Sarah&Stuff

LEMON DRIZZLE DOUGHNUT CAKE.

I had another birthday cake request off one of my mums good friends from work. She wanted a lemon drizzle cake so as usual, I decided to go all out. Who wants to ask for a lemon drizzle cake for their birthday and only get your average lemon drizzle cake? It just won’t do. This cake is ridiculously moist. The sponge tastes of tangy lemons and is sandwiched together with a homemade lemon curd and mascarpone filling. The cake is then topped with baked lemon drizzle doughnuts which are so so naughty but taste so so SO good. Interested? Sit tight and read on…

FOR THE CAKE YOU WILL NEED:

FILLING: 2 large egg yolks, 2 lemons - juice and finely grated zest, 30g unsalted butter, 125g mascarpone, 75g caster sugar.

LEMON SPONGE: 2 lemons - finely grated zest, 200g unsalted butter - cubed and softened, 200g caster sugar, 3 medium eggs - beaten, 200g self raising flour - sifted. 

SYRUP: 4 lemons - juiced, 75g granulated sugar.

FOR THE DOUGHNUTS YOU WILL NEED:

6 hole doughnut pan - I ordered mine off Amazon!

DOUGHNUTS: 225g plain flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 125g unsalted butter - softened, 115g caster sugar, 1 egg - beaten, 180ml milk, 1/2 a lemon - juiced. 

LEMON DRIZZLE: Juice of 2 lemons, 150g caster sugar.

ICING: 150g icing sugar, water to mix.

OPTIONAL: Happy birthday candles!

CAKE.CAKE.CAKE.

1. Preheat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4. I wouldn’t use the fan setting on your oven because it may dry out your sponge. 

2. Start by making the lemon curd for the filling. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar using a wooden spoon in a small saucepan until smooth. Beat in the lemon juice, grated zest and butter, and heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring all the time until it thickens. Once thick, allow to cool; cover and chill until needed. 

3. Grease a 20cm, round, springform cake tin and base-line with a disc of baking paper. Place the sugar, softened butter and lemon zest in a mixing bowl and beat with a wooden spoon or an electric hand mixer. The result should be pale in colour, with a really light and fluffy texture. 

4. Now start adding the beaten egg. Add it in stages, beating in after each addition. Finally, fold in the flour. You will be left with quite a thick mixture but don’t worry because this is what you want. Spoon the mixture into your prepared tin and bake for 35-45 minutes until it is shrinking away from the side. Test it with a skewer to see if the mixture is cooked in the centre; it should come out clean or with crumbs, not with any mixture. Once out the oven, prick all over with a cocktail stick around 20 times.

5. Make the syrup by stirring the strained lemon juice into the sugar so that it dissolves a bit, but not fully. Drizzle all over the cake whilst it is still in the tin but do it slowly, waiting a few moments before adding any more so that it all sinks in. It should leave a slight crust on the cake as it sinks in. Leave for 10 or so minutes and then remove from the tin and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

6. Using a knife (serrated is best), slice the cake in half horizontally and set it aside. Finish off the filling by placing the mascarpone in a small bowl and swirling in the lemon curd you made earlier. Lift off the top half of the cake and spread the base with the filling. Replace the top half. Cover the cake and leave it at room temperature. If you aren’t intending on eating the cake the same day then I would perhaps leave adding the filling until as late as possible!

DOUGHNUTS.DOUGHNUTS.DOUGHNUTS. 

1. In a large bowl sift and mix together the flour and baking powder then add the butter and rub in until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar.

2. In a jug, lightly whisk the egg, milk and lemon juice then gradually add the liquid to the flour mixture, beating well during each addition until the mixture is creamy and smooth. 

3. Grease your doughnut tin and then carefully spoon the mixture into each mould. I filled each with approx 3/4 full as they will rise when baking. Bake for 20-25 minutes until they are starting to show signs of turning a light golden brown colour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Note - I had enough mixture to make 12 doughnuts in total so just repeat the process over again with the next batch! 

4. Remove each doughnut from its mould and place all of them on a baking tray to cool completely. Whilst that is happening, make the lemon drizzle. Place the lemon juice and caster sugar in a pan and heat gently. Once the sugar is completely dissolved, bring to the boil and then turn off the heat and allow to cool.

5. Prick each doughnut with a cocktail stick several times and then drizzle the lemon drizzle over each one - HAR HAR. Ensure each doughnut is coated. Leave them to soak up the flavour for about ten minutes and then arrange however many you want on top of the cake. 

