible glue.

The finishing touch was to attach the animals to the top, again with some edible glue.

Find me on Facebook

July 6, 2015July 6, 2015 ~ bakedbysarah ~ Leave a comment

I have set up a page on Facebook where I will be showcasing all of my recipes, focusing in particular on cakes and macarons.

I have loads of exciting upcoming projects and experiments in mind so search for Baked By Sarah

Thank you 🙂

Perfect Sugarpaste Coating

June 2, 2015June 2, 2015 ~ bakedbysarah ~ Leave a comment

Tips to creating the perfect finish to an iced cake;

Mould the paste into a smooth ball making it easier to handle – don’t add any icing sugar to the paste yet as this could affect the consistency
Coat your work surface with a thin layer of icing sugar
Using a non stick rolling pin roll out the paste ensuring that it is big enough to cover the entire cake and leave an over hang on each side
Alternate the sides of the past which you are rolling to prevent the paste from sticking to the surface
Drape the paste of the rolling pin
Roll the paste over the cake making sure the cake is fully covered and that there is excess paste on each side of the cake
Starting from the centre of the cake use a circular motion with your hands moulding the paste onto the cake until your have it fully covered
Cut off the excess with a sharp knife
To obtain the perfect finish, use your hand to buff the paste using circular motions. This will leave a smooth, perfect finish.

Strawberry Macarons (Macaroon)

May 31, 2015May 31, 2015 ~ bakedbysarah ~ Leave a comment

It’s been a while since i’ve made some macarons as I have been practicing for some upcoming weddings cakes.

However, I still really want to experiment with new colours and flavours and those who have made macarons will know that as they are so temperamental it’s really important to make them frequently to become good at them.

Im finding that one of the biggest challenges at the moment is adding colour as this affects the consistency of the batter and the cooking time quite dramatically so you have to keep an eye on them as I am finding that the time can vary from anywhere between 12 minutes and 18 minutes.

I kept these ones quite simple by using red food colouring to achieve the pink colour. This meant that I didn’t have to add too much colouring.

I then filled them with strawberry jam instead of a buttercream for a bit of variation.

Coconut and Raspberry Cupcakes

March 18, 2015March 18, 2015 ~ bakedbysarah ~ Leave a comment

I made these cakes as a Mother’s Day treat as my mum loves coconut and these are a bit different from your regular cupcake. They also combine two of my favourites techniques – a flavoured centre filling and rose piped icing.

These involve a few more ingredients that your regular cupcake as I added raspberries into the batter so it’s important to ensure that the consistency of the batter is maintained to create a fluffy, light sponge.

With summer only around the corner it’s nice to incorporate nice fresh raspberries into the recipe. I am going to start experimenting with other varieties of fruit in upcoming recipes.

Ingredients

115g Golden Caster Sugar

115g Unsalted Butter

110g Self Raising Flour

15g Cornflour

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder

2 large Eggs (free-range or organic)

125g Crushed Fresh Raspberries

Raspberry Jam

Icing

115g Unsalted Butter (at room temperature)

60ml coconut Milk

1tsp Vanilla Extract

500g Icing Sugar (sifted)

Food Colouring of your choice

Desiccated Coconut

Method

This method is really simple, the key with this recipe is using the correct measurement of ingredients and gradually combining the ingredients to prevent curdling.

1. Using a hand whisk cream the butter and sugar together

2. Add the eggs one by one and continue to whisk, adding a small measure of the flour each time to prevent the mixture from curdling

3. Sift all of the remaining ingredients together and add to the mixture, whisking thoroughly

4. Fold in the crushed raspberries

5. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees, line a muffin tray with muffin cases and fill roughly 3/4 of the way

6. Bake for approximately 20 minutes until an inserted tooth pick comes out clean

7. Allow to cool for a few minutes in the baking tray before turning out on to a wire rack to cool fully

8. In the meantime, prepare the icing

9. Beat together the butter, coconut milk, vanilla essence and half of the icing sugar

10. Gradually add the remainder of the icing sugar and food colouring of your choice – I chose a few drops of bright pink gel

11. Cut out the centre of the cooled cupcakes and spoon in a small amount of raspberry jam

12. Pipe the icing sugar on top of the cake

13. Finish off by decorating with some raspberries and a sprinkle of the desiccated coconut 🙂

Healthy Oat & Banana Pancakes

March 7, 2015 ~ bakedbysarah ~ Leave a comment

I am always indulging in delicious yet calorific desserts, I have decided to make something a bit more on the healthy side. Inspired by the fact that the sun is out today, reminding me that summer is only around the corner. I have a huge sweet tooth and I don’t believe in leaving out foods which I love, instead I choose to eat them in moderation.

