Marbled Chocolate and Coffee Cake

There are so many occasions when a coffee cake is perfect, tea parties, birthday parties...or just that you're feeling peckish ;) But what goes better together than coffee and chocolate?

So I decided to make this Marbled coffee and chocolate cake for the office.

Ingredients 

250g Unsalted Butter (softened)

250g Caster Sugar

2tsp Vanilla Extract 

4 Large Free Range Eggs (beaten)

250g Self Raising Flour

1 Good Pinch Salt 

2-3 tbls Milk (for mixing)

100g Cocoa Powder

2tbls Coffee 

Icing Sugar

Butter 

Coffee 

Method

Preheat the oven to 180'C 

Cream the butter and sugar together until it is soft and fluffy. This will take at least 4-5 minutes in an electric mixer, and it's incredibly important to make sure that it is properly creamed.

Mix the vanilla extract into the beaten eggs 

One tablespoon at a time add the egg mixture to the creamed sugar and butter. Make sure that the mixture is beaten together each time you add the eggs or the mixture will curdle.If done correctly, this will give you a really smooth silky mixture.

Stir the flour and salt together, and then sift into the wet mixture. Fold it in using a metal spoon (this will mean the least amount of air is lost) making sure not to over fold. 

Divide the mixture in two and then divide one half into two again. In to the full half, fold in the cocoa powder to create chocolate mixture. Add a few table spoons of milk until the mixture is of dropping consistency. 

Then, add cocoa powder into half of the rest of the mixture. 

Dissolve two table spoons of coffee in boiling water, and spoon this in to the other mixture until you have the coffee flavor that you want.

Now to construct the marbled effect. In one 20cm round baking tin spoon in the half coffee mixture and half chocolate mixture into seperate halves. Gently tease the mixture around, into a ying/yang shape. 

Then in the other half, add the rest of the chocolate mix and then bake each half at 180'C for around 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. 

For the icing, make a standard buttercream, and add more coffee until it is a gentle coffee colour and taste.

Smooth the icing in between each layer of cake, and then around the sides and over the top. Dust the cake with cocoa powder and enjoy.

This cake is moist, and quite dense but goes down a treat. Not only that, but it offers a great surprise because you never know which side you're going to get ;) 

Enjoy CX

Sticky Chocolate Florentine Cup Cakes

These are tasty little treats which pack a nice fruit and nut punch. Inspired by the classic Florentine they're miniature cup cakes with only a hint of chocolate.

Ingredients

55g Plain Milk Chocolate 

85g Butter 

1 tbsp Golden Syrup

55g Soft Dark Brown Sugar 

115g Plain Flour 

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 Large Egg (lightly beaten)

Toppings:

Half a tub of Glace Cherries 

50g Ground Almonds 

40g Raisins/Currants 

1 tbsp Golden Syrup (melted) 

Handful of Almonds chopped in to quarters (length ways) 

Method 

Preheat the oven to 160'C

Melt together the chocolate, golden syrup, butter and brown sugar over a low heat until just melted and leave to cool for 2 minutes. 

Sift together the flour and baking powder into a bowl and mix in the chocolate mixture. Add the egg and then beat until thoroughly blended. 

For this I use miniature cup cake cases as they make a very nice little bites. Spoon the mixture into the cup cake cases until they're half full. 

Chop half the glace cherries into small pieces.

Then mix together the golden syrup, ground almonds and raisins/currants and the chopped glace cherries glace cherries together. They'll look pretty weird and very sticky but that is fine!

Spoon a little bit of this mixture on top of each of the cup cakes, making sure that there is at least a bit of Glace Cherry and a currant in each one. When cooked these sink into the bottom of the cup cake meaning there is a little surprise for anyone eating them.

Bake the cup cakes for 10-15 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. They will still feel quite sticky, but that is simply because of the amount of sugar and golden syrup in them. 

Sieve a bit of icing sugar over the top of the cup cakes

On top of each one add 1 quarter of an almond, 1 quarter of a Glace Cherry and a couple of currants. 

Drizzle each one with a little bit of melted Golden Syrup to bind the toppings together and leave to cool. 

Serve to lots of smiling faces.

ENJOY CX 

Vanilla Sponge Birthday Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Icing

Birthdays are my favorite event of the year, because it gives me another excuse to bake something...as if i needed one!

This is a very simple birthday cake, using a classic Victoria sponge recipe and rich buttercream icing and decorated with minstrels...just to add a few extra calories ;)

Ingredients 

250g Unsalted Butter (softened)

250g Caster Sugar

2tsp Vanilla Extract 

4 Large Free Range Eggs (beaten)

250g Self Raising Flour

1 Good Pinch Salt 

2-3 tbls Milk (for mixing)

Icing Sugar

Butter 

200g Dark Chocolate 

Method

Preheat the oven to 180'C 

Cream the butter and sugar together until it is soft and fluffy. This will take at least 4-5 minutes in an electric mixer, and it's incredibly important to make sure that it is properly creamed - if not then the cake will not rise properly (and no one likes that)

Creamed butter and sugar

Mix the vanilla extract into the beaten eggs 

One tablespoon at a time add the egg mixture to the creamed sugar and butter. Make sure that the mixture is beaten together peach time each time you add the eggs or the mixture will curdle. I am a very impatient person, and I always used to get bored and add the egg to quickly which will always lead to curdling. If the mixture starts to curdle then add a tablespoon of the weighed flour. If done correctly, this will give you a really smooth silky mixture.

Once the egg has been added 

Stir the flour and salt together, and then sift into the wet mixture. Fold it in using a metal spoon (this will mean the least amount of air is lost) making sure not to over fold. 

Add milk until the mixture is of a dropping consistency and then divide the mixture evenly between two 20cm cake tins. 

Bake the cake at 180'C for 20-25 minutes or until the cake is golden brown on top and a skewer comes out clean. 

Leave the cakes to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the tins and leave to cool completely before icing. 

A rich golden brown colour 

Mix together butter and icing sugar to make buttercream. However, unlike plain buttercream make a crumbly mixture which you can then add 200g melted dark chocolate to. Depending on what consistency you want, add icing sugar, milk and butter as you see fit. 

Using a knife or icing utensil spread the icing in the middle of the cake and then over the top and sides. 

Yum Yum 

I really do love icing ;)

Decorate however you want, I have used minstrels. 

Then watch as it disappears!

ENJOY CX