Author: ellebee

Sprinkle Celebration Cake


This fun celebration cake is adapted from my Victoria sponge recipe with the addition of festive sprinkles throughout the cake.

As with any Victoria sponge recipe, the proportions of ingredients are based on the weight of the eggs (without their shells), so you can use whichever size eggs you prefer.

Makes one 4-layer 6” (15cm) cake. All ingredients, except the double cream, should be room temperature

Ingredients

Cake – single layer so you need 4x for the full cake

  • 2 eggs
  • 2 eggs weight of golden caster sugar
  • 2 eggs weight of margarine, plus extra for greasing
  • 2 eggs weight of self raising flour
  • 20g bake stable sprinkles (I use these sprinkles)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp Elmlea plant based double cream

Buttercream (x2 – one portion for filling and crumb coat, then same again for the final decoration)

  • 80g margarine
  • 80g solid cooking oil (I use Trex, but other solid oil can be used)
  • 330g icing sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp lemon juice

Assembly/Decorating Stuffs

  • Sprinkles
  • Strawberry jam

Cake Process

  1. Preheat the oven at 170C fan assisted and prepare a 6″ (15cm) sandwich tin with margarine, baking paper on the bottom, and dust with flour
  2. Beat the sugar and margarine together at a medium speed until light and fluffy
  3. Using a spatula, scrape down any mixture from the sides of the bowl. Beat in the eggs individually at medium speed. Add the vanilla extract
  4. Scrape down any mixture from the sides again. Sieve the flour into the mixture, add the bake stable sprinkles, and fold in
    • If the batter is feeling a bit thick add the double cream
  5. Pour into the prepared tin and put in the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean and the top of the cake is springy. Put on a cooling rack in the tin for 30 minutes, then take out of the tin and continue to cool on the rack
  6. Repeat steps 2-5 until all four cakes are baked and cooled. Once cooled, level each cake

Now to make the buttercream for the crumb coat! Just follow the process for my Vanilla Buttercream Icing.

And now we decorate.

  1. Grab your cake drum/board and put a small dollop in the centre. Place your first cake layer centre on the board
  2. Cover the top of the layer with a thick layer of buttercream and smooth it out with an offset spatula. Make a small well in the middle and scoop in 1-2 tsp of the jam. Place the next cake layer on top and repeat until the last cake layer is on
    • I found that I had to put some bamboo dowels in to keep the cake from slipping with all the weight of the four layers
  3. Cover the top and sides with buttercream and smooth with a side scraper
  4. Pop in the fridge for at least 2 hours, better if overnight, until the buttercream has hardened
  5. Make some more buttercream using the same amount of ingredients and with the same process
  6. Cover the top and sides again with this extra buttercream and make sure it’s nice and thick. Smooth with a side scraper
  7. Pop in the fridge again until this layer of buttercream has hardened
  8. Push your sprinkles of choice into the buttercream. I found it easier to wear a vinyl food safe glove while doing this

Ta da! Enjoy!

Bee Hive Cake

I decorated this 3 layer lemon and honey cake (recipe here) with lemon Swiss meringue buttercream (recipe here) and fondant bees.

I started by covering the cake drum in green fondant. I lightly wet the drum using a pastry brush dipped in water, then draped the green fondant (which had been rolled out to around 2mm) over the top. I smoothed the fondant with a smoothing tool. Using a sharp knife, I trimmed the edges of the fondant so that it was in line with the edge of the cake drum. I then stuck the green ribbon around the edge using double sided tape. For a bit of extra fun, I stuck little bees around the edge.

Next I made the bees. I rolled small amounts of yellow fondant into cylinders. Then I rolled out black fondant to about 1mm thick and cut out strips. I used a small amount of water to stick the strips to the yellow fondant; a fine paintbrush is the easiest way to apply the water. I used a cocktail stick dipped in black food colouring to make the eyes, and an icing tool shaped as a D dipped in black food colouring to make the smile. I pushed in almond flakes for the wings, then pushed cocktail sticks in so it looks like the bees are flying.

