Yule Log

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas! As part of our celebration I thought I'd give the classic yule log a try. I've never made it before but it used to be one of my favourite things about Christmas! The origins of the Yule log date back to midwinter festivals and it is suggested that people would select a large log and would then keep it burning anywhere between twleve hours and twelve days. If the log remained alight it would bring health, fruitfulness and productivity.

The recipe I used was by Mary Berry and it was featured on the Great British Bake Off Christmas special last week. You can find the recipe here.

This was really simple to make, it's just a chocolate sponge which is made by whipping up eggs and sugar until it's really pale and frothy. Flour and good quality cocoa powder was then folded in before pouring the mixture into a lined 33 x 23cm swiss roll tin. It's then only baked for around 8-10 minutes.

The secret to rolling the log so that it doesn't crack is to immediately turn it out onto baking paper, which is generously covered in icing sugar, whilst it is still hot. Then score a line one inch in from the long edge nearest to you and then roll the whole thing tightly with the parchment paper inside. Leave to cool completely. Once cool, the log can be unrolled and covered with whipped cream, then re-roll tightly using the baking paper to help. Eventually you shouuld end up with a neat roll with the join on the bottom.

To make a branch a quarter of the roll was sliced off on the diagonal and then placed up against the log. The whole thing is then covered in chocolate ganache, this can either be applied with a palette knife and then given the bark texture by running a fork over it, or alternatively the ganache can be piped on using a star nozzle which is what I did. The yule log is then finished with a sprinkling of icing sugar and some Christmas decorations.

I am entering my yule log into this month's Calendar Cakes hosted by Rachel at Dolly Bakes, along with me here at Laura Loves Cakes.

In addition this month's Classic French challenge by Jen from Blue Kitchen Bakes is the Yule Log, so I'm also entering it into her challenge.

Strawberries & Cream Layer Cakes and Nielsen-Massey Product Review

It's that time of year again...Wimbledon starts tomorrow, so what better way to get into the swing than with individual strawberries and cream layer cakes. These are lovely little cakes that I've been looking forward to making for ages. They also gave me the ideal opportunity to use and review Nielsen-Massey vanilla samples that I have been sent. So I'll start with the review and then move onto the recipe...

I felt that to give you an honest and unbiased review I ought to do a blind taste test to compare Nielsen-Massey's premium vanilla extract with vanilla essence...is it really worth going the extra mile and using vanilla extract in your bakes? So without further ado I whipped up 28 mini vanilla cupcakes, half were made with vanilla flavouring/essence and half with Nielsen-Massey vanilla extract. I then found 14 willing volunteers who took part in the taste test, they ate one of each cake without knowing which was which.

Each tester was then asked to pick a favourite if they could taste a difference. And the results... 11 picked the Nielsen-Massey vanilla cupcake as their favourite, 2 picked the vanilla flavouring and 1 said they couldn't taste the difference.

So the results were fairly conclusive. My favourite quote from a tester was that the cake with the extract gave 'more of a vanilla experience'! Many testers also commented on the fact that the flavouring tasted and smelt more chemically and left an after taste, whereas the Nielsen-Massey product was more natural. I guess this is due to the fact that the extract is made with finest quality vanilla beans.

You can buy Nielsen-Massey vanilla products in many supermarkets and at Lakeland but one thing you will notice is the price differential between buying vanilla essence but as Mary Berry always says...'buy the best you can afford'.

So if you do bake regularly with vanilla or are making a special cake, I would recommend using vanilla extract if you are able as it doesn't just add flavour, it also complements and enhances other flavours too. If you watched the last series of Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard, he actually threatened to throw one lady out of his kitchen as she wasn't using vanilla extract!

I recently made these 'Window Cookies' using Nielsen-Massey's Madagascan Vanilla Bean Paste too. They had a lovely vanilla flavour and you could see the little seeds in the dough. The bean paste can also be used in custard, ice cream and creme brulee or in any other recipe that requires vanilla.

So there we have it! And now for the recipe...

