Double dose
A couple of bits of September baking. Two new experimental bakes, both from my Hummingbird bakery book. First up, 7Up pound cake (or lemonade cake I guess, if you don’t know 7Up). This was a lovely loaf cake which tasted citrusy and not too sweet at all. A nice non-sickly dessert that was really easy to make. I always judge desserts on whether my Dad would like them or not - he’s not a sweet dessert person - and this one he would like for sure. I really recommend this as a simple tasty cake. Plus using my silicon loaf tin made everything easy - the cake slipped out so easily. Silicon bakeware is definitely one of my favourite things.
I decided to try a cupcake recipe - I rarely make them as I can never seem to get a proper hang of them. They always end up looking sloppy and really unappealing. Anyway, in the Hummingbird book most of the cupcake recipes had alcohol content which wasn’t going to work for me but I did find a recipe in the book for tomato soup cupcakes. Never heard of that before and wow what a weird idea. Even Anthony who eats incredibly adventurously was a bit unsure.
Anyway, I had a go and really did try my best to be tidy with them - having a cupcake tray to put paper cases in rather than just sticking full cases on an ordinary baking tray really did dramatically improve the uniform shape. I love it. Once they’d cooked, I decided to have a go with my silicon piping bag again. I’d tried with cupcakes before and I just couldn’t work it out. This time though, having used it for frosting my sandwich biscuits a couple of months back, I had more of an idea of what I was doing and managed to frost my cupcakes actually quite decently. My only problem is filling the bag; I still get the frosting everywhere and not cleanly into the bag. I stick it in a glass so I can use both hands, I think I need to find a way to stretch the open end around the rim, might use one of Anthony’s tankards.
The cakes are very delicious, taste like carrot cake, and the frosting is cream cheese and works lovely with the cake. There are various spices mixed in and it really is a tasty cake, something unique and very yummy. Another non-sweet recipe. Another one I definitely recommend, especially if you want a talking point : )