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Quick Pancake Mix Recipe

Pancake Mix

Through all the milestones of life – birth, breastfeeding, parenting choices, weight management, relationship rise and decline – I try to remain non-judgemental and realise that everyone has their own path to walk, but every year, around this time (early February) my inner judge and jury come out in full force when I walk through the supermarkets and see ‘pancake mix’ sold in single use plastic bottles.

I’m sorry. I really am. I can’t put my judgemental face away right now.

Our local supermarket has a huge display of pancake mix today. It’s £1 for a bottle that makes 6 pancakes. SIX.

The ingredients are: Wheat Flour, Sugar, Palm Oil, Whey Powder (Milk), Dextrose, Dried Egg Yolk, Salt, and you’ll need to add oil for cooking.

Yay for the unnecessary deforestation. Not to mention the plastic that ends up in landfill.

(See, I told you this makes me all judgey! )

If you were to, oh, I don’t know, make your own pancake mix your ingredients would be flour, eggs, milk, salt and a bit of oil. Then you mix it together. My three year old can do it!

And to make six pancakes? Your ingredients – assuming you don’t go for caged hen eggs or the cheapest possible flour – will cost you the grand sum total of 27p. A little over 1/4 the cost of those ‘convenient’ little bottles. If you’re going all out luxury and putting two eggs in the batter, you’re still looking at 35p for six pancakes. pancakes

The only time I can imagine justifying buying pancake mix is if you’re hiking, carrying your week’s food with you and you wanted to make pancakes one morning, on an open fire, high up in the mountains. And even then I’m not convinced.

Okay. I’m going to step off my pedestal and give you the pancake recipe I’ve been making since I was a child, since my mom took us high up into the mountains (by car) to make pancakes on a camping stove in the snow.

Some pancake recipes call for one egg, some for two. I like doing two with savoury pancakes as it makes them a bit thicker, and sturdier, and better for holding something like ham and cheese or chicken mayo. One egg is fine for holding sugar and cinnamon or chocolate spread or similar light fillings. Or, hmmm… bananas, cream and caramel.

The recipe below is for 6 pancakes which is generally enough for the three of us. You can double or triple or x100 it without much effort – just increase the mixing time.

If you’re not sure how to cook a pancake, the best way of learning is seeing, so have a look at these youtube videos!pancake mix

Quick Pancake Recipe
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 100g plain flour
  • 1 or 2 eggs
  • 300 or 280g milk (depending on how many eggs you use)
  • 10g (1tbs) vegetable oil
  • a pinch of salt
  • Fillings
  • Cinnamon, sugar and lemon juice to taste
Instructions
  1. Add all the ingredients into a bowl and whisk. It’s easier if you use a whisk or an electric beater, but even a fork will do it eventually. Mix till it’s all combined and you have a runny, smooth, lump free batter.
  2. If you’re using a Thermomix, mix for 10 seconds/speed 5
  3. Turn the stove up to a medium high heat, and pour into a frying pan enough batter to cover the base. I use a standard sized soup ladle, about half full for each pancake.
  4. Let it fry for a minute or so, till the edges start to brown, then use a spatula or flip over and cook the other side for about 30 seconds
  5. Tip the pancake onto a plate and sprinkle cinnamon, sugar and lemon juice over
  6. Repeat till you’ve used up all the batter
TIPS:
  1. Having added oil to the batter, you shouldn’t have to add any to the pan, but pans differ, so if the batter sticks add a dash of oil.
  2. I use brown sugar because I prefer it, but it’s also really nice with castor sugar
  3. If you really don’t know how to cook pancakes, there are hundreds of videos on youtube that can help you.