These strawberries and cream layer cakes are perfect for summer and the start of Wimbledon. It also makes a change to have an individual cake rather than a slice of cake. They're not the neatest bake I've ever made but they certainly were tasty. The cake is a sponge recipe made with vanilla extract and interestingly the recipe also included a little ground almond. Each little cake was baked in a mini cake tin. However, if you don't have mini cake tins it is still possible to make these. You can just make a regular large sponge and then use a circular cutter to cut out sponge rounds which can be stacked.

Once the mini cakes were baked, each one was split into three. These are easy to assemble, just whip up some cream with a teaspoon of vanilla extract and thinly slice some strawberries. I started by spreading a little strawberry jam onto each of the bottom two layers and then I piped my cream on top as it gives a better finish, it's also advisable not to overwhip the cream, it should still be quite soft. Then place some of the sliced strawberries on top of the cream.

To decorate the top use a little icing sugar and make it up to a fairly stiff consistency. The icing I used here also had a tablespoon of rosewater in it. The little strawberries on top really finish it off and these can be made in advance. Use pre-coloured sugarpaste or colour your own. You need about four strawberries per cake. To make them just roll little balls of red sugarpaste into a teardrop shape and then top with a tiny blob of green icing for the stalks. To make the strawberries more realistic you can also prick holes in it with a steralized pin or a scribe. Cover the top layer of each cake with icing, leave to set for about four minutes before adding the sugarpaste strawberries. You can then put the whole thing together.

All I need now is a glass of Pimms....oh and maybe some sunshine! :-)

N.B I was sent the Nielsen-Massey vanilla products to review with no expectation but an honest opinion and I received no recompense for the review.

Ingredients

115g caster sugar
115g softened butter
2 eggs
85g self-raising flour
30g almonds
1tsp Nielsen-Massey vanilla extract

300ml double cream
1tsp Nielsen-Massey vanilla extract
200g strawberries
3 tablespoons strawberry jam
200g icing sugar
1tbsp rosewater
Red and green sugarpaste

To make the sponge, whisk together the butter and sugar, it should be pale and fluffy. Then whisk in the eggs before sifting in the self-raising flour. Finally fold in the almonds along with the vanilla extract and divide between the cake tins. The recipe suggests this amount makes 10 cakes but I would suggest dividing it between 8 tins as it seemed a little sparse between 10. One thing to note is that the instructions don't suggest greasing the tin but just in case I greased and floured each one which I think helped.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180c/160c fan/gas 4 for 15-20 minutes until springy to the touch. You can then allow to cool in the pan. To remove slide a knife around the edge of each pan. To finish follow the instructions above.

* Recipe adapted from mini cakes & other bitesize treats

Fruity Flag Traybake for the Jubilee

The nation is awash with patriotism this weekend...it's great to see all the decorations, celebrations and everyone enjoying themselves!!

Even if you're not a Royalist, it really is an excuse for a get together and a party. On Friday afternoon it was great to have Jubilee picnic at work. There was celebratory food, egg and spoon and sack races and even a visit from Wenlock the Olympic mascot...a great time was had by all.

I made this Union Jack traybake for the occasion. I think quite a few people might have baked this one for the Jubilee as it's so simple but stunningly effective...and if you haven't seen it, it's on the cover of this month's BBC GoodFood Magazine! I just couldn't resist. It's a special recipe by Mary Berry for the Jubilee.

The sponge itself has the zest of two lemons along with Greek yoghurt and ground almonds. It was deliciously moist and light and when combined with the succulent berries and buttercream, it amounted to the perfect combination!

I hope you're enjoying the Jubilee celebrations...roll on Euro 2012 and the Olympics...more excuses to fly the flag and have a party! :-)

Ingredients
100g butter
175g self-raising flour
50g ground almonds
2tsp baking powder
4 large eggs
225g caster sugar
125ml full-fat Greek yogurt
Zest of 2 lemons

Buttercream

175g butter
350g icing sugar

300g raspberries
175g blueberries

 Preheat your oven to 180c/160c fan/gas 4. Then butter and line a 30 x 20cm tin. I only had a 21 x 28cm tin and it worked just as well, so if you've got something of a similar size, it would be fine to use that.

It really is simple to make, literally tip all the sponge ingredients into a large bowl and mix using smooth. It's best to use an electric hand whisk. The sponge then needs to be baked for 25-30 minutes until it is springy and a skewer comes out clean. You should then cool your cake on a wire rack out of the tin.

