Are You Book Enough Challenge 2020 February Theme, Heal

Put a Band - Aid on it was the universal edict and panacea for any cuts, grazes, blisters and minorbleeding injuries in our home and across generations of households. Of course Band - Aid is a brand name and there are lots of other brands and generic sticking plasters on the market. Now they come in many different sizes and shapes and for different purposes but al are involved in healing a minor injury.

This little concertina book made with Bandaids and packaging box. 

The plasters are joined together with red zigzag to represent suturing

Packaging boxes cut up to make covers and slogans on the pages.

Peach Melba Cake

Pureed fruit makes a great base for a cake. I use it frequently to make vegan cakes but also for other fruit based cakes like this Peach Melba cake, a truly decadent celebration of summer fruits and inspired by the classic Peach Melba dessert named after Dame Nellie Melba

I have three sponge or sandwich tins but the cake can be baked in batches or in a large flat tray and then circles of cake cut out by placing a cake tin on top of the cake and cutting around. Depending on the size of your tray you will get two circles and one patched circle which will become the middle layer.

Here's how

Place the first layer cake on a serving plate.

Spread with a thin layer of jam

Cover the jam with a layer of the whipped cream

Add a few pieces of chopped peach and raspberries.

Repeat with the second layer and the place the final cake layer on top.

If you want the tinted icing remove a small amount of buttercream from the mixture, tint some pink and some pale yellow.

Cover the cake with a thin layer of buttercream frosting and smooth out.

If using the coloured buttercream place small blobs of each colour randomly over the cake, the sides will be seen more than the top and using a palette knife, cake scraper to smooth and blend the blobs. A wet palette knife makes this easier.

Decorate the top of the cake with the thinly sliced peaches and raspberries, add a few strawberries the green of the stalks adds to the summery feel 

Peach Melba Cake

For Cake

Ingredients

200 g peach puree (prepared peaches, skin and stones removed and then pureed)

3/4 cup yoghurt

1 1/2 cups grapeseed or other neutral flavoured oil

1 1/2 cups caster sugar

2 cups plain flour

1 cup almond meal

3 teaspoons baking powder

Method

Preheat oven to 170 deg C, grease and line base of 3 sandwich/sponge cake tins

Combine peach puree, sugar, yoghurt, oil and baking powder in a bowl and mix well.

Add almond meal and flour, mix gently until just combined.

Spoon the cake batter into the prepared tins. Bake until cakes are set and starting to shrink away from the sides of the tin, approximately 20 minutes.

Leave the cakes in the tins until cool and then turn out onto a cake cooler.

Cream Filling

Ingredients

300 ml cream

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Whipped cream and vanilla until stiff

Optional

1 cup cold extra thick custard or pastry cream added to the whipped cream

 Buttercream Frosting

250 g soft butter

2 cups icing sugar, sifted

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1-2 tablespoons milk or peach liqueur

Beat or cream the butter adding the icing sugar gradually.

 Add the vanilla and 1 tablespoon of milk and beat. Check flavour, adding more vanilla if desired.

Add the extra milk for a softer icing.

To Assemble

2 tablespoons peach jam or apricot if peach unavailable

2 -3  sliced yellow peaches, skins removed

1-2 punnets Raspberries

1 punnet strawberries

Optional, pink and yellow food colouring

I prefer to assemble on baking parchment on a flat baking tray, chill the frosted cake and then transfer to a serving plate just before decorating

Place the first layer cake on a serving plate.

Spread with a thin layer of jam

Cover the jam with a layer of the whipped cream

Add a few pieces of chopped peach and raspberries.

Repeat with the second layer and the place the final cake layer on top.

If you want the tinted icing remove a small amount of buttercream from the mixture, tint some pink and some pale yellow.

Cover the cake with a thin layer of buttercream frosting and smooth out.

If using the coloured buttercream place small blobs of each colour randomly over the cake, the sides will be seen more than the top and using a palette knife, cake scraper to smooth and blend the blobs. A wet palette knife makes this easier.

Decorate the top of the cake with the thinly sliced peaches and raspberries.

To Infinity and Beyond

Buzz Lightyear is my grandson Oscar’s obsession and it seemed that a Buzz cake would be the perfect choice for his birthday cake.

Surprisingly easy to make. I used a cartoon image from the internet as a base pattern.

I started with a large slab of chocolate mud cake which I cut out into a Buzz shape. Then I added a thinner layer of cake for his face and then covered the entire cake with a white chocolate and buttercream blend frosting. A little extra added to sculpt in a nose, eyebrows and chin.

A layer of purple ready to roll icing and then the final touches for the face and outfit made by building up further layers of the icing.

Wings were made onto card.

Buzz and little Buzz (Oscar) at the party with his parents.

And the second cake for a family dinner, toy Buzz for the topper.

Nanna having a quiet moment at the party with Oscar, admiring his cake and waiting for the rest of the guests.

More from Bronte at Home (2)

I just love Bronte’s baking books and despite thinking that I wouldn’t make everything in her new book Bronte at Home, however, I seem, as they say, to be giving it a ‘good crack’. My recent efforts...

Danish rye bread. This has become a staple.

So delicious and makes great toast as well.

Love Cake, a good chocolate flavour and as the recipe stated a delicious icing.

Swedish Sticky Cake, also in her book Fika & Hygge. This time I made the variation using dark chocolate not white as featured in the recipe. Great as a dessert.

Easy Chocolate Roll, I filled it with espresso and walnut cream. Delicious!

Damsugare, a little variation on the colouring with green and gold for Australia Day

And the more traditional version

This Peach Melba Cake (recipe coming) was inspired by the Summer Layer Cake

With some added chocolate ganache and sprinkles

Sprinkles to make my grandson happy!