Six Layer spiced walnut sponge, cream cheese, caramel and marshmallow cake. The king of birthday cakes!

I hadn't originally intended on making such a big cake. And by big I mean huge. And by huge I mean ridiculous.

I had started out with quite a respectable idea for a triple layer birthday cake. Still a big cake by anyone's standards but nothing like the monster that actually transpired.

The problem was two fold.

Firstly, after the success and sheer magnitude of the triple layer peanut butter and chocolate cake made a matter of weeks ago, when the three layers of spiced walnut cake came out of the oven they looked, well, a bit flat and would certainly not sit together to comprise a cake anything like as magnificent as the peanut butter and chocolate cake.

And so, I set about making another three layers.

Why not?

It was at that point that I realised what the true problem had been. I hadn't put enough flour into the original batch. Ive no idea why. The recipe clearly stated '300g plain flour', I read this, registered it, weighed out 200g and proceeded with the cake mixture. And so, my next batch of three cakes turned out magnificently plump. Both batches tasted wonderful. Should I make a 6 layer cake? I debated it. The 6 cakes piled on top of each other without frostings were 20cms high!!! It would be a ridiculous cake! But what about the opportunity?! The opportunity to create such a huge cake!!! It would surely not arise again? I slept on it (the idea not the cake) and the next day decided just to go for it.

I layered up the cakes and soon found that with the two different fillings in between each layer the cake layers naturally did not want to stay put and were sliding every which way. The fillings were a cream cheese one, like that found on top of a cheese cake and also a caramel one. Delicious!

So I decided to keep the cake in place by cutting down 4 skewers and plunging them into the cake. It worked fantastically! The cake was constructed and was willing to stay in place!

Next was time for the marshmallow frosting. The whole recipe was from 'Make, Bake and Celebrate' by Annie Rigg. I had to make up twice as much marshmallow frosting as was originally required. This was quite a tricky frosting and I had never attempted it before. It required the use of a sugar thermometer. When the sugar and egg whites reached 60 degrees, you tipped the mixture into a large bowl and whisked for several minutes until it thickened.

Then you raced to dollop this on the cake and use a palette knife to encourage it into place before it set!

At this point I had what looked like a huge marshmallow.

As the sponge was a spiced walnut concoction and I had walnuts left over. I decorated the top with walnut halves.

Then I whizzed up the remaining walnut halves into pieces and sprinkled these around the bottom to create what looked like some kind of turbo cake from the 1980s!

Finally it was complete and we were ready for our guests, all 4 of them. Oh dear. I may have made a bit too much cake.

Then it was time to set up the birthday table.  A cake like this needed to be accompanied with a drop or two of champagne, some good cake plates and of course, proper cake forks! 

The good thing about a cake this size is that it can stand up to a fair few candles!

In the end we ended up dividing a slice in half to serve.

However....

An hour later.....

And then another hour or so...

And soon enough. It was gone...

Not all was consumed on the night, I think that would have been severely medically advised against. Several pieces were taken away and we were left with crumbs.

And the taste? Well, such a combination of flavours was hard to imagine but worked very well indeed. The sponge was soft and moist with the spiced flavour of carrot cake (without the carrot) and the warming flavour of ground roasted walnuts. The frostings in between the layers were rich and indulgent, sweet, thick and creamy and the marshmallow frosting that encased this beast was utterly delicious. Light and fluffy, delicately flavoured but gooey, sticky and moreish. It's delicate sweet flavour worked excellently with the spice of the cake. yum!

What a birthday cake!

Triple layer Peanut Butter and milk chocolate chip cake filled with two types of frosting and topped with toffee popcorn, mini marshmallows and chocolate chips!

Sometimes, especially when you are having a party, its time to go all out.

Its an excuse to make something a little bit bigger and more spectacular than you would normally attempt on, say, a Sunday afternoon when you fancy trying something new in the world of cake. After all, you have guests and are therefore in less danger of locking yourself in the bathroom with the thing and only surfacing when a few crumbs are all that remain. It just wouldn't be polite. And trust me, if I made this cake alone I would be at very high risk of doing just that, such is my greed and capacity for cake consumption.

So, safe in the knowledge I had company I elected to make a great big filthy mammoth of a cake.

I'm not talking just any big cake, I mean a triple layer cake. One with two types of filling and several toppings. It seems that every time I have a gathering of some sort I try out a new triple layer filth cake. This one in particular, I must say, has to be one of my absolute favourites.

