Sheffield Underground Cake Club channelled their inner caterpillar cake design expertise. Here are our cakes.
Anne made an insect themed Honey and Parsnip Cake … bees being the link. Very tasty, eggs, oil, grated parsnips, honey & sugar with a cream cheese and honey topping. A BBC Good food recipe.
Carolynn made a Gingerbread Apricot Caterpillar cake. A Sainsburys magazine recipe, amended to include, a ginger swiss roll with crystallised ginger and ginger sponge. The filling was Apricot jam, lots of tasty pieces, plus a coating & filling of lemon buttercream. She made the stripes from 100’s and 1000’s but advised against it as they got everywhere !!
Clare made a Cecil Caterpillar, from a Pinterest recipe. Chocolate ganache with smarties buttons for the spots. Clare recommends using a pringles lid to set the caterpillar face, and add smarties.
Sian made a hot choc and cinnamon spice cake with an initial mix of cocoa, sugar in boiling water, the adding creamed butter, sugar etc. The icing is chocolate buttercream with a piped spiders web & spiders . Yummy.
Karen made Coco the dairy free caterpillar. A chocolate swiss roll made with eggs, castor sugar and cocoa. The filling was raspberry conserve, and should have been Elmlea Plant … but despite the packaging note…it didn’t whip so had to be poured on. The face was fondant icing mixed with raspberry conserve, plus chocolate hazelnut features, and vegan chocolate drizzled on the body.
June meeting 26th June …theme to follow
July meeting 17th July ( before school hols )
Please tell people about our group. All welcome we are friendly & lots of people pop in by themselves . If you want to suggest a venue or offer your place as a venue…please let me know !!
After at least 6 months of Zoom Underground cake club, where we couldnt taste other peoples cake, we finally were able to meet up, less than 6 socially distanced bakers , in Stannington Park to celebrate !! It was a beutiful sunny day. Clare brought a picnic table to display our cakes. We brought flasks with lashings of tea plus we had takeouts from Kafe Stannington Park. I have a lovely iced latte , as it was hot outdoors . Our theme was treats and lusciousness. It was so great to meet up in person after lockdown and try our cakes, all socially distanced. We cut our cakes and everyone helped themselves, with their own cake slices, socially distanced.
Karen made a Kumquat Upside Down cake with Kumquats , which a mini bitter citrus fruits . You stew the fruits in slices with sugar to make a fruit layer to put in the base of the cake tin. Don’t use a springform tin or the syrup can leak through the base as it cooks.
Sian made a delicious Raspberry Cream Chocolate cake, with fresh raspberries and cream topping with grated chocolate. It was lush.
Clare made a Coconut Dream cake , with dried coconut slices from Lembas. Coconut sugar, milk, eggs and coconut cream. Another delicious cake .
We had a fab time and chatted away for over 2 hours in the fresh air. Its amazing to be able to meet up in person again, try the cakes and take some home. Our next meetup in person is Sat 22nd May. The theme is Caterpillar or creepy crawly cakes, without copyright infringements. Location to follow 3-5 , zoom if the weather is vile.
Here are our cakes and the evidence .
Any questions or if you would like to join us follow our FB page
We met yet again on Zoom on Saturday for Sheffield Underground cake club but next month all being well we will meet , 6 people with LIVE cake tasting at last on the 24th April in Stannington Park 2.30 til 4.30. Booking essential.
Clares cake was Neapolitan cake, above, inspired by her favourite ice cream. She’s looking forward to getting out for an ice cream. Layers of pistachio, chocolate and vanilla, like the ones she has seen in Italy and so much tastier than the garish UK varieties. She filled it with strawberry daquiri filling and marshmallow fluff. Difficult to watch this without being able to taste it, I do confess.
Some recommendations for take away ices . Caspers on Archer Road , Our Cow Molly Farm ice cream parlour, Scoops on South Rd Walkley.
Anne made another cake in her Scandanavian series . A Skuffukaka cake from Iceland this time …. a chocolate cake that reminds her that she want to go to Iceland for her next holiday. Scandinavian cakes are perfect in Yorkshire as they are big enough to give a decent slice !! Scandis are into Hygge or cosy cake and coffee shared with friends. Cosiness, comfort and self care . On Xmas eve apparently everyone gives someone a book and they all sit and read quietly … with their hygge maybe .