I absolutely love a pancake although I don’t get the savoury thing. It doesn’t seem to sit well with me that you can have a sweet and savoury variation of the same thing. I will occasionally entertain a savoury one just out of curiosity but sweet is always the one for me!

These pancakes are so quick and easy and only take a few ingredients to make them.

Ingredients

100g Quaker Oats

2 Medium Eggs

250ml Almond Milk

1tsp Vanilla Extract

Sprinkle of Cinnamon

Method

So easy….

1.Put all of the ingredients into a bowl an whisk them together

2. Heat some olive oil in a pan

3. Use a ladle to spoon in a measure of the mixture into the pan

4. Flip and serve with a topping of choice…..I chose Nutella 🙂

Simple Layered Cake

March 1, 2015March 8, 2015 ~ bakedbysarah ~ Leave a comment

I’m making my friend’s wedding cake for her in a couple of months’ time. This is the first (of many I hope) that I have aver made and am hoping that this is something which I can become really good at.

As I have never made one before I thought it was about time I started practising.

To begin with I decided to keep it simple so I started with an easy vanilla sponge which is a fool proof recipe for any type of cupcake or sponge. I made 2 separate cakes in a round cake tin and layered them on top of each other using vanilla buttercream and raspberry jam.

This is also the first time I have attempted to do both a crumb coat and a full cake covering with rolled out icing.

I really want to master this and feel confident as I will probably fall in to panic mode in the run up to the wedding!

Ingredients

These are the ingredients for one sponge cake as I made one at a time (I only had one round cake tin) so you will want to double these measurements up so you can make 2!

Sponge

125g Caster Sugar

125g Unsalted Butter (at room temperature)

2 Medium Eggs whisked

125g Self Raising Flour (sifted)

2tbsp Semi Skimmed Milk

1tsp Vanilla Essence

Buttercream

250g Icing Sugar (sifted)

55g Unsalted Butter

30ml Semi Skimmed Milk

1tsp Vanilla Essence

Additional

1tbsp Raspberry Jam

Ready to Roll Icing

Method

1. To make the sponge whisk together the caster sugar and the butter until creamy

2. Slowly whisk in the eggs, adding a spoonful of the flour to prevent the mixture from curdling

3. Fold in the remaining flour with a metal spoon and then mix in the milk and vanilla extract

4. Line an 8 inch round tin with greaseproof baking paper. Add the mixture and pop into a preheated oven of 180 degrees (fan) for 18/20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean

5. Let the cake cool before sliding off onto a wire rack to cool further

6. Repeat this process so you have 2 cakes

7. To make the buttercream, whisk together the sifted icing sugar and butter and then slowly add the milk and vanilla extract

8. Even out the top of each of the cakes by thinly slicing off a thin layer with a sharp knife

9. On top of the one cake used a pallet knife to smooth over a thin layer of the buttercream and then smooth the jam on top of the buttercream

10. Balance the other cake on top ensuring that they are even

11. Apply a crumb coat to the entire cake and then refrigerate for around 30 minutes

12. Roll out the icing and use your rolling pin to apply the icing to the cake

13. Smooth down the edges and cut off any excess icing with a sharp knife

14. Garnish with some sliced strawberries

Slice off the top of each layer of the cake to create a smooth, even layer

Apply a crumb coat to the cake using my vanilla buttercream recipe

Red Velvet Giant Cupcake

February 8, 2015March 8, 2015 ~ bakedbysarah ~ Leave a comment

I made this cake as an experiment as I fancied buying a giant cupcake mould. The result was so nice and my friends were so impressed that one of them asked if I could make it for her for her engagement party.

I made the cake and was so pleased I managed to complete it as I am rubbish with timing and left myself no time to spare so I was literally icing this cake right up until the last minute.

On the night of the engagement party one of my friends came over for some pre-drinks and it suddenly dawned upon me that I had not factored in how I was going to transport the cake to the venue, I hadn’t even thought about boxing it up.

At this time I was actually living close to the city centre so I was only a 5 minute walk away from the venue so my friend and I decided to brave it and just go for it, we put the cake on to a baking tray and I walked through the centre of town carrying a giant cupcake on a baking tray. (luckily I had a couple of gin and tonics inside me) It was definitely a talking point and a good memory of which I share with this cake.

The cake itself is red velvet. This is not my usual choice of cake as it does involve quite a high volume of food colouring however, it tied in nicely in with the red theme and I considered it as a gift, therefore, a treat!

Usually you would see a red velvet cake with a cream cheese frosting which can be quite difficult to pipe due to its consistency. Buttercream is much more versatile and will help to create the beautiful roses which you see here.

