Around the world in 80 cakes

The location for the October gathering of the Stamford Clandestine Cake Club was called The Mess, which was quite apt considering the amount of cake crumbs we left behind… The Mess was located in The Cosy Club, Stamford, which was also very well-named – particularly cosy, comfortable, and a brilliant venue for our cake club. A big Art Deco-inspired room, with fantastic historical paintings and prints, antlers on the wall, candles, a long cake table with fabulously mismatched chairs, plus leather sofas and armchairs to sink into – we were spoilt for choice for where to sit and scoff our cakes.

Despite several cancellations, we had 18 enthusiastic cake clubbers and 14 cakes, all baked to our theme of ‘Around the world in 80 cakes’. This was more of a challenge this month, and our bakers impressed with all very different cakes. Everyone’s effort was outstanding. We had a delicious tour of the world with some great flavours and new recipes that many hadn’t tried before. My personal favourite was Sarah’s Black Forest Gateau. My bacon and maple cake (flavours of my summer trip to California, where all we seemed to eat was waffles with bacon and maple syrup!) turned a few heads – the strangest cake I’ve ever baked – it looked like a perfectly normal sandwich cake with buttercream, apart from the strips of bacon on the top! Victoria’s Hungarian Dobos torte had seven lovely layers, while Kat’s angel food cake really was angelic, it was so light. Kelly’s Mexican creation was light and moist, and reminded Steve of Milkybars – always a good thing.

The Cosy Club was a great host, with lots of space and friendly, welcoming staff, who all devoured the platter of cake they received (in about 20 minutes, most of the 14 slices had been eaten!). I happened to eat dinner at The Cosy Club a couple of days before our cake event, and the menu is inviting – I’d definitely recommend visiting for a drink or dinner (or a cake club again, hopefully). The quirky decor and relaxed atmosphere make for a great time, whether you come in the day or night time.

The roll of cakey honour goes to:
Bacon and maple cake – USA – Sophie
Dobos torte – Hungary – Vic L
Tres leches (three milk) cake – Mexico – Kelly
Rum cake – Caribbean – Kerry
Red velvet cake – USA – Sarah L
Angel food cake – USA – Kat
Tarta de Almendras – Spain – Vicky R
Maple and pecan cake – Canada – Judith
Black Forest Gateau – Germany – Sarah G
Zebra cake – Africa – Jennifer
Hummingbird cake – USA – Danielle
Cappuccino cake – Italy – Deborah
Sachertorte – Austria – Alice
Donauwellen (Danube waves cake) – Germany – Katy

 

Stamp of approval for mini cakes

My mini chocolate cakes with Nutella buttercream got the ultimate seal of approval this week - a big thumbs up from my friend's daughter, the gorgeous Sydney!

You might recognise Syd from her modelling days with Kiddicare. Such a cutie.

For my mini chocolate cake with Nutella buttercream recipe, click here.

Tea at the Cemlyn Tea Shop, Harlech

After exploring Harlech Castle in Wales on our mini holiday, we had a lovely wander around Harlech town and discovered the Cemlyn Tea Shop. I was in my element - they served about 30 different types of tea. It's not often you find a tea shop that has anything other than English Breakfast and Earl Grey, but this wonderful tea shop even had some I'd not heard of.

We sat in the window seat to people watch out on to the street, but you can also sit at the back with views over the bay.

The Cemlyn Tea Shop proudly shows off its certificates from The Tea Guild, having won the Award of Excellence every year since 2003.

Steve enjoyed a Keemun tea, which was smokey, while I had a medium-bodied Nilgiri Thiashola (I hadn't heard of either!). We also had very light and fluffy scones with strawberry jam (we have to eat scones, wherever we go). You can buy packets of tea there too, and they also sell teapots. A must visit to anyone who loves tea! Visit the Cemlyn Tea Shop website for more info!

Harlech Castle

Cake at The Ugly House

On our mini holiday to Wales, we stumbled upon The Ugly House - Ty Hyll - in Capel Curig, near Betws-Y-Coed. We were on our way back from the National Slate Museum and saw it on the drive up - the name caught our eye, and we couldn't see why it was so-called - it looked so cute.

The history of the house is fascinating, mainly because no one is entirely sure how The Ugly House came to be. It is thought it was partly built overnight, with the fire burning in the morning, meaning it belonged to the builder. But the house is made with such massive boulders that it must have been the most basic shell, as the whole building must have taken an age to build.

The name might have come from it being made from the 'ugly' leftover stones that weren't good enough to build the nearby walls, or perhaps due to the name of the nearby river, the Llugwy. Or, as it was thought to have been used by robbers and thieves - 'ugly' people. But the house itself is full of charm, small but perfectly formed, now with a five-acre garden and wood at the back.

The house is owned and managed by the Snowdonia Society, which is doing a great job of taking care of such an interesting piece of history that no one can really explain.

The cafe in The Ugly House was run by a friendly and knowledgeable lady, happy to chat to a couple of travellers. Steve had Lapsong tea, and I had Earl Grey, both to wash down massive slices of coffee cake. The slices were huge! "You have to go away knowing you had some" said the lady. It served us well after a day of walking and exploring.

To find out more, visit The Ugly House website, or the Snowdonia Society website.

Squidgy chocolate brownies

One of my favourite, most popular, and most frequent things to bake is chocolate brownies. I love them, Steve loves them, and everyone else who tries them loves them. These chocolate brownies are rich and squidgy, with an excellent crack on the top, plenty of moistness, and real chocolateyness.

I added white chocolate chunks to this batch, to make them a bit special. I made them for our recent day out at Rockingham, to watch the British Touring Car Championship, with Steve, his brother, and my brother. They went down a treat! I love to people watch, and I was amazed by the amount of burgers, pizzas, hot dogs, and other meat-related things were being scoffed at the event - at 9am! Nothing could beat these brownies.

200g dark chocolate - I use a 75% cocoa bar
175g butter
325g caster sugar
130g plain flour
3 eggs, beaten
100g white chocolate (I used good ol' Milkybar)

Preheat the oven to 170C (160C fan oven).
Melt the chocolate and butter over a pan of simmering water until all melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and allow to cool a little.
Add the chocolate and butter mix to the sugar, and mix, but don't overwork.
Sift in the flour and stir, but again don't overwork.
Add the beaten eggs and mix, but be careful - if you mix for too long, it will start to look a bit weird and may separate a bit. Be gentle.
Chop the white chocolate into chunks - I found half a square to be a good size chunk - any smaller and they melt a little while being cooked, while half a chunk stays chunky. Stir into the mix.
Pour into a prepared baking tray. Bake for about 35 minutes. The top needs to feel hard and crisp, but don't use a skewer, as it will seem undone - but you want it to be squidgy.

Allow to cool in the tin. To serve, slice into squares, and dust with icing sugar.

For Christmas, I'm planning to try orange-flavoured chocolate with dried cranberries :)