A pause for a wedding...

So, this week's lovely news is that on Monday I attended the wedding of my brother in law and his lovely fiance - now wife. It was a joyous occasion, held in a beautiful country house called St Audries' Park on the coast of Somerset.

The engagement wasn't a lengthy one - when these two make a decision, it's full steam ahead! 

Back in February, I had a call from the bride to be asking if I would be willing to make the cake for their Regency themed wedding. I was delighted to accept, although it was my first white wedding cake, and the bride and I discussed the colour scheme (yellow, gold and royal blue) and the flowers (roses).

So I browsed the internet - and watched the bride's favourite version of Pride and Prejudice - for inspiration.

I found a few links to cakes with lovely domes of roses and ribbons wrapped round them.  The bride wanted to incorporate the iconic pearls from the Pride and Prejudice theme and wasn't sure what colour roses she wanted. 

I mocked up a few different cakes with cardboard cutouts and sent her photos of them.  I sent over several different versions with the pearls differently positioned and with different coloured roses positioned in different ways.  

The bride and groom preferred quite a simple design, with a middle tier wrapped in lace, and ribbon and pearl swags on the top and bottom tiers.  The top of the cake would feature rose blossoms, and a few further blossoms would appear on the lower tiers.  We also chatted about colours a bit further and decided that blue ribbon would be better as it would work with the bridesmaids' dresses. 

There was a slight challenge in that neither the bride or the groom like fruit cake - but thankfully the groom loves chocolate and I have a great recipe (in a book I mentioned in another post, Sweet Things by Claire Macdonald) which produces a dense, rich cake which I hoped would provide a stable bottom tier to support the lemon drizzle and victoria sponge above. 

Once I received the fabric swatches in the post I went out to buy ribbon and sugar paste.  I started by mixing a golden yellow (the yellow on offer was too bright and so I used peach, ivory and lots of yellow gel food colouring.  I started by making the yellow roses, then the ivory ones. 

I made six large roses and six bud sized ones in each colour.  I then used the remaining paste, along with edible lustre powder colouring, to make lots of pearls for the swags. I used a Lakeland edible lace mould and magic icing to create the lace for the middle tier.

I made the bottom, a 12 inch tier on a 14 inch base, with 3 layers of the rich chocolate cake recipe increased by a third (using a whopping 7 and a half bars of dark chocolate!) then added another 2 and a half bars of cooled, melted dark chocolate into freshly made buttercream.  For the middle tier, I used the James Martin madeira cake recipe, splitting a double quantity between two 10 inch pans, drizzled with a sharp lemon syrup and filled with Delia Smith's lemon curd and cream cheese frosting.  The top tier was made with two 7 inch cakes made using my Mum's easy sponge cake recipe  All the tiers were then crumb coated with vanilla buttercream.

 
I then covered each tier with white icing and put on the edible lace on the middle tier, and used a piping bag with magic icing to pipe the swags onto siliconised paper so I could position the pearls.  I left them overnight to set, then peeled each swag off the paper. I brushed the back of these with a very thin layer of the magic icing and brushed the cake with a very thin layer too, to stick them in place.



So: here is the finished cake - not bad for my first 'white icing' wedding cake I don't think...

So, what have I been up to?

I have been rattling on about how busy I've been, but not actually mentioned any of what I have been up to! I thought I would write a quick post with some of the bits and bobs I have been doing...

First and foremost, the play unfortunately had to be postponed.  The good news is, we do still plan to put on a play at Christmas - a panto of Robin Hood.  Fairly different from Shakespeare for sure, but I am hoping we'll still manage to have fun - and this time have the momentum to put on a great production.  

At the moment we're doing some fund raising, ready to start rehearsing in late August - meaning I have had to do some home baking and also attend a food hygiene course.  I actually wanted to do this for my own reasons, as it is a useful qualification to have, but I have been informed by the council that if I intend to make cakes 'as many' as three or four times in a year for fetes or fundraisers, I need the certificate, and may also need my kitchen inspected.  Seems a lot of fuss for a few cupcakes, so after this local fete, maybe we need to go back to the drawing board in terms of fundraising!

