How to join a Cake Eaters Anonymous group

So what is Cake Eater's Anonymous?

Essentially, it's a group of people who either just like eating cake and baked goods, or like eating AND baking them too, that get together every so often and have a drink and eat cake whilst raising money for charity.  Sounds perfect doesn't it?!

The raising money bit is done through buying tickets to attend the event. If you are a baker you pay £3, if you don't take anything along with you, you pay £5.  Different branches of the CEA have slightly different rules for how much you can take with you, so you need to check with them before you attend. Your ticket entitles you to try three different cakes/cookies/cake pops/biscuits.......(all home baked, no shop bought cakes here), and then if there are any left over, you can take more home to enjoy, for an additional donation. 

The charities which are supported change from month to month, and are largely suggested by those people attending beforehand.

The original CEA was the brainchild of four friends in Nottingham.  Then when other bakers found out about it, the word has spread and other branches are opening.

There are currently branches in the following places:

Angus, Dundee and Aberdeen branch - run by Grace: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cake-Eaters-Anonymous-Angus-Dundee-and-Aberdeen/439894902718195  

Cheshire branch - run by Heather at the Cheshire Cake School http://www.cheshirecakeschool.co.uk/cake-eaters-anonymous.php and on her page here https://www.facebook.com/CheshireCakeSchool 

Nottingham https://www.facebook.com/cakeclubnotts

Oxfordshire branch - https://www.facebook.com/CakeEatersAnonymousOxfordshire

Shropshire branch - https://www.facebook.com/marketdraytoncakeclub

and the one I run which is in Urmston, Manchester https://www.facebook.com/CakeEatersAnonymousManchester

If there is not one near you, then why not start one? You can find some more information about starting one up here https://www.facebook.com/notes/cake-eaters-anonymous/find-a-cake-eaters-anonymous-near-you/354558354631566 

 

If you live near Manchester we'd love to see you at the next meeting. Check out the fb link above for the latest dates and information.  Or if you set up a new one, let us know and we'll add you to the list!







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How to make Aphrodisiac cookies

Ok, so they're called Aphrodisiac cookies, mainly because they contain walnuts and dark chocolate, both of which have reported aphrodisiac qualities. I can't promise they'll pep up the old love life, but they're a really yummy cookie, so it's worth a try anyway isn't it?!

 

Ingredients you'll need:

 

165g softened butter or baking margarine

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

150g caster sugar

175g dark brown sugar

80g porridge oats

200g plain flour

1/2 tap baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

170g dark chocolate chips

115g chopped walnuts

 

What to do:

 

 

1. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees.  Put the softened butter/baking margarine, the eggs, and the vanilla extract in a bowl. Mix together. You can use an electric whisk if you want to, if you do it'll be far fluffier in appearance than in the next picture....

2. I used a wooden spoon, so if that's what you use too, it'll look something like this.

3. Add all the rest of the ingredients. I LOVE recipes where you just pile everything in at once. Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate the art that goes into more carefully added/folded/whisked at each stage etc recipes, but if you pile it all in at once, you have less time to wait before you get to try it, which has got to be a good thing? Yes?

4. Mix everything in together, until fully combined.

5. Using a dessert spoon, or whatever you have handy, dollop small amounts onto a lined baking tray.  You should get about 24 cookies out of this recipe.  Make sure you have quite a gap in between each one as they tend to spread......see the next photo.....

6. You see? Lots of spreading, which resulted in the top ones touching each other. Not a big problem, but remember to space them apart. Leave them on the baking tray for at least 10 minutes to cool down.  They are very fragile and soft as soon as they're out of the oven and will break easily if you try and transfer them to a cooking rack. I know, I tried. If they're still fragile after this time, leave them for a bit longer before you move them onto cooling racks to finish cooling fully.

 

7. And here they are all cooled and ready for eating. Nomnomnom!

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

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How to make a paper piping bag

How To Make A Paper Piping Bag

 

For piping buttercream, I'd always choose a plastic throw away bag, but for piping chocolate, candy melts or royal icing, I like to use a paper bag.  And this is how you make one.....

