Calling all Mary Berry fans!

Hello everyone!

Well i have a exciting blog post for you all.....the lovely people over at the BBC good food bakes and cakes show are giving you the chance to win an afternoon tea and a meet and greet with Mary Berry at the good food show ( for more information on the show and to purchase tickets visit www.bbcgoodfoodbakesandcakesshow.com ) as if that is not enough the lucky winner will also win a Kenwood stand mixer and a signed Mary Berry cookbook! 

To take part in this fabulous competition show them what your made of! Create them a bake or a cake.....there will be 1 adult and 1 junior winner from each category! For the bake category bake them anything that is not a cake...show off you bread skills, bake some cookies make a pie, you name it! But remember is has to taste as good as it looks! And then there is the cake category, they want you to make a spooky halloween cake, think witches, ghosts, bats! Get creative and scary it can be anything from cupcakes to a spooky wedding cake! 

Your fabulous bakes will be judged by the award winning master patissier and baking star, Eric Lanlard. 

Your spine chilling halloween cakes will be judged by the famous British baker, cook and TV personality John Whaite.

Important bits!

All competition pieces must be the work of the individual who has entered.

• The closing date for all entries is midnight Friday 26 September
• Shortlisted entries will be informed by Friday 3 October
• All shortlisted entries must be brought to the Show between 8:30am and 10:30am on Saturday 25 October 2014 ready for display and judging. Please note any arrivals after 10:30am will not be judged. The Show opens at 9:30am so if you arrive before this time you must leave the show once your entry is delivered and return at 9:30am.
• All shortlisted entries in the Bakes Category will receive a complimentary ticket to the show including a seat in the Eric Lanlard Theatre session at 11:00am. We regret that we cannot refund any tickets already purchased.
• All shortlisted entries in the Cakes Category will receive a complimentary ticket to the show including a seat in the John Whaite Theatre session at 2:00pm. We regret that we cannot refund any tickets already purchased.
• Should the entrant want to purchase additional seats for family, friends etc, we can reserve seats together in the session to be collected and paid for on arrival.  
• Participants must agree to photographs being taken of the entries, both by organisers and the public. Should the work be reproduced, the organisers will not be liable.
• River Street Events are not responsible for any loss / damage of competition entries
• Winners will be announced at 3pm on Saturday 25 October at the BBC Good Food Bakes & Cakes Show.
• Afternoon Tea will take place at 5pm on Saturday 25 October. All entrants must be available at this time should they win.  The Meet & Greet will take place during the Afternoon Tea.
• A junior entry is anyone under the age of 16.
• No professionals can enter the adult category. We consider professional as someone who has been professionally trained and runs a business. Any professionals wanting to showcase their work can apply for a display space on the Cake Parade. If you are unsure whether we class you as professional please ask.
• There is no height restriction for entries, however they must fit on a 16” x 16” board.
• The Bakes category is a taste and visual category therefore all entries must be suitable for tasting.
• The Cakes category - The entry must be completely edible, however dowels and cake boards can be used to support a tiered cake.
• The Cakes category - All decorations must be edible, however wire and floral tape will be allowed should you be using sugar flowers.
• We regret that we will be unable to return any entries, however if you wish to collect your Bake or Cake at the close of the event, we will arrange access for your to do so at 5pm on Monday 27th October.

How exciting is this competition? Head on over to the BBC Good food bakes and cakes show website for more information http://www.bbcgoodfoodbakesandcakesshow.com/Content/Show-Competition/9_26/

Follow them on twitter:- @GFBakesandcakes

Follow me on twitter:- @BeautyandBakes

Follow me on bloglovin:- www.bloglovin.com/beautybakesandcakes 

Hope you are all as excited for the show as I am.....also the Great British Bake off starts again on 6th August who's counting down the days? I know i am :)

Xxx

10 great baking tips

Hello lovelies,

A good tip (or 10) makes such a difference in the kitchen....so i thought i would share with you 10 tips that i always use! 