In May I went on a girly weekend, offshore, for the first time in ages.  My lovely sisters in-law arranged a trip for my sister in law to be, as a sort of secondary hen do. I really welcomed the chance to spend time getting to know these three wonderful women better.  It was also an opportunity to slow down almost to a stop, as we were on Sark, one of the smaller channel islands.  There are no cars allowed on Sark, but at just two square miles in size, it's easy enough to get everywhere on foot. 
 
My sister in law Liggy was our tour guide, as she has actually lived on the island for the tourist season a few years running. She is a font of knowledge, and showed us the quiet paths and beauty spots she fell in love with while she was there.

The pace of life feels very natural and relaxed.  We popped to the local Friday night disco at a pub called The Mermaid, where the DJ, Roger, is in his 80s, and plays everything from the Beatles through to Tiesto, quite a playlist!

It was an interesting walk back to the B&B, as there are no street lights, and at night everyone navigates the roads by moon and starlight; due to the lack of light pollution, the island was the first place in the world to have designated Dark Sky status.  You can see well enough to walk, although avoiding puddles (and horseapples) can be somewhat challenging... It was a fantastic weekend away, and so nice to recharge my batteries a little.  I have so many lovely pics, I will have to try to make time for a whole post about the island later on.

I've also been attempting to get my allotment slightly more under control in the last month or so, and though I haven't done brilliantly at that, I have managed to harvest some crops.  I am a little disappointed in myself that I haven't made time to get it really sorted, as this year has been the first really good spring since I took it on, and we could have had fantastic yields if I had managed my time a bit better (and also not been unwell, which I have less control over).  But as with everything else, it's been a learning curve.  We've had some really good soft fruits, and for the first time this year I have enough blackcurrants to make a whole batch of jam, which I am really pleased about. It also looks like it's going to be another good year for blackberries and crabapples, which is great.

I've been doing some bits round the house, too; we have rearranged some furniture and also put up another shelf in the study.  I also made some cushion covers with a bit of Cath Kidston fabric I got in their sale (and have made about a hundred fantasy projects with in my head) and a random cotton fabric my mum brought over.  I used a mini cushion pad for the small cushions, and pillows for the large ones, as our sofa cushions are quite wide.

The Cath Kidston is a lovely hard wearing linen-cotton mix, which is so tactile - I don't know how you all feel about this, but personally speaking I only like to use fabrics I enjoy touching.  I am not a big fan of some of the man made fibres, no matter what results might be possible.  The fabric remnant I used on the reverse looks to me like an 80s bedsheet - a scarlet with white squares.  It has that lovely washed-in feel.  I was pretty pleased with how they turned out.


Finally, I went to my soon to be sister in law's hen party.  It was fab - I will do a separate post on the amazing 1950s makeover, with links to the ladies who did my hair and makeup, because I loved it so much! The lady who masterminded the whole day asked if I would make some Tiffany cupcakes - I think they turned out pretty well! I also made some Tiffany blue lemon cheesecakes, though they didn't look as neat as I wanted, partly due to the warm weather, and partly because I couldn't work out a way to get the bows on (I thought icing would be too sweet).

I will have to leave the rest of my news for another evening as this post is already getting very long, but I hope you have all had a fun couple of months and I look forward to reading all your blogs

H
xxx

Moist chocolate sponge cake recipe (gluten free)

Hi all!  

Well, firstly, thank you all so much for your kind words and thoughtful comments, I just love reading them! It's been a busy few days here at the little Welsh house.  I've been working on getting things ready for a production of Macbeth, which I'm directing ready for a performance in June.  We also met friends for a meal in Cardiff and then went to see Wicked at the Millenium Centre (which was way better than I expected, I really enjoyed it), rebuilt our hens' run in the back garden which blew down during the storms, and then the last few days I have been endeavouring to get things a bit more under control on the allotment.

Anyway, I promised a recipe for a lovely fellow blogger Joy - a gluten free rich chocolate sponge cake.  This is great for celebrations - it is solid enough to ice easily without being stodgy and it keeps well for a good few days.  It also freezes well if you like batch baking.

It's one I came up with when two of my friends were diagnosed with coeliac disease - I wanted something easy that I could bake for parties so they didn't feel excluded. I like this recipe because it doesn't require special flour or additives and you can have a bit of a play with the quantities to get your preferred texture without it going horribly wrong.  

