A round-up of our top 5 cake recipes

We’ve been blogging for over ten years now at H is for Home. Throughout this time, Cakes & Bakes has been a regular feature. So, what have been the most popular cakes from the hundreds of recipes we’ve featured? Here are the top 5 – chosen by the number of visits they get on our website as well as the number of (re)pins they get on Pinterest.

Click on each image to save it to Pinterest yourself!

1. Baked vanilla cheesecake

Far and away the most popular recipe on our blog, it’s been in my recipe repertoire for about 15 years. I tore out the Gordon Ramsay cheesecake from a weekend newspaper magazine supplement… the days before Pinterest was invented!

2. Yorkshire tea loaf

The definite runner-up – it’s our personal favourite cake to accompany a mug of tea. You don’t have to use Yorkshire tea – try any loose tea. How about Earl or Lady Grey, English Breakfast or Darjeeling?

3. Elderflower crunch cake

A delicious seasonal cake for mid-summer foragers. Infused with elderflower cordial and the top sprinkled with granulated sugar.

4. Peanut butter brownies

This is a low-FODMAP recipe that looks really impressive yet is dead-easy and quick to prepare. Most of all, it tastes incredible!

5. Prune and almond tart with Armagnac

Rustic yet sophisticated, this was originally a Rick Stein recipe. If you can’t find Armagnac in the shops you can substitute brandy or dark rum if necessary.

Cakes & Bakes: Custard Cream cupcakes

I saw a photo of Custard Cream cupcakes on Pinterest last week and just had to try them out. I found the recipe on the Jane’s Patisserie blog.

I haven’t made cupcakes in absolute ages, so they made a lovely change this week.

The addition of Bird’s Custard Powder to the batter mix instead of vanilla essence made it taste like a Custard Cream in cupcake form! They’re perfect for an afternoon snack with a tea or coffee – and great for kids’ parties too.

I think I may try a similar thing soon, next time with Chocolate Bourbons or Oreos – they’re just such fun!

Click here to save this custard cream cupcake recipe to Pinterest for later!

Custard Cream cupcakes

2018-07-23 16:07:20

Yields 30

Cook Time

18 min

Cook Time

18 min

For the cake

225g/8oz butter
225g/8oz caster sugar
4 eggs, beaten
200g/7oz self raising flour
½tsp bicarbonate of soda
100g/3½oz custard powder
50ml/2fl oz milk

For the buttercream

200g/7oz butter, softened
400g/14oz icing sugar, sieved
½tsp vanilla extract
1-3tbsp milk

To decorate

chocolate sprinkles
Custard Creams

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For the cake

Preheat your oven to 180ºC/ºF/ Gas mark
Line a muffin tray with 12-15 cupcake/muffin cases
With a food processor or hand-held electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy Slowly add the beaten eggs, mixing continuously
Sieve together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and custard powder before adding to the butter/sugar/egg mixture
Add the milk one tablespoon at a time until the mixture becomes smooth
Spoon the batter into the cupcake cases evenly (about ⅔ full) and bake for 15-18 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes away clean
Remove from the muffin tray and leave to cool on a wire rack
If you have leftover cake batter, repeat instructions 6 & 7

For the buttercream

Beat the butter until smooth and gradually add the icing sugar stirring all the time
Add the vanilla extract and the milk until your desired consistency
Whisk again for 3-4 minutes until light & fluffy
Spoon the buttercream into a piping bag, affix a piping tip, and decorate each cupcake with a swirl
Scatter a little chocolate sprinkles
Top each with a Custard Cream at a jaunty angle!

Notes

Best eaten on the day. You can bake the cupcakes in advance, only decorating with buttercream and Custard Creams at the last minute.

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: Soul cakes

These soul cakes are very fitting for this week’s Cakes & Bakes. They’re part of an ancient Christian tradition that took place in the UK – especially ‘up North’ – each All Hallow’s Eve. Or, as it’s better known in this day & age, Halloween.

The cakes were baked on All Hallow’s Eve to honour the dead – hence the name ‘soul’ – and the cross made on them before baking. On All Saints’ Day (1st Nov) and All Souls’ Day (2nd Nov), they were then were given as alms to the poor (especially children). Perhaps it’s the origin of modern day trick or treating.

I searched through all my old-fashioned cookery books and finally found a recipe for them in the not so old A Calendar of Feasts: Cattern Cakes and Lace.

The recipe isn’t the most detailed, but from the way they turned out, I’d say they were more a biscuit than a cake! If I made them thicker than I did, they’d probably resemble scones… but they wouldn’t have cooked completely through in the 15 minutes advised.

I was all out of the mixed spice that the recipe called for; I did some detective work and found out that Schwartz mixed spice comprises nutmeg, cinnamon and ground coriander seed. I used half a teaspoon each of nutmeg and cinnamon… I was all out of coriander seeds too!

I don’t think the mixed spice is mandatory if you don’t have any, soul cakes can be made with ground ginger, allspice, the aforementioned nutmeg and cinnamon… or any mixture of all the above!

I wonder if I’ll get any funny looks from the neighbourhood kids if I hand these out when they come around trick or treating this weekend!

Soul cakes

A Calendar of Feasts: Cattern Cakes and Lace

Print recipe Pin recipe

Cook Time 15

Course Snack

Cuisine British

Servings 20

Ingredients

175 g/6oz butter
175 g/6oz caster sugar
3 egg yolks
450 g/1lb plain flour
1 tsp ground mixed spice
A little milk to mix I used about 4 tbsps

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas mark 4
Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl and then beat in the egg yolks one at a time
Sift the flour and the spice into another bowl then add to the butter mixture
Stir in the currants and add milk if necessary to form a soft dough
Form the dough into flat cakes and mark each with a cross
Put on a greased baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown

Keyword biscuits, cake

Gimme Five: Piping bags

As you may have read a couple of weeks ago, I made a batch of profiteroles (and some éclairs later on in the week). I fished out my piping set, forgetting how completely inadequate it had been the last time I’d used it.

I should have realised that it was going to be a false economy when I picked it up at the supermarket. The bag with 6 metal nozzles cost all of £2. I used it once when I made some cupcakes. It was very fiddly – the bag was way too small, it could only hold a few tablespoonfuls of icing. By the time I piped the éclairs with cream, the bag had split and cream was actually diffusing through the whole thing; I’d only used it three times!

I’ve now thrown out the bag – I’ve held on to the nozzles and coupler so am in search of a large, decent, durable piping bag. When looking online I read quite a few reviews from buyers, there were endless one-star reviews; complaints about some brands of bag splitting at the seams after just one use. I didn’t fancy buying single-use plastic bags, too much waste, so here are some of the reusable piping bags in the running.

Cotton Thermo standard piping bag – 28cm: £2.99, Nisbets
2 piece piping bag set by Cake Boss – 20cm & 30cm: £11.95, Wayfair
PME premium icing bag – 30cm: £6.75, Divertimenti
Master Class professional 50cm icing and food piping bag: £5.10, Amazon
Large icing bag – 30cm: £5.65, Lakeland