While I was gone…..

 

I have no excuses for not blogging other than life took over… Do forgive me, I didn’t mean to leave you in the lurch [hangs head down and gives puppy eyes]…

It started with me needing to give all my attention to finishing a college course, which I handed in last month, Yay! But then it seemed like I was juggling 101 things at the same time. Mr WWW got a new job which is quite a distance away and therefore means I am on school/nursery runs all the time. And then the cooling fan on my oven went haywire! It just does not switch off, at all!! So we had to manually unplug it at the back of the cooker. That had me depressed for a while as I couldn’t bake [saddens at the memory] but the mastermind that I am, I have found that if I get my daughter’s stepping stool up to the front of the cooker and tilt the cooker forward, I can just about reach the plug and socket! So I’ve now started to plug it in when I need to bake and unplug it half hour after baking…. Will need to do for now!

A couple of months ago I purchased a giant cupcake tin, they look sooo good I just couldn't resist! And I had my first chance to use it for a birthday order. I had loads of fun and was very happy with the end result of a shabby chic style cake!

It was such a hit on Facebook (find me and “like” me on www.facebook.com/whiskwhiskwhisk ) that it was shortly followed by another order of a giant cupcake and 50 matching cupcakes for a wedding mendhi party!!

The theme was green, red and gold. The bride was very pleased with the results!

Very glitzy, sparkly and hopefully captured the Indian influences.

I even found a designer piece of chiffon material that happened to match the cake quite well….!

 

I hope you have now forgiven me and we can start again, what you say??? I shall be taking part in this month’s Daring Baker’s Challenge and I sure have missed my fellow Daring Bakers! Cant wait to start rocking and rolling baby!!

Biscuit Joconde Imprime with Double Chocolate Mousse Entremet

A bit of a mouthful, hey? Well, let me tell you – once you’ve tried a slice of this pure happiness, you’re gonna want to learn the name too double-quick!

In other words, a sponge cake where a pattern is imprinted in it and is used to create the surrounding shell of a filled dessert.

This was the Daring Baker’s Challenge for January 2011. When I saw the challenge, I was soo excited. How fancy schmancy is this for a dinner party! It’s a pure showstopper and you can play around with the cake wrap with colours, designs and size. The choices were countless. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do the challenge as I had to travel to South England when we heard my Grandma had had a  brain haemorrhage and passed away the next day.

But I knew it was something that I just had to do at some point and just needed an occasion. I had seen so many amazing pieces of work by all the fellow Daring Bakers, they really had exceled on this challenge. I was in total awe of every single one of them!

I made a gift basket for my sister-in-law’s new addition (see Baby Shower cupcakes) but felt a tad bad for the three nephews so I thought I’d make a cake for them. And I knew exactly which cake I wanted to make…

I also made it nut-free so my sister-in-law could have some too. That was a bit of a hurdle as the recipe specifically asked for almond/hazelnut meal, and I guess that added to the flexibility needed to wrap the cake around the entremet. I threw caution to the wind and used the recipe for the decor paste (which didn’t need any nuts) to do the design and also the sponge layer. Put it in the oven and prayed to God that it would come out right.

And it did. Wahey!!

Don’t you just love the spun sugar squiggle, love it! And the gold dust, so beautiful with the chocolate ganache layer.

It’s not exactly how I had envisioned it as I really wanted the white chocolate mousse showing over the biscuit Joconde imprime but I guess my measurements weren’t right and I needed to make more of the white chocolate mousse than the milk chocolate mousse. Oh well, tasted just as gorgeous. And I would definately like a glossy smooth finish next time.

The layers are (from bottom to top): 1.  Biscuit Joconde Imprime  2. Rich dense chocolate cake  3. Milk Chocolate mousse   4.  White chocolate mousse  5. Chocolate Ganache

I will definately be making this again, possible with a strawberry twist to it. I loooove my strawberries… or maybe something totally wacky. You’ll need to wait and see, lol.

The recipe is quite lengthy but don’t let that put you off, it’s so totally worth it!

Click down for recipe xx

Daring Baker's March 2011 Challenge: Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake

 

I’d like to start off by telling you all how much I really enjoyed the challenge! A big big thank you to Jamie and Ria for hosting such an amazing challenge! And a huge thank you to all the brilliant inspiring Daring Bakers for all the hints and tips which ensured my cake turned out delicious!

The image I envisaged when I read the title is nowhere near what the cake actually is. I was in for a shock! After reading the ingredients list on the recipe TWICE, I realised there is no coffee in this coffee cake! After a moment or two of realisation, I remembered something my dad had told me once about the coffee cakes he would have in the mornings, they were cakes to be had with coffee but do not actually contain coffee. Hmm…interesting. Will definitely need to give this a try!

