MY TWO FAVOURITE THINGS

A while ago I made my gorgeous Mum a cake for her birthday which combined my two favourite things: food and flowers. 

I made a floral wreath using oasis, foliage from the garden and some beautiful red roses. After soaking the oasis I just add the foliage piece by piece until it's covered and then add the flowers. I'm by no means a pro but there are loads of tutorials online like this and this. 

My oasis wreath was the perfect size for a standard cake so I simply popped it on top of my victoria sponge and ta daa! The effect was really dramatic and it's a great way to jazz up a cake without icing. I particularly love it because you can use it as a table decoration after you've eaten the cake so it's like two presents in one! 

This is quite a wintery design but in the summer you could add peonies, pink roses or hydrangeas to make it nice and bright.

Let me know what you think!

BIRTHDAY BAKING

This weekend I got busy in the kitchen and made a birthday cake for my Grandad. Perhaps more style over substance(!), I topped the lemon and raspberry sponge with fresh flowers, meringues and fruit. I also used some straws and coloured paper to make a DIY bunting topper to add a special touch! I adapted several recipes from across pinterest to get just what I wanted so take a look below if you want to recreate this cake.

Ingredients:

Sponge:

375g Unsalted Butter

375g Golden Caster Sugar

375g Self Raising Flour

6 Eggs 

Rind from 1 Lemon

A Splash of Milk

Filling:

Lemon Curd (I used this one)

1 Punnet of Raspberries

1 teaspoon of Icing Sugar

Buttercream:

500g Icing Sugar

250g Butter

Juice from 1 Lemon

Additional Toppers:

Fresh Flowers

Fresh Fruit (Raspberries and Cherries)

Meringue Kisses

Cake Bunting

Sparkler Candles

Method:

Sponge:

Prep - Line and grease three 20cm cake tins and preheat the oven at 180°C.

1) Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

2) Add the eggs one at a time mixing well between.

3) Fold in the flour and lemon rind until smooth.

4) If necessary, loosen the mixture with a splash of milk.

5) Divide the mixture between the tins and spread it to the edges.

6) Put in the oven for 20-25 until the cake springs back when touched.

Buttercream:

Whilst waiting for the sponges to bake you can prep the fillings. 

1) Soften the butter and mix together with the icing sugar and the juice from 1/2 a lemon.

2) Adjust the consistency using lemon juice and icing sugar and set aside until the cakes have cooled.

Fillings:

You also need to prepare the Raspberry Filling.

1) Simply place the raspberries in a small pan with 100ml of warm water and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

2) Once they have a thicker consistency, remove from the heat and pass the mixture through a sieve.

3) Use the back of a spoon the squeeze all of the juice from the raspberries and make sure all of the pips are removed.

4) Add the teaspoon of icing sugar to the raspberry coulis and set aside.

Assembly:

1) Once the sponges have cooled layer your first sponge on your plate or cake board.

2) Add a layer of the lemon buttercream and smooth it across the top (I'd recommend leaving a space around the edge so it doesn't spill out).

TOP TIP: make the edges of your buttercream a little higher than the centre so it acts as a well for your other fillings!

3) Spread a tablespoon of lemon curd across the buttercream and top this with a layer of the raspberry coulis.

4) Repeat these steps until you've got all three layers. I then popped my cake in the fridge for 20 minutes or so to let it firm up before I covered it. 

5) Use the remaining buttercream to cover your cake. It's best to use a palette knife for a smooth finish but a spatula also works. 

6) Top your cake with all of your wonderful toppings and you're ready to go!

This cake is wonderful for a celebration and is really fun to make. I hope you have a go yourself and let me know what you think!

RAINBOW

Recently, I made this rainbow cake with my flat mate for her boyfriend's birthday. It was so fun to make and surprisingly easy to do the decoration! We just covered the cake in buttercream and then added smarties colour by colour starting in the middle. To finish it off we just stacked chocolate fingers around the edge of the cake. I think for such a simple method it was a really cool cake! You should all give it a go!