Cake Trails #3: Ginger and Rose Cake

Last week Eve and I visited Lovecrumbs, which markets itself as Edinburgh's only cake-only cake shop. You can read all about our visit here and if you look carefully in one of the pictures you can see on the menu the inspiration for this cake, "Rose and Ginger Cake, £3.20" (you can also see me standing awkwardly in the mirror). I think you can see their version in one of the snaps too, with pink icing and crystallised ginger on top.

Inspired by their menu, I decided to make use of the jar of edible rose petals that have been loitering in the kitchen cupboard for a while and whip up my own Ginger and Rose Cake. This bake coincided nicely with my Mum's birthday, and she was delighted to be presented with such a pretty cake.

Ginger and Rose Cake

Cake
225g Unsalted Butter
50g Soft Light Brown Sugar175g Caster Sugar4 Eggs285g Self-raising Flour3tbsp Stem Ginger Syrup3tsp Ground Ginger

Icing
300g Icing Sugar
90g Butter
3tbsp Rose Syrup
Edible Rose Petals (to decorate, optional)

1. Grease and line two 10" cake tins and preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5
2. Mix the butter until light and fluffy (as an aside, this is hard without a mixer and a crushed right hand - so the mixer I used for this cake is more commonly known as Dad!)
3. Mix in the sugar and then add the eggs one at a time, alternating with the flour and the ginger.
4. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden on top and a knife comes out clean.
5. Leave it out to cool, and then mix all the icing ingredients together. Pipe half the icing on top of one of the cakes and then put the other cake on top, then top with the rest of the icing. When I'm piping in the middle, I like to do a circle around the outer edge of the cake and then fill the middle in. It makes it nice and neat to look at from the outside.
6. Position the rose petals however you fancy.

Nutella Swirl Banana Bread Muffins

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I shared a picture of my fossilised bananas with you? I'd said that banana bread was about to happen, but I decided to mix things up a bit, and went for banana bread muffins instead, with a little swirl of Nutella in the top. The idea was that I could freeze them individually, away from immediate temptation, and then whip them out when I fancied one.

In the name of honesty I have to tell you that this did not happen - they were demolished pretty quickly (although I did take some to work to share, so it wasn't tooo bad). I have since managed to make and freeze some brownies though (so proud!)

I braved the muffin tray without wrappers, primarily because I didn't have any muffin cases, and I was so happy with how they turned out with just a little bit of butter in each hole. Don't they look cute naked?

The recipe is really easy, and because they're so much smaller than a normal loaf of banana bread they cook much quicker. If you have the self control, it is also really easy to pop them in the freezer - no slicing means no drying out, so the defrosted result is much tastier. It's a win win. The recipee comes from the Hummingbird Bakery.

Nutella Swirl Banana Bread Muffins

200g Light Brown Sugar
70g Caster Sugar
2 Eggs
200g Ripe Bananas, Mashed
280g Plain Flour
1tsp Baking Powder
1tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
140g Melted Unsalted Butter

Nutella (how much is how much you fancy!)

1. Preheat the oven to 180oC and grease a twelve hole muffin pan
2. Beat the sugars and the eggs together until light and airy
3. Mix  in the mashed bananas
4. Sieve the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda together, then gently fold in to the wet ingredients
5. Finally add the melted butter.
6. Split the mixture evenly between the muffin pan, and then swirl the Nutella in to the top of the mix
7. Bake for 25 minutes until risen, and a knife comes out clean in the middle

Sticky Toffee Apple Bonfire Cake

It wasn't my aim for this cake to match the leaves on the drive, but I think it's a beautiful comparison. When I was baking all I could think about was the taste of toffee apples and the smell in the air after Bonfire Night (I hope you're thinking about it now too).

It's deceptively simple, and because of the way the toffee is baked in the oven it won't break your teeth either. You just get that beautifully sweet, rich taste with chewier bits around the edges. You heat up some sugar and water then pour the glistening toffee over greaseproof paper in a round tin. It sets quickly - by the time you've made up the cake mix and sliced the apples it'll be cool enough to use.

You can arrange the apple slices however you like, I went for something traditional but I was thinking about it afterwards, and you could probably make some nice images and patterns. The cake mix is thick and honey coloured, and fills the cake tin right to the top.

While the cake is in the oven the toffee melts, turning the apples the colour of autumn leaves and caramelising the top of the cake. I can't stop looking at the shine of the toffee on the apple slice below!

