Fold in the Flour ...

January is always a grey month. The glow of Christmas and New Year celebrations rapidly fades and gives way to the gloom of a season that at this point in the year seems endless. There are times when I get in from the school run and just want to curl up under a soft, snuggly blanket with Sam, feet entwined as we watch some of his favourite tv while gossiping about our days and what he got up to at school. There'll be a whirlwind of activity a bit later, when the others arrive home from their respective days. Early enough so that we'll catch the last fading of the sun before we hunker down for another night. A necessary part of this is our evening cuppa. Hot, sweet and steaming, and best accompanied by a little something to soak it up. This is a cake for that time. Reminiscent of carrot cake, the veg helps it feel virtuously right for the New Year. It's not overly sweet and there's a little warmth from the ginger and spice. A hit of citrus in the cream che...

The day I made this cake, I had started out by trying to imagine a birthday cake for my niece, who's going to be 11 this year. I wanted something that would appeal to a young girl, but was not too girly. Elegant, maybe, rather than in your face, but with a sense of fun. I had a number of different ideas in my mind, and although there are some I didn't use, the base was going to be inspired by the American-style 'Funfetti' cakes I have seen on a lot of the US blogs I follow. I think they stem from a particular Pillsbury cake mix that a lot of Americans seem to remember fondly from their childhood; the vanilla sponge cake is loaded with multicoloured sugar chips which give it a peppering of colours when baked. The cakes usually seem to be  iced with a plain frosting to maximise the impact of the speckled layers. There are some great examples here , on Sweetapolita and here , on The Kitchn. I thought this was brilliant, and I wanted that element of surprise, and pl...

Necessity quite often is the mother of invention. A few weeks back, I actually tried carrot cake for the first time. Yes I know, 40 plus years and counting, a supposed baking enthusiast, and I've only just had carrot cake. I must admit that while I adore carrots with my roast, I was ever so slightly wary of carrots (or indeed any veg) in my cake. Especially when paired with oil - which I understand is normally something used in carrot cake. Anyway, Mike and I were out and about in town with Sam one day, and went for our usual coffee and a little something.  Shock and horror, though, most of the cake and baked treats had sold out. What was left was a bit of a sorry choice between Victoria Sponge and Carrot Cake. I went for the sponge, but then couldn't believe it when the manager (who was serving us) said that he didn't know what state it was in as it had been sitting in the heat, so if it was dry I could send it back and swap it. Apart from reeling ...

It's been a bit quiet on the baking front recently, but as one of Mike's colleagues left the company this week, I needed to get my baking tins out. D'arcy and his family are relocating to Toronto. How exciting is that? And to mark the occasion I wanted to try and make something that he would like. These are chocolate cupcakes, covered in Maple Syrup Frosting, and decorated with little sugar fondant maple leaves. I'm not terribly good with sugarpaste. Sadly, the leaves didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, as it was difficult to get the colour right with the materials I had. I basically coloured three different shades of fondant - orangey, red and reddy brown - to try and get autumnal shades. Then I cut out different sized maple leaves and pressed them with a veiner. Having left them to dry for about 8 hours (over crumpled baking parchment to get a curled effect), I then dusted them with some gold, brown and terracotta flower dusts. The block colours were...

Tonight, the Games of the XXX Olympiad begin and the Olympic Cauldron will be lit over the city of London. For the next 17 days, it will burn brightly as a symbol of the Olympic movement and its ideals:    "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well." Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic movement. I've always loved the romanticism of the Olympics, and especially the flame. Who can forget the opening ceremony of the Barcelona Olympics, when an archer fired a flaming arrow over the cauldron, which then ignited? So, when Laura of Laura Loves Cakes and Rachel of Dolly Bakes announced that this month's Calendar Cakes challenge (hosted by Laura) was based on the Olympics, I didn't have to think too long about what I wanted to do. Inspired by the orange of the flame, I decided to do an orange flavoured and coloured frosting, with a cho...

I know I posted a few Valentine's recipes a few weeks ago, but there was one more I wanted to try. These Red Velvet Cupcakes were inspired by the success of my Blue Velvet version a few weeks back, and by a decorating idea for 'sweetheart' cutouts I found on the wonderful blog by Audra, the Baker Chick.   I used the recipe from the Blue Velvet version, although obviously changed the food colouring used.  I first tried Wilton's Red Red (1 1/2 tspns) but this seemed a bit orangy, so I added some Sugarflair Poppy Red (1 tspn) and a small dab of Wilton Violet to deepen the colour. I think it worked really well.This means that my US Cake Flour  also made another appearance. I can't tell you how pleased I am at how they have turned out. They are incredibly tender and the cream cheese frosting is fast becoming my favourite of the moment. Using a Wilton 1M icing tip, I couldn't believe how easy it was to create this lovely rose swirl effect (piping...