Chocolate and Toffee Marathon Cake

I recently got asked to make a cake for a charity event and was more than happy to put my baking mitts on for a good cause. Two girls are running the London marathon to raise money for PhabKids charity who promote and encourage people with and without physical disabilities to come together on equal terms.

If i was more skilled in the art of sugar paste i had ideas of grandeur and wanted to create a cake with a running track but instead created an athletes nightmare in the form of the world's most unhealthy cake. I have created a 4 layer cake with  2 x chocolate sponges and 2 x sticky toffee pudding sponges with toffee and chocolate fudge buttercream... as i said nice and light!


To make your chocolate sponges you will need:
6 eggs (seperated)
100g cocoa powder
100g melted unsalted butter
85g muscavado sugar
2-3 tbsp milk
150g melted dark chocolate (70% cocoa or more)

To make your toffee sponges:
180g stoned medjool dates
250ml of black tea
1/2 tsp baking powder
85g unsalted butter
180g Self raising flour
1/2 tsp of mixed spice
180g golden sugar
2 eggs beaten

For your Sticky Toffee Sauce ( you will need half for your butter icing):
150ml double cream
100g golden caster sugar
100g unsalted butter

Chocolate Fudge Icing:
100g dark chocolate
50g unsalted butter
200g icing sugar

Toffee Icing:
250g unsalted butter
400g icing sugar
half of your sticky toffee sauce

1. To make your Chocolate sponges seperate your eggs and to your yolks add your cocoa powder and melted dark chocolate and melted butter and put to one side. Whisk up your egg whites until light and fluffy and then slowly add your muscavado sugar until the mixture forms stiff peaks. Gently fold in your chocolate mixture into the egg whites and when folded in half your mixture and put it into two greased and lined victoria sponge tins. Place into a pre-heated oven at 160° for 30 minutes.

2. In the meantime you can make your toffee sponges. Place your dates and tea into a saucepan on a medium heat with the 1/2 tsp of baking powder for 4 minutes. In a mixing bowl cream your sugar and butter and then slowly whisk in your mixed spice flour and eggs. Finally whisk in your date mixture and half the mixture and pour each half into a greased and lined victoria sandwich tin. Bake these for 20 minutes at 160°.

3. Leave all your cakes to cool for half an hour. Once cooled make your sticky toffee sauce by melting your cream, butter and golden caster sugar together. Prick all of your sponges and pour over the toffee sauce to let the sponges absorb the sauce.

4. To make your toffee butter cream, cream together your butter and icing sugar and then whisk in the other half of your toffee sauce once it is cooled. Now layer your cake with Chocolate sponge, a layer of butter cream, toffee sponge, a layer of butter cream and repeat this with your two other sponges. On the top layer do not cover with butter cream.

5. Put this in the fridge to let the butter cream firm up. In the meantime you can make the chocolate fudge icing. Melt your chocolate and mix this into creamed butter and icing sugar. Thinly spread this over the entire cake so it is completely covered, the neater the better. 

6. You can decorate this however you wish, I chose to cover it in my favourite chocolate bars and then drizzled white chocolate over the top! This is a slightly time consuming recipe but for special occasions and worthy causes it is worth taking the time as it looks great! 

For more information on the charity Hannah and Ellie were raising money for, Phab Kids website: http://www.phabkids.co.uk/

Sticky Pear and Ginger Muffins

If i can find any excuse to cook with Ginger i will, and this seemed like the perfect excuse. I have seen  lots of people have made ginger and pear muffins but i thought that a little sticky toffee sauce and a few tweaks could only make it more delicious! 

For your muffins you will need:

320g Golden caster sugar

320g Self Raising Flour

320g Butter

100g sour cream

3 eggs 

thumb sized peice of fresh ginger

4 small pears

1/2 tsp of Cinammon

For the Toffee Sauce:

100g Muscavado sugar

150ml Double cream

1. Cream together your eggs and sugar and slowly add your flour, eggs and sour cream to the mixture until dropping consistency ( it drops off your spoon). If  your mixture is too heavy add a little milk until you get the right consistency.

2. Now grate in your fresh ginger and mix this in with your 1/2 tsp of cinammon. Now you are ready to fill your muffin cases. Fill your cases half full as you need room to add your pear!

3. Cut your pear peices into thumb sized shapes. You can cut them however you like but i have cut mine to have a point at the top so it looks like the top of the pear. Once cut place them in the centre of your mixture pushing them down slightly.

4. Place these into a pre-heated oven of 170°  for 20-25 minutes and leave to cool for 30 minutes. In the meantime you can make your toffee sauce.

5. Place your muscavado sugar and cream into a heavy based saucepan on a medium heat to melt the sugar into the cream. Depending how gingery you would like your muffins to be, you could put another piece of ginger into your cream and sugar mixture, to infuse it with the ginger's flavour and remove once the sauce is ready. 

6. Finally prick your muffins a few times on top and pour over your toffee sauce. By pricking holes in your muffins you are allowing the sauce to seep into the sponge making it even more sticky. Do not worry about being neat they look better if they are drowned in sauce. For the purposes of my picture i used pears with stalks but i would encourage you to make your muffins without to save your teeth the trouble!

I hope you like this latest addition to my blog i would love to hear from anyone who has given this recipe a go. Happy Baking!

Iberico ham and Persimmon Galette

A lot of people i know have been cooking with persimmon in puddings and salads and until recently i had never even heard of it. So far on my blog, i have been indulging in sweet recipes but if i'm honest i'm much more of a savoury girl! Today i had a real hanckering for something unhealthy and delicious using my new found ingredient to garnish it. I decided to make a Galette as opposed to a pie as you can make the edges of your pastry as untidy as possibly and yet it somehow appears charmingly rustic!

For your pastry you will need:

125g Plain flour
55g salted butter
2 tbsp of dried herbs ( i used sage but rosemary would be a good alternative!)
3-4 tbsp of cold water

For your unhealthy filling you will need:

250g of Ricotta
100g of Feta
4 egg yolks
A generous handful of watercress
half a red onion
2 medium sized potatoes chopped into cubes
250g Iberico ham
1 Persimmon finely sliced ( 1mm) to Garnish

1. Firstly make your shortcrust pastry by adding your butter ( cut into cubes) to your plain flour and herbs. Work the butter into the dry ingredients until a crumbly consistency then add your cold water and work with the knife until it starts to form a dough. The less the dough is worked the better your pastry will be! Now cling film your pastry and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.

2. In the meantime boil your potatoes until soft and then cut into cubes. Dry your cubes of potato and add it to your ricotta, feta, watercress, chopped red onion, roughly torn iberico ham and egg yolks. Mix all these ingredients together  and put to one side.

3. Take your pastry from the fridge and roll it out in the circular shape until it is 0.5-1cm thick. Then place this on baking parchment and then put the baking parchment and paper on a baking tray. Put all of your galette filling in the centre of your pastry and pile it high.

4.On top of your mixture layer your persimmon with a few bits of iberico and then fold over the edges of the pastry, do not worry about being neat! With a pastry brush, brush your pastry with egg yolks to give your galette colour.

5. Pop your Galette in the oven at 175° for 40 minutes and then leave it to cool on a cooling rack. If you put it on a plate straight away your galette will have a soggy bottom! When cooled enjoy with some rocket or more water cress. This recipe is easy peasy and absolutely delicious!