minirhi Bakes

Weekly Bake Off: Farmhouse Orange Victoria Sandwich

2012-02-05T03:07:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I did some baking 'just because' for the first time in a while, and I have to say I am actually looking forward to a cup of tea & slice of cake. A normal cake, one that isn't covered in icing, or baked in a small paper case.

On Twitter I was pointed in the direction of @weeklybakeoff who is working their way through Mary Berry's 100 Cakes & Bakes book. Every week a recipe is selected and a number of bakers produce their version of the recipe and post photos. A judge is selected and must then choose the winner. It's lovely to see how differently the same recipe is interpreted and the little twists everyone adds to make it their own, or work-arounds because they didn't have exactly the right equipment or ingredients.

I was hoping to join in last week, but time just kind of passed me by. I had finished all of my cake on Friday and we had a nice quiet Saturday planned - a perfect opportuity for a spot of baking.

This week's challenge was the Farmhouse Orange Victoria Sandwich (page 28). I was quite unprepared, to be honest. I don't own any 7" round cake tins, so had to use my one 7" heart shaped tin twice. I didn't read the recipe properly and went on auto-pilot adding butter & caster sugar instead of muscavado, so had to start again, this time using soft light brown sugar as I didn't have any muscavado. Then when I peeled the greaseproof paper off I managed to bring with it some large chunks of cake. I also didn't have any mamalade. I tried making an orange syrup to use instead, but it didn't taste very orangey, so ended up borrowing from my mother-in-law. Luckily we had bought her some fancy mamalade when we went to Padstow from Rick Stein's shop, so I used a lovely grapefuit, orange and lemon mamalade.

All in all, it didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped, but it smells lovely and tastes good too.

Six Nations Competition

2012-02-01T13:31:00.001-08:00

It's time for our first ever competition! To be in with a chance of winning a box of 6 Six Nation themed cupcakes simply guess how many points will be scored in total by all teams this weekend (4th & 5th of February).

Leave your answer in the comments below with either an email address or twitter name so I can let you know if you win, or email your guess to rhian [at] rhiandaniel.co.uk, or tweet to @minirhi.

I'll list all guesses on this blog, and you have until 12pm on Saturday 4th February to submit your entry. The closest guess wins!

Terms & Conditions - this competition is only open to those able to collect cupcakes (I do apologise for this and hope to be able to open up future competitions.) Your entry must be received by me before 12pm on Saturday 4th February 2012 or it won't be counted. The winner will be the person who submits the guess closest to the actual number of points counted in the 3 games played on the weekend of 4th - 5th February. The winner will be contacted by Monday 6th February to arrange collection.

Good luck!!

Guesses so far....

David J - 95 points
Julie R - 98 points
Daryl M - 101 points
Sian G - 109 points
Amanda W - 110 points
Charlotte G - 112 points
Jayne S - 113 points
Matthew D - 115 points
Hannah L - 125 points
Matthew G - 133 points

Welcome Back!

2012-02-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

Hello! It's been a while. How have you been?

The big news here at Minirhi Bakes HQ is that there is now a mini-Minirhi. She's a bit small to be much help in the kitchen so far, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

She's five months old, and the time has just flown by! But I am back with a vengence with so many ideas and plans and, luckily, quite a few orders in the pipeline, plus a website in development. In the meantime I will be updating this blog. And I think I will celebrate my return with a little competition.....check back later to find out how you can win a box of 6 Nations Cupcakes.

BDT Round Up - Issue 8

2011-05-15T02:16:00.000-07:00

This week on Brew Drinking Thinkings:

RECIPES

Strawberry & Black Pepper Tarts
I love strawberries but am not a big fan of pepper, so I'd been a bit wary of trying the two together. However, I was pleasantly suprised and devised this recipe as something a bit different to just strawberries with a sprinkling of black pepper.

Retro Sweet Macarons
I still am yet to crack the macaron but BDT's resident chef has done it again with these gorgeous recipes for Walnut Whip or Rhubard & Custard macarons. Just wish I'd been there for the testing!

