Tag Archives: Cake

Recipe of the Week; Easter Egg Cake Pops

 

Easter Egg Cake Pops

Easter Egg Cake Pops

  • Servings: 10
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Calories 291 per portion
Fat 15g (6.5g sat) per portion
Suitable for vegetarians

Ingredients

  • Plain Madeira cake 285g pack
  • Chocolate spread 5 tbsp
  • White chocolate 225g (8oz), broken into pieces
  • Lollipop sticks 10 x 15cm (6in) Neon sugar sprinkles

Instructions

  1. Trim off brown edges and crumble cake into a bowl. Add half the chocolate spread and mix well with your hands. Add remaining spread a tablespoon at a time until you have a mixture that can be squished and rolled into 10 tightly packed 30g (1oz) egg shapes.
  2. Place on a tray lined with non-stick baking paper and chill for 1 hour.
  3. Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring often.
  4. Dip end of each stick into chocolate and insert into eggs. Place in a cake pop stand or glass and leave to set. Dip cake pop into chocolate and slowly rotate until evenly covered. Hold over a plate and sprinkle with decorations. Leave to set as before. Repeat with other pops.
  5. If giving as an Easter gift, pop into a cellophane bag and tie with a pretty coloured ribbon.

 

 

#easterrecipe

 

Banish the Blues Part 2

Marvellous Easter Makes Made Easy

.

Marvellous Easter Makes Made Easy

(and other tongue-twisters)

With the wind still whistling around our ears, rain pelting the windows and the clocks waiting another few weeks before they go forward, it’s easy to get despondent.

Lift the mood by creating something
lovely for Easter, and maybe give
one of your creations as a gift.

I have been recipe testing for the next diary recently and to save my waistline from ‘just one more taste’ I have been giving out little parcels of food to neighbours and to teachers/acquaintances at the school gate. People have been genuinely thrilled to receive something unexpected (and yummy of course!) and it really brightens my (and hopefully their) day.

So…..here are three ideas for easy Easter treats to share:

 

Easter Egg Cake Pops

Easter Egg Cake Pops

  • Servings: 10
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Calories 291 per portion
Fat 15g (6.5g sat) per portion
Suitable for vegetarians

Ingredients

  • Plain Madeira cake 285g pack
  • Chocolate spread 5 tbsp
  • White chocolate 225g (8oz), broken into pieces
  • Lollipop sticks 10 x 15cm (6in) Neon sugar sprinkles

Instructions

  1. Trim off brown edges and crumble cake into a bowl. Add half the chocolate spread and mix well with your hands. Add remaining spread a tablespoon at a time until you have a mixture that can be squished and rolled into 10 tightly packed 30g (1oz) egg shapes.
  2. Place on a tray lined with non-stick baking paper and chill for 1 hour.
  3. Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring often.
  4. Dip end of each stick into chocolate and insert into eggs. Place in a cake pop stand or glass and leave to set. Dip cake pop into chocolate and slowly rotate until evenly covered. Hold over a plate and sprinkle with decorations. Leave to set as before. Repeat with other pops.
  5. If giving as an Easter gift, pop into a cellophane bag and tie with a pretty coloured ribbon.

 

Woven Easter Card

Woven Easter Card

Materials

  • Selection of narrow ribbons
  • Card with oval hole
  • Scissors
  • Sellotape

Instructions

  1. Choose a selection of ribbons in similar colours. Cut into strips slightly longer than the length of the oval.
  2. On the reverse of the oval attached a piece of ribbon (at the top left only) with a piece of tape. It should hang vertically down the length of the edge of the oval. Attach a second ribbon next to it to create a ribbon ‘fringe’ behind the oval.
  3. Cut more ribbon slightly wider than the width of the oval.
  4. Attach a piece of ribbon at the top of the oval but this time horizontally. Weave the ribbon in and out of the other ribbons to create a woven effect. Attach to the back with tape. Repeat until the oval is filled with the woven ribbon pattern.

