Roast Beef Sandwich with Dunking Gravy

I know you don't need a recipe for a roast beef sandwich but I wanted to share this with you, think of it as more inspiration than recipe.  We had roast beef, not something I do often as it gives me the fear.  I'm always convinced I will mess it up and waste quite an expensive lump of meat.  On this occasion I'm happy to say it was a success and not only was it cooked perfectly but there was enough on the joint to get a further 2 meals out of it.

Who doesn't like a roast beef sandwich, especially when the meat is pink and thinly sliced .  I've pimped it slightly with loads of fried onions but what really makes it is the pot of gravy on the side for dunking.  Oh my word, this is comfort food at its most ultimate, please give it a go, you won't regret it.

Giant Jaffa Cake

Obviously The Bake Off is still inspiring people to get out there and bake.  Since the recent episode I've had so many people ask me about making jaffa cakes that I've decided the easiest thing to do is pop it on here.  So by popular demand here it is.  I've made  one large cake but you can of course halve the recipe and use a fairy cake tin to make 12 regular size cakes.  If you go for the individual cakes, make sure its the shallow fairy cake tins you use and not a deep muffin tin for the correct shape.

Line an 8" cake tin with cling film. Cut up an Orange Jelly (135g pack) and dissolve it in 300ml of boiling water add the zest of 1 Orange. Now pour the jelly into the cake tin and refrigerate till set.

Line a 9" cake tin with parchment and heat the oven to 180C / 160C fan.  If you have one, use a freestanding mixer to whip 2 Eggs and 50g Sugar.  Keep whisking for a good 5 minutes till they have tripled in size and are light and fluffy.

Very gently fold in 50g Self Raising Flour.  Using a metal spoon for this helps to prevent knocking any of the air out.

Pour into your prepared tin, level out and bake for 10-12 minutes.  It should soft and springy to touch when cooked.

Once the cake has cooled, use the clingfilm to lift the jelly from the tin and place the jelly on top of the cake.  Melt 200g Plain Chocolate in a double boiler.  Leave to cool slightly before pouring over the jelly to prevent the jelly from melting.  Cover the cake with the chocolate and run a knife over the top to make the jaffa cake marks 

Naked Wedding Cake

I was asked recently to make a wedding cake, this is something I have vowed never to do (too much pressure) but this one was different.  

I have wanted to do a naked wedding cake ever since I did a tiered cheese wedding cake, they are quite similar apart from the savoury and sweet thing.  it's all about the construction.  

Light Victoria Sponge, vanilla flecked buttercream and oozing sticky jam. I was overwhelmingly proud of the results.  What d'you reckon?