Cashew Carrot Bites
Our vegan witer, Aine, gives us a recipe for these no-cook, sweet bites which will definitely be going on my 'to try' list.

ARTICLES

Every week Jack gives us two ingredients that are in season, along with recipe ideas to try out. This week the ingredients are Goosberries & Elderflower. And find out who's Top of the Teas with Carol Oldman, a look at the winners of the 26th annual awards by the Tea Guild.

So far on Brew Drinking Thinkings...

2011-05-08T01:25:00.000-07:00

March saw the launch of a brand new online magazine for women - BrewDrinkingThinkings.com. And I was lucky enough to get a job as one of the food writers, covering home cooking & baking. Each week I submit a baking recipe of some description and will let you know what I post here.

There are a whole host of amazing writers producing posts in all sorts of themes, including Tea & Coffee, Craft, things to do with your children, Weddings & so much more. So I will dig out the best cake, baking & other relevant articles and post them here for you.

You can also check out my recipes page where I'll add links to all the cake & baking recipes I've submited to BDT as a handy reference guide.

This week on BDT (Issue 7)

RECIPES

Vanilla Custard Slices
I searched everywhere for a recipe for custard slices, one that didn't involve custard powder, without much luck. So I spent some time in the kitchen & came up with this recipe.

Goosnargh Cakes
A shortbread recipe, by BDT's resident Chef, Jack Bradley, that includes instructions on churning your own butter.

Pineapple, Coconut & Strawberry Bread, with whipped coconut cream & rose infused strawberries
Aine Carlin is BDT's vegan food writer. You should go & read her posts for the photos alone. This is her first appearance in BDT and if this recipe is anything to go by, we're in for a treat!

ARTICLES

Let them eat cake!
A look at the Royal Wedding Cakes by Bridal Occasions Writer, Kat Freeman.

Alternative Wedding Cakes
Kat also explores some of the other options available if you don't fancy a 3 tier fruit cake. Pork Pie anyone?

A Feast fit for a Queen
Find out what the guests were treated to at the wedding of the year.

A New Afternoon Tea Trend - Vegetable Cake
Carol Oldman, BDT's Tea & Vintage Lifestyle Writer, looks at the new trend in baking cakes with vegetables.

Tea & Coffee Culture
Kathryn Pentland looks at the culture & etiquette surrounding tea & coffee around the world.
Part 1 > Part 2 > Part 3

Making gumpaste pansies

2011-05-05T23:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of my first attempt at making pansies.

First Pansy

Second attempt

Finished pansies

I did have a set of pansy petal cutters (although in a set of 3 there was one I didn't use) and copied some photos of real pansies, plus this photo tutorial from CakeCentral.com.

I didn't have a calyx cutter, but used an 8-point flower plunger cutter & blob of paste to keep the flower on the wire. I am quite happy with the results and think that with some stronger colours they could look really good.

Wedding Cakes & Patriotic Cupcakes

2011-05-03T02:17:00.000-07:00

Friday, 29th April 2011 saw Prince William of Wales and Kate Middleton get married. It was a lovely wedding, and Kate (Catherine) looked gorgeous. However I was very intrugued to see the wedding cakes. Yes, Cakes!

A gorgeous and elegant fruit cake, made by Fiona Cairns. It consisted of 17 cakes stacked and beautifully decorated. Kate Middleton was very involved in the design of the cake, including sending a list of the 17 flowers she would like ot have included on the cake, all symbolising love, marriage and happiness. (Source: ABC News)

Photo from: http://styleclone.com/17052/the-royal-wedding-cakes-revealed/

There was also a grooms cake, made by Mcvities. Unbaked, and made of crushed Rich Tea biscuits and chocolate.

Photo from: http://styleclone.com/17052/the-royal-wedding-cakes-revealed/

I was also very interested to find out that 2 was a very conservative number of cakes for a royal wedding & I found some lovely stories about royal wedding cakes on my browsing the net.