 

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Honey Cookies

Honey Cookies

It’s national Winnie The Pooh day on Monday the 18th of January and we love Winnie the Pooh in this house. We’ve visited the real 100 Acre Woods and we’ve had a Winnie The Pooh birthday party and my kids have been playing Pooh Sticks since they could stand up straight, so really it’s only obvious that we’d have to do something to celebrate Winnie the Pooh’s special day!Honey Cookies

I’ve made this recipe a few times, because they’re honey cookies, and bears love honey! And so do my children. They are really tasty on their own, but my little ones love them with chocolate chips on top and my personal favourite is with glacé cherries on top. It’s just deliciousness all round.Honey Cookies

The original recipe from the 1979 The Pooh Cook Book You suggests you can top it with almond slivers. I’ve reduced the sugar too, with no ill effect, though that’s probably because we eat them before they can go stale, which is what the sugar helps slow down.

Honey Cookies
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 40 cookies
Ingredients
  • 230g self raising flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 115g salted butter
  • 80g brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 45g honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • almonds (optional)
  • choc chips (optional)
  • glacé cherries (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F
  2. Add flour, salt, butter, sugar, egg, honey and vanilla essence to the food processor and mix till it’s all well combined (Thermomix: speed 5/30 seconds)
  3. On a well floured surface, and with well floured hands, shape balls the size of large marbles and space them out evenly on a tray. They will expand in the oven.
  4. With your finger make a dent in each ball and fill it with the optional extras or leave it as is
  5. Place in the oven and bake for 13 – 15 minutes depending on your oven
  6. They will still be really soft when they come out the oven, so leave them to cool entirely before transferring to a biscuit tin

Isn’t it funny

How a bear likes honey

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

I wonder why he does

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Six Minute Chocolate Puddings

Six Minute Chocolate Pudding

In a life before my children, I used to host regular dinner parties, and Six Minute Chocolate Puddings were a go-to standard pudding for a number of reasons. First, it’s so easy to make. You mix all the ingredients together and set it aside, popping it in the oven for 6 minutes when you’re ready for your warm and yummy dessert. Secondly, these chocolate puddings a small portion, but it’s so rich you really only need a small portion per person. Thirdly, it’s really good, hot or cold, with cream or ice cream. Six Minute Chocolate Puddings

The key to these chocolate puddings is to have the oven hot and to keep an eye on the puddings. In a normal small round ramekin, they should only need 6 minutes in the oven. If your ramekins or bowls are bigger, they may need a little longer, but sit and watch it, if need be, so you can see when it forms a skin on top that looks like cake. Like this:Six Minute Chocolate Puddings

Pull it out of the oven immediately, and serve. If you leave it in too long it’ll sort of ‘set’ and not be runny any more, but it will still be delicious.

Six Minute Chocolate Puddings
Recipe Type: Dessert
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 60g Sugar
  • 3 Eggs
  • 3 Egg Yolks
  • 185g Dark Chocolate
  • 185g Butter
  • 15g Plain Flour
  • Cocoa Powder, for dusting
  • cream or ice cream for serving
Instructions
  1. If you’re serving immediately, turn the oven up to 230C/450F
  2. Add the sugar to the Thermomix and whiz on speed 10 for 3 seconds
  3. Add the eggs and the extra egg yolks and whisk the eggs for 30 seconds, speed 5
  4. Set aside
  5. In a clean bowl add the chocolate and whiz on speed 10 for 3 seconds again to get the chocolate to melt faster. Scrape down the sides if you need to then melt the chocolate for 2 minutes/speed 2/ 50C
  6. Once it’s melted add the butter and melt 1 minute/speed 2/ 50C
  7. Finally add the sugar and egg – pour it in in a steady stream – and then the flour
  8. (If you’re organised, you can just set the chocolate on to melt for 4 minutes, and add the butter after two minutes, and the egg and sugar mix and the flour after another minute so you don’t keep having to reset the timer)
  9. Pour into ramekins. This mix will rise slightly, so don’t fill all the way to the top.
Serving straight away
  1. Place into a hot oven and bake for 6 minutes (vary according to the size of the ramekins)
  2. Serve as is for the molten inside to be a surprise or turn upside down to have it running and oozing pleasantly over the plate
Serving later
  1. Once everything is mixed, pop the chocolate mix into the fridge. When your guests arrive, remove it so that it returns to room temperature, when you’re having your mains, turn on the oven and after dinner put the ramekins in the oven for six minutes.
  2. Serve with cream, ice cream or on it’s own

[youtube skXpYjsNN_M]

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Almond Biscuits With Fondant Icing

Cookies, or biscuits, if you will, are so synonymous with Christmas to me. My mom used to do a huge bake i the beginning of December somewhere, and I remember a lot of cookies through the month, always stored in old fashioned cake tins. That was always fun.

