Stokes Sauces: Coffee and cake

Wednesday 11 April 2018

Coffee and cake - it's time to bake

UK Coffee Week 2018

There's nothing more delightful than a cup of coffee and a slice of cake on a Sunday afternoon, particularly if you have baked the cake yourself.

Coffee is on the calender this month with UK Coffee Week running between 16th and 22nd April. This is a nationwide celebration of coffee that unites the industry with its customers to raise valuable funds for the communities that grow our coffee.

All funds raised during this week go directly to Project Waterfall, an initiative established to bring clean water and sanitation to coffee growing communities around the world.

If you want to pop out for a coffee and support this great cause, click here for a list of participating coffee shops near you.

Let's Bake

Last week we enjoyed the humble scone and the promise of more baking in our new series this week.

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/category/jams-and-marmalades

Triple layer sponge

You'll need:

225 g of caster sugar
225 g of unsalted butter, softened
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
225 g of self-raising flour
1/2 tsp of baking powder
2 tbsp of whole milk

Here's how:

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 6. Grease and line three 18cm loose-bottomed sandwich cake tins. Beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs, bit by bit, beating well after each addition and adding a little flour if it starts to curdle. Now add the flour, baking powder and milk and beat to combine them.

Divide the mixture evenly and smoothly between the tins and bake for 20 minutes until golden and the cake springs back when lightly pressed with a finger. Turn them out on to a cooling rack and leave to cool completely.

Now assemble your cake with lashings of Stokes Extra Jam between each layer and a dusting of icing sugar to finish.

Lemon Brandy Snaps

You'll need:

50 g of dark brown sugar
50 g of golden syrup
50 g of butter
50 g of plain flour (plus extra to dust)
1 tsp of ground ginger
150 g of Stokes Lemon Curd
100 ml of double cream.

Here's how:

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 6 and line 2 baking trays with baking parchment. Melt the sugar, syrup and butter in a pan and remove it from the heat when the sugar has dissolved. Add the flour and ginger and beat the mixture to a thick paste.

Roll the paste into a ball, cling film it and chill it for 30 minutes or so. Divide the paste and roll to create 6 round disks roughly 2mm thick and bake for 7 minutes until crispy golden brown.