Tip

It may be helpful to grease the inside of the cake tins with a light coating of oil or some butter to help release the cakes from the tins

Ingredients

125g of softened unsalted butter at room temperature

325g caster sugar

2 eggs

25g cocoa powder (I like Bournville)

1tsp vanilla extract

1 x 38ml red food colouring

325g plain flour

1tsp salt

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 x 284ml carton of buttermilk

1 tbsp vinegar

4 tbsp raspberry jam

Buttercream

500g icing sugar

115g unsalted butter at room temperature

60ml milk

1tsp vanilla essence

Method

1.Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Whisk the eggs together in a small bowl and gradually add to the sugar mixture

2. In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, vanilla and food colouring and then beat this into the sugar mixture ensuring it is all combined

3. Sift the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl and add this into the mixture in intervals. Alternate the intervals with the buttermilk to prevent the mixture from curdling

4. Divide the mixture into the 2 cake pans (the top and bottom sections of the cake)

5. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees (fan oven) for approximately 45 minutes, until an inserted skewer into the centre comes out clean.

6. Allow the cakes to cool fully in the tins before turning them out onto a rack.

7. Level off the bottom half of the cake base and spread the raspberry jam on top. Add the top layer and the jam should help them to stick together

8. To finish off I then made a batch of my vanilla buttercream, inserted it into a piping bag and using a star shaped nozzle began to pipe roses across the base. Start from the bottom and work your way upwards

9. I then made some edible roses to complete the cake

Sticky Mars Bar Crunch

January 17, 2015January 17, 2015 ~ bakedbysarah ~ 1 Comment

I had an all day regional conference for work last week which usually involves sitting around a round table for several hours of the day so I decided to whip up a little treat to break up the day.

I made these little slices the night before and it’s no exaggeration when I say that these literally took around 10/15 minutes to make, involving only 4 ingredients (well 6 Mars Bars) and they went down a storm in fact, Terry on my team took the last 3 home with him.

Ingredients

70g Unsalted Butter

3 tbsp Golden Syrup

6 Mars Bars (the regular sized ones) you can usually get a good deal on these in a multi pack at the supermarket

200g Cornflakes

Method

Step 1

Melt the butter and syrup together in a saucepan over a low heat and stir continuously

Step 2

Chop up all of the Mars Bar and add to the saucepan, keep stirring

Step 3

Stir in the cornflakes

Step 4

Add the mixture to a greased sandwich tin lined with baking paper and allow it to set for around an hour, cut and then serve.

This is extremely sticky (as you can imagine with the caramel and syrup) so watch those fillings!!

Nutella Cupcakes Made Easy

January 6, 2015 ~ bakedbysarah ~ 1 Comment

1420492194.071400.IMG_4312

This has to be one of the most simplest yet tastiest cupcake to whip up for any chocolate lover.

My friend just gave birth to a beautiful baby girl so with a quick, last minute visit planned for us girls to get in there to see the baby asap I was nominated as “cupcake bringer”. Usually I would have tried my best to make something that resembled the fact that we were welcoming a baby however, I decided to play it safe and go for a fool proof recipe which the girls would love.

Ingredients

For the Cake;

125g Unsalted Butter (at room temperature)

125g Caster Sugar

2 Medium Free Range Eggs (whisked)

125g Self Raising Flour (sifted)

1tbsp Bournville Drinking Chocolate Powder (sifted)

1tbsp Skimmed Milk (an attempt to lower the calorie intake)

1tsp Vanilla Essence

For the Buttercream;

115g Unsalted Butter (at room temperature)

500g Icing Sugar (sifted)

1tbsp Bournville Drinking Chocolate (sifted)

60ml Skimmed Milk

1tsp Vanilla Essence

Nutella

Method

Step 1

Whisk together the caster sugar and butter until they become fluffy (an electric whisk is best – i’ve had the same one for about 4 years)

Step 2

Gradually whisk in the eggs adding a spoonful of the flour to prevent the mixture curdling

Step 3

Fold in the remaining flour and Bournville powder and then mix in the milk and vanilla essence

Step 4

Fill your muffin cases 2/3 of the way in pop into a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 15-20 minutes

Step 5

Once the cakes have cooked, allow them to cool in the tin for approximately 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack

Step 6

Once cooled, dig out the centre of the cupcake and fill with Nutella

I usually make my buttercream whilst the cakes are in the oven to save a bit of time. To do so;

Whisk up the butter and add half of the icing sugar. At this point I like to add the milk and vanilla, this helps limit the mess caused from the icing sugar (bits of dust usually get everywhere) gradually add the remaining icing sugar and you will be left with a lovely vanilla/chocolate buttercream with the perfect consistency for piping.

I like to complete my cupcakes with my signature rose effect finish which can be easily achieved with a Wilton 2D Nozzle

Fill muffin cases approximately 2/3 of the way

Carefully cut a hole in the middle of the cupcake ready to fill

Add a spoonful of Nutella to each cupcake