Happy 6th Birthday Oscar

We like to celebrate birthdays, any excuse to make a cake and of course there is nothing better than the joy and excitement of a special cake for a little person.

This year for Oscar’s birthday I opted to make a cake topper. This is Romeo from the children’s television program PJ Masks.

I took inspiration from this mask that we made together. 

A topper is a good choice when you can’t decide what sort of cake to make. The chocolate mud cake with chocolate glaze was a good choice, better than the ice cream cake we were thinking about. I am not sure that an ice cream cake and a hot Summer day would have worked quite so well.

Lighting the candles is a always much anticipated and fun for him

The joy of celebrating!

Upside Down Plum Cake

Plum season and lucky me the recipient of a few buckets of plums. Mostly slow roasted and frozen. The cooked plums are delicious for breakfast, in crumbles and cobbler and make for a delicious upside down cake. The cake is  a variation of my quick mix gluten free dairy free cake. In this version I substituted some brown sugar for caster sugar and ground walnuts for some of the ground almonds. It is great for dessert and keeps well so can be made in advance.

There is plum cake, nice by itself but better with some more plums

And then plum cake with creme anglaise or egg custard sauce. It is equally good with cream or ice cream. Other stone fruits work just as well as do slices of pineapple or poached quince.

Upside Down Plum Cake

Gluten free, dairy free

Ingredients

Cake 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup grapeseed oil or light olive oil 3 eggs 1/2  cup caster sugar 1/2  cup brown sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 cup almond meal 1/2 cup walnut meal 1/4 cup gluten free corn flour or gluten free flour mix

Topping 12 plum halves (may be softened or lightly poached) 2 tablespoons brown sugar

 

Method

Preheat oven to 160 deg C.

Grease and line the base of a spring form pan with baking parchment

Sprinkle the two tablespoons of sugar over the base of the lined spring form tin and then arrange plums around the edge and in the middle.

To make cake

Beat eggs and sugar(s) together until thick and foamy, beat in vanilla and the baking powder.

Beat in the ground almonds, walnuts and corn flour/gluten free flour

Pour batter into the prepared tin. Bake until cake is set and starting to shrink away from the sides of the tin, approximately 50 minutes.

 

 

The Ever Bountiful Citrus

 A few years ago we planted up a wall of citrus trees; a lime, two oranges, a grapefruit, a tangelo and a mandarin. We also have two dwarf Meyer lemons in pots. Happily they have established and this year were mostly very bountiful. Unfortunately, the lime did not produce as well despite being the biggest tree and planted the longest. Thankfully, I have a few friends whose limes went gangbusters and were happy to pass on lots of limes.

Whilst I have many recipes in my collection these two have become favourites in my collection of citrus related recipes, both are relatively quick and easy to make.  The lemon syrup cake I make over and over and often substitute oranges, tangelos and mandarins for the lemons or use a mixture. This also applies to the Sweet Citrus Pickle. 

At this time of the year a bowl of lemons and limes seems to a permanent fixture on the kitchen bench or table.

Obviously channeling all the lemons, the love of citrus has extended into these small postcard artworks, made as set of three for an year long food themed exchange. 

My grandson Oscar loves helping with the icing and was keen to carefully place the ‘giant sprinkles’

The cake is adaptable, I have made it up as a loaf, round cake, in a ring tin and as cupcakes.

Lemon Syrup Cake

Quick mix / food processor

Ingredients for Cake 4 lemons, I use Meyer. 250 g  butter 4 eggs 1  1/2 cups caster sugar 2 cups SR flour or 2 cups flour sifted with 1 tablespoon of baking powder

Lemon Syrup 1/2  cup lemon juice 1/2  cup sugar   Combine juice and sugar in a small saucepan and stir and boil until slightly reduced and a syrup.

Method

Preheat oven to 160 deg C, grease and line base of a 23 cm round tin. I have also used this to make two smaller cakes, cupcakes and a large loaf tin.

Remove the ends from the lemons cut into four   lengthwise, remove the central piece of pith and seeds. If the lemons have a lot of pith then peel the skin from the lemons, remove and   discard the pith. Too much pith will make the cake bitter.

