Baby's First Birthday Cake

As I posted about Elizabeth's first birthday cake, I thought I should do the same for our littlest's too. So here it is, and this is what happens when you have more than one child and thus less time to do fancy things with icing. This is just a classic Victoria Sandwich, with lemon curd and buttercream, plus a load of white chocolate biscuit fingers and a bucketload of sprinkles. Total sugar overload, and we ended up chucking some of the biscuits, which are my new favourite baking friends as they make any sponge look a bit more fancy, by covering up all the cake which isn't iced!
Baby (who is turning into a bit of a cake fiend) enjoyed it anyway. Maybe she'll get some fondant icing next year...

104. Chocolate and Vanilla Pinwheel Biscuits

I baked these way back in October (what a surprise, I'm behind on my blog again), and I recall rushing them, hence their rather 'crude' appearance. I seem to remember enlisting my daughter's help, as it says in the book that 'young children can easily make these'. However, I also recall it all getting a bit sticky and messy and me telling Elizabeth that it would probably be best if I just did them myself. It was all a bit fiddly, with the making and chilling of two different mixtures, and then I got myself in a bit of a muddle rolling the two doughs together; accidentally placing the chocolate one on top.
I didn't cut them very well, so they came out as ovals rather than circles, and like Mary's version in negative. They didn't look very appetising, and didn't taste anything special either. Quite bland in actual fact!
Baker's verdict: not as easy to make as Mary suggests, due to the moistness of the mixture. I'd probably give them another shot when I wasn't so rushed though. Could do with having a bit more flavour.
Husband rating: not even going to bother asking for one as he won't remember, and then I'll just feel even more fed-up that I don't have time to bake or blog.

103. Drop Scones

I fancied making these for breakfast; they looked easy enough, and I woke up having a real craving for them! I thought I'd probably be able to tempt Elizabeth with them as well, but the husband isn't really a fan of sweet things for breakfast, so he only nibbled the corner of one just to sample the texture!
They were pretty straightforward to make: a basic batter, with the requirement to get it to the consistency of thick cream (not especially precise when you're not an expert on the thickness of cream). Having got it to the thickness I imagined it needed to be, I poured some into the hot pan, but it seemed a bit on the stodgy side, so I loosened the mixture with a little bit more milk. My 'shaping' in the pan was very rough and ready: next time, I might use a cookie cutter to either get nice round ones, or character shapes to appeal to the kids. I had to trust Mary that they'd be cooked through ok by watching for the bubbles and then only leaving them for a minute on the other side, but I was worried about them still being wet in the middle. I also fiddled about with the temperature of the pan, and several were a bit on the dark side with it being too hot, so there's definitely room for improvement.
They actually turned out very well. They were quite small, but two (for Elizabeth) and four (for me) were ample for a decent breakfast, served with golden syrup as suggested. I had one cold later, slathered with chocolate spread as well.
Baker's verdict: easy and not too stressful to make for breakfast. A nice alternative to the shop-bought ones, and you can easily adjust the sugar quantity for younger children. Tasty and a great texture.
Husband rating: didn't have enough to be able to comment, but did say they seemed a good texture.

102. Sugared Pretzels

So, again, we were feeling a bit 'caked out' the weekend I made these. I trawled through the book to find something of a biscuit nature, so that I could offer some guests something home-baked (as my good friend Cathy always has something for me). These looked straightforward and a bit quirky, and I had the idea of melting some chocolate for dipping them into. Little did I know that they would be more trouble than anticipated!
Firstly, the dough was incredibly wet. I couldn't even handle it, so as soon as I put it on the worktop, I rolled it around in more flour. Secondly, once I started to try and roll each piece into the required long, pencil shape, I found that the dough just kept flattening and was impossible to keep rolling. I attempted to shape it into a pretzel, but found it wasn't long enough, and as I was pressed for time, I abandoned ship and made sugared 'straws' instead!
Misshapen nature aside, they were rather bland, and definitely needed something to dip them into. They'd be ok as biscuits with a brew, probably, but I'm not in any great rush to make them again. Having consulted my fellow blogger's attempt, I will steal her ideas not to flour the worktop to roll the dough, and also practise with play-doh to get the length right for shaping into a pretzel. I will revisit when I can be bothered and have more fiddling time!
Baker's verdict: fiddly and not tasty enough to warrant making again in a hurry!
Husband rating: 3/10 - not a pretzel!

