Baker Days Letterbox Cake

I was contacted by Baker Days asking if I wanted to review one of their letterbox cakes.  As mentioned in my previous post, it was my birthday last week and it's always nice having someone else make the cake so I thought yes please!  

The team behind Baker Days are Ben the master baker, Andrea the computer whiz and Alan the business and design expert. The concept is really simple - choose a cake, personalise it and it's posted to the lucky recipient.  They are currently offering personalised cakes, photo cakes and cupcakes. 

I got to try one of the personalised cakes which comes in 5 different flavours - plain madeira cake, carrot cake, fruit cake, gluten and wheat free cake and double chocolate chip cake. I'm sure it's no surprise that I chose the double chocolate chip cake! There are over 300 designs to choose from including a photo upload category for the ultimate personalisation.  All their cakes are fresh and will remain in good condition for 14 days from dispatch if stored correctly.  Delivery is free within the UK unless you require an urgent delivery.  It is sent by Royal Mail first class and mine arrived the day after it was posted. 

The cake comes in 2 sizes:

• Letterbox cake - 12cm diameter, 2.5cm thick; 4-5 portions; £14.99
• Medium Party Cake - 16cm diameter, 3cm thick; 8-16 portions; £26.99

My Verdict - The cake was moist and delicious! You can taste the real chocolate chips in the cake.  I loved the presentation and style of the cake especially the cake tin. The extras (balloons, candles and party horn) were a really nice touch. I really liked the fact that it can fit through your letterbox and that you can choose a dispatch date when you order. No more waiting for the postman or trekking to the royal mail delivery office. 

It's perfect for family, friends or even yourself if you don't want to make your own cake! I've never posted a birthday cake before so this is a great idea for friends/family who live further than hand delivery distance to me.  I also think it's good value for what you get and the cake definitely tastes better than shop bought cakes which are probably a little cheaper but you get the added extras and free delivery with this. In my book, cake is perfect for any occasion and it looks like they have everything covered with their choice of designs. 

 letterbox cake - easily fits through the letterbox and the cake arrived in perfect condition. 

 Each cake comes with its own party pack - candles, gift card, balloons and party horn! I love the cake tin! 

 The cake is well packaged and has a helpful tab to ensure you lift the cake out without damaging it. 

 My personalised birthday cake :)

 Double chocolate chip cake 

Disclaimer: I was provided a sample letterbox cake free of charge for review. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own. 

Extra Moist Blueberry Muffins

This month, 2 of my favourite blogging challenges have combined to form Tea Time Random Recipes. It's such a brilliant idea and I love it! Dom has been planning world domination for months and I'm sure this is a small step towards that goal ;-)  It's going to be a massive month of glorious, random tea time treats and I can't wait to see the round up! The challenge was simple. Put together books that would have tea time recipes and randomly select one then randomly select a page. I dutifully did as I was told and came up with Scrumptious Muffins by Marc Grossman. It's a lovely little book full of scrumptious muffins as the title suggests!

I decided to use a random number generator to pick a random page - the book has 69 pages in total excluding the index and it came up with 16 which is extra-moist blueberry muffins. Yum! This is a great recipe for blueberry muffins and one that I will definitely be using again. It has a crumble topping which was delicious and the best part is that the berries didn't sink! The secret is to push the berries in after filling the mould with batter. Next time, I would fold half the berries in the mixture and then add the other half on top. The result was a really juicy, moist muffin bursting with blueberries! 

As mentioned I am entering this to Tea Time Random Recipes hosted by the Tea Time Babes Karen from Lavender and Lovage and Kate from What Kate Baked and Dashing Dom over at Belleau Kitchen, creator of Random Recipes.

I'm also entering these fruity muffins to Breakfast club run by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and hosted this month by  Urvashi from the Botanical Baker. The theme of course is fruit and there's plenty of that here!

 make a crumble topping  with butter, flour, brown sugar and cinnamon

 I decided to try out my new petal muffin cases which I couldn't resist buying

 The recipe says to add the blueberries at the end, sinking it into the mixture - this is the fail proof method of preventing berries sinking that I have been looking for so take note everyone! 

 sprinkle the crumble on top before baking 

 juicy, plump muffins 

 Extra moist muffin indeed :) 

I will post the recipe if I get permission from the publisher

Painkiller Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

I celebrated my birthday a few days ago. It's nice to have someone else make the cake for a change and I had 2 delicious cakes - lemon drizzle and chocolate, both firm favourites of mine. Of course, I couldn't resist baking something myself hence these Painkiller Cupcakes. I initially planned on making pina colada cupcakes but came across these on Hazel's blog and decided that with a few tweaks, I could enter this to multiple blog challenges this month!  

