Special Milestone

I'm rather excited about this mini post - it's just a quick note to say thanks to all of you who read my blog, as you have helped me to reach a small but important milestone in the Becky BakesWell journey. Today this little blog reached its 1000 view marker!

The closing date for the business start-up competition I am entering Becky BakesWell into is nearing and it's making me consider in more detail what I would like Becky BakesWell to become. For the application, I have to consider who my market would be, what I would want to sell and what my vision is for the business.

I have dreams that one day there would be a Becky BakesWell shop. What would you want from a cake shop? Would you want to buy sandwiches and drinks? Would it be the sort of place you'd want to grab a sandwich and cake to-go or would it be the sort of place to sit at a table and linger over a magazine with a cup of coffee and a slice of cake? Would quirky milkshakes and cookies hit the spot?

I'd love a cake shop to be the sort of place that people go to, to meet up. Maybe where you can go to do crafts along with tea and cake - maybe a craft session hosted by someone else, but the place to go to hang out and be creative without making a mess in your own living room?

Why not drop me a post about your dream cake shop and what it would be like?

Thanks for popping by and reading!

Becky Bakeswell x

Herman the German Friendship Cake

I have been given a 'Herman the German' cake and have been excited at the prospect of looking after him and baking him. I have been curious about these sorts of cakes since I read about them in a newspaper article last year, but hadn't known anyone who had been given a portion of the start-up batter. The cakes really are no trouble to look after - you basically stir them once a day and then on day 4 add a cup each of milk, flour and sugar and stir around. You stir him once a day again for the next few days and then feed him the same amounts of ingredients as day 4, then divide him up into 4 equal portions. You give three of these portions away and keep the 4th portion for yourself to bake.

A Herman cake tastes like a combination of apple crumble/Strudel filling and Stollen. I have been so impressed with the cake that I have kept a second portion of start-up batter so that I can bake another Herman cake. On the next cake, I might add some small cubes of marzipan and lemon zest. I learned this trick from a fruit cake which Nigella bakes, containing marzipan.

When I transferred him to a bigger bowl like it suggests on the instructions on day 1, I also decided to add a fresh covering of cling film and then cover with the tea towel. When I saw him the next day, he had become very bubbly and frothy.

The Instructions:

Hello, my name is Herman, I am a sour dough cake. I am supposed to sit on your worktop for 10 days without a lid on. You MUST NOT put me in the fridge or you will kill me! If I stop bubbling, I am dead.

Day 1: Take Herman and put him in a large bowl and cover loosely with a tea towel. (I just had a clingfilm cover on the bowl and then tented the tea towel over this).

Day 2: Stir well.

Day 3: Stir well.

Day 4: Herman is hungry! Add 1 cup each of milk, plain white flour and sugar. Stir well.

Day 5: Stir well.

Day 6: Stir well.

Day 7: Stir well.

Day 8: Stir well.

Day 9: Herman's hungry again! Add the same quantities of ingredients as day 4 and then divide Herman up into  4 equal portions. Give 3 portions away to friends and keep the fourth portion for yourself. Pass on a copy of these instructions with Herman.

Day 10: Herman is hungry and ready to be baked! Stir well and add:

1 cup of sugar,
half tsp salt.
2 cups of plain flour,
2 heaped tsp baking powder,
2/3 of a cup of cooking oil,
2 eggs,
2 tsp vanilla
2 heaped tsp vanilla essence,
2 cooking apples cut into small chunks,
1 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 180 C/ 350 F/ Gas Mark 4. Mix everything together and place in a large greased baking tin (I lined the base of my tin too with baking paper). Sprinkle the top of the cake with 1/4 of a cup of brown sugar and 1/4 of a cup of melted butter.

Bake for 45 mins ( my Herman took slightly longer at 55-60 mins). I tented him with foil from 45 mins into the cooking time.

Herman is ready when a knife inserted into him comes out nearly clean - you might get some slightly sticky crumbs on the blade. He is meant to be a slightly damp cake due to the apples, but the knife blade should not contain trails of uncooked batter.

Happy baking and eating!

Becky Bakeswell x

Apple Crumble

In my life, apple crumble will forever be linked to my Mum, as she used to make it on drizzly Sundays for pudding after Sunday dinner. I grew up in a village which is now a bit rough around the edges, but in the 80s it was still on the quiet side. It was the sort of place where harassed mums would stock up on enough Christmas supplies to last a nuclear winter as the little shops on the main road shut on Christmas Eve and didn't open again until after New Year's Day.

Sundays were a scaled down version of this as nowhere was open and there was never anything to do. Sunny Sundays were spent playing kirby on the front with the other kids from the street, or climbing over our back garden fence on to the playground of the local primary school. I usually scaled the fence in my roller-boots, much to the annoyance of my Mum, who was sick of warning me about the danger of this.

Grey, rainy Sundays were usually spent playing with Barbies and dressing up whilst my Mum attempted to fit a week's worth of housework into one day. Once she was finished, we always had our Sunday disco (where we would dance around the living room to whatever music my mum was doing the housework to) and then we would sometimes bake something for pudding. Our kitchen floor was clad in 1980s white lino which for an eight year old girl equalled a perfect roller-booting surface... After much pestering my mum would cave in and let me wear my roller-boots whilst baking. I would whizz from one cupboard to another, gathering the ingredients and weighing them.

My favourite thing to make with my mum was apple crumble as I loved the smell of the cinnamon and apples cooking together. My mum always made the apple filling, as it involved boiling water, but I was allowed to make the crumble mix. The crumble mix recipe came from a big doorstop of a cookbook called 'The 1000 Recipe Cookbook'. Not long after I left home, I came across a copy of the book in a charity shop and bought it so that I would have a copy for my own kitchen.