Luckily, this can be whipped up in no time, so there's still time to get on the table for the 5th

Toffee
200g Caster Sugar
3 Tbsp Water
2 Large Apples

Cake
225g Salted Butter
150g Light Brown Sugar
75g Caster Sugar
1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
4 Eggs
225g Self Raising Flour
1/2 Tsp bicarbonate of soda
60ml Milk

1. Grease your baking tin and line with greaseproof paper. Preheat the oven to 180C or Gas Mark 4
2. For the toffee, put the caster sugar and the water in a pan and heat on high, making sure NOT to stir at any point.
3. When the sugar has melted and is golden remove from the heat and pour into your prepared tin.
4. Slice your apples and arrange them on top of the toffee.
5. For the cake mix the butter and sugars until pale and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract.
6. Sift the flour and the bicarb in, and then fold the mixture together.
7. Add the milk.
8. Place the cake tin on a baking tray to catch any melted topping, then bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.
9. Immediately flip out, watching out for any burning topping (I needed that advice and didn't get it. Sadface.) and leave to cool. Serve with extra thick cream for a little added indulgence.

Butternut Squash Cake

Vegetable cake is all the rage these days isn't it? But other than a classic carrot cake I've never really given the concept much thought. So when I had the end of a butternut squash crying out to be used in the fridge, I thought it was high time I joined the party.

Vegetable cake wasn't the only bandwagon I jumped on this week though, no way. Browned butter. Something else you can't browse pinterest without hitting on every other pin. People rave about the stuff, actually rave. You must have seen it. So I embraced all of the current trends, and decided to top my butternut squash cake with browned butter frosting. 

After browsing for a suitable recipe, I came up with a lot of cup measurements, too much butter and lots of bundt tins (something I don't own). I did notice though, that a lot of the recipes were similar to the one I use for banana bread. Sort of. I then got fed up, and basically winged it. Incredibly, I struck lucky! It worked! So I absolutely have to share it with you.

It's perfectly Autumnal, in both taste and looks (orange cake!). If you give it a try, please let me know how you get on.

Butternut Squash Cake

220g Roasted Butternut Squash
150g Melted Butter
150g Caster Sugar
3 Eggs
200g Self Raising Flour
1tsp Ginger

Browned Butter Glaze

40g Butter, Brownes
90g Icing Sugar


1. Preheat your oven to 200°C. Peel and chop your butternut squash and roast for 20 minutes. As you can see by the picture, mine was slightly crisp around the edges, and I was worried about how that would taste in the cake, and what that would do to the texture, but it was fine. Obviously, if you can avoid burning it, do, but I'm still adjusting to my new oven. 

2. Once the squash has cooled, mash into a relatively smooth paste, and then add the melted butter.

3. Add the caster sugar, followed by the eggs one at a time, and finally the flour and the ginger.

4. Pour into a prepared loaf tin and bake at 180°C for 40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool completely.

5. Brown your butter by slowly heating it in a saucepan over a low heat. It will melt, then it will bubble, and then it will start to turn darker. You want it a pale brown - if it gets too dark it will taste bitter.

6. Leave the butter to cool for five minutes, then sieve the icing sugar in and mix well. It should be thick but pourable. If it's too thin, add some more icing sugar a little a time. If it's too thick, a splash of milk. 

7. Put into a sealed piping bag, then snip the smallest bit of bag away and drizzle over the loaf.

Caramel Apple Traybake

I've got an oven!!! I know this is a fairly standard piece of kitchen equipment, but when I moved in, back in August, the oven was ripped out and I was left with a gaping hole in my kitchen. Actually, more accurately, I was left with no kitchen - the whole thing was ripped out, and new pieces are slowly being put in, as and when there's a free weekend.

Now it's finally starting to look like a kitchen, I jumped at the chance to do some Autumn baking. The leaves on the trees are starting to turn, and the air is just that little bit crisper. High time for the flavours of Autumn to come out to play. So without further ado, I give you Caramel Apple Traybake, with a crumbly, biscuity (slightly burnt, thanks new oven) topping. I used a muffin recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction, every so slightly modified, and then poured a standard caramel sauce recipe over the top. Just to make it extra naughty and extra delicious.

Apple Traybake

Topping
140g Light Brown Sugar
25g Granulated Sugar
120g Melted Unsalted Butter
170g Plain Flour

1. Mix the sugars with the melted butter.
2. Stir in the flour to form a thick, crumbly, uhm.... crumb! Then set aside.

Cake
115g Unsalted Butter
100g Light Brown Sugar
50g Granulated Sugar
2 Eggs
120g Greek Yoghurt
220g Plain Flour
2tsp Baking Powder
60ml Milk
2 Apples chopped into chunks (when weighed, mine were around 250g)

1. Combine the butter and sugars.
2. Add the two eggs, followed by the yoghurt.
3. Fold in the flour and baking powder.
4. Gradually add the milk.
5. Fold in the chopped apples.

- Pop the mix into a lined tray, then spread the topping over the mix.
- Bake at 200 degrees for around 40 mins. Keep an eye on the topping, you might need to cover the bake with tinfoil halfway through to stop it from catching!

