Mistletoe and Wine Bundt Cake

Before we get going, no, I am not a fan of Cliff. Quite the opposite in fact! This was a cakey challenge by my friend Anna. I saw her challenge, and raised her Mistletoe and Wine cake with a gilded framed picture of Sir Cliff himself. I was sick of standard Christmas cake toppers; who needs another plastic Santa hey?

This cake is actually Prosecco flavoured, and I kept the mistletoe to the decoration, seeing as it's highly poisonous. That would be a proper festive ruiner! I added a bit of ginger to warm things up, and covered the whole thing in white chocolate. I even added a little yuletide green ribbon to the inside of the cake; a nice little trick which will make folk think you're really clever, when actually it's very easy.

Ingredients

• 225g unsalted butter
• 100g of vegetable fat 
• 550g golden caster sugar
• 100g soft brown sugar
• 6 medium eggs
• 450g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 tsp ground ginger
• 250ml Prosecco (or lemonade)
• Green food colouring gel
• 1 jar of white chocolate spread
• Choice of decorations. I used Lindor white chocolate balls, mistletoe tinsel, a mistletoe tree decoration, a smattering of green glitter, and Cliff Richard in a gold frame. Obviously. (Cliff in a frame optional).

Method

1. Grease and flour a regular sized bundt tin (2.4l, 10 cup, 10 inch). I used the Nordic Ware Kugelhopf.
2. Soften the butter and vegetable fat and then cream in the sugar in stages.
3. Add the eggs one at a time on a slow setting.
4. Add all the remaining dry ingredients to a large bowl.
5. Add the vanilla extract to the Prosecco.
6. Sift in 1/3 of the dry ingredients, followed by 1/2 of the liquid. Repeat until all the flour and liquid is used up. Fold it in gently...
7. Tip: at this stage it will look a shocking festive mess. Do not worry... 
8. Give the whole thing a quick mix for about 10 seconds or until well combined. Magic.
9. Put five 5 heaped tablespoons of the mix into a different bowl, and dye green, 
10. Half fill the tin with the standard coloured mix.
11. Spoon your green mix over the top and smooth out.
12. Cover with the remaining standard mix. 
13. Bake at gas 3/160 C for about an hour and a half. Just turn it after about an hour.
14. It should be shrinking from the sides and a skewer should come out clean.
15. Let it cool in the tin for ten minutes then turn it out. 
16. Allow to cool fully before icing. 
17. Warm the chocolate spread in the microwave until it's runny, then pour over the cake. 
18. Decorate with Mistletoe decorations, but not the real stuff - it's not your friend! 

Bloggers: Please respect the fact I am sharing my own ideas and basic 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.

Selection Box Bundt Cake

I was having a bit of a week. On the upside, I hadn't killed anyone, not got myself in a whole world of trouble, and not got sacked. Cash back. Cue my crackers friend Anna; she of ace Swedish accent, lilac hair, and madness that would rival the proverbial box of frogs. I adore her. She rocked up at my desk with gift in hand, 'Clive' etched on the wrapping paper (don't ask).  

Inside was one of the best items I have ever seen. Not for those who are easily offended, but it made me laugh - lots, and aloud. Multiple times. Er, see below...

I decided the only way to reciprocate such finery was to prove that she very much falls into the opposite category, so she was getting a bundt! Had to be a selection box bundt. She has two little boys and a husband who would help to devour such an item too. A moist, fudgy cake, topped with more chocolate, and Cadbury's finest Freddo's, amongst other items. Not just for Christmas...