I love this recipe because it’s a little different to the ‘usual’ butter biscuits, with the addition of almond extract. You can try it with rum extract too.

Star shaped biscuits

The white fondant may need rolling out on a clean surface with a sprinkling of icing sugar, and left to set it’ll provide a lovely soft, pillowy counter point to the crunchy biscuits. I love these! My kids like decorating them with silver balls pressed into the surface, but I just think of broken teeth!

stars

Even though you use the same shapes for cutting out the fondant in the baking and moving of the biscuits they may change shape a little, so use your fingers to ‘smooth out’ the edges of the fondant to fit perfectly over the biscuits.

Almond Biscuits With Fondant Icing
Recipe Type: Biscuits
Cuisine: Bakery
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Ingredients
  • 230g Butter
  • 340g Sugar
  • 6 cups Plain Flour (780g)
  • 6 Eggs
  • 1 tablespoon Baking Powder
  • 1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
  • 1 tablespoon Almond Extract
  • For the Icing Sugar
  • 140g butter
  • 280g icing sugar
  • 1-2 tbsp milk
Instructions
  1. Add the butter and sugar to a food processor and mix till it is light and fluffy
  2. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir till combined and a soft dough forms
  3. Place in the fridge for 1 hour, heat the oven to 180C, then roll out on a well floured surface
  4. Cut out shapes and move to an oven tray then back for 10 – 12 minutes until they are golden brown
  5. Meanwhile, role out some fondant and use the same cutters to cut matching shapes from the fondant. Set aside.
  6. Once the biscuits have cooled, mix the butter, icing sugar and milk together, and spread generously over the biscuits
  7. Top with the fondant shapes shaping them to fit on the biscuits
  8. Place gently in an airtight container and allow to set
  9. They should keep well for 1 – 2 weeks
Thermomix Instructions
  1. Place the butterfly whisk into the Thermomix bowl and add the butter and sugar 3 minutes/speed 4. The butter should be light in colour and fluffy
  2. Remove the butterfly and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix together 30 seconds/speed 5
  3. Empty out onto cling film and refrigerate for at least an hour to make the dough easier to work with
  4. Remove from fridge, roll out the dough to about half an inch thick and cut into shapes
  5. Transfer onto a baking tray and continue until all the dough is used up
  6. Bake for 10—12 minutes at 180C till golden brown
  7. Store in an airtight container

A Very Thermie ChristmasA Very Thermie Christmas has this and 50 other recipes for all your Thermomix Christmas needs. With everything from snacks to meals, finger foods to festive drinks and DIY gifts A Very Thermie Christmas has your Christmas covered.  Just £8.99 (excl VAT in EU) this printable PDF can be yours in minutes.

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Chocolate Cranberry Muffins (Egg-Free)

Chocolate Cranberry Muffins

I’ve been making muffins a lot lately, because they’re a really easy way to fill the kids up when they’re hungry thirty-seven million times.a.day. They are pretty quick to make while I’m making breakfast, and then they can snack for the rest of the morning. Of course these have too much sugar for that to be a sustainable idea, but we’re calling it a Christmas treat.

These are really only egg-free because I ran out, but the banana binds it together. If you want to use egg, substitute the banana for two eggs.

These have dried cranberries in, but you can substitute that as you wish – raisins or choc chips, both work well.

With the banana in these do have a little bit of a banana taste, but chocolate and banana work well anyway.Chocolate Cranberry Muffins

Chocolate Cranberry Muffins (Egg-Free)
Recipe Type: Breakfast
Cuisine: Breakfast, Snacks
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 280g self-raising flour
  • 30g cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 100g brown sugar
  • 70g olive oil
  • 1 banana
  • 200g milk
  • handful of dried cranberries – more or less depending on taste
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 180C
  2. Add all the ingredients to the Thermomix bowl, except the cranberries
  3. Mix speed 4/ 60 seconds
  4. Add the cranberries
  5. Scoop out into 12 large or 36 small muffin cases and bake for 10 – 20 minutes, depending on the size of the muffins.
  6. Find the largest muffin and stick a knife into it. If it comes out clean, it’s ready.

