CCC 'Christmas Sparkle'

Cakes on parade

Our latest Clandestine Cake Club meeting last week certainly lived up to the theme of the evening in that we had the most glittering, twinkling shimmering, shining and sparkling array of cakes brought by 18 fabulous and enthusiastic member bakers. Our lovely hostess, Carmela, welcomed us to her home and we all nibbled the beautiful and tasty Italian savouries that she had prepared, before we actively demolished our festive cake display.

 

It was such a relaxing evening for me and so heart-warming to welcome members, old and new, to such a happy occasion.

Our bakes contained all the numerous styles and flavours of Christmas, including warm spices, tangy oranges, delicious chocolate, cool peppermint, as well as an abundance of classic dried fruit and nuts which are synonymous with this time of year. It was so hard to know where to start and, more importantly perhaps, when to finish!

Thank you, Carmela, for your warm hospitality, and thank you members for your continued support this year. Rest assured, I have many more fabulous venues ‘up my sleeve’ for us to visit in 2014 but, meanwhile, I do wish all Northamptonshire cake clubbers a truly happy and healthy Christmas.

Happy baking! Gillian x

PS A few photos taken at the event can be found here: http://clandestinecakeclub.co.uk/2013/12/17/northampton-district-christmas-sparkle/

Bake ahead Christmas 2013 - Festive Welsh Cakes

Festive Welsh Cakes ingredients

OK, it’s 1^st December, so it’s time for me to plan a little Christmas ‘bake-ahead’ baking. However, as I am still attempting to lose a few pounds before the big day and, not having a great iron will, I am not too keen on having too many sweet treats in my cupboards ahead of time. So, one of my fail-safe recipes is my version of Festive Welsh Cakes. It’s an ideal tea-time favourite when unexpected visitors call, as they take less than 30 minutes or so to prepare and cook. They are best eaten straight away when warm but they will happily also store in an air-tight tin for several days. Even better would be to freeze a batch, as they can be defrosted and warmed briefly in a microwave. 

Festive Welsh Cakes

250g self raising flour

Pinch of salt

125g butter (I didn’t have any today, so I used marg.)

75g light soft brown sugar (or caster if you prefer) plus a little extra for topping

Zest of 1 orange

1 beaten egg

1 tablespoon mincemeat

½ tsp cinnamon or mixed spice

Milk if needed

Sift the flour, salt and spice into a large bowl then rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Add the sugar, zest, and mincemeat, along with the beaten egg. Mix to form a soft dough. If necessary, add a drop or two of milk. 

Ready for rolling

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll to about 1cm thickness. Using a scone cutter, cut into rounds, re-rolling any trimmings.

Cook for 2/3 mins each side

Heat a heavy-based frying pan or griddle on a low/medium heat - NO NEED TO GREASE. Cook the cakes in small batches for two to three minutes each side, or until golden brown.

Dust with caster sugar whilst still warm.

Ready to enjoy!

Caramel almond cake

I am told that Scandinavian countries don’t have a tradition of afternoon tea but they still have an incredible array of recipes for breads, pastries and cakes. I, for one, can close my eyes and certainly visualise rye bread open sandwiches filled with smoked salmon and sweet mustard, followed by freshly made cinnamon buns and slices of sponge cake filled with lingonberry jam. It’s such a pity that I am unaware of any establishments in Northamptonshire that can satisfy my Nordic tea-table dreams - and I just don’t think that Ikea in Milton Keynes will do!

Princess cake

So, I had to make my own Swedish treat and, after a little research, discovered that one of the major flavours in this part of the world is cardamom but all sorts of fruits and nuts and spices are used and almonds are a favourite. I would love to try, one day, to make the famous Princess cake with alternating layers of sponge, whipped cream and vanilla custard topped with marzipan but for today decided upon attempting a much simpler “Toscakaka” – a light cake with a yummy praline topping.

The result was amazing and ridiculously moreish – in fact it tasted even better the next day when the caramel topping had seeped into the sponge. This is one that will firmly remain a family favourite.