Ingredients:

• 225g butter
• 450g golden caster sugar
• 4 medium eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 300g plain flour
• 50g good quality cocoa powder - I used Green and Blacks
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 200ml vanilla yoghurt with chocolate flecks - I used Muller Light
• 100ml chocolate milk
• 150g chocolate chips 
• 2 heaped tbsp chocolate spread
• 1 jar of chocolate spread (minus the above mentioned spoonfuls)
• Lots of chocolate bars, coins, buttons etc. More the merrier. 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to gas 3/160 c
2. Prepare a regular sized bundt tin - 2.4l, 10 cup, 10 inch with Cake Release spray/melted butter and dust with flour with a little cocoa mixed in.
3. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
5. Add the vanilla extract.
6. In a separate bowl, measure out the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
7. Pour the yoghurt and chocolate milk into a jug.
8. Sift in a third of the flour mix followed by half the yoghurt mix. Repeat this until everything is combined.
9. Stir in the chocolate spread and chocolate chips.
10. Give everything a quick mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds.
11. Pour the mix into your prepared tin. 
12. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. 
13. Leave the cake to cool for ten minutes before removing from the tin.
14. When the cake is fully cool, pop the chocolate spread into a jug and heat in the microwave to loosen it. Tip over your cake.
15. Now throw as many chocolate bars, coins etc at the cake as you see fit. Literally if you wish. 

Bloggers: Please respect the fact I am sharing my own ideas and basic 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.

Baileys Yule Log

Challenge set. Baileys/cake interface. The challenger... Statuo and Prestige Drinks, the baker... well, me, obviously. Last year my friend Tash bought me this beautiful Nordic Ware Yule Log tin, which has lay dormant for 12 months, until this weekend!

I had a plan. A vision. A Baileys infused chocolate cake; moist, almost fudgy, smothered in chocolate and with a little glitz on top. I detest playing with sugar paste, so I utilised the tin to make imprints of the pretty holly leaves, and put as much Bailey's in as I dared, without it being an utter wreck!

The verdict? Very happy campers at Statuo today. Cake demolished! I'll chalk that one up as a success then.

Ingredients:

• 225g butter
• 450g golden caster sugar
• 4 medium eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 300g plain flour
• 50g good quality cocoa powder - I used Green and Blacks
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 200ml vanilla yoghurt with chocolate flecks - I used Muller Light
• 100ml Baileys
• 150g chocolate chips 
• 2 heaped tbsp chocolate spread
• 1 jar of chocolate spread (minus the above mentioned spoonfuls)
• Sugar paste - red and green
• Glitter. If you're feeling glitzy.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to gas 3/160 c
2. Prepare a regular sized bundt tin - 2.4l, 10 cup, 10 inch with Cake Release spray/melted butter and dust with flour with a little cocoa mixed in.
3. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
5. Add the vanilla extract.
6. In a separate bowl, measure out the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
7. Pour the yoghurt and Baileys into a jug.
8. Sift in a third of the flour mix followed by half the yoghurt mix. Repeat this until everything is combined.
9. Stir in the chocolate spread and chocolate chips.
10. Give everything a quick mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds.
11. Pour the mix into your prepared tin. 
12. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. 
13. Leave the cake to cool for ten minutes before removing from the tin.
14. When the cake is fully cool, pop the chocolate spread into a jug and heat in the microwave to loosen it. Tip over your cake.
15. Make your berries and leaves from the sugar paste, and dip in the glitter. Pop on your log and off you trot!

Bloggers: Please respect the fact I am sharing my own ideas and basic 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.

Pecan Pie Bundt Cake

Hate Christmas cake? Sick of your mum serving up a chunk of Christmas pud that will keep Gaviscon in business until Boxing Day 2017? Or perhaps you've been challenged to making dessert, and are feeling a little under pressure... Worry not my friends, for I am here to help you out of this Yuletide predicament. I have a few options up my glittery sleeve.

Cake challenges are the best, especially when you're being hugely indecisive when faced with many options. Homepride saw my festive predicament, and set a Facebook poll to see what you Christmassy little lot were fancying. The options were:

• Hot chocolate bundt with toasted marshmallows
• Pecan pie bundt
• Snowball bundt

I really wasn't sure which would be most popular, as they're all crowd pleasing flavours over the festive season, and looking at the results, it was very close indeed! But here we have it, in its very own 'Bundt Chart'. The pecan pie won your vote, so get baking...

The combination of the dark sugars, toffee yoghurt and syrup go perfectly with the nutty pecan flavour. Eaten cold it's a beautifully moist cake, best served with thick vanilla cream, but it can quickly be turned into a pudding by warming it slightly and serving with ice cream or custard. Likewise, it can be eaten directly from the cake carrier, with your hands, when no-one is looking. I checked. 

