Annie Rigg - Great British Bake Off: Childrens Party Cakes & Bakes

www.hodder.co.uk

First published in Great Britain in 2016 by Hodder & Stoughton
An Hachette UK company

Copyright Love Productions Limited 2016

Additional recipes: copyright Chetna Makan 2016.

Photography & Design Copyright Hodder & Stoughton Ltd 2016

Additional photography copyright David Loftus .

The right of Annie Rigg to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

BBC and the BBC logo are trademarks of the British Broadcasting Corporation and are used under licence. BBC logo BBC 1996.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 473 61565 6

Editorial Director: Nicky Ross
Editor: Sarah Hammond
Project Editor: Caroline McArthur
Designer: Louise Leffler
Photographer: Debby Lewis-Harrison
Food Stylist: Annie Rigg
Props Stylist: Jennifer Haslam
Illustrator: Kuo Kang Chen

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A birthday is surely one of, if not THE most important day in any childs year. Quite aside from the serious business of being one year older, theres the party to consider and the cake and treats to dream about. If youve been inspired by The Great British Bake Off and want to try your hand at some impressive bakes then this is the book to teach you how to pull off a showstopping birthday party using simple tips and techniques.

The cake is the centrepiece of most childrens parties and one that your child will take great pleasure in choosing themselves, leaving you the simple task of baking it! In this book youll find over 30 large birthday cakes for boys and girls, ranging in skill from the Space Rocket on ) in the Simple Cakes chapter, where youll find delicious sponge recipes that require a little less decorative skill.

Its party time and the bakes in this book are designed with fun in mind and for the home baker. The equipment required is widely available and you wont need expensive tins that will only be used once. A stand mixer will make light work of cake mixes and buttercreams, but is not essential; a hand-held electric whisk is a good second option and good old-fashioned muscle power with a mixing bowl and wooden spoon will do almost as well.

But a party is not just about the showstopping big cake. There are small cakes and biscuits to consider and savoury snacks to keep everyone happy. Cupcakes are a perennial favourite for children of all ages and can be baked in a variety of sizes to suit hands small and large. Everyone will enjoy Jam Tarts ().

Savoury food for parties is all about small bites with maximum flavour and nibbles that can be eaten in the hand especially when there are important games to be played and prizes to be won! Herby Sausage Rolls ()?

Baking for a childs party is the perfect opportunity for really letting loose with the piping bags and edible sprinkles theres no such thing as too much in this instance. Fantastic cake decorations are now available in most supermarkets and the selection online is amazing, with sprinkles in shapes and colours to suit every theme and budget.

Where possible, the bakes in this book are decorated with edible goodies such as shortbread biscuits iced to look like sailboats, flowers and puppy dogs. Children will love to help with the decorations where they can, whether its making chocolate jazzies for a Secret Centre Cake () or scattering sprinkles liberally over just about anything.

Some Bake Off alumni have also contributed their favourite childrens party recipes. Youll find large cakes from Holly Bell ().

Baking for a childrens party can be fun and creative, but at the same time daunting. Read the recipes ahead to make sure you dont need to start any of the elements, such as sugarpaste decorations, a day or two ahead (see the Snowman, for example, on ). And remember that most of the sponges for the big cakes can be made one or two days before, or even further ahead and frozen, wrapped in cling film, for up to a month.

The recipes in this book use the simplest ingredients to create the most flavour, but follow these basic rules to ensure your bakes are at their best when they come out of the oven. See for more on ingredients for decorating your cakes.

EGGS

All the recipes in this book use large free-range eggs at room temperature. If you try to add fridge-cold eggs to a light and airy creamed butter-and-sugar mixture you will find that the mixture might at best take longer to combine or, at worst, curdle. If you forget to take eggs out of the fridge in time, simply leave them in a bowl of lukewarm water for 10 minutes to warm up.

BUTTER AND DAIRY

Unless otherwise stated always, always use unsalted butter for baking. Salted butter varies in flavour enormously and will greatly affect the taste of your cakes and bakes and not necessarily for the better.

Most of the recipes in this book call for butter that has been softened at room temperature cakes and buttercream almost always require softened butter. Most pastry and some biscuit recipes will call for the butter to be chilled.

The same applies to other dairy products, such as milk or soured cream, which should be added to mixtures at room temperature unless stated otherwise.

It is possible to make almost all of the cakes and bakes in this book with standard kitchen and baking equipment. Most of the cake tins used are easy to find in good kitchen shops and even some larger supermarkets.

CAKE TINS AND BAKING SHEETS

For best results in baking it is important to use good-quality, solid tins and baking sheets as they are unlikely to buckle and become misshapen in the oven. Theyll conduct heat evenly, which will ensure an even rise and bake. Look out for decorative Bundt or kugelhopf tins the better the tin, the better the result with this type and if they are non-stick then so much the better.

PIPING BAGS AND NOZZLES

Rolls of plastic disposable piping bags are indispensable. They come in a variety of sizes and are more hygienic and easier to use than traditional washable bags. The ends can be snipped to very fine points for writing or piping outlines and they fit almost all piping nozzles.

Piping nozzles are available in sets or can be bought individually, allowing you to tailor your equipment to your needs and skills. For best results, look out for nozzles made from stainless steel.

MEASURING SPOONS

The importance of measuring spoons for baking cannot be stressed enough. All the recipes in this book have been written and tested using measuring spoons. Teaspoons for stirring tea and coffee come in all shapes and sizes and using them for baking will give inconsistent results. Measuring spoons come in sets of 5 or 6, some with spoons as small as teaspoon and going up to 1 tablespoons.