Finland- Tiikerikakku (Tiger cake)

Now usually I start off with "A little history" but I can't seem to find anything on the history of Tiger cake! (If anybody knows anything let me know in the comments below!) 

Ingredients:

•  200 grams of butter or margarine
• 200 grams of golden caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 300 grams of plain flour
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (or if your silly like me and didn't realize you didn't have any vanilla extract you can use one vanilla bean pod!)
• 2-3 tablespoons of good quality cocoa powder (I always use Cadbury's Bournville cocoa powder, you don't need much and will last you a long time!) 
• milk (optional)

You will also need a bundt cake tin otherwise the recipe won't work, if you need one Click here.


1. First of all, grease your bundt tin and then sprinkle with some caster sugar, this will stop the cake from sticking and means the cake will stay in ring when you take it out from the tin. Preheat the oven to 175 degree Centigrade/ 347 Fahrenheit.

2. Beat the sugar, vanilla and the butter together until light and creamy, then add the eggs one at a time, mixing well.

3. In a separate bowl (or jug in my case!) mix the baking powder and the flour together, once combined, add to the mixture and beat until everything is combined.

4. Now here is the tricky part, carefully move one half of the mixture into a separate bowl, its important you try and get half and half, use scales if you must. Once the mixture has been halved, add two tablespoons of cocoa powder and stir, now here is where you need to trust your instinct, if the mixture looks to wet, add the other tablespoon of cocoa powder, if the mixture looks to dry (like mine did) add a splash of milk to loosen the mixture slightly.

5. Now to assemble the mixture, start with the vanilla mixture, take some of the mixture and spread around the tin, then add all of the chocolate mixture, then finish off with the left over vanilla mixture. Place in the oven for 50-60 minutes (I always go halfway with timings!). When you take it out of the oven, leave for a few minutes to cool, then run a knife around the edge of the cake, place a wire rack over top and let gravity make the cake drop. Once out the tin leave to cool completely.

Serve with a dollop of creme fresh and a cup of coffee!

Hope you enjoyed this bake and I hope you try it out! As I said before, I now have a Facebook page Click here and please like and share this page!, you will find out updates and new recipes on there! My next stop will be Russia! 

Easter Pavlova

This super sticky treat can only be saved for a special occasion! Really stunning but surprisingly easy to make and will garentee a lot of apperication on easter sunday!

Ingredients:

For the meringue:

• 6 egg whites
• 350 grams/ 12 oz of caster sugar (I used golden, which made the pavolva a toffee colour, but if you want the classic white pavolova then use white caster sugar)
• 2 teaspoons of white wine viniger
• 2 LEVEL teaspoons of cornflour

Lemon Cream:

• One tub of double cream
• A jar of lemon Curd

Candied Lemon:

• The zest of one lemon
• 100 grams/ 3 and half oz of caster sugar
• 100 milliters of water

To serve:

• Chocolate Mini Eggs

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 3. Place a sheet of baking paper on a tray and draw a large circle in the middle (I used my bowl as a template!). This circle will be a guide to when you place your mixture of the tray. 

2. Separate the eggs and add the egg whites to a mixing bowl. Beat the egg whites on maximum speed until stiff. Then add a teaspoon of sugar at a time, still beating on full speed. Keep doing this until all the sugar is add and the mixture is glossy, stiff enough to stay in peaks and shiny. (If you have a willing victim, tip the bowl over their head after adding the sugar, if its been beaten enough, the mixture should stay, if not... well lots of shampoo and apologies!) 

3. Mix the viniger and cornflour in a cup, once combined tip into the sugar and egg mix and beat slowly until combined. 

4. Using a metal spoon, so it won't knock the air out, add half the mixture onto the baking sheet, keep the mixture in the circle. Spread the mixture until smooth and even, then add the rest of the mixture to a piping bag that is fitted with a rose nozzle. Pipe 10 little nests around the edge of the pavlova, making sure they have a hole in the middle so you can fill with cream and eggs later. 

5. Place on the middle shelf of the oven, once in the oven reduce the temperature to 150C/300F/Gas 2. Cook for an hour and half or two hours, check after one hour. Once the time is up, switch the oven off, but keep the pavlova in the oven. You can take it out once the oven has gone cold.

6. Whilst the Pavlova is in the oven, make the candied lemon. Peel the skin off the lemon with a peeler, then cut into VERY VERY fine strips. Place the sugar and the water in a pan and heat until boil, stirring occasionally. Then add the lemon strips and boil for 2-3 minutes or until syrupy. Then take out and strain and the mix with sugar, leave to cool for a few hours. 

7. You can also make the lemon curd cream. Whisk cream until stiff, then add half the lemon curd and fold gently in until all mixed together. Taste it, if you want to add more lemon curd do (I added pretty much the whole jar!)

8. Now to assemble the pavlova, fill a piping bag with a rose nozzle with the lemon cream and pipe the cream into the holes in the little pavlova crowns around the side, then uses the rest of the cream to fill the middle. Take your mini eggs and add one to the top of the cream on the nests outside, then add the rest to the center, then take your candied lemon zest and sprinkle in the middle. Step back and admire how much of a domestic goddess/ god you are! 

Serve this with teas and coffees after you Sunday lamb and take in the OOO's and AHHH's and "Oh you are so clever!" and think to yourself "who needs a degree when you make this?" (well I did anyway....!) 

I am not sure of where I am going next! Just a little warning, my blog posts might not be a frequent as my AS exams are (sadly) on the way, so I will be mainly revising, crying and comfort eating! As I said before, Eighty Bakes now has a Facebook page where you will find updates and little tips and info! Click here to like the page! Thank you for reading and have chocolate filled Easter! X