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.

I’m not sure what I really expected with the meringue inside the cake (which was more like brioche – which I LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!). Thinking back, at that time I probably thought it would form a sort of marshmallowy layer inside. But it didn’t take a lot of wondering as by day 2 there were completed challenges up already!

I decided to split the dough three ways and make two sweet and one savoury cake.

Left - Chocolate chip, hazelnut and orange zest. Middle – Cranberry, pecans, white chocolate chunks, cinnamon and cardamom. Right – Tomato puree, mozzarella, spinach and basil.

I finished baking them last night at 7.00pm and by 3pm today (as in less than 24 hours!!), the choc chip and the tomato - mozzarella are totally gone. As in there’s no crumbs or evidence of them anywhere. Jamie and Ria, that’s the biggest compliment we can give you! While I had the chance, I sliced up the cranberry yeasted cake and have frozen it in an airtight container If the freezing turns out well, I am onto a double winner here!

I followed a few hints and let the dough rise twice whilst in the bowl and a final time once it was filled. I also used a 2-egg white meringue instead of the three which was just perfect and I had no over-spilling or mess. Hurrah!

According to my hubby, the savoury Yeasted cake tasted like a deep pan pizza all rolled up in a bread. The bread was extremely soft and fluffy and the filling was substantial without being overpowering. (Sidenote: I didn’t put any sugar into the meringue for this one)

The baby spinach in the cake was just so delicious – I will definately be making it again. It really did taste like a pizza!

I cannot really comment on how this one tasted because I froze it as soon as I saw the others being snatched up like hot cakes (lol, get it??) but the filling is a guaranteed hit especially with the adding aroma of cinnamon and cardamom. I think my bet is safe with that one!

 

This was was just totally amazing. I kid you not, it tasted better than the chocolate chip brioche loaf that I get from our local supermarket and that tastes damn good (so how would you describe something better than “damn good”?). My 2 year old daughter was ripping it apart so she could have just the chocolate bits and my 4 year old had about three slices in one go and she is a fussy eater. Me, I sat down with a nice cup of coffee and and a slice of this delicious, soft, luscious yeasted meringue coffee cake and loved every moment of it… I also decided then, that I would definitely make this exact one for my dad very very soon!

I have linked to the original recipe which is actually quite flawless if followed through and obviously please use my suggestions on the extra rise and less meringue if you want to.

The meringue is totally absorbed into the dough and cannot be seen once it’s fully baked but I’m sure it holds a significant presence in the cake.

Follow this link for the recipe and don’t forget to check out all the fabulous Daring Bakers and their creations here

Strawberry cheesecake-inspired cupcakes!

Be totally honest with yourself and tell me, do you not feel like grabbing that spoon off that plate and devouring that piece of cupcake delight???

And then grabbing the rest of the cake too??

That's how I felt when taking the photo. Sad, I know!

So let me tell you how I done this edible eye-candy.... It all started when a lovely friend of mine gave me 2 packs of these gorgeous chic cupcake/popover/muffin cases...

They are just so pretty. (They are available currently in IKEA if you fancy some gorgeous cases)

So then I need to think of something equally gorgeous to bake, to suit the gorgeous cases. I love everything with strawberries so knew I had to incorporate that into the design.

I had a full tub of cream cheese in the fridge and some digestive biscuits. Aha! It's gotta be Strawberry cheesecake style cupcakes. Mamma-mia, it just gotta be done!!

Fold chopped strawberries into your favourite vanilla cupcake recipe (find the recipe I used at an earlier post here)

Li'l Beauties! Bake for the whole 20 mins.... Sit on your hands if you have to, do the washing, make a list of things to do. But just make sure you're back by 20 minutes!

Bring them out and let them cool. I've done an earlier post on Vanilla cream-cheese frosting so while they're cooling, go ahead and make the lip-smacking cream-cheese frosting. Trust me, it'll be worth it!

Oh yeah, and don't forget to crush some digestive biscuits (graham crackers) while you're at it! Up to you how many you want to do, anything from 3-6 biscuits should be fine.

Once the cupcakes have cooled, smother or pipe some frosting on each cupcake, sprinkle crushed digestives and top with juicy red strawberry halves.

Et C'est Voila! Bob's your uncle!

Gorgeous cupcakes to suit the gorgeous up-coming weather!!

Perfect for afternoon tea.... actually any time of the day, week, month really :-)

 

Can't wait for you all to try it and let me know what you think! I'll be right here waiting for ya!!