Mug Cakes: Sticky Toffee Pudding and Dr. Oetker Review

Last Christmas I received a book called 'Mug Cakes' full of recipes to make in the microwave in a mug. It's a brilliant concept- when you really fancy something cake-y for dessert but want it then, not in an hour's time! I have already made a few mug cakes (chocolate, and toffee and pear) and when the weather was bad a little while ago we really fancied cake, so I flipped through the book until I found something we would both like where I had all the ingredients. I decided upon a sticky toffee pudding.

To make one, you need:
The largest mug you can find
2 tbsp. butter, softened, plus extra for greasing the mug
4 tbsp. toffee sauce
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp. dates, chopped
3 tbsp. brown sugar
4 tbsp. self-raising four

Grease the inside of the mug and spoon in 3 tbsp. of the toffee sauce.

 

 Place the butter, egg, 1 tbsp. toffee sauce, vanilla and dates into a small bowl (or another mug, but a bowl is easier) and beat together with a fork. Fold in the sugar and flour and mix in. Spoon into the mug that has the toffee sauce at the bottom.

 

Microwave for 2 and a half minutes on high if you have a 600 watt microwave or 2 minutes for a 1000 watt microwave. You can estimate somewhere in between eg 2 minutes 15 seconds for a 800 watt microwave.

Leave to cool enough that you can eat it; you can either turn the cake out into a bowl as the toffee sauce at the bottom should then run over the top, or eat it straight from the mug - to save on the washing up!

That's what we did and the cake was lovely and the toffee sauce at the bottom was an added bonus.

Not long after this I saw that Dr. Oetker had launched its own range of mug cake mixes which are even quicker - you just mix milk with the powder, microwave them for a minute and you're done! I thought this was a brilliant idea - mug cakes are pretty quick anyway but you still can't quite make them in a television advert break by the time you have found the ingredients in the cupboard and mixed them together! Whereas the Dr. Oetker mixes really are super fast.

I was sent three flavours for review: chocolate, chocolate chip and lemon. I have to admit I haven't tried the lemon yet (but will update this post when I do!) - the weather has gotten warmer again and I don't really fancy cake!

You literally just mix the powder with milk. This is the chocolate chip...

... and this is chocolate flavour.

Microwave and the cake is risen and ready.

I was sent a few other bits and pieces by Dr Oetker including this chocolate cupcake centre - it has a nozzle you insert into the cake, squeeze and it fills it with chocolate sauce.

I topped it off with a mini chocolate heart. These are so cute and brilliant for decorating cakes or desserts.

This is the finished chocolate cake - it hasn't risen anywhere near as much as my home-made mug cakes do.

Side-by-side an instant hot dessert. The cakes did definitely taste more artificial than my homemade version and I found them incredibly sweet. I'd prefer these with a little less sugar but for those times when you have immediate cake cravings - or like when I was a student, you don't have an oven - I think these are a great idea.

 

Thanks to Dr. Oetker for sending the cake mixes, chocolate filling and hearts for review. All opinions are my own.

Spooky Halloween Cake Pops

Today is Halloween so there's just time for one more quick spooky recipe. These are great fun to hand out to trick or treaters or to make at home with the children.

First I made some Frankenstein cake pops, which take just moments to make. All you need are some marshmallows, green candy melts (eg Renshaw or Wilton), black writing icing or Dr. Oetker's black gel food colour, some cake pop or lollipop sticks and something to stand your cake pops in - I used a piece of polystyrene.

Melt the candy melts in the microwave following the instructions on the packet. Push a cake pop stick into a marshmallow and dip in the melted candy melt. Stand in the polystyrene or your holder and leave to set- this will only take a few minutes. When set, use the gel colour or writing icing to draw on a jagged mouth, eyes and ears.

The idea for the ghost cake pops came from Dr Oetker, who sent me some of the ingredients needed for the recipe below. You can also use any leftover or shop bought madeira cake crumbled up and mixed with buttercream to make the cake pops.