Prince Charles and Diana had 27 cakes at their wedding. The main wedding cake was made by David Avery, the head baker at the Royal Naval cooking school & he made 2 identical cakes in case one was damaged. Luckily both cakes survived in tact and the second cake was split among the naval cookery trainees - each had 2 pieces, one for themselves and one for their mum. (Source: Wikipedia)

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip's wedding cake was 9 foot tall!!
"The nine-foot high, four-tier wedding cake, was made with ingredients given by Australian Girl Guides. The wedding cake was cut using The Duke's Mountbatten sword. After the wedding, pieces of cake were given to schoolchildren and institutions."
(Source: about.com)

I do love a wedding & want to learn more about the traditions and rituals surrounding wedding cakes.

In order to mark the event my parents hosted a Royal Wedding garden party & here are some photos of my cupcake offering for the day.

Fondant iced Union Jack cupcakes

W [heart] K fondant iced cupcakes

Cupcake Tower

Cake Pops

BRAND NEW Sweetie Cake

2011-04-27T01:52:00.000-07:00

My sister turned 25 this week and has been complaining that I haven't made her a birthday cake. She does live in London, which makes it difficult, but she was home this year. So I decided to make her a cake. The biggest cake I have made so far.

A 4 tier sponge cake, covered in buttercream and decorated with sweets!

Each layer consists of a sponge split in two and filled with either raspberry jam or lemon curd. Each on it's own board for ease of serving. From bottom to top, the cake sizes are: 9", 8", 6", 4".

Each sponge was smothered in vanilla buttercream and decorated, ready to be assembled at the party venue.

Top tier - Sugar paste hearts & Love Hearts with piped buttercream & candy covered chocolate pearls

Sugarpaste Happy Birthday banner

From Top to Bottom, the sweets I used are:

Love Hearts

Candy covered chocolates (similar to smarties)

White Chocolate Jazzies

Dolly Mixtures

Fizzy Astro Belts

Shrimps

Marshmallows

And no birthday is complete without candles - and these were some pretty spectactular ones. Although they did set off the smoke alarm!! :)

I really enjoyed making this cake. It was lovely to try something new & I had a lot of great feedback - yes, I know it was mainly family members, but they can be quite harsh at times.

If you would like a sweetie cake of your own, please get in touch. They can be any shape (round, square, heart-shaped, hexagonal) and size, and as many, or as few, tiers as you like. You could even match it up with some sweetie topped fairy cakes. I can use your favourite sweets, match to a colour scheme or theme of your choosing, and can supplement it with sugar paste decorations & banners.

Sharing Secrets & Baking Tips

2011-04-27T01:16:00.000-07:00

You may have heard me mention Brew Drinking Thinkings over the last few weeks, this is beacuse I am one of their food writers. I am one of many bloggers contributing to this fab new online magazine. My focus is home cooking and baking, but the website covers so much more. If you haven't already had a look, go and have a read.

I've already published a few cake & baking recipes on the site including:

Victoria Sponge with Passion Fruit Cream

Fondant Iced Marble Cupcakes

Fool-proof Cupcakes

And will be publishing plenty more. You'll also find weekly baking tips on the main Food & Cooking blog page.

Keep an eye out for a BDT section appearing on this blog soon to stay up to date on all recipes.

A look back at 2010

2011-01-21T13:35:00.000-08:00

A bit late to the party maybe as it's now over halfway through January, but Happy New Year everyone!

First of all a huge THANK YOU to everyone who ordered a minirhi bakes cake. We've been going for 6 months now and I had much more business than expected, have met some new people and caught up with old friends. I've also had some lovely feedback and repeat business, so I must be doing something right! Anyway, thanks - your business is very much appreciated.

I thought I'd share with you some of my favourite cakes from 2010.

July : Ella's Peppa Pig Cake
I think this was one of my first orders, and I was so pleased with the way it turned out! Smooth icing, the character looked like it was meant to, and it actually went pretty smoothly too....

August : Daryl & Leanne's Wedding Favours
This was a wonderful day, with our best mates getting married...a little stressful making the cookies, but they looked fab on the tables and helped me take my mind off the fact that I had to do a reading on the day!!

Ocotber : My first Giant Cupcake
I had a fair bit of trial and error making giant cupcakes, but I got there in the end! This was my first successful one, for my sister-in-law's birthday.