Place prepared lemons in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Drain and allow the lemons to cool.

Place the cool lemons and sugar in a food processor or use a stick blender and process until pulpy and the skin is broken up into fine flecks.

Add the butter and process again.

Add the eggs and give a quick quiz, then add the flour.

Spoon the cake batter into the prepared tin.  Bake until cake is set and starting to shrink away from the sides of the tin, approximately 50 -60 minutes.

Remove the cake from the oven and pierce all over with a skewer. Brush with warm syrup a few times to allow the syrup to slowly penetrate the cake, remove from tin and brush syrup around the sides.

Variation

Ice with lemon or orange icing or a drizzle with a watered down icing or glaze.

*Use lemons, mandarins or oranges, keeping the prepared weight about the same.

This is a quickly made small batch preserve. It is great when served as an accompaniment to curries along with other pickles and chutneys. This preserve can be used immediately.

Sweet Citrus Pickle

Step 1 750 g citrus (limes, lemons, oranges)* 1 tablespoons salt   * I often use the squeezed shell of the oranges from my morning juice, save in the fridge until you have enough

Step  2 Limes from step 1, rinsed. 1 cup brown sugar 3 tablespoons  apple cider vinegar 1 tablespoon turmeric powder 1 tablespoon sweet paprika powder 1 tablespoons of salt Optional - 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes Optional – 1 teaspoon of citric acid for extra tang

 

Method

Step 1

Wash and chop the citrus into small/ bite sized pieces.

Place chopped limes in a non reactive bowl (stainless steel, glass or plastic), add the salt and mix well. Allow limes to stand for 24 – 48 hours. This will draw some of the bitterness from the pith.

Drain of liquid, rinse well and drain again. Step 2

Combine citrus and remaining ingredients in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to the boil and then simmer for 20 -30 minutes or until thick. Stir often as it will tend to stick as it thickens.

Spoon the pickle into sterilised jars, cover with Kleerview /cellophane covers and seal with a lid.  

And whilst on the citrus theme I thought an inspection of the preserved lemons was a good idea.  I have finally found the perfect jar for the preserved lemons, Moccona coffee jars with the plastic seal on the lid. They tick all the boxes, recycled jars, easily sterilised in the oven if you remove the plastic lid and sterilise with boiling water and best of all non corrosive. The recipe for preserved lemons along with other ways to use up bountiful citrus crops can be found here

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.

Vegan Orange Cake

For some time now I have been playing around with vegan recipes. Orange cake is one of my favourite tea time treats. This cake is delicious and an easy bake.

 A dust of icing sugar is all it needs, although, I do love a nice tangy icing. 

Perhaps a little too much icing - is there such a thing?

It is also easy to adapt to gluten free by substituting gluten free flour, reduce the flour by a quarter of a cup.

Vegan Orange Cake

Ingredients

2 oranges  (boiled until soft and allowed to cool)

1/2 cup non dairy milk

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

3/4 cup grapeseed or other neutral flavoured oil

1 cup caster sugar

2 cups  SR flour or 2 cups plain flour and 1 tablespoon baking powder or 1 3/4 cups gluten free SR flour

Method

Preheat oven to 170 deg C, grease and line base of cake tin or grease the inside of a Bundt tin.

Combine vinegar / lemon juice and non dairy milk and leave for a few minutes.

Cut the oranges into four or smaller pieces and place in a food processor or use a stick blender and process until the orange is a puree.

Add remaining ingredients and mix gently until just combined.

Spoon the cake batter into the prepared tin. Bake until cake is set and starting to shrink away from the sides of the tin, approximately 45 minutes.

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

Ice with lemon or orange icing or a drizzle with a watered down icing or glaze

Birthday Cakes

All birthdays are special and just about any cake or dessert can be turned into a birthday cake. This week I have made two birthday cakes, both for thirtieth birthdays. One for my son Liam and one for my neighbours son Jack.

This is Jack’s cake, loosely modelled on Henry, Jacks Dachshund and so much fun to make.

The cake is my favourite mud cake recipe. 

