Cinnamon and Raisin Marble Loaf Cake

For today's bake it's a simple Cinnamon and Raisin Loaf Cake but sometime it's the simple ones that are the best! If you're looking for a tasty cake that takes next to no time to make and goes well with a cup of tea, then this could be the one for you! And believe it or not as far as I can remember this is the first marble cake I've ever made!

The cinnamon gives it a lovely flavour, the raisins and soured cream make it really moist and light and the marbling adds a bit of fun. This recipe came from the Hummingbird Bakery's Cake Days and it really is simple to make, it's the kind of thing that you could make time and again and also on a whim as most of the ingredients you'll probably have in your cupboards.

The recipe suggested that to marble the cake, the vanilla layer should be spread in the loaf tin first and then the cinnamon layer added on top before being swirled together using a skewer. In my limited knowledge of marbling, I didn't think this would give the greatest effect, so I blobbed spoonful's of each mixture in alternately before swirling and it seemed to work. I also made a bit more of the mixture cinnamon than was suggested as the recipe only called for 200g of cinnamon but this didn't seem like very much. However, I was very pleased with the finished product and I'd make this again! 

I'm entering my cake into this month's Alpha Bakes as the letter this month is 'R'. There are plenty of R's out there and raisins are a simple entry, so if you fancy giving Alpha Bakes a try then check out host Ros's blog - The More Than Occasional Baker. The challenge is hosted on alternate months with Caroline of Caroline Makes.

Ingredients

190g unsalted butter
190g plain flour
190g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
25ml soured cream
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
70g raisins

This one is easy to make. Start by preheating the oven to 170c/150c fan/gas 3 and grease the loaf tin and dust with flour. The recipe states to use a 8.5 x 17.5cm tin, I think mine was a little larger than this but it still turned out fine...but the cake was slightly shallower.

Whisk together the butter and sugar until it is pale and fluffy, this can take up to 5 minutes. It is obviously easier if you start with softer butter! Next beat in the eggs one at a time making sure each addition is fully incorporated, you may also wish to scrape down the sides of the bowl at this point.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and then add to the batter in two parts, mixing on a low speed until the mixture just comes together. To finish, add the sour cream and vanilla essence and mix.

In order to create the two contrasting colours with which to marble the cake, put 250g or up to half of the mixture into a separate bowl and then mix in the cinnamon to this half. Add the raisins into the remaining batter. The recipe then suggests to pour the raisin batter into the tin and then spread the cinnamon batter on top before running a skewer through to marble. However, I don't think this method will give the best marble effect, so I just put alternating random blobs of each mix into the tin and then ran my skewer through.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, mine took a little bit longer. It should feel firm and a skewer should come out clean. Leave in the tin for 5-10 minutes before turning the cake out of the tin to cool completely.

* Adapted from Cake Days by the Hummingbird Bakery.

Giant Cupcake Cake

If a regular sized cupcake doesn't quite hit the spot...why not make yourself a giant cupcake! I've always admired the pictures of giant cupcakes that I've seen but I've never made one myself. So when the Cake Decorating Store recently offered to send me an item from their website to review, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to try out a Giant Cupcake Tin.

If you are looking for cake baking and decorating equipment then you can find everything you need at the Cake Decorating Store. If you want to make a giant cupcake or any other cake check out the Cake Decorating Store website for bakeware, boxes, icing, colours, dusts, cutters and lots more.

The cupcake tin came with a recipe and instructions for a Double Chocolate Pound Cake made with cocoa powder and chocolate chips. By using a pound cake recipe, it means it's a bit denser and will hold it's shape better and support the weight. The recipe did state that it would take 60-70 minutes to bake, mine took closer to 100 minutes but this may have been my oven! The good news is that it came out of the pan very easily thanks to the Easy Bake spray you can see at the end of the post.

You can obviously choose to decorate your cupcake anyway you choose as you can see from these images of other giant cupcakes on Google. I chose a fairly simple design covering the base in a teddy bear brown sugar paste and then using buttercream on the top. To get the raspberry ripple effect on the top, I coloured half my buttercream with a pink paste colour and then filled my piping bag on one side with plain buttercream and then the other side with pink buttercream. I then piped it on and used a palette knife to smooth it down.

To finish off I added some sprinkles, along with florist paste butterflies and flowers. You can make your own butterflies and flowers using the cutters you can see in the equipment picture. To get your butterfly wings to open upwards, fold a piece of card lengthways and place the butterflies in the fold to dry in position. You can also use the corner of a cut cereal packet for this which is what I use.

To present my cake, I put it on a cake drum that had been covered with white sugarpaste and then finished with a pretty pink ribbon around the edge. You could of course also put it on a plate, cake stand or an uncovered cake board.