Maggie showed off a delicious chocolate and raspberry brownie from Coles Corner Cafe on Abbeydale Road near Jamesons, which she recommends . . Her brownie is recommended as its succulent , unlike some which are too dry. Maggie is looking forward to Geisha the Ballet, by Northern Ballet …which got pulled because of the pandemic.
Bernie recommended Hugh Fearnley Whittingstalls brownie recipes from the Guardian.
Carolynn made Easter Brownie Millionaires slices with caramel and topped with chocolate and Easter eggs . She’s looking forward to making a cake to share.
Bernie made Cruffins , a hybrid cake. She said it reminded her of cake and coffee with friends which she couldn’t wait to do it again. She made croissant dough & added grated orange peel and cinnamon and left it overnight in the fridge to proove. Then she pulled it into a long strip, plastered with butter , rolled it into a log sideways so you can see the curls. Cut it in half lengthways , like a leek …and e roll it , cut into strips and curl into muffin tins ..you will see the layers. Clare said you could try this with croissants in a tube and add fillings if short of time.
I had a very stressful week so I bought a cake … but I would definitely make it. It was a purple velvet cake, with tangy blackcurrant jam filling, purple sponge and soft cheese topping with blackcurrants . From the Co-op. I cant wait to eat cake and share it with the Cake Club , also to visit my son who I have not seen for a year in the flesh. Well I will see him in his aunties garden soo fingers crossed.
We had a great chat about how things were going in lockdown new hobbies like sock making by Clare ( Second Drawer Down sock book by Verity Castledine) . Bernie had been making art books of photos for her kids 30th birthdays . Her tip was use printapix, but find it via Groupon .
Our next event will be in a park , with 6 people, 6 cakes, all socially distanced. The theme is Luscious Tastebud Tempting Treats for sharing . Meet near the cafe in Stannington Park, bring a chair or rug. Clare is bringing a picnic table so we can safely share cakes & distance. Sat 24 April. 2.30-4.30 rain check at 12 … Zoom link if weather is vile.
On Saturday we had a brilliant Marzipan themed Sheffield Underground Cake Club. Due to lockdown we met on Zoom, with the usual sighs of ” I do miss being able to share my cake out ” but hopefully better days are coming round and we will be able to meet 6 in a park and then properly as a group safely back in our favourite cafes. We have a massive list of places to try in 2021. Here are our cakes for your perusal.
Carolynn made Bakewell Blondies. Janes Patisserie recipe to which she added blackberry jam and lumps of marzipan. She made 2/3rds of the quantity and cooked for 30 mins.
I made Simnel Buns …vanilla sponge with a blob of Raspberry jam topped with balls of home made marzipan. I made the marzipan , my first attempt at home made. I recommend it , you add ground almonds, castor and icing sugar , an egg yolk and a teaspoon of orange juice. Luckily I only made half quantity as there was some left. Everyone suggested I cut it into pieces and freeze it for my next bake.
Clare made the BBC Good Food easy Battenberg cake . Ground almonds, lemon icing with apricot jam under the marzipan.
Vicky said she missed tasting the cakes in real life …she joined us sitting on the terrace in the afternoon sun .
Anne made a Marzipan Cherry cake , it looked delicious and you can see it in the photo above. It was the same recipe as Daves but a different shape !!
Dave made a Marzipan Cherry Cake and sent us lots of photos and the full recipe. It looked delicious.
The original version of this cake (link above) uses very similar proportions of all ingredients, and an identical ingredient list, to the Family Circle Souvenir Cake Book recipe for Cherry Almond Cake, with the exception that the latter includes no Marzipan. After trying the recipe the first time I found that the cake took a very long time to cook, and that it sank in the middle (which on Charlotte’s web site it rather looks as though hers did too). I therefore revised the recipe to use exactly the same proportions of ingredients as the FCCAC, except the cherries which I retained as the greater amount used by Charlotte. I also switched from butter to margarine, selected heavy-gauge tins and increased the cooking time, again based on the FC recipe. The resulting cakes worked perfectly! Finally, because I tend to batch-bake, I doubled everything and made two cakes at once.