 

Mini Egg Rocky Road

Mini Egg Rocky Road

Ingredients

  • Butter 110g (4oz)
  • Milk chocolate 110g (4oz), chopped
  • Digestive biscuits 110g (4oz)
  • Chocolate mini eggs 110g (4oz)
  • Marshmallows 110g (4oz), chopped
  • Dried cranberries 25g (1oz)

Instructions

  1. Line an 18cm (7in) square baking tin with cling film.
  2. Place butter and chocolate in a large bowl and microwave for about 1 minute, until melted, checking frequently.
  3. Put biscuits into a strong polythene bag and bash with a rolling pin until broken up. Stir into chocolate with mini eggs, marshmallows and cranberries.
  4. Press into tin and refrigerate for at least an hour until firm. Remove from tin and cut into 16 squares.

 

#easterrecipe

 

Recipe of the Week: Chocolate Fudgey Cake

Chocolate Fudge Cake

Chocolate Fudgey Cake

  • Servings: 16-20 squares
  • Difficulty: medium
  • Print

Calories 202 per portion
Fat 11g (3g sat) per portion
Suitable for vegetarians
Suitable for freezing

Ingredients

  • Cocoa powder 75g (3oz)
  • Eggs 3
  • Light muscovado sugar 250g (9oz)
  • Olive oil or rapeseed oil 125ml (4fl oz)
  • Self-raising flour 150g (5oz)
  • Bicarbonate of soda 1 tsp
  • Dark chocolate 150g (5oz), broken into chunks
  • Butter 25g (1oz)
  • Milk 4 tbsp
  • Golden syrup 1 tbsp
  • Milk chocolate 50g (2oz), broken into pieces and melted in a bowl over a pan of hot water

Instructions

  1. Whisk 50g (2oz) cocoa powder with 100ml (3½fl oz) boiling water in a small bowl until smooth. Leave to cool for a few minutes.
  2. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4 and line a 33 x 22cm (13 x 9in) tray bake tin with non-stick baking paper.
  3. In a large bowl whisk the eggs, sugar and oil for 3 minutes, until smooth, using an electric whisk.
  4. Mix in the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa paste. Pour into the tin and allow to settle.
  5. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the cake is risen and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
  6. To make the icing, melt the dark chocolate with the butter in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and stir until smooth. At the same time, mix the remaining cocoa powder, milk and syrup in apan and heat until almost boiling. Whisk it into the chocolate mixture to make a glossy icing.
  7. Smooth the icing over the cake, drizzle with the milk chocolate and leave to set. Cut into squares.

To serve now: Enjoy the cakes and keep any extras in an airtight container for a few days.

To freeze: Place in rigid plastic containers in a single layer or between sheets of greaseproof paper. Cover, seal and label. Use within 2 months.

To serve from the freezer: Thaw at room temperature for about 2 hours or until defrosted.

 

For more recipes visit the Dairy Diary recipes website.

Summer Fête Lemon Cake

Summer Fête Lemon Cake

 

Summer Fête Lemon CakleNutritional information

Makes 16 squares

Time 1–11/4 hrs

Calories 246 Fat 10g of which

6.2g is saturated

Suitable for vegetarians

Suitable for freezers

 

Ingredients

Butter 175g (6oz), softened

Golden caster sugar 175g (6oz)

Lemon 1, finely grated zest and juice

Eggs 3 large

Self-raising flour 225g (8oz)

Baking powder 1 tsp

Fondant icing sugar 225g (8oz)

Jelly oranges and lemons, sliced to decorate

 

Instructions

1 Preheat oven to 180ºC/Gas 4. Beat together butter, sugar, lemon zest, 1 tbsp juice, eggs, flour and baking powder using an electric mixer. Spoon into an 18cm (7in) square cake tin, greased and lined, and bake for 35-45 minutes or until firm. Leave to cool in tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

2 Sift icing sugar into a bowl and gradually beat in enough lemon juice (and water, if necessary) to make a smooth thick icing. Spoon on top of cake and spread evenly with a knife.

 

A Dairy Dairy recipe.

Simnel cake

One of the oldest Christian festivals, Easter marks Christ’s resurrection from the dead. Simnel cake has at some point been adopted as a traditional Easter cake.

The 11 marzipan balls on the top represent the apostles, minus the treacherous Judas.