 

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Self-Saucing Steamed Pear Pudding With Orange Butter Sauce

Self-Saucing Steamed Pear Pudding With Orange Butter Sauce

I bought pears a few weeks ago thinking my girls would eat them, but they were hard, and stayed hard, till they started looking beyond their best, so I decided to make a baked pudding with them. I have been trying to use my Varoma more, so thought a steamed pudding would be nice too, specially since this ‘summer’ is hiding behind thick rain clouds today.

Self-Saucing Steamed Pear Pudding With Orange Butter Sauce 2

I have no idea how you would steam a pudding on the stove top, but if you do, I’m sure this will be easy to make even without a Thermomix.Self-Saucing Steamed Pear Pudding With Orange Butter Sauce

I also think the flavours in this can easily be adapted – adding cloves, raisins, cardamom as you like. And I like to serve this with home made clotted cream or ice cream.

Steamed Pear Pudding With Orange Butter Sauce
Recipe Type: Dessert
Cuisine: Steamed
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4 puddings
Serve with home made [url href=”https://www.keeperofthekitchen.com/2015/08/19/diy-clotted-cream-in-the-slowcooker-or-crockpot/” title=”DIY Clotted Cream In The Slowcooker Or Crockpot”]clotted cream[/url] or ice cream, or just on it’s own
Ingredients
  • For the fruit
  • 2 pears, cored and chopped in rough cubes
  • 25g butter
  • 20g sugar
  • teaspoon cinnamon or all-spice
  • juice of one orange
  • For the pudding
  • 125g butter
  • 110g caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 130g self-raising flour
  • zest from 1 orange
Instructions
  1. Chop pears into cubes and place in the Thermomix bowl.
  2. Add butter, sugar and spices and orange juice and cook 5 mins/ Varoma Temp/Speed 1
  3. Spoon into rammekins or heat-proof dishes
  4. In the Thermomix, whisk the butter and sugar together for 50 seconds/speed 4
  5. Add the eggs, self raising flour and zest and beat together for 30 seconds/speed 4
  6. Spoon into rammekins, above the fruit
  7. Place the rammekins into bottom ‘shelf’ of the Varoma and put the lid on
  8. Add water up to the 1l mark in the bowl, place the Varoma on top and steam for 25 mins/Varoma Temp/Speed 3
  9. Turn upside down onto a serving dish and serve with clotted cream or icecream

 

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Brandy Butter Christmas Cake Icecream

I know you’re wondering what on earth I’m doing posting a Christmas recipe in August, but since I’m in the Northern Hemisphere, and it’s summer here, now’s the right time for me to test something I’ve been toying with in my mind for ages.

We spent last Christmas in Australia, and Christmas day was really very hot, as Perth is wont to be late December. I bought the Christmas pudding my mum used to buy and made her special brandy sauce and we ate our Christmas pudding – but we ate it because my mum used to make it and she wasn’t there anymore, but it lead me to thinking that it would be great to have the same flavours, but in a more seasonally appropriate fashion.

ice-cream A quick Google showed me that my genius idea of brandy butter ice cream isn’t original (isn’t it sad when that happens 😉 ) but I looked at a few recipes, made some adjustments and came up with this below.

ice-creams

 

I don’t have an ice cream maker either – just to add to the complication, so you can make this recipe with any and all or absolutely no gadgets. As it happened, I also didn’t have butter, so had to first make that from some extra cream!