1) I find it so annoying when you get one of those spare of the moment urges to bake, but of course you haven't prepared....your butter is chilling in the fridge and ya'll know to make cakes we need room temperate butter! But you don't want to wait a couple of hours....No problem! Take out your desired amount of butter, pop it in a microwaveable dish and put it in the microwave for a few seconds at a time until its soft to touch but not melted! Keep your eggs in the fridge too....pop them in a cup of warm water for a minute or so!

2) always getting odd bits of fluff stuck to your fondant...this has nothing to do with uncleanliness whenever we wash our surfaces, small fibres get left behind which end up in our fondant! Take a small ball of fondant and roll it around your work surface, and your hands especially after you have washed and dried them! All the bits of fluff off the hand towel etc will stick to the ball of fondant and not your finished icing! (Obviously throw the ball of fondant away after use;)) 

3) If your ever using a small amount of fruit or chocolate chips etc in your cakes, cover them in a teaspoon of the required flour to stop them all sinking to the bottom of the cake

4) When making a chocolate cake instead of using parchament paper! Grease the tins with butter and spinkle some cocoa powder around the whole tin, tap of any excess! Not only does it stop the cakes sticking it gives an extra rich flavour! 

5) When making a cake always cream the butter and sugar very well for about 5 minutes and when it comes to adding the flour fold it in gently! Never over mix once the flour is in the batter! Following this will produce lovely light and fluffy cakes!

6) Always sift your icing sugar and cocoa powder they tend to clump up a lot!

7) When making a chocolate cake always add a teaspoon of vanilla extract it helps amplify the chocolate taste!

8) Use a clean spirit level (workmans tool) to check if your cakes are level!

9) When covering a cake in ganache or buttercream! Dip your spatular in hot water shake off excess water and go around your cake with it! This will give a smooth glossy finish! 

10) Don't have a fondant smoother (you should get one) take a small ball of fondant and use that to smooth over your cake! 

Hope you all enjoyed these tips! Have you got any? Leave them in the comments below!

Happy baking 

Xxx

Follow me on twitter:- @BeautyandBakes

Follow me on bloglovin:- www.bloglovin.com/beautybakesandcakes

Who do you think has what it takes to become London's Best Bakery! VOTE HERE....READY, STEADY, GO! 

 http://www.bbcgoodfoodbakesandcakesshow.com/Content/Londons-Best-Bakery/7/

Lemon cupcakes

Hey guys hope your all ok?

Today im going to share with you my delicious recipe for lemon cupcakes! A vanilla cupcake, filled with lemon curd and topped with a creamy light topping! YUM!!:)  

Ingredients (makes 24)

For the cupcakes

12 oz butter 

12oz sugar

12oz self raising flour 

6 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1/4 cup of milk

For the lemon curd filling

See my blog post for lemon meringue pie and follow the instructions on how to make lemon curd or you could buy lemon curd and use that! 

http://beautybakesandcakes23.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/lemon-meringue-pie-recipe.html?m=1 

For the topping 

Any cream you like, I'm using dream topping as that is what my family like but you could use whipped cream, buttercream and so on! 

You will also need some extra lemon zest and some yellow and white fondant for decorating!

Method

For the cake

Preheat your oven to gas mark 4

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy 

Add in the eggs one at a time mixing well inbetween each addition (add 1tbsp of the flour in with each egg to stop the mix from curdling)

Add in the flour and mix only until combined

Add the milk again mixing only until combined 

Place into cupcake liners and bake for approximately 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean

Leave to cool completely

 

Once cool take out the centre of each cupcake using an apple skewer or a knife and fill each one with a teaspoon or two of lemon curd

Finally top with your desired cream, sprinkle on some lemon zest and finish with a yellow flower! Here is some pictures on how i did that!

Hope you all enjoyed this recipe!

Follow me on twitter:- @BeautyandBakes

Follow me on bloglovin:- www.bloglovin.com/beautybakesandcakes 

Who do you think has what it takes to be London's best bakery.... Head on over and vote for your favourite 

http://beautybakesandcakes23.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/londons-best-bakery.html?m=1 

Happy baking 

Xxx