Coconut Cake

I absolutely love coconut, I love the smell, the texture and the taste but coconut cakes can often be disappointingly dry. It was my Nan's 80th birthday last September and she was having a big family party at my Mum's and I was tasked with making her birthday cake. Her favourite cake is lemon, which I did for the bottom tier but her favourite smell and taste, like me, is coconut. So I really wanted to make a coconut cake for the top tier but one that was moist and flavoursome. After trialling many I finally struck gold on a website called "Sally's Baking Addiction" and found a recipe for the most delicious coconut cake, one that is moist, light and fluffy but equally packed a punch with coconut flavour - mainly down to the fact that it has 3 types of coconut based ingredient in it! It is really easy to make and worked well with my light coconut buttercream icing. My Nan absolutely loved her cake and so many people commented on how much they loved the coconut layer. Makes two 7 inch sponges.

Ingredients

275g Plain Flour

170g Butter

330g Granulated Sugar

2tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

1tsp Salt

240ml tinned Coconut Milk

5 Egg Whites

120g Sour Cream

2tsp Vanilla Extract

1tsp Coconut Extract

80g Desiccated Coconut

How To Make

1. Preheat the oven to 170'c and grease and base line two 7 inch cake tins. Sift together the flour, bicarb, baking powder and salt into a bowl. 

2. In your mixer beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then beat in the egg whites,vanilla, coconut extract and sour cream. At this point the mixture will look curdled but don't panic! 

3. Then on a low speed gradually add the dry mixture and then the coconut milk. Lastly fold in the desiccated coconut and mix until well combined. 

4. Split the batter between the two tins and bake for 20-25 minutes until risen, golden and a skewer comes out clean. Leave to rest in the tins for 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.

5. I decorated my Nan's cake with a coconut buttercream, using coconut extract for flavour and tinted it a lavender colour. I then topped the cake with a white chocolate drip and then, in line with the pastel "vintage tea party" colour theme of the decorations, I topped the cake with homemade mini meringues, party rings, marshmallows, pink fudge pieces and wafers daisies and butterflies. 

Rainbow Cake

I have always loved the look of a Rainbow cake, when you cut that icing and inside are beautiful bright layers of sponge - its so pretty! For Christmas I got a set of rainbow cake tins and, after a few practise runs, my first project was to do a Paw Patrol themed cake for my youngest sons 2nd Birthday. I decided to do 6 layers, one for each characters colour, and used a simple vanilla sponge recipe as I didn't want to risk flavours tampering with the bright colours. When it comes to colouring the sponge I found it doesn't really fade during baking so whatever shade it is in your bowl will be the colour it comes out.Also don't use liquid food dye as you would have to add too much to get the right colour and then the sponge would be too wet. Use gel or paste colours. When the cake was cut I was so happy to see 6 bright layers of sponge revealed and I had one very happy little boy with his paw patrol birthday cake. This recipe will make a 6 layer 7 inch rainbow cake.

Ingredients

20oz Margerine
20oz Caster Sugar
10 Eggs
20oz Self Raising Flour
3tsp Vanilla Essence
3.5 tsp Baking Powder
3.5 tbsp Milk
Food colourings

How To Make

1. Preheat your oven to 180'c and then grease a baseline 6 tins.

2. Cream together the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Then beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding a little flour each time. 

3. Gently fold in the flour and baking powder and then mix in the vanilla and milk. Split the mixture evenly between 6 bowls and then colour each one to the desired strength. I chose pink, yellow, blue, green, red and orange. 

4. Place into the prepared tins and bake for 20 minutes until risen, golden and a skewer comes out clean. Allow to stand for 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. 

5. Once the cake has completely cooled assemble the layers using buttercream between each layer. Once its assembled ice the outside however you wish. I covered mine with white fondant and then decorated with fondant paw prints and a spray that I also made myself. 

Good Old Vanilla Sponge

Vanilla sponge, the simplest and probably one of the most baked cakes! Everyone has their own recipe and this one is mine, passed down from my Mum and adapted slightly by me. I could bake this with my eyes shut I think and it makes a wonderful light, fluffy sponge every time! This is my go to sponge for birthday cakes, cupcakes and classic Victoria Sponge. This recipe makes two 7 inch round cakes or approximately 18 cupcakes or 24 fairy cakes. The pictures on here all used this recipe for the actual cake itself. You have Banana Split Cupcakes that I made yesterday, vanilla sponge with Banana Split flavour buttercream icing (icing sugar available from Sugar & Crumbs). A Salted Caramel Drip Cake that I made last year for my Husbands birthday, vanilla sponge with Salted Caramel Buttercream Icing (again Sugar & Crumbs), caramel drip and topped with homemade meringues, honeycomb, dark chocolate shards and popcorn. And also my Flower Topped Cake (my first attempt at my own flower-paste flowers) that I made for my Mum's birthday this year, a vanilla sponge cake topped with vanilla buttercream and homemade sugar paste flowers. 

Ingredients

6oz Self Raising Flour
6oz Caster Sugar
6oz Butter (I use Stork)
3 Eggs
1 tsp Baking Powder (if making cupcakes)
1 tsp Vanilla Extract (not essence!)

How To Make

1. Preheat your oven to 170'c and grease and line two 7 inch cake tins (or whatever size cake it is you're making).

2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then, one at a time, beat in the eggs adding a tablespoon of flour with each egg to prevent the mixture curdling. 

3.Then fold in the rest of the flour, baking powder (if making cupcakes) and vanilla and once combined give the mixture a quick beat so its light and fluffy.  

