Blog Archives - Page 2 of 2 - The Love of Cake

June 16, 2015 by Lauren

Apple and Banana Sugar Free Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Who doesn’t want to eat cake every day?! I know I’d prefer to do it without the guilt.

This sugar free cake is one of my favourite recipes as it is delicious, simple to make and guilt free as it contains no refined sugar. Its sweetness is only from bananas and apples.

Using only eight ingredients this sugar free banana and apple cake is so tasty you won’t be able to stop at just one slice!

Here’s how it’s done….

Mix all your dry ingredients… no need to sift! Cinnamon, I just love it!

Melt butter however you like. My method is in the microwave on low heat for about 60 seconds. Whilst this is happening, beat four eggs and add milk then combine with butter! Now add this buttery mix to your dry ingredients and mix well.

Add mashed banana and apple slices. Your cake mix should look like this once combined. A tip when buying tinned apples is to be aware that a lot of fruit is tinned in sugary syrup which would then be added to your cake. I use Ardmona Apple Slices as they are 100% fruit and don’t contain any syrup.

It’s time to bake. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius (360 Fahrenheit). Bake for 60 minutes or until the skewer comes out clean.

Here is deliciousness; finding it very hard not to slice the cake up right now and take a bite….but this icing is worth the waiting for!

It’s time to frost!

These simple ingredients make the most amazing sugar free cream cheese frosting you can imagine. If you have an obsession with cinnamon as I do, then add this to the mix. You are probably looking at the picture thinking is that “Heinz Baby Food? ” That answer would be yes! It’s the only apple sauce on the market that is 100% pure apples without any added sugars.

Begin mixing cream cheese and milk on a low speed until fluffy, then add apple sauce… mix… add vanilla…mix…add optional cinnamon if you like!

The icing should be moist and easy to spread. If you don’t want to frost the cake you could also treat it like a banana bread, toast it then spread the cream cheese frosting instead of butter… yum! Add a nice cup of coffee and that will make my afternoon!

Here is the finished product! Happy Baking!

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Apple and Banana Cake - Sugar Free

Author: Lauren

Recipe type: Sugar Free Baking

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 1 hour

Total time: 1 hour 20 mins

Ingredients

Cake

13/4 cups wholemeal plain flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 eggs
100 grams unsalted butter
3-4 large mashed bananas
410 gram tin sliced apple
1 cup buttermilk
¼ cup full cream milk

Icing

1 cup cream cheese
4 tablespoons apple sauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons full cream milk
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Instructions

Cake

Grease loaf pan. For this recipe I used 24cm x 12cm (10 inch x 4 inch) loaf pan
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit)
Combine all dry ingredients in one bowl, flour, baking powder and cinnamon
Cube butter and melt in separate bowl
Beat eggs then add milk and melted butter
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients bowl, mix well until combined
Mash banana and stir into mixture
Mix in tinned apple
Pour cake evenly into loaf tin
Bake for 1 hour or until skewer comes out clean, allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes before removal. Cake is very moist so be gentle when it comes time to remove from pan.

Icing

Beat milk and cream cheese on low speed until fluffy
Mix in apple sauce on low until well combined
Add vanilla and mix until well combined
Add optional cinnamon at the end and mix
Icing should be moist and easy to spread

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May 28, 2015 by Lauren

Construction Party Favours Chocolate Honeycomb Brownies

For my son’s second birthday party I’m thinking of a construction theme as he is mad for anything with wheels and trucks are his favourite.

As I’m about everything cake, giving guests lolly bags just doesn’t seem right. Instead, I came up with the idea of making favour bags containing chocolate honeycomb brownies and a toy truck as a gift.

Here’s how it’s done….

Start by cutting butter into cubes and add 150 grams of dark chocolate. You can also use dairy milk if you would like the brownies to be super sweet but I’ve always found brownies are richer with dark chocolate. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a glass bowl over a low heat. Whilst the chocolate and butter is melting sift and combine all dry ingredients.

Don’t forget to check the melting chocolate and keep stirring every few minutes to avoid lumps and burning. Once melted, remove from heat to cool slightly… oh, look at the chocolate…yummy!

Time to add the eggs one at a time and then vanilla. Don’t worry if the mix is very dry and lumpy – this is normal.

Stir in the melted butter and chocolate. The mix will again be lumpy but that’s ok as it helps with the brownies chunkiness!

