Cakes, cakes and more cakes...............

Is it my imagination or is home baking on a roll? I presently have five books specialising in baking cakes that have all been published in the last few weeks and I must say they make your mouth water just looking through them.

Kiwiana Cupcakes, Cake Pops and Whoopie Pies

By Kirsten Day

We all have memories of heartland New Zealand – no matter where we grew up.  There will forever be nostalgic recollections associated with fish and chips, gumboots, and a paddock filled with sheep.

Expert cupcake maker and decorator Kirsten Day offers recipes and strategies for creating gorgeous cupcakes that bring all these Kiwiana memories to life. Such fun, I was smiling all the while as I read the book.

Kiwiana Cupcakes offers more than 30 recipes for cupcakes, cake pops and whoopie pies, which includes everything from a chocolate Kiwifruit cupcake to a sheep in the paddock cake pops.

Alongside these fabulous never-fail recipes are Kirsten’s expert tips and hints, advice on Kiwiana styling and variations on design.

Kirsten Day manages Milly’s Kitchen (voted Best Homeware Store 2011 by Metro magazine), and runs cake and cupcake decorating classes all over the country.

Published by HarperCollins in May 2013

RRP $39.99

The Caker

50 New and Unusual Cake Recipes by Jordan Rondel

“It’s important to eat something sweet every day”

Twenty-four-year-old Jordan Rondel has been involved in the New Zealand fashion industry for as long as she can remember and, if her luscious cakes, cookies and puddings could strut down the cat walk, they would. With panache.

Gathering together her 50 favourite recipes, Jordan believes that The Caker will appeal to any keen baker, who likes to experiment, but whose top priority is always to create simple, nutritious and appealing cakes. The fashion element is expressed in Jordan’s preference for pastel colours, soft cloud-like frostings and edgy cake decorations.

Using top quality ingredients and those that are in season are all part of Jordan’s aesthetic and her repertoire of recipes extends from the dainty – Earl Grey Friands with Rose Water Glaze and Orange Sablé Cookies – to the robust – Dark Chocolate, Pear and Pistachio Cake with Ganache and Double-Layer Raspberry White Chocolate Cake.

Including Jordan’s top baking tips and 15 recipes for icings, glazes, toppings, syrups and fillings, the style aesthetic behind The Caker makes it  a useful addition to the  baking book market.

Jordan Rondel was born in Auckland in 1989, and has French and Irish ancestry. She was educated at the University of Auckland, where she completed a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing and International Business. After looking for work in the advertising industry, Jordan decided to set up her own business and, in 2010 her cake making and delivery business, ‘The Caker’, was born, and became an overnight success.

The Caker

Jordan Rondel

RRP: $36.99

Random House NZ


Natalie Oldfield's love affair with food began with baking.........

Natalie Oldfield opened her food store, Dulcie May Kitchen, in Mt Eden in 2009 as a tribute to her grandmother, Dulcie May Booker.  In the year of its opening, Dulcie May Kitchen won Best Cake Shop in Metro magazine and in 2010 was voted one of the Top 50 Cafés.

Gran’s Sweet Pantry is a collection of the best recipes from Dulcie May, beautifully reproduced and laden with gorgeous images. It is split into practical sections: scones and muffins, biscuits and sweet treats, cakes and loaves, slices, desserts and preserves.

Natalie’s debut cookbook, Gran’s Kitchen, sold more than 15,000 copies in New Zealand alone, won the Gourmand Book Award in Europe for best local cuisine in New Zealand and is published in Australia and Great Britain.  Her follow-up title, Gran’s Family Table, also won a Gourmand Cookbook Award in 2011

Gran's Sweet Pantry

Natalie Oldfield

Harper Collins - Hardback - $44.99

Love Bake Nourish by London-based NZ'er Amber Rose is an inspiring collection of tempting cakes, tarts, pies, meringues,small bakes, compotes and herbal teas.

Kyle Books - Hardback - $45

Distributed in NZ by New Holland Publishers


The Hummingbird Bakery CAKE DAYS
Collins - Hardcover - $54.99

Coincidentally I was in the Primrose Hill branch of this bakery in London three weeks ago buying caramelised fruit and nut tarts which are featured in the book, and I might add they were gorgeous. 
They are rated as Britain's favourite bakery and that doesn't surprise me at all having been in the shop and now having browsed through this beautiful book which contains over 100 inspirational recipes from cupcakes and layer cakes, to muffins and cookies, whoopie pies and cheese cakes.
Every day could be a cake day with this book!

And here is a delicious recipe for you to try from The Caker:

Moist Honey and Earl Grey Tea Cake

This cake has a divine flavour and is incredibly moist. I like to scatter a few dried lavender petals on top to bring out the floral notes of the tea.

Ingredients

200g plain flour

120g ground almonds

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground cloves

½ tsp ground allspice

150g butter, melted

1 cup honey

150g brown sugar

2 large organic eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

 ²/³ cup warm strong Earl Grey tea

To top with

200ml thickened cream for in between the layers and on top

liquid honey

dried lavender petals for garnish

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan-bake. Grease and line two 22cm diameter cake tins.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and allspice.

Add the butter, honey, sugar, eggs, vanilla and tea. Stop your electric mixer once all the ingredients are combined; do not over-mix.

Evenly divide the batter between the tins.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until golden in colour, springy to the touch, and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.

Once fully cooled, spread a layer of cream onto one cake and then place the other, flipped upside down, on top to form a sandwich. Then spread another layer of cream on the top.

Drizzle the cake with the liquid honey and sprinkle on some dried lavender petals.

Because there is fresh cream on this cake, it is best to store it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days