Chocolate Brownie and Meringue Cake

May and June were BUSY this year.  I took on a lot of extra days of work so it was almost like working full time again.  Good thing really since, come August, that is exactly what I am doing!  That job interview I mentioned way back in March/April? The one I thought I did terrible on and came out of crying?  Turns out I actually did great and am now a permanently contracted, full time teacher with Fife Council.  Once again, there were issues with paperwork and references and the like but everything should be sorted now and I will have a class again.  I am so excited!  Planning has therefore been taking up a lot of my free time.  I am making up a whole bunch of maths resources for myself at the moment.  Hence a lack of blog activity. 

There hasn't been a lack of baking mind you.  I have baked quite a few things in the last couple of months but have generally not been 100% happy with them.  So obviously they weren't going up on here.  The people I made them for loved them.  They always do.  But I am a perfectionist.  There's one cake I was very proud of that you guys never got to see because I hate the photos I took.  They were just awful.

But now it's the holidays and I have a lot of free time on my hands, I can get back to some regular baking for a bit.  

My main audience still remains the Hubby's RPG group in Dundee.  They are supposed to be giving me requests or ideas but they're not that great at it.  I get a lot of the same, safe things suggested and that's no fun.  Chocolate is a popular one so I keep looking for ways to make chocolate cake a bit different.  This time around I decided to include meringue.  I liked the recipe I found that cooked it as part of the layers.  It looked very effective.  I did change out the filling though.  One of the party doesn't like cream or fruit and the original had raspberries and cream in it.  I asked the Hubby if he would prefer chocolate buttercream or marshmallow fluff.  He went with the latter.

It was a good call.  I've never made chocolate marshmallow fluff before so just had a bit of a guess and added cocoa powder at the stage I would usually include vanilla extract.  It worked REALLY well.  I am not a big fan of adding cocoa powder to things.  I find it too bitter.  Marshmallow fluff is so sweet though that it balances it out beautifully.  It was so yummy I was licking the remains out the bowl.

It ended up being a very pretty cake so I was happy about that.  I was worried the brownie would be dry but it wasn't.  The meringue was perfect and didn't taste of eggs like the last time I made it.  And, as I said, the marshmallow fluff was fantastic!  Very much enjoyed by all.

Recipe - adapted from Miranda Gore Brown via BBC Food

Makes 1 x 9inch cake

Brownie:

• 200g/7oz dark chocolate
• 200g/7oz butter
• 250g/8.75oz icing sugar
• 3 eggs
• 115g/4oz plain flour 

Meringue:

• 4 egg whites
• 200g/7oz caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar  

Marshmallow Filling - adapted from Bake Me I'm Yours... Sweet Bitesize Bakes : 

• 1 large egg white
• 125g/4.5oz caster sugar
• 25g/0.75oz golden syrup
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tbsp water
• 2 tsp cocoa powder
• 100g/3.5oz dark chocolate

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gask Mark 5 and grease and line two 23cm/9inch round cake pans.
2. Start with the brownie base.  Melt 180g/6.25oz of the chocolate in a heatproof bowl placed over a pan of gently simmering water.  Chop up the remaining 20g/0.75oz and set aside.
3. Beat the butter and icing sugar together in a large bowl until pale and creamy.
4. Whisk in the eggs one at a time until well combined.
5. Add the flour a little at a time and beat in until the mixture is smooth.
6. Fold the melted chocolate into the mixture until it is evenly combined and then fold in the chopped chocolate.
7. Split the mixture between the prepared cake tins and bake for 10-12 minutes.  The top of the brownie will have just started to solidify.  Set tins aside and allow to cool slightly.  Reduce the oven temperature to 170C/325F/Gas Mark 3.
8. Make the meringue by whisking the cream of tartar together with the egg whites until soft peaks form.
9. Slowly whisk in the sugar until the meringue is smooth and glossy.
10. Divide the meringue in half and spoon it over the brownie bases.
11. Bake for a further 30 minutes, or until the meringue is just starting to turn golden brown.
12. Set aside to cool completely in the tins.
13. To make the filling, put a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.
14. Place everything except the cocoa powder in the bowl.
15. Whilst it is heating, stir with an electric whisk for several minutes (about 10) until you get shiny soft peaks.
16. Remove from the heat and whisk for another two minutes to thicken it up.  
17. Sift in the cocoa powder and whisk in too.
18. Allow to cool.
19. Chop 50g/1.5oz of the dark chocolate into small pieces and fold into the cooled marshmallow fluff.
20. Carefully remove one of the cake layers from its tin and place it meringue-side-down on a plate.
21. Cover with the marshmallow filling, leaving a slight gap around the edge.
22. Remove the other layer and place it meringue-side-up on top of the filling.
23. Melt the remaining dark chocolate and drizzle over the top of the cake.  Allow to set.    