Brandy Butter Christmas Cake Icecream
Recipe Type: Dessert
Cuisine: Christmas
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 700g
Ingredients
  • 130g butter
  • 100ml/95g brandy
  • 300ml/300g milk
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 175g light soft brown sugar
  • 150ml /150g double cream
  • Christmas Pudding (as much as you have)
Instructions
  1. Melt the butter on a stove till it’s just browning, then remove it so it doesn’t burn.
  2. Add the brandy and set aside to cool.
  3. Warm the milk in a pan, while you whisk the yolk and sugar till it is lighter in colour. Don’t let the milk boil.
On the stove
  1. Pour the hot milk over the sugar mixture, whisking continuously, then return to the saucepan set over a low heat. Cook for 3-4 mins, stirring the whole time until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon.
In the Thermomix
  1. If you’ve whisked the sugar mixture in the Thermomix, add the hot milk to the sugar mixture and cook on 60C/3:30mins/speed1. This should make a custard, thick enough to coat the spoon.
Once all the sauces are cooled:
  1. Whisk the double cream to stiff peaks. Mix the brandy butter with the custard then mix in to the cream. Make sure it’s all combined well, then put it in the freezer.
Making the ice cream
  1. If you have an ice cream maker, follow the instructions to make ice cream. If you don’t, add it to your Thermomserver or any other dish and remove from the freezer every half hour to stir and break down all the crystals.
  2. After 5 times – about 2.5 hours – crumble the Christmas pudding into the ice cream mix together, and leave to set till you’re ready to serve. (If you’re using an ice cream maker, follow their instructions on adding bits.)
  3. Remove 10 – 15 minutes before serving, depending on your outside temperature, and enjoy.

A Very Thermie Christmas This recipe features in A Very Thermie Christmas, where you can find it and 50 other recipes perfect for a Thermomix assisted Christmas. Read more about it here.

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Garlic & Herb Pull Apart Bread Recipe (Thermomix)

I’ve tried to make pull apart breads on, well, more than one occasion, but I’ve never found them to be perfect. They’ve just never been ‘right’ – till today. Today I made a most beautiful garlic & herb pull apart bread. It was light, fluffy, airy and delicious. My kids loved it.  I loved it. Now I’m writing it all down step by step so hopefully next time I make it, it’ll be as good! I have a hankering to try this with bacon too. Just saying.

Garlic & Herb Pull Apart Bread

You can make this with or without the cheese, and you can vary the herbs to your preference. The main thing is to make sure you add some of the garlic butter to the bottom of the baking dish so that it seeps through to make these beautiful, fluffy and delicious breadrolls for a tear & share bread.

Garlic & Herb Pull Apart Bread Recipe
Recipe Type: Side Dish, Bread
Cuisine: BBQ, Bread
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 8 – 10
You can make this bread with any recipe you prefer, really, but this one is adapted from the Bestest Breadrolls recipe on the Thermomix community.
Ingredients
  • For the bread
  • 10g dry yeast
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 510 g bakers flour
  • 30 g garlic flavoured olive oil
  • 310 g warm water
  • For the garlic butter
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 15g flat leaf parsley
  • 60g parmesan or other cheese
  • 60g butter
Instructions
  1. Add all the ingredients to a clean Thermomix bowl.
  2. Mix at speed 5 for 10 seconds, then knead for 90 seconds using the dough setting.
  3. Oil a glass bowl and place the dough inside. Cover the dough and set aside to rise to double it’s size.
For the butter
  1. Add the garlic, parsley and cheese to the bowl and mix on speed 5 for 8 – 10 seconds.
  2. Add the butter and melt at 50C/Speed 1/2 mins.
  3. Pour a third of the melted butter mix into an oven safe dish..
  4. Take the dough and split it into 8 – 10 balls. Put them on top of the butter mix in the dish, making sure they touch lightly. Drizzle over the remaining butter mix.
  5. Turn the oven on to 180C and put the breadrolls into the oven (while it’s still cold).
  6. Bake bread for 20-30 minutes depending on your oven. It should be golden brown.
  7. Remove from oven dish so the base doesn’t get soggy.
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Beach Buckets, Spades And Cake Pops

I know leftover cake is a bit of a foreign concept in most cases, but after making the Vegan Chocolate Cake the other day, we had loads left over. We could of course just sit down and eat it, but we had one of those days here today and I decided my kids and I needed a party for three. It was misty and cold and overcast for most of the day too, so we had to bring the beach indoors.