October : Chicken Cake Ball Cupcakes
I don't really et much time for experimenting, so as we were off to a friend's birthday (who had recently acquired chickens) and because my Cake Pops book was tormenting me for not trying more, I decided to make some cupcakes to take with us. Cute, or what?!

October : New Baby Cupcakes
A friend of ours had a baby back in October, and I had new sprinkles to test, so I created a series of cupcakes for Mummy, Daddy and 'Big Sister' - coz big sisters are always the best!! ;)

November : Baby Shae's Naming Ceremony
This was an order of 'firsts'! My first naming ceremony cake, my first cake pop order & my first time makeing chocolate cake pops....possibly my first time making blue buttercream too!

November : Mickey's Clubhouse
I think this was one of the most complicated cakes I have made, and I was really pleased with how it turned out. Especially Mickey!

I have to say I have enjoyed making all of my cakes! I've been tired and stressed and worried people won't like them, luckily hubby's been around to tell me I'm being silly or to move me away from the cake so I when I get back to it I can see it's not actually THAT bad! :)

I am looking forward to 2011 - and have already made 3 celebration cakes - plus I am planning an afternoon tea fundraiser sometime soon for TREAT Trust Wales. :)

Cake Pops - my new favourite cakey snack

2010-10-22T05:20:00.000-07:00

I first came across Cake Balls & Cake Pops via @cakeballsuk and @mollybakes on Twitter. This lead me to the cakey genius that is Bakerella!

A cake ball is cake that has been crumbed, mixed with buttercream (or alternative frosting) then covered in chocolate or candy. A cake pop is a cake ball on a stick! How can you not like them?

I decided to have a go back in May, with some chocolate cake & dark chocolate coating. They looked ok [pic below], but had a very strange texture. But I hadn't tried a cake pop/ball myself and didn't really know what to expect.

Then, in June, we went to London. I dragged my family to Selfriges where I knew I would be able to get hold of one of MollyBakes cake pops. Here's my lovely hubby with his. He opened it before we left the shop so had to get a quick photo.

They were lovely! But it wasn't until last weekend that I attempted them myself. Mainly it was down to a lucky coincidence that meant I had 'spare' cake and candy melts in the house at the same time! So, this is how I made my cake pops.

Crumb cake in a food processor and mix with buttercream, then form into golf-ball shapes. Put them on a sheet of greaseproof paper and leave in the fridge for a few hours until fairly solid. (Or in the freezer for about 15 minutes.)

When they're ready melt a few of the candy melts, dip the end of some lolly sticks in the melts and stick about 2/3 of the way into the balls.To ensure a firm foundation and keep your sticks steady, place a little bit of the melts around the stick to seal any gaps. Then place to side (or briefly in the fridge) to set.

When they are set, and the sticks feel pretty firm in the balls, melt some more of the melts and dip the balls in the melts until covered. Then use sprinkles to decorate as you wish!

And ta da - cake pops!

They need a bit of work to get the coating smooth - but they looked good and tasted great!

Here's how they look inside.

But, if this all seems like too much work - just give me a call and I'll make them for you! :)

Ideal as wedding favours or party bag fillers, they could be wrapped up like a bouquet or presented in a pot. They can be any flavour and colour you want - the only limit is your imagination. Go on, you know you want to.....

Giant Cupcake

2010-10-18T11:20:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to try a Giant Cupcake since I first heard about them. But didn't want to fork out on a proper tin pan until I had at least given it a go. Then I found a silicon baking mould in The Works for £6 and couldn't resist!

So I made my standard Vanilla sponge mix (175g flour/sugar & 3 eggs) and filled the base and made a 100g/2 egg mix for the top. And this is what happened:

Apparently the mix is too light for the depth of the mould and I needed to add some plain flour (about half the quantity of self-raising) to the mixture, thanks to @icemaidencakes.

So, here's my second attempt:

I did lose a little bit of the top to the mould - because I forgot to grease the pan in my excitement - and the top was a little.....overdone in places. But it was nothing a knife and some buttercream wouldn't fix.