Mix in chocolate chips. If I wasn’t adding honeycomb I would have used bigger chocolate chips but these are the perfect size when adding another chocolate ingredient.

Preheat your oven to 170 degree Celsius (340 Fahrenheit). As I wanted thinner brownies for the favour bags I have used a 33 x 23cm (13 x 9 inch) rectangular tin. If you would like thicker brownies use a square tin however I would recommend doubling the quantity of the mixture so you have enough for the favour bags.

Pour in half of the brownie mix. The the texture will be a bit like a paste so you will need to spread it all over the tin. My favourite part… as I might have had a piece of honeycomb or two… chop honeycomb pieces in half and press into the mix. Allow space between otherwise the brownie will become one big honeycomb piece!

Pour remaining brownie mix over honeycomb pieces, don’t worry if the honeycomb is sticking out slightly as the brownies will rise during baking to cover.

Yum brownies baking! Bake for 35 – 40 minutes. You want the brownie to be a bit goey so when it hardens it will be moist.

The finished brownie! Allow 10 minutes to cool in pan before removing otherwise you risk it breaking into pieces.

The real fun begins – making the favour bags!

I would recommend making the favour bags the afternoon or morning prior to your party so the brownies are kept fresh. Refrigerate the brownies for at least two hours before cutting into small squares as this will limit breakage when packing into the favour bags.

Slice the brownies into small squares…look at that honeycomb!

Here is the assembly line for the Construction Party favour bags. You can really add any type of chunky chocolate you like. I’ve used chopped honeycomb and chocolate chips, but you might like to add Maltesers or yellow M&M’s.

Add three to four pieces of brownie to the favour bag. I’ve chosen cellophane bags so the brownies and gift can be clearly seen and look oh so good on display!

Time to add the honeycomb and chocolate chips plus any other chocolate you desire.

Add your gift, tie off with a ribbon and thank you tag.

I love these trucks from Mega Bloks . Inexpensive but a great toy that any boy would love! You can also buy other styles of truck for girls as well. If you are in Australia I purchased mine from a local Woolworths on sale for $1.95 each.

Matchbox also have a really great range of construction vehicles to, which I have included in the favour bags as well.

Makes approx 8 to 10 favour bags. If you are trying to save you could also make without the gift.

Here is the finished product! Happy Construction Party!

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Construction Party Favours Chocolate Honeycomb Brownies

Author: Lauren

Recipe type: Kids Cakes

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 40 mins

Total time: 1 hour

Ingredients

225 grams (8 ounces) unsalted butter
1¼ cups of sugar
3 eggs
½ cup of cocoa powder
2½ cups of plain flour
½ teaspoon of vanilla
150 grams (5 ounces) dark chocolate
½ cup of chocolate chips

Instructions

Honeycomb Chocolate Brownies

Preheat oven to a moderate 170 degrees Celsius (340 Fahrenheit)
Melt 150 grams (8 ounces) of dark chocolate and unsalted butter together in saucepan or microwave
Mix all dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Sugar, cocoa and flour
Gradually mix in each egg one by one
Add vanilla extract
Add melted chocolate and butter. Mix well until all combined
Mix in ½ cup of chocolate chips
Mixture will be fairly stiff and moist
Pour half the brownie mix into 33 x 23 cm pan (13 x 9 inch)
Slice honeycomb and layer
Pour remaining brownie mix over the honeycomb layer. Brownie mix will be the consistency of a paste so you will need to spread the mixture over the honeycomb
Bake for 40 minutes
Brownies will come out of the oven a bit gooey however will harden once cooled

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April 24, 2015 by Lauren

How To Make A Packet Cake Mix Taste Homemade

We all know that sometimes you need to use a store bought packet cake mix, but that’s no reason you can’t try to disguise it as homemade.

There is no doubt many packet cake mixes are delicious, but I love to make them just that little bit tastier. First of all it’s good to start with a well known and trusted brand as your base for the packet cake mix, my personal favourites are White Wings and Betty Crocker.

Today I have chosen chocolate cake but the same substitutions can be made with any vanilla cake – just substitute dark chocolate for white chocolate.

It’s fairly simple just make the following changes and additions!

