The Olympic Flame Comes to Bolton!

Today the Olympic flame arrived in Bolton. The town has been preparing for months! This week Bolton town centre has become awash with union jacks and has been bedecked in bunting. 

At work we like to go to town on events like this, and try to do a spot of fundraising while we're at it. Today's event was in aid of Hope Hospital's Haematology unit. One of the ladies I work with recently lost her sister-in-law to Leukaemia, so we were keen to do what we could.

Each team were given a country to base their desk decorations on. The office looked fantastic! Buntings everywhere, pictures, people dressing up, our own torch relay, a raffle, a bake sale and a guest appearance from Crackerjack host Stu Francis. It was all going on!

When I have an occasion looming, I start to plan my cake. This one has been on the cards for quite some time! This is my Olympic Stadium Banana Bundt Cake. I chose bananas because they are full of energy for athletes... (poorest excuse to eat cake... EVER)

It was intended for the bake sale, but in the end it became part of the raffle. Fate is a right funny bugger, and I ended up winning it! My friend Gail bid £20 to take the cake home for her step-son's birthday, so the cash went straight into the fund. 

Here's the recipe for the cake... 

Banana Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

• 240g unsalted butter, softened
• 675g golden caster sugar
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 460g plain flour
• 6 medium eggs
• 250ml sour cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp lemon extract
• 1 and a half large ripe bananas, mashed (about 250ml)

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to gas 3/160 C.
2. Grease and flour a 10 inch bundt tin. I used a stadium bundt tin for the occasion!
3. Sift the flour, sugar and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. 
4. Add the softened butter and mix thoroughly until it resembles breadcrumbs. I found it best to do this with a wooden spoon (yes, I tried it in the mixer and literally showered myself with the contents... smooth as ever...)
5. Add all the eggs and stir in.
6. Add the sour cream and stir again.
7. Now use the mixer! Beat on a moderate speed for about 3 minutes.
8. Add the banana and the extracts and beat for a further minute. The mixture will now look pale and fluffy.
9. Note: don't worry that the flour will be over mixed. The sour cream seems to lighten the mix and the finished product is firm enough to hold its shape, but not at all tough.
10. Pour into your tin and bake for an hour and a half. My tin was shallower, so mine only needed about an hour and 15 minutes. As always, you know it's done when the cake is brown on top, firm to touch, the sides of the cake shrink away from the tin and a skewer comes out clean. This allows you to use pretty much any tin! (always check progress at about 40 mins).
11. Allow the cake to cool for exactly ten minutes (set a timer) and then turn it out. It will shrink a little more as it cools - don't panic!
12. Cool fully before decorating.
13. I decorated mine with sweets, flags, icing and general Olympic paraphernalia! 

Here are some pictures of the event too!

Germany...

Participants in the team torch relay

France...

Japan...

One Man Band

Me with Stu Francis and my Olympic stadium bundt!

We raised over £240 for our chosen charity. Well done folks!

Update: 

Last month Laura from Laura Loves Cakes and I set a new Blogger Challenge called Calendar Cakes. July 2012's theme is the Olympic Games. Perfect! So here's my entry!

Bloggers: Please respect the fact I am sharing my own ideas and recipe. Blood, sweat and many tears have gone into getting this right, so you may enjoy a perfect bundt. If you wish to re-blog a recipe from these variations, please credit my blog and link to this original post rather than pasting the recipe on your own page. 

Please see my Creative Commons Copyright information for more details. Thank you.