Beauty and the Bundt - Pink Lemonade Bundt Cake

This month's Disney themed cake club had me scratching my head. Yes, I know I set the themes, but I don't plan my cakes first. That's the fun of it! From the second I loaded it, I had Lumiere singing 'Be Our Guest' in my head - on repeat. This cake was ridiculously easy, and would be a perfect party cake for any budding princess. 

It has a soft consistency, a delicate lemony flavour and is pink to make the boys wink... 

Ingredients

• 225g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 100g solid vegetable fat at room temperature 
• 650g golden caster sugar
• 5 large eggs, beaten
• 460g plain flour, sifted
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 250ml Pink Lemonade (yes, you can use regular if you like)
• 1 tsp lemon extract
• Pink and yellow coloured food gels (optional)
• 500g icing sugar (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to gas 3/160 c
2. Prepare a regular sized bundt tin - 2.4l, 10 cup, 10 inch with Cake Release spray and dust with flour. I used the Nordic Ware star tin. 
3. Beat the butter and vegetable fat together until creamy.
4. Add in the sugar and beat on a medium speed for about 5 minutes.
5. Add the eggs one by one on a slow speed.
6. Add the flour and salt to a separate bowl.
7. Add the lemon extract to the lemonade.
8. Add 1/3 of the flour to the batter and fold in.
9. Add 1/2 of your lemonade.
10. Alternate with flour and lemonade until it is all incorporated. 
11. Add a sniff of pink food gel.
12. Give it a whizz for about 10 seconds on a medium speed.
13. Pour your batter into the prepared tin.
14. Pop the cake in the middle of a preheated oven for about 1 hour 30 minutes. If it's not shrinking away from the sides of the tin, leave it in for another 10-15 minutes. This is a big cake so will need to be cooked for a long time on a low heat. Long and low is the way to go. Don't worry if the crust looks brown. It should be. That's the caramelised sugar and tastes fantastic!
15. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
16. Cool completely before attempting to ice - fail to do so and this will end very badly.
17. I'm sure you probably don't want a yellow cake, but if you do, the icing is simply made by mixing the icing sugar with enough water to make a runny consistency with a bit of yellow food gel added at the end. Tip it over the cake like you mean business. 

Bloggers/Writers: Please respect the fact I am sharing my own ideas and basic recipe. Blood, sweat and many tears have gone into getting this right, so you may enjoy a perfect bundt. If you wish to re-blog or write about a recipe from these variations, please credit my blog and link to this original post rather than pasting the recipe on your own page.

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Clandestine Cake Club Bolton - Hakuna Matata

"It means no worries for the rest of your days..."

A Disney theme. It had some jumping for joy, whilst it rocked others to their very core... Creativity isn't all about having a flair with sugar paste, or spending hours on your baked creation, but is more about using your imagination. Disney doesn't have to be difficult...

This month our members played to their strengths. Some love to decorate, others are all about the flavours, whilst you can bet your life that I'm still going to knock up a bundt of some description. 

We were back at Thyme in Horwich, for manager Rachel's first ever cake club! They were hugely excited to see the Disney themed cakes, so we made sure they got to try some before they went home too. 

We had twelve cakes in total, including:

• Apple and Cinnamon Cake - Snow White
• Jafar Cake - Aladdin
• Steam-Cake Willie - Steam Boat Willie
• King Louis Banana and Chocolate Cake - The Jungle Book
• Lemony Spaghetti - Lady and the Tramp
• Red Velvet and White Chocolate Roulade - A Bug's Life
• Grape Soda Cake - Up
• Pink Lemonade 'Beauty and the Bundt' - Beauty and the Beast
• Frozen with Olaf - Frozen
• Disney Princess Cake
• Chocolate and Honey Cake - Winnie the Pooh
• Queen of Hearts Cake - Alice in Wonderland

Next month's club details will be posted on the Clandestine Cake Club website soon. I'll give you a little clue... Duran Duran are involved...

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The Gerrard Arms, Aspull

Another day, another recommendation. This one came from the princess of the pie, Miss Sally Stabler. In a previous post I likened her palate to that of a 75 year old chap, however this does have its uses. If anyone is going to sniff out a decent pie, chips and gravy, she's your girl. 

A few weeks ago I received an excited text from young Stabler advising of pastry cased perfection just down the road in Aspull. I hoped for something similar to the plate pies of the Hen and Chicks (RIP), but I actually found something better. Yes. 

The Gerrard Arms is a proper pub. There's a long bar, massive tellies playing the footy and a big gambler in the corner. Alongside the fizzy yellow crowd-pleasers are a few decent real ales, and the folk who frequent the place seem a good bunch. At the back is a tidy outdoor seating area which appeared to be full of cyclists, walkers and the odd dog. 

The service was great for a pub, and the chap who served us seemed genuinely enthused about the food he brought out. He did look a little nervous when I told him about the pie recommendation, obviously assuming that wee Stabler was some sort of pie aficionado.

Steak pie, mushy peas, chips and gravy: Dad's pie of choice, and hand picked by my petite pie eating pal. Wonderfully deep with some of the best pastry I've tasted in ages. This encased generous chunks of beef and mushroom in a thick gravy, with a peppery finish. My dad's only complaint? Pepper. He's not a fan and felt there was a little too much. I'm more impressed that Sally ate something that had touched mushrooms, 'I was enjoying it too much, so I pulled them out!' - quote. This is a major development for a girl who won't even entertain most normal food.

Cheese pie, mushy peas and chips: Look at the depth on that mother! A behemoth amongst pies. One of the best cheese pies I have ever tasted. That will be the end of it.

Sirloin steak with sauteed mushrooms, grilled tomato and chips: This was from the daily specials board. It wasn't the biggest of steaks, but at £13.95 you really can't grumble. It was good quality beef and came cooked as requested, which in itself has proved a bit of a battle elsewhere recently.

Full of pie, we retreated without sampling the desserts, but I'd love to go back at some point to try a pudding or two. However, I'm not going to lie to you, I think I would have that cheese pie every day of my life if I could - but I fear I would be dead within a month.

The Gerrard Arms is a proper boozer that does decent food. It's not some sleek gastropub with a duckegg interior and tables reclaimed from the local cotton mill, but the food is honest and homemade, and the service was fast and friendly. I can see why Sally loves it here.

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