Wilton Tasty-Fill Heart Pan: Engagement Cake with Hidden Heart

Have you ever bought something and put it to the back of the cupboard, and kept telling youself that you will use it, at some point.....? I've had the tasty-fill pan (who comes up with these names?) from Wilton for a couple of years but never gotten around to using it, partly because the instruction leaflet didn't make a huge amount of sense to me.

The recipe leaflet leaves a lot to be desired, suggesting that you use a boxed cake mix, and frozen Cool Whip or similar for the filling - which is something we don't have in the UK. I also wasn't sure I fully understood the instructions for how to assemble the cake. Luckily there are now plenty of bloggers who have used this tin and explain the process, so I finally decided to take the plunge, and am very glad I did. It's not difficult at all, and the result is very impressive. I made this for a work colleague's engagement and birthday and I had people coming up to me all day asking how I had made the cake and saying how good it was.

Inside the box you get two cake tins which look like this. It's important to get them the right way around; the easiest way to tell is that each tin has the Wilton logo imprinted on it; you want to make sure the logo is on the bottom (that is, facing down and not the right way up to read the name) on each tin.  You also want to make sure that the centre circle is a deep indent rather than sticking up as you will see in the second picture. This is the right way up:

And this is the wrong way. Got it?

I used the recipe for Nigella's Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake which you will find if you follow the link. I ended up having to make a double quantity of the recipe as the cake tins are very deep - in fact this is the tallest cake I've ever made.

It's also worth mentioning that I think chocolate cake works best here. You really don't want to see where the two layers of cake join, and if you make a vanilla sponge, the edges of the cake will most likely be more browned so there will be a line going through the middle of the cake. Chocolate cake means that you won't see the join.

You need to grease both tins really well and get right into the grooves or the heart shape won't work. I used PME cake release spray. Fill both tins evenly with the mixture and then bake in the oven.

Allow the cakes to cool in the tin then turn out onto a baking rack. Hopefully they will come out clean; any bits of cake that break off or are stuck in the tin mean there is a high chance of the heart shape not working. Mine turned out fine as you can see. Make sure you remember which half of the cake is the top and which is the bottom.

To fill the cakes, first place the bottom half on a cake board and secure with a little buttercream. I didn't want to take any chances as this was the first time I had made this cake, so I made a simple pink buttercream.

Spread the buttercream in the circular gaps around the cake, pressing in and levelling off the top. Do that on both halves of the cake.

Carefully invert the top cake and place on the bottom layer. You can see what I meant earlier about the join - if you had a vanilla sponge which browned more at the edges, as they often do, you would have a distinctive line. I also levelled off the top of this cake so it was flat.

I covered the cake in a cream cheese frosting which I added a little pink food colouring to, and sprinkled some heart-shaped sprinkles, also from Wilton, over the top.

But surely what you want to know is what does the cake look like inside? I didn't cut into the cake and took it into work so when I presented it to my colleague and explained there was a surprise inside, or at least there was supposed to be if it had turned out OK, we all waited with bated breath...

 Ta da! I don't know how this works exactly - the rings on the cake tins don't look in the slightest as if they would match up to make a heart shape, but they do. When you cut the cake, every single slice has a heart shape - which is why I used pink buttercream - in the middle. It's so much easier than it looks and would be the perfect cake for an engagement, wedding, Valentine's day or simply the one you love.

It may be slightly tenuous but I am sending my engagement cake (well, my colleague's engagement cake) to Alphabakes, the blog challenge I co-host with Ros of The More Than Occasional Baker, as the letter this month is E.

I'm also sending this to Food 'n' Flix, the blog challenge that picks a movie each month and asks bloggers to make a dish inspired by the film. This time Evelyne at Cheap Ethnic Eatz has chosen Bridesmaids.

 

I saw the film about a year ago and wasn't sure I would particularly enjoy it as I'd heard it described as "the female equivalent of The Hangover" - and I don't really like the Hangover trilogy. I did find Bridesmaids quite funny but it was a bit slapstick in places for my taste - but it was a very successful film. It centres around Annie, a single woman in her 30s with a failed baking business, who is asked to be chief bridesmaid for her friend Lillian. The other bridesmaids are like chalk and cheese and get into quite a few scrapes before the wedding - including getting food poisoning from a Brazilian restaurant. I did think about making a Brazilian dish to tie in with the film but the connection with a food poisoning scene just somehow didn't do it for me. Instead, I decided to focus on the love story in the film - of course it all ends happily for Annie, who falls in love and even starts baking again.