Ingredients:
Charlotte’s Original:
150g unsalted butter – softened
2 large eggs
150g caster sugar
150g self-raising flour + a little extra for dusting the cherries
150g ground almonds
25g flaked almonds
1 tsp almond extract
150g glacé cherries
150g marzipan
A little icing sugar – to help roll out the marzipan
Adapted*:
10oz Stork margarine (tub version not block)
4 large eggs
10oz caster sugar
11oz plain flour + a little extra for dusting the cherries to roll the marzipan out
1 generous teaspoon baking powder
11oz ground almonds
2 generous tablespoons flaked almonds
2 tsp almond extract
12oz glacé cherries
12oz marzipan
We had a good discussion about Marzipan. People remembered it as being only for Christmas when they were kids. Used for wedding and Christmas cake and petit fours or marzipan fruits. Daves mum stopped using eggs in her marzipan when the Edwina Currie salmonella scandal broke. It was the first Vegan marzipan … she used rosewater instead of egg yolk. Others use chick pea water in their vegan marzipan. Another suggestion was to make hazelnut marzipan with ground hazelnuts.
Our next Cake Club will be Saturday 27th March . Zoom for the time being but watch this space . Cakes on a theme of Things or Flavours we are looking forward to after Lockdown Unlocked. 3-5. Zoom link available just ask Karen . If we can meet outside we can have a Afternoon tea cakes theme .
Our theme in January 2021, on Zoom during #lockdown3 was Snowy Landscapes Cakes. We had lots of visitors. We also had a cakey quiz supplied by Bernie …
See pictures of the inside of the cakes … below
Anne made a massive Norwegian Cream Cake. Iceland Norway and Finland are big on cakes. This 3 layer Norwegian cream cream cake had 10 eggs , plain flour , baking powder. No fat, like a panettone, once cooked it’s fluffy and light. She sliced it in 3 and drizzled milk on each layer, filled each with whipped double cream with vanilla essence and icing sugar, strawberry jam and blue berries . This cake is traditionally baked for Norway Day on 17th May .
Clare made a marzipan cherry and almond warm cake with icing sugar on . She realised after baking, her oven has a sloping shelf so the cake was at an angle. Who cares !! It looked delicious.. Served warm.
Carolynn made Almond and Cherry buns with home made marzipan plus dark Chocolate inside. She made egg white meringue on top . She used the egg yolk, castor and icing sugar and ground almonds to make her own marzipan. Homemade is less sugary so better for you.
Marzipan cakes will be our February theme as people were so impressed and keen to try them.
Dave told us all about the cake he dreamed of making . His cake was a 12th Night cake, traditionally made to eat for 12th Night or the 6th of January. He described a massive family cake from the Yorkshire TV farmhouse kitchen cookbook with 12 eggs, 2lbs of sugar , 1lb of butter. The original was in a16 inch cake in a slow aga for 4 hours. He wanted to be environmentally responsible so will not be making a cake till we can share them again 🙂 He showed us a photo of a Mary Berry 12th Night cake. The recipe is on the BBC cooking website. Buy peel off icing to stick on. https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/twelfth_night_cake_53367
Sian bought cake . 2 birthday cakes …. Vanilla and chocolate. We were very jealous. The cakes were #selfcare projects. Her kids chose them as a treat as the whole family have been working so hard. Its ok to bake when it suits you & buy when it doesn’t. We have all supported each other through covid . #thankyou
Bernie made a Devils food cake a Chocolate cake with treacle and golden syrup. Its from the Hamlyn All colour cookbook, really simple and cheap. Meringue icing made from icing sugar, golden syrup and egg white. Helen said its called Swiss meringue topping . To check if meringue freezes … they are going to do one slice to test how it lasts in the freezer.
