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Showing posts with label cake-gâteau. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cake-gâteau. Show all posts

Tuesday, 5 November 2019

Quince Crumb Cake - Gâteau Crumble aux Coings



This has been a favorite recipe for a few years now and it's about time I share it with you. It's fruity and crunchy and feels extra indulgent (although  the total quantities of flour, sugar and butter are those of a regular cake).
I used quinces from the garden and a couple of apples for this cake but you could substitute for apples or even pears.

Quince Crumb Cake ( adapted from a recipe by Martha Stewart)

Crumb topping:
50g melted butter
100g light brown sugar
100g plain flour

Cake:
150g butter
150g icing sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g self raising flour
a few tablespoons of milk

500g quinces/apples peeled and cut in small pieces (prep them last, they brown quickly)
1 or 2tsp ground cinnamon or other spices

For the crumb topping:
Once the melted butter has cooled a little, mix it with the brown sugar and flour with the tip of your fingers. Keep the crumbs in the fridge until needed.

For the cake:
Cream the butter and icing sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla, then the flour. Loosen up the batter with a splash of milk (3 or 4 tablespoons should do it).

For the fruits:
Simply toss the spices into the pieces of fruits.

Spread the cake batter in a prepared pan (I use a rectangular traybake tin). Then add the fruits and finally the crumbs. If some pieces are too big, simply crumble them between your fingers.

Bake 45-50min at 160°C fan.
Sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.


Une de mes recettes préférées depuis quelques années, il était temps que je la partage ici. Entre son goût fruité et son topping croquant, ce gâteau a tout pour plaire (et en bonus, les quantités de farine, beurre et sucre sont similaires à un gâteau tout simple). 
Ici, j'ai untilisé des coings du jardin et des pommes mais ce serait aussi délicieux rien qu'avec des pommes ou même des poires.

Gâteau Crumble aux Coings ( adapté d'une recette de Martha Stewart)

Topping:
50g beurre fondu 
100g sucre - vergeoise blonde
100g farine

Gâteau:
150g beurre
150g sucre glace
3 oeufs
1 cc extrait de vanille
150g farine avec levure incorporée
quelques cs de lait

500g coings/pommes, pelés et coupés en petits morceaux (à préparer en dernier parce que ça noircit vite!)
1-2cc cannelle en poudre ou autres épices

Pour le topping: 
Quand le beurre fondu a un peu refroidi, le mélanger au sucre et à la farine du bout des doigts. Mettre le crumble au frigo.

Pour le gâteau:
Blanchir le beurre et le sucre glace. Ajouter les oeufs et la vanille, puis la farine. Assouplir un peu la pâte avec quelques cuillérées de lait (3-4 cs).

Pour les fruits:
Mélanger les épices aux morceaux de fruits.

Etaler la pâte à gâteau dans un moule (j'utilise un moule rectangulaire). Ajouter les fruits et pour terminer le crumble. Si certains morceaux sont trop gros, les effriter entre les doigts.

Cuire 45-50min à 160°C chaleur tournante.
Soupoudrer de sucre glace juste avant de servir.


Thursday, 19 September 2019

Lego Ninjago Cake


J has been a Lego fan for years so logically he got into the Ninjago story. When I heard Ninjago cake, I thought "I've got this, yellow cake with red draped bands on top with back eyes, sorted!". That's when hes started describing his cake "the temple with Master Wu on top and bla bla bla..." to be honest I freaked at temple! Gone were my dreams of a quick and easy cake...


After a lot of avoiding thinking about it (it was way too hot!), I only had a week ahead of me and no idea how I was going to pull it off. Good news is we have plenty of Ninjago figures! I just had to figure out a way to make a temple... The ones I saw online were very intricate with painted dragons etc. Not my thing, and P (aka Daddy ) wasn't keen on having the pressure of painting dragons all around the cake an hour or two before the party! Back to the temples. I ended up picking the monastery from season 1: simple lines and a lot that could be made ahead. Bingo!


I stacked some tins to get an idea of the finished size and made templates for the decorations. I mixed tylo powder to some fondant and got to work as soon as I could so they would be dry. I used half toothpicks to hold the banners in place and also put bamboo skewers behind the main gate (not sure I needed them but I wasn't going to take any chances!).


