Kay Sexton 
Some cakes seem too heavy for summer eating but these two cupcake recipes are deliciously light and summery. Lemon Surprise Cakes The surprise is the lemon curd concealed in the heart of the cake. It’s a good idea to use waxed Cupcake cases for this recipe as the lemon curd …
There’s a delicate balancing act to be achieved when making gluten-free cupcakes – the cakes have to rise but remain moist. Because gluten-free flour substitutes lack the gluten bonds that give elasticity to Wheat Based Flours, they contain more raising agents such as baking powder, which give lift to the …
Everybody has cake failures, but what separates the master baker from the average cook is the way that you deal with them. Burnt cake is almost impossible to rescue: because the burnt flavour tends to go right through the cake, even if the crumb itself isn’t burnt, but everything else …
Chocolate truffle cupcakes are a very grown-up treat, ideal to end a dinner party or for a special romantic meal for two. Be aware that this recipe contains alcohol which might make it something you don’t want to share with your little ones! Also, because it makes a dozen cupcakes, …
Ice cream cakes are great fun to make and delicious to eat. Here are two recipes: a simple treat that is ideal for a children’s summer party and a much more grown up version of the ice cream cake, which is the perfect ending to an August Dinner Party. Simple …
Croquembouche is a French patisserie created by Marie-Antoine Careme. Careme was one of 25 children and his poverty-stricken family abandoned him in Paris to make his own way in life. Despite his underprivileged background, he would end up cooking for Napoleon and the Czar of Russia. Careme was famous for …
Sometimes it seems like the cake world has gone through a wormhole into another universe. What happened to the days when wedding cakes were round or square, two or three tier and white or pastel? When did birthday cakes stop being simple butter-cream supports for candles and become sorting hats, …
Sometimes we see a cake so fragile and luminescent as to seem almost impossible to eat. Airy sugar creations leap away from the cake layers, shining as if dew has just fallen on them from the sky. This gleaming, apparently unsupported, edifice of decoration is achieved using confectioner’s varnish, which …
Edible gold leaf has a long and decadent history – it’s not known which was the earliest culture to indulge in eating gold, but as soon as any society learned to beat gold thinly enough to make gold leaf, you can probably bet that they ate food coated with a …
Sometimes the simplest things can have the greatest effect and spun sugar is just such a technique. The recipe is simple but the appearance of well-constructed spun sugar forms is magical and gravity-defying. Spun Sugar Tips and Hints There’s nothing easier than making the syrup for spun sugar work, but …