Helen showed us a Freezer cake, a slice of her chocolate Yule log. It’s a Mary Berry fatless sponge with amaretto, filled with fresh cream. She portioned it and froze it. We had a great discussion of what cakes people froze & tips. Freeze the blondies . Make a cake and cut it in slices to get out when you want a piece , if no one else in your household wants cake.
Next topic was Birds in lockdown …. Countryfile … were at Forge Dam filming the Mandarin ducks. Parakeets in Graves Park. Flamingos in Kensington St James Park . What do they eat to make them pink ? Squirrels in Botanical Gardens Animals are missing people in zoos. Goats in Jesmond Park. Then school puddings , as we chatted about a tv series filmed in Norton Lees Sheffield about corner shops Back in Time. There is a Manchester tart recipe in Clandestine Cake club book. …. Desiccated coconut on top. People ate cornflakes, custard and jam for puddings. School puddings theme for next meeting. Bernie mentioned that lots of E numbers are natural. Fortified bread was popular in the 60’s and 70’s .
We moved on to bread baking in Lockdown. Bread recipes to prove in the fridge sound good, easy to leave overnight and not stress. Look for recipes … Cinnamon buns …. Ready to roll for breakfast, with an egg yolk in the dough . Ways to prove your loaf . Balance on a radiator. Stand near oven exhaust. Proving oven in Stoves .
Pickling jars …. Piccalilli & Jam making …. Make them as soon as they are ready … Ideas include a Jam swap at future meetings. Use up apples for mincemeat . Have a Cake club on Daves allotment …. Summer puddings with blackcurrants. How to wrap and store food . Times Calendar cookbook by Katie Stewart cooks and freezes by the season with seasonal ingredients and recipes.
Next event 3-5 27th Feb … On a marzipan theme. Probably on Zoom.
Marzipan cakes will be our February theme as people were so impressed and keen to try them. School puddings theme for our March meeting. For our next real life socially distanced event when possible, we have picked the theme “Cakes made to Share “
Contact me with any questions.
Best wishes
Karen Karen Perkins @fabcoach on Twitter and Insta Website
Our instruction today was to “Introduce your cake by holding it up and everyone can guess what the secret ingredient was that gave it, its colour ” We had another Zoom event as Covid #lockdown2 was in force this week.
I made a crystallised ginger, banana and chocolate cake . I like to use up ingredients so ripe bananas meant no waste, ginger from the store cupboard and the rest of my cocoa and some cacao to get the choccy look. I was pleased with the bake, slightly squishy at the base and tasting like chocolatey Parkin. I will make it again !
Anne made Rose and elderflower sponge with a delicious filling of Teignmouth Priory Rose and Elderflower curd in the center plus Rose butter cream on top and layered in the filling. Ann used little icing hearts scattered around the top, that looked like sugar petals.
Green was the mysterious colour that took at least 4 guesses to uncover. … Vcky had made an Avocado mug cake , mashed avocado plus the usual ingredients … With avocado being an Egg substitute . We then discussed the merits of Spinach for green colouring too.
Carolynn made a compote topped cake. We had to guess the compote .. After 6 guesses because we couldn’t sample it on zoom, someone plumped for plum and it was revealed as a Plum compote and butter cream topped sponge, with roast chopped plums in the bake. We discussed tips for freezing slices of cake for later if we couldn’t scoff a whole one. Tip freeze one slice at a time, or freeze separate cupcakes and bag up when the butter cream has frozen. And yes , you can freeze butter cream!
Bernie zoomed in with her Swiss roll … With amazing stripes of different colours in the roll. She recommended Morrisons gel food colouring … Lemon and raspberry were the 2 stripes and she said the best way to keep the the integrity of the lines was to use 2 types of cake batter. Make stripes with no butter batter, divide it and colour, pipe lines on a baking tray and put in fridge, gently smooth the next batter over with a palate knife . Butter and icing sugar with egg white for coloured ones. Clare made lemon icing and lemon butter cream. Bright coloured cake inside Sunshine cake …. Her mystery ingredient was orange food colouring to cheer us up.