A painkiller cocktail is made from dark rum, orange juice, pineapple juice, sweetened coconut cream and shaved ice, topped with nutmeg. It was originally invented at the Soggy Dollar Bar in the British Virgin Islands. I decided to make a coconut and pineapple cupcake filled with homemade orange curd topped with a white chocolate cream cheese frosting and a sprinkle of nutmeg on top. Unfortunately, the orange curd was a failure (should have stuck to my normal recipe for lemon curd) so I had to improvise slightly. The result was a really moist and fruity cupcake and the flavours worked well together. They were a real hit at work and even though I don't like coconut, I really enjoyed these cakes. 

I'm entering them to AlphaBakes which I co-host with Caroline from Caroline Makes. The letter for this month is "P".  You can use the letter in the name of the bake or as the main ingredient. It's a double whammy here with painkiller and pineapple. 

I'm also entering them to We Should Cocoa which is celebrating it's 2nd anniversary this month. Happy birthday WSC! Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog has chosen cocktail inspiration as the theme this month.  We should Cocoa is hosted on alternate months by Choclette and Chocolate Teapot. The idea is to make something with chocolate each month. WSC was the first blogging challenge I ever entered and I've not missed a month since then!

I'm also entering them to Calendar Cakes hosted by Laura from Laura Loves Cakes and Rachel from Dolly Bakes.  The theme this month is cupcakes as it's national cupcake week in September. 

I discovered a new blog challenge this monhth (thanks Caroline!) called Baking with Spirit. It's hosted by Janine from Cake of the Week who challenges us to bake or cook with alcohol each month. This month, she chose rum so these painkiller cupcakes are perfect. 

Finally, I'm entering them to Cupcake Tuesday hosted by Liz from Hoosier Homemade. 

 key ingredients - pineapple, coconut milk, rum flavouring and dessicated coconut

 adding pineapple and coconut to the batter 

 ready to go in the oven 

 how cute are these? 

 view from the top

For the cupcakes - makes 11 cupcakes of size shown 

120g flour
120g caster sugar
1.5 teaspoon baking powder
40g butter
120ml coconut milk
1 egg
30g dessicated coconut
1 teaspoon rum flavouring (or real rum) *
5 pineapple rings, chopped
5 tablespoons of homemade unset orange curd - you can either fill the cupcakes with proper orange curd or use the zest of 1 orange plus 1 tablespoon of orange juice

* I used rum flavouring as these were for work, didn't want to get everyone tipsy!

For the frosting

30g white chocolate, melted
100g cream cheese
50g butter
1 teaspoon orange water
250g icing sugar, sifted

For the decoration
Ground nutmeg to sprinkle
Cocktail umbrellas
Cherries

• Preheat the oven to 170C.
• Combine all the cake ingredients except for the pineapple and dessicated coconut in a large bowl. 
• Stir in the pineapple and dessicated coconut by hand. 
• Spoon into cupcake cases and bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
• Allow to cool completely before frosting.
• To make the frosting, melt the white chocolate in the microwave or in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. 
• Beat together the cream cheese, butter, icing sugar and orange water until smooth. 
• Stir in the white chocolate and continue beating for a few minutes. 
• Pipe the frosting on the cupcake. 
• Sprinkle with ground nutmeg.
• Decorate with half a cherry on top and a cocktail umbrella. 

Caramel Cake, Aztec Cookies and GBBO app/book review

Hands up who's been watching the Great British Bake Off? A brand new series with new contestants but the same judges and hosts. Don't worry no spoilers here! I want to talk about cake and cookies and baking! I love watching the Great British Bake Off and I was really excited when I was asked if I wanted to review their new iphone/ipad app and book. 

Let's talk about the book first. It's a hefty volume with 319 pages in total. It's called The Great British Bake Off How to Turn Everyday Bakes into Showstoppers.  It has technical challenge and signature bake recipes by Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood. On the inside cover, it says "baking doesn't have to be complicated to be showstopping' and I completely agree! 