When I realised that a colleague at work had recently become engaged - and so would be having a wedding, complete with bridesmaids - I decided that this cake would work for this month's challenge!

 

 

I'm also sharing this with Calendar Cakes, hosted by Rachel at Dollybakes, as her theme this month is bank holiday bakes and cakes to share with friends.

 

 

 

How To Make A Chocolate Cake for Only £1

The anti-poverty campaign Live Below The Line is challenging people to live on £1 a day for 5 days, to highlight the 1.2 billion people who are living in poverty around the world. For those of us who are not brave enough to take up that challenge, Choclette from We Should Cocoa has proposed trying to make a chocolate cake for £1. Sounds easy, right? After all, you can get a lot of supermarket cakes for just a quid - own brand madeira and angel cake for instance. So surely it's possible to make one at home for the same price?

It's actually harder than you might think. I priced up a pretty simple Nigella chocolate loaf cake, and even using the supermarket basics/low value range (luckily Sainsbury's basic eggs have the RSPCA Freedom Food stamp of approval) it came to £2.13 and that was without any icing.

Eggs and butter were two of the most expensive ingredients in the recipe so I decided to try going vegan. I've made quite a few vegan cakes for a friend and some of them taste amazing; I have a chocolate recipe I've used in the past which is very light and moist. I played around with the recipe for a few minutes to bring down the costings, and realised it was cheaper to use melted plain chocolate from the basics range than to use cocoa powder for instance.

This is the recipe that I finally ended up with:

285g plain flour - 10.5p

225g caster sugar - 33p

100g basics plain chocolate, melted - 30p
1 tsp baking powder - 4p
1 cup warm water - free (I decided not to include costings for heating the oven and so on)

80ml vegetable oil - 80ml - 9.5p
1 tsp distilled white vinegar - less than 1p

 

As that comes to 88p I decided I could afford to make a glaze:

40g basics plain chocolate, melted

2 tbsp boiling water

 

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease or line a cake tin (I didn't include whatever you want to use for this in the costings for ingredients).

Mix the flour, baking powder and sugar in a bowl then pour in the water and mix well. Mix in the melted chocolate, oil and vinegar.

Spoon into the loaf tin and cook for 30 minutes. Test with a skewer to make sure it is cooked through.

Allow to cool in the tin then on a baking rack. To make the glaze, mix the melted chocolate with the boiling water and pour over the top of the cake.

 

 

This doesn't sound like much, and doesn't look like the prettiest cake in the world, but it did actually taste very nice. I wrapped a few slices up in foil and took it on a picnic.

I'm sending this to We Should Cocoa for the £1 chocolate cake challenge.

 

I'm also sending this to Family Foodies, hosted by Bangers & Mash and Eat Your Veg, as their theme also ties in with the live below the line challenge and they are asking for recipes that are cheap and cheerful.

 I'm also sending this to Calendar Cakes, hosted by Rachel at Dollybakes. This month she is asking for bank holiday bakes that we made to share with friends or take on a picnic, which is just what I did with this.

Finally I'm sending this cake to Credit Crunch Munch, the frugal blog challenge hosted by Gingey Bites this month and started by Camilla at Fab Food 4 All and Helen at Fuss Free Flavours.

Meal Planning Monday 2014 - Week 21

Monday
home alone - bbq pork shoulder (a ready to cook item I was given by someone who bought it then couldn't use it - it turned out to be really nice!)

Tuesday 
steak and chips


Wednesday
turkey steaks in a hot and spicy glaze for him with mashed potato, rest of pork shoulder for me

Thursday
the other half is off to see Godzilla at the cinema so I was going to meet a friend for a drink but I have too much to do at home so will stay in and plough through my to do list. For dinner I'll have salmon with a feta, lemon and red onion crust (from a magazine)

Friday
Tonight he's staying at his mum's house as it's her birthday on Saturday and he wanted to be there for the morning (I'm going round on Saturday). It's been a really busy few weeks and I just want to chill out and catch up on things I need to do! I think I'll have pasta for dinner. With a homemade pasta sauce if I can be bothered!

