It seemed time to do something chocolatey with cake. I have never used cocoa powder before so decided to go for a chocolate muffin recipe and give it a try. Have to say, very pleased with the results and will definitely be making these again…
(c) MKW Publishing
New cake method is going well. Orange and Blueberry just as nice as the Lemon and Blueberry one. Although halved the recipe for this one, it’s still a good size.
(c) K Wicks
A great combo, not sure why it didn’t occur to me before, as it has to many others.
I used my blueberry muffin recipe, with a couple of tweeks, and it’s perfect. Might try an orange one next…
(c) K Wicks
Thought it might be nice to try some apple and blueberry muffins. As the weather changes, it feels like cake times are coming. Or already here…
110g butter
250g caster sugar
250g plain flour
2 eggs
150ml milk
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
120g blueberries
80g grated apple
Some cinnamon
Cream the butter and sugar together, add eggs and mix until smooth. Sieve in the flour, baking powder and salt. Add cinnamon. Beat together, adding the milk until smooth. Hand mix through the apple and lightly crushed blueberries.
Fill muffin cases – this made 12, but I filled the cases quite high to get the towering muffin look.
180 degrees for around 25 minutes. (170 for fan assisted oven).
(c) K Wicks
Felt like some apple cakes, and realised I hadn’t tried any yet as small muffins or fairy cakes. So, adapted my blueberry muffin recipe slightly and made some very tasty cakes.
125g – caster sugar (but will try brown sugar next time)
125g – plain flour
55g soft butter
130g – grated apple with skin on (2 gala apples in this case)
1 – egg
1 – big tbs cloudy honey
1 tsp – baking powder
1/4 tsp – bicarbonate of soda
Cinnamon
Cream the butter and sugar together, add egg, honey and cinnamon, mix until smooth.
Add the apple, and more cinnamon until combined.
Add the flour and baking power and bicarb, mix thoroughly until ready to be spooned into paper cases, or a greased muffin tray.
Bake for around 20-25 minutes at 180°c, until well browned. Then leave to cool, and eat.
(c) K Wicks
After foraging some blackberries, I decided to give apple and blackberry cake a go.
186g blackberries
2 x small gala apples
2 eggs beaten
1/2 tps cinnamon
4 oz butter
6 oz demerera sugar
8 oz self raising flour
orange zest
1tps baking powder
Oven at 160°c (fan assisted or 180 if not), line loaf tin with baking paper, or butter so the cake doesn’t stick.
Beat the eggs and greate the two apples including the skin down to the core into the egg, put in cinnamon and orange zest.
Cream together the butter and sugar.
Add the two together until you have a big bowl of runny, lumpy goo. Now add the flour and baking powder until you have a decent cake batter, then stir through most of the blackberries, careful not to break them up too much. Save a few for putting on top before it goes in the oven, and I sprinkled a small bit of demerera over the top as well.
Bake for around 50 mins to over an hour. I had to check a few times because it browned well early on. The knife test did it though, and it was perfect at about 1 hour and 5 minutes I think.
It was rather nice.
(c) K Wicks
I like baking, sweets more than savoury so far and this recipe is a favourite of mine for some tasty cakey fruity treats. I have amended the recipe to scale down the ingredients. I’m not a big eater and my husband does not eat hardly anything I bake, so smaller the recipes get. But this still makes 12 little cakes. The original receipt is just for blueberry muffins, but they seem more like fairy cakes than muffins, and I decided to add raspberries to give it an extra zing and gooeyness. Full recipe at bottom of post.
To start my baking I always weigh up all the ingredients first, and always have to have a recipe – funnily enough it’s the opposite with savoury food, no recipe, don’t weigh up anything or even check I have all the ingredients first. On that note, I shall share with you that the other night I had ‘Joke Chicken’. What is this is dish you may ask, well, it is when you don’t read the shopping delivery receipt properly, presume you have chicken and start cooking roast potatoes without checking. Then upon realising, have no back up so just end up eating roast potatoes for dinner! (which really wasn’t that bad). And even for this recipe – I nearly couldn’t do it as I had run out of baking powder and hadn’t added that to the shopping, despite it being on my list. Luckily the corner shop was open and in stock.
