I Heart Cake!

This month I was asked to join in a fun baking challenge, I have vowed to do more of these so I was extremely happy to receive a pretty cake mould* in the post to use for the challenge.

So, the challenge! To use the I Heart Cake Baking Mould to make any cake of our choice and the winner of the best one wins £100 of kitchen goodies! Everyone loves kitchen goodies, so it's always worth a go. Now I'm not saying my entry is my greatest work, but I made a Victoria Sandwich, which I've never done before....right stops your gasps, I know! They've also ended up being covered in fondant so I've never had a chance to do it the classic way.

The thing about this mould I loved was that the cake slices come out as hearts, which is a really sweet idea, pardon the pun. But for occasions like Valentine's, anniversaries and even weddings, I think this would be a really cute idea.

So as I said I chose to make a Victoria Sandwich, I used a classic recipe from the dairy cookbook which I got from my mum after using hers so much it's nearly fallen apart, true story. I got my design inspiration from Jo at The Secluded Tea Party, I love how she fills her cakes with buttercream and wanted to do something along the same lines.

Now mine got nowhere near as high as hers, I guess I should have made it thicker but then I can be such a pain to pipe. I halved the cake and filled one side with swirls of vanilla buttercream and the other I covered with strawberry jam with the idea that it would drip down the swirls, which, if I'd had enough height - could have happened.

I covered (drenched) the top with sifted icing sugar, which is slightly heavier in one side as you can see...but I didn't want to overdo the decoration and keep it classic looking. Here you can see I've cut a very cute heart slice, it's really affective and I can't say I didn't love the whole gimmick of the heart slice, who wouldn't?

The mould itself was really strong, baked extremely well, I always worry about silicone which I know it ridiculous but it didn't stick, gave an even bake and just popped straight out right at the end. Couldn't ask for more out of a mould really, it will definitely take residence in my baking room and be used again. It's a pretty looking mould anyway so could be used for other designs, and more than cake such as jelly or maybe even flapjacks or something with a rice crispy base, would do you think?

The mould itself can be bought from Find Me A Gift for £14.99. Here's a bit of technical info from the site:

• Clever cake mould which produces 6 generous sized heart shaped portions!
• Made of food safe non stick silicone
• Measures approx 25 cm x 25 cm x 6 cm
• Use for cakes, jellies and other desserts
• Oven safe to 220c (do not warm mould empty)
• Freezer safe to -40c
• Microwave and Dishwasher safe
• Does not come with cake mix - sorry! ( I love this one)

I would definitely recommend it, and has changed my mind about baking with silicone, I use it for my giant cupcakes or for chocolates etc but this is the first one for cake, I may well be converted. Pin It Now!

Use Your Loaf - Cheat

So I've always known I'm no good at baking bread. It's not me being negative, it's a fact - I just can't do it! I can't even say I love the process like so many do, it's pretty foreign to me. Give me a mixing bowl and tell me to make a croquembouche or some cheeky meringues and I'm away...but bread? *shudder*. 

From the moment where I sat in front of Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood, through to the audition stage of The Great British Bake Off, with Paul's piercing (and yes girls, stunning) blue eyes staring at me, where he tore my foccacia in half and ripped out a lump of dough (and my heart) and disappointingly said 'It's raw.' I knew I'd never be able to produce good bread. Sweet yeast dough doesn't faze me at all so I'm not sure exactly 'what' it is, but it all goes wrong, so terribly, 

terribly wrong.

So it was almost like the universe picked up on this, and tempted me to the dark side...I was sent a bread maker to test. Now I know in the serious baking world the word 'breadmaker' can have you looked upon as if you just said 'Voldermort' in front of a Harry Potter fangirl. There's a lot of stigma with appliances like these that help you cheat, but you know what? My baking morals are loose, I can, and was, tempted to do just that, cheat.

