baking – cake

Black Forest Chiffon Cake *

Black Forest Chiffon

Hello!

Look at my pretty cake – isn’t it beautiful?

This was the cake I baked for Christmas lunch: a black forest chiffon cake (black forest in the loosest sense of the word). The cake itself was a chocolate chiffon (but of course), cut into two layers, and then filled with whipped cream and jarred cherries. The outside was coated with more whipped cream.

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Fairy vomit chiffon cake

Happy birthday sprinkles cake

Well hello. Happy 2015!

That was a bit of an unintended hiatus. December is always a very full month – for everyone, I’m sure – along with Christmas and New Years, it’s also my birthday month.

This year some friends came around for birthday waffles, and naturally there had to be cake. And since this is me, it had to be some form of chiffon cake. I’d seen this sprinkles cake on Serious Eats the previous month and it stuck in my mind, because what says HAPPY BIRTHDAY more than hundreds of coloured sprinkles?

Nothing, I tell you. Nothing.

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Black sesame chiffon cake

Black sesame chiffon

Hello, the chiffons are back! Did you miss them? (Y/Y.)

Well, I did even if no one else did. 🙂

After quite a long break, I got back into chiffons with a black sesame version.

Black sesame seeds are the unhulled seeds of the more common white sesame seeds, and are more fragrant and flavoursome. They’re mostly used in East Asian cuisine eg sweet black sesame soup, which is one of my favourite things.

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Matcha chiffon cake

Green tea chiffon

Hello. Another day, another chiffon post.

Yes, I’m not bored of them yet. And I hope you’re not either because I have many many MANY more chiffon ideas in my head. And they want to be made and eaten and loved.

Last weekend I made this cake to take to lunch that Michelle organised. My friends are all matcha lovers so I knew they would enjoy this triple version: a matcha chiffon cake filled with a matcha and white chocolate ganache and covered with a matcha cream.

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Lamington Chiffon Cake

Lamington Chiffon Cake

EVERYBODY.

I have an announcement to make.

I’m closing ‘off the spork’ and rebranding it to ‘chiffon the spork’.

That’s right. It’s going to be all chiffon all the time. I’m starting with this blog and then next – I’m going worldwide. Chiffons everywhere as far as the eye can see!

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Lime chiffon cake with lime curd and coconut custard *

Lime chiffon cake

It was Alastair’s birthday yesterday, and as per tradition, there was birthday lasagne.

Naturally, it’s not a real birthday unless there’s cake, so I asked him what he wanted.

“Chocolate?”

“What kind of chocolate? Chiffon? Mudcake? Flourless?”

“Ahh… how about chocolate beetroot?”

During the conversation, I agreed to chocolate beetroot and then later… totally disregarded his request. However, in my defense – actually, I have no defense. I just wanted to bake another chiffon cake. I don’t know why I bothered asking for his opinion.

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Pear and maple syrup cake

Pear and maple syrup cake

Is there anyone out there who actually loves pears?

I always think of them as a very boring fruit. There’s a tiny window of ripeness where I think they’re okay, but they go soft and mushy so quickly.

I’ve been ordering fruit and veg boxes occasionally, and apart from the dreaded parsley (a bunch showed up in my last box) I’ve also been receiving pears.

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