-cake: 3 x 20cm cakes, recipe from the blog Life Love and Sugar (here)
Easy recipe and it worked out well.
-Mixed berries fruit curd: 400 fruit puree, 2 1/2 Tbsp sugar, 2Tbsp cornflour, a bit of lemon juice
mix everything in a small pan then slowly heat it up to thicken, stirring constantly. let it cool down, covered
-American buttercream: 250g butter, 500g icing sugar
-sugar syrup: 60g sugar, 120g water
- fondant: 600g to cover the cake (plus extra for the board and decorations)


I really enjoyed making this cake. Taking my time to come up with a doable design and templates really paid off and it looked amazing! (even if I say so myself! :p ) In case you're wondering what to do with the figures: they shouldn't be in contact with the cake so I simply rolled a bit of fondant to act as a barrier. Before slicing the cake, simply remove the figure with its little ball of fondant and it's all good.


The big empty space on the top was for the candles, J needed 7 this year!




Noddy Cake


I have been avoiding writing about this cake... I love the result but gosh it caused me a lot of stress and tears!
Let's start at the beginning: E wanted a Noddy cake. He had been watching Noddy Detective and wanted it all on his cake! I said I would do my bestest best and was hoping to find little toys I could put on top. Unfortunately I couldn't find anything suitable... here comes the stress! It's one thing to make a ball out of fondant, something else entirely to make a character! All considered Noddy doesn't look too bad, I made sure to take photos of his best angle! haha!
As usual I made the decorations a few days ahead, adding tylo powder to the fondant.That's when I made the stamp for the footprints. 


cakes:  double zebra cake recipe (need to find another one more reliable!) 3 x 20cm cakes
chocolate ganache: 600g best baking chocolate you can afford, 600g double cream  (it was way too much but I'm not sure half would be enough...)
sugar syrup: 60g sugar, 120g water. use cold on the cakes when assembling
fondant: 600g to cover the cake, extra for the board and decorations


The big fiasco was the baking of the cake. I can't seem to get the zebra cake to bake properly in smaller sized tins. It looks and feels baked but actually the centre isn't... here come the tears! Thankfully my very grown up 6 year old told me I was going to find a solution and it would look great! I gave him a big cuddle, dried up my crocodile tears and got thinking. You see the sweets/open top with the scissors etc? I used a round cookie cutter to remove the slightly underbaked centre and it all went smoothly after that!


I left the cake in the fridge overnight uncovered and took it out a couple of hours before the party to add the decorations and fill with sweets! E was very excited and J was very proud he helped avoid a fiasco! :o)


More photos? Of course!






Monday, 31 December 2018

Super 4 Playmobil Cake


Zebra cake recipe (add lemon zest)
filling : blueberry curd and lemon curd
american buttercream under the fondant

cake iced the night before and left in the fridge overnight.
it is shiny on the pictures because I'd just taken it out of the fridge (don't touch the fondant at that stage, it will go back to normal when the temperature settles) 





Wednesday, 11 April 2018

McQueen Cake


E just turned three! He's a biiiig Cars fan so I knew I had a challenge...
This cake was a real team effort: J (big brother, 5) helped with the design, giving ideas of details to include and P (aka Daddy) painted the all important eyes. 
After all the Easter chocolate, I wanted something different: orange cake and rhubarb compote (the last of last year's harvest...). I know it's an unusual choice, especially for kids but the boys love rhubarb!

It was done over three days and I didn't have much sleep but when I saw my little ones' faces, it was all worth it!



Day -2, evening: make details with fondant mixed with Tylo powder so they would be dry and hard on the day. (to get an idea of the scale, I piled up the cake tins I wanted to use)
side note: I've definitely reached my max modelling ability on this one!
                           defrost rhubarb compote
                           prepare cake board

Day -1, morning: bake cakes (I used the zebra cake recipe with orange zests), reheat rhubarb compote and thicken it a little, prepare American buttercream and syrup 


Day -1, evening: level cakes, brush syrup on top then layer with rhubarb compote (and a buttercream dam) and crumb coat. Leave the cake in the fridge for a while.
                           cover the cake in fondant and make the eye panel and the headlights (I actually had to do the panel twice to look right)
                           place in the fridge overnight uncovered


D day: get the cake out of the fridge at least an hour before final decorating (the fondant sweats while it gets to room temperature and it's important not to touch it!) 
           colour the buttercream
           ask Wonderful Husband to paint the eyes and headlights (colouring paste and vodka to dilute)
           put it all together and keep fingers crossed!


Verdict? Yum! The cake was moist and well balanced and everybody loved it. Winner!