If you don't like chocolate, you can replace the cocoa with cornstarch, just make sure to use baking powder and add whatever flavour you like - I feel it does need a little something to cut through the richness of the almonds, so I don't personally recommend it plain.  Vanilla extract or a few drops orange essence and a couple of pinches allspice are favourites of mine.  In fact I sometimes include all three of those flavours in with the cocoa as they add a certain richness.

Rich chocolate cake

Ingredients

4 medium or large eggs
250g/9 oz butter
250g/9 oz muscovado or dark brown soft sugar
150g/5 oz ground almonds
100g/31/2 oz cornflour/cornstarch
2-3 heaped teaspoons good cocoa powder (I use Green & Blacks which is Dutch processed)
level teaspoon (gluten free) bicarb of soda OR (gluten free) baking powder
teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

Preheat your oven to about 160C.  In a large bowl, cream the butter with an electric whisk until really light and fluffy.  Add the vanilla extract, then the eggs one by one, whisking each time until the mixture is well combined and looks creamy.  

In a separate bowl, mix all the remaining dry ingredients together well.  Pour on top of the egg, sugar and butter mix and fold in gently with a metal spoon until well combined.  

Grease a loose bottomed cake tin (I use about an 8 inch diameter one) and dust with either cornstarch (fine if you plan to ice the cake) or a little cocoa (if you plan to just dust with icing sugar to serve).  

Pour in the batter and spread out well, then pop in the oven for 25 - 40 minutes.  The cake is done when it is solid and a sharp knife or toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.  It isn't as quick to burn as a classic sponge but if it is browning too quickly, just tweak the temperature down a little.  It will rise but don't panic if it sinks a little after cooking. 
It tends to flatten itself down nicely but it will still have a great crumb inside.

This cake is really good warm with vanilla ice-cream or cold with a good buttercream.  For a slightly less naughty topping you could also make an orange drizzle with orange juice and a little brown sugar.  It also looks good sprinkled lightly with a little icing sugar while still warm.  I got the striped effect on the one above by sprinkling the sugar on through a cooling rack which I thought looked nice.

Happy eating!

H xxx

Lovely baking!

 One of my favourite hobbies is baking!  I especially love baking cakes and pies, and I thought I'd share a few of my most enjoyed moments in the kitchen.

One of my most precious memories is making Christmas cakes with my Nana.  Nana is my mum's mum and is very precious - she is my last living grandparent.  

Although I have many happy memories of baking with her, she is no longer able to stand in the kitchen long enough to make a cake.  She is a feisty lady who isn't shy about giving her opinion.  

Unlike most people I know, she wouldn't hesitate to tell me if she thought the Christmas cake I put in her hamper this year could be improved - so when she said how much she enjoyed it, I was really delighted!  My recipe is based on an old Mrs Beeton one, with a few additions.

Before second coat of jelly

Fully glazed

This is how I decorate my Christmas cakes - it's based on an old Welsh tradition that is believed to be linked to 'smuggler's bounty' - heaping dried and glace fruits on cakes when they were available, and glazing with jam to give a 'jewelled' look. I first tried this because I am not that fond of marzipan and white icing, and I've never looked back!  

Traditionally, the fruit and nuts would be heaped in a pile in the centre of the cake, but I like this slightly more, well, Victorian look!  I spread jam or jelly underneath, add the sliced fruits, nuts and candied ginger in rows from the centre or from the corner, then add another thin layer of jam or jelly on the top. It's best to use a light colour so you can still see the fruit's lovely colours.

This year, I also made mince pies. I made my own mincemeat, using some of the mountain of apples from my mum and dad's allotment, using Delia's recipe: Delia's mincemeat.  I have a bit of a tendency to tweak the ingredients to the ones I have available and adjust the spices to taste, but it's an absolutely great recipe and reliably results in delicious mincemeat.  It's well worth making a little in advance.   

These little fruit pies are so tasty.  This year, I made them with a crumble topping, by keeping back about a third of the breadcrumbs from making the pastry and stirring in a little muscovado sugar, and making a rich buttery pastry with the other 2/3, using egg and a dash of milk and a little icing sugar to sweeten.  The self raising flour means the pastry rises slightly and has a lovely texture.