Irn Bru Cupcakes

 

For those of you that don't know, I'm not a native of Scotland.  I grew up in Merry Old England.  I just came up here for university because they had an awesome programming course that would also let me study Japanese.  However, I met the guy who would eventually become my husband and so, after a couple of years commuting back and forth over 500 miles I came up one summer and then never really left.  I'm grateful I have such lovely in-laws, since I was living in their house for 9 months without officially asking.  Not that I didn't offer to pay rent but I was told having their son back home was probably more expensive than having me there too since he ate way more than I did.  Anyway, whilst I didn't know I would end up up here, I couldn't be happier.  I love Scotland.
 
One thing I've learnt though, since living here, and especially since starting work as a teacher, is that Scotland is a country that is very proud of its heritage.  Every year (usually the beginning because of Burns' Night) at school we dedicate some topic time to some cultural aspect of the country.  There will also likely be a ceilidh (so we all teach dance in PE at this time) and indulging in some traditionally Scottish food.  At primary school, that often translates to shortbread (because a lot of kids will refuse haggis) and that classic Scottish drink: Irn Bru.  

If you've not heard of Irn Bru, it is a luminous orange fizzy drink with a distinctive blue label.  It tastes of...well, I don't know.  If I ask anyone they struggle to explain.  I've seen people on the Internet say it tastes like bubblegum with a hint of ginger.  I've also seen other people on the Internet heatedly disagree with this assessment.  Someone described it as 'an orange drink without tasting like oranges'.  I have personally not drunk it.  I'm incredibly picky about drinks, especially fizzy ones.  I can tell you it smells ridiculously sweet.  Almost sickeningly so and I find that off-putting.  A lot of people like it though.  And it's oh-so popular in its native Scotland.

These cupcakes came about at a request from the Hubby's roleplay group.  If I don't have anything I particularly want to try out, I take suggestions for flavours.  Irn Bru was quite an interesting notion.  I've made cakes with cola before, as well as a couple of biscuits, so the principle would be quite similar.  However, I didn't have a syrup I could use for flavouring (although apparently the SodaStream Highland Fizz syrup is like Irn Bru) so I ended up making my own.  I've heard about boiling a drink down to a concentrated syrup but I'd never tried it before.  For the most part, it is quite easy, but I learnt that you have to be careful not to boil it too far.  If you remove a bit too much water from the syrup it will become a sugar solution that will harden as it cools.  You don't want it to do that because it is impossible to mix into your batter.  Believe me.  When your syrup cools, it should stay a syrup.  My first syrup was a disaster and I only realised after I made a second.  My third syrup was perfect.

I ended up with 3 syrups because I made two batches of cakes on two different Fridays.  During my first attempt I made 2 batches of syrup because I only bought 1ltr of Irn Bru and it wasn't enough for the cakes and the buttercream, especially because it hardened.  However, my main problem with the first batch came about when cooking them.  These cakes rise quite a bit and despite putting what I thought wasn't much in each case, they spilled up over the top and made a mess.  They tasted great and were wonderfully soft, but they looked ugly.  I was annoyed but send them anyway with the intent to make them again the next week so I could make them look prettier and take pictures for the blog.  As you can see, that batch came out really nice.  I had a couple overflow but most rose juuuuuust to the top of the case.  Perfect.

They went down well.  You have to eat cake and buttercream together to get the full effect of the Irn Bru flavour.  It's subtler in the sponge but there's a big kick in the buttercream.  And for the sake of aesthetics, baking them in blue cases and adding blue sprinkles gives a nice nod to the bottles.    

Recipe - adapted from Baking With Granny

Makes 15

Irn Bru Syrup:

• 2ltr Irn Bru (must be full sugar, not diet)

1. Put the Irn Bru into a large saucepan and set over a medium heat. 
2. Bring to a boil and then allow it to simmer until the amount of liquid in the saucepan has reduced to about 200ml (this can take a couple of hours).  It will take on a syrupy consistency.  (Be careful not to boil it beyond this point, otherwise it will harden up when cooled, rather than staying a syrup).
3. Transfer to a jug and leave to cool.  It will thicken slightly as it does so.   