The book is divided into the following chapters 

Introduction

Cakes

Biscuits

Breads & Sweet Dough

Tarts

Pies

Desserts

Puddings

The Basics

The book has showstopping challenge recipes divded into 3 levels - easy, takes a little time and need a little skill. It also features best of the bake off such as sixpence cake and jubilee cake as seen in episode 1. As with the first book it has photos of the contestants throughout the book (don't worry the winner is not revealed in the book!). Interspersed throughout the book are showstopping techniques, for example, chocolate ribbons & bows, icing & stacking a cake, caramel & spun sugar - all of which have handy tips accompanied by pictures.

My Verdict - Overall, I think it's a good book to have especially if you are a fan of the show. It has a wide variety of recipes which covers all of the chapters listed above. The recipes are clearly laid out and the steps are easy to follow. My main problem with the book is that there is not enough pictures of the bakes. It's a personal preference but I like my recipe books to be full of photographs, preferably one for each recipe. However, it's quite a bargain for only £8.86 currently on amazon. The photographs that are in the book are stunning. 

BBC Books in conjunction with Love Production (makers of the GBBO TV programme) have also launched The Great British Bake Off App which contains fifty recipes based on the books The Great British Bake Off: How to Bake and How to Turn Everyday Bakes into Showstoppers. 

It's no secret that I love my apple products - no not baking apples but iPhone, iPad, iPod.  The app allows you to search for recipes by occasion, ingredient or skill level. 

Each recipe gives you a quick overview including skill level, list of ingredients and method.  There are four icons at the bottom of the screen which you can see here. The star is to save the recipe as a favourite followed by option to email ingredients, share a photograph of your bake on facebook or twitter and finally to add ingredients to a shopping list. 

There is also a cool hands free feature which allows you to move from step to step without touching the screen. You need to place the device flat, tap the touch-free icon (top right of screen) and wave slowly from right to left to navigate.  It might just be me but I found this a little temperamental. It was great when it worked. What I liked best about this feature is that the ingredients required for that step is on the same page so you don't have to flip back and forth.  

My Verdict - It's a great app if you like your technology and have an iPhone/iPad. It has great graphics and is very user friendly. I particularly like the hands free function and obviously you get a photo for each recipe! However, it's a little pricey at £2.99 for 50 recipes especially as these are the same recipes as in the great british bake off books.  I already have both books so really I could just bake from the book!  If there was an option to update the app with new recipes, especially recipes that are not in the books at no extra cost then I think it would be worth having.

I've made 2 recipes from the app (which are also in the book) - Caramel Cake and Aztec cookies. Both recipes were easy to make and absolutely delicious! I made the Caramel Cake for a birthday which was very well received. Unfortunately I missed a step (user error!) and forgot to add butter to my caramel icing. I did wonder why it was setting as soon as I poured it onto the cake but it didn't look too bad in the end and still tasted great! The Aztec cookies are chocolate and coffee cookies which are perfect with a cuppa. The gold dust really makes it into a showstopper!

 bake 3 sponges 

 first layer is caramel icing, followed by chocolate caramel icing 

 my attempt at 'feathering' - would have helped if I'd remember to add butter to the icing! 

 Enjoyed by all :) 

 Aztec cookies 

 I love that the white chocolate pieces remain intact after baking 

Recipes have been reproduced with permission from the publisher. 

Caramel Cake

For the cake 

300g self raising flour

pinch of salt

300g caster sugar

250g unsalted butter, very soft but not runny

4 large eggs, at room temperature

4 tablespoons buttermilk, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Filling