Although I love my mixer and use it for pastry, I always cream the butter and sugar by hand. Taking a bit more time and care than previously and it may sound cheesy, but I can taste the difference.
I don’t tend to stir in the fruit too much otherwise you lose the raspberry a bit and from experience cut a few of the blueberries in half. Otherwise they all have a tendency to sink to the bottom of the cake, which is nice, but better to have them do that and still be throughout as well.
Again with this one, I didn’t check the oven temperature adjustment until they had been cooking for 10 minutes, then realised that I had typed the recipe out when I had a normal gas oven. Now I have a fan assisted electric one and it seems to keep throwing me when using it. So while doing this write up I shall amend it so no-one has the issue and will print myself a new one.
These only took 20 minutes because I have learnt my lesson when it come to taking things out when you think they are done, not when the time says so. But if you start with the correct temperature, then 25-30 minutes is probably accurate.
They were then enjoyed with a cup on tea (on my rather colourful MKW coaster).
Blueberry & Raspberry Cakes
Ingredients
Makes: 24 muffins Makes: 12 muffins
Method
Prep:15 min › Cook: 25min › Ready in:40min
I’ve had this recipe knocking around for over a decade having pulled it from the internet for my own simple recipe folder. Thanks Patricia, whoever you are.
Finally, I got round to trying it and have to say was rather impressed. I am quite a simple cook and cannot do complicated or fancy, so often don’t always get things right. (Full receipt at the bottom of the post).
This was super easy to follow. I didn’t rush it, as is sometimes my way (not hard to see why I don’t always get it right!) and took extra time to properly cream the butter and sugar. It took longer than the recipe said to cook for, but I have a fan assisted oven these days and didn’t think to check the difference. Although, I didn’t use a flat cake tin, instead using a loaf tin, so that is probably why. However, I know to test the cake center with a knife to make sure cooked and gave it another 15 minutes.
It was so light I was surprised, I also make banana bread now and again and that is extremely dense and heavy. The flavour was also perfect. I had been concerned about the vanilla extract as the recipe doesn’t state a quantity, so I went with 1 teaspoon and it worked well.
It was enjoyed with fresh whipped cream and strawberry jam. As many would agree it should be. My winter sweet tooth has returned so there might be more…
(c) K Wicks
Victoria Sponge Cake Recipe
Sponge cake preparation time: about 15 Minutes
Sponge cake cooking time: 25 Minutes
By Patricia
Sponge cake should be very light and airy and with a melt in the mouth texture. Everyone has their own favorite version of sponge cake but the basic rule is to beat the mixture well to get air into it, this is as much an art as a science so practice will improve your cake making ability. There are many things you can do with a sponge but a jam and cream filling seem to be the favorite perhaps with fresh strawberries in the summer.
Sponge cake recipe ingredients: Serves 4
100g butter
100g caster sugar
100g self raising flour
Vanilla essence
Pinch of salt
2 medium eggs
Sponge cake recipe cooking instructions:
1. Preheat oven to Gas mark 190°C.
2. Place the butter and sugar into a mixing bowl. Beat until smooth and creamy.
3. Beat the eggs in basin or cup and add to the mixture a little at the time, with the flour keeping the same smooth and creamy consistency.
4. Making sure the mixtures does not get too wet or dry as you go when you have used all the flour and the eggs.
5. Add the vanilla essence and a pinch of salt, mix for a few minutes.
6. Divide into two lined, or non-stick sponge tins, put into a moderately hot oven, middle shelf.
7. Put into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes (it is important that the oven is well heated).
8. Put to cool on a rack to cool.
9.When cool put one upside down on a plate spread with jam, you can also put fresh cream in at this stage, put the other piece on the top and dust with icing sugar.
MKW Publishing 