Baking Made Easy. Lorraine Pascale
Three x 23cm (9in) round tins
Preheat the oven to 180ºC (325ºF), Gas Mark 4. Prepare the tins by oiling the insides and lining the bases with baking paper.
Put the oil, eggs, sugar, carrots and orange zest in a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon. If you’re making all three tiers, you may have to do this in batches. Mix the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and mixed spice together, then sift into the bowl. Add the vanilla and lightly mix everything together until the mixture is uniform but still soft and runny. Ladle into the prepared tins and bake in the oven for 40–45 minutes. Ovens vary so have a peek after 30 minutes to see how the cakes are getting on. The cakes are ready when the sponge springs back up if pushed lightly. A skewer inserted into the middle should come out clean. Leave to cool for 5 minutes or so, then turn out onto a wire rack and peel off the paper.
For the cream cheese frosting, mix the icing sugar, butter, lemon zest and vanilla together in a bowl, then whisk well to combine. Stir in the cream cheese. If the mixture looks too runny, put it in the fridge for 10–12 minutes to harden up. When the cakes are cool, take two of them and use a large, sharp knife to slice off the domed tops, leaving them completely flat. Don’t slice the top off the third cake.
Put a dollop of frosting in the middle of a serving plate or stand to stop the cake from sliding. Take one of the flattened cakes and place it on top. Then pop a big spoonful of frosting onto it and spread all over, leaving a 2.5cm (1in) gap around the edge so that the frosting does not squelch over too much when you add the next layer. Put the next flattened cake on top and repeat with more frosting. Put the unsliced tier on the top, cover generously with frosting and decorate with toasted nuts, if desired.
Banana Loaf
with rum & pecans
A classic flavour combination. I love the soft, woody flavours of pecans, but you could always use walnuts instead. Serves 6–8 (V)
Vegetable oil or oil spray, for oiling
Handful of pecans, plus a few to decorate
100g (3½oz) butter, softened
150g (5oz) soft light brown sugar
Seeds of 1 vanilla pod or
2 drops of vanilla extract
3 eggs
150g (5oz) plain flour
Pinch of salt
Generous pinch of ground cinnamon
1 heaped tsp baking powder
2 overripe bananas, slightly mash
Rum sugar syrup
100ml (4fl oz) dark rum
100g (3½oz) soft light brown sugar
Equipment
22 x 10cm (8¾ x 4in) loaf tin
Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F), Gas Mark 3. Oil the loaf tin then line with baking paper, making sure it overlaps slightly as this makes it easier to remove from the tin, then brush or spray with oil.
Put the pecans in a frying pan and toast for a few minutes until brown, then remove from the pan and set aside.
Put the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat well until it begins to go pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla and 1 egg and beat well. Add all of the flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder and the rest of the eggs and beat for 1 minute. Stir in the bananas and pecans and dollop the mixture into the prepared tin.
Bake in the oven for 55–60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Meanwhile, put the rum and sugar in a pan over a high heat, mix then boil furiously until it begins to get thicker, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
Once the cake is cooked, remove from the oven and pour over lots of the sugar syrup then sprinkle over some extra toasted pecans to decorate.
Serve with an ice cold daiquiri in a hammock under a palm tree.
‘I just don’t give a damn’
Chocolate Cake
No whisking, creaming or folding for this sponge, just throw it all in the bowl, mix like mad, then wait for the magic to happen in the oven. Thick, dark and lovely, it makes you want to just dive in with a spoon, with no friends invited. Serves 8 (V)
Vegetable oil, for oiling
140g (5oz) crème fraîche
130g (4½oz) very soft butter
230g (8¼oz) soft light brown sugar
Seeds of ½ vanilla pod or
2 drops of vanilla extract
4 eggs
180g (6½oz) plain flour
Pinch of salt
40g (1½oz) cocoa powder
10g (1/3oz) baking powder
Chocolate frosting
80g (1½oz) good dark chocolate (at least 64% cocoa solids)
130g (4½oz) butter, softened
Seeds of ½ vanilla pod or
2 drops of vanilla extract
250g (9oz) icing sugar
Equipment
Two x 20cm (8in) loose-bottomed sandwich tins
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas Mark 4. Oil the cake tins then line the bases with baking paper.
Put all the sponge ingredients in a large bowl and beat well for 2–3 minutes with an electric mixer or 3–4 minutes by hand until everything is combined. Dollop the mixture into the prepared cake tins, level the tops and bake for about 25–30 minutes, or until the cake is well risen and is coming away from the sides of the tin. The cake will be super, duper moist. Remove the cakes from the oven and leave to cool in the tins for about 5 minutes, then remove from the tins and cool on wire racks.
To make the frosting, put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure that the bottom of the bowl isn’t touching the water, and leave to melt. Remove the bowl from the pan and set aside to cool slightly.
Put the butter, vanilla and icing sugar in a bowl and whisk together with an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Add the chocolate and beat until combined.
Once the cakes are cold, using a palette knife, spread one of the cakes with some of the frosting, then sandwich them both together and spread the rest of the frosting on the top.
Mojito Genoise
-The Genoise is a traditional Italian cake from Genoa, with a very light, buttery texture, and which uses no chemical raising agent. Needless to say, for this cake to work it needs the living daylights whisked out of it. Serves 8–10 (V)
Sugar syrup
150g (5oz) soft light brown sugar
40ml (1½fl oz) water
Finely grated zest and juice of 2 limes
80ml (3fl oz) white rum
Bunch of fresh mint, leaves only
Sponge
260g (9oz) caster sugar
6 eggs, lightly beaten
115g (4oz) butter, melted and cooled, plus extra for greasing
260g (9oz) plain flour
Buttercream
100g (3½oz) butter, softened
200g (7oz) icing sugar
Seeds of