My mum didn't make the apple filling the way it tells you to in the book though. She had her own way of doing it, which I think is nicer. I've shared the recipe with you below so that you can make it too if you like. I added some blackberries to my apple filling last weekend, just for a change, so feel free to play around with the fruit you use. Peaches or brambles picked from the hedgerows are good early Autumn alternatives.

Crumble Mix
I tend to make the crumble mix first, then as soon as the apple filling is ready, you're good to go. Your butter should be ffffffflipping cold to ensure it rubs into the flour well without becoming greasy and claggy. I always add a cheeky shake of cinnamon in with the flour as I love it. You don't want to add too much - a very gentle shake.

150g/5oz plain flour
75g/3oz sugar (I like golden granulated)
75g/3oz butter
pinch of cinnamon (optional)

Tip the flour and sugar into the bowl and stir around to combine. Cut the butter into chunks then add to your baking bowl.

Rub the butter into the sugary-flour mixture using the tips of your fingers and thumbs in a fluttering motion. You are aiming to create a mixture which resembles rubbly breadcrumbs. It should have some fine sandy bits and then some more rubbly bits - these crisp up in the oven to make little crunchy, biscuity pebbles.

Once your crumble mix is ready, preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F or Gas mark 4 


Apple Filling 


4 large cooking apples, such as Bramley,
Sugar to taste,
Pinch of cinnamon

1) Peel and and carefully core the apples, making sure that you completely remove any of the rough apple core.

2) Chop the apples into rough chunks and put into a deep saucepan. Pour boiling water into the pan so that it just covers the fruit by about a centimetre. Bring up to a brief boil, but keep an eye on the apples, as they can soften too much. You want the apples to soften to the point where once they have been drained, they will break easily into a rough puree. You can always take a chunk out with a slotted spoon and check it.

3) Drain the apples in a colander, allowing most of the water to flow away, but leave a little left in the pan to help make a sauce. Return the apples to the pan.

4) Stir around to break up slightly and to combine with the water. You want a puree consistency with some random chunks. Sprinkle in a small pinch of cinnamon and add a couple of spoonfuls of sugar to taste. Don't add too much sugar though, as you do want a slightly sharp edge, as there's sugar in the crumble mix.

5) Pour the apple mix into your oven-proof baking dish. At this point, if you want to add blackberries, you can. I wouldn't add them before this point as they still have to go into the oven.  The heat from the oven alone will allow them to bleed and burst, dappling the pale jade mush with purplish-pink.

6) Sprinkle over the crumble mix. Depending on the size of the dish, you might end up with some left over. Don't be tempted add this if you already have a decent covering (you can freeze crumble mix in sandwich bags for next time though, so don't throw it away).You want a rubble covering that is deep enough to blanket the fruit generously, but not so deep that it will be difficult to crisp up. Sprinkle over a shake of cinnamon and sugar for good luck!

7) Bake on the centre shelf of your oven for 25-35 mins. I always put a baking tray on the shelf below to  catch any drips from the fruit which will bubble over the edges. I would check from 25 mins onwards. You want your crumble topping to be golden and crunchy on top, and for the fruity filling to have bubbled up over the edges of the dish. 

Serve with chilled pouring cream or vanilla ice cream.

The scent of apple, biscuit and cinnamon wafting out of the oven is the most comforting smell I know and always used to sweeten the Sunday night blues I used to get when I realised the weekend was over, and there was still homework lurking in the bottom of my bag somewhere...

Easter Weekend Baking Frenzy!

I have been in a bit of a baking frenzy this weekend - I've been baking lots of cupcakes and a gluten free chocolate cake for a friend's baby naming ceremony. I have also been given a portion of starter batter for a 'Herman the German' Friendship cake, which I have been feeding in preparation for his trip to the oven later in the week and I have baked an apple crumble for pudding today.

Will post separately about Herman and the Apple Crumble, but thought I'd give you a sneak peak at a bit of the baking action that BakesWell HQ has seen over the last few days...

The cupcakes were vanilla and chocolate, with handmade daisy and butterfly decorations. Our friend's lovely baby is called Callie, so I decided to spell out her name in honour of the occasion. Other special requests came in the form of diabetic friendly cupcakes (below) and a diva of a gluten-free chocolate cake. I find Xylitol works well to create a sugar free chocolate meringue buttercream which is mousse-like in texture and far lighter than standard buttercream.

The gluten-free chocolate cake is a combination of two recipes from Nigella Lawson and Sophie Dahl, which made Audrey, (the lovely lady who received the cake), one happy gal indeed! 

Just about to tuck in to the apple crumble, so will post later about the rest of my baking adventure...

Until then,

Happy Baking!

Becky Bakeswell x

Hello Kitty confetti cake

I could hardly contain my excitement at my recent find - confetti cakes. Imagine a beautiful vanilla cake flecked with the colours of the rainbow. Combine this with the epitome of cake shaped cuteness - Hello Kitty, and you have one helluva birthday cake - well my friend Becky did this week.

All you have to do to grab yourself a piece of the confetti cake action is fold some hundreds and thousands into the cake mix, just before you dollop the mix into the cake tins. 

When the cake is baked and sliced open, it looks like this:

I love the fact that nobody slices into a cake expecting it to be decorated inside too. It's for this reason that I like to keep the external decoration simple so that the confetti interior is a nice surprise.