orange and raisin scones

This one is for Dad as I know he's partial to scones.  I have rather a lot of whipped cream left over from St George's Day so a good way to use some up.


to make about 8 scones
225g self raising flour
50g butter
2tsp baking powder
25g caster sugar
1 egg
zest of 1 orange
juice of 1 orange
*50g raisins


Combine the flour, baking powder and sugar, and rub in the butter.  Beat the egg and make up the amount of liquid to 130ml with the orange juice and a bit of milk if need be.  Add the orange zest,  raisins, egg and juice to the flour mixture and form a soft dough.  Gently roll it out to about 15-20mm thick and cut up using a 60mm cutter - don't mess it about too much as you want them to be light.  Bake in the oven for about 12-15 minutes at 220c.

Serve with too much jam and whipped cream


* I always soak my dried fruit it boiling water (or tea without milk) for at least 10 minutes before using them as it makes them a bit more succulent.


So scones...the fastest cake in the world...

breast-ever birthday cake

Making a birthday cake for a friend who is 60 this week.  What does a 60 year old man like?  Hmmm?  I had a few suggestions from other people but decided to do a boob cake.  This is my first attempt at a novelty cake.

Initially I tried to make the entire cake in a 1lt pudding basin to get the right shape but the sponge wouldn't cook properly all the way through.  I was left with an uncooked centre so the outside was munched on with a cup of tea whilst I thought about what to do next.  Second attempt was still in the pudding basin but cooked in the microwave.  Whilst this cooked properly and had a good shape I'm not so keen on the texture of microwave sponges.  They seem more like steamed sponges and have a tendency to go a bit dry once cooled.  That one is now in the freezer ready to make a trifle.  Third (and final attempt) was a basic Victoria sponge, half in the pudding basin for the round top and the other half in a 7" round sandwich tin.

Per boob (as I only did one at a time)

175g stork cake margarine
175g caster sugar
175 self raising flour
1 1/12 tsp baking powder
3 eggs

Beat together margarine and sugar.  Add eggs.  Beat well, then add flour and baking powder.  Pour equally into a greased pudding basin and lined sandwich tin.  Bake at 180c for about 25-30 minutes.  I found the pudding basin section took a longer than the tin.

Leave to cool and do it all again.

I used butter icing and home-made blackberry jam in the middle.  For the butter icing I used 200g butter and 400g icing sugar.  Beat well and try not to eat too much.

For decorating, (after a bit of googling to get some ideas I found a lovely pair by Little Pickers)  I reserved some of the butter icing and covered the cake completely with a thin layer to ensure the icing stuck.  I also made sure the gaps where the two cakes joined were covered to ensure a smooth finish.  To make the flesh colour I used a tiny bit of red food colouring and an even tinier bit of yellow in a block of white ready made icing.  Smooth it over and then go mad on the bra.  The lace was just thin bits of black icing slightly crumpled.

Note to self: make sure you cut your finger nails quite short before doing icing again!

Very pleased with these.

pineapple upsidedown cake

A seventies special today.  I had a pineapple that was starting to look a bit past its best so pineapple upsidedown cake it is.  Haven't had this for absolutely years and never made it before.

for the pineapple top/bottom
4 thick slices of pineapple
50g light brown sugar
50g butter
glacé cherries

Cream together the butter and sugar and spread over the bottom of a 20cm square lined tin.  Arrange the pineapple in a pretty pattern then put cherries in the centre of the rings and dot some round.  Try not to eat too many cherries!

for the cakey bottom/top
150g stork for cakes
150g self raising flour
150g caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
3 tbsp of some liquid*

* use the syrup out of the tin if using tinned pineapple, or honey, or (as I did today) some toffee ice cream sauce left over from the banoffi cupcakes.

Cream together the margarine and sugar.  Beat in the eggs, then the flour, baking powder and liquid.  Pour over the pineapple and bake for about 40minutes at 160c.  Leave to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes to let the syrup set a bit then flip it over and get out the flares.

Easypeasy