Week Thirty Five – Mary Berry’s Wimbledon Cake

Posted on May 28, 2013 by kimsideas

Week thirty five and I had a good reason to make a cake this week. It was my niece‘s birthday recently and we were going down to stay with family for a few days. I sent a text to my niece to ask if she wanted a sponge and strawberry kind of cake or a chocolate kind of cake. To my surprise, she chose the sponge and strawberry kind of cake and Mary Berry‘s Wimbledon Cake fitted the bill.

This recipe is quite different in that the sponge mix does not use butter or the usual flour but separated eggs , both used in various stages and semolina. The sponge mix doesn’t rise much so the sponges look quite flat when they come out of the tin and as I used my mum’s fan assisted oven, they were a little browner than I would have liked them.

Any way, I got the sponges baked and cooled and then whipped some cream. I then filled the centre with cream and chopped strawberries, I didn’t add the passion fruit as none of my family are keen on that. I decorate the top with half strawberry pieces and dusted it with icing sugar.

It was rather tasty and my niece liked it so much she had 2 pieces! The only thing I would say is that I would probably use a Victoria sponge recipe to make the sponge next time. I would like to dedicate this blog to my niece Emily in celebration of her 16th birthday, with love x.

Week Thirty Four – Mary Berry’s Cupcakes

Posted on May 19, 2013 by kimsideas

Week Thirty Four and I felt we were all a little “caked out ” so I wasn’t sure what to make.

I had been invited to a fund raising lunch for 2 friends at work who are bravely walking 20 miles around Leeds Castle soon in aid of a Breast Cancer Charity ( They did the Moon Walk last year) and so I decided to make and donate some cupcakes to help them with their fundraising.

Mary Berry‘s recipe was very straight forward, put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. I put some pretty cupcake cases in the tin, divided the mix between them. The only twist to this to make it my own was that I added 2 strawberry chocolate buttons in the centre of each cake and put the tin in the oven and set the timer.

Half an hour later, the pinger sounded and I checked the cakes. They were all evenly baked and risen so out they came while I made the butter icing topping.

Instead of adding a little vanilla essence to the butter icing, I added some strawberry essence. Once the cakes were cool, I spread some of this on the top of each cake and added a slice of fresh strawberry to complete the cake.

The girls lunch fund raising seemed to be very successful and I will be thinking of them when they do their walk. Here is the link to read what they will be doing and when. There is a donate link within this if you would like to donate to this very worthwhile cause, even the smallest donation will help. I am sure they won’t mind me mentioning them- so good luck Fran & Clare ! xx

http://www.breastcancercare.org.uk/fundraising-events/walks/pink-ribbonwalk-6

I would also like to take the opportunity to dedicate this page this week to a dearly loved friend and colleague who lost her battle to this disease, gone but not forgotten.

Lorraine Day, we will never forget you.

Week Thirty Three – Mary Berry’s Cheese Scone Round

Posted on May 13, 2013 by kimsideas

After the over indulence of chocolate and big cakes of the last few weeks, I searched Mary Berry‘s baking bible in search of something savoury and found this recipe that I had yet to cover.

The recipe seemed easy enough and Mary’s instructions as always are clear and concise. I assembled all the ingredients as instructed and ended up with a scone dough that Mary suggests shaping into a round and dividing into 6 sections. This is where I added my own twist and decided to cut them out as usual scone shapes which I think looks nicer and is easier to store. I managed to cut out 9 scone shapes , sprinkled the top of them with the leftover grated cheese and popped them in the oven.

The smell as they were cooking was mouthwatering! After the pinger went off, I had a look at them and they were a beautiful golden colour and pretty even so I was pleased with them.

I am afraid to say that one didn’t get to cool off totally, before it was sampled but I maintain that this is the cook’s perk!

Week Thirty Two – Mary Berry’s Cappuccino Cake

Posted on May 6, 2013 by kimsideas

Week Thirty two and a special bake this week as it was my lovely hubby’s birthday.

After the success of the victoria sandwich cake, I thought the cappuccino cake would go down well with him and reading the recipe, Mary tells you to pretty much throw all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together, but do not over mix (??!!) So, I weighed out all the ingredients, put them all in a bowl and with a quick whizz of the electric hand mixer, job done, just needed to divide the mix between two sandwich tins and into the oven for about half an hour.

After the half hour was up and timer had gone ping, I checked the cakes but they were not quite done so another five minutes or so and out they came. They looked lovely and after a few minutes, i was able to take them out of the tins and put them on the cooling racks.

A while later I finished the cakes with quite a lot of whipped cream, and coffee. To add my own spin to it, I added a few chocolate flakes to the top, some chocolate hearts and some candles.