Everyone deserves Chocolate Cake!

Decadent, rich, a bit gooey and gloriously naughty!

We all deserve a bit of something naughty every now and then! This particular recipe became a family favourite from the very first time I made it and now it will be available at The Secret Sausage Shop!

How can you not love what’s in that that bowl?! This is how it starts! By gently steaming chocolate, butter, sugar and brandy over a simmering bowl of water- into a lovely silky molten bowl of yummy, the smell alone is so very intoxicating.

I love this because it’s such a yummy cake and regardless of if you can or can not consume gluten this is a total winner!

It works alone as a almost brownie like slice of cake and covered in fondant it goes up to another level!!! This one is all packaged up for a trip to The Secret Sausage Shop!

For those who can’t have nuts I do have other chocolate cake options but personally this one is my favourite chocolate cake of all time!

Fruity Fun

Ahhh I love the smell of a spiced fruit cake baking it reminds me of Christmas and yet it’s only September!

I am baking for my shop order and these lovelies are Spiced Fruit Cakes. An old family recipe for a light fruit cake that sings with cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.

It feels so homely and cosy in my kitchen right now and although I don’t drink tea it makes me want to!

If you fancy a slice then pop into the Secret Sausage Shop in Bishops Stortford and you can have a whole loaf!

Roses and Gold so Fabulous!

This is a cake I made for a lovely ladie’s 50th this weekend.

I have to say my lovely client wanted to pick up the cake and did so with both tiers packed safety seperated for the journey.

Bless her she missed my instructions to have the bottom tier placed with the roses to the right. There is not supposed to be so many roses on the left, but she was happy so that’s the main thing!

She wanted a gold drip cake with rose adornments, to match her theme of golf decadence.

I recently posted about gold dust and what you can and can’t use on cakes that are to be eaten. (yes I know! Are all cakes not for eating? The answer is no many are for decorating competitions!)

For this I of course used edible gold dust, and it is not quite as workable as the non toxic variety! So if your giving it a go do bear with it, it works beautifully with a bit of patience.

It does indeed shine and glint as gold should!

Tye Dye fun!

I love colour, I wear bright clothes, my home has brightly coloured art on the walls and my sofa is blue with pink cushions. So with a whole new pack of food colouring which has soooooo many shades of blues and purples and pinks and greens I thought what can I do…

Tye dye cake here I come! It is after all a Bank Holiday weekend and my partner and I are celebrating our offer of our dream first house being accepted- and there is a sale pending the lovely mortgage people-hum maybe I should send them some cake?!!!

So some fun colourful cake will definitely go well with our celebratory bubbles!

The sponge is my fav light vanilla sponge and the buttercream is a mix of American and Italian and I have to say despite myself! It was yummy! he he

After all everything is better with cake!

Shimmer Dust Non Toxic vs Edible.

I love a touch of glitter and glamour, especially on a cake so when I was asked to do a gold drip cake I was super excited. I have previously used lots of edible glitter with great effect but not done a full gold shimmer!

Now there are many shimmer powders out there in alsorts of wonderful colours including metallic’s some are fine to be consumed and others although maybe non toxic are not advised to be eaten.

So its always best to double check the label and check that it states edible, there are plently out there on the market that are non toxic and can be used for the same purpose but shouldn’t be consumed!

I found this lovely one online at XXX and it worked a treat, it was easy to mix and apply and the finish was lovely and it is edible. So you can shimmer your whole cake if you like and then have your cake too!

Roses are red..

Well actually these lovelies are white and champagne blush! I have been busy sourcing faux roses for a 50th birthday celebration cake.

I have used edible flowers on wedding cakes before which I loved as the pop of the colours against the white fondant was stunning.

Using faux flowers does elevate some of the worry of wilting which can happen if it is a warm day or there are lots of lights!

I found these roses on amazon and actually I was very pleasently surprised on the realness factor.

But the colours as with lots of things brought from a screen made up of light were not quite as seen on screen.

Flowers can add colour, drama, nature and beauty to a cake, and get the right ones you can achieve a stunning look that ties in with your theme or colour scheme.

Carving cake

Sometimes a nice round or square cake just won’t do, so you need to bake and carve away to get the shape you want!

This cake was a fun one to create- it replicates the moment a young guy went heel for leather down a hill on his bike and ended up head first in a hedge, legs sticking out. Happily he walked away with just some scratches.

The hill is a mound of chocolate cake and creamy buttercream with a crumbled chocolate ‘dirt track’. The Headge itself is also cake and the autumnal leaves are cornflakes he he

The rest of the details is molded fondant. I made this cake a few years ago and it was my first attempt at carving and modeling. The chap in question was in fact my brother and he was actually a little boy when the accident happened- he forgot to apply his brakes and really did go head first into our hedge!

The cake was actually for his 33rd birthday and as an adult he bikes triathlons and cross country and there has been no more hedge trips! But I couldn’t resist having a little fun with his past!

My advice is have some fun with your cakes, try out something new and capture personal memories, your family will love the thought that goes into it and yes it might not be perfect (this one wasn’t-!) but its the thought and effort that counts.

Have a go!

Caramel Drip over Spiced Apple Cake

I have to say cakes always smell good when baking but this one smelt incredible!

Sugarly cinnamon and nutmeg and sweet apple wafted around the kitchen and it was incredibly evocative! I will most definitely be baking one of these for myself and my family to try!

The caramel was fun to make and to drizzle into the cakes and I of course did taste test it to ensure quality control!

I was very pleased to hear that the cake was polished off rather swiftly with much appreciation around the room.

For me that’s what it’s all about! We all deserve a bit of happy!

A White Wedding Surprise

So what do you do when the bride doesn’t know she is getting a wedding cake and so doesn’t brief you?

Well luckily for me I knew the lovely lady getting married pretty well since she is my mum!

Unlike me who loves colour and glitter and well extra! My mum is an elegant understated woman who loves simple clean and beautiful, so I had to reign in my inner unicorn tendencies!

As it was a small wedding I went with 2 tiers, the first a classic Victoria sponge and the second my mum’s favourite cake that I made for her for the first time for her birthday a couple of years before- a flourless chocolate almond number that is seriously decadent and goes wonderfully with fondant.

I had to really hold myself back from here on out with just one simple rolled rose with the tiniest bit of irridecent glitter and some sprigs of pears. I finished off with a clean white ribbon wrap.

To say she was surprised is an understatement and I am pleased to say she cried with happiness- luckily pre wedding make up!

A cake is not about the maker it’s about the recipient and thier needs and likes their own little quirks.

So if you do have to make a cake as a surprise then find out about your recipient and cram as much of them as you can into your design!

🤩🍾🎂🍡🍨🌺💖🥳✨🌹🌈🍒🍹🎉

See I like more! He he

Evie xxx

Whose for Coffee?

The humble coffee cake, for me it’s not the most exciting cake to look at the sponge being a bit beige and all!

But so much flavour! So I thought it deserved a bit of TA DA!

So this is my coffee cake with rolled chocolate cigar waffers, some lush malty balls and of course some creamy coffee buttercream. Oh and a few white chocolate stars to finish it off!

Anyone for a slice and a brew?

Evie xxx