Here is the final cupcake.

And here it is in comparison to a standard cupcake:

According to the box, the giant cupcake is 25 times the size of a normal cupcake, and I think that I probably used the equivalent amount of mixture.

The sponge was a little more dense that the one I usually make, but still tasted good and has lasted well.

I'm looking forward to having another go!

Who makes your Birthday Cake?

2010-08-02T12:27:00.000-07:00

I was tagged in a meme last week by Julie of Ice Maiden Cakes asking 'Who makes your Birthday Cake?' so here it is! Eventually! :)

It's taken me a while to remember my last birthday cake and I think my mum bought one for us to eat in work (family business) from Tesco. My birthday is in January, so to be honest we're all a bit fed up of rich food by then and on a diet, and as far as I can remember, I have not made my own birthday cake.

But when I was about 3 I was made a cake by my mum's friend, Annie Jones - and it is this cake that eventually led me to start baking. It's one of my earliest memories and I have no idea if I've built it up to be more fabulous in my head than it actually was.... although I doubt it - Annie was a pretty great cake maker! :)

It was a fairy castle cake, all turrets and sparkles - a true girlie princess cake, and when the candles were lit and the lights were turned off it looked as if the castle was all lit up from the inside. It makes me smile just thinking about it now. I would love to one day recreate this cake, as I remember it. Maybe for my own birthday as I'm not sure I'd be able to hand it over! ;)

Thanks Julie - for reminding me! :)

And I'd like to tag the following fabulous bakers to find out their stories:

Don't forget to link to your post in a comment below.

p.s. The photo above is a lemon poppy seed cake - no relevance other than it's a cake & I wanted a picture.

Peppa Pig & Welcome Home

2010-07-12T12:24:00.000-07:00

This is the Peppa Pig cake I made for a friend's daughter's 2d birthday, and I am so pleased with it I just had to post it to my blog! I also love the writing, a technique I definitely intend to use over & over again.

Made using my 'make any word' letter press kit, you just press the letters into the icing when still soft & then I painted (with a very fine brush) some lustre powder into the groove. Gorgeous!

I've also had an idea for a cake with bunting for a while & with my little sister coming home to visit, I decided to give it a go. Again I got to use my letterpress kit, and the covering was done quickly so not as perfect as I'd like, but Sian was pleased with it. Would also make an ideal mini cake for a new mum with 'It's a boy!' bunting. Made up of 3 layers of sponge separated with jam & buttercream 4" round, it gives 4 very generous slices. Next time I will add a 'string' to tie all the flags together....but if you would like one, I'd love to have another go at making it. Would love to hear from you. ;)

Summer Fete

2010-07-04T06:57:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I held my first stall at a summer fete and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Unfortunately I didn't take a single photo - numpty! But I had a great day, sold EVERYTHING and had lots of enquiries. Plus have an order for cookies as wedding favours. :)

Yay - I love making cakes!

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

2010-06-28T23:51:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I am attending my first fete. I will have my very own stall selling cakes & cookies. I am really looking forward tro it, but can't decide what I should take with me & how much. I've had an idea for lemon meringue cakes for a while & finally got around to trying some.

My first attempt ended up with glass and meringue icing all over my kitchen when the glass bowl I was using to make the frosting exploded. (Note: Do not use a glass bowl over heat to make meringue frosting!!) So, still a little bit afraid to try it again I found an alternative meringue recipe that didn't require heat.

I won't post complete recipe details here, for copyright reasons, but I'll tell you where to find them.

First make a lemon sponge. I used a standard 100g cake mix, but left out the vanilla extract and added the grated zest of 1 lemon. This made 8 cupcakes. When cooked and cooled, cut out a small circle from the top of the cake and fill with lemon curd - made using the recipe from Rachel Allen's Bake book (p.278) - and put the cut out bit of cake back. Then I made the meringue frosting recipe from Bake Me I'm Yours: Cup Cake (p.72) and spread over the top. Finally browing the top slightly with my cooks blowtorch - be careful not to set the paper cases alight! :)

Fairy Cake or Cupcake?

