Lollipops and cakes = cake pops!

Hey guys!

Pre warning, give yourselves plenty of time to do this, don't start them at 11pm like me, I was up until about 3am!

For 20 medium cake pops you will need:

20 popsticks

A block with holes in

Cellophane bags and ribbon (optional)

Vanilla cake

120g unsalted butter

150g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

180g sifted self-raising flour

4 tbsp milk

Vanilla cream cheese frosting

80g unsalted butter

40g cream cheese

200g sifted icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180°C/gas mark 4 and lightly grease a 20cm circle or square cake tin. Cream butter and sugar until smooth, add eggs and vanilla. Slowly mix the flour and milk into the mixture before pouring into the cake tin and baking for roughly 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

When cool, crumble the cake finely into a large bowl.

Cream the butter and cream cheese, gradually combine the icing sugar and vanilla. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before using.

And the icing to the crumbs bit by bit until you have a fudge like texture, you probably won't need all of the icing.

Wrap in cling film and put in the fridge for an hour. Split into 20 equal (ish) balls (or exact equal weights if you're a bit of a perfectionist like me.)

Melt a little bit of chocolate, dip the pop stick 2cm into the chocolate and then put it roughly half way into the cake ball. Put in the fridge for another 20 minutes.

Melt 450g of chocolate in 30 second intervals in the microwave, stirring each time. Use whatever method you like to cover the cake ball in chocolate. Make sure the chocolate goes right down to the popstick.

Cover them with whatever sprinkles you like and put in the fridge for 10 minutes to set. It's handy to have a polystyrene block or a make shift block with holes in to place the pop cakes in to. Avoids having flattened/ruined sides.

Leave them bare or wrap them individually, it's up to you!

Enjoy!

 

Megan xo

 

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Pictures #3

Hey guys! 
So technically this picture post is 2 weeks worth, the time has gone to quickly!
Not much to say about this week really, all the interesting stuff for this month is still to come :)

1. My first ever visit to Wahaca, and the only thing I had was Churros. I don't regret a thing. 2. Picnic at Shorne country park with a friend from work! 3. Are you starting to see a pattern of food? 4. I NEED THIS PICTURE.

1. Continuing the food trend, BUT there is some fruit, so it's healthy right? 2. I am so much better at scramble than Jake, and this was a bad score for me! 3. Monopoly winner, need I say more? 4. Out with work, guess what, we went to a rollerdisco. So much fun.

1. Dave must have been so tired that he couldn't even lift his right ear, cute or what! 2. My little brother got Jim with a water pistol :(. 3. Chocolate fudge popping candy cupcakes. B-E-A-utiful. 4. Pirate cove minigolf.

1. My friend Liz finally turned 18. So...Before Maidstone. 2. The cake I made :). 3. After Maidstone...(Fortunately this picture isn't as bad as it could have been. I sobered up a bit before this photo as I had to look after a sicky friend. GROSS I know) And finally 4. We're back to food. Dominoes for lunch with Lauren.

1. First ever attempt at cheesecake. Note to self, use the right size tin. 2. Smartie nails that didn't last too long. Why do I insist on peeling off my nail varnish when I'm bored :(. 3. Just 2 short weeks after Liz turned 18, Danie turned 19. 4. I think Buttons likes my new bed sheets.

What have you guys been up to? I feel like I should start taking less pictures of food?

Megan xo

'It's not Terry's cake, it's mine'

Hey guys!

So, today I thought I'd do a recipe post for a change. I absolutely love baking cakes, and I love decorating them too (I'm not very good at decorating big cakes though, I go a bit crazy and it ends up looking like a child got at it.) I decided on 'Chocolate and Orange ring cake' as a couple of weeks ago I used a similar recipe but used Lemon and Poppy Seeds and everyone seemed to like it. Besides, it has chocolate in it so it must be good right?

You will need:

A ring mould

Cake

250g/9oz Self raising flour

200g/7oz Caster sugar

175g/6oz Unsalted butter (and extra for greasing)

2 tsp Baking Powder

3 Eggs (beaten)

2 small oranges (or in my case, 1 big orange)

90g/3oz Plain chocolate

Topping

50g/2oz Plain chocolate

170g/6oz Icing sugar

2 tbsp Orange juice

Preheat your oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3

Start by grating the zest of your orange(s), and put aside. Then peel the orange and remove the horrible core/top bit (as you can see in the picture.) Remove as much of the white skin as possible and cut the segments into small pieces. Try to reserve around 2 tablespoons of the orange juice, as you will need this for the icing later.

Coarsely grate 90g of your plain chocolate and set aside with the orange segments.

Sift the flour and baking powder into your mixing bowl, add the pre beaten eggs, sugar, butter and orange zest and mix on a low speed until the mixture is smooth, (be careful not to over-mix.)

Fold in the Orange segments and the grated chocolate until it is nicely mixed.

Be sure to grease your ring mould well before adding the mixture, as it will only make it easier for you to remove once it's cooked!

Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until it is golden brown and springy to touch (and that if you insert a skewer it'll come out relatively clean.) Wait until the cake has cooled before turning out.

Make the icing by sifting your icing sugar into a bowl before mixing in around 2 tablespoons of your reserved orange juice. It should be a slightly runny consistency, (you can always add a few drops of water if it's a bit thick.) Drizzle over the cake however you like.

Melt 50g of plain chocolate over a pan of hot water, and then drizzle over the icing. Finish by grating some extra chocolate or orange zest over the top (or leave it as it is.)

 Voila! Serve with a nice big mug of Tea and enjoy!


Which ingredients shall I try next?

Megan xo