Now there I was, sitting in front of this 'machine', totally confused about what to do. I'd never had or used one before so I wasn't really sure if it was something I could master. The bread maker in question was the Panasonic SD2500 Breadmaker*, white and gleaming and I was shocked to find it did more than just bake. I realise to those of you that have used one before it must seem naive to not know that, but I honestly didn't. Not only does it bake bread but it also makes, jam, compote, cakes and even makes dough ready for rolling. You can even make gluten free breads which I think will be a major bonus for a lot of families.

Now for some technical stuff:

Programmes:

• 25 programmes including: white bread, french bread, whole-wheat, quick bread, sweet bread, speciality, pizza base, rolls, brioche, dough and bake.
• Maximum bread size 2.65lb / 1.2kg.
• 3 adjustable crust settings.
• 3 loaf sizes
• 115 mins fast bake time.
• 13 hour delay timer for overnight baking.
• Also suitable for making jam and cakes.

Features:

• Cool touch.
• Add ingredients signal.
• Keep warm function.

Right now you know all that, let's get down to the testing. I thought it'd be a cop out to just make a load and write about that. So I decided to make two loaves, some strawberry jam and some croissant dough.  I decided on a granary loaf and a classic white loaf as those are the ones we would tend to eat the most so it made sense to try those. For the granary I selected the 'whole-wheat' programme, I literally had no idea what I was doing at this point so I relied completely on the instructions. I placed in the yeast, dry ingredients and then the wet, selected the programme, crust setting and set it off! It does take a few hours, about 5 for this one. But when you think it does all of the proofing etc for you, it's not that bad at all - and that' what I really struggle with, there's nowhere warm enough in my house to get something to rise properly so this solves that straight away. When I say it's quiet, it really IS quiet, to the point where we had to go out and check it was actually working as we couldn't hear it.

It was working, and a few hours later out popped a beautiful smelling loaf of bread! They do say to take it out straight away so we did, I guess this is so it doesn't stick making you to get the spatula out. While it obviously doesn't make a long loaf, it does come out fairly tall. We're only two people so it's enough to last us a good few days, and who doesn't enjoy fresh bread at the weekend? Marvel at it's beauty! (apart from my dodgy slices)

Next I went for the white loaf, this one I set up exactly the same but set it on a timer for the morning. The only thing is that you have to be awake for when you want it or you risk leaving it in the breadmaker. So don't put it on when you've come back from the pub or you'll probably forget about it for a few days! Nothing looks better than a crisp white loaf on a saturday morning, I need to seriously work on my carving skills...no judging please! I also cut it when it was too hot as I just couldn't wait.

As you know I make a lot of cake...I also buy a lot of jam. I have always wanted to make it but don't have all the gear. So I though OK, I have the machine, let's give it a go. I decided on strawberry jam as that's what I use the most. Armed with two big tubs of strawberries and a deathly amount of sugar I set to work, there's wasn't really much else to it but layering fruit and sugar in the machine. 

It did say you needed to add sugar and pectin separately but I couldn't find any but I did find this sugar which had blended both. This recipe only took about 2.5 hours and at the end I had a perfect tub of jam! Which, when warm from the machine smelt AMAZING.

But without wanting to go to A & E for licking the spoon I thought better of it and poured it in the jar to cool instead. It now lives in my fridge and reserved for special weekend treats.

Next I really want to try out the dough aspect, and croissants in particular, everyone's favourite right? What's not to like? The only difference with this dough is that it needed an egg, apart from that it was all set up the same, leave it to do it's stuff for a couple of hours and boom! 

Out pops some perfect looking dough. This one did require some work after, it needed to be rolled and folded with butter like puff pastry and chilled in the fridge. This did take some time, but it does give those haters back their real baking feel. And it was nice to do half the work, it may make the dough but it can't roll it out and shape it for you, 

I love doing those bits. So after rolling it, filling it and folding it with butter about six times and chilling it in the fridge twice it was ready to roll out. I rolled it out into one massive square and cut it into smaller squares, which I then sliced into two triangles. Each triangle then got rolled out until they were long and thin, taking the wide end I rolled it up to the thin end, leaving the end underneath and shaping it into the classic crescent shape. I got about 15 out of these, enough to take into work...I may also have 'tested' a couple fresh from the oven...maybe.