To decorate, whisk up the butter and icing sugar (preferable sifted) until lovely and fluffy. This can then be spread over the cold cake. For the crowning glory (sorry bad joke) top the cake with the raspberries and blueberries. Place a double row of raspberries from top to bottom and side to side, and then a single row diagonally out to each corner. Then just fill in the gaps with blueberries. Enjoy whilst singing 'God Save the Queen' :-)

Weekly Bake Off: Simnel Cake

Happy Easter everyone!

I hope you are enjoying the Easter weekend and have received a suitable amount of chocolate today!

This simnel cake is the last of my Easter bakes...after simnel muffins, hot cross buns, Easter biscuits and egg box mini cupcakes! Along with hot cross buns, I've never made simnel cake before so this was a good challenge. The cake itself was lovely and moist and looked rather pretty! There was also a layer of marzipan baked into the cake as you can see below.

This is also my entry into the Weekly Bake-Off where a different Mary Berry recipe is set each week which budding bakers make and submit for judging. You can check out the simnel cake round up here, once it's posted! If you want to make your own simnel cake you can find the recipe at My Kitchen Table.

Weekly Bake-Off: Hokey Pokey Coffee Cake

This Hokey Pokey Coffee Cake is my entry into the Weekly Bake-Off...an homage to the great Mary Berry herself. Each week a different Mary Berry recipe challenge is set, with all participants baking the same recipe and then submitting their results.

When I saw that the recipe was Coffee Cake, I wasn't sure that this recipe would live up to my fail-safe Delia recipe. However, I must say I've been proved wrong...Mary's cake was utterly delicious, everyone thought it tasted great and the hokey pokey certainly elevated it above your average coffee cake. It also had a fabulous rise, making for a very impressive cake! So it's definitely a recipe to keep and make again.

The only thing I would say is that maybe there could be a bit more advice on how to make praline for the uninitiated. The recipe doesn't mention the fact that whilst the sugar is dissolving you should only stir it once or twice and then once you get past this stage and it starts simmering you should never stir it as this will lead to a praline catastrophe. At this stage you should really only swirl the pan occasionally. It also doesn't mention that this process can take quite a while, probably around 20 minutes.

Interstingly, the recipe also refers to the walnut praline as Hokey Pokey which is well known in New Zealand. However, a friend who is from NZ always refers to honeycomb as Hokey Pokey, so I googled it and it is indeed honeycomb...but who am I to argue when the cake tastes this good!

Ingredients

225g butter
225g caster sugar
4 large eggs
225g self-raising flour
1 level tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tbsp instant coffee in 1tbsp hot water
75g chopped walnuts

Walnut Praline

2 tbsp water
50g caster sugar
50g walnut pieces

Butter Icing

75g butter
250g icing sugar
1 1/2 tsp instant coffee in 1 1/2 tbsp hot water

Heat the oven to 160c/140c fan/gas 3 and line two 8 inch sandwich tins. This cake is easy to make, just put all of the cake ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly before dividing between the two sandwich tins and level the surface. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Leave to cool in the tins for a minute or two before turning out on to a wire rack.

The cake was the easy bit now for the praline! Place the sugar and water into a pan and put over a low heat until all the sugar has dissolved, the solution should go clear. You should then continue until the praline turns a deep amber colour (watch very carefully during the whole process as it can burn). Once ready, take it off the heat and mix in the nuts. This should then be poured out onto non-stick baking parchment.

Once the hokey pokey is cooled it can be broken up. Large bits should be kept for the decoration on top, with the remainder being broken up and added to the icing which will be sandwiched between the two cakes.

To make the icing, the butter and sifted icing sugar should be placed in a bowl, along with the coffee and then mixed to give a light and fluffy coffee buttercream. Finally, take the two cakes and place the least attractive one upside down on the serving plate. Spread the icing with the hokey pokey in on this cake and then place the other cake on top. To finish icing the top cake and cover with the remaining butter icing. The finishing touch, lovely pieces of hokey pokey decorating the top.