This Halloween, Dr. Oetker has teamed up with Juliet Sear as part of the Even Better Baking Team to create an exclusive and fun Spooky Ghost Cake Pops recipe. A full video tutorial can be viewed via: http://bit.ly/1vKDMBk

 

SPOOKY GHOST CAKE POPS

Preparation time: 2 hours plus cooling and chilling
Cooking time: 40 minutes plus 10 minutes to melt 2 lots of chocolate

​Ingredients:

For the cake balls:

• 120g Dr. Oetker 72% Cocoa Extra Dark Fine Cooks Chocolate
• 150g soft unsalted butter at room temp
• 200g Light Muscovado Sugar
• 3 medium free range eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tsp Dr. Oetker Madagascan Vanilla extract
• 125g Plain Flour

For the cake pops:

• 2 X 100g bags of Dr. Oetker White Chocolate Chips melted for sticking the balls onto the sticks & coating the cake pops
• Teaspoon of vegetable oil

To decorate the ghosts:

• 1 x  pack of Dr. Oetker White Regal Ice
• Icing sugar for rolling out
• Dr. Oetker White Designer Icing for sticking the regal ice to the cake pops
• Dr. Oetker Jet Black Gel Food Colour

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 140°C (275°F, gas mark 1). Grease and line an 18cm (7 inch) square cake tin
2. To make the fudge brownie mix melt the extra dark chocolate in a microwave on medium power for 30 seconds at a time, stirring each time until melted,  or in a heat proof bowl on a gentle heat over a bain marie. Leave to cool.
3. Beat the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer with paddle attachment or electric hand beater for approx. 2 minutes until pale and fluffy. If you haven’t got an electric mixer you can do this with a wooden spoon in a bowl .
4. TIP: if you are in a rush or the butter is quite cold, the addition of a couple of tablespoons of boiling water at this stage, beaten on slow until mixed will speed up this process.
5. Add your eggs on a slow speed about a third at a time, mixing until combined.
6. Add your cooled chocolate stirring continuously.  Add the vanilla Extract and stir. On slow speed mix in the flour until just combined. Do not over beat. Alternatively fold in by hand.
7. Pour the mix into your cake tin and bake for approx 40 mins. Check it with a sharp knife or metal skewer. You want this to be slightly under baked, so the knife should come out pasty, with a nice paste on the knife.
8. Leave to cool, then turn out into a bowl and crumble with your hands to fine fudgy crumb.
9. To make the cake balls, take a handful of fudge cake mix and squeeze together tightly - you are aiming for little balls about the size of a large walnut, approx. 30g each. If the mixture is dry, the addition of a little chocolate or vanilla butter cream will help the mixture stick
10. Once you have all of your balls ready, dip the end of your stick into the melted chocolate chips  and push the stick into each ball, about half way in. Hold the ball to stop it splitting open when the stick goes in
11. Once all the cake pops are ready, refrigerate them for 1-2 hours before dipping them, or pop into the freezer for 30 mins, so the balls are firm enough to hold when dipping in the coating
12. To coat the cake pops melt Dr. Oetker Fine Cooks White Chocolate on low power in a microwave bowl until just melted -  stirring occasionally or over a bain marie on a gentle heat
13. Plunge each cake pop into the chocolate coating until completely covered. Tap the cake pop gently on the side of the bowl to shake off the excess. Once all are covered, dip each cake pop again
14. To decorate the ghosts roll out half the white regal icing into a large rectangle using plenty of icing sugar and a large plastic rolling pin. Roll fairly thinly – 2 to 3mm thick. Squeeze a little Dr. Oetker White Designer Icing onto the tops of the cake pops or brush with some melted white chocolate, to aid sticking of the sugar paste
15. Using a cake cutter or small bowl, cut out circles of regal icing and place on each of the pops, smoothing down with your fingers to create the white sheet effect. Allow a little wavy movement by using your fingers to create smooth waves.

I stood my cake pops inside a pumpkin for a particularly spooky Halloween effect!

Happy Halloween!

Thanks to Dr. Oetker for providing me with some of the ingredients to make the ghost cake pops.

 

 

 

Deconstructed Lemon Meringue Pie

 I love lemon meringue pie and thought there must be a way to turn it into a dessert that can be enjoyed in this hot weather. And here it is!

This is a "deconstructed" lemon meringue pie in that it has all the elements of the traditional pudding, but is served cold as a dessert - and doesn't involve any baking at all. It is really easy to make and (unless you want to make your own lemon curd or meringues, which of course you can) literally takes just minutes.

For the base I wanted to use biscuits but something that would give the taste of buttery pastry; I used malted milk biscuits but I think shortbread biscuits would also work well. Simply pulse in a food processor until the biscuits have turned to crumbs (or place in a sealed plastic food bag and beat with a rolling pin until smashed). Place the biscuit crumbs in the bottom of a serving dish or glass.

