therefore it was really great to spend some time with my sister the other weekend and have a catch up (mostly moaning about being working girls).
we kept things simple with a basic sponge mix. this is such a good thing to have memorised - you want to work in 2oz measurements and for every 2oz of ingredients you need one egg. i think i made 8oz because i wanted two batches of cakes so it went something like this:
8oz of self raising flour
8oz caster sugar
8oz butter or baking spread (softened)
2 tsps baking powder
4 eggs
splash of vanilla essence
once you've grasped this basic recipe you can work wonders with it. for example if you are making it into a chocolate cake, sub out some of the flour for cocoa powder and add a little more baking powder.
it can be flavoured in different ways too, although vanilla provides a good base for staple sponge.
i always go all in one with this, literally throw it all in a bowl and whisk together! add a splash of milk if it's a little dry. it always comes out moist and spongy, a fail safe result!
in it all goes, you're looking for the consistency below: nice and smooth, leaving the trails of the whisk
the other great thing about cup/fairy cakes is how quickly they cook (although not that great when you get distracted playing games on your phone and have to run to the oven...) so you can whip up a few batches in no time. the fun part is what you do after this
pretty cases are a must for cupcakes, these are from tesco
so i had two things i wanted to try out here:
firstly was a beautiful piping set that my friend louise got me for my birthday and i hadn't actually got around to using. i forgot to take a photo so i will put one up when i remember! it's a really professional set and gave great results.
my piping skills are definitely something i want to work on (as well as my photography, apologies for the out of focus images!) - in particular starting at the edge of the cake, rather than trying to backfill this in!
so much concentration!
cheeky baking selfie!
and with that photo i introduce my sister, the widge to my nen (just roll with the weird nicknames). we paired up to make that british tea time classic - butterfly cakes.
instead of using a berry jam, i wanted to use the passionfruit curd i had bought at a national trust property (history nerd forever). this added a zing to the cakes that would have been missing otherwise, and contrasted well with the sweet buttercream. it was a simple yet effective way to update a classic combo.
i'm a sucker for that packaging too
scooping out the insides to make the wings
my glamorous assistant whipping up the buttercream
production line assembled: i was in charge of cutting and wing placement, widge provided the fillings
just look at the colour on that curd!
and the finished result
these went down a treat in the office. everyone loved the zing from the passionfruit and they were a perfect little mid morning or afternoon pick me up!
i'd love to see what you guys do with your basic sponge recipes! share your pictures on facebook or twitter
love,
nen