A few detail shots? Of course! (look at those eyes!!!! very proud wife :p )





Monday, 18 December 2017

Gingerbread Duo - Duo de Gâteaux Pain d'Epices


When you can't decide, you bake both! I did a gingerbread cake experiment last year and we decided that two recipes were good enough to keep so here we are... I don't mind baking double as I usually cut them in half to make a great gingerbread tray to take to work, J's school or E's nursery. Plus the disposable trays I use are just a bit smaller than a traditional tin so I can make an extra 6 cupcakes with each recipe: everybody's happy! 
As far as icing is concerned, you can do what you like, but we tasted them both with and without icing and that's how we prefered them! 
And yes, I ate both bits after taking the pictures. Totally worth it!

Des fois, on n'arrive pas à se décider et donc on en prépare deux! J'avais fait des tests l'année dernière et ces deux recettes étaient tellement bonnes qu'on a décidé de les conserver. Ca ne me dérange pas, en général je les coupe en deux et les offre à l'école, la crèche, au boulot, et en plus comme les grandes barquettes jetables sont plus petites que mon plat normal, je peux aussi faire quelques cupcakes. Donc, tout le monde est content! 
Pour le glaçage, vous faites comme vous voulez, mais on les a goutés avec et sans glaçage et c'est comme ça qu'on les a préférés! 
Et oui, j'ai mangé les deux morceaux après avoir pris les photos. Et toc!


Iced Gingerbread Recipe                                                  Sticky Gingerbread Recipe
cake-like, pleases everybody                                            for the gingerbread lovers!
                                                          
Recette du Gâteau Pain d'Epices avec glaçage                Recette du Gâteau Pain d'Epices Gourmand
texture de gâteau plus léger, tout le monde l'aime            pour les amateurs de pain d'épices!                     
                                                      

Sticky Gingerbread Recipe - Recette Gâteau Pain d'Epices Gourmand


Before I give you the recipe, we need to talk butter... You see, when I copied the recipe last year, I made a mistake in the quantity. Even worse I've made it many times with the "wrong" quantity and it's just amazing. I only realised there was a mistake two weeks ago when I was looking for the link to put in this post... It was a bit of a shock (I had added 100g of butter to the recipe!!!), so obviously I tried out the original recipe straight away. Well, sorry hips but the extra 100g of butter are staying in MY version because it's the difference between a really nice cake and a "oh my gosh, I need the recipe" kind of cake. 
So we won't cry about a few extra calories and just enjoy it, ok?

Sticky Gingerbread (adapted from Nigella Lawson)

Melt:
250g butter
200g golden syrup
200g black treacle
125g dark brown sugar
1 bulb ginger in syrup (in a jar)  chopped very finely - I purée it in a small processor    (see Notes)
1tsp ground ginger
1tsp ground cinnamon
1/4tsp ground cloves

Off the heat, add:
250mL full fat milk
1tsp bicarbonate of soda dissolved in 2Tbsp of warm water
2 eggs, beaten

Stir well.

Pour the wet ingredients into:
300g plain flour

The batter is very runny, don't worry, it's fine.
Pour into a lined rectangular tin and bake at 160°C Fan. Check the centre with a metal skewer or similar until just done. If I'm using a disposable tray, I start to check after 25min, with the the regular tin after 35min.
Let the cake cool completely. Dust icing sugar just before serving. The cake is so moist that if you do it beforehand, the cake will absorb the sugar and it will not look good. (see Notes)

Notes:
- I bake it the day before.
- The original recipe calls for 2tsp fresh ginger but I never have any so I use the ginger in syrup that I buy for Christmas baking anyway.
- The disposable trays I use are a bit smaller than my regular tin so I can also make 6 cupcakes. If you want to try the recipe as cupcakes, be careful: pour the batter first in a piping bag so you don't end up with batter everywhere!
- You can also get some Snow Sugar which is the one pros use that is less prone to melting. Apparently you can make a home version with icing sugar and starch but I haven't tried it (yet!).

You might like this: Gingerbread Duo
Vous aimerez peut être ceci: Duo de Gâteaux Pain d'Epices

Avant de partager la recette, il faut qu'on parle de beurre... Voilà, quand j'ai recopié la recette l'année dernière, je me suis trompée dans la quantité de beurre. Encore pire, je l'ai fait plein de fois avec la "mauvaise" quantité et c'est tout simplement extra. Je me suis rendue compte qu'il y avait une erreur la semaine dernière en recherchant le lien pour cet article... Et là, le choc: j'avais ajouté 100g de beurre! (oui oui, 100g!), bien évidemment j'ai essayé la vraie recette dans la foulée. Et bien je suis désolée pour mes hanches mais les 100g en plus vont rester parce que c'est la différence entre un très bon gâteau et un gâteau "oh mon dieu,Il me faut absolument la recette!".
Donc on va pas pleurer pour quelques calories en plus et on va juste savourer, ok?

