A Tragic Day

Ruth J leaves ACOM.

I don’t know where to start – to me this company is not going to be the same again. It is a disaster for cake club as we have lost one of its key founding members.



I wrote you a song to express how we feel….and it goes like this……………….

Near far wherever you are… I promise. the bake will go on
Once more you open the door (of the oven)
And you're here in our hearts
And the cake will go on and on



Hope you like it,

Martina

Whoopie Pies

FOR THE CAKES

5 Tablespoons Crisco (find in Partridges www.partridges.co.uk)
1 Cup Sugar
5 Tablespoons Cocoa
1 Cup Milk
1 Egg
2 Cups Flour
1 1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt
Mix and shape into small balls on a baking sheet as you would for a cookie (a large spoonful). Bake about 15 minutes with the oven on 350 F (I think that's around 177 C)

FOR THE FILLING

3/4 Cup Crisco
3/4 Cup Icing Sugar
6 Tablespoons Marshmallow Fluff (find in Partridges)
1 tsp. Vanilla

Mix and, once cakes are cool, spread a small amount of the filling over one cake, then put another cake on top to form a sandwich.

Banana Muffins with Chocolate Chips

Ingredients

75g/3oz melted butter
250g/9oz self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
115g/4oz caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large, ripe bananas
2 medium eggs
125ml/4fl oz milk
10 walnut kernels (optional)
White and Milk chocolate chips


To serve
2 bananas, sliced
50g/2oz walnut kernels
2 tbsp crème fraïche or yoghurt
2 tbsp runny honey

Method
1. Heat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5. Melt the butter and allow to cool. Mash the bananas well. Sift flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a large bowl, add caster sugar and stir through.
2. With a fork, beat together the eggs, vanilla extract, melted butter and milk in a second bowl. Add the mashed banana and chocolate chips and stir through.
3. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the egg mixture, stirring roughly with a fork (don't over mix) until it is a lumpy paste.
4. Set paper cases into the moulds, or grease the moulds well with a little extra oil or butter and spoon in the mixture until almost full. Top each one with a walnut kernel if you like.
5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the muffins come away from the side of the pan when touched. Rest the muffin tray on a wire rack for five minutes then remove the muffins and leave on the rack for another five minutes before serving.
6. Serve the muffins with sliced banana and a dollop of creme fraiche, scattered with walnuts and drizzled with honey (or with Caramel yoghurt).

Dee's Forest Fruit Cobbler

Fruit Cobbler

This is a fantastic American recipe equivalent to our crumble. Particularly good with strawberries and rhubarb, but you can use any fruit combo you like; about 680g/1Vlb of fruit should do it..

Serves 6

For the fruit
1 punnet of blackberries
1 punnet of blueberries
1 punnet of raspberries
(or 2 big cartons of frozen fruit - easier to find in winter)
5 tablespoons sugar
a good glug of balsamic vinegar

For the topping
6 heaped tablespoons butter, chilled
225g/8oz self-raising flour
70g/2Voz sugar
a large pinch of salt
130ml/4Vfl oz buttermilk
a little extra sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 1901⁄4C/3751⁄4F/gas 5.
Put the fruit into a pan with the sugar and the balsamic vinegar, put the pan over the heat, and cook gently until the juices begin to run from the berries. Pour into an ovenproof dish.

Meanwhile make the topping. Rub the cold butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and salt, stir well, then add the buttermilk to form a loose scone-type mixture. Spoon this over the hot fruit (to get a cobbled effect, flick balls of dough randomly over the fruit), sprinkle with a little caster sugar, and bake in your preheated oven for 30 minutes until golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Low fat Panna Cotta with berry jelly

To make the panna cotta
2 3/4 cups lowfat milk
3/4 cup lowfat or non-fat buttermilk
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup Splenda
1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries

To make the berry jelly
1 cup of raspberries,
1 cup of blackberries
1 cup of strawberries
I sachet of Quickgel
Tin of strawberry juice

Method
1. Pour 1 cup of the milk in a small saucepan. Add the gelatin, stir, and let sit for at least 5 minutes.
2. Put the saucepan with the milk and gelatin over a low flame. Add the sugar and vanilla and heat until the gelatin and sugar are completely dissolved.
3. Transfer the mixture to a blender (or food processor, but a blender is better), and add the rest of the milk, the buttermilk (Don’t add the buttermilk directly to the hot mixture as it might curdle. Add the other ingredients first.).
4. Blend until smooth.
5. Pour into ramekins (makes 6 small) and refrigerate until set, at least three hours. Serve alone or with fresh fruit.
6. Put sachet of quickgel in a saucepan with water and stir until set.
7. Chop raspberries, strawberries and blackberries and place on top of each panna cotta. Pour quickgel over and leave to set.

Pefectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake

Hi guys,

Here's the recipe I used to make the Chocolate cake from Monday. I made three layers using shallow cake pans, but have made it in the past using two deeper pans. The recipe uses US measurements - so I used convertit.com to modify them (however I found a set of measuring cups at John Lewis that were in cups).

Personal touch: I never bake a cake without playing my favourite cake baking song - Cake by the B-52's. Lyrics follow the recipe.

Enjoy! - Nathan

Ingredients:

* 2 cups sugar
* 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
* 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 eggs
* 1 cup milk
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 cup boiling water
* FROSTING(recipe follows)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost. 10 to 12 servings.

FROSTING

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter or margarine
2/3 cup Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla.

Cake Lyrics:

Take a little, take a little nip,
Take a little sip, take a little more.
Spread icing nice and thick between the layers.
Ooh let it drip down the sides. who cares.
Done with the batter.

I am watching it drip down the sides
(if you want a better batter better beat it harder.)
I am watching it drip down the sides
I said according to my recipe, you put it on a slow bake
According to my recipe, you put it on a slow bake.

I am watching it drip down the sides
(if you want a better batter better beat it harder.)
I am watching it drip down the sides
I said according to my recipe, you put it on a slow bake
(takes a long time for it to rise)
According to my recipe, you put it on a slow bake.
(let it drip right down the sides)
According to my recipe
(who cares)
I can't wait to put the icing on the cake.
I-i can't wait to put the icing on the cake.
Caaaake.

Hey, you know what i'd really like to do?
Say wha'?
I feel like makin' a cake
Ooh wah what kind of cake do you want?
Umm, how about ... pineapple upside-down cake?
Maybe a chocolate devil's food cake.
Wah, nothin' like a chocolate devil's food cake.
Ooh, how about an angel cake?
Umm, some cinnamon?
Yea, sure.
Sugar?
Yea, uh huh. i swear.
You got a pan the right size?
A pan?
It says in this cookbook it takes a long time to rise.
I read that. now, beware.
Let's get this thing in the oven.

Take a little, take a little nip,
Take a little sip, take a little more.
Spread icing nice and thick between the layers.
Ooh let it drip down the sides. who cares.
Done with the batter.

I am watching it drip down the sides
(if you want a better batter better beat it harder.)
I am watching it drip down the sides
I said according to my recipe, you put it on a slow bake
According to my recipe, you put it on a slow bake.

Hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah ...
I can't wait to put the icing on the cake.
Hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah ...
250 strokes to beat it, i just can't wait to eat it.

Chocolate Tartlets - Dee

Bittersweet Chocolate Tartlets


makes (8) 4-in tartlets or about (24) 2-in mini tartlets

Crust

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

Filling

1 cup cream

2 tablespoons sugar

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (between 50% to 60%), chopped

1 large egg

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine the melted butter, sugar, vanilla, salt, and flour. Mix until just blended. The dough will be very soft and moist.

Gently press the dough into tartlet pans. Medrich calls for (8) 4-in wide by 3/4-in deep fluted tarlet pans. I used a mini muffin tin with (24) 2-in wide by 3/4-in deep cups. Press in the dough as thinly as possible.

Place pans in the oven and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes until the crusts are golden brown (they should be fully baked).

While the tartlet shells are baking, heat the cream and sugar in a small saucepan to boiling. Pour over the chopped chocolate and whisk together until combined.

Whisk the egg into the chocolate mixture right before the shells are finished baking.

Remove shells from the oven and turn off the oven. Pour the filling into the shells. Return the tartlets to the oven and leave them there for about 5 to 10 minutes, or when the filling is just beginning to set about the edges.

Place tartlets on a wire rack to cool. If you used individual tartlet pans with removable bottoms the tartlets should be fairly easy to unmold. If you used a muffin tin like me you may have a more difficult time unmolding them, especially if the shells are very thin. If the filling has completely set, you can try placing a sheet pan across the top of tin and flipping it over to unmold them.

Just before serving, sprinkle toppings of your choice on the tartlets, such as: cocoa nibs, chopped nuts, dried cherries, anise seed, chili powder.