 

 

1. Cut a square of baking paper or greaseproof paper, then cut it in half diagonally to make a triangle.  Put the triangle on the table, with the longest side at the top.

 

2. Take the top right hand corner and fold it down.....

........so the top corner meets the bottom corner.

 

 

3. Repeat with the opposite corner.

 

 

4. Then fold up the corners together, so the bag won't unwrap itself.

 

 

5. Fill the bag about half full with your melted chocolate, candy melts or royal icing, then fold down the top of the bag so it doesn't escape out of the top.

 

6. Now all you need to do is snip the end off the pointy part of the bag, and you are ready to pipe :0)

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How to make mini Valentine's heart cakes

 

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

 

 

Fancy treating the one you love? Or just fancy treating yourself? Then these mini heart cakes are perfect! Of course, you can adapt it to making them any colour and shape, the principle is the same.

 

So what do you need?

 

For the cake:

240g butter or baking margarine

240g caster sugar

4 eggs

a teaspoon of good quality vanilla extract

240g self raising flour

a splash of milk

red food colouring (I used Sugarflair red extra, you can use paste or liquid colouring, but will need to use more liquid colouring to achieve a strong colour)

 

 For the buttercream:

100g butter

200g icing sugar

a splash of good quality vanilla extract

 

And for serving:

An extra dusting of icing sugar

 

 

 

 What you need to do:

 

1.  Weigh out the sugar and butter/baking margarine and beat together until smooth.

 

2. Add the eggs one at a time and continue beating, add the vanilla extract at the same time.

 

3. Sieve in the flour and add the milk, and continue to beat the mixture, remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix in all the ingredients together.

 

5. Add the food colouring and beat together again.  I apologise for the funny colour of this photo, I have quite yellow lighting in this particular spot in my kitchen.

 

6. Here is a better picture of the colour of the mixture- I went to a room with more natural light for this one! You can see that even though I have used Red Extra as the colouring, the mixture is still pink. You need to add a lot of colouring to it if you need it to be red.  I like it this colour, and it will darken a bit when it is baked.  Line your tin (a roasting tin will do) with greaseproof paper, and pour the mixture in. Bake for about 20 minutes on 160 degrees. Check it by sticking a knife into it, it should come out clean.

7. Leave it to cool in the tin, then turn it upside down onto a board or your work surface and peel off the paper.  Using a small heart cutter, cut out the hearts you need.  You can save the cut offs for making cake pops, or just to eat with a bowl of custard!

 

8. Here they are cut out ready to decorate.

 

9. Using a sharp knife, carefully slice the hearts in two. I used a 1M nozzle to pipe the buttercream. To make the buttercream, beat the butter, then add the icing sugar slowly, with the vanilla extract and mix until it is the consistency for piping.  Too runny? Add more icing sugar.  Too stiff? Add a touch of cool boiled water.

 

10. Pipe three stars of buttercream and then place the other half on top.....

....like so!

 

11. Dust with icing sugar and serve!

 

Here they are at the meeting of Cake Eater's Anonymous that I made them for. (I'll have to write another post about that!) As you can see the icing sugar has pretty much dissolved into the moist sponge as they were in a box for a few hours before I took them along.  In which case, make sure you dust them with icing sugar just before you serve.

Enjoy!

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How to stop metal cookie cutters from rusting

Quick post today, and on a subject you may have read about before.  After Realisation-of-how-many-cookie-cutters-I-actually-have-and-never-use-day , I've been reading rather a lot about decorating cookies in order to equip myself to use them more than I currently do.  So if someone needs crediting with this brain wave idea I'm more than happy to add that here, I've just read such a lot I don't know where I read what.....

So here's the tip.  When you have finished baking the cookies, wash the cutters, rinse them and put them on a baking tray, and back in the oven to air dry for a few minutes.  This is a revelation to me, I've always air dried them on a clean tea towel in the kitchen, but this makes perfect sense.  No more difficult cutters to dry, and no more risking them going rusty if you leave them like me. Brilliant.

