Coral Anniversary Cake

Last week my parents celebrated their 35th Wedding Anniversary. 35 years! Isn't that incredible?

The traditional gift for 35 years is coral. Now, not only do you not want to go around giving actual coral (I won't get my science hat on but read here for more) but it's also fairly difficult to incorporate a coral theme into cake. All I could think of was Finding Nemo, which would have been a bit lost on my parents I think, so instead I decided to go for coral coloured flowers, nice and simple (theoretically).

The whole thing turned into a bit of a farce. I made the cakes in Edinburgh and then took them all the way home to near Liverpool. I made the icing for the layers and crumb coat the evening I got home but then had to hide the icing and the cakes in my room because my parents got home from work too early I recommend you don't try sleeping with a tub of icing in the room. The temptation is so great.

I then spent the next morning manically layering and crumb coating, whipping up the main icing, icing with a "rustic" style because if I'm honest there was no time for anything else, and then painstakingly making tiny little fondant flowers for to decorate. All done hidden in the conservatory in case someone came home early. I finished by the skin of my teeth, and I was quite happy with it. I'd intended on a super smooth icing which would have suited the fondant flowers more - the rustic look would have been better with real flowers. But time got the better of me so no super smooth icing. Stupidly, I could have saved myself a lot of time by just going to buy buy some fresh flowers. Oh hindsight.

So lesson of the blogpost - be prepared!

I used the following recipes:

• Double the sponge recipe from this Raspberri Cupcakes cake
• The strawberry (although I used raspberry) cream cheese icing from Glorious Treats
• 375g Icing Sugar, 225g Butter, dash of milk for the layering/crumb coat butter cream

I've included a few behind the scenes snaps of assembling the cake. I was on snapchat the whole time annoying my friends with lots of pictures of layers. Have you ever had to make a special occasion cake for someone? Were you more organised than I was? (I hope for your sake you were!)

 

Lemon and Raspberry Easter Pudding

A couple of weeks ago I decided to make some lemon macarons for my Mum, for Mother's Day. No big deal - I've pretty much got macarons down now, although I do still feel an overwhelming sense of pride every time I get perfect shells with properly formed feet. 

However, despite my relative confidence, macarons are tricky treats, and they don't always work. This time I'm not sure what went wrong - I think it was a combination of not getting the sugar hot enough and then, once I'd whipped the egg whites and hot sugar together until cool, I left it to sit for a while because my friend popped round for a cup of tea. I knew as I piped them that something wasn't right, the mix was far too runny. Nevertheless I persevered, just in case, and let them sit before putting them in the oven. Sadly they came out terribly cracked, and I was left with a pile of sad macaron shells and some lemon curd I'd made earlier to fill them with. 

 
I couldn't resist a little nibble of the cracked macarons, and they still tasted delicious, so I decided to try and make use of them anyway. I took them all the way home with met, along with the lemon curd and made some nice little puddings for after lunch Mother's Day. If you don't have any cracked macarons, you could just use some plain meringues, either bought from the shops or some you've made yourself, but I'd definitely recommend colouring homemade ones yellow, it's so bright and cheerful, and definitely seasonal. Macarons are also a little chewier than shop bought meringue, and have almonds in them, so the taste wouldn't be quite the same, although I think they'd still be delicious.

Lemon and Raspberry Easter Pudding

Makes 6 Individual Puddings

1 batch of macaron shells/ 1 batch of meringue, crushed (I use a recipe from this book for macarons, but there's plenty out there online if you don't have a favourite)
1 punnet of raspberries
300ml Double Cream, whipped 
Lemon Curd (recipe below)

Lemon Curd

3 Unwaxed Lemons (zest and juice!)
4 Egg Yolks
90g Caster Sugar
40g Butter

1. Put all of the ingredients in a blender and pulse until the zest has all but disappeared.
2. Then put heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn't touch the water and put the mix from the blender into the bowl.
2. Stir until everything has melted and then keep stirring until the yellow mixture coats the back of the spoon. It has to thickly coat the back of the spoon, so if you run your finger through it the line you make stays clear. This can take up to 15 minutes.
3. Sieve the curd into a bowl, or if you're keeping it for something else put it in a sterilised jar. Don't use it until it's completely cool.

Assembling the Puddings

1. Put a layer of macaron crumbs on the bottom of your ramekin.
2. Drizzle some lemon curd over the macaron crumbs.
3. Add some fresh raspberries. Pack them in nice and tight so you get a nice clear pink layer on the outside of your ramekin.
4. Fill the ramekin to the top with whipped cream.
5. Sprinkle some more macaron shell around the edge of the ramekin and swirl some lemon curd into the top of the cream.