Saturday
Lunch - beans on toast/ mackarel in a mustard sauce on toast
Dinner - takeaway with my boyfriend's mum for her birthday

Sunday
Lunch - a bacon sandwich for him and jacket potato for me. We may not have much time as we are going car shopping in the morning. Yes folks, at the ripe old age of 35 I'm thinking about buying my first car!
Dinner - balsamic chicken risotto from a recipe card that I was going to make last week but didn't. Dessert: eclairs

Slow Cooker Beef in Orange

This started out as a boeuf bourgignon but I didn't have any red wine so I made it up as I went along, using white wine from a bottle that was already open and throwing in half an orange I had in the fridge from a previous recipe. It tasted delicious!

Here's what I did:
To serve two: take a packet of cubed casserole steak and brown in a frying pan. Chop a few rashers of bacon and fry as well. Then place the beef and bacon in the slow cooker along with some chopped onion, red pepper if desired,  a squeeze of tomato puree, 100ml white wine, 250ml beef stock (made from a stock cube), a dash of orange juice or the squeezed juice from half an orange, and an entire orange half. Cook on high for about 3 hours - depending on the settings of your slow cooker, you could also put this on the lower setting for a longer time.

When the dish is cooked, strain the cooking liquid into a small pan and mix with 1 tsp cornflour. Bring to the boil, stirring, until the sauce has thickened. Pour over the beef and serve - this goes well with mashed potatoes and green veg.

I'm sending this to the Slow Cooker Challenge, hosted by Janice at Farmersgirl Kitchen.

Guardian Masterclass - Food Writing and Photography

How do you take better photographs of your food? How do you make sure your blog posts are engaging and that your writing makes people want to revisit your site?

These were the main questions I was hoping to have answered when I attended a Food Writing and Photography Masterclass at the Guardian. The media group – it’s not just a newspaper these days – has recently started running a series of Masterclasses, taught by their staff, freelancers and other industry experts, covering topics from researching your family tree to creative writing to launching a food start up. I spotted one on food writing and photography, with journalist Felicity Cloake and photographer Jill Mead, and signed up immediately.

The classes take place at the Guardian building near London’s King’s Cross which is very impressive if you have never set foot inside a newspaper, though I worked in newsrooms of national newspapers for many years so the impact was rather lessened for me. It was nice to hear the awestruck reactions of some of the other attendees though – this really is an insight into a world most people will never have.

Of course, the sessions take place in an auditorium rather than the newsroom. On the plus side, there was free wine and the chance to mingle with other attendees. The woman sitting on my left said she was interested in food writing and thinking of starting a blog, so wanted to get some tips. And on my right was… Kate from What Kate Baked. I’ve followed Kate ever since I began blogging and regularly take part in Tea Time Treats, the blog challenge she used to co-host before taking a break. I had no idea what Kate looked like so when she introduced herself and I did the same, there was a mutual “Oh my goodness! I know you! How nice to meet you at last!”

The evening class lasted three hours and was split into two; the first session was taken by Jill Mead, who showed several examples of photos she had taken for various cookery books and magazines as well as some examples of less successful food photography.

I also learnt that at photo shoots food stylists (who are also known as home economists) usually cook all the food – it’s quite rare that the cookbook author or celebrity chef makes all the food themselves. Also, there will most likely be a prop stylist on the photo shoot, who is separate to the food stylist. Jill explained how you can go to a prop warehouse to hire props but that it is also a good idea to visit car boot sales and charity shops and stock up on different tablecloths and vintage or unusual plates. Even having different cutlery makes a notable difference.

I’ve distilled some of Jill’s most important tips based on the notes I took during the session:

-       Location is very important. Try out different locations around the house and garden.

-       In terms of lighting it is far better to shoot outside than inside, or at least by a window if indoors with natural light. [Though this won’t be easy for food bloggers who have day jobs like me and do most of their food preparation and photography in the evening!]

