before turning out onto a wire rack.
6 Meanwhile, make the buttercream icing. In a low-sided medium saucepan, bring the water and sugar to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Turn the heat up high and let the syrup boil for 4-5 minutes to the ‘thread’ stage, when the last few drops that fall from a metal spoon dipped into the syrup come off in one long, quite thick and syrupy thread.
7 While the syrup is boiling, beat the egg yolks for 1 minute with an electric hand-held beater or an electric food mixer, then very gradually add the hot syrup. Continue beating until all the syrup is added and the mixture has cooled. The consistency should be stiff, mousse-like and able to hold a figure of eight pattern made by the beater.
8 Place the softened butter in another bowl and beat well with a hand-held electric beater until very soft. Continuing to beat, gradually add the mousse, a spoonful at a time. Then stir in the vanilla extract and 6 tablespoons of the crushed praline.
9 To assemble, slice each cake in half horizontally. Spread the inside of each sparingly with butter icing and sandwich together, stacking each layer above the other as evenly as possible. Brush all over the cake to remove any crumbs.
10 Ice the top and sides with the remaining icing. Sprinkle the remaining crushed praline all over, including the sides.
VARIATION
Hazelnut praline: Replace the almonds with 250g (9oz) skinned hazelnuts (see Rachel’s baking tip, below), still using 3 tablespoons of hazelnut praline for the cake and 6 tablespoons of hazelnut praline for the buttercream icing.
RACHEL’S BAKING TIP
*For some reason, it is necessary to skin hazelnuts, though not almonds, for praline. To skin hazelnuts, place them on a baking tray and bake at 180°C (350°F), Gas mark 4 for a few minutes until the skins come off when rubbed with a finger. Wrap the hazelnuts in a clean tea towel (not a pale-coloured one, as this tends to stain the cloth) and rub them for a few seconds to remove the skins. Pour them back onto the baking tray, place outside and let the skins just blow away (you can speed up the process by blowing gently on the hazelnuts).
CARROT CAKE
Who doesn’t love this classic cake? It’s perfect just as it iswith a cup of tea or coffee, but you could also try decorating it with candied violets to add a little visual ‘oomph’.
SERVES 12
2 eggs
140ml (5fl oz) vegetable oil
200g (7oz) soft light brown sugar
300g (11oz) grated carrot (weight when grated)
100g (3½oz) raisins
75g (3oz) pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)
180g (6½oz) self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
½ tsp mixed spice
For the orange cream cheese icing
250g (9oz) cream cheese (straight from the fridge)
50g (2oz) butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
275g (10oz) icing sugar, sifted
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
13 x 23cm (5 x 9in) loaf tin
1 Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F), Gas mark 2. Oil and linethe loaf tin with greaseproof paper.
2 Beat the eggs in a large bowl, then add the oil, brown sugar, grated carrot, raisins and chopped nuts.
3 Sift in the dry ingredients and bring the mixture togetherusing a wooden or large metal spoon.
4 Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin, smooth thesurface and bake in the oven for 1-1¼ hours or until a skewerinserted into the middle comes out clean.
5 Allow to cool in the tin for about 5 minutes before removing. Cool completely on a wire rack before serving.
6 To make the icing, beat the cream cheese and butter together in a bowl until combined. Add the vanilla extract, icing sugar and finely grated orange zest and mix to combine. The icing should be smooth and quite thick. Using a palette knife, spread the icing evenly over the cooled cake, dipping the knife into a bowl of hot water if the icing is hard to spread out. Cut into slices to serve.
VARIATIONS
Instead of using jam for the filling, why not try lemon curd or melted chocolate. Alternatively, spread the sponge with raspberry or blueberry cream.
RACHEL’S BAKING TIP
*Un-iced, this cake is also delicious sliced and buttered.
CHOCOLATE CAKE
This is such a great, simple, yet versatile, chocolate cake. Add the finely grated rind of 1 orange to give the cake a chocolate orange flavour or replace the vanilla extract with 1 tbsp of instant coffee powder for a mocha flavour. This can also be turned into chocolate cupcakes if you wish—the recipe will fill 12 paper cases in a cupcake or muffin tray, and will take about 18-20 minutes to cook. Ice them generously with the chocolate buttercream and decorate to your heart’s content.
SERVES 6-8
For the cake
125g (4½oz) dark chocolate
3 tbsp milk
150g (5oz) butter, softened
150g (5oz) caster sugar
