A thread for talking about and sharing cakes! I could never do cakes well. But suddenly I was thrown into stepfamily life and found birthday cakes were needed. As they say, practice makes perfect and I got quite good at making cakes. And found most of the traditional recipes were not always necessary. My biggest Eureka moment was an American recipe that came with a pirate ship tin, that used buttermilk. It's amazing. It makes cakes lighter and fluffier. Ever since then I've substitued milk for buttermilk in some recipes - if I have enough time to plan ordering buttermilk (Sainsbury's sell it).
Generally though we just have chocolate cake for birthday cakes now. This is my favourite recipe for chocolate cake (it includes buttermilk!). First attempt was not very good. It came out a bit thin and dense and more like a chocolate brownie. The recipet said whisk the buttermilk and eggs - but didn't say for how long. So the second time, I whisked them for a good 10 minutes, and that did the trick - a lovely light chocolatey chocolate cake. And it really needs the buttermilk.
Angela Nilson's Ultimate Chocolate Cake
I just do the actual cake bit from that recipe - not the filling or icing - I dislike any kind of buttercream and favourite cake fillings here, for special cakes, are cream filled.
The filling I adapted from a lemon cake by Delia - she adds a tablespoon of lemon curd to whipped cream. That works really well. It's not that lemony but adds some sweetness to the cream and a bit more flavour. So fillings are usually lemon whipped cream with strawberries or raspberries.
For icing, I use the same chocolate icing on everything - we prefer it to ganache which can be a bit rich. It's the plain chocolate version from Nigella's Birthday custard sponge recipe. The icing is quick and easy to make and just pours on. And then sets. Surprisingly even children like the plain chocolate one as it's quite sweet.
Nigella birthday custard sponge
I've also made the birthday custard sponge recipe before, but we prefer the chocolate one usually.
SS didn't like the kind of moulding icing you get on cakes you can turn into turtles or football pitches, so I gave up on those after doing a few. And stuck to normal cakes with filling and icing.
As SS is a teenager now he is not so into birthday cakes but I still do them to mark occasions. Which includes making one on my own birthday as well.
Anyway tried and tested recipes are all very well, but I could do with some new ideas ................
Generally though we just have chocolate cake for birthday cakes now. This is my favourite recipe for chocolate cake (it includes buttermilk!). First attempt was not very good. It came out a bit thin and dense and more like a chocolate brownie. The recipet said whisk the buttermilk and eggs - but didn't say for how long. So the second time, I whisked them for a good 10 minutes, and that did the trick - a lovely light chocolatey chocolate cake. And it really needs the buttermilk.
Angela Nilson's Ultimate Chocolate Cake
I just do the actual cake bit from that recipe - not the filling or icing - I dislike any kind of buttercream and favourite cake fillings here, for special cakes, are cream filled.
The filling I adapted from a lemon cake by Delia - she adds a tablespoon of lemon curd to whipped cream. That works really well. It's not that lemony but adds some sweetness to the cream and a bit more flavour. So fillings are usually lemon whipped cream with strawberries or raspberries.
For icing, I use the same chocolate icing on everything - we prefer it to ganache which can be a bit rich. It's the plain chocolate version from Nigella's Birthday custard sponge recipe. The icing is quick and easy to make and just pours on. And then sets. Surprisingly even children like the plain chocolate one as it's quite sweet.
Nigella birthday custard sponge
I've also made the birthday custard sponge recipe before, but we prefer the chocolate one usually.
SS didn't like the kind of moulding icing you get on cakes you can turn into turtles or football pitches, so I gave up on those after doing a few. And stuck to normal cakes with filling and icing.
As SS is a teenager now he is not so into birthday cakes but I still do them to mark occasions. Which includes making one on my own birthday as well.
Anyway tried and tested recipes are all very well, but I could do with some new ideas ................
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I haven't tried a gluten free version, but I'm sure it's possible! Maybe use more buttermilk and add additional raising agent?! The buttermilk acts as part of the raising agent.