* Adapted from 100 Cakes and Bakes by Mary Berry

The Ultimate Bake-Off

Cue the Rocky music, cue the movie voice-over guy...this is the 'Ultimate Bake-Off'. It's a clash of the titans, Mary Berry versus Paul Hollywood.

This month Delicious magazine has challenged these two star bakers to submit their ultimate cake recipe, readers must then make both cakes and host a tasting session. We have Mary's very best chocolate and orange cake versus Paul's ultimate carrot cake.

Once taste tested the results will be reported back to Delicious magazine to help determine the winner of the 'Ultimate Bake-Off' and the nation's favourite cake!

First up is Mary's chocolate cake. This was made using the all-in-one method and the chocolately taste comes from cocoa powder. The orange mentioned in the title comes from the zest of one orange. The cooked sponges were then brushed with apricot jam before spreading over the ganache, made as specified using Bourneville! Finally, for the curls on top, melted chocolate was spread on a baking tray and cooled, before being scraped off with a sharp knife... I wouldn't recommend using your best baking sheet for this!! :-o

Next up, Paul's carrot cake cake made with sunflower oil, copious amounts of carrots and light brown muscavado sugar. It also has halved pecans in it. This was easy to make, just mix it all in! The frosting is cream cheese frosting with a little butter, cream cheese and icing sugar, as well as 2 teaspoons of orange juice. It was then piped on the top in an unusual line pattern, before sprinkling with strips of orange zest. 

Both cakes were easy to make and they look delicious but there can only be one winner!

If you'd like to join in then please leave a comment and let me know which cake you would choose and why and I'll take your opinion into account when deciding on the ultimate cake! Why not vote in my current poll too on the top right of this page.

Once the cakes have been tasted I'll post the results!

Weekly Bake-Off: Mississippi Mud Pie

Do you love baking and are you a fan of Mary Berry? Then perhaps you should check out the Weekly Bake-Off blog. I recently discovered the Weekly Bake-Off where the aim is to work through all one hundred recipes in Mary Berry's 100 Cakes and Bakes, one per week.

The recipe is set by the host every Monday and then should you take on the challenge a picture of your efforts should be tweeted by the end of the week before all resulting pictures are rounded up on the blog at the end of the week.

The recipe this week was Mississippi Mud Pie! I've never made it before so was a little apprehensive as to what it would be like but in fact it turned out quite well. I followed the recipe faithfully, it called for 39% cocoa plain chocolate which I couldn't seem to find but when I googled it... turns out this is Bourneville! However, were I to make this again I think I would go for something a lot more chocolatey as the taste test panel felt that although quite tasty, it didn't quite deliver that chocolate intensity that you might expect and that it was not quite chocolatey enough. They also described the texture as half way between a mouse (or a mousse even!) and a torte.

When cooking the sides puffed up massively above the height of the tin which was quite alarming when the middle stayed put...however, don't panic, when you take it out of the oven it cools in the tin and sinks back down to level again!

Overall, I enjoyed the bake and will definitely be joining in with the Weekly Bake-Off again. Why not give it a go as it's a great way to widen your repetoire and Mary Berry's recipe book is currently only £4 on Amazon... a bargain. Happy baking!

For the crust:

• 100g crushed digestive biscuits ( I blitzed mine in a mini food processor)
• 50g butter, melted
• 25g demerara sugar

For the filling:

• 200g plain chocolate (39% cocoa solids)
• 100g butter
• 1 tbsp instant coffee powder
• 1 tbsp boiling water
• 300ml single cream
• 175g dark muscovado sugar
• 6 large eggs, beaten

Grease a 20cm springform tin and heat the oven to 180c/Fan 160c/Gas 4. First make the base by mising together, the biscuits, the melted butter and the demerara. Press the biscuit mixture in to the base of the tin in a even layer.

For the filling, break the chocolate in to pieces and then gently heat it in a pan with the butter, coffee powder and boiling water until completed melted. Once ready remove from the heat and then beat in the cream, sugar and eggs. The prepared mixture is then poured in to the tin over the biscuit base. Bake in the oven for around 1 hour and 15 minutes or until set. Leave to cool in the tin, before removing and serving with whipped cream and a dusting of icing sugar.

* Adapted from Mary Berry's 100 Cakes and Bakes (My Kitchen)