Sweets? Hmmm

Confectionary...? My thoughts on 'Sweets Made Simple'
In all my years of cooking and baking (since I was seven), I have rarely attempted sweets. In fact, it was only once, when I made sticky chocolate fudge. Sticky, even though it wasn't meant to be, because I used milk chocolate instead of dark. In all fairness, I was nine years old. Sweets have never appealed to me. Even now, sugary penny sweets and jelly Haribo cola bottles make me cringe. So when 'The Biscuit Tin' told me to watch 'Sweets Made Simple', I made a half-assed intention to watch it later. Having got a chance about a week later, I watched it. It was what I expected, big pretty kitchen done up in twee pastels (imagine Morticia Addams going 'Pastellsss? with that eyebrow raise), little round man with a fancy moustache, pretty lady wearing polka dots melting chocolate, making lots of 'mmm' noises and calling each other cute names such as 'Mr. Gee' and 'Miss H'... I was surprised to find, in this instance, that it worked. Boy did it just. The episode is studded with random and interesting bits of trivia, and contains recipes and ideas that are certainly intriguing.
First up was 'English Almond Butter Toffee'. This recipe certainly sounds and looks delicious, if a bit generic. After all, who hasn't made toffee? Sugar, butter, chocolate, almonds... pretty generic right? But by no means should it be dismissed. However, I wanted to discover something more interesting. And interesting it did get. The second recipe featured beautiful 'Seashell Caramels', rich dark chocolate, creamy looking salted caramel, and white chocolate to complete them. I'll certainly be trying them out! The third recipe, though, is one that really intrigued me: 'Popcorn Espresso Macchiato Balls'. Although it irks me to say this, I've never thought of putting coffee with popcorn! Honey and chilli, certainly, maple and cinnamon, butter, vanilla syrup, toffee, salted popcorn... I've made and eaten and definitely enjoyed them all... but coffee? No, never. So that struck me as particularly interesting. And the part of the programme I absolutely loved (although it wasn't directly related to sweets) was the coffee brewery, Volcano coffee situated in South East London, one of UK's top artisan coffee makers. When they started talking about coffee tasting, I wanted to tumble headlong through the screen and join in. Sadly, technology hasn't made it that far yet, but I have high hopes... Anyway, buttery popcorn balls with white chocolate and melted marshmallows, and a sprinkle of ground coffee? That certainly looks and sounds fantastic. I'm itching to give these a go! 
The fourth recipe was one for 'Gin and Lime Truffles', made with dark chocolate. As a person who does not drink or ingest alcohol at all, the intricacies of the flavours of this recipe were lost on me. For those of you who do ingest alcohol, I'll just leave the link here for you to try.
The fifth and final recipe looked delightful: 'Raspberry Marshmallows' I can just imagine how it tastes, the sweet marshmallows with wonderful bursts of tangy fresh raspberries... mmm. The one thing I wondered at was, by serving marshmallow slices with a white chocolate sauce, wouldn't it all be overwhelmingly, sickeningly sweet? Well, I'll just have to try it and see.
Overall, I was surprised by how much I actually  enjoyed the pastel shaded vintage 'twee-ness' of this programme, from the lovely fairy-tale like kitchen, to the lovely couple's outfits, and of course, not forgetting the brilliant recipes. I eagerly await the second episode. It certainly promises to be something!
It is definitely time to invest in a sugar thermometer...

Tiramisu Cake with Mascarpone Cream Frosting

Its here somewhere amid old recipe
 books, bottles of vanilla, and novelty
cupcake cases.

This recipe is one that has become a firm family favourite. From an old magazine that my mother acquired when she came to the UK back in the '90's, the yellowing pages still languish among the old recipe books and cut outs on the little shelf in the pantry. Since then it has copied into recipe books, typed, printed, and passed on to a dozen or so people, and now I'll post it on here. Wonderful with an afternoon cuppa, this tiramisu cake makes an appearance on almost every occasion, and many times besides.
This cake is flavoured with coffee granules dissolved in water and good quality grated dark chocolate. It is drizzled with coffee syrup or a coffee liquor whilst still warm, and then sandwiched and covered with a creamy mascarpone topping and decorated with  flake. This recipe can either be made into cupcakes (which yields 24) or a standard sized round sandwiched cake.

TIRAMISU CAKE WITH MASCARPONE CREAM FROSTING



CAMP's chicory & coffee essence.

SPONGE:
175g (6oz) Baking Butter
 175g (6oz) Caster Sugar
175g (6oz) Self-Raising Flour
1&1/2tsp Baking Powder
3 Eggs lightly beaten
20ml (4tsp) instant coffee dissolved in 2tsp boiling water
85g (3oz) Plain (Dark) Chocolate, grated
Coffee flavoured Liquor  (or alternatively, for a non-alcoholic option, I use Camp’s Chicory and Coffee Essence)

METHOD:

1. Place baking butter in mixing bowl with caster sugar. sieve in flour and baking powder. add eggs, coffee and chocolate and beat well for 1-3 minutes until smooth.
2. Grease two round cake tins. divide the mixture equally between the two, levelling the top for an equal rise.
3. Place in preheated oven at gas mark 3, and bake for 30-45 minutes, or until done.
4. Once out of oven, drizzle coffee liquor (or chicory and coffee essence) onto each cake and leave to cool before removing from pans.

TOPPINGS:
Mascarpone cream frosting
Cocoa powder for dusting
Cadbury’s Flake chocolate

MASCARPONE CREAM FROSTING:
2x 250g (9oz) Mascarpone Cheese
85g (3oz) Icing Sugar
1/2tsp Vanilla Extract
90ml (6tbsp) Single or Double Cream

METHOD:

1. Beat together cheese, cream, icing sugar, and vanilla until smooth and thick. Be wary of overbeating as it could curdle and split. 
2. Sandwich the two sponges with a generous layer of frosting.
3. Spread frosting on the sides of the sandwiched sponge, and then gently lift cake and roll in crushed flake, until the sides are evenly coated. Alternatively, you can pour crushed flake around the sides, although I find that the rolling method provides a neater and more even coverage.
4. Place cake on a serving plate and spread the remaining frosting on top. Decorate with chunks of flakes, and then dust with cocoa.

Here they are in cupcake form. Strangely, (for the amount of times its been made) I seem
to be lacking pictures of it in a sandwiched cake form.

Author's note: The cake can be decorated however you fancy. The icing can be piped, spread all around the sides and on top, or only on top, the cake can be drizzled with chocolate, or can be patterned with a fork, which looks very nice too. Its up to you how much (or little) you want to do.