Recipe 34, 35, 36 - Friendship Cake

It gets to a stage where simple cookies and slices from the supermarket just does not cut it when you want to something special for your friends. On Friday I was invited over to a friends place, who always puts on a spread for me and others when we are over. I feel bad when I show up there empty handed all the time and so decided on Thursday night that I would bring something to her instead (Also helps when I am a few recipes behind in the blog as well!).

So here is Recipe 34, 35 and 36. Friendship Cake, Mock cream and White icing. My friendship cake is based very loosely off the lemon madiera cake - this is my own recipe!
(I deem this my "Friendship cake" as I had no idea how this would turn out and only a friend would eat it- regardless of how bad it was. But in truth it came out very well!)

Friendship Cake

Friendship Cake 1st Stage - cooked!

200g butter softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp lemon rind
2 tsp lemon juice
4 eggs
1 3/4 cup flour
2 tsp Baking powder


METHOD

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in lemon rind.
2. In a separate bowl beat eggs until thick 
3. Sift flour and baking powder together
4. Add the flour mixture and egg mixture into the creamed mixture alternately. Just as you are about to add the final amount of egg, also add the lemon juice.
5. Stir to mix.
6. Spoon the mixture into a greased lined 20 cm square cake tin. Bake at 180c for 40 minutes or until the cake springs back when lightly touched (sometimes depending on the oven this may take a bit longer - mine takes closer to 50 minutes)
7. Take out of oven and leave in its tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

After the cake has cooled for a couple of hours, slice into two horizontally and add the mock cream

Mock Cream

100g butter, softened
1 cup icing sugar
1 tbsp milk
1/4 tsp vanilla essence (or 1 tsp grated lemon rind)

METHOD

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 
2. Add milk and vanilla (or lemon rind)
3. With an electric beater beat until thick and pale like cream (this took close to 10 minutes to get the right thickness)

After the mock cream has been made, spread evenly over the bottom half of the cake and with care, place the top back on the cake. It is now ready to have the final touches!

White Icing

2 cups icing sugar
1/4 tsp butter, softened
2 tbsp water (approx)
1/4 tsp vanilla essence

METHOD

1. Sift icing sugar into a bowl. Add butter.
2. Add sufficient water to mix into a spreadable consistency. Flavour with vanilla essence.

This icing comes out white, so you can add any food colouring to it to get a pretty colour. I used yellow for my cake. This recipe for icing is so basic you can just replace the vanialla essence and add something else to get different flavours. e.g. cocoa for chocolate icing, instant coffee (dissolved in the water) to get coffee flavour, orange rind, the list goes on.

Finally to add to the look of the cake, I used marshmallows and yellow M&M's to creat flowers. By cutting one marshmallow horizontally 4 times (once in half and then those halves in half again) you get beautiful petal shapes. Then add a yellow M&M in the middle and Voila! You get the first and completed image :)