101. Cherry Loaf Cake

I decided to make this as a bit of a Fathers' Day treat for my dad, who, as I've mentioned before, loves cherries in cakes. It also contains ground almonds, for that bakewell flavour he likes. Aside from the initial fiddling about rinsing and drying the cherries, it was a very straightforward bake. I decided to use the tried and tested method of putting some flour in with the cherries to help them to stop sinking to the bottom of the cake, and this worked well. I tested the cake ahead of time with a skewer to make sure I didn't over-bake it, but it did turn out a bit dry. This may have been because of it being a hot day and it being left out on the side for longer than it needed perhaps, but it wasn't excessively dry.
Baker's verdict: easy to make; quite like madeira cake with cherries added. Could do with more of an almond flavour, so I might put some almond extract/essence in next time.
Husband rating: 8/10 - good flavoured sponge; the cherries made a nice addition and were very evenly spread. Nice texture when you bite into them.

100. Pineapple and Cherry Loaf

***MILESTONE BAKE!***

I can't believe I've finally got to my one hundredth bake! When I started this project, I imagined it all being done by now, but two babies came along and my spare time dwindled. However, when I talk about my baking to others, they are invariably shocked and impressed that I've produced so many different bakes, and I suppose it is a pretty big deal when you think about it. That said, I'm still under half way, so plenty more to do, and some complicated things to attempt in the process.

This was another of my 'child friendly' choices, although I prepared the fruit by myself beforehand. I made sure I took extra care with the drying of both the pineapple and the cherries, and got though lots of kitchen roll in a bid to ensure the cherries didn't all sink to the bottom. Unfortunately, I didn't have the right quantity of sultanas in the cupboard, so I topped up with raisins (I'd considered using more cherries, but thought this would be too much of a deviation in flavour from what was intended). Next time though, I'd use just sultanas, as the raisins at the edge of the loaf caught a bit and became tough, spoiling the flavour in places.

Apart from fiddling about with the fruit to start with, the recipe was very straightforward, and easy to bake as well. I reduced the baking time a bit and kept an eye on the colour/checked with a skewer, so it was cooked perfectly, I think. I seem to have got the measure of the oven now, and also have more confidence to trust when things are 'done', to stop them going over. It smelt delicious and looked great - a lovely golden colour and packed full of fruit. 

We couldn't wait to try some, so had a botched attempt at slicing a warm cake, but it was worth it to experience the tastiness. The recipe suggested keeping it in the fridge once cooled: because of the fruit content and its moistness, there's a risk of it going mouldy. Storing it that way also meant that it was really easy to slice; it didn't dry it out at all either, so it kept well for about four days.

Baker's verdict: easy to make and worth the effort with the fruit. Absolutely delicious and one of the best fruit cakes I've made so far.

Husband rating: 8.5 - probably one of the best fruit cakes I've had. The middle parts were the tastiest.

Chocolate Mint Cake

Not one from Mary's book, but worth a mention...I baked this after being given a big old handful of mint from a friend's garden and not being sure what to do with so much. I found this recipe online and it looked simple enough (although decadent and fattening), so I gave it a whirl.
The only faff was washing and chopping the mint leaves, and I was worried that there'd be the texture of bits of leaf in the cake. Happily, although you could see the flecks, there was no leafy residue while eating.
I'd make this again; the mint was there but very subtle, so could probably benefit from either having some extra leaves in or the addition of some peppermint oil. It was also best served with some fresh raspberries. It was a very dense cake, so definitely needed something 'fresh' on the side. Cream would probably be nice, but there was so much in the icing that one needs to consider calories and cholesterol!

Recipe:
http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/534644/mint-chocolate-cake