Toscakaka - Swedish caramel almond cake

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There are many recipes on the internet but I used the following one, having adapted it slightly.

For the cake: 70ml milk 1 tsp lemon juice 75g unsalted butter 3 eggs 150g caster sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract (or paste, powder or seeds from pod) 150g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp fine sea salt

For the topping: 150g flaked almonds 125g butter 125g light brown sugar 50ml milk 1/2 tsp sea salt 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 160C/320F. Grease a deep 9" round tin (preferably with a removable bottom) and line the bottom with baking parchment.

Stir the lemon juice into the milk and leave to sit to make buttermilk (you can replace with 75ml if you have it on hand).

Toast the almond flakes on an oven tray for 5-7 minutes until they're a light golden brown, then set aside.

Melt the butter in a saucepan then pour into a bowl and leave to cool (keep the pan to use later).

Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla together for 5 minutes, until the mixture is a yellowy-cream colour and very thick. Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt together.

Place 1/3rd of the flour mixture into the egg bowl then gently fold in with a big metal spoon or large spatula. Drizzle half of the milk over the top and fold in. Repeat with the next 1/3rd of flour, the rest of the milk, then the rest of the flour. Finally drizzle half of the butter over the top, fold in, then repeat with the remaining butter. Be gentle but thorough, scraping the bottom - it's easy to get little pockets of flour.

Carefully transfer to the tin. Tap on the counter once to remove any big air bubbles. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden and set - when 15 minutes have gone, start making the topping. Place the toasted almonds, butter, sugar, milk, salt and vanilla into the saucepan and stir as the butter melts. Keep heating for a few minutes - it should bubble and thicken slightly.

Turn the oven up to 200C/390F, then remove the cake to a rack and pour the glaze over the top. Spread the almonds out into an even layer. Place back in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes until the glaze is dark brown and bubbling. Cool for a few minutes then slide a knife around the edge of the tin to loosen it and remove the cake to a rack.

It keeps well in an airtight tin for two days and is still alright on the third. (Makes about 8-10 slices).

Enjoy!

Christmas cake

There are so many versions of Christmas fruit cake and most have evolved, having been tweaked over the years, as traditional family recipes. Whether it is light or dark, crumbly or moist, square or round, we all have our favourite combination of luxurious dried fruits and nuts, eggs, sugar, flour, and heady spices. A celebration cake, of course, also has some form of alcohol - in my family it has to be brandy!

Thanks to some of my Northampton Clandestine Cake Club members, we recently collected sufficient donations towards the cost of the ingredients to make a Christmas cake to raise funds at a local Charity Food Festival in aid of Cynthia Spencer Hospice and the Haematology Unit at NGH. 

Ready for the oven

So, several weeks ago, using my usual recipe, I soaked the fruits overnight in brandy and made the cake the following day, making sure that the tin was well insulated with several layers of paper – inside and out – so that the mixture wouldn’t burn during the long (4 ½ hr) cooking time.

Marzipan coat

Once baked, I ‘fed’ the cake several times with extra brandy over a 2 week period before it was covered in marzipan, ready for icing. Meanwhile, as decoration, I made several sizes of snowflake and my daughter Laura and I spent a cosy evening painting the flakes with edible sparkly glitter before covering the cake with fondant. Finished, with silver ribbons, it was ready to be displayed at the Charity Food Festival.

Finished Christmas cake

Around 100 or so people attended on the day and it was such an interesting and enjoyable mix of cookery demonstrations – including one from our own CCC member Carmela who is an Italian cookery tutor (http://www.carmelaskitchen.blogspot.co.uk) - together with a variety of Northamptonshire food stalls, all selling their local produce. 

Our CCC cake was used in a game of ‘Guess the Weight’ and was won by a lovely lady called Anne Marie Wright, who correctly judged the cake to be 6lbs 4oz in weight.  Including our meagre proceeds, around £2,000 was raised on the day - such a wonderful result for hard-working organiser Jenny Dicks of Bay Tree Cottage Workshops - http://www.btcworkshops.co.uk. 