Caramel Sauce
200g Granulated Sugar
90g Salted Butter
120ml of Double Cream

1. Heat the sugar in a pan, stirring all the time until it forms clumps, then melts down into an amber liquid.
2. As soon as you have the liquid, add the butter - it'll splash everywhere, so watch out!
3. Once the butter melts, add the double cream, stirring alllll the time. Once again, watch out, because there will be lots of bubbling.
4. Let it bubble for about a minute, then remove from the heat and allow to cool.
5. Put half in a piping bag and top your traybake. The rest will last in an airtight container in the fridge for a couple of weeks, but you'll to warm it up for a few seconds in the microwave to use it.

Letter from America: Cookie Brownie Chunks

A little preemptive chat before we get to the real meat of the post. Whilst I was on holiday, I was trying to think of a few ways to perk up the food side of my blog. It's really why I started the blog, but I've been finding it difficult to focus on, for a variety of reasons. I'm hoping that by taking a series approach, I can plan in advance, and be a bit more reliable in providing recipes for you lovely lot. I can then also slot in stand alone recipes whenever it takes my fancy. Does this sound like a plan to you? I hope you're all nodding fervently right now, because that is the plan! So, onward with the post! 

My first recipe series is Letter from America, and will be full to bursting with recipes inspired by what I ate in the last three weeks (if you missed it, you can find out a bit more about my holiday here, here and here). We're looking at five recipes, and the first is Cookie Brownie Chunks, a thick layer of chocolate chip cookie topped by a thinner layer of brownie.

This isn't based on anything I at specifically, more on an observation I made. If Americans like something, and they think it'll go with something else they like, they'll bring it together in a glorious, if slightly bizarre mash up. Prawn tempura in a sushi roll. Oreo cream in the middle of a doughnut dipped in icing and Oreo crumbs. Chunks of brownie replacing the chocolate chips in cookies. 

This last one got me thinking about the combination of cookies and brownies - certainly not unheard of, very popular on pinterest, but not something I'd really considered previously. A bit of research indicated that tradition dictates a thin layer of cookie topped with a thick layer of brownie, or even brownie topped with raw cookie dough. But brownie is a much stronger flavour than cookie, much more overpowering. So I switched the two around, and using my go-to cookie and brownie recipe, produced these bad boys. And they really couldn't be easier!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

You can find the recipe I used right here, but I swapped the 150g of raisins for 150g smarties, because I was going for completely over the top indulgence and fun to look at. In hindsight, next time I'd go for extra chocolate, because the smarties didn't provide the pleasing pop of colour I was looking for, and so didn't really improve the bake.

When you've made up the cookie dough, just press it into the bottom of a greased and lined tin. the one I used was 8"x8" and about 2" deep. leave to chill in the fridge until you have made your brownie mix.

Brownies

200g Dark Chocolate (broken into pieces)

175g Unsalted Butter

300g Caster Sugar

25g Light Brown Sugar

130g Plain Flour

3 Eggs

Melt the chocolate and the butter together, then add the sugars. Fold in the flour, and finally add the eggs one at a time.

This is my go to brownie recipe, I talked about it in more depth over at Scot Bloggers a while ago. This is double the amount you'll need, so I would make all of it and then just make some normal brownies too. It's a win win situation really.

So, pour half the brownie mixture over the cookie dough, and then bake at Gas Mark 6, or 200°C. I wanted them fairly solid so I could slice them into chunks and take them places, so I baked them for 45 - 50 minutes. If you're serving it as a dessert with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream (I wholeheartedly recommend this) then bake for more like 35 minutes, so the brownie is still all melty in the middle.

Blackberry and Elderflower Pimm's O'Cake

Pimm's is the first alcoholic drink I ever remember being allowed to try, and actually enjoying. I was about eleven at the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park with my parents. We'd paused our long day of wandering around the show at the Pimm's tent, and because I was so fascinated by all the fruit floating around the jug, I was allowed a tiny little glass all to myself. I felt terribly grown up! It became a bit of a ritual; every year we'd go to the flower show and spend an hour or so of the day just lounging around with Pimm's, enjoying the sunshine (or huddling under a big umbrella...).

My love has not diminished since this first introduction, and a tall glass of Pimm's and lemonade overflowing with ice, strawberries, cucumber and mint leaves is still, I think, the ultimate way to enjoy it. But with my love of cake, I couldn't help thinking a little bit more outside the box, particularly when I came across a bottle of the relatively new Blackberry and Elderflower Pimm's in cupboard. And what could be better than a moist, fruity sponge cake laced with a little bit of summery naughtiness and covered fresh fruit? I'd argue not much.

