Cake, cake, cake.
I’m obsessed.
I’ve been baking a tremendous amount recently and I think it has a lot to do with having had children recently. One of my earliest memories was of my mum making her world famous chocolate cake and I remember so vividly how good it would feel to lick the spoon, then the bowl and then eat a huge slice when it was cooked and ready.
In my mind, at that young age, mums would bake cakes. Simple. I then went on to develop an interest in cooking and baking myself so my mum was made somewhat redundant, not that she minded, she’d done it for long enough.
So now I bake for my kids. Not because they are even old enough to eat any of my kitchen creations but becasue of two other much more pertinent reasons -
1, The more I bake now, before they can eat cake, the more I’ll know how to bake so I can supply them with a never ending stream of baked goods.
2, They will grow up from the earliest age possible with the smell of something heavenly coming from the oven and making its way through the house. They may not know what a special thing this is, but I know and that’s enough.
So, my early foray in to Valentine’s Day baking for this year comes in the shape of two heart shaped, icing adorned cakes. One for Ned and one for Anaïs. Robert’s and my true Valentine’s and the keepers of our hearts.
Now and forever more.
What you will need for this recipe:
For the cakes
- 9 inch heart shaped baking tin (non stick)
- 10 oz self raising flour
- 8 oz caster sugar
- 4 free range eggs (mediums sized)
- 8 oz butter (salted)
- 2 tblsp milk
For the icing
- 300g royal icing
- 1 drop light green food coloring/paste
- 2-3 tblsp water
For the decorative balls
- Sugar paste
- Pale pink food colouring
Pre-heat the oven to 190c
Grease the heart shaped cake tin and set to one side.
Cream the butter and sugar in a food mixer.
Sift in the flour and add the milk and eggs, no need to whisk them first.
Mix well until smooth and creamy.
Pour half of the cake mixture into the heart shaped cake tin, ensuring that it covers the base of the tin evenly.
Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until the cake is dry in the middle and golden brown on top.
Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool before removing from the tin.
Pour the second half of the cake mix into the pre-greased heart shaped tin once again, and bake for 25-30mins.
When both cakes are cool, use a food mixer to mix the royal icing, food colouring and water until the mixture forms soft peaks.
Use a palette knife to spread the icing over the heart shaped cakes evenly
Roll the sugar paste balls and place onto the icing, creating the pattern you desire, I decorated mine in hearts.
Love can be expressed in so many ways. In this instance it finds its way through the palest green icing, lavished on to cake with abandon.
The other day the sun showed me love as it shone through my bedroom window, on to flowers that sat on my dresser before landing across my bed.
I can’t thank the sun personally for this visit but I wish I could. As I saw the light streaming through the glass I was so happy. If I could have baked a cake for anyone or anything at that moment it would have been the sun.
But I think that for now my baking will have to be received by two very small people of only seven months………or my husband as he was weaned on to solids many moons ago.
If you could, who would you bake for? I LOVE hearing your stories. It makes me feel like part of the gang. Do tell me.
Love, Cherry x
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Mmmmmmmmmmmm delicious! & Im going to bake this cake for my adorable grandson Max who has his 1st birthday 2nd Feb xxxxxxxxxx thank you x
I almost always make a moist chocolate cake with coconut pecan frosting for each of my children on their birthdays. Sometimes I make it heart shaped, two layers, with the coconut frosting in between the layers. Sometimes they can’t wait and like to eat it just sprinkled with powdered (icing) sugar. It’s the easiest cake to make and, I am sorry, I just cannot/will not eat cakes made from a mix!
You are so right, the sensory memory of baking and everything which goes with it is one of the most powerful reminders of being young.
One of my most popular posts is my recipe for banana bread for babies and toddlers, nothing which would cause them harm and easy to grasp and eat from six months: http://housewifeconfidential.co.uk/2010/01/banana-bread-for-babies-and-toddlers/
Lovely beautiful scrumptious, these look so so pretty….
If i could bake a cake for any one at all i would bake one for my beautiful grandmother who passed away long long ago.
I would bake them and place them on a beautiful doily lined plate with a lovely cup of tea and take it to her in her garden in the summertime… with the smell of her roses in the air….. and to bend and kiss her soft soft cheeck and smell her once more and sit and watch her eat my cake….if only we could turn back time ……
Debbie.x
You are so right. Baking is such a happy childhood memory to have and create.