Add a few spoonfuls of lemon curd; I used some straight from a jar

Next add a layer of whipped cream. It takes only a couple of minutes to beat double cream until it is stiff with an electric mixer.

Dr. Oetker sent me these lemon meringue sprinkles from their new premium collection. As well as using them to decorate cakes you can add them to ice cream or desserts, and I thought they would be just the thing for topping my deconstructed lemon meringue pie.

Finally place a mini meringue on top and then sprinkle with the Dr. Oetker lemon meringue pieces.

Chill in the fridge until ready to serve.

I am sending this to the Biscuit Barrel challenge, hosted by Laura at I'd Much Rather Bake Than.... as she is looking for no bake recipes this month. 

No bake is also the challenge for this month's Treat Petite, hosted by Stuart at Cakeyboi.

Banoffee Cupcakes in Edible Cake Cases

I'm not a fan of banana so I've never made banana bread or banana cupcakes other than these awesome Elvis cupcakes. But when Dr. Oetker sent me some of their newest products to try, including these banoffee sprinkles, I decided it was a great opportunity to make some banoffee cupcakes.

Banoffee Cupcakes - an original recipe by Caroline Makes

75g butter

100g caster sugar

1 egg

2 soft bananas, mashed

100g self-raising flour

3 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla flavouring or a few twists of Dr. Oetker Madagascan Vanilla from the grinder

for the filling:

397g tin Carnation Caramel (or similar dulce de leche)

for the frosting:

100g butter, softened

200g icing sugar

Dr. Oetker edible cupcake cases (optional)

Preheat oven to 175C.

Cream the butter and the sugar then beat in the egg and the mashed bananas.

Fold in the flour then the milk and either the vanilla flavouring or vanilla from the grinder. Dr. Oetker included this among the products they sent me to review. It costs £4.99 (though is currently on offer at Tesco for £3.74) which seems a lot compared to the liquid vanilla flavourings which you can get for about £1, but this is good quality Madagascan vanilla and thanks to the grinder, a little goes a long way - and it stays fresh as it isn't ground until you need it. The little jar also looks very smart so I think this is definitely something to treat yourself to.

I had been hoping to review the new edible cupcake cases from Dr. Oetker but they had run out at the time so I bought these myself in Asda. They are quite expensive - £2.49 for only 6, whereas the standard Dr. Oetker cases are £1.49 for 50. But I do highly recommend trying these - either if you are making a small batch (6 or 12) cupcakes, or to try a few as a treat and then you make the rest of the cupcakes in non-edible cases (as long as you remember which are which!).

The cupcakes come in pink and blue; they are quite large but fit comfortably in my muffin tin.

Spoon the cake mixture into the cases - I used 6 non-edible ones as well as these - until they are about two-thirds full, then bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes.

Banoffee is of course banana and toffee; the banana is in the cake so I wanted to put some toffee (or rather caramel) in the middle. You can make your own, but to save time (and because it's just the right consistency) I used a tin of Carnation Caramel.

Using a teaspoon, carefully scoop a little out of the middle of each cupcake, and place a spoonful of caramel in the cavity, then replace the cake you have removed. Repeat for each cupcake. Of course, you need to wait until the cupcakes are cool before you do this.

I made some caramel buttercream to go on top. Carefully cream the softened butter and the icing sugar until you have a stiff buttercream, then add 2 tbsp of the leftover Carnation caramel (you should have plenty left). Mix well then pipe onto the cupcakes or swirl on with a palette knife.

Here are the banoffee sprinkles Dr. Oetker sent me - a mixture of yellow and brown in a convenient shaker tube. These cost £1.99 at Tesco (but also currently on offer at 2 for £3) which is a little more expensive than their regular sprinkles as these are from the premium collection. They will last a while though - I only used about a third of the packet on a dozen cupcakes.

Here's a cupcake complete with caramel buttercream and banoffee sprinkles, in an edible case.

It's really fun and quite an amazing feeling to bite into the cupcake without removing a paper case, and to eat a big chunk of cake, frosting and wafer case! The cases held up really well - I was worried they would go soggy from the raw cake mixture but they work perfectly. The sprinkles are a lovely touch as well - you could use them on banoffee pie or ice cream as well as on cupcakes.

Thanks to Dr. Oetker for sending the products to review. All opinions and words are my own.

I'm sending these to Tea Time Treats, hosted by Karen at Lavender and Lovage and Janie at the Hedgecombers. The theme this month is picnics; you can take these on a picnic if you package them carefully in a small tupperware box and best of all, as you don't peel off the paper cases, there is no rubbish to leave behind! You could also make these if you were having a family staycation or picnic in the garden.