The magic of this type of magestic cake with its multiple layers, is that its impossible to cut yourself a small slice, no matter how thinly you attempt to slice it. It demands that you indulge yourself. You may comment that you will share your portion with a friend, as you try to attempt to slice away a wafer and then find that instead, you have a rather large doorstop portion of cake (despite how avently you had attempted to create a thin sliver of cake) but in reality, there just ends up being nothing left after a minute or two. Oh well, they can get their own. No one noticed.

Its also the sort of cake that you really must eat with a cake fork, you simply can't pick up this monster and take a bite, as you would a cupcake. It demands respect and to be enjoyed in the correct manner and in large portions. Just as cakes should be consumed.

The recipe for the cake in question I discovered in 'Make, Bake and Celebrate' by Annie Rigg. This book is crammed full with these dirt bag three layer sheer indulgence cakes. The sheer presence of a three layered cake crammed with two different types of frosting and piled high with popcorn really is something to behold and a true centre piece!

I started off with the cake mixture, a moist sponge filled with crunchy peanut butter and chocolate chips. There was so much mixture that even my large mixing bowl struggled to cope with containing the ingredients when I stirred in the final cup of chocolate chips. The peanutbutter made the sponge very moist indeed and melted in the mouth.

The smell of the cooking sponge was utterly mouth watering. As the layers cooled on a rack in the kitchen an aroma like baked snickers and moist vanilla sponge wafted through the house.

I then set about making the two types of frosting. One was a cream cheese, maple syrup peanut butter frosting. It wasn't quite peanut buttery enough for me so I added a few more tablespoons of smooth peanut butter. Then a large bar of melted chocolate, butter and icing sugar made up the chocolate fudge frosting.

I assembled the cake on the day of the party. It was like a construction project.

A layer of peanut butter cream cheese frosting was topped with chocolate fudge frosting in between the three layers.

Then the top was smothered with the remaining chocolate fudge frosting and piled high with toffee popcorn, mini marshmallows, chocolate chips and a blob or three of the chocolate frosting drizzled on top.

Ta Da!

The star of the show!

A truly spectacular looking and tasting cake. Moist chocolate and peanut butter sponge gives way to creamy peanut butter frosting and melts into sweet and rich chocolate frosting. All components melting deliciously into each other in your mouth. The popcorn works wonderfully with the sponge and frosting with its extra edge of sweetness and fluffy crunch, all set off with the odd bite of mini marshmallow and chocolate chips. I had three slices of this little beauty on the day and then was unable to move for approximately an hour.

It was worth it.

For me, nothing says celebration like a cake with that extra layer that towers above everything else on offer.

And what was the occasion you might ask? Well, my kitten was roughly 1 in cat years, so we had to throw him a kitten tea party. His contribution being to hang off the bottom of my apron at regular intervals during the baking process. I also made Alice in Wonderland cheshire cat cupcakes, mouse shaped jelly and finger sandwiches for the occasion but everything paled into the background next to the triple layer cake!

And although little Edwin the kitten didn't indulge in a slice of cake himself, he did make sure he was suitably dressed for the occasion with a fittingly decorated cake collar...

Cheer Up Smiley Gingerbread Man, Maple, Cinnamon and Vanilla Cupcakes

So what do you do when you're feeling a little down in the dumps and there's really not much you can do to change it?

Well, you could start by making some delicious cupcakes that will waft the healing scent of warm cinnamon, maple syrup and vanilla around your abode and then top these little cakes with a smiley faced gingerbread man!

If you're feeling annoyed you may also particularly enjoy the bit where you get to chop the head off several mini gingerbread men :D

So as you've gathered, I decided that I needed cheering up. We all feel a bit blue at one time or another and personally I think the best therapy is a combination of baking something cheery looking (check), eating something delicious off a pretty plate (check) and drinking something splendid out of a pretty cup (check) optional extras include thinking about kittens, buying shoes and watching a Disney film in warm pyjamas. (I'm sure these should all be prescribed by doctors). In fact, it was during my week of cheer up baking that I first thought of my alternative therapy cake shop surgery. I'd listen to your woes whilst you stroked a kitten and then I'd prescribe the perfect combination of sugary goodness to cheer you up. 'Hmm, so you've lost your job and you keep having recurrent chronic bad hair days- take this cinnamon, apple and maple triple layer cake with vanilla frosting and administer a slice once every three days for two weeks alternating with a chunky serving of peanut butter and milk chocolate tray bake every other dose. Come back and see me in a week if matters do not improve.'

Of course, if you're allergic to cats or you are diabetic I may not be able to help this in the kitten cake surgery.

Anyway...