4. Bake in the oven for about 20mins until risen, golden and a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in its tin for a few minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. 

Chocolate Cake

This recipe was given to me by my friend Becky Miles, who is an amazing baker and has her own cake business called Fondant & Frosting. I had been after a really moist, chocolately sponge cake recipe and so when she passed me this little gem I had to try it out! I did wonder at first if it was going to be worth it after buying all the ingredients but once I tried a slice I knew it was worth every penny! It's dark, rich, moist and oh so chocolatey! I now only ever make this recipe when making a chocolate sponge. The other perk of this recipe, apart from the amazing taste, is that it makes a lot of batter. This mixture normally gives me two deep 10 inch sponges and a loaf cake, or two deep 7 inch sponges and 2 loaf cakes or a tray of cupcakes. It freezes really well too and so the extra cakes are great for popping in the freezer for another day. Icing-wise anything goes, I have tried it with white chocolate buttercream, milk chocolate buttercream and also fondant - as you will see in the pictures below of my eldest sons birthday cake and also my sisters Giraffe birthday cake. But one of the best toppings - and a bit of a cheat - is spreading a loaf cake with Nutella and then letting my boys garnish it with sprinkles and smarties galore! 

Ingredients

325g Plain Flour
325g Butter (I use Stork)
325g 70% Cocoa Drak Chocolate
50ml Strong Coffee (I use Espresso)
1.5 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
475g Light Brown Soft Sugar
5 Eggs
284ml carton of Sour Cream

How to Make

1. Heat the oven to 160'c and grease and line your cake tins. Melt the butter and chocolate over a low heat and then add the vanilla and coffee and remove from the heat.

2. In a mixer combine together the bicarb, baking powder, flour and sugar. Beat the eggs and sour cream together and then add this to the dry mix.

3. Pour in the melted chocolate mixture and stir together until smooth. Pour into the tins and bake for approximately 25-30 minutes, or until firm and a skewer test comes out clean. 

4. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. 

Blueberry & Lemon Loaf

It was my Mother-in-Law's birthday this weekend during lockdown and I knew my Father-in-Law wouldn't have been able to get out and get her a birthday cake and I most certainly knew he wouldn't have made her one! So I decided to make her one to drop off (social distancing style) outside her house. She always says that my Blueberry & Lemon Loaf is her favourite cake so it was a no brainer that I would make this one for her and my boys absolutely love making this one.This recipe is from my "Bread Machine Bible" book by Anne Sheasby and I have adapted it to bake in the oven. My Mother-in-Law is not a fan of icing at all and so I decided to stick to the lemon drizzle icing but I did write "Happy Birthday" across some white chocolate buttons and pop them on the top along with a ribbon. I forgot to take a picture of what the cake traditionally looks like without my garnishes. This cake is one of my go-to recipes, it comes out perfect every time and tastes delicious - kind of like a giant blueberry muffin! 

Ingredients

225g Self Raising Flour
115g Butter
115g Caster Sugar
40g Ground Almonds
1 Lemon
2 Eggs
4 tbsp Milk
200g Fresh Blueberries
55g Icing Sugar

How To Make

1. Preheat the oven to 170'c and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of flour over the blueberries and coat them well. (This stops them sinking to the bottom of the cake during baking)
2. Rub together the butter and flour and then stir in the caster sugar, ground almonds and then grate in the zest of the lemon. 
3. Beat in the eggs and the milk and then gently fold in the blueberries.Pour into the loaf tin and bake in the oven for 45mins or until risen, golden and a skewer comes out clean. 
4. Leave to cool in the tin for 20 minutes or so and then turn out onto a baking tray to finish cooling. 
5. Once the cake is cool, mix the the icing sugar with some of the juice of the lemon to make a fairly thin glace icing. Use a fork to drizzle the icing back and forth all over the loaf and then leave to set. 

Gin & Tonic Cupcakes

Last year my sister had her 30th Birthday party and it was a "Cocktail & Canapes" theme. My Mum organised all the savoury canapes and asked me to do the sweet ones. They needed to be easy to pick up and not require a plate and so, sticking with the cocktail theme, I decided to do cocktail jelly shots and cocktail cupcakes - complete with "Shot Tops" which are little pipettes that you fill with a liquid of your choosing and stick them in the top of the cupcake. When eating you can infuse the cupcake with the liquid - or squirt it in your mouth as some did at the party!!! Anyway, after lots of research I settled on 3 flavours and Gin & Tonic one was one of them. I adapted my lemon sponge recipe to incorporate the Gin and once baked and iced (I tinted mine yellow) I decorated them with a slice of lemon and a shot top filled with gin and tonic. Makes 12. 

Ingredients

6oz Stork
6oz Caster Sugar
6oz Self Raising Flour
3 Eggs
Zest of 1 Lemon
1 tbsp Gin

For the icing...
200g Stork
400g Icing Sugar
2 tbsp Lemon Juice
1 tbsp Gin

How to Make

1. Preheat the oven to 160'c and place 12 cupcake cases into a muffin tray.

2. Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then gradually add the eggs one at a time, adding a spoonful of flour to prevent curdling.

4. Fold in the rest of the flour and the lemon zest. Lastly stir through the gin. Spoon the mixture evenly between the 12 cases. Bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and golden and a skewer test comes out clean. 

5. Leave them to cool on a wire rack. Once cooled make the icing. Beat the butter until soft and fluffy and then mix in the icing sugar, lemon juice and gin. Pipe onto the cupcakes and decorate however you wish.