Chocolate & Guinness Cake

Ok, I know I should be posting a strawberry something or rather as we're all a flutter with the Wimbledon bug (don't worry that is still to come)... but I just couldn't resist posting this dark Chocolate and Guinness Cake delicious-ness from Nigella Lawson.

In the words of the Domestic Goddess herself, "This cake is magnificent in its damp blackness".

It really is easy as pie, and coming from me, the one side of the PT team who is still a novice in the baking stakes, that's saying something. This cake is a real gem to have up your sleeve and all who taste - will love!

Nigella Lawson's Chocolate and Guinness Cake (Feast 2004)

Makes: around 12 slices - depending on how big you like your slices ;)

Preparation Time: 10-15 mins

Cooking Time: 45 mins to an hour

For the Cake

• 250ml can of Guinness 
• 250g unsalted butter 
• 75g cocoa 
• 400g caster sugar
• 1 x 142 pot sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp real vanilla extract
• 275g plain flour 
• 2 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the Topping

• 300g Philadelphia cream cheese 
• 150g icing sugar 
• 125ml double or whipping cream 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F/gas mark 4 and line a 23cm spring foam tin.
2. Pour the guinness into a saucepan, add the butter and heat, until melted, when you should whisk in the cocoa and sugar. 
3. Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla, then add to the pan, whisk in the flour and bicarbonate of soda.
4. Pour the cake batter into the tin and bake for 45 mins to an hour. Leave to cool completely in the tin on a cooling rack. 
5. Whip the cream cheese, until smooth, sieve over the icing sugar, then beat together. Add the cream and beat again. Ice the top of the cake so it resembles the frothy top of the famous pint. 

And enjoy! 

Jubilee Garden Party Part 4

“I am thankful for the mess to clean after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends.” - Nancie J. Carmody 

Though the Diamond Jubilee is now a distant memory (and this post is slightly late!) – blame it on the long weekend and a week of holiday – fear not, we have not forgotten! This is our final Jubilee post where we show you how we transformed our ideas on paper to over-all pretty (well, we think so at least!). 

Thanks to the wonderful English summer, our Jubilee Garden Party was a lot less ‘garden’ than we had planned. Luckily we didn’t let that dampen our spirits – we opted for plan B and moved the party indoors. 

I always forget how much work goes into hosting a party – food preparation (is there going to be enough?), decorating (will anyone even notice the miniature food flags?), more food prep (how hungry will everyone be?), drinks (is there such a thing as too much wine?), ding-dong (the guests are early!). 

But as the quote above so nicely puts it, all of the planning and preparation is worth it if you’ve celebrated with friends. And celebrate we did… 

Before we share a few of our favourite pics from the day, a huge ‘we-appreciate-you-so-much’ shout-out must go to our wonderful (long-suffering) husbands. Thank you for cutting, slicing, pouring, hanging, dicing and hosting with us. We couldn’t have done it without you both (we know you secretly enjoyed it all!).

The food...

The drinks...

The decor...

The photobooth signs made by the very talented Roxy Sayer...

Did you have as much fun as we did? 

Good treats come to those who wait...

Tonight I bring you another recipe from my lovely mum. 

This is a true labour of love - it took me a good few hours to make these babies on Saturday. The actual recipe is a breeze and you can mix up the dough and make the icing in half an hour - it's the rolling of the dough into 170 (yes, 170!) little balls that is time consuming.

But believe me when I tell you that these melt-in-the-mouth biscuits are worth the effort. If you've got a bit of time on your hands (and have a few episodes of Smash to catch up on), then do yourself a favour and get rolling!

I think these are a great idea for gifts and they would make sweet party favours (if you can possibly allow yourself to share, of course!).

Custard Biscuits

Biscuits:

340g (375ml) butter

100g (200ml) icing sugar, sifted

5ml vanilla essence

325g (625 ml) cake flour

175g (350ml) custard powder

20ml baking powder

Pinch salt

Butter icing:

250g icing sugar

125g butter

5ml vanilla essence

Biscuits method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180C. Cream the butter and icing sugar together.
2. Add the vanilla essence and mix well. Sieve dry ingredients together.
3. Mix in with the butter and sugar mixture and knead to a smooth dough. Shape dough into even size round balls (slightly bigger than a big pea). 
4. Place on a greased baking sheet and press down slightly with a fork. Leave enough space between dough balls for biscuits to spread and rise.
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until straw-coloured and crisp. 
6. Remove from oven and leave to cool on baking sheet.

Butter icing method: 

1. Beat the icing sugar, butter and vanilla until light and fluffy. The longer you beat, the lighter and fluffier the icing will become.

Sandwich biscuits with butter icing and enjoy. 

Scrumptious Sunday

The delicious smell of baking always reminds me of lazy Sunday afternoons at home. My mum is an incredible baker - puddings, cakes, biscuits, tarts - you name it, she can bake it! For as long as I can remember, she has spoilt the family with yummy treats and I loved nothing more than helping her in the kitchen.

When I was 10 years old I entered a baking competition. I made an orange cake with orange icing (original, I know); but more surprisingly, I won! The prize was a bag full of baking goodies and R100 in cash (about £10 in those days) - how cool was I? I was ridiculously pleased with myself and so the baking bug had bitten...

Fast forward a few years and I still get great enjoyment out of baking. Luckily my husband has a sweet tooth and is only too happy to taste-test my efforts!

On Sunday I decided to try the Hummingbird Carrot Cake (with the addition of pineapple) and I think it's possibly one of the tastiest cakes I've eaten!

Cake kisses,

Nicky x

Carrot cake ingredients:

300g soft light brown sugar

3 eggs

300ml sunflower oil

300g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1tsp ground cinnamon (plus extra to decorate)

½ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp salt

½ tsp vanilla extract

200g carrots (grated)

100g pineapple chunks (crushed) - the recipe doesn't include this but i

100g chopped walnuts (plus extra whole to decorate)

Cream cheese icing ingredients:

400g icing sugar, sifted

80g unsalted butter (at room temp)

200g cream cheese, cold

Cake method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170ºC (325ºF).
2. Mix the sugar, eggs and oil together with a hand mixer.
3. Gradually add the sifted dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt and vanilla extract.
4. Stir in the walnuts, pineapple chunks and grated carrots by hand until they are properly mixed.
5. Pour the mixture into three greased and lined tins and smooth with a spoon (make sure you line the tins as the cake tends to stick). Bake in the pre-heated oven (170ºC) for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and the sponge bounces back when touched. Leave to cool slightly in the tins before turning onto a wire rack. 

* I only have two tins so washed and re-used one of the tins once the first batch was done.

Cream Cheese icing method:

1. Beat the icing sugar and butter with a hand mixer. Add the cream cheese (in one go) and beat until completely incorporated.
2. Continue beating on medium-high speed for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Take care not to over beat as it can become runny quite quickly.

Assembling the cake:

When the cakes are cool, place one on a cake stand and spread about a quarter of the icing over it. Repeat with the other two layers. Spread the remaining icing over the sides. Decorate with chopped walnuts and a light sprinkling of cinnamon.