Play date sweet shop cake

Things in our house have been a whirl of activity with weekend activities, play dates, lots of crafting, extra works commitments and what currently feels like generalised mayhem. 

Here's what our little blossom made with her beautiful buddy. They were so stoked with their efforts! It was actually very easy to make from a simple sponge base, assorted lollies and quite a lot of raspberry buttercream. 

Sweet Shop Cake, made with a simple sponge

For the cake:
3 eggs
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons cornflour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 190deg. C and line a 20 x 30cm sponge roll tin with baking paper. 

Beat the eggs and caster sugar together until it is pale and thick. It should fall into defined ribbons when the whisk fitting is lifted from the beater bowl. 

Sift the flour, cornflour and baking powder, then gently fold it into the egg mixture. 

Pour the sponge into the lined tin and smooth over the top. 

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the sponge springs back when pressed. Turn out onto a cooling rack and remove the baking paper. Leave to cool before attempting the decoration.








For the buttercream:
200g butter - softened
1 cup icing sugar
3 tablespoons boiling water
the juice of a lemon
4 tablespoons freeze dried raspberry powder

Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. With the beater running, add the boiling water one tablespoon at a time. Beat well in between each addition. Lastly add the lemon juice followed by the raspberry powder. Test the flavour and add more raspberry if you like a more intensive flavour. 

To decorate:
an assortment of sweet varieties, about 1/4 cup of each 
2 waffle icecream cones
1 or 2 small cupcake cases

Cut the cake width-ways into thirds. Then cut one of the thirds in two again. The larger parts form the shop table, while one small section is the back of the counter and the other goes in front of the bench. It really doesn't matter how it is arranged!

Use some of the buttercream to sandwich the sponge pieces together. Now smooth a layer of butter cream over the outside of the cakes. Using a bread knife cut the tops off the waffle cones. The girls then decided how they would arrange the sweet shop counter and pressed the cones into the cake. They then arranged the lollies into the cones and cupcake case, and stuck the lollipops into place. They finished by writing price tags for their shop. 

You may have noticed that things on the screen front have been pretty quiet; behind the scenes I've been concentrating on getting some serious crafting done. With plenty of potential blog posts bubbling in the back ground watch this space for upcoming food and craft ideas.  

Delicious La Torta di Mele - Italian Apple Cake

It's sometimes a bit of a challenge to come up with a 'not-so-heavy' winter pudding when the only seasonal fruits around are apples and pears. With our freezer stash of PYO raspberries exhausted, and the supermarket ones all imported from china, I resolved to 'keep it seasonal' and persevere with what has come to seem like one-hundred-and-one-ways-with-apples. Our dinner guests are also quite healthy eaters, so wedges of heavy chocolate cheesecake did not appeal. It was about then that I remembered this lovely recipe for Italian Apple Cake. I first tried this recipe when one of my great Plunket group friends made it for us. She got the recipe from a cooking class in Tuscany. (Pause to nostalgically remember pre-children lifestyle)

This is a great, quick and light cake that can be made a little in advance and popped in the oven when the guests arrive. It needs at least 20 minutes of resting time after cooking before it can be easily sliced, and is best served warm. If you don't have pinenuts then walnuts or almonds will be fine. This cake easily serves 8 people. 

La Torta di Mele - Apple Cake

100g butter

300g caster sugar

1 grated lemon rind

1/2 cup milk

3 eggs

120g plain flour

16g baking powder

5 apples

50g pinenuts

100g raisin

Preheat the oven to 175deg. C and line a large round 30cm baking tin with baking paper.                                                                                                                     Peel, core and slice the apples. Toss with lemon juice to prevent from browning. 

With a mixer, blend the soft butter, sugar and lemon rind. It will remain quite grainy because of the difference in quantities of butter and sugar. 

After 5 minutes of beating, add the warmed milk, eggs, and sifted flour and baking powder and mix well. 

Fold in the prepared apples, pinenuts and raisins. 

Pour the cake batter into the pan and shake to level out. 

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes until golden and risen. 

Leave the cake to settle for at least 20 minutes before sliding out of the tin, slicing and serving with cream and ice cream. Delicious!

At last, a great Feijoa Cake!

I'm the first to admit that sometimes a recipe just doesn't turn out the way I intended. My first attempt at formulating a feijoa cake wasn't much to write home. Despite the kind and forgiving assurances of my friends, I just knew I wasn't going to be making that one again. And so, after a little digging in the recipe archive - an old folder I've had since I was a teenager, I found an old apple cake recipe I could convert. I added crystallised ginger for a little zing and walnuts for texture.

Feijoa, Ginger and Walnut Cake
1 cup peeled and sliced feijoa
1 cup caster sugar
120g butter
1 egg
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
1/2 cup walnuts - sliced
1/2 cup sultanas
1/4 cup crystallised ginger - finely sliced



Preheat the oven to 180deg. C and line a 20cm round, loose bottom tin with baking paper. 

Place the freshly peeled and sliced feijoas into a bowl and mix in the caster sugar. Leave for a few minutes, then add the melted butter and beaten egg into the feijoa mixture.

Sift in the flour, baking powder, salt and spices. Stir until just mixed. Add the fruit and nuts and gently combine. 

 

Place into the lined tin and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean and the cake is beginning to brown.The cake takes some cooking as the feijoas make it quite a wet mixture.Cool in the tin, then turn out.

No icing is required, but a dusting of icing sugar looks really good.

This cake makes a really good dessert served warm or an afternoon tea cake served cold.

Happy baking!