Cupcakes:

• 240g/8.5oz plain flour
• 200g/7oz caster sugar
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 80g/3oz butter
• 200ml/7fl.oz milk
• 2 eggs
• 100ml/3.5fl.oz Irn Bru syrup 
• Orange food colouring (optional)

Buttercream:

• 400g/14oz icing sugar (plus extra just in case)
• 100g/3.5oz butter
• 4-5 tbsp Irn Bru syrup
• Orange food colouring (optional)
• Blue sprinkles (optional) 

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas Mark 3 and line two muffin trays with 15 muffin cases. 
2. Sift the flour, sugar and baking powder into a large bowl.
3. Add the butter and beat together until the mixture takes on a sandy appearance.
4. Mix in half the milk.
5. Whisk the eggs and Irn Bru syrup into the remaining milk and then gradually add the the mixture, beating until just incorporated.  Do not overmix.
6. Fill the muffin cases just under 2/3 full and then bake for about 20-30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.  
7. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.   
8. Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl and then beat in the butter.
9. When the butter starts to come together, start adding your Irn Bru syrup a tablespoon at a time. 
10. Mix until buttercream has a light, fluffy consistency.
11. If you want a more intense flavour, add more syrup but you may need to add more icing sugar to compensate so it doesn't turn runny.  Add orange food colouring at this point for a deeper colour.
12. If using, decorate with blue sprinkles.   

Chocolate Checkerboard Cake

I am currently in the process of reorganising our bedroom.  Our flat is pretty small and it is an ongoing goal of mine to have a place for everything.  I became extra determined by this when we decided we were going to be getting cats as I wanted the flat to remain reasonably tidy during the week when I had less time to do housework.  Our kitchen and bathroom have both been organised so that things can be tucked out of (or in appropriate) sight.  For the longest time I had a lot of my lovely baking stuff sitting on my counter because my collection had grown rapidly and the shelf we had put up for it all kept coming out of the wall in one place (we still need to find a permanent solution for that).  Now most of the lighter, smaller stuff is up on display, and my two large Mason Cash bowls sit comfortably on top of the microwave.  In the bathroom, it's very narrow but we installed shoe cabinets on the walls to keep cleaning products and spare toiletries in.  Though whilst it is tidy, it looks messy.  There's unfinished paintwork, ugly coloured tiles, horrible artexed walls and a hole in our ceiling thanks to a leak in our upstairs neighbour's bathroom sink.  Hopefully we'll get the opportunity to do it up in the near future but it functions fine just now so I can live with it.

Back to the bedroom.  This has been the room that has been in disarray for the longest.  It is the room where things just get dumped because it's not meant to be seen by other people (though I always dread the guy from the electricity company showing up to read the meter and seeing dirty laundry and boxes everywhere).  I have been slowly acquiring extra storage.  It started with a bed, and then new chests of drawers because my one that the Hubby got me up and died (it still sits in our room though).  We've put up a lot of floating shelves, though we've only just gone through and sorted all the books (and now have 2 boxes of books to get rid of on top of the 3 we already had).  I bought lots of boxes to tuck things away in to sit on the shelves and on various surfaces.  But it still wasn't coming together.  Most recently I got a couple of picture shelves, which have some of our many framed pictures on and all my Disney Tsum Tsums.  The next step is my new storage unit.  It's built but I need to start sorting all my teaching stuff into file boxes to go in it.  

In short, it's getting there. Slowly. So slowly. I can't believe it's been nearly 4 years since we moved into this flat.  Time flies.  It will be so nice when I do finally get it all done.

 

Anyway, on to baking. The Hubby's wee cousin (once removed) turned 6 in March and a party was hosted at the in-laws' house.  There was to be a lovely lunch of soup and buffet snacks and then for dessert there would be cake and ice cream.  I was enlisted to make the birthday cake.  Ideally a chocolate one.  I decided to try something a bit different from my norm, and chose to do a surprise inside cake.  I picked up a book on it ages ago but so far had not made anything from it.  I went with the checkerboard because I had been informed that birthday boy liked Minecraft and I figured this way it would look like it was made of small blocks.  I ended up taking the theme a bit further by making the exterior look like a block of grass from the game, complete with green squares on top to give a pixelated effect.

