As with the rest of the world, along the majestic Pacific Coast of California, at Huckleberry Hill, we are enchanted by the upcoming royal wedding. (The wedding of Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle will take place at St. George’s Chapel on May 18.) Set out your tea set, bake Queen Cakes and have a viewing party. I have to admit that I have fallen in love with the term ‘Queen Cakes’.
-It’s the perfect child friendly bake to gear up for royal magic!-
My path of writing children’s books has blessed me with many new friendships! My stories focus on childhood adventures and cooking with Nonna. Catherine (a fellow author) and I connected, as we both have a LOVE of Sicily.
Feel free to share your ideas for planning a royal wedding viewing party, I can be reached at huckleberryhilladventure@gmail.com.
I am thrilled to publish this feature article for baking Queen Cakes. Let’s reach across the pond, as author Catherine Rosevear, from Cambridgeshire, England shares her recipe and tips. Enjoy! Huckleberry Hugs, XOXO Maxine (AKA “Molly”)
-QUEEN CAKES-
(Written by Catherine Rosevear)
Sometimes when I’m writing, I need a bit of a break – and this is usually a good excuse to make something nice to eat. Queen Cakes are one of my favourites, particularly if I’m making something with the children, as they are just so easy to make and fun to decorate. Often the dog puts his paw up to say ‘please’ as well, when we start getting the ingredients out, but unfortunately he is always disappointed and has to be content with a dog biscuit – Queen Cakes are far too sugary for him!
For the recipe you will need
¾ cup (100g) self-rising flour (or ¾ cup all-purpose flour and almost 2 extra teaspoons of baking powder);
½ cup (100g) sugar;
Just under ½ cup (100g) soft butter;
2 eggs;
1 level teaspoon baking powder.
If you’d like to make the chocolate version (and who wouldn’t!), replace approximately 25% of the flour with cocoa powder.
You will also need some paper cake cases or muffin cases. This recipe makes between 10 and 20 cakes, depending on the size of paper case you use.
If you’d like to decorate them, you will also need butter cream, cooking chocolate, sweets/candies, wafer flowers or butterflies, or anything else that you fancy.
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 350 F (180 C/gas mark 4). Slightly reduce the temperature if it is a fan oven.
Put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl, in any order, and mix them all together until there are no lumps left – yes, it really is that simple! You need to end up with a ‘dropping’ consistency, where the mixture will just drop (but not run) from a spoon when held up. If it seems a little too stiff, add a splash of milk, and if it seems slightly too runny, add a little more flour.
Then dollop it out into the cake cases or muffin cases with a teaspoon. Fill each case until it is just under half full, and then put them into the oven for about 10 to 15 minutes – depending on whether you’ve gone for the smaller cake cases or the larger muffin cases – bigger is always better in my experience, but they do take just slightly longer to cook!
Get them out of the oven when they are slightly golden on top (or spongy to the touch for chocolate ones) and put them onto a wire rack to cool.
Leave the cakes to cool until they are completely cold (although you might want to try one while they are still warm – just to make sure that they taste nice!).
Once they are completely cold, decorate as you like – maybe with chocolate buttercream and chocolate stars –
Or maybe with vanilla buttercream and wafer flowers and butterflies –
Or maybe with both –
Then summon the rest of the family, and tuck in – enjoy!
-About the Author-
This recipe comes from Catherine Rosevear in England. Catherine lives in Cambridgeshire with her husband, two children and a Tibetan Terrier. She writes children’s chapter books, and has recently published the first two books in her ‘Roman Magic’ series – ‘The Secret of the Wooden Chest’ and ‘Mystical Moonlight’.
Both books are available on Amazon You can find Catherine at –
www.catherinerosevear.wordpress.com
Twitter – @cathrosevear
Facebook – @CatherineRosevear2