Finally, I made the little hive door with black fondant by cutting an arch out of paper then using that as a stencil.

I completed the fondant parts in advance so that the fondant dried and hardened in time.

I made the lemon and honey cake recipe twice. The second batch I made as a 2 egg version and poured it into a 6″ (15cm) heatproof bowl which I had greased with margarine. I popped this in the oven for 20 minutes at 155C, then dropped it down to 140C and checked every 5 minutes until the top sprung back when touched.

I made a full batch of Swiss meringue buttercream, adding 3 tsp of lemon extract to get the lemon flavour I wanted.

Then I started assembling the cake. I cut the tops off the round layers to make them flat. I used a 6″ (15cm) cake board and put a blob of buttercream in the centre to keep the cake in place. Then I put the first layer on and covered the top in buttercream. I repeated this with all three layers, then gave the cake a crumb coat.

I popped this in the fridge for a few hours so that the buttercream firmed up. While the cake was firming up, I added yellow colouring to the remaining buttercream to give it a golden colour.

Once the cake had finished firming up in the fridge, I started getting things ready for decorating. I put a large round piping tip into a piping bag and transferred the golden lemon buttercream into it. Starting from the bottom, I piped rings around the cake. I used a smaller piping tip to fill in any holes I saw. Once finished, I popped the cake back in the fridge.

Once the buttercream had firmed up, I moved the cake carefully onto the covered cake drum. I then placed the little door and put the bees in position.

Enjoy!

Swiss Meringue ‘Buttercream’

This type of buttercream is very smooth because the sugar is melted before it’s incorporated with the fat. This also prevents the sugar recrystallising like it can in regular buttercream, ensuring your buttercream stays perfectly grain-free.

This recipe will crumb coat and cover a 4 layer 6″ (15cm) cake, or decorate 28 cupcakes.

Ingredients

  • 8 egg whites (approximately 330g)
    • These can be separated, but I prefer to use the egg whites you can buy in the carton in the fridge section of the supermarket because I don’t know what I’d do with so many egg yolks!
  • 330g caster sugar
  • 250g margarine/dairy-free spread
  • 250g vegetable shortening
  • 2-3 tsp of flavouring

Process

  1. Put the vegetable shortening and margarine in the bowls of a stand mixer with paddle attachment and beat for 5-8 minutes, until fully combined, soft, and pale. Put to one side
  2. Put the egg whites and caster sugar in a heatproof bowl over simmering water and whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is warm to the touch, then remove from the heat. Don’t allow it to cook or you’ll end up with a sweet scrambled egg.
  3. In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or an electric hand whisk, whisk on high speed until stiff and glossy peaks form
    • This will take 10-15 minutes
  4. Add the margarine/vegetable shortening mixture to the egg white/sugar mixture in batches, whisking until incorporated after each addition
  5. Add the flavouring and whisk until fluffy

Enjoy!

Tips

If your buttercream doesn’t taste of the flavouring enough, add more 1 tsp at a time and beat for 2 minutes each time until desired flavour is reached.

If the buttercream looks wet, almost like it is sweating, just pop it in the fridge for a couple of hours then beat on full speed with the paddle attachment for a few minutes. The end result should be smooth, glossy looking buttercream.

Lemon and Honey Cake

Using honey instead of sugar makes this cake quite rich and moist, and the classic pairing of honey and lemon will have your tastebuds buzzing.

This recipe makes two 6″ (15cm) cake layers.