The recipe in the book actually an orange and chocolate/coffee sponge.  I decided to change the orange to white chocolate.  I chose to flavour it with some white hot chocolate that has been sitting in my cupboard not being drunk because the Hubby found it too sweet and I don't like hot drinks.  It smells amazing, just so you know, and it made a wonderful addition to the cake.  As for the coffee, I left that out, since the birthday boy is 6, as well as the ground almonds (just to be safe).  It worked fine.

I was surprised at how simple this cake was to do.  Sure, it took a long time (even longer because I could only bake one layer at a time and there are 4) but the end result is well worth the effort.  I loved the response it got when people saw the inside (once I cut it correctly so they could see it).  It's definitely something I want to try again, perhaps with other flavours and colours. 

I swear I do my best work when making something for other people.  This has to be one of my most successful cakes in terms of taste and texture.  It is so light and fluffy, and the two parts blend beautifully together.  It was enjoyed by party guests and then by the lovely ladies of Markinch, who got the leftovers because it is quite a big cake (I could have gotten away with a 6inch square cake rather than 7).  I also made an Easter cupcake version for to take with me to Kettle on the last day of term.  I quartered the recipe, marbled the two mixtures, used the frosting to make nests and filled them with mini eggs.  Yum!

Recipe - adapted from Hidden Surprise Cakes 
Makes 1 x 7inch square cake


Chocolate Sponge:

• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 225g/8oz self-raising flour
• 225g/8oz butter
• 225g/8oz caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 tbsp milk

White Chocolate Sponge:

• 2 tbsp crème brulee white hot chocolate powder (mine is from Whittard Tea)
• 225g/8oz self-raising flour
• 225g/8oz butter
• 225g/8oz caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 tbsp milk

Frosting: 

• 175g/6oz plain chocolate
• 100g/3.5oz butter
• 100ml/3.5fl.oz double cream 
• 150g/5.5oz green ready-to-roll icing
• Green food gel
• Icing sugar in case your fondant gets too wet 

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and grease and line the bases of 2 x 7inch square cakes tins.
2. Make the regular chocolate sponges first by sifting the flour and cocoa powder together into a large bowl and then adding the butter, sugar, eggs and milk.
3. Beat the mixture until it is smooth and creamy.
4. Divide the mixture between the two prepared tins and bake for about 30 minutes, or until it is risen and just firm to the touch.
5. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling.
6. Clean and reline the tins ready to make the next set of sponges.
7. Make the white chocolate cakes in the same way, using the white hot chocolate powder in place of the cocoa. Bake for 30 minutes, cool in tins for 10 and then turn out to finish cooling.
8. Make the frosting by melting the chocolate and butter together in a heat proof bowl placed over a pan of simmering water (make sure it's not touching the water).
9. Remove the bowl from the heat and stir until mixture is smooth.
10. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes before stirring in the cream.
11. Let stand for 20-30 minutes at room temperature before transferring to the fridge to chill for 40-50 minutes.  Stir it occasionally as it firms up.   

Assembly:

1. Place the cold cakes in the freezer and leave them to chill for about 30 minutes until quite firm.
2. Find or make two square templates - one that is 14cmx14cm and one that is 7cmx7cm (mine are cardboard).
3. If the tops of the cakes are slightly uneven, level them using a serrated knife.
4. In the centre of each cake, trace around your smaller template with a sharp knife and carefully remove the square of sponge.
5. Do the same with your larger template to cut a sqaure ring out of each cake.  Remove carefully.  You should have 4 centres, 4 middle rings and 4 outer rings.
6. Reassemble the cakes by carefully placing alternate cakes parts in the outer rings so that you end up with four cakes that resemble the ones in the image above.  

 

Decoration:

1. Spread a thin layer of the chocolate frosting over one of the sponge squares and top with a second, alternate sponge layer.
2. Repeat with the other layers so that you have four layers in total.  Be sure to alternate the sponges or you won't get the checkerboard effect.
3. Spread the remaining frosting in an even layer around the sides and top of the cake and smooth with a knife.
4. Roll out the green icing and cut squares from it using a small biscuit cutter.  You can add colouring to alter the shade of some of the icing to get the pixelated effect. 
5. Cover the top of your cake with the icing squares, pressing into the frosting to help them stick in place.
6. If you want to, use the square cutter to press squares into the sides of the cake as well to make it look like it is made of bricks.  

When you cut the cake, cut towards the middle rather than cutting into squares, otherwise the checkerboard effect won't be visible.