-       Don’t repeat props or photo styles too often. While you will want to develop a distinctive style, it gets tired if you use the same plate and fork in every photo.

-       Consider both complementary and clashing colours

-       Look for unusual crops and angles

-       Deconstructed images work well, such as a half eaten piece of cake, crumbs. A deliberate spillage can also make a good photo.

-       Overhead shots work really well but are not always easy to achieve, you need a tripod and an extender.

-       Don’t use glossy backgrounds as the light reflects off them.

-       Avoid shooting from the height/angle of where you are eating – either be higher or lower than the food or side-on.

-       Ideally shoot in RAW.

-       Don’t use flash and do use reflectors.

After a short break (and more wine) Felicity Cloake took over. Felicity is a young freelance journalist who has a regular food column in the Guardian and New Statesman. She was talking about all forms of food writing, be it blogging or campaigning journalism e.g. if you want to get into writing features about sustainable fish farming. However, whatever kind of food writer you want to be, Felicity recommends starting a blog for the practice and exposure, even if your ambitions extend beyond being a blogger. Not that being a blogger necessarily means you will be small-fry. One interesting snippet that stuck with me is that the blogger Ree Drummond, whose website I was familiar with – Pioneer Woman Cooks – apparently makes $1 million a year from advertising and income related to her blog!

Some of Felicity’s tips were:

-       You need passion for food, to be really interested in it and want to share that interest

-       Work out what your writing style is [I’m conscious that my style is more about just sticking up a recipe… maybe I should write more about why I cooked it and liked it]

-       Read as many food writers as possible; she recommends Elizabeth David and MFK Fisher, and if you can get hold of the anthologies published every year as part of the James Beard food writing award

-       Ruthlessly edit yourself or ask someone else to read your work and edit it

-       Always pause before pressing publish

-       Make sure each paragraph leads on to the next – reading aloud is a good way to do this

-       You have to develop a thick skin as a blogger

-       Nobody will read your writing if your photos are rubbish

-       Always declare if you have accepted freebies or people won’t trust your reviews

-       Be wary of people who ask you to write for free. Do it once, for the exposure, but after that if they like your writing, they should pay

-       Don’t be afraid to be personal in your food writing; add some context such as why you like a recipe. Why should someone searching for a particular recipe online read your version rather than someone else’s?

-       Write from the heart, and put passion into everything you do

The masterclass cost £49 which I thought was very good value; the sessions were pitched at all levels, so some of the more basic advice on writing was old hat to me (as a professional writer in my day job) but it was good to apply this to blogging and think about food writing in general. The photography part of the session focused more on location, styling, props and so on – which was extremely valuable, but it did leave me a little in the dark still about the more technical side. Luckily, my boyfriend gave me a voucher for a food photography course for my birthday last month; it’s a full day and will focus more on the technical side (I’m expected to bring my camera and know about focus and exposure already). This course was a great starting point and the two presenters were engaging and entertaining; I’m glad I was able to attend and would highly recommend it if this course is run again.

Super Speedy Chocolate Caramel Tart

 This dessert was a quick treat thrown together from leftover ingredients I had in the fridge. Even if you have to buy the ingredients specially, this is still a super speedy and very tasty dessert (just don't try to work out the calorie content!).

I had half a block of shortcrust pastry left over from one recipe and some chocolate ganache and a tin of Carnation caramel (dulce de leche) left over from making my boyfriend's birthday cake. It seemed a shame to waste it so I decided to make a dessert.

I rolled out the pastry, lined a tart tin and baked it blind in the oven. Then I filled it with the thick caramel.

Finally I heated the chocolate ganache until it was runny, spread over the top and placed in the fridge to set.

Slice, and serve!

My boyfriend loved how this tasted and I loved how easy it was to make.

I'm sending this to Tea Time Treats, the blog challenge hosted by Janie at the Hedgecombers and Karen at Lavender and Lovage.  This month they are asking for recipes for open pies, tarts and quiches.

I am also sending this to Maison Cupcake's Dead Easy Desserts, hosted this month by The Spicy Pear.

Review: Nib Nibs Cheese Straws

I'm always on the lookout for snacks I can keep in my desk drawer at work so was glad to be sent this selection from Nib Nibs, including full-size and mini cheese straws in different flavours.

