7 Recipes of Heaven

My little project this weekend was to look for new recipes for cakes, in flavours you wouldn't think of straight away. I love reading through bakery websites and menus as they describe their cake flavours, but what I noticed was that mostly they changed their buttercream flavours and kept their cakes traditional. I wanted to try getting those cool flavour combos in the cake, so I headed to Google and amassed a few recipes to try.

The first one I tried was a green tea cake. I love drinking green tea, and I really wanted to try to make a cake to reflect that, plus I got to learn about matcha.... who knew? (I also know now that I feel really out of place in a health food store....) This cake was nice because it was a flavour you wouldn't necessarily be able to place straight away. It also wasn't overly sweet, but more fragrant. Imagine, sipping green tea, sweetened with honey.

*****

Second cake was an Earl Grey tea infused cake. Again, I got a bee in my bonnet about this one and just had to try it. I loved how it came out. Delicate, yet distinctive. I didn't feel as if I was just eating tea, I felt like I was having a lightly-flavoured orange cake. I've lived in England for 8 years over my life and have acquired a taste for tea. Now I can eat it!

*****

Third, to round out the drinks-theme I made a coffee-flavour cake. Pleasingly, it wasn't a total moka flavour but a deep rich, almost-chocolate cake. Num.... This one was wonderfully moist, and would well even with a cream cheese icing, or just on it's own!

*****

Next, we have Patrick's favourite, the blueberry cake. I really wanted a fruit-flavoured cake both for whole cakes but also for cake pops. To me, blueberry muffins are such a treat, their mix of vanilla and sweet blueberries and always very pleasing so the idea of a big cake with those flavours was appealing. And, as Patrick pointed out it was just like a big muffin. Wouldn't it be fun to do a "Pie-Flavoured" cake pop range....

*****

Next, my Mother's favourite, the chocolate cake with a salted caramel sauce. This sauce recipe comes from the Goddess herself, Nigella. One is always looking for the perfect chocolate cake recipe. This one was lovely and rich, without verging on erzats. The addition of the caramel sauce was just something to have on hand to tszuj up your typical chocolate cake.

*****

A classic as always, red velvet. I lost the last recipe I used, so had to go a-hunting for another one. I must be totally honest and admit that I am somewhat confused by the Red Velvet concept. I like the flavour, it's sweet with a little tartness owing to the buttermilk and vinegar, but it neither chocolate nor vanilla, and yet at the same time it's both.... Then Paula Deen went and confused me even more by  talking about her Blue Velvet cake?! (Mmmm....edible Smurfs....) Nonetheless, I think Red Velvets great for St. Valentine's Day, or to add colour to your sweet table, and especially great for weddings!

*****

And finally I made a pineapple cake. I simply used the blueberry cake recipe, and just swapped the fruit from blueberries to pineapple. Next time I might try using pears instead just to see how that might turn out.

 This cake was a means to and end actually. I have in my head an idea for a pina colada type cake pop, with this cake in the middle with coconut on the outside, I think it will be great! That would be a great party; Edible cocktails on a stick!

 *****

 All together... any volunteers to help us eat SEVEN cakes?! (I do have a wedding dress to fit into after all!!)