Back to the cakes!

Firstly I made up the cake mixture. I got the recipe for this and the buttercream from 'Cookie Girl's' Eat Me book of cakes. You can't miss this book in the book shop, its bright pink! This is a fantastic book crammed with imaginative and truly delicious cupcake recipes and other treats. All the recipes I've tried from it have been wonderful. The recipe I used was for these cakes was the 'french toast' cupcake.

Here they are... fresh out of the oven and all puffed up with pride. And so they should be, they've managed to make the house smell of warm freshly baked cake with a lingering subtle scent of vanilla, cinnamon and maple syrup. Morale of all house occupants is boosted by approximately 37% at this point.

I let them cool and set about making the frosting, which is a mixture of cream cheese, buttercream and just a touch of cinnamon. It sounds a tad unconventional but it really works and does not taste at all of creamcheese!

Then I used a very large piping nozzle to whip up the toppings. Actually, I tell a lie. I used no nozzle at all. The frosting is quite dense, more so than normal buttercream and using a nozzle and squeezing the icing bag as hard as possible whilst muttering unmentionables at the frosting (which I was now starting to become personally offended at. Why was it refusing to get out of the bag in the stylish fashion I had intended??!) only resulted in the nozzle popping off the bag completely and landing behind the radiator at the other side of the kitchen.

Oh well.

So I just piped straight out of the bag with no nozzle and as luck would have it, I quite liked the results. In fact, if anyone asks that's exactly what I meant to do in the first place. Honest.

Now we're getting to the fun part... Then I topped the cakes with mini gingerbread man sprinkles and the 'heads' of mini gingerbread men. Cutting up these little chaps was quite troublesome and there were quite a lot of casualties. Getting them to snap in the right place was very tricky!

There! Very pretty indeed. An army of unsuspectingly optimistic but ultimately doomed cheer-up gingerbread men. All cosily tucked up in their soft warm blankets of buttercream and cake, unaware of their fate.

Next I prepared a nice cup of spiced tea, set out one of my favourite cups and saucers (an uplifting pale shade of spring green) and a cake fork and placed my smiley, ill fated friends on my cheeriest cake stand.

How delightful!

The cake was moist with maple syrup but light and airy with hints of vanilla and cinnamon. The buttercream was sweet and creamy but with a warm, subtle cinnamon touch and lets face it, it was great fun dunking Mr gingerbread mans head in my elegant cup of tea and then devouring his little gingerbread man face. At this point he was all crunchy, just as gingerbread men should be. I had another of these cakes (for medicinal purposes of course) the following day and by that point he had become all soft. Still delicious but not really a biscuit any longer. If you want the crunch of the biscuit, make sure you decorate at the last minute before serving!

This is the perfect cake both for a warm summers day garden party to delicately nibble on with a glass of cool prosecco but is equally a big cakey hug that is superbly paired with a big steaming hot mug of tea. To be eaten on one of those cold, wet and blustery days when you've just arrived through the door, soaked through and red faced from the wind and rain and need a cheer up hug. What better type of hug than one that comes in cake form? Because that's what this cake is, a cheer up hug of a cake.

After polishing off one (or two) of these little sponges, serenity is restored and a smile is induced by the cheery gingerbread man cake which is hugging me from the inside!

And there we have it. Cake therapy!

Mr CaptainEggCupCake also had a go at decorating a cake. He took more of an alternative approach and created a 'gingerbread man grave yard masacre' cake. hmmm. Not quite in keeping with my cheery theme but still delicious.

And just for good measure, here is another of my cheer up cakes made for a friend in great need of cake therapy...

As part of a cheer up cake box of chocolate and salted caramel cakes and triple chocolate cookies!

Cakes with a smiley face. Just that bit more uplifting than the average cake!

And you never know, maybe one day the Cake Therapy Surgery will open its doors to the public. For now, I am only prescribing to those friends in need that I already know, however, my little kitten arrives this weekend! So perhaps the surgery isn't really that far off from opening...

It's Easter! Jammy Dodger Cupcakes and Apple and Cinnamon Hot Cross Buns!

It was the Thursday before the Easter bank holiday weekend and I'd taken a day off to wait for a man to fix the carpet, one to fix two of our radiators and one to deliver a parcel.

A lot of waiting around then :( Or...

An opportunity to do some baking whilst I waited! :)

I'd always wanted to try making jammy dodger inspired cupcakes and...

...as it was Easter I also fancied turning my hand to hot cross buns. In particular, Apple and Cinnamon ones!