For the full details, please pop over to the Homepride website! Recipe coming soon... 

Snowball Bundt Cake

It's festive cake time! I love it too much... what I dislike is having to go to work, do shopping, be a grown up, and anything else which stops me from just staying at home and baking.

This week I was off to the hairdressers to see my long suffering colourist, Aimee. She's the little beaut responsible for my ever changing, technicoloured barnet. As a little thank you, I decided to make her a bundt of her very own. With all the booze, shimmer and glitter, this was the perfect cake for a glamourous girl.

I'm a big fan of the decoration reflecting what's in the cake, so my Snowball flavoured cake had to be a snowy scene, complete with its own Snowman. I know it's in your head now too. Sorry.

I wanted the cake to be light and zesty, but with a real warming kick from the booze, so the sponge itself is laced with Advocaat and lemon, whilst the frosting is made with lemonade and vodka. An actual Snowball drink, in a cake. Well paint me red and call me Mrs Claus, this is one festive little bundt!

Cake:

• 225g butter
• 450g golden caster sugar
• 4 medium eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 350g Homepride plain flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 250ml lemon yoghurt
• 100ml Advocaat
• Zest of 1 lemon

Topping:

• 300g icing sugar
• a good splash of vodka
• Enough lemonade to make a runny icing
• Gold cake glitter (optional)
• Anything remotely snow-like which is edible! 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to gas 3/160 c
2. Prepare a regular sized bundt tin - 2.4l, 10 cup, 10 inch with melted butter and dust with flour.
3. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
5. Stir in the vanilla extract.
6. In a separate bowl, measure out the flour and bicarbonate of soda.
7. Pour the yoghurt into a jug, and add the Advocaat and lemon zest.
8. Sift in a third of the flour mix followed by half the yoghurt. Repeat this until everything is combined. 
9. Give everything a quick mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds.
10. Pour the mix into your prepared tin. 
11. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. 
12. Leave the cake to cool for ten minutes before removing from the tin.
13. When completely cool, mix the icing sugar with a good splash of vodka and enough lemonade to make a runny icing.
14. Tip it over your cake like you just necked the rest of the vodka - gravity id your friend here!
15. Decorate with all the snow related edible stuff that the shops have to offer. More is more here. Tis the season.  

Bloggers: Please respect the fact I am sharing my own ideas and basic 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.

Hot Chocolate Bundt Cake with Toasted Marshmallows

I had the urge to bake. It was cold, a bit drizzly, and I needed to make something comforting. Granted, I wouldn't be eating it as I'm mid-way through the Body Coach 90 Day SSS (more on that later), but the act of baking provides some joy to my sugar starved routine.

This one's been in the arsenal for a while now, and a dismal Sunday was the perfect time to crack it open. Imagine this... a super-moist chocolate cake, drizzled in molten chocolate, and topped with sticky little pillows of joy. I had you at chocolate, didn't I?

I sent this one to the Statuo lot, as I already knew I could never be trusted in its presence. Enjoy this one with a big mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream, or a lovely cup of tea. Fluffy socks and dressing gown optional, but advised.

 Ingredients:

• 225g butter
• 450g golden caster sugar
• 4 medium eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 300g plain flour
• 50g good quality cocoa powder - I used Green and Blacks
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 200ml vanilla yoghurt with chocolate flecks - I used Muller Light
• 75ml chocolate milk
• 150g chocolate chips 
• 1 heaped tbsp chocolate spread
• 1 jar of chocolate spread (minus the above mentioned spoonful)
• Large marshmallows

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to gas 3/160 c
2. Prepare a regular sized bundt tin - 2.4l, 10 cup, 10 inch with Cake Release spray/melted butter and dust with flour with a little cocoa mixed in.
3. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
5. Add the vanilla extract.
6. In a separate bowl, measure out the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
7. Pour the yoghurt and chocolate milk into a jug.
8. Sift in a third of the flour mix followed by half the yoghurt mix. Repeat this until everything is combined.
9. Stir in the chocolate spread.
10. Give everything a quick mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds.
11. Pour the mix into your prepared tin. 
12. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. 
13. Leave the cake to cool for ten minutes before removing from the tin.
14. When the cake is fully cool, pop the chocolate spread into a jug and heat in the microwave to loosen it. Tip over your cake.
15. Toast your marshmallows on a foil lined baking sheet under the grill, and pop on top when cooled.

