What's up guys! I am back and bringing you the long awaited baking follow-up post from my Kenwood one last month. I have plenty to share with you guys about my bakes and we will finally see whether the Kenwood still done its job with a few bigger bakes. I am including two bakes in this post, one of which has to be one of my favourite puddings I have made thus far. Enough chit chat, lets get into it.
Enjoy, my fellow baking enthusiasts :)
Bake 1: Easter Speckled Cake
This is the first cake I have made in a while and the first one ever with my Kenwood. I have to say this was one of the more stressful bakes because there are so many parts to it and a lot ingredients to put together. I am one of those people that like to follow instructions and I find it really hard when things go wrong..... things did not go wrong per se, but they definitely did not go to plan. This cake was so amazing but it took a lot of time and the process was not smooth.
I spoke in my last post regarding how some of the tools did not mix the bottom of the bowl whenever a mixture was in there. I made this cake right after so it once again did not mix the cake mixture properly so it had to be done by hand. This was disappointing as I had to get mother to mix it because due to me not having the strength. This to me defeated the point of the mixer as the whole reason for the purchase was so I could bake independently, the mixer being able to combine mixtures thoroughly where I could not. However, I still had the option of lowering the tool so I made a note to do that straight after the bake was finished.
Other than that, the bake was.... lets say interesting. The icing was hard to spread on the cake and after a while, I got quite frustrated if I am being honest. I think it is because I really had high expectations of what baking would be like with my new mixer, and after it not mixing properly and then this, I think I just felt a bit deflated. However, me and mother worked as a team, using the recommended technique of warm water and a flat surfaced tool to smooth the icing. The last job was decorating the cake and was one of the funniest jobs. We opted with Dairy Milk eggs as due it being past Easter, mini eggs were nowhere to be found. Since then, we have made it two more times, and using the tips below, the process was a lot easier :)
Here is the recipe: Easter Speckled Cake.
Notes-
We halved the ingredients to make a two layer cake instead of four. We only wanted it for three of us so thought 4 layers would be far too much.
We opted for blue food colouring the first time which produced a sort of baby blue colour as we could not find purple anywhere.
It states to put the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes at three different times towards the end of the recipe. We did the first and last time but in the middle, we left it out and did not put it in the fridge. We felt like the cake was already set so it did not need more time in the fridge, I think this is down to each individual person and the temperature in the room at the time of baking. The second time, we did the same but 15 minutes both times and I would say the longer the better to ensure the buttercream is the right consistency.
You can use anything to decorate, we used chocolate fingers around the outside the second time baking it.
Tips-
Use a flat surfaced tool to go around the cake to smooth the icing. It is recommended during the recipe and I would say it makes it much easier. Also not putting too much force into it as I found this removed the icing instead of spreading it. Holding the spreader further down, also helped me to control the spreading better.
If your oven runs hot, I would say check the cake after 50 mins, we did this and ours was done then.
Make sure the cake is fully cooled before spreading the icing as otherwise the icing will not spread properly.
Make sure the butter is at room temp and out of the fridge for a while, as otherwise it will take longer to mix and to make the buttercream. I think next time I would ensure the mix is smoother and not too firm as I think this could of been one of the reasons it did not spread well.
Prepare the ingredients first and ensure everything is ready before starting.
Storing the cake in the fridge if the weather is warm is vital to ensure the cake does not go stale. I take it out of the fridge 15 mins before I want it, this brings it to room temp. If you do it straight from the fridge, it is hard for the knife to go through.
If you are doing a two layer cake and not four, I would say half the icing twice. This is because unless you have another use for the leftover icing, there will be a lot of wastage. A huge chunk was leftover the first time, so the second time, we halved the icing twice and it was the perfect amount. It depends how much icing you like, it is really down to the person and because we like a thin layer, it worked out perfectly for us.
When doing the speckled part, make sure you move everything around you out of the way. This is because it goes everywhere, I had a few things around and they were left very... speckled.
So, there is bake 1. A delicious cake and one I will be making again! We all enjoyed it and it was one of the first cakes we have made that turned out really well. I would 100% recommend this if you have have an afternoon free and fancy baking. We made it again yesterday, following the same tips, and it was just as bomb :D
Bake 2: Triple Choccy Muffins
Muffins are not really my go to but they are something mum enjoys making. I thought: lets try something different! Before making these, we adjusted the k-beater height so it was lower to the bottom and I was looking forward to seeing how it performed. The process for the muffins was a lot smoother than the cake, I think this is due to the fact there is not as much to them.
I am pleased to inform you all, the adjustment worked! Wooooo.... It now mixes all the way to the bottom, and you just have to do one sweep of the bottom with a spatula near the end, and the k-beater picks all of the mix up. However, the whisk still needs a little fiddling with, this does not really matter for me because it is not one of the the tools I use all of the time. I am relieved now and know I can rely on the mixer when baking alone. Nothing much else to report with the muffins, they were mixed and placed in the oven with no real bumps along the way.
The problem came after this time, when we got the muffins out of the oven, they had sunk in the middle. We were not sure why but after some research, we think the mix was too heavy with choc chips. This is because we did sub in another 75g of milk ones instead of dark so maybe that made a difference? It also could of been that we used different milk to the one in the recipe. We are not entirely sure but we can inform they were still delicious and tasted yum.
Notes-
The picture may look unappealing but due to the holes in the top, we made use of the leftover icing from the cake, and covered the holes in the muffins ehhe. Never judge a book by its cover, because these muffins were so nice and chocolatey!
Tips-
If they go a little stale, put them in the microwave to melt them a little. This will remove the staleness.
Overall, a good muffin, They maybe a little boring for some, but if you only really like chocolate muffins or cake like me, go for these. Here is the recipe: Triple choc Muffins.
Thanks for sticking around to hear about my baking adventures. I hope you have gained some new recipes and enjoy the deliciousness. A short but sweet post :)
PS- A final note on the mixer, the K-Beater adjustment made mixing a lot better with lighter mixtures but we still discovered with heavier mixtures, it takes a a little more scraping with the spatula. I thought after the muffin mixture mixed really well, we had resolved this problem but it was when we made the cake again, we noticed it due it being a bigger mixture. Not the exact outcome I wanted but as long as I have my spatula, I just have to work a little harder. I always want to be honest so that's that I suppose.
See ya, stay safe and well, Lucy xoxoxo
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