The following is a list of equipment that you might find useful for making a giant cupcake, depending on your design, or any other cake that needs decorating:

1. Sugar Florist Paste - a firmer paste that dries hard, useful for making the flowers and butterflies.
2. Ribbon - Give a neat finish to your board.
3. Sugarflair Paste Colour - to colour white sugarpaste or florist paste. I also used it to colour my buttercream.
4. Cutters - to create butterflies and flowers, although a whole array of cutters are available. Used to cut the sugar florist paste.
5. Ready made flowers - if you don't have the time or inclination to make your own.
6. Piping nozzles
7. Piping bags
8. Sugar sprinkles
9. Sugarpaste - for rolling and covering cakes and the board.
10. Cake drum - to stand your cake on.
11. Lustre dust - to add an extra dimension to the butterflies and flowers.
12. Dusting brush - to apply the lustre to your decorations. 

If you haven't tried it already you might also be interested in Wilton's Bake Easy Non-Stick Spray. The recipe that comes with the pan suggests using a cake release and a light coating of flour in addition to ensure your cake comes out easily.

Disclaimer: I was sent the Wilton Giant Cupcake Pan free of charge but was not paid for this post. All opinions are my own and all other equipment and materials, I supplied myself.

Calendar Cakes Round Up - May

The good bakers of the blogosphere have truly excelled themselves this month with a delectable array of goodies for you to drool over. The theme for Calendar Cakes in May was to bake outside of your comfort zone. This was in celebration of World Baking Day on Sunday 19th May when bakers were encouraged to Bake Brave! Check out the fabulous results in this month's round up:

Our first entry was from Laura at baking in pyjamas. I absolutely love this Funfetti Cake with Seven Minute Icing, the cake is so pretty and the icing is to die for. Laura followed recipes from the Magnolia Bakery cookbook and added in the funfetti to the cake recipe. If you haven't visited already check out Laura's blog for some lovely bakes!

The next cake was a very popular choice from the World Baking Day list of 100 bakes. This was at level 91, with 100 being the most difficult, and it was brilliantly executed over at the Cupcakery. This is a Chocolate Brownie, Meringue Cake with Raspberry Cream and the original recipe is by Miranda Gore-Brown who was a contestant on the Great British Bake Off.

Next we have a Strawberry Chocolate Cake from Adventures with Cake, who really went to town on this one. This is certainly Baking Brave as this cake is at level 99 out of 100 and if you check out the Adventures with Cake blog then you'll see that it was a labour of love with many processes, for example you can just see the stripped sponge on the outside. I'm sure you'll agree this a great bake!

A seasonal cake next with a Rhubarb and Custard Cake from Linzi at Lancashire Food. Linzi used rhubarb from her garden and a recipe from Morrisons. The cake also contains custard powder. Rhubarb and custard is one of my favourite combinations and this cake looks delicious!

Here's Chocolate Brownie, Meringue and Raspberry Cream Cake take 2. I also decided to make this for World Baking Day as it just looks so tempting. This is level 91 out of 100, I initially thought I'd go straight for 100 but this cake looked so much nicer and the taste testers certainly concurred! You can see the results here.

One blogger who's certainly been baking up a storm outside of her comfort zone this month is Caroline from Caroline Makes. This is entry number one which is a Rocky Horror Show inspired cake. It was lovingly made as a birthday cake for her sister and is a two tier chocolate cake made with a recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery...I'm sure Caroline's sister was thrilled with the result.

Next we have a twist on bake number 83 which is hideaway heart cupcakes, these are from Mummy Makes Cakes. The original plan was to make level 87, strawberries pies but a lack of strawberries made this rather difficult! :-) For this recipe a vanilla cake batter was used for the main cake and then a chocolate batter for the hearts. This was inventive baking from this blogger as she attempted a new way of creating the hearts in the middle by freezing the batter in heart shaped moulds instead of baking the hearts first and although it didn't quite work out as she wanted, as mentioned in her blog post, this is what World Baking Day was all about...trying out new things and being brave! :-)

And now on to Chocolate Brownie, Meringue Cake with Raspberry Cream take 3 from the Wayfaring Baker. Elle also had an initial thought to dive straight in at the level 100 bake but then settled on this beauty as if you've seen bake 100 you'll know quite how large it is...enough to feed at least 20 people!

Calendar Cakes co-host Rachel from Dolly Bakes created one of her signature Bundt cakes...this one being a Spiced Apple and Sultana Bundt Cake with Maple Glaze. This was made for a cake club meeting and uses giant sultanas...this is a mammoth bake which is certainly ambitious and is perfectly executed.

Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen always comes up with great recipe ideas and this Vegan Lemon Drizzle Cake with Coconut Cream and Blueberry Sauce is no exception. This is baking outside the comfort zone as Elizabeth likes to try different recipes and although she's not a vegan she thought she'd give this a go. It was previously made for a dinner party and went down a treat. Also check out her blog if you want to learn a new method for making coconut cream!

