We were thrilled to be working with the Tea and Tarts Huddersfield WI this week to help them with their 'Guess the weight of the cake' stall. We designed and donated a bespoke Kiss Me Cake creation to fit in with their Time Travel and Steam Punk theme.
Our cake was a delicious chocolate madeira cake, sandwiched with vanilla buttercream and covered in chocolate icing. It smelt truly amazing, and seen as chocolate (in our opinion) is good for you it was extremely healthy too. We decided to make a time travelling top hat, complete with goggles, clock cogs and a pocket watch. We used textured icing with a pattern for parts of the cake and finally we were able to put our airbrush to use by creating a leather effect on the chocolate icing.
The lucky people to win our creation were Dave and Nicola from Huddersfield who guessed the correct weight of the cake at 2.8kg. Well done!
The Tea and Tarts Hullabaloo takes place every year, usually in Greenhead Park. This year they had live music, silly sports with the Laura Crane Youth Cancer Trust, The Tearoom at the End of the Universe (how fantastic!), craft stalls, make and do stalls and lots more endless fun and entertainment.
You can read about the Hullabaloo here http://www.teaandtarts.ukpeople.com/hullabaloo_2013.html
That's our kind of event and we were thrilled to be a part of it...well done ladies!
This is such a simple recipe. You just throw all of the ingredients in to a bowl and mix away! Grapefruit can be an acquired taste, but these are nice, fresh and summery and leave your mouth with a pleasant tingle of grapefruit. Why not have a go:
Ingredients
200g unsalted butter (softened)
250g caster sugar
3 medium sized eggs
finely grated zest of 1 pink or red grapefruit
250g self raising flour
1/2 level teaspoon of baking powder
100ml milk
12 muffin cases
pink food colouring (optional)
For the syrup
100g caster sugar
juice of 1/2 grapefruit
zest of 1/4 grapefruit
For the topping
150g of icing sugar
juice of 1/2 grapefruit
zest of 1/4 of a grapefruit
Method
Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180c/350f. Put the butter, sugar, eggs, grapefruit zest into a large bowl. Sift the flour and baking powder on top of the other ingredients and then add the milk. Blitz all the ingredients together with an electric whisk or food mixer until all the ingredients are incorporated and smooth. Divide the mixture in to two portions and colour one portion pink.
Spoon half of the pink mixture into the muffin cases and top with the plain mixture then bake in the oven for 20 minutes and the cakes are golden brown. Check they are cooked through by inserting a skewer or cocktail stick in the middle, if it comes out clean the cakes are done!
Whilst the cakes are baking mix the caster sugar and grapefruit juice and zest to make a syrup. When the cakes are ready place them on a cooling tray with a sheet of greaseproof paper underneath. Prick the top of each cake with a cocktail stick and spoon the syrup over the cake to allow it to soak in to the holes. Leave to cool.
Whilst the cakes are cooling sieve the icing sugar and then add the juice and zest. You may find you need more icing sugar but the icing should be the consistency of pouring cream. Once the cakes have cooled drizzle your icing over the top of each cake and allow to set before serving. Yummy!
We were very excited this month to be working with Getech in Leeds as they launched their new branding. We were set the challenge of recreating their logo in cake. It looks like a simple challenge when you first see the logo, but we soon found this was going to be a real test of skill and patience.
Each contour of colour needed to be higher than the other, meaning the middle of the logo would be the lowest point and the furthest contour away from the centre the highest. We were also asked if the cake could be two different flavours, one chocolate and one lemon.
Applying the icing was the trickiest part, on one of the hottest days of the year it was difficult to keep the icing at just the right temperature. Applying the strips of icing to make up the logo was proving to be a real challenge as the icing became too warm and began to break as we moved it. But we persevered, kept the kitchen as cool as possible and finally we managed to get the cake finished and looking like the Getech logo.
It was hard work but extremely satisfying once we had finished the cake and the feedback from Getech was well worth taking on the challenge for...even the founder of Getech commented that our cake "cut like butter!" Brilliant...that's what we like to hear!
When the sun is shining there's nothing better than a nice cool cocktail. A Mojito has to be one of our favourites for sipping beneath the garden umbrella. Naturally we had to bake up these little lovelies to enjoy in the sun.
They absolutely taste like Mojitos, the sponge is light with a hint of lemon and lime zest and then a kick of fresh mint. Whilst the sponge is still warm we poured a syrup of sugar and rum over and then left to cool. Finally we piped a swirl of buttercream on to the top made with butter, icing sugar, lemon and lime zest and a shot of rum. A cocktail isn't a cocktail without a bit of sparkle so we mixed lime zest with sugar and edible glitter and sprinkled on the top of the cupcake and topped with a mint leaf...delicious!
These cupcakes are perfect for parties, they always get a good reaction when brought out on a nice
elegant cake stand. Unsurprisingly these don't last very long! Cake and alcohol, what could be better?
E-mail us and we can supply a selection of cocktail flavoured cupcakes for your next soiree!
Look out for our new soda pop cupcakes...here's a sneak preview of our Dandelion and Burdock cupcakes, they may sound strange but they taste yummy! Watch this space for Ginger Beer, Lemonade and Fizzy Orange cupcakes coming very soon.
This is a really easy recipe and a simple cake to bake for an occasion or for afternoon tea. The triple layers of chocolate sponge sandwiched between thick mascarpone cream and cherry jam make this a really indulgent cake.
Ingredients
6oz/150g of unsalted butter
8oz/200g of Self raising flour
1 1/2 level teaspoons of baking powder
6oz/150g caster sugar
3 medium eggs
3 tbsps. milk
3 tbsps. of cocoa blended with 3 tbsps. hot water (cooled slightly)
250g Mascarpone cheese
300ml whipping cream
Cherry Jam
Fresh cherries to decorate (optional)
Edible glitter (optional)
Method
1) Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4 (180c)
2) Grease and line 3 shallow round cake tins with greaseproof paper.
3) Beat the butter until light and fluffy.
4) Add all of the ingredients to a bowl and beat with a hand mixer for 2 minutes.
5) Divide the mixture evenly between the trays and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through and springy.
6) Next place the mascarpone and whipping cream in a bowl and whip until firm. Place in the fridge.
7) When the sponges have cooled start to assemble your cake. Top one layer with a thick layer of mascarpone cream and then spoon on a generous amount of cherry jam. Repeat the layers saving some of the mascarpone cream to decorate the top of the cake. Sprinkle with edible glitter and top with fresh cherries.
This cake needs to be cut into very large slices, forget about the diet...remember we have a separate stomach for dessert and cake!
This weekend we were asked to make Mich Turner's rose cake to help celebrate a fortieth wedding anniversary. We adapted it to include yellow roses as the bride carried yellow roses on her wedding day. This cake is four layers of vanilla madeira cake and is sandwiched with a deliciously fruity strawberry jam and vanilla buttercream. We used different shades of yellow buttercream to pipe roses around the cake. Beautiful! This is the perfect cake to celebrate any occasion.
Look out for our demos coming soon to learn how to pipe the perfect buttercream rose. Have a look at our rose cupcake tower, each cupcake has been lovingly piped with a beautiful buttercream rose and finished with a sprinkling of glitter. Simple yet so effective and perfect for a wedding or to give as favours to your guests.
We were thrilled to be working with the Tea and Tarts Huddersfield WI this week to help them with their 'Guess the weight of the cake' stall. We designed and donated a bespoke Kiss Me Cake creation to fit in with their Time Travel and Steam Punk theme. 
