Bank Holiday Birthdays

Two birthdays, one bank holiday and lots of cake. I made a carrot cake with maple frosting for my boyfriend (with his age in binary...) and a chocolate orange cake for my brother. Both delicious, but somehow I only managed to photograph my brother's one properly. Ah well.

Marshmallow Fluff

Here's the recipe for marshmallow fluff. It can be used as a filling, topping, cake frosting and to dip strawberries and toast them on a BBQ. Or just shove your face in it. I'm not judging.


300g caster sugar
2 egg whites (at room temp.)
1 1/2 tablespoons golden syrup
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Put 6 tablespoons of water and ingredients (except for the vanilla) in a heat-proof bowl. Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water, making sure it doesn't sit in the water.
• Beat with an electric whisk on high speed for 7 minutes until stiff peaks form.
• Remove bowl from the heat and add vanilla. Whisk on high for another 2 minutes until stiff glossy peaks are formed. 

This recipe will make enough to frost a 3-layer cake, so I usually half it. You can put any left-overs in the freezer - it won't freeze but it does keep a lot better than in the fridge. 

Another great BBQ idea from my friend:

• Cut a banana length-ways and open up like a little paper boat (leaving the skin on).
• Push squares of milk chocolate into the banana.
• Top with some marshmallow fluff and wrap in tin foil.
• Put on the BBQ after you've cooked everything else and leave for about 10 minutes or until the chocolate is melted and the banana looks squishy. Scoop out with a spoon.

Tunnocks Tea Cakes. Ish.

I read an article in the Saturday Times Magazine (might have been Sunday) a few weeks ago, which had recipes for homemade versions of popular chocolate bars. This reminded me that my friend had suggested I try and make a Tunnocks Tea Cake. I have a great recipe for this '7 minute frosting' which is not so much like frosting, but a lot like marshmallow fluff. Then what to use as the biscuit base? I love that weird squishy biscuit in the middle of a tea cake so found a biscuit recipe that was supposed to turn out a little soft. So I started to make the biscuits. And then it went all tits over arse. 


Problem 1 - even after I'd chilled the dough for 1 hour, it was stupidly sticky and totally un-rollable. So I had to make it in to little cookie shapes instead.


Problem 2 - started to make the marshmallow fluff. 1/4 of the way through the time, the electric whisk breaks completely. Had to whisk the rest up by hand, ripping through the skin on my finger in the process.


Problem 3 - when trying to dip the biscuit base and marshmallow into the chocolate, this happened:

Fail. The marshmallow wasn't really stiff enough to support the chocolate. So, to plan B. I dipped the biscuits in chocolate and then just piped little dollops of fluff on top. Not quite a tea cake, but delicious nonetheless.

Now I need a new electric mixer. Crap.

Chocolate Chip Cookies. Standard.

I haven't made cookies in ages. I got a bit obsessed with cupcakes and frosting for a while. These are made from an adapted version of that infamous Neiman Marcus recipe. I don't put quite as much brown sugar (substitute with granulated) and use mashed bananas instead of eggs. You can even take out some of the sugar if you use really old and squishy bananas. 

I added some dates and used Bournville plain chocolate. I've never been a fan of using 'cooking' chocolate. It is less likely to cook when you melt it but I swear it tastes odd. 

I Can't Make Brownies

I always seem to fail at brownies. I've made them countless times and they never come out how I want them to. Always edible, never quite right. Like the time I made Nigella's brownies. TOO MUCH CHOCOLATE. Made me feel sick. Most other recipes always seem to end up either too cakey or too gooey in the middle with the edge ones hard as a rock. So I thought that this time I'll try an American recipe. I used the recipe from a Hershey's cookbook that I picked up from the flagship store in New York. 

 I put some Hershey's chocolate chips (which you can now buy from Asda!) and salted peanuts in them. Sweet, chocolatey and salty. They tasted like how I imagine that cake from Matilda tastes.

They were fudgey in the middle but the ones near the edge of the pan had this odd crust. Rock hard, but only a couple millimetres thick. Weird.

My Chocolate Cake Is Bigger Than Your Head

Happy Easter folks! Quick post to show you the uber chocolate cake. Triple layered, with chocolate buttercream frosting. I used about 700g of chocolate in this cake and the frosting... NOM.

Chocolate Celebration Cake

I was recently offered a job, and so thought I deserved a bit of chocolate cake. So I rustled this one up - dead simple, cheap (no eggs or butter in the cake) and super delicious. Chocolate orange celebration cake. Recipe to follow.

Chocolate orange cake -  


1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder (I always use Bournville)
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons vegetable oil 
1 tablespoon white vinegar (could also use apple cider vinegar)
1 teaspoon vanilla OR orange essence
1 cup cold water

• Preheat oven to 175C and lightly grease a 9"x9" baking pan (or similar sized round pan).
• Stir together the dry ingredients in a large bowl, make a well in the middle.
• Mix wet ingredients together in another bowl, then pour into the well in the dry ingredients.
• Stir until just combined and no large lumps are left - don't over-beat or the cake will become dense.
• Bake in the middle of the oven for 28 minutes, until centre springs back to the touch or a knife inserted comes out clean. Leave to cool completely.

Chocolate frosting - 

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 cups icing sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

2-3 tablespoons milk

• Beat together the butter and the cocoa until a smooth paste is formed. 
• Add icing sugar by the 1/2 cup until thick and doughy. Stir in the vanilla.
• Add some of the milk until the frosting is smooth, glossy and has the desired spreading consistency. Add more sugar for a stiffer frosting that can be piped onto the cake.

Pink To Make The Boys Wink

Stole the colour theme from Cupcake Royale in Seattle - still one of the best cupcakes I've had. Who'd have thought lavender would go so well in cupcake frosting? 

Chocolate cupcake with pink vanilla frosting. And chocolate jimmies.