It’s official, everybody has gone jubilee mad- I can’t seem
to walk down the street without seeing a union jack in some shape or form. But
hey, why not, it is after all a time to celebrate and, of course an excuse to get baking!
As this is a very British occasion, I decided to stick to
making some traditional cakes- Battenberg, cupcakes and shortbread- all with a
jubilee twist!The Battenberg is a moist sponge cake cut into four rectangle shapes, sandwiched together with apricot jam and covered in almond marzipan. It is easily recognised by its two-by-two check pattern coloured pink and yellow, which makes it a rather attractive looking cake. Apparently, it was originally made to celebrate the marriage of Princess Victoria Hesse and by Rhine and Prince Louis of Battenberg, and so I thought it would be the perfect bake for a royal occasion!
I covered my Battenberg in white marzipan instead of golden,
and to make it fit in with the jubilee theme I cut out strips of pink icing and
triangles of blue icing to make a union jack pattern on top, which I think
looks rather effective!
Now let’s move onto the shortbread, which is one of my
favourite types of biscuit- rich, buttery and melt in the mouth-
delicious! I like mine to be crumbly,
sprinkled with a generous helping of sugar and served with a nice cup of
coffee. I normally roll out my shortbread dough and use cookie cutters to cut
out different shapes, but this time I thought I’d try something new and bake
them in this beautiful rose mould, courtesy of dot com gift shop. Although designed
as a chocolate mould, it is also oven stable and so can be used for baking
which I think is brilliant. I admit that at first I was unsure as to whether
baking my shortbread in this intricate mould would work, but once baked the
biscuits popped out like a dream and I think they make pretty little bite size
treats perfect for a jubilee party!
Rose Shortbread
100g unsalted butter, softened
50g caster sugar
150g plain flour
Extra caster sugar, for sprinkling
Method:
1.
Pre-heat the oven to 170C/gas mark 3.
2.
In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and
sugar until combined.
3.
Sift in the plain flour and stir until you have
a smooth paste (you may have to use your hands at this point!)
4.
Press small balls of the dough into the rose
moulds, or into a 6 inch flan ring lined with greaseproof paper. Alternatively,
you can roll out the dough and cut into shapes of your choice. Chill until firm.
And now, my final jubilee bake- cupcakes! Cupcakes are a
great treat to bake for special celebrations as the possibilities for different
flavours and designs are endless. I decided to stick to two classic flavour
combinations- strawberry and vanilla, and double chocolate as I find that these
always go down well with everybody. I made my own jubilee decorations from
roll-out icing, marzipan and a little food colouring which I think look rather
effective. However, if you don’t have the time to make your own, there are
plenty of ready-made jubilee themed decorations you can buy- red white and blue
sprinkles, edible diamonds and glitter to name a few!
I used a basic Victoria sponge cake recipe for my cupcakes,
but swirled through a little strawberry jam into the batter- why not use your favourite sponge recipe and have a go
yourself?
