It's been a while, right? Where have I been?
Forgive me for my absence. I've been working on a lot of different things, and unfortunately I let the blog slide.
On the bright side I have been baking/cooking, and I have been trying a few new things.
Over the last couple of months I've had friends over for lunch, and it's been a lot of fun. On each occasion I thought it'd be a great idea to make almost everything from scratch.
I don't know why I'm such a glutton for punishment, because each time I do this I run myself ragged. Personally, I feel you need to make as much yourself. Why invite someone to your home if you're only going to serve them something bought from the supermarket?
I'm still recovering from the sugar high that was the Cake and Bake Show 2013 at Earls Court.
I went along with my partner in crime Little Miss Shortcake, and I don't think it turned out to be quite what we expected.
It was my sister's birthday the other day and I thought mark the occasion with a freshly baked cake.
Personally I'm not much of a fan for the traditional cream-filled cakes, and as I was going to be making breakfast too, what would make a better accompaniment to the morning celebrations than a sweet scenting cappuccino cake.
After some hunting around I settled on Mary Berry's recipe. The beauty of Mary's recipes are that they are so simple to follow. Whack them in a bowl, mix them up and there you have it. Even a first year student can follow one of her concoctions.
As I do not bake with eggs I used the Orgran No Egg substitute and added a half a teaspoon of Bicarb and Baking powder. Try not to overdo either of those as you will get an odd tasting cake.
After you've put together the cake mix don't forget to put both tins on the same shelf. If The Great British Bake Off has taught us anything it's that a shelf makes all the difference. You'll want both cakes to bake at the same time and the same rate.
As is the way with most eggless cakes mine didn't quite rise as much as it needed to. The original plan was to slice each cake in half to have four layers of cake with cappuccino frosting in between. If your cakes do rise to the appropriate level I'd suggest making double the frosting. The amount in the original recipe will not be anywhere enough if you like to be generous.
Unfortunately I'm not allowed to show you a photo of my sister with her slice of cake, but I can show you the finished article. Even if you don't have a birthday going on this is a real treat to have for afternoon tea. And if you can be bothered to do it in the morning, your home is filled with that beautiful scent of coffee.
Have a crack at it and let me know how it goes. Try it with freshly ground coffee rather than instant and you'll taste the difference.
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