The Pink Whisk Brilliant Baking Step-by-Step Cake Making (8 page)

TIP

The topping is designed to be crunchy – if you don’t fancy the crunch heat the drizzle gently in a small pan until the syrup clears and then pour slowly over the skewered cake.

6 Remove the cake from the oven and mix together the drizzle – lemon juice, elderflower cordial and sugar, stirring well to combine. The sugar will still be granular in the mixture.

7 Keep the cake in the tin and using a skewer prick holes right across and all round the top of the cake – aim to go three quarters of the way through the cake, not right to the base. Lots of holes are needed for the syrup to soak the cake evenly.

8 Now spoon the drizzle over the top of the cake slowly, allowing it to run down the skewered holes before adding another spoonful. Make sure you evenly cover the entire top of the cake until all the drizzle has been added. Set aside for the cake to cool completely and then remove from the tin and serve.

Ginger & Lime Drizzle Cake

A fiery, zesty version of this cake but any combination of citrus fruits work well in a drizzle cake – why not try orange, lemon and lime?

Makes one 900g (2lb) loaf cake

Prep: 20 minutes plus cooling

Bake: 50 minutes

Oven: 160°c (fan)/180°c/350°F/Gas Mark 4

Ingredients

Cake

175g (6oz) butter

175g (6oz) caster (superfine) sugar

Zest of 1 lime

2 pieces of stem ginger, finely diced

1 tsp stem ginger syrup

3 eggs, large

160g (5
³
⁄
₄
oz) self-raising (-rising) flour

2 tsp ground ginger

Juice of 1 lime

Drizzle

Juice of 1 lime

20ml stem ginger syrup

100g (3
¹
⁄
₂
oz) caster (superfine) sugar

Equipment

900g (2lb) loaf tin (pan), 18.5 × 11.5cm (7 × 4
¹
⁄
₂
in)

Electric handmixer

Juicer

Zester or small grater

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If you fancy your drizzle with extra crunch try using granulated sugar instead.

1 Follow the same method as Lemon & Elderflower Drizzle Cake, but add the zest of a lime, 2 diced stem ginger pieces and 1 tsp stem ginger syrup to the creamed butter and sugar. Add 2 teaspoons of ground ginger along with the flour.

2 Once the cake mixture is made, stir through the juice of 1 lime. Bake in the oven for 50 minutes until golden brown.

3 Mix up the drizzle using the juice of 1 lime, stem ginger syrup and caster sugar. Spoon over the skewered cake and allow to cool in the tin before serving.

Ultimate Chocolate Cake

A showstopper for a grand occasion! If you need a go-to chocolate cake recipe then this is your one. It’s equally good with a chocolate icing for a teatime treat as it is dressed up to the nines here for special occasions.

Makes one 20cm (8in) cake

Prep: 1 hour 30 minutes plus cooling

Bake: 1 hour 10 minutes

Oven: 160°c (fan)/180°c/350°F/Gas Mark 4

Ingredients

Cake

220ml (8fl oz) milk

2 tbsp malt vinegar

165g (6oz) butter, softened

330g (11
¹
⁄
₂
oz) light Muscovado sugar

3 eggs, large

200g (7oz) plain (all-purpose) flour

60g (2
¹
⁄
₄
oz) self-raising (-rising) flour

70g (2
¹
⁄
₂
oz) cocoa powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Ganache

275ml (9
¹
⁄
₂
fl oz) double (heavy) cream

1 tbsp golden (corn) syrup

350g (12oz) dark (bittersweet) chocolate, roughly chopped

Buttercream

400g (14oz) icing (confectioners) sugar, sifted

200g (7oz) butter, softened

175g (6oz) white chocolate, melted

3 tbsp double (heavy) cream

Decoration

Large milk chocolate stars

50g (1
³
⁄
₄
oz) dark chocolate chips

50g (1
³
⁄
₄
oz) white chocolate chips

Equipment

20cm (8in) cake tin (pan), at least 7.5cm (3in) deep

Cling film (plastic wrap)

Long serrated knife

Serving plate, at least 23cm (9in) wide

1 Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan)/180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Line the base and sides of the cake tin.

2 Measure the milk into a jug and add the malt vinegar. Give it a quick stir and set to one side.

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The vinegar added to the milk creates a crude form of buttermilk, which can be difficult to get hold of. This combination creates just the right acidity to work with the bicarbonate of soda. Similarly natural yoghurt would work a treat too.

3 Cream together the butter and sugar: take your time to get it super light and fluffy. Add the eggs a little drop at a time, beating well after each addition, working the air back into the mixture.

4 You’re going to have to sift the cocoa powder to get the lumps out so you might as well sift in the plain and self-raising and the bicarbonate of soda too.

5 Pour in the milk/vinegar mixture and stir together, working in the milk mixture and folding in the flour. Don’t beat too vigorously at this stage or the flour will work large air bubbles into the mixture resulting in holes in your cake.

6 Transfer the mixture into the prepared tin and level roughly with the back of a spoon. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour 10 minutes. Check it after 50 minutes and cover with foil if the top is browning too much. Once baked leave to cool a little in the tin before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.