#1 Switch oil to melted butter

#2 Use buttermilk instead of water

#3 Add one extra egg than the packet cake mix calls for

#4 Add half a cup of melted chocolate buttons. If vanilla cake, use white chocolate and if chocolate cake, use dark or dairy milk chocolate. Always remember that the chocolate should be of good quality

#5 Follow the packet cake method as outlined on the packaging, simply substituting ingredients as outlined above. Add the chocolate once all other ingredients have been mixed

#6 As your cake will have slightly more wet ingredients than the packet cake mix calls for, this will make your cake that much more moist and rich. Allow enough time to give the cake an extra 10 minutes to bake if it needs.

If you love rich and moist icing as I do, all you need to do is add 1 cup of good quality melted chocolate buttons to the packet icing mix. I think you’ll agree that it’s super simple and that much more delicious.

Here is the finished product, with a little grated white chocolate to decorate.

Look how moist and pretty that is! Don’t eat it all at once!

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April 10, 2015 by Lauren

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Cake Topper Tutorial

My one year old son Thomas is super addicted to the Very Hungry Caterpillar book. Every time we read it to him he jumps excitedly with a huge smile. When it came to his first birthday the decision about which cake to make him was an easy one.

Most of you might look at the Very Hungry Caterpillar cake topper and assume that it would take you hours to prepare. I’m here to tell you it’s actually a whole lot simpler than you would think.

Here’s is how it’s done….

Start off small as this will be the tail end of your caterpillar. Roll a small piece of dark green fondant and a small piece of lime green fondant. The dark green is the tail end so make it slightly smaller than the lime green.

Now give each rolled piece a little squeeze just like this.

Edible sugar glue is essential to make sure your caterpillar doesn’t fall apart. I purchased mine from a local cake supplies store for around $4, check it out here. You can make your own by adding a small pea sized ball of white fondant to 1/8 cup of warm water and dissolve. Using a small brush place a small amount of sugar glue onto each piece on one side only.

We have the beginnings of the Very Hungry Caterpillar! Squeeze the two glued sides together. Then repeat all the steps again and keep building your caterpillar.

A few tips….

#1 Use baking paper as the base for your caterpillar so that it doesn’t stick.

#2 Slowly increase the size of each fondant piece as the Very Hungry Caterpillar grows

#3 Once you have several pieces together press down gently on each piece to even out the difference in size

Now to make the caterpillar’s head. I tried several different ways to join the head but cutting was the simplest. Roll the fondant into a ball, flatten out by pressing the palm of your hand onto it slightly, then cut

Don’t forget to add the edible sugar glue to each side before connecting the head. When joining the head to the body, gently squeeze the sides to mould the caterpillar’s head so it matches the rest of the body.

Now for that cute little caterpillar face! Roll two very small pieces of yellow fondant into balls, flatten and brush edible sugar glue to the back and add to the face. Then roll three even smaller pieces of green fondant. Flatten two of these prices slightly as these will be the eyes. The third and rounder piece will be for the nose. Brush edible sugar glue to all pieces and add to the caterpillar’s face. Don’t forget to make two small holes for the antenna I suggest using tooth picks. I recommend making the antenna with the rest of the caterpillar but don’t add these to the head until just before you place the caterpillar on the cake.

For really fine pieces of fondant I always make a few backups. Here are my two sets of antenna for‘just in case’. Before placing your caterpillar on top of the cake add the antenna with edible sugar glue, place a little in each hole made with the tooth picks.

If you would like to sit the caterpillar on top of your cake as I have insert four tooth picks as above before drying. If you make your caterpillar larger you will need more tooth picks to anchor it into the cake well.

Our finished Very Hungry Caterpillar!

A few things to remember!

#1 Allow at least 2 weeks for fondant to dry. If the fondant does not dry the caterpillar will bend when placing on cake. In hot or humid weather I would recommend allowing 3-4 weeks to be 100% safe

#2 Store the caterpillar on baking paper in either a container or simply air dry on baking paper

#3 Be gentle with your caterpillar… he is very fragile

#4 Place your caterpillar on top of cake immediately prior to birthday party as this will limit the likelihood of breakage

The cake pictured is a very simple vanilla butter cake with chocolate cream centre – yum! The recipe and decoration instructions are coming soon.

Happy caterpillar making!

EasyRecipe

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March 24, 2015 by Lauren

Chocolate Easter Cake with Easter Egg Surprise Pinata

Such a simple Easter cake that looks and tastes amazing!

