Sunday 22 August 2010

Coca cola and marshmallow cake

So, for my first attempt at cakey bribery, I thought I'd try out a recipe a friend of mine (Amy Kerry) gave me a while back, that I've been meaning to try out. Unfortunately, I only skimmed the ingredients list before I went shopping, so it's a bit modified - fingers crossed it tastes OK!

Fresh out of the oven, it looks like this:
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The marshmallows in the batter make a lovely, gooey crust.

Iced, it looks like this:
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with the icing running off the plate!



The Cake:
220g self-raising flour
1 tsp. Vanilla essence
450g sugar
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. cocoa
250g margarine
350ml coca cola
2 eggs

Stir the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl.
Heat the margarine, cocoa and Coke to boiling point.
Pour over flour mixture and blend.
Add eggs and vanilla to flour.
Stir in Marshmallows. Batter will be thin and marshmallows will float.
Grease and flour a 9X13 inch pan.
Pour in the batter and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a knife or skewer comes out with no cake mixture on. It'll have a little melted marshmallow stuck to it, that's normal.
Ice the cake while it's still warm.

The Icing:
115g butter
2 Tbsp. cocoa
6 Tbsp. Coca cola
450g powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup mini marshmallows

Combine butter, cocoa and Cola. Heat to boiling.
Add sugar and blend. Add marshmallows and vanilla to mixture.
Spread on warm cake. 


The cake came out a little flatter than I expected - or rather, it rose beautifully in the oven, then flattened a bit when I took it out. I don't know whether that's because I substituted the buttermilk for extra cola, whether it's the nature of the cake, or whether it's just something I've done to it.
The icing is really runny, and keeps trying to escape off the bottom of the plate. I just stuck the Tupperware over the top and I'm hoping it doesn't leak too much in my bag on the way to work...

The offcuts and the icing taste amazing, so I'm hoping this proves popular with the nurses!

Tuesday 10 August 2010

Cake Monday

I've just started a job at the hospital, and apparently there's a tradition that the F1 doctors take cake in to the nurses. Which gives me a reason to bake regularly, so I thought I'd share recipes and pictures.

The tricky part is that quite a few of my colleagues in the doctors office are just starting Ramadhan. It seems a little off to take cake in to the nurses but not the doctors, but also a bit mean to fill the office with cakes when half the staff are fasting 18 hours a day! Answers on the back of a postcard please...