Oh.....oh my.

I have to say, this product genuinely surprised me, and I didn't think it would. I may not be Paul Hollywood, but I can still make a good loaf, I may not make it every week but I will definitely use it, and I love the fact I can whip up jam in an afternoon which will be great for the big family breakfasts. It definitely gets a thumbs up from me,

 I'm a cheater, and proud. 

But come one! Who cares? Look at those!!

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Ribstock 2013 - Photo Overload

This summer (summer, ha) is the first time we went to Ribstock. I found out about Ribstock earlier in the year when researching for BBQ festivals as my brother is obsessed with it. Luckily for us they decided to do it all again this year! Tickets cost £50, which you might think sounds a bit steep but it covers all ten portions of ribs, 2 beers and a massive cocktail. And if you think one rib from each chef doesn't sound like a lot...think again people...I didn't even finish. At least, I don't think I did... I was fairly drunk by the end and I think I made it to number 7 or 8 - I can't tell you the actual number because I lost my voting card on the train...I think.

So, organised by Tweat Up,  there's 10 chefs, 10 portions of ribs, free drinks and also a hot sauce competition and 3 lovely judges, one of which was the be Gizzi Erskine, I love her. So I was really gutted when she couldn't make it as she was really poorly, half the reason I went was so she could sign something like my face :) But to be honest the food, drink and atmosphere was all so amazing it was a brilliant day anyway. 

By the way, there's a lot of photos here.... just needed to warn you.

"We’ve invited 10 of the UK’s best rib chefs and restaurants to battle for the title of 

‘Great British Rib Champion 2013’. Each will cook their own version of ribs, which will be blind tasted by our panel of judges. Guests will be able to taste a rib from every competitor and place their vote for their favourite.

The winning chef will take home a £3,000 prize. Rib tasting will take place from 1-5pm, 

with the winner announced at 6.00pm."

So the competitors:

BBQ Whisky Beer

Blue Boar Smokehouse

Carl Clarke / Rotary

Cattlegrid

Nanban / Tim Anderson

Neil Rankin

Prarie Fire BBQ

Red Dog Saloon

Roti Chai Street Kitchen

The Rib Man

The first rib we tried was from Neil Rankin. Although this was the first one, it was by far my favourite. A HUGE fried rib, everything is better fried right? It was a Texas/Korean mash-up BBQ. Chicken fried pork spare ribs with Korean buffalo sauce and ginger & lime mayo. I literally can't explain how good it was... I actually want the sauce alone by the bottle. It was ridiculously juicy and the only downside was that it didn't come with a spoon...I had to physically restrain myself from licking the plate like an absolute fatty...though kinda regret that I didn't! #wantthatsauce

See below for the ultimate epicness. It also came with a tote of Kraken rum and cola.... and so the drinking began.

The next stop was The Rib Man. My brother's been going on about him for ever. He found him on Brick Lane once and has never been the same since. I was told to 'go and engage with him when you're there, listen to everything, then come back and tell me everything he said to you". He is seen as a rib god and I wasn't disappointed. Famous for his Holy Fuck sauce that won the hot sauce competition the previous year and this time around he kept the title too! You can see them here hand-making the fresh tortillas that are filled with slow-cooked baby back rib meat, apple, balsa mela & Holy Fuck... and I kid you not, without prompt the only thing I could manage to say was indeed 'HOLY FUCK', in fact, I mouthed it. So in addition to the wrap you also got two rib bones dipped in the two sauces for those brave enough to go for a second hit.

 Elvis bingo dabbers!! I actually have these.

Also check out the many stages of Holy Fuck below.