Je ne sais pas si vous pouvez trouver tous les ingrédients hors GB, ni quel serait le résultat avec des substitutions. Donc si ça vous dit de tenter la recette, svp dites moi ce que vous avez utilisé pour que je le note ici. Merci!

Gâteau Pain d'Epices Gourmand (adapté de Nigella Lawson)

Faire fondre:
250g beurre
200g golden syrup
200g black treacle
125g sucre vergeoise brune
1 bulbe de gingembre au sirop (en pot)  haché très finement - j'utilise un mini-hachoir    (voir Notes)
1cc gingembre en poudre
1cc cannelle en poudre
1/4cc clous de girofle en poudre

Hors du feu, ajouter:
250mL lait entier
1cc bicarbonate de soude dissout dans2CS d'eau chaude
2 oeufs, battus

Bien mélanger.

Verser la préparation liquide sur:
300g farine

La pâte est très liquide, c'est normal.
Verser dans un plat chemisé de papier cuisson et cuire à 160°C chaleur tournant. Vérifier la cuisson en plantant au centre une brochette en métal ou quelque chose de similaire. Si j'utilise une barquette jetable, je commence à vérifier vers 25min et pour une taille de plat normal vers 35min.
Laisser le gâteau refroidir complètement. Soupoudrer de sucre glace juste avant de servir ou l'humidité du gâteau absorbera le sucre glace et le rendu ne sera pas terrible.

Notes:
Je le prépare la veille.
- Dans la recette d'origine, il faut 2cc de gingembre frais haché mais je n'en ai jamais donc j'utilise le gingembre au sirop que j'achète de toute façon pour les desserts de fêtes.
- Les barquettes jetables que j'utilise sont un peu plus petites que mon plat normal donc je peux aussi faire 6 cupcakes. Si vous voulez essayer en cupcakes, attention de verser la pâte dans une poche à douille pour ne pas vous retrouver avec de la pâte à gâteau liquide partout!
- On trouve aussi du Sucre Neige qu'utilise les pros et qui ne fond pas. Apparemment on peut faire une version maison avec du sucre glace et de la fécule mais je n'ai pas (encore!) essayé.



Iced Gingerbread Cake Recipe - Recette Gâteau Pain d'Epices avec Glaçage


Iced Gingerbread Cake (adapted from Mary Berry's Baking Bible)

Cake:
225g soft butter
175g light brown sugar
150g black treacle
50g golden syrup
300g self raising flour
2tsp baking powder
1tsp mixed spices
1tsp ginger
1tsp allspice
3 small bulbs of ginger in syrup (comes in a jar) you can cut them in tiny pieces but I prefer to chop them in a small food processor so there are no bits
4 eggs
4-5Tbsp milk

Icing:
150g icing sugar
1tbsp ginger syrup (from the jar)
water

The cake is best baked and iced the day before. As you can see the icing is very thin, it complements the cake perfectly instead of being overpowering and masking the taste of it.

This is Mary Berry's all in one method (put it all in the bowl and it will be ok), but I like to start with just butter and sugar before adding the rest of the ingredients. If the butter is too cold it will not mix in properly and alter the final result.

Pour the batter in a lined rectangular tray and bake at 160°C Fan. The disposable trays I use to take to work/school/nursery are slightly smaller and I can also bake 6 cupcakes. Check the centre of the cake with a metal skewer or similar (you want to make a hole as small as possible or it will spoil the look of the icing). With the disposable tray I start to check around 25min and for a regular tin around 35min. If you look through the oven door you can see the color changing as the cake cooks.

Let the cake cool in the tin and then get the icing ready. Add water in small amounts so you don't end up with a runny icing. It should be opaque but pourable. It's not an exact science and it's very forgiving, just don't put it on the cake if it doesn't look right! Add more water if it's too thick or sift more icing sugar and give it a good stir if it's too runny.

SUPER IMPORTANT: YOU CANNOT MOVE THE CAKE ONCE YOU'VE POURED THE ICING so make sure it can stay where it is for several hours to set. I've forgotten that step several times and although I tried to move it very carefully I always ended up with cracked lines on the icing...not a good look! To avoid another catastrophic result, don't try to cover it...

