Giddy Up Horsie!

Well the hangover never happened on Sunday last. I ended up driving into town as it was lashing rain when I was ready to leave the house. I also threw my mind forward about 16 hours and realised that a room full of screaming 7 year olds may not be the best thing for my head! Or Heart!!!!
However, I did get the cake finished for aforementioned room full of 7 year olds!
A simple Victoria sponge from the How To Be A Domestic Goddess book with some dusty butter icing!
For the sponge you will need,
225g of Unsalted Butter, very soft, 225 Caster Sugar, 1 teaspoon of Vanilla Essence, 4 large eggs, 200g Self-Raising Flour, 25g Cornflour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 3-4 tablespoons of milk.
You will also need 2 x 21cm sandwich tins, buttered and floured.

Preheat the oven to 180C.
To make, put all the ingredients, except the milk, in the bowl of a blender. Carefully turn on the blender (I find that if you put a clean tea towel over the blender and start the speed slow, it stops it spluttering all over the place) Gradually turn up the speed until the texture is smooth and there are no lumps.
Then, pulse the mixture pouring the milk in one tablespoon at a time.

Pour the batter into the tins and bake for about 25 minutes until the cakes are starting to come away at the edges and are springy to the touch. Leave the cakes in their tins for about 10 mins and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
You can layer the cake with whipped cream, and fresh fruit like strawberries and enjoy with tea.


To make the icing that I used for Ella Bella's cake, take 100g of milk chocolate and melt in a heatproof bowl over simmering water. While this is melting, take 175g of room temperature unsalted butter and add 175g of icing sugar and beat together until well combined. When the chocolate has cooled, mix into the butter mixture and combine well.

When you have shaped your cake to the animal of choice, ice carefully. THe icing can also be used as a filling in place of the cream and fruit.

Here's one I made earlier....


Ella Bella was very impressed with her cake and it seemed to be enjoyed by all the other kids (the grown up kids ate it all up too!!!!)

Orls xx

Tip: Allow the cake to cook before cutting to required shape. Otherwise, it can fall apart! And dont freehand. Trace the shape onto baking paper and cut out before laying out over the cake and cutting with a knife!