Top 10 Ice-Cream Toppings and some Low-Fat Ice Cream

When I was younger, Pizza Hut was a rare treat- and the Ice Cream Factory rarer still. The soft whip ice cream that came out as you pulled a handle, and the seemingly endless bowls of sprinkles and toppings were the stuff that dreams were made of. Well, almost. Anyway it got me thinking about ice cream and toppings, when I saw that the theme for this month's We Should Cocoa was chocolate ice cream and ice cream toppings.

I would love an ice cream maker but don't have the space - you need to put the base of the gadget in the freezer, and I have a fairly small freezer that is always packed with food. I can't even fit in a small tub of store-bought ice cream (and it was only after my boyfriend moved in that I started buying frozen chips), let alone a massive bowl from an ice cream maker. We are moving to a new house soon - well, I hope it will be soon, as the process is into it's fifth month and we are rapidly losing patience with the other people in the chain. When we move, I think we are going to buy an American-style fridge - it will dominate the kitchen which I'm not thrilled about, but I can't wait to have that much space for food. So who knows, maybe I can put an ice cream maker on my Christmas list this year.

I did make a very good low-fat 'ice cream' (in that it's not technically ice cream) which was very quick to make. I simply took a tub of Quark (virtually fat free curd cheese) and a bottle of Choc Shot. This is a liquid chocolate that you get in the hot chocolate aisle of the supermarket, but you can use it for so many other things as well as making hot chocolate. It's low in calories, dairy-free, low GI and if you are on Slimming World, I believe it's 1 syn for 1 tbsp.

All you do is mix 1-2 tbsp of Choc Shot with the Quark and put in the freezer for a couple of hours. Take out, give it a stir to break up the crystals and return to the freezer. You'll need to allow it to defrost a tiny bit when you want to eat it to get the spoon in the pot - it's a delicious chocolate ice cream alternative.
 

What are your favourite toppings for ice cream? I have to admit I usually eat my ice cream plain, but I wondered if I was perhaps missing out on something. So here are a few suggestions for ice cream toppings; please add any more in the comments box!

1. Sweets

For the full Pizza Hut ice cream factory experience, you can sprinkle Smarties, mini M&M, jelly tots and all sorts of other sweets over your ice cream. I once managed to find a packet of mini Reece's Pieces cups which would be fantastic on ice cream, and if you can't find them, you could chop up the regular sized cups. Sophisticated? No. Delicious? Yes.

2. Sauce

Chocolate or butterscotch sauce is the most traditional ice cream topping and as a child the one I remember most is Askeys Butterscotch Treat sauce.

3. Wafers
I never particularly liked wafers stuck into my ice cream as a child as they were quite plain, but visually they work really well - they add a bit of height to the dish and the different texture creates interest for the eye (even if they are not so interesting for the taste buds!). 

4. Fruit
I had to include at least one healthy option! Chopped strawberries, mixed berries, pomegranate seeds - anything that takes your fancy. Fruit works really well on frozen yogurt too. 

5. Sprinkles

Dr. Oetker sent me some of their newest products which are intended as cake decorations but I think they would work really well on ice cream too. New flavours available in their sprinkles collection include lemon meringue, eton mess and banoffee. You can match the flavour of your sprinkles to the ice cream or add them to something plain like vanilla.

6. Cookies

Crushed Oreos or mini Oreos are delicious as an ice cream topping and add a different texture to the smooth ice cream.

7. Chocolate chips or chocolate curls
This wouldn't work with most fruit-flavoured ice cream but on vanilla, chocolate or mint (or possibly strawberry - think white chocolate perhaps) a little sprinkling of chocolate is lovely, both decadent and quite classy at the same time. 

8. Whipped cream

I think the first time I came across whipped cream on ice cream when I lived in Germany. I was au pair to a little boy and I took him to the ice cream parlour in the village. It was 1 Deutschmark (now I'm showing my age!) per ice cream scoop so I told him he could have two; when I was charged 3DM they explained that the extra cost was for the scoop of whipped cream he had added on top - as I had said two scoops of ice cream and didn't realise there was an option for extra cream! To be honest the idea of whipped cream on top of ice cream is quite strange to me, and I never thought they really worked together. Has anyone tried this?