I recently bought these fun bucket and spade silicone cups that you can bake your cakes in, but I thought we could go with the cake pop idea instead.

At least it gave my kids something to do rather than bicker and argue for a few minutes!Beach bucket and spade cakes

There are no specific amount here because, well, it’s leftover cake!

Roughly, though – half a cake, a small amount of icing sugar, and a sand-coloured biscuit and you’re set.

beach sand buckets

Put equal amounts of butter and icing powder in a mixing bowl and mix till it looks like icing, a minute or two is normally sufficient.  (Thermomix: 2 mins/speed 4) A good start is 50g butter and 50g icing sugar.

Add the cake to the bowl and crumb by hand or in the Thermomix, mix at speed 5 for 30 seconds.

Spoon the mixture into the buckets and squish it flat to compact it.

In a clean bowl, crumb some sandy-coloured biscuits – in the Thermomix, that’s 10 seconds on speed 5. I used the honey-waffle biscuits, but anything that colour will do and you need only one or two biscuits per bucket.

Spoon the ‘sand’ over the compacted cake – it’s a bit like cake pop consistency – and stick your spade in it.

 

Party for three

With the left over left overs we made cake pops by forming balls and rolling it around in the sandy coloured biscuit crumbs before putting them on sticks. I popped a little love note in a jar for each of my girls for a ‘message in a bottle’, put the cake pops in and there we have it:

Left over cake for a party of three (or however many you need!)

 

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Casa Costello
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Vegan Chocolate Cake, Not Vegan Buttercream And Vegan Chocolate Glaze

We aren’t vegan as you can tell by the creamy and beautiful buttercream or chocolate that decorate this cake, but the cake itself is vegan, and beyond being a really tasty treat, it’s also a useful recipe to have to hand when you don’t have eggs, which often happens in my life.

So, this cake is vegan, the chocolates aren’t and the buttercream isn’t. But there’s a lovely topping that you can use if you’re particularly after a vegan cake too – I’ll include that in the recipe.

As for the Bambi shapes, they are moulds from the Disney Cakes and Sweets range from Eaglemoss. We subscribed to this a couple of years back and now have 79 issues filling up my shelves, and a ton of baking goodies too. Ameli’s birthday party last year was a Princess Party, where we used some of the supplies from the Disney Cakes & Sweets magazines, and obviously this Bambi, owl, rabbit and little birds are from that too. It’s a really fantastic magazine to subscribe to, and along with fantastic quality bakeware and silicone moulds there are step by step instructions and recipes for every Disney character you could imagine. It’s something else. You can find out more about what’s available in the Disney Cakes & Sweets Magazine subscription by clicking here.

Did you know? 

You could also pick up this Special Edition Bambi & Friends issue for £9.99 by clicking here.

 

Vegan Chocolate CakeNow, on to the cake. These characters use 3 standard slabs of chocolate. You could get away with two and just make them a bit thinner. I used two dark and one milk, melted together (I use a Thermomix, 90C, 3 mins, speed 2, but you can use a double boiler).

For this particular cake I also bought the flowers, and my 3 year old called it a ‘forest cake’. When a grown-up friend at our party said ‘Oh, they’re even resting on the grass’ I was very pleased that my marbled green fondant icing, with the bits of ‘soil’ towards the bottom actually translated as such!

Last year I made a similar cake for a spring party, and I added toadstools, flowers and other Disney Cakes & Sweets foresty themed buttons and it looked really pretty. (If you ignore the actual cake baking skills!)

Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake
Recipe Type: Cakes,
Cuisine: Dessert, Cakes, Vegan
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1 cake
The vinegar and baking powder cause a reaction so you need get the cake into the hot oven as soon as these two ingredients are mixed, so start with the dry ingredients. In the images above, I have made three batches of the recipe below.
Ingredients
  • 160g (1 1/4 cups) self raising flour
  • 160g (1 cup) sugar
  • 40g (1/3 cup) cocoa powder (I recommend [url href=”http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0013GALTA/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B0013GALTA&linkCode=as2&tag=diaofafirchi-21&linkId=M64JX4Z6HCKHTDXD” target=”_blank”]this one[/url])
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 190g (1 cup) warm water
  • 1 tsp [url href=”http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0069KOLY6/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B0069KOLY6&linkCode=as2&tag=diaofafirchi-21&linkId=IT2MPEJH5DJ5AXSK” target=”_blank”]vanilla extract[/url] (I recommend this one)
  • 60g (1/3 cup) vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp distilled white or apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp baking soda/bicarbonate of soda
Instructions
Regular Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
  2. Oil or prepare your baking tin.
  3. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients, adding the baking powder and vinegar last.
  4. Pour into an ovenproof dish, and put in the centre of a hot oven.
  5. Bake at 180C for about 30 mins.
  6. Cool completely before icing.
Thermomix Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
  2. Oil or prepare your baking tin.
  3. Add all but the last two ingredients listed to the bowl, and mix speed 4, 5 seconds.
  4. Add the vinegar and baking powder and mix speed 1, 5 seconds.
  5. Pour into an ovenproof dish, and put in the centre of a hot oven.
  6. Bake at 180C for about 30 mins.
  7. Cool completely before icing.

For my cake I made a buttercream icing, and topped with fondant. My mother used to make the best buttercream in the world. Here’s her recipe, adapted to the Thermomix, but you can use any electric beater for the job – just focus more on the appearance than the timing.

I like to use a beautiful rich yellow salted butter for this, as it cuts the sweetness a little.

Buttercream Icing/Chocolate Buttercream Icing
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 400g
Ingredients
  • 200g salted butter
  • 200g icing sugar
  • 1 tsp [url href=”http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0069KOLY6/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B0069KOLY6&linkCode=as2&tag=diaofafirchi-21&linkId=IT2MPEJH5DJ5AXSK” target=”_blank”]vanilla essence[/url]
  • 30g cocoa powder (I recommend [url href=”http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0013GALTA/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B0013GALTA&linkCode=as2&tag=diaofafirchi-21&linkId=M64JX4Z6HCKHTDXD” target=”_blank”]this one[/url]) (optional)
  • Optional extra: milk
Instructions
  1. Add the butterfly to the Thermomix
  2. Add the butter to the bowl and whisk speed 3, 2 minutes till the butter is white and fluffy looking. Remove the butterfly.
  3. Add the icing sugar and vanilla essence and whisk speed 3, 1 minute.
  4. For a chocolate buttercream, add the cocoa powder and whisk again for 20 seconds, speed 5 or whenever it’s all mixed through.
  5. If the mixture is too dry add a TEASPOON of milk at a time till you get it to the consistency you require.

To stick to the vegan roots of this vegan chocolate cake you can make a delicious chocolate glaze instead.

Bambi Summer Cake – Vegan Chocolate Cake
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Ingredients
  • 80g (1/2 cup) sugar
  • 4 tbsp coconut oil
  • 2 tbsp [url href=”http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0013GALTA/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B0013GALTA&linkCode=as2&tag=diaofafirchi-21&linkId=M64JX4Z6HCKHTDXD” target=”_blank”]cocoa powder[/url]
  • 2 tsp [url href=”http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0069KOLY6/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B0069KOLY6&linkCode=as2&tag=diaofafirchi-21&linkId=IT2MPEJH5DJ5AXSK” target=”_blank”]vanilla extract[/url]
Instructions
Regular Instructions
  1. On the stove top, place all the ingredients in a pot on a low heat and stir all the while till it melts.
  2. Pour over cake and leave to cool.
Thermomix Instructions
  1. Place all the ingredients except the vanilla in the Thermomix bowl.
  2. Cook at 90C for 2-3 minutes checking that the sugar has all melted.
  3. Add the vanilla and whizz for 2 seconds on speed 4, then pour over cake.
  4. Leave to cool.

I hope you enjoy this delicious cake and it’s multiple variations on decorations. And remember to have a look at Disney Cakes & Sweets magazine too!