Next came Nanban/Tim Anderson - Spare ribs rubbed with brown sugar, sansho, & shichimi 

mopped with soy sauce, rice vinegar, pickled ginger, awamori, & katsu sauce. I like that they had the ingredients on the counter... and he was quite easy on the eye while shouting 'RIBS!', which never hurts does it? I got an end rib, so while it looks small, it's all about what they did with it ;) The mop sauce was incredible, I really didn't expect it, and actually it was quite nice to have a slightly smaller rib at times as you soon great extremely full. I've been wanting to try some 'mopped' ribs and it didn't disappoint!

Marvel in the beauty....

Testing the bite mark factor.

Hello to Prarie Fire BBQ:

Apple & hickory wood smoked pork belly rib, fire kissed in a Kansas City sweet 'n' smoky sauce.

Served with beans, corn bread and a little shot of jelly for dessert. I loved all of the little extras you get with the ribs, the corn bread was probably my favourite. This was probably my second favourite sauce, if you love sweet ribs then this is the one for you, I could easily have devoured a whole rack.

 

Ah Cattle Grid, another beautiful rib, another beautiful man... no photo unfortunately. 

They also served it with a wet wipe, very, very clever. I see what you did there. 

Thick cut baby backs slow-cooked and fast-finished with Cattle Grid sauce.  

It also came with some home made coleslaw, can't go wrong right? This was actually just a really good rib, everything you expect, the typical BBQ rib, covered in sauce, falling off the bone, 

pure filth (good filth)... ok I could easily have a rack of these. I also got two ribs for some reason, 

who cares right? I took it and ran.

Who doesn't love a blackboard.

Inside the tent. You do kind of forget there is a world in Merchant Yard outside the tent, you get caught up in the world of smoke, meat, pig masks and country music.

The free cocktails...one of my many downfalls that day. Seriously strong but delicious, 

leading you to buy more cocktails...and loose 4 hours of your life.

Blue Boar Smokehouse - Chunky and juicy baby backs with a fiery Blue Boar dry rub. Slowly smoked then slathered in a zingy barbecue marinade.

This is where things start to get a little hazey, all I really remember is that I LOVED it. The dry rub was brilliant and you got a pot to take home with you, along with a pig mask (of course) and a shot of gin granita which I could easily have had a few more of, strange but worked really well with the ribs. Clever move people!

I don't like it when they lock eyes with you.... but nice beard :)

Loved this ice cream truck... I've said 'loved' too much I know, but it was really funky and retro 

and if I'd been a bit more sober when I'd left the tent I would have had a picture of me in front 

of it with my victory rolls in.

 Cheeky pic of Rob Beckett... sorry about the bad pose, you photobombed me. 

Little view of the check list...before I lost it.

This is where things got seriously hazey... this poor man had to pose... and they kept giving me free tequila.. technically not my fault. 

 Carl Clarke/Rotary - Smoked Oxford Sandy belly ribs, seaweed & sesame crunch, ‘next level slaw’, chilli peanut praline. Also came with a tequila shot and chilli chaser.  The crunch really was interesting, in all the right ways and the sauce was spot on I didn't expect the praline to be as good as it was but it totally worked.

I'm upset I don't have better pictures of this one.

Roti Chai Street Kitchen - 'Plantation Pigs' British belly ribs, tandoor-smoked and slow-cooked, with pineapple & red Naga 'ghost pepper' chilli marinade.  I've never had ribs with these spices before, the sauce was to die for and I was sure they'd be a front runner for winning, an unexpected surprise.

There really aren't many more pictures after this... you can just about see a shot in this picture, 

I was told it was cinnamon whisky...all I know is that they gave me A LOT of them and this is where it all goes dark for a few hours.

I didn't even get to the winners! BBQ Whiskey Beer! Shameful, hopefully they'll be there next year.

Or Red Dog Saloon for that matter. But 8/10 isn't bad right?

So that was Ribstock 2013. Everything we expect it to be, and in a little yard in Hackney. 

 will definitely be back next year, with a spoon, wet wipes and a decent camera.

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