Bloggers: Please respect the fact I am sharing my own ideas and basic 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.

The best ever festive roasties

It's lunchtime on Friday 9th December, and I've already had one Christmas Dinner so far this month. I feel it's my duty to cane as many of these as I can over the festive period, for when they are gone, they are gone. At the heart of this glorious meal is the golden, fat seared roast potato, which is nowhere to be seen on my Body Coach eating plan. When they're good, they are a thing of joy, but get a bad one, and that culprit will be on the naughty list for the rest of eternity (or until they make better ones). 

United Utilities are asking us foodie folk to spare a thought for their amazing teams who de-gunk our water pipes this Christmas. Did you know that the average North West household pours 14Ibs of fat, oils and grease down the drain in a year. Across the region, this equates to 2.9 million stone - the weight of over 243,000 UK adults (more than the population of Oldham!). Disgusting! 

You might not have realised that United Utilities have to attend over 53,000 call-outs to pipe blockages every year at a cost of £20 million. That's caused by folk tipping fat down their drains.

What can I do instead?

• Pop it back in the container when cool, and chuck it in the bin.
• Goose and duck fat can actually be reused a few times too!
• Use lighter cooking methods where possible. I only ever use coconut oil to fry things other than roasties. No excess means no waste. You might lose a few pounds too...

‘My Roastie Photie’ - #binfat2winthat

United Utilities is launching the ‘My Roastie Photie’ competition, asking people to post a photo of their perfectly cooked roast potato with the hashtag #binfat2winthat – giving five people the chance to bag £100 of food vouchers. SO SHOW ME YOUR ROASTIES!

Get them shared, and say hello to those fat clearing heroes at United Utilities on Facebook or Twitter. 

So here's my offering. The best roasties in the west, in my opinion anyway!

Ingredients

• 1.5 kilos of Maris Piper potatoes
• 320g jar of duck fat (I used the M&S one)
• 1.5 tbsp semolina powder
• Maldon sea salt

Method

1. Peel the potatoes and cut into chunks. Cut diagonally in order to maximise the exposed surface area. This means more crispiness! Give them a wash in a colander before putting in the pan.
2. Preheat the oven to 'Hades' level. The hotter the better! Place the shelf on the top rung of the 'middle' section. 
3. Pour the whole tub of duck fat into a large, heavy bottomed roasting tin and place in the oven.
4. Pop the spuds into cold, salted water and bring to a simmer. Parboil for 5 minutes. 
5. Drain and then put back in the pan. 
6. Sprinkle in the semolina.
7. Right. Muscles needed folks. Start chuffing! Shake that pan like you're in a pan shaking competition! You're also burning a few calories, so you don't need to feel bad about the amount you will eat later... The edges should be all fluffy (see above).
8. Your duck fat should be bubbling nicely in the oven. Remove the roasting tray and put onto the hob. BE CAREFUL! It's hotter than hell fire!
9. Working quickly, place the potatoes into the bubbling fat. Do not tip them from the pan. You will regret this on your way to A&E. I generally do it carefully by hand so I can do a few at a time, but I would recommend using cooking tongs.
10. Back in the oven sharpish!
11. Cook for 30 minutes.
12. Turn using tongs.
13. Back in for 30 minutes.
14. Turn using tongs.
15. You are looking for a nice golden brown colour all over (see above). They will probably need at least another 20 minutes, but unlike baking this is no exact science. Take them out when they are done!
16. Remove from the hot fat using tongs and into a large ovenproof bowl lined with kitchen roll.
17. Dab any excess fat with more kitchen roll. Remove all said kitchen roll.
18. Sprinkle with about 1 tsp of Maldon sea salt.

I generally then leave these in the bottom of a medium oven whilst I cook my veggies and carve the meat. This gives them an extra bit of crispy wonderfulness.