The people at Eddingtons recently sent me a few articles from their newest Christmas Baking line to try out and review. I had my pick of pretty much everything and it was very difficult to choose, everything was so cute.
One of the things I chose was the Silikomart Let's Celebrate Snowflakes silicone muffin mould. The Snowflake Muffin Mould is made from flexible silicone, making it easy to pop out the finished goods, and has a unique Safe Ring support which helps to improve the stability of the mould.
I have to confess that I don't have a lot of experience in cooking with silicone moulds, and am somewhat of a novice with them. I did find though that this was very easy to use and the safe ring support system was really good. I can see where it would make for a much easier and safer baking experience than a silicone pan without one.
I confess I was a little disappointed in the end results though . . . and this was not down to the silicone. Getting the cakes out was very easy. I waited until they were completely cold and they just popped out. What I was disappointed in though, was the fact that the snowflake design didn't really show up at all. In the picture on the box and on the site, the snowflake design was very clear and obvious. This wasn't the case in reality.
I saw not much more than little dimples etc. and even when I added the glaze the snowflake relief did not really show up. Perhaps this is just in baked goods . . . I would have to say that if you are looking for little cakes that look like snowflakes this isn't your pan . . . but they were not entirely unattractive either, as you can see. The packaging did include a recipe for a white chocolate blanc mange, so perhaps I will try again with something like that instead of using it for baking anything.
I don't normally show cake two days in a row, but today is an exception. I chose a lovely nutmeg cake recipe to showcase these little cakes . . . because I thought it would be a nice colour and that the glaze would help to show off the little snowflake branches really well.
It's a delicious cake . . . moist with the addition of buttermilk . . . old fashioned and redolent with lots of nutmeg flavour.
Glazed with a simple lemon glaze and then dusted with even more freshly grated nutmeg . . . it's quite heavenly . . . if you happen to like nutmeg, and we do . . . if you don't then . . . well, this is NOT the cake for you, coz it's definitely nicely nutmeggie.
*Nutmeg Cake*
Makes one 9-inch two layer cake
Printable Recipe
A cake stogged full of nutmeg flavour and covered in a lemony glaze and dusted with more nutmeg. If you don't like nutmeg, this isn't for you.
2 ounces butter, softened (1/4 cup)
2 ounces shortening, soft (1/4 cup)
10 1/2 ounces caster sugar (1 1/2 cups)
3 large free range eggs
8.5 ounces of plain flour, sifted (2 cups)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
250ml of buttermilk (1 cup)
1/2 tsp vanilla
Jam for sandwiching
For the lemon glaze:
8 ounces of sifted icing sugar (2 cups)
the juice of one lemon
freshly grated nutmeg
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Lightly butter 2 9-inch round cake tins and dust lightly with some flour. Set aside.
Cream together the butter and shortening until light and fluffy. Slowly beat in the sugar, a little at a time, until well blended. Beat in the eggs, one at a time until amalgamated completely.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, soda, salt and nutmeg. Blend together the vanilla and buttermilk. Add the buttermilk and flour alternately to the creamed mixture, beating after each addition only until blended.
Pour into the two prepared pans, spreading out evenly.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes before turning out to cool completely. Sandwich the two layers together with some jam in the middle.
Whisk together the glaze ingredients and spoon over top of the cakes.
Whilst they didn't actually look like snowflakes, the little cakes were kinda cute and just the perfect size for two bites. If you are looking for a pan that makes nicely sized little bites this is the pan for you . . . but if you are looking for a pan that bakes nice snowflakes, I think you better keep looking. Sorry Eddingtons, but many thanks for affording me this opportunity all the same! (Honesty is always the best policy isn't it. I wouldn't want to tell you something was great when I didn't think it was.)
Over in The Cottage today, French Biscuits, a family tradition.
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