I have baked with my daughter ever since she could stand on a chair at the kitchen worktop. She is now 3 and we love pouring over baking books deciding what to tackle next. She looks at a recipe and says how many eggs mummy? The more eggs the better.
Enjoy!
Well, I think I’m gaining weight just looking at those beautiful cakes. I made your recipe for Lamingtons and they were wonderful.
So love sunlight coming through windows, it’s so warm and enveloping, like an embrace by a dear friend.Thanks for sharing the pictures of it with us.
You light up my days just like the sun.
My sister and I both love to bake, but she makes spectacular cakes. We have established the tradition that she bakes my children’s birthday cakes (so I can make sure all the other details – invitations, decorations, food, games, and favours – are well in hand). Each year better than the previous – colourful chocolate cupcakes, carrot cake #2, dump truck (with rubble!), and a pirate ship for my son; and a butterfly for my daughter’s first. Birthdays are coming up – I don’t know how she’ll top it, but she always does!
Your cakes are so pretty, I really enjoy following your blog and I can relate to your love of baking today! If you sorted through my recipe file you would notice the baking section to be much, much larger than the others. So many recipes waiting to be made. My 2 daughters and I used to have a Christmas cookie exchange each year as they grew up, it was such fun to bake for the holidays and then to see what the other mothers & daughters arrived with. You are so right about the wonderful, homey feeling that comes from something baking in the oven. My grown daughters remark how they loved coming home from school to the smell of cookies baking. I saw this in a spice store the other day “Love people-cook them something tasty”~ this is my motto!
Cakes…… Baking goods sends me to my childhood. My grandmother baked many cakes and lots of delicious things. Each time we went to my grandparents house we could smell something wonderful. In Christmas I went to her house to help her because she made something like 50 fruitcakes to give as a present to all her friends. How I miss those wonderful days!! Now I bake with my children, first I made them cookies, brownies, cakes etc. now they are helping me and we spend lovely afternoons preparing something special. In the beginning it was a terrible mess but I didn´t mind at all because I was sharing with the three of them the things I learnt from my grandmother: the kitchen is the place where all the family is together.
Today is my husband´s birthday so I will bake something special and I will decorate it when the “kids” return from school. I love watching my 18th old son with apron and a pipping bag or my lovely little girl (15) putting the final details. I guess my granny would be very proud.
Lovely day!!
My family never really ate cake, so baking was something I did with my Grandma
Now that I am unable to tolerate wheat, I bake less as I get disgruntled with wheat-free flour sometimes, and baking a cake that smells so good with wheat-flour and is totally inedible to me is slightly saddening…
That being said, when I left my last nursery job, I baked 60 cupcakes for the kids (decorated with Tim’s help) and a big one for the staff. THAT was a task and a half… and my favourite cake was the fairy birthday cake I made for our niece… it had green grass icing and pink and white toadstools standing on it (totally edible, of course), with pink and purple sparkles dotted all over.
Now I think about it… I made wheat-free ginger biscuits covered in dark chocolate for work one weekend, a wheat-free carrot cake for a Belgian girl who was working there and had never tried carrot cake, and a wheat-free chocolate cake for our Christmas party (there were two other people unable to eat wheat and/or gluten in my office).
And then I made pumpkin cakes and pumpkin bread for Halloween last year, which was a task and a half because I had to convert and substitute so many ingredients to get it right. So I guess I bake more than I realise, thanks for reminding me
You definately “catch” baking from other people.We always head towards the Baking stall at any village show or fete because we all know real cakes don’t come in plastic containers with airtight selophane bags over them. You never even question the price you pay because it’s such a treat. Love the picture of the sun coming through your gorgeous flowers Cherry. You make us all appreciative of the free gifts in life.
Such sweet cakes! I’m sure Ned and Anais are looking forward to the day when they can gobble your creations up.
I’m going to be baking a cake for my dad soon–his 60th birthday will be Feb. 9th, so I’ll be doing it up big. There will be chocolate (cake, icing, ice cream, candy)!