This next one is a new one on me...it's Renuka's Malva Pudding. It was made by Hélène from I Cook with Butter and came in at number 63 in the list of 100. Hélène like me was a little confused by the World Baking Day ranking system as the level of difficulty seems to jump about a bit and the recipes don't always seem to get progressively harder. Nonetheless this pudding looks really tasty and Hélène reports that the sauce tastes a little like salted caramel which must be a good thing! :-)

For her second entry Caroline from Caroline Makes challenged herself to make a Gateau Frasier which she accomplished with aplomb. This was certainly baking brave as this cake was previously made on the Great British Bake Off with varying degrees of success! The finished product looks lovely and Caroline rates it as one of the most technically difficult things she's made.

A beautiful cake next from Lottie at Lottie's World of Cakes and Bakes. It's a White Chocolate, Blueberry and Lemon Layer Cake and takes it's inspiration from the Peggy Porschen Boutique Baking book. Lottie describes the cake as follows 'This cake is a white chocolate and lemon sponge, filled with a blueberry and lemon curd (homemade!), coated in a whipped white chocolate and blueberry buttercream and decorated with fresh blueberries and a dusting of icing sugar'. I can only imagine this tastes as delicious as it looks. To create the beautiful bird pattern on the top Lottie used a stencil...it looks gorgeous!

The fabulous cakes just keep coming with this Choc Mango Mousse Cake from Nicole Bremner. If you check out the recipe for this cake it contains lots of interesting ingredients, such as silken tofu and agar flakes, which are certainly outside of my comfort zone! The resultant cake with it's striking orange colour and chocolate collar is a real treat for the eyes as well as the taste buds, although Nicole concluded that mango and chocolate was not her favourite flavour combination!

Kate from Cakes and Bakes by Kate chose to make a Treacle Tart for World Baking Day, this was certainly ambitious and was ranked at 71 on the list but looking at the processes involved I think it should have really been rated higher. Kate did a great job of this perennial favourite...treacle tart is always a winner. She made one large tart and several mini tarts and this was her first attempt at making pastry...well done Kate! :-)

This Mango and Chocolate Cake from Choclette at Chocolate Log Blog was certainly Baking Brave as she created this cake herself! The finished product turned out really well with a mango cake filled with chocolate which sounds delicious, and there are also cardamom and coconut flavours included. Choclette is also a World Baking Day ambassador and her recipe for Violet and Rose White Chocolate Fairy Cakes is in the line up of 100 recipes at number 16.

 

Lucy from supergolden bakes produced these amazingly pretty Very Vanilla Mini Cakes. These cakes are so dainty and would be perfect for afternoon tea. Interestingly they were actually baked in a tin can, I love this idea and may well have to give it a go soon! :-)

Last but not least we have this truly spectacular Rose, Lemon, Vanilla and Fruit Cake from the Carry On Cake Company. It's a real showstopper and would be a superb centrepiece to any celebration.

Thank you so much to all our entrants this month, all the bakes have been particularly impressive and I've really enjoyed reading about them and drooling over the pictures. Everyone certainly excelled themselves and well and truly Baked Brave!

To find out the theme for Calendar Cakes in June, hop on over to Dolly Bakes on the 1st June where you'll find all the information.

Chocolate & Coconut Bounty Cupcakes

I seem to have gone a bit crazy making cupcakes recently, I think it's since I purchased the new Hummingbird Bakery book, Home Sweet Home where you can find lots of different delicious recipes. I was talking to someone the other day who suggested making every single recipe from one cookery book as on average people usually make about 3 or 4 per book. I think the Hummingbird Bakery book could be a good one for carrying out this challenge as all the recipes look great!

I made these cupcakes specifically for a charity bake sale, along with some vanilla cupcakes and the Cherry Bakewell muffins that I made a few weeks ago. To make them, I made a chocolate batter using Green and Blacks Cocoa Powder. Once made the cases were filled to about two-thirds full and then about a third of a small Bounty bar was gently pushed down into each case as you can see above. The mixture covered the Bounty and the cakes were then put in to bake.

To finish the cakes I made a buttercream icing which also contained coconut milk. There is a technique to applying the icing to the cake with a palette knife to give it a professional swirl but I have to say, I have definitely not mastered the technique. However, the icing was lovely and creamy and it doesn't really matter if you don't master the swirl as the final touch was to sprinkle each cake with desiccated coconut, so you can't really see it anyway. Lastly, another third of a mini Bounty bar was added on top.

Not everyone is a fan of Bounty bars but for anyone who does like them or anyone who is a fan of chocolate and coconut, then these cupcakes are a real treat with the Bounty baked inside and the gorgeous creamy icing on top. They were well received at our cake sale and along with the other lovely ladies who baked we managed to raise 357 pounds for a local Women's Aid Shelter.

If you want to give these a go yourself, you can find the recipe in the Home Sweet Home recipe book, or alternatively, just push a piece of Bounty into your favourite chocolate cupcake batter before you bake it and then make a regular buttercream, adding some coconut milk, before finishing with desiccated coconut and a bit of Bounty on top.