First I started on the cakes. I used an almond cake recipe from Kate Shirazi's 'Cupcake Magic'. Its a wonderful book and a lovely recipe. Its the sponge recipe for her cherry bakewell inspired cakes but instead of adding cherry I left the almond cake plain. This is a gluten free recipe and contains no fat (which you can quite convincingly pretend to yourself is healthy, despite the level of fat in all the ground almonds and the slathering of buttercream on top)

I have made these cakes a few times before but I'd forgotten how rather unimpressive they look straight out of the oven.

Quite sad and depleted.

I hollowed out little holes big enough to plop a teaspoon full of raspberry jam into using a teaspoon and tested the sponge within. Yum! Sweet light and moist almond cakes! Like a super duper victoria sponge. Despite their withered and almost dry looking appearance I knew these little beauties were delicious and just needed a little make over involving, jam, buttercream and mini jammy dodgers to get them looking as good as they tasted!

Next I dolloped in some raspberry jam...

Looking better already, Gok Wan would be proud (If he did makeovers for cakes. Which he doesn't. None the less you get the idea.)

By this point the carpet man had arrived and so had my parcel. Hoorah! What a productive day I was having!

I wonder whats in this huge parcel...

Then it was time to swirl the cakes with a generous measure of buttercream, hiding the secret jammy almond treat within!

Now thats more like it! Looking very pretty. Just one finishing touch is needed...

Mini Jammy dodgers!!

This brought me to around lunch time and the surprise arrival of my mum who had popped round for a cup of tea just as I was taking this photo... She became my first cake tester of the day.

I gracefully consumed this jammy little almond treat, reserving the biscuit for tea dipping purposes, carefully slicing into the centre and delighting in the resplendent jammy core, noting the delicate crumb and luxuriating in the vanillary buttercream.

My mum sat on my sofa and chomped her way through three of these delights before being asked to leave the premises.

I found her snooping in the kitchen 'making one last cup of tea before I go' when in fact she was in the process of ravishing this choice morsel of jammy almondy goodness. She did stop to breathe and I took this photo of the gooey insides!

She then resigned to the fact she would have to leave or there would be none of the little jammy bakes left!

Next I turned to the Apple and Cinnamon Hot Cross Buns. I followed a recipe I found here... http://www.spicyicecream.com.au/2011/04/apple-and-cinnamon-hot-cross-buns.html

I had pre-prepared the lemon and apple mixture the night before. I followed the process of mixing, kneading and allowing the dough to rise whilst attempting not to eat the cakes made earlier that day.

I finally got to the point where they were ready for the oven. I made up a couple of trays like this...

and then baked.

The smell was wonderful! Apple, cinnamon, sweet spice and a hint of orange and lemon all perfectly amalgamated with a scent of something that resembled sweet freshly baked bread.

At this point the radiator man arrived.

Two of our radiators haven't been working for months. He went to assess the situation and I glazed the warm buns in my home made lemon and apple syrup.

I was admiring this fine specimen of a bun when the radiator man came into the kitchen to deliver the important radiator news...

Radiator man said we would need to get a further part for each radiator that didn't come 'as standard' on all radiators of this type. He then insightfully said
'Whats that smell? That baking smell? It all cinnamony'
To which I responded 'Would you like a freshly baked apple and cinnamon hot cross bun? I've just glazed them.'
'Yes Please!!!'

It was as he had taken a bite and had time to reconsider the radiator quandary that he announced he had these parts in his van and I needn't pay for them as it didn't matter really and they weren't that expensive and these were spares. (either that or I scared him by taking pictures of him eating hot cross buns in my house for no real reason and he made the tactical decision that if he was to leave alive he would need to fix my radiator sharpish) Still. He enjoyed the hot cross bun.

Anyway. The radiator was fixed for free and I now had 19 freshly made hot cross buns and slightly less jammy dodger cakes than I had originally intended having, sitting in my kitchen!

I quite rightly sat down and had a warm buttered hot cross bun and a mug of hot tea and contemplated what Easter egg I might get this year!

Oh...

and the parcel...

Well the parcel was filled with the Easter Egg I had quite generously purchased for 'Mr' Captain EggCupcake (yes I'm a 'miss' in case the word Captain had originally left you wondering). Quite oddly 'Mr' isn't that into cakes or chocolate (weirdo) so I bought him this...

Thats right! a full English breakfast inside a scotch egg! 14cm wide and 2lbs in weight!

And in case you were wondering. I was lucky enough to get one of these...

Yum!!

Hope you had a happy Easter!!

Little Miss Captain EggCupcake

xxx