When I was a nanny in University, Mery (my tiny charge) and I would bake chocolate chip cookies every Thursday afternoon after nap time. I started working with her when she was just 18 months and I was there until she was almost 4. When her baby brother Teddy came along, I was often running about like a crazy person trying to please the two of them, and quite often Teddy ended up getting the better half of my attention. But Thursdays after nap time were always exclusively “Mery time” – the bond we formed over those ooey gooey cookies is one I will always remember.
good morning,,
I love to bake,,got it from my mom who was a awesome baker and cook,,and I remember her baking all the time..I love to try new recipes out and will be trying a cupcake one with cream cheese frosting for valentine cupcakes,,your cakes are beautiful..thanks for sharing the recipe..
I love baking with my children, there is no place I would rather be than in the kitchen with them on a Saturday morning with our hands, faces and arms covered in flour. It’s a simple pleasure, but one I’ll never forget. Enjoy your babies, they are gorgeous.
Pip
Inspiring as usual Cherry.
D x
If i could I would bake a cake for my mum, whose birthday it is tomorrow. I am hoping that I manage to pull it off, but as i am at work full-time it is not easy to fit these things in as well. Fingers crossed I find the time this evening!!
Gillian xo
I will definitely be baking these little beauties this Valentines Day.
it’s definitely a mummy thing. I love to bake (though my cakes normally weigh as much as a brick!), and I think the same, the smells and the cosy feeling it gives to the house is something memories are made of. My little girl is getting used to the smells, as well as giving me a helping hand. She loves it, and so do I.
your cakes look so pretty
)
Wow, they look pretty and delicious. I would bake for my husband on a weekend when he’s not working, which is very rare!
Thanks for sharing your lovely home with us Cherry.
x
I LOVE your blog, it is so inspiring and gives hope that it is possible to achieve all these beautiful things even with children in tow and a hectic life – I am working on it!!
I bake for my children and my husband, who has a particularly sweet tooth. The children really enjoy cooking, so it tends to end up as a kid’s activity.
One thing I am doing though, is gradually compiling two recipes books for my girls (ages 4 and 7). I want to give them the hand written books when they set up their own homes (so a long way away!). I am trying to put in pictures where possible, tips and hints and making sure I include recipes I make that they enjoy, but also from her Grandma and both Great-Grandmas. Thought it might be something you would enjoy making for your twins?
Thank you for always giving me something inspiring to read.
Kate xx
These cakes are delightful! When I was five or six years old, one of my mother’s aunts came for a short visit. She baked a heart shaped cake and decorated it with roses, then cupcakes with a rose on each one for my classmates. I had never seen anything so amazing come out of our kitchen stove. I thought decorated cakes that beautiful came from bakeries. To this day it remains the most vivid cake in my memory. My mom was an accomplished baker and even she was awed. I saw heart shaped cake tins just the other day. I think I’ll learn to pipe roses and surprise my little granddaughters just like my aunt surprised me.
I agree with you, the baking smell is so homely. I would love to be able to bake for my grandchildren who live in Australia. We do visit them once a year.
Their mother bakes for them and has very much the same philosophy as you, regarding how she treats her babies. It’s wonderful to see young mothers adoring their babies and making the most of their time with them.
Morning Cherry, you’re bright and early this morning !
I am a baker, it all tastes good but i would have to confess to not being a natural baker, i follow a recipe to the tee, maybe someday i will rebel and add another teaspoon of something else, whoa i do sound so rock n roll NOT !!
Anyway, my most appreciative audience and recievers of all things cake are my 3 little girls, husband and 1 very very enthusiastic nephew, age 4, whose eyes light up like a christmas tree and constantly repeats ‘oh you know i LOVE cake’ it makes the mess all worthwhile : )
Hi Cherry,
Your cakes are so pretty! I’m sure your babies will LOVE having such a clever and creative Mummy once they are old enough to eat your delicious baking. I’ve baked a lot more since i had my son George. Partly because I’m home and have the time, but also, like you, because of the feeling you can give a home and a family by baking.
I love that at 2 1/2 he can now help me bake and of course eat what we’ve made together. I know you will love this part of your children growing up. I can’t wait to hear the stories you will tell of your baking escapades with Ned & Anais.
Thanks as always for sharing your life and interests with us.
Katherine xxx
Oooo they look lovely! I bake at any given opportunity however finding myself with a boy who doesn’t like cake (my god!) I find myself baking cookies for the boy and i take my culinary experiments to the office with me to brighten the day a little!
I also visit my mum with cake every now and again. Afterall she taught me, just like you will with Ned and Anais. Some of my earliest memories are of baking butterfly buns and hedgehod bread with my mum!