Nib Nibs snacks are produced in Yorkshire and they use flour from Yorkshire mills, Yorkshire water, British cheddar and butter. What's more they say they are handmade by artisan bakers.

I was sent three flavours to try: Cheddar Cheese, Cheddar and Cheeky Onion and Cheddar and Spicy Chilli. The cheese flavour in all three was strong and yet the onion came through nicely and the spicy ones definitely had a bit of a kick, but not too much. They really do taste very good and are something I would choose to buy again.

Both types have a long shelf life but I liked the mini straws most. They come in a re-sealable tub so are perfect for keeping in the cupboard or on your desk at work, but would also be great for parties. Isn't it annoying when you are sharing a dip so can't double-dip, but once you've taken a bite of your breadstick or whatever you are dipping, you have about three quarters of it left and no dip? These mini cheese straws are bite size so you can dip each one and go back again and again, which is an idea I really like.

For a new product, Nib Nibs have a surprising number of stockists - find out if there is one near you here. You can also purchase them online. The company is also looking for funding so it can roll out its products further, though the crowdfunding website Crowdcube.

So far I've taken a packet of Nib Nibs cheese straws to a barbecue and have one tub open on my kitchen counter and another on my desk at work... where do you nibble yours?

I was sent a selection of Nib Nibs products to review (as seen in the photograph). I was not required to make positive comments.

Meal Planning Monday 2014 - Week 20

Monday - Home alone so I will make the most of it with some fish - rainbow trout fillet with lemon and parsley from Tesco- and some Emily Thorne on TV.
Tuesday - leftover boeuf bourgignon for me, sausage and mash for the other half

Wednesday - for a late lunch I'm having afternoon tea at the Berkeley which was part of my birthday present from my boyfriend's mum. Not sure I will want much for dinner but I will have to cook something for my boyfriend when he gets home. If I do want dinner I'll have the other piece of rainbow trout.

Thursday- out seeing Cats the Musical and dinner out beforehand

Friday - spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread for the other half. Homemade pasta sauce if I have time.

Saturday - Home alone for lunch as my boyfriend has to work (postponed from last week). I'll have cauliflower soup with za'atar seasoning and goat's cheese salad from a recipe I tore out of a magazine.

Dinner out in Covent Garden then going to see a stage show of Aliens, which sounds a bit random I know!

Sunday
Lunch: bacon sandwich for him, baked potato for me

Dinner: balsamic chicken risotto from a recipe card. Dessert: eclairs

Curry Pie Topped With Rice

 

 

My recent foray into fusion food with the Fish and Chip Pie got me thinking about another British classic, indeed at one time the nation's favourite food: chicken curry. If you can put fish and chips into a pie, surely you can do the same with curry?

 

I do actually have a confession to make - this entire thought process did not happen after I made the fish and chip pie but at the same time. My boyfriend doesn't eat any kind of fish but I really wanted to make this for dinner one night, and was racking my brain to think of something he would eat. Then the concept of chicken curry pie came to me. There are plenty of chicken pies available in supermarkets and recipes online where the chicken is in a curry sauce, and encased in pastry for both the base and lid. But to my knowledge (translation- a brief Google search) there has never been a chicken pie with a rice lid. After topping a pie with chips I knew I would be able to do it with rice - so I give you my original recipe for a Chicken Curry Pie with Rice Lid.

 

As I was making this when I came home after work, at the same time as making the fish and chip pie, I have to admit I cheated and used ready-made ingredients: not only did I use ready-made shortcrust pastry but I also used a jar of korma sauce and a pouch of Uncle Ben's microwavable rice! You can of course make your own curry sauce and indeed pilau rice from scratch.

 

But all I did was:

 Preheat oven. Line an individual casserole dish with ready made shortcrust pastry and bake blind for ten minutes.

 

Meanwhile cut a chicken breast or a few chicken mini fillets into chunks and cook in a frying pan. Add korma sauce from a jar and heat through.

Place the chicken pies and korma sauce onto the cooked pastry base. Microwave some Uncle Ben's rice according to pack instructions and top the pie with rice. Return to the oven for five minutes then serve.