Cake it better
Charity cake stalls need a good variety of cakes. That might sound obvious, but I can remember two bakers looking crestfallen as they dropped off cakes for a charity cake stall we did in August 2013. The first delivered a plate of Gingerbread Men that she told me looked 'scary' (and to be fair they did and we quickly named them the G'Adams Family), and another whose little chocolate fairy cakes were dwarfed by the swirly, shiny cupcakes next to them. The G'Adams Family and those fairy cakes were some of the first to sell that day, so don't feel you have do something that's worthy of placing at the feet of Paul Hollywood to be able to contribute.
If you are thinking of baking, and if you want to, you could ask the cake stall organiser if there is anything specific they would particularly like. Remember, though, whoever is organising the stall will be very grateful for ANYTHING you donate.
From an organisers point of view, you will never please all the people all the time. However, the wider the range you have, the more likely you will have something that most people will want to buy. It's worth having something:
- Big and fancy
- Gluten Free
- Vegan - see this link for my vegan mini loaf recipe
- Loafy
- Appealing to Children
- Small and Individual
If you are the stall organiser you will probably get donations covering most of these.
Baking tips
- Have all the ingredients at room temperature. Personally I don't keep my eggs in the fridge, I get them fresh from friends and use them quickly. If I've forgotten to take the butter out of the fridge, which does happen often, I get a big Pyrex bowl, put it on the scales, weigh out the butter I need in 5mm slices, placing them in one layer lining the bowl. I dip the bowl in a few inches of lukewarm water for a few seconds, and then leave it to stand for 20 minutes. This usually does the trick, the butter is then soft enough to use. I give it a good beat with the hand mixer (If Father Christmas is reading this I wouldn't say no to a cream coloured Kitchen Aid - the mixer of dreams) and I'm ready to bake.
- After you have beaten the butter and sugar together, add the eggs one at a time. Add a tablespoon of the flour with the last egg to stop the mixture splitting, though if it does split it doesn't usually make much difference.
- Once you put the flour in keep the mixing/beating to a minimum - you want to keep as much air in as possible and you don't want to activate the gluten in the flour. If your cakes are usually hard and chewy overworking the flour could be the reason.
- When is it ready? Don't open the oven door until you are least 2/3 to 3/4 way through the cooking time, if the cake needs turning then only open the door enough to not burn yourself. Don't remove it from the oven to turn it! You'll know it's done when:
- It bounces back after a gentle poke with a finger
- A skewer comes out clean from the middle
- It has shrunk away from the edges of the tin
Leave in the tin to cool for five minutes and then put on a wire rack, you must let it cool completely before decorating.
Buttercream can still melt at fairly low temperatures, to avoid this I beat in 100g of melted cooled white chocolate to the finished recipe, you have to work a little quicker with it when piping but it's much more stable at room temperature, white chocolate tastes great in most things too, even the cheap bars.
Food Hygiene
If you are going to make the effort to bake something it's worth making sure that you won't make anyone ill, that's the last thing anyone would want.
- Don't bake if you are poorly
- Wash your hands thoroughly, removing rings and watches before washing
- Clean worktops
- Use clean utensils
- Make sure that you haven't left a residue of cleaning products that could get into the food
BUPA do a good guide. If you want to go a step further, there are basic Food Hygiene Certificates you can do on line.