The Best Coffee & Walnut Cake.

Ever since she came on BBC, I have loved Nigella Lawson and her cooking, a lot! During a very busy week, I had an afternoon off and decided I would try her Coffee & Walnut Cake, and I am glad I did.

I have changed this recipe slightly so the cake is milder. 

Start by pre-heating your oven to Gas Mark 4/180°C/350°F, and greasing/lining two 8 inch tins.

Blitz 50g Walnut Pieces and 225g Caster Sugar in a food processor to a fine powder.

In a bowl, mix 225g Unsalted Butter with 200g Plain Flour, adding in 2 Teaspoons of Instant Coffee dissolved in 1 Tablespoon of Boiling Water. 

Continue mixing and slowly add in 2.5 Teaspoons of Baking Powder, 1/2 Teaspoon of Bicarbonaate of Soda, 4 Large Eggs, and 2 Tablespoons of Milk.

Mix into a smooth batter.

Divide this mixture into 2 tins and bake for 25 minutes, or until they bounce up after gently touching them.

To make the icing, whisk 175g of Unsalted Butter until smooth. Slowly add in 350g Icing Sugar, to avoid a cloud of powder add 2-3 tablespoons at a time. 

Towards the end, add in 2.5 Teaspoons of Instant Coffee in 1 Tablespoon of Boiling Water. 

Spread the Icing on the cakes, and layer, decorate with 10 Walnut Halves.

Enjoy!

Lydia

x

Delicous Lemon Drizzle Sponge Cake.

It feels like forever since I last wrote on here. Though probably not. I have just finished a crazily busy weekend of work and decided to celebrate the best way I know how. Cake.

Oh yes.

All you need for the cake is:

• 6oz (170g) Self-Raising Flour
• 6oz (170g) Caster Sugar
• 6oz (170g) Butter
• 3 Large Eggs
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

Icing:

• 4oz (113g) Butter
• 8oz (226g) Icing Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Milk

For the Lemon Drizzle:

• 2 Lemons Juiced
• 3 oz (75g) Caster Sugar
• Lemon Curd

 
How to make the cake:

• First things first is to light the oven up to Gas Mark 3, or 160°C. Grease and line the tins.
• Then cream together the sugar and butter.
• Add the flour, a few spoonfuls at a time and mix. After 3 spoonfuls, add the eggs, one at a time and mix.

 

 
 
 
 

• Pour in the vanilla extract and baking powder and mix. 
• Spoon the mixture into the tins and pop in the oven for 25-45 minutes (until the cake springs back when tapped).
• After a while of patiently waiting for the cake, mix together the lemon juice and caster sugar. Drizzle over the top layer of cake when cooked, and out of the oven.
  

 
 
 
 
 

• Let the cakes cool. 
• To make the icing, soften the butter and slowly add the icing sugar. Add in the milk alternatively until all mixed together. Whisk for 3-4 minutes.
• Layer the cakes up with Lemon Curd and The Icing. 
• Top the cakes with a sprinkling of caster sugar. 
  

Tilly the dog was patiently waiting to taste the cake, nice try Tills!

A simple, quick, and absolutely delicious Lemon cake, perfect for the cold winter's nights. 

Lydia

x

Bank Holiday Baking.

Hello everyone,

I am sorry I haven't posted in a while, life has been a little quite whilst I am still recovering from having my leg cast off, however, I am nearly there and am looking forward to getting out more and more. 

As it has been a bank holiday weekend, I thought I would make the most out of it and do some baking, trying out a recipe I have never used. My sister, Naomi, has used it before though and she does it well. I am talking about the Hummingbird Bakery's Red Velvet Cupcakes. I have bought these cupcakes from the bakeries around London and they are divine!

Here's some of the baking from today:

I found the recipe quite simple to follow, however I think I used the wrong food colouring so, these red velvets, aren't red. I found the recipe for the icing did not work well, maybe this was due to me using a handheld whisk instead of a stand-alone mixer? Let me know if you can make a good cream cheese frosting :) 

The finished product. A brown, chocolatey, yummy, red velvet cupcake, perfect with a glass of wine to finish off a lovely bank holiday weekend.

Bye lovelies 

x