We had a lovely chat to take our minds off the perils of Covid and home working. This group has been so supportive through these wierd times. Some inspirations include -Bernie said a chequerboard cake was easy. -Sian gave us tips for using up flour slightly past date #phew. -We learned LIdl coconut flour … Is naturally gluten free -Use up old flour …. Unless it has mites. Tee hee
-Someone recommended Couch to get fit app… – A local on line Adrienne Yoga – Breathing for relaxing. Sian talked about Circular breathing & Square Breathing We need to be reminded that “Our basic needs are not being met aka Maslow … So it’s ok to not to feel like you should “. Time to Refocus and be kind to yourself …. All good reasons for sharing and zooming cake !
Our next cakey event is Sat 19th Dec Flavours of India, Festival spices or a freestyle medley 3-5 zoom to follow !! Join us, we have a fab time … Can’t wait to meet up & eat up in real life soon !! Contact me, Karen Perkins for details of how to join .. or LIKE our FB page .Follow me on Twitter and Insta @fabcoach
The whole 6.5 mile walk is in the Sheffield boundary, including the Surprise view carpark, on the Hathersage Road. Walk left along the main road from the cark park to Toads Mouth Bridge, a safer route would be to cross the road & walk up Padley Gorge by the stream, but this is in Derbyshire . After the bridge take the slightly hidden path just to the right of the main Burbage valley track , gates & mobility parking spaces. The path we took rises quickly to a gate & then up to the right hand edge of Burbage Valley.
This is the view down from our rocky edge path, towards Higger Tor . Keep walking up and climbing round the edge of the valley. Massive rocks and cliffs , all in beautiful gingery brown , the rain enhanced the colours.
We spotted a rain squall coming over from Hathersage, so we sheltered under this massive gritstone near the path & set off when the rain had subsided. On, up and around the edge , the path is very clear.
Our path follows the curve of the edge and passes these blocky cliffs just before we reach the head of the valley, and the Burbage Car Park. There is often an ice cream van there in summer. Follow the path across the stream at the base of the road, and take one of the paths, lower or upper that curves back along the lip of the opposite valley side …facing towards the incredibly rocky & photogenic Higger Tor.
Walk along & climb up the Tor, it is steep but with great views over Hathersage one way, and the Burbage Valley the other. To get to the next part of the walk, take the right hand path on top of the Tor to the far right hand corner where you will find a small but gentle path curving down the side … you will see a rectangular Sheep Fold along the path … take the track to the right of this , that curves around … you will see Owler Tor rocks & the rocks of Surprise view. En route you may pass some cows & look over to Hathersage.
Follow the path to the right of the rocks and you will come to Surprise View … the Victorians loved it. The high cliffs of Millstone Edge are loved by climbers, but gated off to protect kids & walkers. Great views down to Hathersage .
Follow the path from Surprise view back down to the car park. There is an obvious well maintained mobility path that leads from the car park up to the view point.
The best map is the Landranger Dark Peak map . There are lots of variations of this walk, in reverse or using the valley path. Hope you enjoyed this walk. You will need proper boots or wellies for this walk & decent rain gear as its exposed but with fabulous views. It’s another undiscovered bit of Sheffield !! Follow me for Walk 4 in the series
This walk is around 9 miles, entirely in Sheffield and takes you up, up and up across wild moorlands, but all on a clear path. If you are missing the Peak District .. it’s all spread out before you from the summit of Margery Hill (546-metre (1,791 ft) hill on the Howden Moors ) which is still in Sheffield #yay . Its advisable to take a map ( Landranger Dark Peak is good) , full weatherproof gear & thermals at this time of year , as there is little cover. Park at the Yorkshire Water Langsett car park at the Flouch end .
Cross the road & head for the path that crosses the stream at the head of Langsett reservoir , with its weir & fish ladder. Follow the path through a gate to the left that climbs steeply up a cobbled ramp to beyond the treeline. Your distant destination is on the skyline of photo 3.
Follow the path, sandy & cobbled , avoiding left turns. It’s call CutGate and is the old drovers path from Barnsley over to the Derwent Valley . This walk stops at the top of the ridge which looks down to Howden Reservoir & Derbyshire. Good boots recommended as the path can be wet as streams have used it & mountain bikers like the route. The top of Margery Hill is boggy but worth it !!