Our CCC cake at Charity Food Festival

Apple, cinnamon and sultana scone loaf

Afternoon tea

Afternoon tea has been a British institution since Anna Maria, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, asked her footman to bring her a pot of tea and light refreshment one afternoon in 1840. The ritual caught on and afternoon tea became the corner stone of high society dining. These days taking tea as a light afternoon meal has become much more accessible, but has not lost a crumb of its charm.

A full Afternoon tea is commonly composed of sandwiches – usually cut delicately into ‘fingers’ – scones with clotted cream and jam, sweet pastries and cakes. Interestingly, scones were not a common feature of early Afternoon Tea and were only introduced in the twentieth century.

Today, luxury country hotels and traditional tea rooms will provide welcoming surroundings for this decadent treat which really is a special experience to take your time over, an occasional indulgence and a treat to be had on special occasions.

However, at home, what is nicer than a scaled-down afternoon tea – simply a cup of tea and a scone or slice of cake? In the following recipe you have the best of both worlds. It’s an Apple, cinnamon and sultana scone loaf. Serve sliced when warm and butter generously.

100g wholemeal self-raising flour

125g white self-raising flour

75g butter

40g golden caster sugar

100g sultanas

50g grated apple

4 tsp ground cinnamon

A pinch of salt

1 large egg

4-5tbs milk

Also, for the topping  - 1 tbsp milk, ½ apple sliced, a little demerara sugar for dusting and a little ground cinnamon for dusting.

Preheat oven to 200C, 400F, gas mark 6. Grease and dust with flour a 2lb loaf tin.

In a large bowl, place flours and salt. Rub in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs. Then add caster sugar, sultanas, apple and cinnamon. Stir until everything is well mixed. In a jug whisk the egg with the milk and then pour into dry ingredients.  Mix well before turning out to lightly knead together. Roll into large sausage shape and place in tin.

Brush with milk and decorate with a little sliced apple down the length of the loaf. Dust with demerara sugar and finish with a generous sprinkling of ground cinnamon.

Bake for 30-35 mins. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. 

Enjoy!

Latest cake with fondant icing - in pictures!

Ready to roll!

Covered

Trimmed

Preparing blossom decorations

Ready for detail

Sparkle added

Ready for transport

The mysterious Marlborough bun.

Marlborough bun

When we moved to Higham Ferrers in 2010 it was more luck than judgement that we found it had a huge Waitrose store not more than ½ a mile away. Since then, needless to say, we have visited on many an occasion and have taken to partaking of a free coffee (a Waitrose cardholder scheme) and sometimes – when we are feeling the need – accompanying it with a rather tasty Marlborough bun. 

Kneading fruits into sweet dough

Sweet bun dough, enriched with good things like milk, butter, fruit and sugar, has for centuries been made at celebratory times but buns, as a whole, I believe are diminishing in favour and more refined treats like cupcakes and muffins appear now to be more popular. What a pity – I think there should be a Great British Bun Revival! 

I have always thought that traditional English buns - like the Chelsea, Bath, or Hot cross - are second to none and now, thanks to Waitrose, the ‘Marlborough’ has joined their ranks  but can I find it elsewhere or, better still, can I make it myself?

Second rise before baking

Now, where to find a recipe? I have scoured the internet and, although the Marlborough bun does get a mention now and again, I can’t for the life of me find too much on the subject. Even books by baking high priests Dan Lepard and Paul Hollywood also drew a blank and so a little experimentation was called for and I have started with a recipe found on the BBC food website for ‘Dried fruit and almond buns’. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/dried_fruit_and_almond_47710

Hot buns

The buns turned out to be just about acceptable but were nothing like the mysterious Marlborough and so I must now tinker with the recipe, visit Waitrose when the need arises, and my research will undoubtedly continue.  Watch this space!