225g unsalted butter, softened

450g dark brown muscovado sugar

175ml double cream

300g icing sugar, sifted

1/4 teaspoon sea salt flakes, or to taste

100g dark chocolate, broken up 

3 x 20.5cm sandwich tins, greased and the base lined with baking paper

disposable piping bag

• Preheat the oven to 180 C.
• Sift the flour, salt and sugar into a bowl of a large free-standing electric mixer (or into a mixing bowl if you are going to use a hand held electric mixer)
• Add the butter to the bowl, in pieces.
• Whisk the eggs with the buttermilk and vanilla using a fork, then add to the bowl.
• Beat on low speed until everything is thoroughly combined and very smooth, thick and light.
• Divide the mixture evenly among the 3 tins and spread level.
• Bake for about 25 minutes until the sponges are springy when gently pressed in the centre and starting to shrink away from the sides of the tins. 
• Set the tins on a wire rack and run a round-bladed knife around the insides to loosen the sponges, then cool for 2 minutes before turning out.
• Leave to cool completely. 
• Meanwhile, make the caramel filling.
• Put 175g of the weighed butter into a medium-sized pan with the muscovado sugar and cream.
• Heat gently until the butter has melted, then bring to the boil, stirring. 
• Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. 
• Pour the mixture into a heatproof mixing bowl and beat in the icing sugar, using an electric mixer. 
• When the sugar has been incorporated, continue beating until the mixture is fluffy and barely warm. 
• Gradually beat in the rest of the butter and the salt.
• Add more salt, if needed.
• Put the pieces of dark chocolate into a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of steaming hot (not boiling) water and melt gently, stirring until smooth. 
• Spoon about half the chocolate into another bowl, and stir in slightly less than 1/4 of the caramel mixture. 
• To assemble the cake, set one sponge layer on a serving plate and spread over one-third of the caramel mixture.
• Spread a second sponge layer with the chocolate-caramel mixture and set on the first layer.
• Place the third sponge layer on top.
• Cover the top and then the sides of the assembled cake with the remaining caramel mixture, working quickly before the mixture firms up.
• Spoon the remaining melted chocolate into the disposable piping bag and snip off the end. 
• From the centre, pipe a spiral on the cake, then 'feather' the surface by drawing a cocktail stick through the icing from the centre to the edge at regular intervals.
• Then, in between the feathered lines, draw the stick back to the centre from the edge. 
• To marble the icing, pipe random loops and circles of chocolate onto the caramel icing, then swirl the two together with the cocktail stick.
• Leave to set.
• The cake can be kept, in an airtight container, for up to 4 days. 

Aztec Cookies

140g espresso dark chocolate, broken into squares (or dark chocolate and 2 teaspoons espresso powder)

65g unsalted butter, diced

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

good pinch of salt

130g caster sugar

185g plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

100g good quality white chocolate

edible gold dust, to finish

• Put the pieces of dark chocolate and the butter into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of steaming hot (not boiling) water and melt gently. 
• Remove the bowl from the pan and leave to cool for about 5 minutes until barely warm.
• Meanwhile, put the eggs, vanilla, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl. 
• Using a wire whisk or hand-held electric mixer, beat for a couple of minutes until thoroughly combined,
• Stir in the cooled chocolate mixture.
• Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl and stir in using a wooden spoon. 
• Roughly chop or break up the white chocolate into chunks and mix in. 
• Leave the mixture to stand for 15 minutes to firm up a bit.
• Meanwhile preheat the oven to 160C. 
• Using a heaped tablespoon of mixture for each cookie, drop onto the lined baking sheets, spacing the spoonfuls well apart to allow for spreading. 
• Don't flatten the mixture. 
• Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes until just set - they will continue cooking for a few minutes after they come out of the oven.
• Leave the cookies on the sheets for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely. 
• Store in an airtight tin and eat within a week.
• Dust lightly with edible gold dust before serving (I used gold lustre spray)

Disclaimer: I was provided a copy of the book and the app to try for free. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own. The pictures of the app and book are supplied by the publisher with the exception of the touch free function photos which were from my own phone. 

As these bakes are from the Great British Bake off book and app, I'm entering them to a new challenge called Lottie's Bake Off Challenge, hosted by Lottie from Lotties World of Cakes and Bakes. Join in the fun with your Great British Bake Off inspired bakes!

Cookie Dough Stuffed Dark Chocolate Cupcakes and a Review

Do you ever lick the mixing bowl after baking cookies? There's something about cookie dough that is naughty and nice. Ben & Jerry's sell cookie dough ice cream so it's not a surprise to see that there is a whole book on cookie dough appropriately named 'The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook' by Lindsay Landis. Lindsay has a blog called Love & Olive Oil which she shares with her husband Taylor. It's well worth a visit as there are fantastic recipes with excellent photography. 

I fell in love with the book at first sight. I love the size of the book and the fact that it is spiral bound making it easy to have open pages in the kitchen.  The photographs are stunning and there is a photograph for each recipe (big bonus points from me) The cookie dough recipe is eggless so it's safe to eat. I think this page says it all  .... 

The book is divided into 

Introduction - useful section on different cookie dough flavours and variations (gluten free/vegan) and a section on key ingredients and equipment. 