Preparation time – 30 minutes
Cooking time – 2¼ hours
Calories per slice – 722 Kcal
Fat per slice – 30g
of which saturated – 13.2g
Makes – 11 slices
Suitable for vegetarians

Butter 250g (9oz), softened
Light muscovado sugar 250g (9oz)
Eggs 4
Plain flour 300g (11oz)
Baking powder 1 tsp
Ground mixed spice 2 tsp
Ground almonds 50g (2oz)
Luxury dried mixed fruit 500g (1lb 2oz)
Lemon 1, finely grated zest and 2 tbsp juice
White marzipan 500g (1lb 2oz)
Apricot glaze or sieved apricot jam 2 tbsp

1 Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/Gas 2 and line a 20cm (8in) cake tin with baking parchment.

2 Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding a spoonful of the flour along with each egg. Sift in the remaining flour, baking powder and spice and fold the almonds, dried fruit and lemon zest and juice into the mixture. Spoon half into the cake tin and smooth the surface level.

3 Roll out one third of the marzipan until it’s a circle, just smaller than the cake tin, and lay it on top of the mixture in the tin. Spoon the remaining mixture over the top and level the surface.

4 Bake the cake in the centre of the oven for 2–2¼ hours, or until a skewer comes out clean after being inserted into the cake. Cover with a sheet of baking parchment if it starts to brown. When cooked, remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool.

5 Remove the cake from the tin and peel away the lining paper. Spread the apricot glaze or jam over the top. Roll out half of the remaining marzipan to fit the top of the cake. Place it on the cake and smooth down, taking care not to trap any air pockets underneath. Pinch around the edges.

6 Divide the remaining marzipan into 11 pieces and roll each into a ball. Brush a little apricot glaze or jam onto the base of each and evenly space around the top of the cake. Place under a hot grill to brown the marzipan lightly. Remove from the grill and leave to cool before serving.

Cook’s tips
• The cake will keep in an airtight container for up to a week.
• If you have a choice of marzipan, choose white marzipan, which has a more natural flavour than golden marzipan.

Recipe taken from Around Britain Dairy Cookbook available for a short period at just £2.99!

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Chocolate Whisky Cake

Every Scottish baker has their own recipe for chocolate cake and this one incorporates whisky, which complements the flavour of the chocolate. There is also a hidden ingredient (a Scottish favourite), which helps give the cake its rich, moist texture.

Chocolate Whisky CakePreparation time – 25 minutes
Cooking time – 25 minutes
Calories per portion – 435 Kcal
Fat per portion – 24g of which saturated – 13.6g
Serving – 10
Suitable for vegetarians
Suitable for freezing

Very dark plain chocolate 175g (6oz)
Unsalted butter 110g (4oz), softened
Light brown sugar 175g (6oz)
Cold finely mashed potato 75g (3oz)
Eggs 2, beaten
Self-raising flour 175g (6oz)
Salt 1⁄2 tsp
Milk 4 tbsp
Double cream 125ml (4fl oz)
Icing sugar 50g (2oz), sifted
Whisky 3 tbsp
Raspberry jam 3 tbsp
Raspberries to decorate

1 Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5 and grease and line two 20cm (8in) Victoria sandwich cake tins. In a heatproof bowl, break 50g (2oz) of the chocolate, and place over a pan of gently simmering water to melt.

2 In another bowl, beat together the butter and brown sugar until pale. Beat in the melted chocolate and mashed potato.

3 Gradually beat in the eggs, adding a little of the flour with each. Sift the remaining flour and salt into the mixture and add the milk. Gently fold together until well combined.

4 Divide the mixture equally between the prepared tins and smooth over the tops. Bake for about 25 minutes until risen and springy-firm to the touch. Turn onto wire racks to cool completely.

5 Melt the remaining chocolate as above and cool for 10 minutes. Add the cream, the icing sugar and the whisky. Carefully whisk together until thick and creamy. Spread the jam over one half of the cake and then spread half the chocolate cream on top. Sandwich together with the other half. Spread the remaining chocolate cream on top. Decorate with fresh raspberries before serving.

Cook’s tip
If whisky isn’t your preferred tipple, dark rum or brandy also works well with chocolate, or replace with orange juice for a non-alcoholic version.

Recipe taken from Around Britain Dairy Cookbook.

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