Ingredients

  • 150g honey
  • 175g margarine, plus extra for greasing
  • 3 large eggs
  • 175g self raising flour
  • 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp plant based milk

Process

  1. Preheat the oven to 155°C fan assisted and put a shelf in the middle. Grease and line the bottom of two 6″ (15cm) cake tins to ensure your cake doesn’t stick
    • Lightly grease the inside with margarine. Cut a circle of non-stick baking parchment the size of the tin and use it to line the bottom – the margarine on the bottom of the tin will keep the parchment in place. Dust the side with some flour, making sure to knock off the excess
  2. Put the honey and margarine in a bowl together and beat them until light and creamy (at a medium speed if using a stand mixer)
  3. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure they are fully incorporated before adding the next one
  4. Add the lemon zest and juice, and mix until combined
  5. Sift in the flour and bicarbonate of soda, and fold until combined. If the mixture feels stiff, add the plant based milk to slacken it slightly
    • This is still a very thick mixture that shouldn’t be runny, but you should also be able to stir it without difficulty
  6. Pour the mixture evenly between the two prepared cake tins and level off with an offset spatula or butter knife
    • I tend to weigh the tins to make sure the quantities are even
  7. Bake for 25 minutes, at which point the tops should spring back to the touch. You can’t trust a skewer with this cake, and this recipe gets dark really quickly because of the honey
  8. Allow the cakes to cool for 15-20 minutes in the tin before removing onto a wire rack. Allow the cakes to cool completely on the wire rack before storing or decorating

I coated this cake with just a crumb coat of lemon buttercream (recipe here, I swapped out the vanilla extract for lemon extract), but you can decorate it how you wish.

Enjoy!

As you can see, the cake gets really dark once baked

Amazon Associate Links

Most of the baking equipment I used can be found on Amazon, find them here

Coffee and Walnut Cupcakes

Coffee and walnut is my dad’s absolute favourite cake, and even my walnut-hating sister loves this recipe. These cupcakes deliver a punch of flavour for their size.

This recipe makes 9 cupcakes.

Ingredients

Cake

  • 125g room temperature margarine
  • 50ml strong coffee
  • 140g self-raising flour
  • 125g golden caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 45g walnuts, chopped into chunks

Cream Cheese Icing

  • 55g icing sugar, sieved
  • 75ml plant-based double cream
  • 55g dairy-free cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 tbsp coffee

Process

  1. Preheat oven at 160C fan assisted.  Put cupcake cases into a cupcake tin
  2. Put all cake ingredients except the walnuts into a bowl and mix until just combined
  3. Fold in the walnuts
  4. Fill cupcake cases up to 2/3 with mixture
    • I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup when filling the cupcake cases to make sure each case has the same amount in it
  5. Bake for 20 mins, or until a skewer comes out clean
  6. Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then onto a cooling rack until completely cool

Cream Cheese Icing

  1. Whip the dairy-free cream cheese until really smooth
  2. Add the icing sugar, plant-based double cream and coffee. Whip until thick and a spoon leaves a trail in the mixture when passed through
  3. Decorate the cupcakes using either an offset spatula or by filling a piping bag
  4. Leave them with just the cream cheese icing, or top off with a walnut half or other decoration

Enjoy!

P.S. Want to bake a cake instead of cupcakes? This recipe will make a single 8″ (20cm) coffee and walnut cake! There’s even no need to change the time in the oven.

Amazon Associate Links

Most of the baking equipment I used can be found on Amazon, find them here

Carrot Cupcakes

These cupcakes have all of the flavour of a carrot cake, but in a delectable bite-sized package. Try not to eat them all at once!

Makes 9 cupcakes.

Ingredients

Cake

  • 125ml sunflower oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 110g light muscovado sugar
  • 125g carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
  • 150g self-raising flour
  • 1tsp baking powder
  • 1tsp ground mixed spice
  • 1tsp ground ginger
  • 1tsp ground nutmeg
  • 35g walnuts, shelled and chopped

Cream Cheese Icing

  • 50g icing sugar, sieved
  • 75ml plant-based double cream
  • 50g dairy-free cream cheese, room temperature

Process

  1. Preheat oven to 160C fan assisted.  Put cupcake cases into a cupcake tin
  2. Put all cake ingredients into a bowl and mix until just combined
  3. Fill cupcake cases up to 2/3 with mixture
    • I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup when filling the cupcake cases to make sure each case has the same amount in it
  4. Pop in the oven for 20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean and the tops are bouncy
  5. Allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then onto a cooling rack to cool completely

Cream Cheese Icing

  1. Whip the dairy-free cream cheese until really smooth
  2. Add the icing sugar and plant-based double cream. Whip until thick and a spoon leaves a trail in the mixture when passed through
  3. Decorate the cupcakes using either an offset spatula or by filling a piping bag
  4. Leave them with just the cream cheese icing, or top off with a walnut half or other decoration (I used a sugar carrot decoration that I found at the supermarket)

Enjoy!

