BOOZY BIRTHDAY BAKES! - 5/2/18
Here's the recipes from our February meeting - lots of alcohol filled treats and party food made by our members!
BOOZY APRICOT CAKE - serves 12
For the Cake:
600g caster sugar
225g butter, softened
6 eggs, beaten
375g plain flour
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
250ml soured cream
4 tablespoons apricot brandy
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
For the Syrup
200g caster sugar
125ml peach schnapps
250ml water
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
For the Glaze
335g apricot jam
125ml apricot brandy
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
70g flaked almonds
Butter and flour a tube cake tin. Preheat oven to 180 C / Gas 4.
For the cake: Cream together butter and sugar for 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time. Beat well. Sieve flour with bicarbonate of soda and salt; add soured cream and brandy ending with flour. Pour into tin and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes.
For the Syrup: Place sugar, peach schnapps, water and lemon zest into a saucepan. Bring to the boil and boil for 1 minute.
Turn cake out onto plate and punch holes in bottom of cake with a skewer. Slowly pour all of syrup into holes until cake is penetrated and syrup is absorbed. Immediately turn cake right side up onto serving plate.
For the glaze: Bring the jam, apricot brandy and lemon zest to the boil and boil for 1 minute. Drizzle over the cake. Scatter with flaked almonds
CANNOLI CAKE
Sponge Cake:
8 eggs (separate whites)
2 c Flour
1⁄2 c Water
3 tsp Cornstarch
2 c Sugar
3 heaping tsp Baking Powder
2 tsp Vanilla
Pinch Salt
Cannoli Cream:
1 pound fine ricotta cheese
1 Tbsp (or more) heavy cream
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
1 c confectioner's sugar
1/2 c milk chocolate chips
Strawberry Filling:
2 c fresh strawberries
2 1⁄2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 c sugar
Whipped Cream Frosting:
32 oz. heavy whipping cream
1/4 (or more) confectioner's sugar
2 tsp vanilla
For Sponge Cake: Begin by separating egg yolks from whites. Make sure to not get a drop of egg yolk in whites. Set aside egg whites.
Then, to egg yolks, add vanilla, water and sugar; beat until smooth consistency. Add flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt to mixture, mixing thoroughly; set aside. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until peaks form, making a stiff consistency. Fold in three parts to egg yolk mixture, mixing until you cannot visualize egg whites. Pour into an ungreased 12 in. pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, until top starts to get browned and pick comes out clean. Once cooled, make three layers out of the cake by cutting it twice.
For Cannoli Cream: Mix ricotta with confectioners sugar, heavy cream and vanilla. Stir in chocolate chips. If too thick, add more heavy cream and mix well. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
For Strawberry Filling: Chop strawberries. Bring all ingredients to a boil, stirring constantly until thick. Cool completely before filling cake.
For Whipped Cream Frosting: Whip cream on high speed until firm consistency. Add confectioners sugar and vanilla until sweet.
To assemble: Fill bottom cake layer with cannoli cream. Fill top cake layer with strawberry filling. Frost cake with whipped cream. Garnish with remaining strawberries. Makes 12-15 slices.
***If using 8in cake tins use half the recipe
PINA COLADAS CUPCAKES - 12 cupcakes
If you like Piña coladas, and getting caught in the rain (old person musical reference alert!), then you will almost certainly enjoy making and eating these cupcakes! Bring on the holiday!
For the pineapple goo -
1 small pineapple
1 tsp arrowroot powder
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp sugar
For the cupcakes
135g unsalted butter
soft 125g caster sugar
125g self raising flour
25g desiccated coconut (unsweetened)
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 lrg free-range eggs
1.5 tbsp coconut cream
For the Malibu Buttercream
100g unsalted butter
soft 225g icing sugar
sifted 2-3 tbsp Malibu (or coconut cream if you prefer)
Topping - Extra desiccated coconut, lightly toasted
Pineapple goo: Trim pineapple and chop into chunks, put into food processor and liquidise. Put this mixture into a saucepan and add arrowroot powder (diluted in water) - you want to thicken this pulp up - and add sugar. Bring this mixture to the boil, stirring all the time and then simmer for 20 mins - the mixture will have reduced by a third and will be nice and thick. Put through a sieve and leave to cool
Cupcakes: Put flour, sugar and bicarb through a sieve. Add desiccated coconut, butter, eggs to this mixture and beat for one minute. Next, add coconut cream and beat again and then divide this into cupcake tin; lined with cases. Bake this at 170 degrees for 20-22 mins and leave to cool
Buttercream: Beat butter for 4-5 mins until pale and fluffy. Then add icing sugar (sieved) in two stages and beat well. Next, add rum and beat till this mixture is a spreadable consistency
Assembly: Make holes in the middle of cupcakes for the goo and fill using a piping bag. Cover the cakes in buttercream and dip them in toasted desiccated coconut (toasted at 170 degrees for 6 mins). At this point, you could add any cocktail accessories here like mini umbrellas to spice things up a bit - and enjoy!
CHOCOLATE GUINNESS CAKE - makes 12 slices
The Cake
250 millilitres Guinness
250 grams unsalted butter
75 grams cocoa powder
400 grams caster sugar
142 millilitres sour cream
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
275 grams plain flour
2½ teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
The topping
300 grams cream cheese
150 grams icing sugar
125 millilitres double cream (or whipping cream)
Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C/350ºF, and butter and line a 23cm / 9 inch springform tin.
Pour the Guinness into a large wide saucepan, add the butter - in spoons or slices - and heat until the butter's melted, at which time you should whisk in the cocoa and sugar. Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla and then pour into the brown, buttery, beery pan and finally whisk in the flour and bicarb.
Pour the cake batter into the greased and lined tin and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Leave to cool completely in the tin on a cooling rack, as it is quite a damp cake.
When the cake's cold, sit it on a flat platter or cake stand and get on with the icing. Lightly whip the cream cheese until smooth, sieve over the icing sugar and then beat them both together. Or do this in a processor, putting the unsieved icing sugar in first and blitz to remove lumps before adding the cheese.
Add the cream and beat again until it makes a spreadable consistency. Ice the top of the black cake so that it resembles the frothy top of the famous pint.