2010-06-14T12:26:00.000-07:00

The Cupcake tower I made on the weekend sparked a discussion about the difference between Fairy Cakes and Cupcakes. Which got me thinking. In my mind there was no difference, they just had different names, fairy cakes in the UK, cupcakes in America.

In my kitchen, fairy cakes are smaller, made in 'bun' tins, while cupcakes are larger and made in deeper muffin tins. (There is quite a difference between a muffin & a cupcake, which maybe I'll cover in another post!) For example, with my standard cake mix I get anything up to 16 fairy cakes and 9 cupcakes. So they're not quite twice the size, but not far off.

I found this article by WiseGeek that talks about the main difference between British fairy cakes and American cupcakes being that cupcakes use a denser cake mix, while fairy cakes tend to be lighter.

There's also a mini cupcake that is smaller than a fairy cake - pretty much a bite size cake.

I hope this clears it up a little. And if you want any cakes - cup, fairy or mini, please give me a shout. :)

Pink & Lilac Fairy Cakes

2010-05-25T11:31:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I made 20 pink & lilac fairy cakes for a 2nd birthday party. A light vanilla sponge topped with vanilla buttercream and various sprinkles, and of course plenty of glitter.

I was determined to take some nice photos, so here are my favourites:

And as they only wanted 20 cakes I had a few left over for experimenting & play! Where I discovered my new favourite way of piping buttercream:

Making Cookies

2010-05-16T02:00:00.000-07:00

I had a go at making cookies for the first time this week. I found this post by Vanilla Bakery and found a recipe online (apologies, can't remember where I found the recipe, so if it is yours feel free to let me know.)

Cookie Recipe

Ingredients
175g Butter
200g Caster Sugar
2 Eggs
1tsp Vanilla Extract
400g Plain Flour
1tsp Baking Powder
1tsp Salt

Method
1. Cream butter & sugar together with a mixer until pale.
2. Add eggs & vanilla extract, then beat until combined.
3. Sieve the flour, baking powder & salt together then add to butter & egg mixture.
4. Mix gently to form a dough. If it's still a bit sticky, add a bit more flour.
5. Split the dough in half, wrap in clingfilm & put in fridge for 30 mins.
6. Roll the dough to 5mm thick & use cutters to cut out shapes.
7. Bake in oven preheated to Gas Mark 4 for 8-12 minutes until firm & lightly browned.
8. Leave to cool & decorate as required.

Note: I got around 24 cookies out of 1 half of the dough & they took closer to 12 minutes than 8 to cook.

For pictures of my first cookies check out the Cookies album on my Facebook page.

Welcome to my new blog - minirhi bakes!

2010-05-08T02:21:00.000-07:00

After a lot of baking, soul searching & being told to get on with it I have finally decided to start selling my cakes. This is really early stages at the moment, so I'll be blogging about the setting up a business process over the next few weeks.

A little bit about me

I have always enjoyed cooking, especially making cakes & deserts. They're always a bit special and I love the reactions you get when you bring out a gorgeous cake or a stunning pudding. They can be a bit naughty or fabulously light. So two years ago I made a cake for a friends birthday. Looking back now it was a bit crap, but they loved it, and it went from there. Last year I found a beginners cake decorating class in Port Talbot, which me and my mum went to. It was great & we were shown how to cover a cake, how to make figures, roses and bunnies. Then we went onto advanced sugarcraft where we made acorns & oak leaves, sweet peas and poinsettias. And I loved it!

In real life I am a marketing/web designer, and spend a lot of time on Twitter. I found myself following lots of cake making people and got jealous of their pictures, their tweets, their job. So when my husband went in for an operation I took a few days off work to look after him & started looking into what I would need to do to start a cake making business in my spare time. I phoned the environmental health people at Swansea Council - who were very helpful - and I have now registered by kitchen as a food business. I know I have stuff to do to make sure it meets with all the rules & regulations (by 1st June), but it's a start. I am meeting with an accountant (who happens to be my uncle) soon for some advice on who else I need to register with & what financial records I need to keep.

I am really excited! Wish me luck!