P.S. Want to bake a cake instead of cupcakes? This recipe will make a single 8″ (20cm) carrot cake! Just leave in the oven for 35 minutes instead.

Amazon Associate Links

Most of the baking equipment I used can be found on Amazon, find them here

Chocolate Brownies

I love me a gooey chocolate brownie, especially with ice cream. Whether you’re an edge person, a corner person, or a from-the-middle person, this recipe won’t disappoint.

This recipe makes 9 brownies in an 8″ (20cm) square tin.

Ingredients

  • 125g dairy-free margarine, cubed
  • 190g chocolate, cut into small chunks
  • 55g plain flour
  • 25g cocoa powder
  • 2 large eggs
  • 185g golden caster
  • Optional – peanut butter or biscoff spread

Process

  1. Put the dairy-free margarine and equal amount of the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over simmering water and mix occasionally until fully combined, then remove from the heat and set aside
  2. Preheat the oven at 160C fan assisted
  3. Line an 8″ (20cm) square tin with baking paper
    • Crumple the baking paper into a ball first if you find it difficult to line the tin – the creases from the crumpling act against the roll of the paper, stopping it from springing back and curling
  4. Sieve together the flour and cocoa powder into a bowl
  5. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together until thick and creamy
  6. Mix in chocolate/dairy-free spread mixture
  7. Fold in flour mixture until just combined, careful to not over-work
  8. Stir in remaining chocolate chunks
  9. Spread evenly in tin
  10. Optional – take spoonfuls of the peanut butter or biscoff spread at a time and drizzle it over the mixture. When the desired amount has been added, use a kebab stick or butter knife to make funky patterns in the mixture
  11. Pop in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the middle wobbles only slightly. The top should have a nice paper texture to it
  12. Leave to set in the tin for about an hour before cutting

Enjoy!

Stages of brownie. I used peanut butter in my mixture, but it can be left plain

Teal ‘Buttercream’ and Chocolate Ganache Drips

I decorated this 2 layer 6″ (15cm) Victoria sponge (recipe here, I used a 3 eggs weight instead of 2 and split it between two 6″ cake tins) with my vanilla ‘buttercream’ (recipe here), first with a crumb coat, then the coloured ‘buttercream’, then topped it with chocolate ganache dripping down the sides (recipe here).

I applied a spot of buttercream to the centre of the cake board so that the bottom layer of cake wouldn’t move around. I then applied a generous layer of buttercream to the top of that layer using an offset spatula, making sure to keep the top of the buttercream level. I put the second layer on top, top side down.

I applied a thin layer of buttercream to the whole cake using an offset spatula and levelled it with a cake scraper. I put the cake in the fridge overnight to ensure the buttercream set firm.

After the crumb coat, about two thirds of the buttercream remained. I coloured the buttercream by folding in green and blue food colouring gel paste to achieve this teal colour – due to the super-concentrated nature of colouring gel paste, the gel from the point of a kebab stick dipped into the colouring paste was all that was needed.

To apply the coloured buttercream, I used the same technique as the crumb coat but applied it more thickly. I smoothed the buttercream with the cake scraper then put it back in the fridge overnight.

For the drips, I prepared a piping bag with a #2 tip and poured in the slightly-cooled ganache. With the cake on a turntable, I turned the cake and allowed the ganache to fall on the edge to drip over the side. Once the entire circumference was covered, I filled in the centre. Depending on how liquid your ganache is at this point, you may need to encourage it to smooth with a palette knife.

