Oysters

I made these delightful Lemon and Strawberry oysters for my Diamond Jubilee Tea Party. Filled with vanilla buttercream and topped with an almond sponge, they are delicious, and lovely to look at. In the satisfaction of making them I forgot the icing on the cake- dusting them with icing sugar. Nevertheless, a lovely little gem. 

Battenburg

Now, I've had a little bit of thing about Battenburgs soon after I first started to bake. I took it upon myself to attempt a Battenburg (as mentioned previously- I love precision and a challenge, as a novice, baking is a challenge within itself but I guess I wanted to push those boundries) So...my first Battenburg, I used a recipe I found on the internet, quite a complex recipe which ended up with copious amounts of cake (2 HUGE Battenburgs) I used pink colouring, with the recommended amount, when it came out of the oven you couldn't tell the difference between the squares, I was very disheartened as the whole point of the cake is the "window" effect. I went on to cover it in marzipan (my first attempt wrapping a cake in marzipan- very messy) and the cake tasted lovely, as I'd used almond essence in the "pink" sponge and lemon in the yellow. 


My 2nd attempt- over a year later, was Mary Berry's recipe for a Battenburg, and a success! Her recipe is easy to follow and doesn't allow it to be as difficult as it looks. It even looked like a Battenburg (and so it should since I had my ruler out measuring and cutting) and my marzipan rolling technique got better. I was very pleased with the result, an improvement on the last, and my next one can only get better!

Very Best Chocolate Fudge Cake

The first of my Mary Berry bakes was this delicious chocolate cake. The filling doubles up as the icing too, and never quite sets so it is always lovely and gooey- just how chocolate cake should be. The sponge itself is moist and soft and ever so tasty. The recipe states to use apricot jam in the centre of the two layers, which would act as the glue, I'm guessing apricot jam is used (in a lot of cakes) as it has a mild flavour, however, I substituted it for raspberry jam and what a delightful taste it added to the cake, the chocolate filling tastes wonderful with a raspberry flavour. This is undoubtedly one of the most delicious chocolate cakes I've ever had. I will definitely be baking it again, just on very special occasions as it really is a treat. 

Baking Essentials

For Christmas I was given a beautifully Nordic style apron (spot on-trend for Christmas 2011) with matching cake and biscuit tins, along with Mary Berry's Baking Bible, my absolute favourite baker. I will be sure to tag Mary Berry in any cakes I've baked with her recipes.

Mince Pies

Very boozey mince pies topped with festive stars and icing sugar. I also made mince pies topped with marzipan stars which were baked in the oven along with the pie, a delicious addition which tones down the strong brandy taste of the mincemeat. Who knows, I may try making a Christmas pudding next year!

Mars Bar Shortbread

A twist on the traditional millionaires shortbread, this is the first thing I properly baked from scratch rather than out of a ready mix box. Worked well, just a shame I'm not a fan of Mars bars.

A sweet welcome

Hello!

And welcome to "Cakes & Bakes" where I shall share my wonderful journey through the baking world. Through the nicely iced ups and the burnt and sunken downs I will document each sugary step.

To be honest, I'd never considered myself much of a baker, I'm more of a cook. But one day, I decided to bake, and to my utmost surprise, I found it very therapeutic and relaxing- the measuring, concentration, precision and attention to detail all appealed to the part of me that has to get things just right. And I found, that in the same way finishing a design is, it is very satisfying to behold a finished bake.

So...I hope you enjoy following my journey as much as I enjoyed baking it.

P.S...

The journey is will make a delightful one with a cup of tea by your side...