Tiffin/Refridgerator Cake

 

Tiffin or Refridgerator Cake, whatever you want to call it, is one of those things that you can make quickly without too much hassle and without worrying about weighing everything perfectly.  All you need to do is chuck a load of things into some melted chocolate, butter and golden syrup and you're nearly done. 

This ease and no fuss style is represented by my Mums recipe for Tiffin, well if you can call it a recipe that is.  It's a small scrap of paper on which is written "biscuits, choc, golden syrup, sultana's, cherries, 2oz marg".  Thats it.  Only one actual measurement, no step by step instructions, no faffing about.  Just simple and straight to the point.

So when I decided to whip some up a few days ago, I combined this list with a recipe I found in Cupcakes, Muffins & More by Love Food.  My Mum got me this recipe book a few months ago and I've not got round to using it much yet.  The first thing I made from it was some melt in the middle chocolate cupcakes which you serve warm and they were very successful, apart from the fact that my camera broke whilst taking photo's of them!

When I made these I slightly underestimated how much chocolate I needed as I didn't really have a lot in the house, so I just went ahead anyway.  It wasn't a disaster but I did end up with one half of the tray not having any chocolate topping!  I also had a minor problem when I was melting some chocolate, I did it the way you are supposed to i.e. in a bowl over a pan of gently simmering water.  Yet it did not turn out, I seem to be incapable of melting chocolate this way.  Which is why I tend to just stick the bowl in the microwave for 10 second bursts until its all melted! 

Mishaps aside, it turned out ok in the end, it even looked pretty good once I cut it all up.

Tiffin/Refridgerator Cake - Adapted from a few different recipes

75g margarine

3 tsbp golden syrup

350g chocolate, roughly chopped (I used a mix of milk and dark)

175g digestive biscuits, roughly broken

70g glace cherries

80g raisins

For the Topping:

35g margarine

250g milk chocolate

Decoration (optional):

50g white chocolate, melted

1.  Grease a cake tin of your choice, deep or shallow depending on how you thick you want your cake.  I used a tin that was about 27x18cm.

2.  Put the chocolate, margarine and golden syrup in a small pan and heat gently until melted. 

3.  Bash up the biscuits and add to the chocolate mix, along with the cherries and raisins.  Stir until combined.

4.  Pour into the tin and roughly level the surface.  Chill in the fridge for about an hour.

5.  Melt the milk chocolate and butter, then pour over the chilled mix.  Put back into the fridge until set.

6.  Melt the melt chocolate and roughly flick over the top of the cake with a spoon.  Put back in the fridge and let it set.

Coconut Cherry Cupcakes

Mmm cherries and chocolate, my 2 favorite things to find in a cake!

I'm such a bad blogger at the moment, sorry!  I had a busy week or so sorting out an exciting new work/business thing (sadly not food related), and then I was ill yet again.  I know, I know, thats all I've said lately and I promise it won't be said at all in my next post! 

So, moving on to the food.  I've made a few new recipes lately, all of which I promise to upload over the next week or two.  The first of which was these coconut cherry cupcakes with added chocolate chunks, complete with milk chocolate ganache and white chocolate decorations.  Why I've never made chocolate ganache before I have no idea but it is amazing, I am converted.  Then I made iced marshmallow coconut cookies, which were a bit of a disaster looks wise but tasted great.  Then a few days ago I finally got round to making brownies, from a recipe I found on the BBCs website which had great reviews, and it definatly lived up to its hype. 

Finally today I've made more lemon cupcakes, I had to make sure my finished recipe was still good and not just a first time fluke.  I scooped out the middle and added a dollop of lemon curd and then topped with lemon buttercream and decorated with lemon zest.  Well if you're going to go lemon then you might as well use as much as possible!

As well as it being my first time making a ganache, it was also the first time I've ever piped chocolate.  I've kind of avoided it before, thinking it would be too fiddly and messy, that the chocolate would cool and harden before I'd even done anything.  My hands can also go quite shakey when I'm trying to do anything that requires a steady hand!  But it was surprisingly easy and the chocolate stayed melted in the bag.  I'll be the first to admit that the decorations aren't anything special but I'm pretty pleased for my first try.

Coconut Cherry Cupcakes from The Complete Book of Cupcakes, Cheesecakes and Cookies

For the cake:

125g butter, softened

1/2 tsp coconut essence

150g caster sugar

2 eggs

80ml milk

40g desiccated coconut

70g glace cherries, roughly chopped

50g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
150g self raising flour
35g plain flour

For the ganache:
60ml cream
100g milk chocolate, roughly chopped

For the decorations:
150g white chocolate buttons
Desiccated coconut to sprinkle

1. Preheat your oven to 180c (160c fan forced) and line a muffin pan with paper cases.  I got 12 cupcakes out of this recipe using muffin size cases.
2.  Beat butter, essence, sugar and eggs in a small bowl until combined.
3.  Stir in the milk, coconut, cherries and chocolate.  Then stir in the sifted flours.
4.  Divide amongst cases, smoothing the surface of each.  Bake for about 25 minutes or until a cocktail stick inserted into the cake comes out clean (bar any melted chocolate).
5.  Make the ganache.  Bring the cream to the boil in a small pan, then pour oven the chopped chocolate in a small bowl.  Stir until smooth.  Cover the bowl and allow to stand at room temperature until it is of a spreadable consistency.
6.  Melt the white chocolate (either in the microwave at 10 second bursts, or in a bowl over a pan of simmering water) and spoon into a piping bag.
7.  Pipe different sized hearts (or any other shape you want) onto a tray covered with a sheet of baking paper.  Pop the tray into the fridge until the chocolate has set.
8.  Spread each cupcake with ganache and decorate with your chocolate hearts, sprinkle with a little coconut.

Coconut Cherry Cupcakes



Chocolate Coconut Slices

I have grown up eating these Chocolate Coconut slices, its one of the things I can always remember my Mum baking. The recipe comes from my Grandma (my Mum's Mum) who I sadly never got to meet but judging by the recipe book of hers that this came out of she knew how to make some amazing things.

Chocolate Coconut Slices

8oz coconut
6oz sugar
2 eggs (well beaten)
4oz margarine
4oz chopped cherries
5 – 8oz cooking chocolate

1. Line a swiss roll tin with greaseproof paper
2. Melt chocolate and pour into tin, leave to set (use more chocolate if you want a thicker layer)
3. Beat margarine, coconut, sugar and eggs until combined
4. Stir in cherries
5. Spread mix over chocolate
6. Bake in moderate oven, Gas mark 3/ 160c until set and golden brown. This takes roughly 30 minutes depending on the oven

7. When cool cut into slices