Two layers of cake sandwiched with whipped mocha ganache frosting. The cake then cut into the dog shape and covered with more of the frosting. The frosting sets and the cake can then be iced with commercial fondant. I used  black and then tinted some white to get tan.  This is the recipe for the mud cake. The frosting was made by using half white and half dark chocolate and and adding one tablespoon of instant coffee dissolved in one tablespoon of boiling water.

Henry and Henry.

This is Liam’s cake, not really a cake as such but one of his favourite desserts given the birthday cake makeover. Assembled and ready for some candles to be added 

A baked lemon cheesecake, I prefer no crumbs on the sides and for this one I used a larger springform tin so that the cake was thinner and more like a torte, topped with mandarin cream and some small meringues.

The mandarin cream was made by warming some mandarin jam and straining out the rind, allowing it cool and then stirring the jam through some whipped cream.

Little meringues.

Just add candles. 

A Bit Of Baking

There is nothing like a bit of baking to perk me up when I have been feeling a bit off colour. Nothing to taxing, just a bit of relaxed cooking with familiar recipes. 



All the flavours of  an Anzac biscuit crossed with a Rock cake/bun if you make them with mixed peel.

Fruity Oat  Cookies

125 g butter 2 tablespoons golden syrup 1/3 cup water 1 cup  sugar 1 cup rolled oats

1 cup of dried fruit ( I like a combination of mixed peel, currants and sultanas) 1 egg 1 teaspoon mixed spice (optional) ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 1 cup flour 1 cup SR flour

Method

Put butter, water and golden syrup into a large saucepan and put on low heat to melt.

Add sugar, oats and dried fruit into the butter mixture, stir to mix well and then leave to cool.

Mix in remaining ingredients.

Place heaped teaspoons of mixture onto greased tray or use baking paper. Alternately, roll mixture into balls using wet hands and press flat as you place them on the tray.

Bake 170 deg C for approx 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Place biscuits on a cooling rack until completely cold. Store in an airtight container. 

Some crumpets and waffles for the freezer and another batch of these chocolate mud cupcakes with coffee and white chocolate filling for a friend’s 70 th.

Some pot pies for dinner.

Blueberry Syrup Cake

Mother’s Day celebrations call for cake. 

 I made this Blueberry Syrup Cake for dessert at our shared dinner for Mother’s Day. It is a variation on Butter cake and remains moist for days. I have taken to substituting half the butter with oil, the mixture whips up extra light and fluffy and replacing some of the flour with almond meal gives the cake some body and texture. Raspberries can be substituted for the blueberries or a combination of both.

The mothers and their children. No fuss, delicious takeaway Thai food for dinner. 

The family always seem to come up with a card that has a cat on it. 

These orange gladioli like flowers always bloom in time, I have had them in my garden(s) for more years than I have been a mother.

Blueberry Syrup Cake

Cake 250 g soft butter or 125 g butter and 125 ml grapeseed oil 250 g caster sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 eggs 2 teaspoons baking powder 250 g flour or 125 g flour and 200g almond meal 1 cup frozen blueberries

Syrup 1 cup sugar 1 cup orange/mandarin juice Blueberry Compote Remainder of syrup 1 cup frozen blueberries

Method

Preheat oven 170 deg C

Grease and line cake tin, I prefer a spring form.

Cream butter and sugar (or butter, sugar and oil) until light and fluffy, add vanilla extract

Gradually add eggs, beating well

Stir in baking powder and then flour (or flour and almond meal)

Gently stir in the frozen blueberries and place mixture in prepared tin.

Bake at 170 deg C for ten minutes and then reduce heat to 160 deg C until cooked approximately 40 minutes total cooking time. Golden brown in colour, the edges will shrink slightly from side of cake tin and a skewer comes out clean.

Use a skewer to create holes over the surface of the cake and then brush ¼ of syrup over the surface.

Leave to cool in tin.

For Syrup

Combine the sugar and orange juice, simmer until syrupy.

For Compote

Add additional cup of blueberries to the remaining syrup, heat gently to boiling point and then remove from the heat. Allow to cool and serve with the cake.