Blackberry and Elderflower Pimm's O'Cake

225g Unsalted Butter
200g Golden Caster Sugar
4 Eggs
225g Self Raising Flour
Zest and Juice of One Lemon
Handful of Fresh Mint Leaves, Chopped
50ml Blackberry and Elderflower Pimm's
100ml Blackberry and Elderflower Pimm's

Fresh Summer Fruits and 250ml of cream whipped with 50g Icing Sugar to decorate

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease and line two 10" cake pans

2. Cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs one at a time.

3. Fold in the flour, then the lemon zest.

4. If you're lucky and have some mint in your garden, head out on a mint hunt - it grows in very obscure places! Otherwise you can pick up fresh mint in the supermarket with ease.

5. Wash and chop the mint you collected, and add half of it to the cake mixture. Then add the 50ml of Pimm's and the juice of the lemon you zested earlier.

6. Bake for around 30 minutes, or until golden brown on top and a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack. Whilst still warm, drizzle the 100ml of Pimm's over the flat bases of the cakes.

7. When completely cool, sandwich together with half of the whipped cream, making sure the two soaked surfaces are the ones next to the cream - this way you get a pretty pink pattern around the cream when you cut into it! Top the cake with the rest of the whipped cream, summer fruits of your choice and the remainder of the chopped mint leaves.

Brain Saving Revision Cookies

Revision is torture. Fact. Nothing can make revision better. Fiction. These cookies can make revision better. You can sneak them into the library with you, and, just when your brain is starting to melt from all the thinking, you can take a little break, peruse your twitter feed and chow down. It isn't just revision though. I'd even risk saying that these cookies can make whichever horrible situation you can think of better. 

I know I've talked about cookies before, and yes, I foolishly thought they were the best, but these guys up the game considerably. The old cookies only beat these guys in the dough - you can eat it raw because there's no egg. But cooked - these have more texture, more bite, but are still soft and gooey in the middle. They're a little hug in a pocket sized package. And even better? They're made from an incredibly simple recipe, and take no time at all to whip up. So you don't feel toooooo guilty for leaving the desk.

Brain Saving Revision Cookies

170g Room Temperature Unsalted Butter

150g Caster Sugar

50g Granulated Sugar

1 Large Egg

250g Self-Raising Flour

1tsp Baking Powder

150g Chocolate

150g Raisins

Makes around 15 cookies.

1. Beat the sugar until soft and fluffy. Don't skip this step, really really don't. It's so tempting, but it matters so much! Then add the sugar, and then the egg. Finally add the flour and baking powder.

2. Chop your chocolate into large chunks and mix into the cookie dough, along with the raisins.

3. Wrap the cookie dough in cling film and put in the fridge for at least an hour. This is another step that you really can't miss out! Please, please, please. Promise me you won't miss it out!

4. Whilst it's chilling, you can go back to your desk get a little bit more work done. You can even leave it chilling for three days or so. It doesn't mind, it'll still be good to go when you get back to it, as long as you wrapped the cling film nice and tight. When you're ready, scoop out hunks of the dough and place it on a lined baking tray. 

5. Bake in an oven preheated to 200°C for 6-10 minutes. This really depends on your oven, but basically just don't leave the kitchen while they're cooking. It isn't worth it, they turn so quickly, and burning them is devastating. They need taking out when they don't really look done, and are just starting to go a little bit brown around the edges. It's an art, not a science. You'll know when they're done. They'll be really gooey for five minutes or so, and it's best just to let them sit there and firm up, if you possibly can.

6. They'll keep in an airtight container for a few days. But if you're anything like me, they won't be around that long.

Crunchy Carrot Cake

Let's talk carrot cake. Squidgy and sweet with the odd crunch of pecan, complemented by cool cream cheese icing, in my opinion it's a cake you can't really beat. My version isn't overly spiced, there's just a hint of mixed spice. No one wants to be overwhelmed by spice. No one wants to be overwhelmed by words either, so lets get on with the recipe.

Crunchy Carrot Cake

150g Butter, melted

150g Soft Light Brown Sugar

3 Eggs

200g Self Raising Flour

1tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

1tsp Mixed Spice

200g Carrots, peeled

100g Pecans + extra to decorate

Cream Cheese Icing

600g Icing Sugar

100g Butter

300g Full Fat Cream Cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grate the carrots and set aside. Mix the melted butter with the brown sugar and then add the eggs. Add the flour, then gently stir in the chopped pecans. Finally, pad the carrots with kitchen roll until they're quite dry and stir in. Split evenly between two round cake tins (approx 10"). Bake for around thirty minutes, or until golden on top and a knife comes out clean.

2. Remove the cakes from the tin and leave to cool. Mix up the icing ingredients to form a smooth white icing. Spread a thick layer on the top of both cakes then place one on top of the other.

3. Decorate with pecans to give it an extra oomph, in both look and taste.

Enjoy with a cup of tea... maybe even a cup of matcha tea! Don't forget you can enter a giveaway here to win a free Modern Matcha Kit.