When you reach this cairn, you turn left for about 200m, along a boggy path, look for the wire fence around an old bronze age burial site. I like my stick for testing the depth of any squishy areas. We walked to the left of the path on the drier bit. Look for the trig point at the top of Margery Hill.You are rewarded by fab views to High Stones, Bleaklow & Howden reservoir. We left quickly as it started to rain, but on other occasions the stones just a little way along give shelter for your tea & treats .
The second trig point photo shows the rain squall that chased us off, however the rest of the walk was sunny . Its great in winter when the ground is frozen if you want to check out the Bronze age area.
We had our #BLT sandwiches & 3 Gingers cake on the way down in a sheltered spot ( see below). Getting down always seems faster . Don’t forget to dress for the weather & make sure people know where you’re walking.
Hope you enjoyed this walk. You will need proper boots or wellies for this walk & decent rain gear as its exposed but with fabulous views. It’s another undiscovered bit of Sheffield !! Follow me for Walk 3 in the series
Our 8 mile walk starts from Redmires reservoir. There’s a small car park. Lots of people park by the roadside. Get there early or later after the dogwalkers. Walk to the end of the road, turn right up a steep stony track, continue up till you reach Stanage Pole.
From Stanage Pole follow the track to Stanage Edge turn right and walk along the edge , past the Long Causeway to High Neb . High Neb is in Sheffield. On the Tier 3 walk you can follow the broken stone wall across to High Neb , which on the map is the Sheffield Boundary. High Neb has a shining white trig point & nearby a hut to sit in if it rains !! Fab views from Sheffield across Derbyshire from the Neb.
Trace your steps back along the edge to the stone hut , follow the footpath past the hut towards the direction of Hollow Meadows, the path is a little boggy, but turns into a lush green downhill track . You will see some old mine buildings and a mini reservoir … aim for these . On your right in the distance is the Stanage Lodge & its fishing pond.
It looks like people have been having little raves up here. There is still an old bread oven in one of the cottages. It’s a nice place for a picnic or shelter. Next take the track that follows the left side of the large leat ( watercourse). You will see views of Sheffield & Stannington as you walk along. In about half a mile you have a choice of routes back to Redmires. You can continue along the leat track which brings you back to the reservoir by the plughole drain. V Exciting . Or you can turn right once you have reached a gate across the track and climbed over a stile, and walk up the hill, and back down to Redmires that way. Nice views on the latter .
Hope you enjoyed your walk. You will need proper boots or wellies for this walk & decent rain gear as its exposed but with fabulous views. It’s an undiscovered bit of Sheffield !! Follow me for Walk 2 in the series
Because Sheffield went into Tier 3 we moved our October Cake Club onto Zoom .
Annes cakes are Gooseberry and Elderflower cupcakes …normal sponge with elderflower cordial, full of goose berry jam & with butter cream with Elderflower cordial. They looked fab on zoom …we were all licking our lips !! Carolynn made some sponge with Orange juice mixed in plus orange juice in the icing. The baking time was 20 mins because they were cooked in ramekins… 1 egg between 4 ramekins.
My cakes were coffee and walnut buns , made with decaff coffee. I took them on my first tier 3 walk near Redmires reservoir.
Vicky made an Apple and plum cake . We talked about how to help the fruit not sink ? Cook the cake partially, add fruit as you go along . Or add extra flour to the mix like you might with a cherry madeira recipe. It has extra flour in it . Ann has ordered a Halloween cake treat box . We talked about treat boxes and where to buy the best & supporting local shops . We talked about Walking books … Anne told us about a walk with history book that included Higger Tor which is in Sheffield. We talked about what we’d love to do after lockdown. Anne fancies running a coffee truck & wants to be their first employee !! Sheffield Underground Coffee Van is born. Afternoon tea in a Cafe by the boating lake in Southwold …recommended by Anne.
For the next meeting 21st November the theme is Colours. Pick an ingredient that gives your cake colour … then ask us to guess the colour & the ingredient. Everyone welcome at our future meetings … we will be on Zoom till its safe & dry enough to meet up in real life again !!
