Gingerbread Birthday/Christmas Cake with Mascarpone Frosting

Today, I have a cross between a birthday and Christmas cake to celebrate maaah biiirthdaaaaay! 

Candied cinnamon-spiced pecans

Candied Pecans 

Christmas is coming! Whose already watched Home Alone? I have. Last night. Bless little Kevin.
After my reunion with warm, spicy candied nuts (of all kinds) at Winter Wonderland in London a couple of weeks ago, you guessed it, I was obsessed. I would spend long nights lulling over their sweet deliciousness, the way you would bite into each nut to find this textured and salty surprise. The way that would happen and it not actually be a factory made M&M, was beyond me.

Then I came across Smitten Kitchen's Sugar and Spice Candied Nuts. Have you ever done that thing where you've eaten something really good then googled it straight away? The photos inspired me, the paprika...not so much, that belongs on chicken. 

So it came around to my birthday and seeing as its not permitted to bake your own birthday cake, nuts had to suffice. Don't be surprised at how ridiculously simple pecans, or any nut for that matter, is to candy. It. 

Is. So. Bloody. Easy.

To top it off - helllooooo homemade-gifts-for-Christmas-o'clock! Doesn't get much better really, and they will bring your 'giftees' right back to the fireplace and/or Deptford market.

Candied cinnamon-spiced pecans

Ingredients

• 300g pecans,
• 150g caster sugar
• 1 egg white
• 1 tsp cinnamon 
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160 C / 180 F and line a baking sheet with foil or baking parchment. Whisk the egg white with 1 tablespoon cold water until frothy and bubbly, but not completely stiff. Stir in sugar, cinnamon, salt and vanilla then add the pecans and mix until all of the the pecans are evenly covered in the mixture.
2. Spread the pecans in an even layer on the baking tray and bake for 30 minutes, stirring half way through. Leave to cool on the tray and then serve. Lasts for 1-2 weeks at room temperature if stored in an airtight jar or container. 

What have you candied for Christmas? Love Em xx

PS, this is what our Christmas looks like:

Spiced Chocolate Cupcakes with Gingerbread Buttercream

Who has started their Christmas baking test-runs yet? Does anybody even do tests for such things? If you’re an inexperienced cook and you’re having the ol’ lot over, I’m guessing you’ve currently got a test-run turkey in the oven. That’s perfect because it’s a Sunday as well, just replacin’ the chicken for a turk really.  Here are my Christmas test run cupcakes, in unnecessarily copious amounts of pictures that I wish to share with you. Yes. You obviously wanted to look at every single picture I took that day. Obviously.

I’d otherwise slate the test-runner…what’s the point? Do you not have anything better to do with your time? Just chance it! But alas, I have become one of those weird test-run people. And boy, AM I GLAD. This chocolate cupcake slightly resembled a brownie (now would be a good time to mention that it was still delicious)! It was by no stretch of the word a light and fluffy cupcake, but a  kind of dense and dry topped brownie! Crossing THAT one off my Christmas baking list… next time I’ll go for a bitta stout in my liner, maybe even a bitta treacle, plus A LOT more spice in the batter. Don’t be afraid to be generous with the festive spices in a chocolate cake, it has a tendency to be masked by the intense flavours of chocolate you see.

Some good news – the buttercream was lovely, spicy and not too sweet. Rich, coming from a crusting buttercream recipe aye. But with a distinct lack of vanilla extract, and TONS of cinnamon and ginger, there is just this amazing balance of sweetness. The spices really do cut through all of that icing sugar! Still, I’ve got my eye on a mascarpone frosting, who knows how many more test-run’s my kitchen will see before the big day! 

The Recipe:                                   Makes aproximately 16 cupcakes 

The Cakes

100g dark chocolate, minimum 50%

4 eggs

100g self raising flour

2 and a half tsp cocoa powder

pinch of salt

225g caster sugar

175g soft butter

1 tsp vanilla extract 

Quertar tsp cinnamon
Quarter tsp ginger (optional)

The Buttercream

300g icing sugar

150g unsalted butter, soft

1 and a half tsp ginger 

2 tsp ground cinnamon 

1 tsp milk

The Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C and line a muffin tray.

Over a ban-marie, heat the butter and chocolate together till melted.

Take off the heat, add all of the sugar, mix together and then set aside to cool.

With a whisk, mix for 3 minutes until slightly fluffy, add the eggs in one at a time.

Fold all of the dry ingredients (including the spices if you wish) until just incorporated.

Lastly fold in the vanilla. Fill the cupcake liners two thirds full and bake for 25 minutes.

For the frosting, beat the butter in the bowl of a freestanding mixer for half a minute.

Add the icing sugar bit by bit, lastly the spices until well incorporated.

Pipe and frost. I used a small french tip for these cupcakes.  

