Happy birthday to you...

Week 9. Bake 9.

This weeks bake is for my father, he is #*@ (old) and this Saturday was his birthday. Now, sadly as a grumpy man he does not like icing. I know, whats wrong with him? Anyway so as it was his birthday I made him his favorite cake, at the expense of the rest of us - it was a date cake - yuck.

Anyway, so this is a date/fruit cake but because it is a birthday cake and therefore is special. Therefore I decided to paint one of his pictures (he is a brilliant photographer) onto a piece of royal icing. He can take the icing off the cake, but I wanted to give the cake a bit of birthday magic. So here is the picture, I will try and paint (I am terrible at painting, I mean really bad...)
So here is my family's fruit/date cake recipe:

Ingredients:

• 400g of self raising flour
• 200g of butter (salted)
• 200g of caster sugar
• 300g of dried fruit e.g. dates, currants, raisins
• 4 eggs
• 4 tablespoons of milk
• Royal icing and food colouring for the picture

Method:

1. Grease a tin and pre-heat the oven to 180c.
2. Sieve the flour and add in the sugar and cubed butter into a large mixing bowl.
   
3. Rub the flour, sugar and butter together with your fingers until it becomes like breadcrumbs.
4. Now add the dried fruit, if using dates, chop them into half or thirds.
5. In a jug, beat the eggs and milk together, then add it to the mixing bowl.
6. Now combine all the ingredients together using a metal spoon.
   
7. Place the cake mixture into a lined tin (I used one with a pop-out bottom).
   
8. Cover the top of the tin with kitchen foil, so the top won't burn and cut out a small hole in it to allow steam out. (Otherwise you will have a steamed cake).
9. Cook for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Check to see if it is cooked by checking it using by sticking a metal skewer (or a knife) in to it and if it comes out clean, it is done.
   
10. Now cool on a wire cooling rack.
11. Meanwhile, cut out a circle of royal icing. Now draw out your design using a food colouring pen.
12. The thing to remember is that when you transfer it to the cake, try to make sure the surface is as level as possible otherwise it will crack.
    
13. Using food colouring as paints, paint your design. If you have too much colour on your brush, use kitchen towel to remove it or water it down with water.

Created with flickr slideshow.

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