Cake. On sticks. Covered in chocolate.

This Tuesday, I tested the theory that food tastes better if it’s on a stick. Think about it. If someone gives you a boiled sweet, you’re grateful for the gesture, but really you wish it was a better piece of confectionary. Put that boiled sweet on a stick, it becomes a lollipop, and suddenly it’s a much better option.

So when Gillian’s almost sister-in-law had to drop out of a cake pop class at the Make Lounge in Islington, I was delighted to take her place. Cake. On sticks. Covered in chocolate. What more could you wish for?

Gillian mid-decoration

But what is a cake pop?
Whizz up some Madeira cake into breadcrumbs and mush it together with some butter cream so that you’re able to mould it into a ball. Dip your stick into some melted chocolate and pop the cake ball on top. You’ve got yourself a cake pop ripe for decoration.

We each got seven ready-made cake pops, pre-dipped in melted chocolate, further melted chocolate in a choice of colours, sprinkles, edible glitter and all sorts of decorations. The class was led by Louise Hill of Love to Cake (check out her a-maz-ing cake sculptures), who took us through different decoration techniques, from the simple (dip in chocolate, dip in sprinkles) to the downright elaborate (sheep sculpture), and then on to presentation with cellophane and ribbons.

I had so much fun! I’m not much of a cake decorator  – sticking Smarties on butter cream is about the limit of my imagination – so it was brilliant to get creative with some inspiring designs. Louise was a great teacher. She’s obviously passionate about her art, and offered advice and praise throughout the class. There was a kids’ party going on in the studio next door, where they were making bath products. By the jealous looks on their faces, I think both groups knew which had the better deal.

My particular favourite, complete with a chocolate flavoured stalk.

Do they pass muster?
Yep. They taste pretty good, but with the amount of butter cream, chocolate, sugary decorations etc in there, I can’t eat more than one in a single sitting even with my full set of sweet teeth. But that’s ok, cos they’re just as pleasing to the eye as they are to the palate.

The Flatmate Test was passed with flying colours, as Sophie (who had the pig) said they ‘taste as good as they look’, while Dee was particularly pleased with her green and pink butterfly topped creation, saying they reminded her of Indian sweets.

Whilst I had a lot of fun making them, they’re not really something I’d be making on a regular basis – if a seven inch Madeira cake makes 40+ cake pops, I’d be eating them for weeks on end (cos I’m greedy and probably wouldn’t share). However, they’d be great for a party or for treats for kids.  

Fully pimped cake pops. Good enough to eat.

Soundtrack
Fittingly, pop. Mostly female singers, with a bit of Snow Patrol thrown in. Not quite to my taste, but I’m sure Gillian was impressed with my karaoke Vogue.

Pancakeaganza: Part Two

After Friday night’s mini-yet-ridiculously-slow-to-cook effort, Pancakeaganza 2011 took a more conventional turn last night, with normal pancakes cooked on a normal hob. Karen and Emily came round for a natter and a hell of a lot of sugar and lemon, though in Karen’s case, it was ricotta and watercress. She’s probably the only person alive who doesn’t appreciate the wonder of sugar and lemon. Weirdo.

Emily enters the Pancakeaganza spirit.

The Law of the Pancake
True to form, my first pancake was crap. And most of them afterwards were too. I’m a wimp and won’t toss my pancakes, but I couldn’t wiggle the fishslice to turn them properly. A proper pancake pan might have helped, but since I don’t make them that often, it’s not really worth investing. Sophie, however, turned out to be the Pancake Queen of Chestnut Grove, producing beauties every time! Jealous.

A single batch of batter doesn’t make enough for four people looking for a sugar high. Nor, it turns out, does double quantity. Triple quantity, however…  well, it’s a little bit too much. Once everyone had had their fill, there was enough left over for one last pancake. But after so much sugar (I was yawning a lot by that point… suspect a mini come-down), no-one particularly wanted another one. The batter went in the fridge and I fried off one last pancake for breakfast this morning. Rather annoyingly, it was my best and no-one was around to see it. Hmph.

Better than Fruit n' Fibre

Discussions
Emily asked whether everyone else was giving up anything for Lent. No. None of us. That’ll be an end to that one then.

Are pancakes healthy? Probably not. Especially when you fry them in butter and use enough sugar to make a dentist weep. Perhaps they would be if you used spray oil on a non-stick pan and found alternative fillings. But, butter makes them taste good and lemon and sugar is the ultimate filling. Why mess with perfection? Anyway, lemon juice MUST count as one of your five a day.

Soundtrack
I didn’t listen to anything while making the batter or cooking the pancakes, but I did do the washing up listening to my phone on shuffle. My current favourite is Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx’s I’ll Take Care of U (stick with the video, there’s a bit of dialogue at the start). It seems to be on permanent rotation on 6Music at the moment, and the hook sticks in your head and WILL NOT LEAVE. Not that this is a problem, cos it’s ace.

Pancakeaganza: Part One

Next to Christmas, Pancake Day is one of my favourite times of year. Who doesn’t like them?! So, when it was suggested that  we would make bean can pancakes at Guides on the Friday before Shrove Tuesday I was irrationally excited. I’ve done this activity many times before – back when I was a Young Leader at home it was my activity at outdoor events. I had it down pat. I was the Pancake Queen. That was ten years ago. Here’s how we got on…

Bean can pancakes

Mmmm. Delicious?

You will need:
A batch of pancake batter (I like Good Housekeeping’s recipe )
Butter/lard/oil for greasing
1 empty 400g bean can, washed and label removed
Candle (about half the height of the can works best)
Braddle/awl
Plate
Round bladed knife
Your choice of toppings

Using the braddle, make holes around the top and bottom sides of the can to let the air circulate. Light your candle, put it on your plate and place your prepared can over the top. Grease the top of the can and spoon on some pancake batter. Now wait. And wait some more. They take ages, but once your mini-pancake starts to set you can start to lift it away from the sides using your knife. When it’s ready on one side (probably after ten minutes or so – you are only using a candle), flip it over and wait even longer. When it’s finally cooked through, cover with your favourite toppings and eat. Repeat.

How did we do?
Most of the girls had never made conventional pancakes and therefore had never heard the Law of the Pancake – that your first one will ALWAYS be crap. I explained that they’re perfectly edible, they just don’t look that way. So we went on our merry way and persevered. Most of the girls got on really well and were producing some good, if a little undercooked, pancakes.

Rachel produced the best one of the evening. Bit jealous. She's 11. Bah.

On the other hand one girl repeatedly decided that she had too much mixture on her can and scraped most of it off  so that she had a pool of batter on her plate. She was surprised when her candle (which had practically been floating) tipped over and went out. Hmmmm. What annoyed me most about this was that she continued to put fresh batter on her can and scrape it off, effectively wasting it for the other girls. Where’s the common sense??!!

Toppings were the traditional (and best) sugar and lemon, and golden syrup, which seemed to please every one. The girls even got a bit creative and sprinkled sugar into the batter while it was cooking so that it would caramelise. Good on ’em.

Soundtrack
Just the sound of pre-teens chatting away. Though I did have to correct one of them on the lyrics to Mamma Mia.