Pour the icing over the cake. Use the back of a spoon or a pastry brush to make sure the whole cake is evenly covered (be careful not to touch the top of the cake of you might put brown crumbs in the beautiful white icing...). While the icing is wet, you can decorate with a few sprinkles.
As I'm typing this I'm thinking that maybe we could do a marble/feathering effect with some colored icing and a toothpick... Hmmm...

You might like this: Gingerbread Duo
Vous aimerez peut être ceci: Duo de Gâteaux Pain d'Epices

Je ne sais pas si vous pouvez trouver tous les ingrédients hors GB, ni quel serait le résultat avec des substitutions. Donc si ça vous dit de tenter la recette, svp dites moi ce que vous avez utilisé pour que je le note ici. Merci!

Gâteau Pain d'épices avec Glaçage (adapté de Mary Berry, Baking Bible)

gâteau:
225g beurre mou
175g sucre vergeoise blonde
150g black treacle
50g golden syrup      (ou 200g de mélasse???)
300g farine à gâteau avec levure intégrée
2cc levure chimique
1cc quatre épices
1cc gingembre
1cc piment de Jamaique (allspice en anglais, Google me dit que c'est possible de remplacer par un mélange cannelle, clous de girofle, muscade) 
3 bulbes de gingembre au sirop (en pot) on peut les hacher finement à la main mais je préfère les passer au mini hachoir pour pas avoir de bouts
4 oeufs
4-5cs lait

Glaçage:
150g sucre glace
1cs sirop de gingembre (du pot)
eau

Le gâteau se prépare et se glaçe la veille. Comme vous pouvez le voir, le glaçage est très fin et complémente le gâteau parfaitement. Promis, c'est pas une grosse couche beurk de sucre! :p

Pour le gâteau, crémer le beurre et le sucre. Ajouter les autre ingrédients et mélanger pour avoir un appareil homogène. 

Verser dans un plat reclangulaire chemisé de papier cuisson et cuire à 160°C chaleur tournante. Vérifier la cuisson avec une pique à brochette en métal ou quelque chose de similaire (il faut faire une incision la plus petite possible pour éviter des marques dans le glaçage). Les barquettes jetables que j'utilise pour amener au boulot/école/chèche sont un peu plus petites et je peux aussi faire 6 cupcakes. Je commence à vérifier vers 25min pour les barquettes jetables, et pour le plat normal vers 35min. C'est facile de voir le changement de couleur à travers la vitre du four.

Laisser le gâteau refroidir dans le moule et ensuite préparer le glaçage. Ajouter l'eau en petite quantité pour ne pas se retrouver avec avec un glaçage trop liquide. Il doit être opaque et juste assez liquide pour être versé sur le gâteau. Ce n'est pas une science exacte et c'est facile de rattraper le coup, tant qu'on le verse pas sur le gâteau si c'est pas bon! Ajouter de l'eau si c'est trop épais et tamiser du sucre glace et mélanger énergiquement si c'est trop liquide.

SUPER IMPORTANT: ON NE PEUT PAS BOUGER LE GATEAU QUAND IL VIENT D'ETRE GLACE donc il faut faire la prochaine étape à un endroit où le gâteau peut rester tranquille pendant plusieurs heures. J'ai déjà oublié et essayé de le bouger délicatement mais à chaque fois je me suis retrouvée avec des craquelures dans le glaçage... pas vraiment l'effet recherché! Pour éviter une autre catastrophe, on ne couvre pas le gâteau...

Verser le glaçage sur le gâteau. Bien recouvrir toute la surface à l'aide d'une cuillère ou d'un pinceau à patisserie (il faut faire attention de ne pas trop toucher le gâteau pour éviter les miettes marron dans le beau glaçage blanc...). Décorer le gâteau avant que le glaçage ne fige.
Je me demande si ça pourrait marcher avec un effet marbré comme sur un mille-feuilles... à voir...



Monday, 28 August 2017

Zebracorn Cake- Gâteau Zébracorne


Unicorn cakes/cupcakes/you name it... They've been everywhere for months! 
J and I have watched a lot of youtube videos and we decided to make a zebra version. 

I made a zebra cake (link to the recipe here) in a large tin and used templates to cut out disks. I scaled up the recipe to 6eggs (1.5 x each ingredient).

   

The horn is made out of grey fondant mixed with some tylo powder and then painted with edible glitter. The ears are hearts pinched at the bottom. The eyes were shaped around the same heart cookie cutter.


The cake is filled with chocolate ganache made with 200g cream and 200g good baking chocolate.
The cake stand is only a prop, see here for details.