Cakes #157 and #158 - Friday Cakes

Friday Cakes
#157 Cat Theme Cake - Hidden Cat.
#158 Friends First Friday Cake - Cheesecake with Fruit and Coconut Flakes with Nice Biscuit Base.

Missing summer! Friday cake with fruit to bring some summer here. It's so cold at the moment, and windy and humid, too. We are ready to move to any warmer place if there is one.

I do not know why but this winter has felt colder than ever. The wind is pushing through everything - and every body, including mine.

I am glad I have three cats and cats are warm. A warm and purring cat on your lap is the best you can have on a cold day. A cat and a cuppa - and a slice of cake!

I have baked quite a few hidden cat (and other hidden figures) cakes already. They are exciting as you cannot always be sure how they turn out - and if they turn out anything at all. Usually at least half of the cake I have managed to get fine.

Hidden figures change but my favourite recipe stays the same, you can find it here.

For this cheesecake I used my lime cheesecake recipe except I replaced digestive cookies with Nice biscuits. On the top I placed slices of nectarine, kiwi and pineapple and some grapes and a passion fruit cut in half. I brushed the fruit with jelly and poured the rest of the jelly on the cake to cover any uncovered spots between the fruit. The sides I decorated with coconut flakes.

Cake #156 - Beetroot Cake

Wednesday Natural Ingredient / Healthy Cake - Beetroot Cake with Cream Cheese.

A naturally pink cake for Valentine's Day!

Base
400 g cooked and grated beetroot
400 ml plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground ginger
200  g butter, melted
4 eggs
300 ml golden caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla sugar

Topping
150 g cream cheese
3 tbsp caster sugar
(a few drops of beetroot juice)

1. Preheat the oven to 200 C / 380 F and grease and flour a 24 cm x 24 cm square cake pan.
2. Beat eggs and sugar until white and fluffy.
3. Mix together all dry ingredients.
4. Add the dry ingredients together with grated beetroot and melted butter to the egg and sugar mix.
5. Pour batter into the pan and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes.
6. When completely cool, remove from pan and spread cheese mix on top.

Cake #155 - Mud Cake

Tuesday Humour Cake - Mud Cake.

The medium is the message!

Sorry I took your chocolate. I needed it for this cake.

Mud Cake

100 g dark chocolate

200 g butter

150 g golden caster sugar

150 g soft dark brown sugar

150 ml milk

150 g self-raising flour

2 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 175C / 350F and grease and flour a 23 cm spring-form pan.

2. Melt butter and chocolate and mix in both sugarsand stir until smooth.

3. Pour in milk.

4. Fold in flour and eggs.

5. Pour into pan and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes until a stick comes out slightly moist.

6. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack for at least 15 minutes.

7. Write your special message on top of the cake with icing or white chocolate.

Cakes #153 and #154 - Monday Cakes

Monday Cakes 
#153 Apple and Yogurt Cake with Vanilla and Cinnamon
#154 Chocolate and Raspberry baked Mascarpone Cake with Raspberry Sauce

Apple and Yogurt Cake with Vanilla and Cinnamon

Base
100  g butter
100 ml granulated sugar
1 egg
250 ml plain flour
1 tsp baking powder

Filling
500 g natural yogurt
200 ml fresh cream
2 tbsp potato flour or corn flour
2 eggs
150 ml granulated sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1  tsp vanilla extract

3 apples, sliced thinly
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp granulated sugar

1. Pre-heat the oven to 175 C / 350 F and grease and flour a Ø 24 cm spring form pan.
2. Beat together butter and sugar.
3. Add egg and then the dry ingredients.
4. Spread the batter evenly on the pan.
5. Mix all ingredients together for the filling and pour on the base.
6. Place the apple slices on top and sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on them.
7. Bake in the oven for about 45-50 minutes and let cool completely before removing from pan.

***

For the Chocolate and Raspberry baked Mascarpone Cake with Raspberry Sauce I used this recipe. I was originally looking for a recipe for a cake with mascarpone cheese in it. The recipe I used was for ricotta cheese but worked perfectly with mascarpone. A nice gooey cake and the raspberries made it even more delicious!

Cake #152 - Birthday Cake

Friends First Friday Cake - Birthday Cake.

I was ordered this cake for a Sweet 16 Party of two girls, for 50 people. Wow!

Chocolate cake was what they wanted and I also learned that both girls are very musical and love singing. That's why the notes Happy Birthday to You - and the cute little sugarpaste microphones and stereo which my daughter shaped.

The cake had been a success at the party so I can be happy! I wish I could make these cakes more often as it was a very inspirational challenge. And a learning experience, too - I piped the notes three times before I was just about satisfied with the result...

The 5+ kg cake filled and covered with chocolate before decorating it.

Cake #151 - Lemon Cat Cup Cake

Thursday Cat Theme Cake - Lemon Cat Cup Cake with Lemon Jam and Ice Cream.

No excuses. It was a hectic day and I nearly did not bake any cake at all as I rather do so than bake c**p. Then I remembered the very, very nice Nutella cake in a mug and I also remembered this cat mug warmer I knitted last year.

Again, I was amazed you can actually bake a yummy cake in a mug in the microwave within minutes after making the batter.

The recipe is from here. I did not make any sauce but instead, enjoyed the cake with lemon jam (lemon curd would have been better but I did not have any!) and vanilla ice cream. Good, good!

Cake #150 - Fruit and Nut Loaf

Wednesday Natural Ingredient / Healthy Cake - Dairy-Free Fruit and Nut Loaf of Dates, Apricots, Walnuts, Sunflower Seeds and Pumpkin Seeds.

Another brown cake. Pathetic. When I look at pictures of my cakes from the past week they all are brown and very dull-looking. Of course they are more colourful in real life! Like this one - the orange apricot really has a bright orange colour but in the picture it does not show up. Dull. Maybe I should change the background somehow. Or create more colourful cakes. After all, I am more a baker than a photographer.

The recipe for this cake is from here. I used sunflower oil instead of butter so therefore I can call it dairy-free. And I also used a little different fruit and nuts compared to the recipe - dates, dried apricots, walnuts, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds but otherwise followed the recipe carefully. Worth baking and works well as a morning boost, too!