6. Mix your icing sugar with some water until you get a nice runny consistency and then drizzle all over the doughnut stack and allow to run down the sides of the cake. Add your happy birthday candles to the doughnuts and…

…Lemon Drizzle Cake complete.

This is my first time making a birthday cake for someone. It was my friends 18th birthday this weekend and she asked if I could make the cake for her party. She said her favourite things were chocolate and cookie dough so I figured I would make my Cookie Dough Mountain Cake (see here: http://sarahandstuff.tumblr.com/post/45356539355/cookie-dough-mountain-cake-okay-brace) but make it even bigger and better.

This time, I made gooey chocolate sponges as opposed to the marble cake I made last time. I also added an extra tier on top, some chocolate fingers to the outside and some homemade cookie dough truffles to finish it off. 

I wanted the cake to say ‘Happy 18th Becca’ somewhere seeing as though it’s a special birthday but it took me a while to decide how I was going to do it. I thought about the obvious - icing it on, but the cake is extremely busy with stuff as it is so didn’t think that was a good idea. Plus icing wouldn’t really go with the cookie dough buttercream.

I have always wanted to give cake bunting a go but again, wasn’t sure if it would work out because of the height of the cake. I spent an afternoon cutting out some card and tying some ribbon and decided to give it a go. The bunting in the pictures was actually my first attempt so I was majorly happy with how easy it was and how it all turned out! I think it’s a great way to make a cake look special and you can personalise it however you want! Just cut some diamonds out of different coloured card and fold them in half to make triangles. The size of the diamonds/triangles is up to you and kind of depends how big your cake is! If you have a MASSIVE cake you hardly want tiny bunting. Cut a piece of ribbon that is longer than needed. Take some double sided sticky tape and position it along the inside crease of the triangles. Stick the ribbon to this and fold the card back over again and then repeat with all your letters. Make sure you leave some ribbon either side of your first and last piece of bunting because you will need to then tie it to the rods! Add some personalised touches like ribbon to make the bunting look even more pretty.  

I haven’t made a birthday cake for someone before so I was really nervous about how it would turn out as I wanted it to be perfect! Happy 18th Becca!

Cookie Dough Mountain Cake.

Okay, brace yourselves. This is the best thing I have ever made. It’s a vanilla and chocolate marble cake layered and covered in cookie dough buttercream and topped with homemade triple chocolate brownies. Oh, and lots of melted chocolate drizzled over the top. The buttercream tastes JUST LIKE cookie dough and I totally made more just to eat it from the bowl. Think Ben & Jerry’s Half Baked. Then think of that as a cake. That is what you’ve got right here. It’s ridiculously moreish and ridiculously naughty but you won’t care. I’m actually getting emotional that the last piece was eaten earlier on today. Hmph.

If you fancied making some simple fairy cakes or cupcakes then this buttercream would be great for that too! 

Here’s the important bit, how to make it:

Firstly, make the brownies. You’ll find out how to make them here:

http://sarahandstuff.tumblr.com/post/29406722585/chocolate-brownies-best-brownies-ever-fact

When they are out of the oven and cooled, cut into squares and then pop into a tin and put to one side. There will be leftover brownies to devour if you follow the quantities in the above recipe. Or perhaps not, it depends how big you intend to make your mountain!

For the cake itself and the cookie dough buttercream, you will need the following:

Cake - 115g unsalted butter - softened, 270g plain flour, 30g cornflour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 225g caster sugar, 3 large eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 170ml buttermilk, 60ml + 2tbsp boiling water, 35g cocoa powder.

Buttercream - 250g unsalted butter - softened, 140g light brown sugar, 315g icing sugar - sifted, 85g plain flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tbsp milk, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 200g chocolate chips.

Optional - milk and white chocolate to drizzle over the top. I just ensured I saved a little bit of each when making the brownies.

Now make the marble cake:

Preheat the oven to 180c, grease and line the base and sides of two 18cm round cake tins with baking paper. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and use a whisk to combine, set aside. Place butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat on high with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. With the mixer on a medium speed, add eggs one at a time until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl when needed. Add vanilla and beat again until combined.

Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with the flour - (flour, buttermilk, mix with a spoon then buttermilk, flour, mix with a spoon). Place a third of the mixture into a separate bowl. 

In a small bowl mix the cocoa and boiling water, whisking until it is smooth. Gently mix into the separated bowl of cake batter until combined. Spoon half the vanilla batter and half the chocolate batter into the prepared cake tin, and the other half of each batter into the other prepared tin, alternating spoonfuls of vanilla and chocolate to simulate a chess board type look! Run a knife through the batter in each tin to create a swirl effect.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of each cake comes out clean. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes and then remove from tins and cool completely on a wire rack. If you aren’t making the buttercream straight away then pop each cake in a tin so they don’t dry out.