 

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How to make candy melt tree decorations

This was our Christmas cake:

 

Chocolate mud cake with Bailey's Irish Crème, and chocolate flavoured buttercream with Bailey's in that too.  Lush.  And if you know me, or follow me on facebook at all (www.facebook.com/Mariescreativecakes), you will know that I love piping with buttercream at the moment.  I love the different effects you can get with it, so it HAD to be used on our Christmas cake.  But then how to decorate? I was a bit short on time- lots of orders still to complete, presents to wrap, Christmas Eve entertaining to organise.  I needed something quick and simple. 

 

Candy Melt Christmas trees. 

 

 And here's how to do it.....

 

 

1. On a piece of greaseproof/baking paper, draw out the size and shape of the trees you want to pipe.

 

2. Turn the sheet over, so the drawing is on the reverse side, but you can still see it, and make a paper piping bag.  If you're not sure how to do this, the instructions are here : How to make a paper piping bag

 

3. Put a handful of green Candy Melts into a small bowl or teacup, and melt them in the microwave.  A medium heat for about half a minute, then stir, then back in again for another half a minute and so on until they are melted.  You don't want to burn them.  You don't need to add anything to them either, they need to hold their shape.

Pour this into the piping bag, fold over the top to stop any escaping, and cut a small hole in the tip end to pipe out of.

 

 

4. Using your drawn outlines as a guide, pipe over the pencil lines.

 

5. Then completely fill in the 'trunk' part of the tree- you need this to be thick so it doesn't break when you push it into the buttercream.  Then squiggle (yes that's a technical decorating term) inside the rest of the tree outline, touching the outline too, as you need it all to hold together.

 

6. Repeat for the rest of the tree outlines.  If you have any Candy Melts left, you can add some free hand (like my smaller ones).

**top tip** If you have candy melts left over, don't throw them away. Open up the piping bag and leave it to dry in the air.  Then peel it off and store it until you need it for next time.

 

7. Then when you have piped the buttercream on the cake, insert the candy trees into the buttercream whilst it is still soft.  They are a little on the fragile side, so make a few extra as you might need them.
 
This technique could be used for all sorts of  celebrations- hearts for Valentine's, shamrocks for St Patrick's Day, letters for names for birthdays....the list is endless.  Have a go, and let me know how you got on :)

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How to Make a Marshmallow Snowman

How to make a marshmallow snowman

There are lots of fayres around this time of year, and you might also be looking for something to do with the kids.  Look know further,  marshmallow snowmen are what you've been looking for :)

 

For each snowman you will need:

three large white marshmallows

giant chocolate buttons

Rolos

fizzy laces

cooking chocolate

orange candy melts/buttons

a lolly stick

 

 

1. Put the marshmallows on the stick.

 

This picture is a bit on an aside.  When chocolate is banging about in a bag with other chocolates, they rub against each other, and that's what causes the white marks.  If you want your chocolate without these, just rub it with your finger and they disappear :0)

 

2. Make 2 piping bags (you can find out how to do this here http://maries-bakehouse.blogspot.co.uk/2012_12_01_archive.html ) and half fill one with melted chocolate.  I say make with cooking chocolate, then you don't have to worry about tempering it to stop any blooming.

 

 

3. Put a blob of melted chocolate on the giant button, and stick the Rolo to it, to make the hat.

 

 

4. Put a blob of melted chocolate on the top of the marshmallow and stick the hat to it.  Then pipe the details you would like to add to your snowman on the marshmallows- eyes, mouths, buttons, arms...

 

5. Then using the second piping bag you made, melt orange candy melts, or orange flavoured buttons like these, which can be found in most supermarkets.

 

6. Pipe a nose by piping a blob, then pulling the piping bag away to create a point, like a carrot.

 

 

7. Next add the fizzy lace.  Depending on where you buy these from, some will hold like this, others, you will have to tie in a knot.

 

 

8. And if you are making them to sell at a fayre, pop in a bag, and seal with a twist tie :0)

 

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