Another of my favourite bakes is these spiced orange cake squares.  I just added a little allspice, vanilla and natural orange essence to a normal sponge batter. I then did a traybake and cut into squares and popped into individual cases.  To decorate, I just cut a rough star out of a clean plastic cocoa tin lid, rested it on the top of each square, and sprinkled icing sugar, caster sugar and a pinch of allspice mixed together while they were still warm. I thought they looked really cute!

A bake I really enjoyed was the 'Emmatines' I made for Emma's birthday.  I did two types - little squares and cupcakes.  Emma loves teal and showed me the cakes she was dreaming of - and I did my best to recreate them!  I was much happier with the cupcakes than the squares, but as it was my first attempt icing cube shaped cakes I decided not to beat myself up too much.  I must admit despite taking the day off work, I was tearing my hair out a little, because I was also trying to get her quilt finished, but thankfully I did manage it all in time to drive to Manchester for the party!  These were in little gold foil cases - which aren't very eco friendly, but it was a very special occasion...

The last bakes I want to share today are some tear and share breads.  I am sure we cake lovers all have that friend who doesn't share our love of cake and sweet things, and in fact prefers savoury - but nonetheless deserves some love and care on their birthday because they are an all round wonderful person.  So the first of these breads was a personalised bread, made of lots of little stars (because this person is a star) with the birthday girl's initials on. This was made using my parsnip tear and share recipe.

Before rising

Ready for the oven

The finished loaf

The second tear and share I loved making was a cheese and onion bread for the work Christmas party, which i made in the shape of a Christmas wreath. I was worried this wouldn't work - and was so delighted when it did. I've included these before photos so you can see the sort of proportions used to make the loaf so that it kept its shape.

Hope you've enjoyed - and I look forward to hearing about your cooking exploits too!. Happy baking, folks....

H
xxx

Welsh cakes - Pice ar y maen

As I am sure those of you with a Welsh connection already know, St David's day is rapidly rolling round - in fact, it's this Saturday; and if you're feeling even a little patriotic or nostalgic, or else just a little peckish, this could be just the recipe for you.

Welsh cakes are a delicious, scone type cake traditionally made on a bakestone, but they can be made on a griddle or a dry frying pan wiped over with an oiled piece of kitchen roll.  These little cakes are so good and so easy to make.  They are traditionally made with currants, but nowadays they are often made with raisins or sultanas, chocolate chips, or chopped glace cherries and almond flakes (these are really cute as heart shapes!).


You will need:

225g self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
125g butter
75g caster sugar (golden if you have it)
75g currants, or raisins, or chocolate chips or chopped cherries & almond flakes
1 large egg
good pinch of allspice
a dash of milk

a large plate well covered in caster sugar to dust

How to:

Beat the egg in a cup.  In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and allspice well.  Rub the butter into the mixture with your fingertips to form breadcrumbs, stir in the sugar and fruit or chocolate and the beaten egg.  Bring the mixture together, adding milk a few drops at a time until you have a dough a little softer than shortcrust pastry dough.  Very lightly grease the frying pan or griddle and bring up to a moderate heat.

Flour your surface lightly and roll out the dough to between 1/2 and 1cm in thickness.  Using a 2 1/2 inch cutter, cut out rounds of the dough.  Provided your kitchen is reasonably cool, you could stack these prior to cooking if you are short of space by sprinkling a light dusting of flour between each one. The dough is very forgiving so you can keep rolling and re rolling until you have cut it all into rounds.You will have time to do this while they cook if you want to get going.

Cook the Welsh cakes on the pan or griddle about 5 or 6 at a time and cook for about 3-5 minutes each side until each side is turning a mottled golden brown. (if you flip them too early, just turn them again until they are golden).  While they are still hot, drop them onto the plate of caster sugar, flipping to coat both sides.  Stack on a plate or cooling rack.

These taste AMAZING still warm, enjoyed with a glass of milk or a hot cup of tea.  Alternatively they can be enjoyed cold, and you can add butter and even jam or honey if desired.  If you warm them over in the oven, they will taste freshly cooked.

This recipe is traditional but the measures are based on the wonderful little book 'Welsh Bakestone Cookery' written by Bobby Freeman and published by y Llolfa :)

Happy baking - and dydd Dewi Sant hapus for Saturday!

H
xxx