Expect a *possible* birthday cake  on the blog this week, as I'll be turning the big 20 on Wednesday. But let's not mention that again, just comment below and make me feel sane by telling me you also had a Christmas baking test-run today, please! Love Em xx

Spiced Pumpkin Bundt Cake

If, like me, you've ever wondered about the ‘taste’ of autumn, well, the answer is in this bundt. You know, like that taste of Christmas you get in your mouth after you step outside on a premature winters day for the first time and it carries that indescribable smell/taste combination. How wonderful for us winter babies. 

This was my first ever pumpkin encounter, I enjoyed it, but I think the dogs enjoyed it more – something about the pumpkin being good for their insides or some other dog fact that my sister picked up off her iPhone on Google. Saying that, the taste of this cake was very deep and spicy, it carries that classic flavour combo of wintry spices – cloves, cinnamon (which I forgot to add like a spaz), ginger… really warming gingerbread man flavours that bring you right back to the fireplace with a hot choc. 

I can see this cake going well with a tangy cream cheese glaze, one with the addition of water to make it a satisfying pouring consistency.  None of my recipes tend to have what this one contains – a secret ingredient! That’s right ladies and gentleman, enter...ROLLED OATS. A thick, un-palpable paste of oats is stirred (not without a fight of course) into this cake batter and you wouldn’t even know it was there! But I think it’s necessary cos’ it adds an autumnal extra to this pumpkin bundt, enjoy :)

The Recipe:
2 cups caster sugar
3 cups plain flour
4 medium eggs
1 tbsp milk
1 can of pumpkin
226g unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup oats
1/4 cup boiling water
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract/powder
2 tsp baking soda
For the pumpkin spice:
1 tsp cinnamon (I missed this out)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 ground nutmeg
Icing sugar to dust

The Method:

• Preheat the oven to 170C and grease a bundt tin.
• Boil the kettle, place 1 cup of oats in a small bowl and pour the 1/4 cup boiling water over the oats and stir. Leave the thick paste to set. 
• Put the sugar and butter in the bowl of a freestanding mixer and mix on low speed till fluffy.
• Add the eggs one at a time whilst the mixer is still stirring the batter. 
• Keep the mixer on, and one at a time - add the pumpkin, oat paste and vanilla. Raise the speed until the oats look better incorporated and then reduce the speed again.
• Add the flour one cup at a time followed by the pumpkin spce, BS and salt.
• The batter will appear thick, keep mixing and add a tbsp of milk (or two) until it has loosened slightly.
• Plop the batter into the cake tin and smooth the top.
• Place into the oven on the top shelf and bake for 60 minutes.
• Let cool in the pan for ten minutes, invert it out and serve!

Love Em xx

Miette Gingersnaps

Here is another blog post where I desperately try not to over indulge in personal happenings, but after an intense week of work at Faircake, topped with mounds of uni work that requires writing about things I dont really care about, in a news style that I dont even pay attention to out of uni, I thought I'd treat myself to some 'me' writing. And, of course, writing about what I love the most. Which if you take a wild guess, perhaps you might know what it is...its flirtatiously written and if done well - can read as good as it tastes (its baking by the way). So after such a busy and tiresome (but half great) week, I give you Miette Gingersnaps! I wrote this recipe out on tuesday after work - but was so tired that I had to leave it until tonight! (yes it is a Friday night in the UK, YES I am 19 years old). 

Back to the Gingersnaps, I wasn't overly fond of the taste but I think it's because I left out the puree and candied ginger, and also substituted quite a few ingredients! But do give it a go, and follow the recipe methodically whilst I mentally prepare myself into writing 2 portfolios in 6 days... 

The Recipe:
2 cups all purpose flour
Half cup wheat flour (optional)
Half tsp salt
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp ground ginger
Generous quarter tsp ground cinnamon
Eighth tsp ground cloves
Eighth tsp ground white pepper
Quarter tsp ground nutmeg
Quarter tsp cardamom
1 cup (226g) unsalted butter ( I used a turkish pastry butter called 'Sana')
Three quarter cup light brown sugar
2 tbsp honey
4 tbsp molasses (or golden syrup)
Half cup minced candied ginger (optional)
2 tsp ginger puree (optional)
granulated sugar for dusting

The Method:

• In a freestanding mixer, cream together the sugar and butter for a few minutes. 
• Pour in the honey and molasses until creamy.
• In a seperate bowl sift together all the dry ingredients. 
• Gradually add them to the butter mixture in thirds until you have a moist looking dough. 
• Wrap the dough in clingfilm and refrigerate for half an hour.
• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
• Roll out the dough on a floured surface and use your favourite cutter to mould out 1/2 inch rounds.
• Place on a baking tray lined with baking parchment at least 4 cm apart.
• Dust with granulated sugar
• Bake for 10/12 minutes.
• Enjoy!

Mbakes x