Prepare the buttercream:

Beat together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on high. Mix in the icing sugar until smooth. Beat in the flour and salt. Mix in the milk and vanilla extract until smooth and well blended. Stir in the chocolate chips until evenly mixed. It’s at this point I suggest you have a cheeky taste so you understand what I mean about it tasting JUST LIKE cookie dough. 

Carefully level the tops of your cakes using a knife so each is flat. Place your bottom cake layer on a cake stand and cover with a layer of buttercream. Sandwich second cake layer on top. Cover the entire cake with the remaining buttercream. 

Arrange your brownie pieces as you want them on top of the cake. Add some milk chocolate into a small bowl and melt over a pan of boiling water. Drizzle over the brownies, lifting one or two so the chocolate can help stick the brownies together. Do the same with the white chocolate. 

Now bask in your amazingness and enjoy the smell of cookie dough heaven in the air. 

KEY LIME CHEESECAKE.

One of my close friends is travelling all over and is currently in Australia at the moment so she asked me to make a Key Lime Cheesecake for her mum for mothers day. CUTE! Was lovely to see her mum’s face when I showed up on the doorstep with it. This recipe is really simple and there is nothing fancy to it. It has such a refreshing taste to it and is extremely moreish! If you would prefer to make it a lemon mixture rather than lime, it would work out exactly the same. 

You need: 75g butter, 250g crushed digestive biscuits (gingernuts are tasty too), 397g can condensed milk, finely grated zest and juice of 5 limes, 450ml double cream.

To decorate: 75g dark chocolate - melted, 1 lime for decoration, little bit of icing sugar.

- In a large saucepan, melt the butter and stir in the crushed biscuits. Press into the base and sides of a 23cm loose-bottomed cake tin. Place in the fridge to chill.

-Whisk together the remaining ingredients until thick and creamy. Spoon over the biscuit base and chill for at least 1 hour.

-Remove from the tin and place on your serving plate. Drizzle over the melted chocolate using a fork and leave to set.

-Decorate with as many lime slices as you want. I caramelised mine to give them a syrupy coating. All you do is simmer the slices gently in a pan to which you have added some icing sugar and water, barely covering them. The syrup will reduce to a sticky, brown coloured coating. Remove from the pan before it starts to burn though!

If you have some leftover mixture because you haven’t got a tin quite as big as 23cm, don’t get rid of it! Spoon it into small bowls and chill in the fridge. It makes an amazing dessert by itself too. 

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE & SPICED ORANGE HOT CROSS BREAD CAKES.

For the bread cakes:

100ml milk, 50g caster sugar, 75g butter, 450g strong plain white flour, 25g cocoa powder, 1 tsp mixed spice, 1 tsp salt, 50g chopped mixed peel (don’t have to include), finely grated zest of 1 orange, 7g fast action dried yeast, 75g milk chocolate, 50g white chocolate, 1 beaten egg, flour for dusting.

For the crosses and glaze:

50g strong plain white flour, 1 tbsp sunflower oil, 2-3 tbsp water, 2 tbsp orange juice, 2 tbsp caster sugar. 

To make: 

1. Place the milk in a saucepan over a low heat. Just before it boils, remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and butter until they have dissolved. Add 100ml cold water and leave to cool down until you can comfortably hold your finger in it for a few seconds.

2. Sift together the flour, cocoa, mixed spice and salt into a large bowl and stir in the mixed peel (if using), orange zest and yeast. Make a well in the centre and pour in the warm milk mixture and beaten egg. Mix together until you have a sticky dough. Chop both the milk and white chocolate into chunks and add. Knead the dough on a floured surface for 8-10 minutes until it’s smooth and elastic. 

3. Place the dough in a large, lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until doubled in volume. Now knock back the dough and knead for a couple of minutes. Divide into 12 pieces and shape into buns. 

4. Place on greased baking sheets, leaving enough space between each for rising. Cover with the tea towel and leave to rise again until doubled in size - about 30 mins. Preheat the oven to 200c/180c fan/gas 6. For the glaze, mix the flour and oil with 2-3 tbsp water until smooth.

5. Lightly cut a cross in the centre of each of the bread cakes with a knife to mark out your crosses. Using a piping bag, pipe on the crosses. Cook them for 15-18 mins until they feel springy on top and sound hollow when tapped underneath.

6. Place the orange juice and sugar in a small pan and gently heat until the sugar dissolves. As soon as the bread cakes are out the oven, brush with the glaze and leave to cool slightly on a wire rack before serving warm.

