Mary Berry's lemon cake tray bake with a lemon cream cheese frosting

Recently I worked in a school for a few weeks to cover a teacher who was on paternity leave. Year 5 was my assigned class and they were a boy heavy, smaller than average class.....little did I know they had a higher than average talent for talking! Having said that they were a really fun class and helped reignite my passion for teaching. To thank them, I decided to have a little party at the end of my time with them. One girl in the class is allergic to chocolate (poor thing!) so I did one chocolate tray bake with vanilla frosting (see blog for recipe) and one lemon tray bake, using a cream cheese topping. These cakes were extremely easy to make and deliciously moist. There was some left over (miraculously) which I put in the staff room. Not 10 minutes later I went back in and it had all vanished! Obviously a hit with both children and grown-ups.

For the cake:
One roasting tin measuring 30cm x 23cm
275g self-raising flour
225g softened butter
2 level teaspoons baking powder
225g caster sugar
grated rind of 2 lemons
4 large eggs
4 tablespoons milk

For the topping:
400-500g cream cheese
4 teaspoons clear honey
2 teaspoons lemon juice
sprinkles!
chopped pecans

Grease and line your tin and pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Measure all the cake ingredients into the large bowl and beat until well blended. Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and level out. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes until the sponge springs back when gently pressed and the sides have shrunken back from the tin. Leave to cool slightly in the tin then turn onto a wire rack.

To make the topping, mix together the cheese, honey and lemon juice, adding if necessary more lemon juice and honey. Spread evenly over the cake and sprinkle over your chosen decoration. Cut the cake into squares and watch it vanish! 


 

Mary Berry's chocolate tray bake with a vanilla frosting

Following on from the lemon tray bake, here is the chocolate one! I used Mary's tray bake recipe for the cake and used a vanilla frosting from The Hummingbird Bakery. The chocolate cake went down VERY well with the children and was again really easy to make. You can use any frosting you like or just sprinkle icing sugar over the top. I used some coloured sprinkles and chocolate drops to decorate.

For the cake:
Roasting tin 30cm x 23cm
275g self-raising flour
2 level teaspoons baking powder
4 level tablespoons cocoa powder
4 tablespoons hot water
225g softened butter
225g caster sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon milk

For the frosting:
160g butter
500g icing sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
50ml whole milk

Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees C. Grease and line your tin.
Blend together the cocoa and hot water the allow to cool slightly. Measure all the cake ingredients into a large bowl and beat until well blended.
Turn the mixture into the tin and level out. Bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes until the cake has shrunk a little from the sides and the sponge springs back when pressed gently in the centre. Leave to cool a little in the tin, then turn out onto a wire rack.


To make the frosting, whisk the icing sugar with the butter in a large bowl (this can get a bit messy!). When it reaches a sandy consistency, add the vanilla essence and milk, then continue whisking until smooth and fluffy.

Smooth onto the cake. You can decorate it however you like, I added some sprinkles and choccy drops. Trim the edges if you like, then cut into squares. Serves about 25.

Death by chocolate cake

Happy Easter! If you haven't noticed, it is Easter weekend. The clocks go forward tonight and the easter bunny will skip merrily through our gardens/window boxes/plant pots/house tomorrow. It is this time of year where I usually wish I were a child again and had an elaborate egg hunt ahead of me in the morning. However, this year I wish I was planning the egg hunt for children. It seems my body clock is also going forward. To cope with this I made the biggest and most wicked cake I could muster. Here is Mary Berry's death by chocolate cake. It is delicious but not for the faint hearted. The texture is incredibly moist and surprisongly light. The next time I make it, I'll alternate the layers of dark chocolate ganache with white chocolate or add in some sliced strawberries in the layers.

 

For the cake you will need:

2 8 inch/20cm round loose bottomed cake tins. Grease and line them.

275g plain flour

2 tsp cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp bicarb of soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

215g caster sugar

3 tbsp golden syrup

3 large eggs, beaten

225ml sunflower oil

225ml milk

For the icing you will need:

450g chocolate (up to you what you use but in this case I used 70 per cent choc which makes the filling set as firm as the outside)

200g butter
If you want a squidgy filling instead use a buttercream or ganache made with double cream instead. 

To decorate:

Shavings of different chocolate, raspberries, malteasers, etc! 

Preheat the oven to 140 degrees C for fan assisted or 160 if no fan. Grease and line your tins.

In a large bowl sieve in your flour, cocoa, bicarb and baking powder. Mix together. Add the sugar and mix again. Make a well in the middle and add your oil, milk, beaten eggs and golden syrup. Beat the mixture really well with a wooden spoon until it is very smooth. 

Pour into the tins and place on the middle shelf. 

Bake for 35-40 minutes until well risen and springy to the touch.  

Leave to cool for a few minutes then turn out and leave to get completely cold. When cold, cut each cake in half horizontally. I find a bread knife is easiest for this.                                                               

To make the icing, break the chocolate up into small pieces and place in a heat proof bowl over a gently simmering pan of water. Make sure the water does not touch the bowl. Stir occassionally and melt the chocolate gently. Be careful not to do this too quickly or the chocolate will split. Take the melted chocolate off the heat and add in the cubed butter. Leave to melt, then stir in. 

Place the wire rack on a baking tray to catch any drips. Start to sandwich the layers together with the ganache. Pour the remaining over the top of the cake and smooth over the whole cake with a pallette knife or any smooth edged knife. Leave to set completely, then add any decoration if you want to.

 Serve as it is or (as suggested by my uncle in California) with clotted cream for extra naughtiness. Enjoy! x