When chocolate cake and Easter eggs meet it is true love. What better way to celebrate Easter with family and friends than to make an Easter egg surprise piñata cake. Rich with chocolaty goodness.

Here’s how it’s done….

Start by sifting and combine all the dry ingredients.

Time to melt the chocolate….it’s hard not to lick the spoon! I used dark chocolate to make the cake rich but if you want extra sweetness use dairy milk.

While you are waiting for the chocolate to cool, it’s time to mix all the remaining ingredients. Butter and sugar first until light and fluffy or say around two minutes of beating on high, making sure butter is softened first.

Add eggs one at a time, making sure to mix well after each one. Then add vanilla. Here is my favourite part – chocolate in all its richness is added and then mixing half dry ingredients and milk, repeat again until all are mixed together.

Preheat your oven to 160 degrees Celsius (320 Fahrenheit). To get the look of the deep piñata I have used a 15 x10cm (6 x 4 inch) round tin so the cake is tall and deep. This allows for more Easter eggs to be squeezed inside.

Bake for 55 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. I like to remove the cake whilst it’s slightly gooey in the centre so that it stays moist.

Let the cake cool for around 1 hour and then begin cutting a round hole to create the piñata. I used a small scone cutter however a small glass could be used to create the circle. Once the circle has been removed dig out the centre of the cake, leaving a little layer at the bottom of the cake. I may have taste tested a scoop or two.

Here comes the fun part… Easter eggs and lots of them. Really pack them in.

It’s time to make the icing. This is my never fail dark chocolate icing that is so thick and sweet that once you try it you will never want to make another icing again. See recipe link for full details.

I made this icing extra thick so it covers the eggs nest. Add an extra cup of icing sugar if you think it needs it. Using a small spatula apply a big dollop of icing in the centre to cover the eggs nest and then smooth over entire cake.

Now for the finishing touch! To create the eggs nest I used five medium size chocolate eggs keeping them close together and then filled with m&m’s speckled crispy eggs to match the centre of the cake. Add a cute Easter character on top and you are finished.

To get the best effect when cutting the cake cut a big slice so the eggs nest easily falls out.

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Easter Chocolate Cake with Egg Surprise Pinata

Author: Lauren

Recipe type: Dessert

Prep time: 25 mins

Cook time: 55 mins

Total time: 1 hour 20 mins

The perfect Easter Cake. Easter Egg surprise pinata cake.Rich moist dark chocolate cake with a surprise in the centre.

Ingredients

Cake

11/3 cups plain flour
3 tablespoons Cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarb soda
250 grams (9 ounces) dark chocolate
225 grams (8 ounces) unsalted butter
1 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
½ cup buttermilk

Icing

250 grams (9 ounces) butter
4 cups pure icing sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa
½ cup of milk
250 grams dark chocolate

Instructions

Cake

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius (320 Fahrenheit)
Grease 15 x 10 cm (6 x 4 inch) baking tin
Break chocolate into small pieces and melt in microwave for approx 60 seconds on low heat
Sift together all dry ingredients
In a separate dish beat room temperature butter and sugar together until fluffy then add vanilla
Add eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition on medium speed, once eggs have been combined add cooled chocolate and mix on medium speed until combined
Add half the sifted ingredients to the butter chocolate mix and half butter milk, repeat again until all dry ingredients have been added
Texture of the mix is almost mousse like so add to greased cake pan
Bake for 45-55 minutes or until skewer comes out clean
Cool in pan for 15 minutes before removing to wire baking rack to cool
Allow cake to cool for 1 full hour on the backing rack before cutting
Use a small scone cutter or glass to cut small round hole
Spoon out cake with a small teaspoon for best results, leaving a small amount at bottom of cake
Fill centre with Easter eggs then make icing

Icing

Break chocolate into small pieces and melt in microwave for approx 60 seconds on low heat or until melted
Place cubed softened butter in large bowl
Beat for three minutes on high or until fluffy
Add sifted icing sugar gradually mixing well after each
Sift in cocoa and mixed until combined
Add in milk gradually and mix
This icing recipe is extra thick so the centre eggs are easily covered, so if you have a thin consistency after milk is combined add extra an cup of icing sugar
Mix in melted dark chocolate until combined
Now for the fun part. Begin icing your cake, suggest covering eggs in the centre first so using a small flexible spatula place a big dollop of icing to cover and then cover the rest of the cake and smooth out.

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