HOMEMADE HOT CROSS BUN ICE CREAM COOKIE SANDWICHES. 

If these had a difficulty rating it would be easy. Do make sure you give yourself enough time to make them though. Remember, the ice cream needs to be left in the freezer over night.

You need:

3 medium eggs, 2 egg yolks, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence, 1/2 tsp allspice, 240g caster sugar, 500ml single cream, 150g mixed fruit, 100g white chocolate - cut into chunks, pinch of ground cinnamon, choc chip cookies - I bought 2 packs of 8 cookies to make 8 sandwiches in total. OR, you could go one further and make your own! Just a heads up though - making only 8 sandwiches means you have plenty of ice cream left over. But that’s hardly a problem let’s be honest.

To make:

1. Place the eggs, extra yolks, vanilla, spices and sugar in a heatproof bowl. Place over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk until thick and pale. Remove from the heat and beat for a further 5 minutes or until cool. Whisk the cream for around two minutes. Gently fold through the egg mixture until just combined. Refrigerate until cold.

2. Fold through the mixed fruit and white chocolate chunks, pour into a baking paper lined tin (I used two small baking trays - you can see from the photos the depth of the tins) and freeze overnight until hard.

3. Remove the baking paper from the ice cream and using cookie cutters, cut out 8 circles or as many as you require. This needs to be a quick process for obvious reasons. I found that the best way to do it was to cut out my 8 circles then immediately put them back into the tin (make sure you’ve re lined with baking paper) and place back in the freezer for ten minutes.

4. When ready, take your circles out the freezer and sandwich each between 2 cookies. Plate up and show off immediately. 

BANOFFEE PIE.

As you MUST know by now, I often bake for birthdays. It was my friend’s 22nd and so I asked him what his favourite dessert was. On hearing the words ‘Banoffee Pie’ I was massively disappointed. I cannot stand bananas. I’d way rather it just be a toffee pie but hey, it wasn’t my birthday so I cracked on.

I was hoping to get a picture of the pie when it had been cut into so that you could see just how thick the caramel layer was but I couldn’t bring myself to cut it. It would be like buying someone a box of chocolates, eating a sneaky few and then handing them over. It’s just not on.

For the base you’ll need:

100g butter, melted

250g milk chocolate digestive biscuits, crushed

For the caramel:

100g butter

100g dark brown soft sugar

397g tin Carnation Condensed milk

For the top:

4 small bananas

300ml carton whipping cream, lightly whipped

Grated chocolate/cocoa powder/or both!

Get started: 

Melt 100g butter and then add to the biscuit crumbs. Mix and then spread into your greased cake tin. I used a 20cm loose-bottomed cheesecake tin. Try to build the crumbs up the side of the dish as well to make a wall around the outside. Chill in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Melt the other 100g butter with the sugar in a saucepan on a low heat, stirring all the time until the sugar has dissolved. Add the condensed milk and bring to a rapid boil for about a minute ensuring you stir the mixture all the time. This should create a thick golden caramel. Pour this over the biscuit base and chill for at least an hour until the caramel is firm to touch.

Slice 3 of your bananas and arrange over the caramel layer. Add the whipped cream on top and decorate with the remaining slices of banana, grated chocolate and cocoa powder. 

Then all you need to do is GENTLY remove it from the tin! 

If you fancied doing it slightly different then try making a chocolate version. Instead of melting butter and sugar with the condensed milk just melt 200g chocolate. A Chanoffee Pie? No?

365 UPDATE.

Cannot believe I’m over a month into the 365 challenge! Time flies by quickly enough as it is but uploading one photo every day draws my attention to the fact even more so! 

I started the 365 Challenge to get to grips with my new camera. I’m so glad I made the decision to get involved with it and although yes, there have been days when I’ve totally forgotten, I think it’s going rather well if I do say so myself! I guess if I’m pleased with what I’ve done so far then that’s all that matters. After all, I see it as a personal challenge for the individual taking part.

One thing I can definitely say is that it’s been a lot harder than I originally thought it would be. Taking one photo a day and uploading it sounds easy right?! It really isn’t. There have been days where I’ve completely lacked inspiration, days where I have barely left the sofa let alone the house and days where I’ve taken a picture but not had the time to actually upload it. That’s life and that’s all part of the challenge aspect of what I’m taking part in. 

I’m loving being more involved with photography though. I want it to always be a big part of every stage in my life. There’s nothing better than looking back through photographs. That’s in my opinion of course! 

Take a look at some of my photographs so far…

(Don’t forget you can enlarge each individual one by clicking on it!)