Candy - mainly cookie dough truffles, cookie dough cups, fudge, marshmallow, bark and lollipops

Cookie and Brownies - includes whoopie pies and millionaire bars.

Cakes, Custards and Pies - cakes, cheesecake, bread pudding, creme brulee and tartlets. 

Frozen Treats - ice cream, ice cream sandwiches, milkshakes and ice pops.

Indulgent Breakfasts - pancakes, french toast, crepes, doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, waffles and granola bars. 

Fun Snacks and Party Fare - crispy treats, cannoli, S'mores, pizza! 

It has a 160 pages in total. Each recipe is set out clearly with a brief introduction and then the ingredients with each section highlighted. It gives details of how many it makes, active time and total time. There is also a quick tip box on some pages which is helpful. The main problem I have with this book is that the recipe measurements are in cups. I know it's an American book so I really can't complain but I do wish it had metric measurements as well! 

My verdict - I think it's a brilliant book and would have bought myself a copy if I saw it in in the shops or online. Major plus points for me are a photograph to accompany every recipe, spiral bound book,  good range of recipes which are beautifully set out. Minus point is the cup measurement. There is a 'cookie dough lover's cheat sheet' on the inside front cover which converts cups to tablespoons/ sticks of butter to cups and weight to cups which is still not very helpful to me. The temperature chart is handy though. 

After shortlisting quite a few recipes, I decided to make cookie dough stuffed dark chocolate cupcakes. I'm so glad I did as they were delicious!! Dark chocolate is my favourite and the addition of cookie dough in the buttercream plus the hidden chocolate chip cookie dough inside brought it to a whole new level. Everyone who tasted the cake agreed and there wasn't a single crumb left! 

 This is an easy, mix all in one cupcake recipe. 

 chocolate chip cookie dough and plain cookie dough on the right (reserved for the frosting)

 Core the cupcake and eat the ends! 

 Fill with chocolate chip cookie dough

 Cover it back 

 Pipe frosting on top 

 sprinkle with chocolate chips 

 Yum! 

Recipe reproduced with permission from the publisher.

I have converted the measurements to metric by weighing the ingredients on my scale. 

Makes 12 cupcakes; Active time: 30 minutes; Total time: 1 hour

For cupcakes

125g/1 cup all purpose flour

40g/ 1/3 cup cocoa powder

56g/ 1/4 cup caster sugar

100g/ 1/2 cup light brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

180mls/ 3/4 cup whole milk

125mls / 1/2 cup vegetable oil 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs, lightly beaten

For cookie dough

113g/ 1/2 cup/ 1 stick butter, room temperature 

56g/ 1/4 cup caster sugar

100g/ 1/2 cup light brown sugar

60mls / 1/2 cup milk or cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

125g/ 1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

120g/ 2/3 cup chocolate chips, divided

For buttercream

170g/ 3/4cup/1.5sticks butter, room temperature

250g/2 cups icing sugar

• Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
• Line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
• Ina mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, sugars, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 
• Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add milk, oil, vanilla, and eggs.
• Stir until just combined, scraping bottom of bowl with a rubber spatula to incorporate all of the flour
• Fill cupcake liners with scant 1/4 cup of the batter (<2 full="full" li="li">
• Bake for 18 - 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. 

• While cupcakes cool, prepare the cookie dough. 
• In a large mixing bowl, beat together butters and sugars with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. 
• Beat in milk and vanilla. 
• Add flour and salt and mix on low speed (or by hand) until incorporated. 
• Set aside 230g/1 cup of the dough for the buttercream.
• Stir 60g/ 1/3 cup chocolate chips into the remaining dough. 

• To prepare the buttercream, cream butter with an electric mixer until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. 
• Slowly add icing sugar and beat until smooth. 
• Add the reserved plain cookie dough and mix on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.

• Using a paring knife (I used a melon baller), cut a cone-shaped piece from the top of each cooled cupcake; pinch off and dispose of (ie eat!) the tip of each cone. 
• Fill cupcakes with the remaining cookie dough and replace tops. 
• Generously spread or pipe on frosting, being sure to cover the seams. Sprinkle with the remaining 60g/ 1/3 cup chocolate chips. 

Baker's notes - I ended up making 1.5 batches of these cupcakes as the recipe makes enough cookie dough filling and buttercream for 18 cupcakes. 

Disclaimer:  I was provided a copy of this book to review free of charge. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.