I popped the cake back in the fridge overnight for the ganache to set.

Enjoy!

P.S. Don’t have 3 days to decorate this cake? 2 hours in the fridge instead of overnight should be enough to firm up the buttercream and ganache layers, but you can’t skip the chilling completely.

Amazon Associate Links

Most of the baking equipment I used can be found on Amazon, find them here

Chocolate Ganache

There is something about the decadent smoothness of chocolate ganache that is special and unbeatable. Consisting of just two ingredients – dark chocolate and plant-based double cream – it’s simple too.

When decorating a cake, ganache can be used to cover a cake like icing, or drip from the top for a funky decorative flair. However, the two styles of ganache require different ratios of chocolate to cream. Icing ganache has a ratio of 2:1 chocolate:cream, whereas a drip ganache is 1.5:1 chocolate:cream

Ingredients

  • Dark chocolate, chopped and in a heatproof bowl (I prefer to use Lindt 51% cooking chocolate)
  • Plant based double cream

To cover a 4 layer 6″ (15cm) cake, about one kilo of ganache is needed (666g chocolate and 333g double cream).

To drip on top of a 6″ (15cm) cake, about 175g of ganache is needed (105g chocolate and 70g double cream).

Process

  1. Heat up the cream in a saucepan over a low-medium heat until small bubbles appear at the edges, but don’t let it boil
  2. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and mix with a whisk until combined and smooth
  3. Wait around 10 minutes for the ganache to cool before decorating the cake
    • To cover a cake, use an offset spatula and treat the ganache like buttercream
    • To drip, fill a piping bag with a small round (#2) tip attached and pipe the ganache to the edge of the cake so that it drips over the edge and down the side. Once the edge is covered, fill in the centre

Enjoy!

P.S. Ganache can be used for things other than decorating cakes! It can be used for dipping strawberries, or adding to plant based milk to make a silky hot chocolate, or leave it to cool a bit longer so that it can be piped into choux pastry or even to create decorations using the piping bag!

Vanilla ‘Buttercream’ Icing

This is something that I have really missed since not being able to have dairy. There is a dairy-free version commercially available, but shelf-stable mass-produced buttercream full of emulsifiers, preservatives, and flavourings pales in comparison to this homemade version. Ready in 15 minutes it takes no time at all to make, and is most definitely worth it.

This recipe will ice 18 cupcakes or one 2-layer 6″ cake.

Ingredients

  • 80g vegetable shortening (I use Trex, but other shortening can be used)
  • 80g margarine
  • 330g icing sugar, sifted
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract, not essence
  • 1 tsp lemon juice – this is to balance out the fats

Process

  1. Put the vegetable shortening and margarine in a stand mixer with paddle attachment and beat for 5-8 minutes, until fully combined, soft, and pale
  2. Add half of the icing sugar and beat for 2 minutes, then add the other half and beat for a further 2 minutes
  3. Add the vanilla extract and lemon juice, and beat for 3 minutes
    • This is also the time to add any colouring; don’t use liquid food colouring as it will make the buttercream too liquid. Gel or powdered colouring work best, and a little goes a long way so start with a tiny amount and gradually build the colour.

Enjoy!

Tips

If your buttercream creates an oily/waxy film in your mouth, this is because the fat hasn’t been fully balanced.  Add more lemon juice 1/2 tsp at a time and beat for 2 minutes each time.

If your buttercream isn’t vanilla-tasting enough, add more vanilla extract 1/2 tsp at a time and beat for 2 minutes each time until desired flavour is reached.

Decorating

If using the buttercream straight away, use a spatula and mix the buttercream until smooth.  This knocks any air bubbles out for a silky, even frosting.  Either use an offset spatula to apply it directly to a cake, or use it in a piping bag.

If making it for use at a later date, put it in an air tight container and in the fridge.  It should last around 1-2 weeks.  Bring back to room temperature and mix out air bubbles before using.