The Very Hungry Caterpillar Cupcake Cake

Move over Rainbow Cake, I've a new favourite cake. This was my first 'commissioned' cake that I was asked to make for a friend's son's first birthday. The party was 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' themed, so we searched Pinterest, and decided on a cupcake cake. I then added some fruit cookies to jazz up the cake board.

The cake is a four-layer vanilla rainbow cake, covered in a thin layer of vanilla buttercream and red fondant. The cupcakes are also vanilla with the same vanilla buttercream coloured various shades of green. And the cookies are brown sugar cookies covered in fondant.

I wasn't taking any chances on this cake, so I turned to old favourite recipes. The cake and cookie recipes have featured on the blog before. The cupcakes haven't, but I left my recipe book at mum's house so I'll pop up the recipe during the week.

Valentine's Sugar Cookies

As I've mentioned a few times before, I teach four and five year olds. I wanted to do something a bit different with them for Valentine's Day, so we baked cookies!!  The recipe is a simple one, perfect for baking with children. The cookies are crisp on the outside and slightly soft in the middle and they keep their shape really well when baking.

I used to make these all the time as a kid and loved decorating them with whatever I could get my hands on! We used pink glacé icing and all the sprinkles I could find to decorate these, but unfortunately they were scoffed before I could take a picture!!

Brown Sugar Cookies

225g plain flour

125g butter, softened

125g brown sugar

1 egg, beaten

Pinch of salt

Line a couple of baking trays and preheat your oven to 190ºC. Beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Beat in the egg, slowly.  Sift in the flour and salt. Mix well until it makes a firm dough. You may need to add a little bit more flour.  Sprinkle some flour on your work surface and a rolling pin. Roll out the dough until it is about 1/2 cm thick. Cut out your shapes and place on the baking tray. Gather up any leftover dough, roll it out again and cut out more shapes. Keep on going until all the dough is gone.  Bake for about 15 minutes, until light brown. Leave on a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.

Chocolate and Almond Biscotti

Anyone who knows me knows that I am completely obsessed with Bake Off (Great British, Irish, Australian, American... I've watched them all) so I received some lovely Bake Off gifts for Christmas. One of my favourites is this fab book from my little sister! 

The only problem is trying to decide what to make. I handed that responsibility over to my mum and she chose Biscotti. I was wary of these, mainly because I've never had too much success with biscuits, but what mummy wants, mummy gets!! 

Biscotti means 'twice baked', and that's exactly what they are. First you make up your biscuit dough, shape it into a log shape and bake it. Then you slice it up and bake it again. This results in a very dry and crisp biscuit which is what makes them perfect for dunking into coffee. 

To be perfectly honest, these didn't really excite me. They tasted nice and were really chocolately, but I wasn't dying to go back for seconds. I'm blaming it on the texture.... I'm definitely a gooey biscuit girl at heart. Maybe if I liked tea or coffee I'd have a different opinion... 

Scratch that, I'm officially converted. I have been nibbling at these all week! They are so moreish and just a lovely after dinner treat. I will definitely be making these again!!

Chocolate and Almond Biscotti

(adapted from The Great British Bake Off Everyday)

100g whole blanched almonds

100g unsalted butter

3 medium eggs

200g caster sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

325g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

3 tbsp cocoa powder

110g dark chocolate (about 70%), roughly chopped

Heat oven to 180ºC. Put the nuts on a small baking tray and toast in the oven for 6-8 minutes, or until golden brown. Leave to cool a bit, then chop each nut in half and set aside. Gently melt the butter in the microwave (use 10-20 second bursts) and leave to cool slightly. Put the eggs in a large mixing bowl and whisk until frothy. Add the sugar and vanilla extract and whisk until very thick. Pour the melted butter into the bowl and whisk until combined. Sift in the flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt. Stir with a wooden spoon until well combined. Stir in the chopped nuts and chocolate. Split the mixture in half and place each half on a lined baking tray. Using your hands, mould the dough into a log shape. Place in the oven and bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until barely firm when gently pressed in the centre. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. When cooled, reheat the oven to 180ºC. Using a serrated bread knife, gently slice the log into 1cm slices and place them on a baking sheet. Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes until firm and dry. Remove from the oven and leave for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

You will also need:

150g dark chocolate (about 70%)

When the biscotti has cooled completely, melt some dark chocolate either over a pan of hot water or in the microwave. Dip one end of each biscotti into the chocolate and then place on a sheet of baking paper to set. 

Gingerbread Men

Gingerbread men (and women) are one of my favourite things to make at Christmas time!! I'm usually dancing around to Michael Bublé's Christmas album while making them and the smell of them baking fills the whole house. It really gets me in the Christmassy mood!!

After many, many, many batches (my oven only has one shelf!), I dipped their hands and feet in melted chocolate and gave them jelly tot buttons. The poor guys were faceless this time as I ran out of chocolate.

I made this batch for my class as a little Christmas pressie. We've been reading the story of the Gingerbread Man so they were all running round the classroom with their gingerbread men saying 'Run, run as fast as you can! You can't catch me I'm the Gingerbread Man!'

Gingerbread Men

(makes 30 medium sized Gingerbread Men)

(adapted from Odlums)

250g plain flour

75g butter, softened

75g brown sugar

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

50g golden syrup

2 medium egg yolks

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add bicarb, golden syrup and egg yolks and stir well. Sift the flour and spices into the bowl and mix until well combined. Shape into a ball and knead lightly on a work surface until smooth. Wrap and chill for about 30 minutes before using. Preheat oven to 180ºC and line baking trays with parchment paper. Thinly roll out dough and use gingerbread cutters to cut out shapes. Place on baking sheets, leaving a space between each. Bake for about 8 minutes until slightly risen and golden in colour. Transfer to a wire tray to cool.

You will also need:

100g chocolate

Jelly tots

Melt chocolate in the microwave. Quickly dip in all hands and feet. Dip each jelly tot into the chocolate and add to the Gingerbread Men as buttons.

Dark Chocolate and Orange Cookies

I've never really been one for making cookies. They just never turn out right for me. They usually spread and I end up with one giant cookie or they get burnt to a crisp. I decided to change this, and who better to help me that Sophie Morris, founder of Kooky Dough! 

I love Sophie's cookbook and was so excited to try this recipe and, if I do say so myself, they turned out great!! The recipe said it makes 14 big cookies, but I got 36 medium sized ones (which meant 3 batches in and out of the oven). These were a gift for my two close friends' housewarming so I put them in a Kilner Jar  and decorated with some cute 'Home Sweet Home' ribbon I found at my local arts and crafts shop. 

Dark Chocolate and Orange Cookies

(adapted from Sophie Kooks)

170g butter, softened

55g caster sugar

220g soft light brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Finely grated zest of 1 large orange

1 medium egg, beaten

250g plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/4 tsp salt

180g dark chocolate, chopped into small chunks

Preheat the oven to 180ºC and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Cream the butter, sugar, vanilla and orange zest in a large bowl, until light and fluffy. Gradually add in the egg until well combined. Mix in the flour, bicarb and salt, until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chunks. Drop 6 heaped teaspoons of cookie dough onto the lined baking sheets, leaving lots of room between them. Bake for approximately 10 minutes, until golden around the edges but still soft in the middle. Leave to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.