Sunday Recipe 8/2010

One of my favourite cakes has got to be carrot cake and this is my take on Delias Ultimate Carrot Cake

CARROT CAKE

Ingredients

200g grated carrots

110g chopped walnuts

175g dark brown soft sugar

2 large eggs

200g self-raising flour

150ml sunflower oil

1 tbsp ground mixed spice

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

grated zest of 1 orange

110g sultanas

Syrup Glaze

Juice of 1 orange

75g dark brown soft sugar

Icing

250g mascarpone

200g low fat fromage frais

1 heaped tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp golden caster sugar

Preheat Oven to 170C (Gas Mark 3)

You will need 2 x 20cm sponge tins, lightly greased and bases lined with baking parchment

Method

1) Whisk the sugar, eggs and oil together until all the sugar has dissolved

2) Sift in the flour, mixed spice and bicarbonate of soda and stir gently

3) Add 75g of the chopped walnuts and the rest of the remaining ingredients

4) Divide the batter between the tins and bake for approx 30 mins

5) They should feel firm and springy to the touch and show signs of shrinking away from the sides, if not give a few more minutes

6) Meanwhile make the icing by whisking all ingredients together and then chill until you are ready to ice the cakes

7) Make the syrup glaze by whisking the sugar and fruit juice together

8) When the cakes come out of the oven, stab them all over with a skewer and quickly spoon syrup evenly over the cakes

9) Now leave to cool in their tins, once completely cold remove from their tins

10) Spread one third of the icing on a cake and then layer the other cake on top, then spread the rest of the icing over the top of the cakes

11) Finely chop the rest of the walnuts and sprinkle on top

Hope you enjoy, please leave a comment if you try this cake

xxx

Racing Cars

Well, this weekend was my wonderful husband Robs Birthday, so aswell as working on some Christmas items (will be able to start showing them to you soon) I made 36 muffin size cupcakes, a mix of chocolate, lemon and plain, all with butter icing and decorations, which I took to his office, but failed to take any photos, sorry. And as Rob works for Force India Formula One team at Silverstone I treated him to lunch at Silverstone golf club which was very nice and I surprised him with a Birthday Cake, yes you guessed it, in the shape of a formula 1 car!

Have been out picking fruit this morning so will be making more chutney and jam so will keep you posted on what types I try out and how it all goes

Will be back shortly to show you some more craft items which I'm currently working on.

xxx

Busy Weekend

Well this weekend has been rather busy but have really enjoyed it.

Saturday I started rather early at 8am, I had put the aga on the night before as this weekend was my best friend Tories little boys Christening and I had promised to make all the sweet stuff. So in went 2 chickens to be roasted, then the ham went in a big pan on top with bay leaves (from the garden), peppercorns, and lots of water, and I boiled it for 2 hours (rinsing it every half an hour!) I then roasted it in the bottom oven for 5 hours marinating it in honey and orange juice, and oh my was it yummy!!!

Once I had sorted all that out, I got on with making cupcakes and tartlets. I made 60 cupcakes of which I decorated 50 for the Christening. I also made 75 tartlets, 50 I made into white chocolate and mascarpone tarts with fruit on top and 25 into lemon tarts. I also made a large white chocolate and mascarpone tart, 2 chocolate roulades, and a large "death by chocolate" cake. Finally I finished at 8pm, was worried I hadn't done enough as wasn't quite sure how many people would be going to the Christening, but I was tired and everything thing looked lovely.

Ok so Saturday over, it was Sunday the day of the Christening and I was up at 6:30 putting the finishing touches to the puddings and getting them over to the hall.

I also managed to finish off the present.

Might pop back later to show you what I did yesterday.

xxx