9. Coffee
Affogato is a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a shot of espresso poured over the top, served as a dessert in Italy - I think I recall seeing it on the Pizza Hut menu as well. I've never tried it as I'm not really a fan of cofffee but it would be a sophisticated way to end a meal. 

10. Coca -Cola

This is not something to put on your ice cream, but something to put your ice cream in. I loved Coke floats as a child, and still do. There's nothing like adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream to a tall glass of coke, watching the cola fizz up and then enjoying the creamy taste as you drink the concoction through a straw and scoop out the last of the ice cream with a spoon. I gather you can make all kinds of 'floats' but this is the classic. You could try adding a scoop of raspberry ice cream to lemonade or a scoop of cookie dough ice cream to a cream soda. I don't recommend doing what a friend of mine once did however. He told me that when he was younger he was told he could make any kind of float he wanted, so requested - if I remember correctly - a scoop of mint ice cream in a glass of Lilt. Which just sounds plain wrong.

I'm sending this to We Should Cocoa, created by Choclette of Chocolate Log Blog and hosted this month by Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary, as the theme this month is chocolate ice cream and ice cream toppings.

Giant Cupcake - Raspberry Flavour

Here is a giant raspberry cupcake I made for my mum's birthday, using candy melts to make a cupcake case - a great technique that I will explain below.

I created the recipe myself though it is fairly straightforward.

Giant Raspberry Cupcake - an original recipe by Caroline Makes

225g caster sugar

225g butter, softened

200g self-raising flour

3 eggs

150g fresh raspberries

For the buttercream:

100g butter, softened

200g icing sugar

pink food colouring

For the cupcake case:

200g candy melts in red or pink - I used Renshaw

 It's a good idea to make the candy melt shell first as it needs time to set in the fridge. Melt the candy melts in the microwave according to pack instructions. Use a spoon to spread around the inside of the bottom part of the giant cupcake mould - this is why a silicon mould is much better than a metal tin for this recipe. When you have an even layer around the inside of the mould, making sure you have not left any gaps, place in the fridge for 30 mins- 1 hour to set. Remove from the fridge, melt the rest of the candy melts in the microwave again and spread another layer inside the cake mould and return to the fridge. When that layer has set, carefully peel off the silicon cake mould by turning it slowly inside out until you are left with the candy melt shell (see further down for a photo).

Preheat the oven to 175C. Cream the butter and the sugar then beat in the eggs. Fold in the flour, then the raspberries. I used my Kitchenaid so the raspberries were broken up but not completely blended.

I bought this giant cupcake pan ages ago but hadn't gotten around to using it, after an earlier not particularly successful attempt at a giant cupcake in a metal Wilton tin (which was down to the recipe that I used). I decided to give it a go, so sprayed both parts of the pan with Cake Release, stood it in a roasting tin and poured in the cake batter. I left plenty of room for the cake to rise.

Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes; test the cake with a skewer or cake tester to make sure it is cooked in the middle. Allow to cool in the silicon mould then turn out onto a wire rack.

You will need to trim the bottom part of the cake a little to fit inside the candy melt shell, as you can see below. You can also see the raspberries in the cake!

Place the trimmed cake inside the candy melt shell. It looks great!

To make the icing, cream the softened butter and icing sugar and add the food colouring. My butter was a bit too soft which meant my icing wasn't stiff enough to pipe, meaning I couldn't pipe the swirls that I wanted to (and I was in a bit of a hurry).

Instead I spread the icing on with a palette knife; I think it looks fine like this.

Dr. Oetker sent me some wafer butterflies recently, and they have also sent me wafer daisies in the past. I think these are brilliant - when you don't have time for fancy decorations on a cake, you can just pop on a couple of these and they will totally transform your cake. The butterflies are particularly pretty in my opinion, though I have to admit I haven't been able to find them in any of the supermarkets I shop at yet!

Here's the finished giant cupcake, decorated with butterflies and wafer flowers.
 The cake tasted very nice but most of all I was pleased by how it looked.

 The letter we have chosen for this month's Alphabakes is R so I am including this raspberry cake. The challenge is hosted by Ros at The More Than Occasional Baker this month.

Raspberries are in season so I am sending this to Simple and In Season, hosted by Ren Behan.

Shaheen at Allotment2Kitchen has launched a new blog challenge, the Vegetable Palette. This month she is asking for recipes made with any red fruit or vegetable.

I am also entering this in the Bakespiration challenge run by Stuck In The Tree, click on the link to check it out - their site is all about having fun online and off.