Pimms Archives - Munchies and Munchkins

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I’ve been thinking about naked cakes for a while. Ever since I read an issue of BBC Good Food magazine and Frances Quinn a finalist from GBBO was showing how to create one. Since then they are everywhere. And they are just up my street. I like icing but it’s definitely not my favourite part of a cake and also. I’m not the worlds best cake decorator which means it takes me AGES to create a fancy looking cake. Anyway I was invited to take part in a campaign with Waitrose and I thought it was a great opportunity to try it out and make it a bit fruity and special.

First of all I went to do my shopping at Waitrose.. Choosing completely the wrong time to go at late on a Sunday afternoon when it was close to shutting but I got everything I needed. I was inspired when I first walked in by the Pimms and strawberry display. I’m a sucker for a Pimms so I had to nab a bottle.. I did then go onto buy LOTS of fruit and veggies so it’s ok.

I always love the wide variety of fruits and veggies sold at Waitrose, lots of varieties and exotic fruits as well as my favourite Pink Lady Apples 🙂 I’m a sucker for their herbs too!

I also HAD to buy their rosemary and seasalt foccacia which is more than a little bit special ..ooh and TWO new plants. Chilli and Greek basil.

To start off my naked cake I made up two batches of lemony victoria sandwich cake.

To make enough for this cake you will need:

450g of SR Flour
450g of caster sugar
8 eggs
450g of butter
4tsp baking powder
1tbsp vanilla
2 lemon zests.

Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl or stand mixer:

And blend for 2-3 minutes.

I split it between a 23 inch springform pan and two sandwich cake tins.

Bake for 25 mins or so at gas mark 4 until they spring back when pressed.

Whilst I was waiting for my cakes to bake I made up some Pimms summer tarts.

Now back to my naked cake..

Cakes now baked and cooled I split them in half using an awesome tool I picked up from amazon a while back. I then began the process of layering.

First layer used some leftover strawberry/Pimms mix with some jam follows by silky buttercream. For buttercream I used about 150g of butter to 300g icing sugar and a tbsp of vanilla. The next layer used lemon curd and then repeat:

I decorated using icing sugar, berries and Greek basil.. I’m a bit in love with basil in sweet dishes at the moment. Try it!

And whilst I know there are things I will change next time I do this..bigger layers and smaller layers etc etc I’m quite impressed with my first attempt at a naked or not so naked cake.. I can’t really call it naked when it’s covered in berries and herbs can I?

Ok so most of you will already know that I am on a major diet at the moment and it’s working really really well.. I have so far lost 1stone and 3lb and I’ve been dieting since May 28th so I’m pretty proud of myself. There are two reasons I think it’s working well:

1. I am walking most days pushing a fairly hefty weight (baby, buggy and occasionally shopping) or carrying said baby around or playing about with her at home.

2. I am not depriving myself of everything. Most days I use myfitnesspal – I can’t really recommend it enough as it really helps me to keep an eye on what I eat. I limit myself to 1200 calories and keep it as low fat/sugar as possible however I still have treats and the occasional indulgent meals as I’m a foodie I love to cook and eat and I see no reason why I shouldn’t do that in fact I firmly believe it is helping me diet for longer!

After spending 2 days at The Plum baby cookery school followed by 5 days at Blissfields festival I was really missing home cooking so this past week I have cooked a lot. Mostly dishes I have cooked before such as vegetable curry and spaghetti bolognese ( topped with sautéed spinach and leeks- so good) but I am aiming to try a new recipe (from a book, online or friends) or invent a new recipe of my own each week from here on so last night I made chicken in a garlic and mushroom sauce now this is hardly a wondrous new invention of mine as chicken, mushrooms and garlic go together like strawberries and cream but I didn’t follow any kind of recipe and it turned out so well I would quite happily eat it every day this week.

Chicken In Garlic & Mushroom Sauce

Two large chicken breasts

Double cream-150ml

Butter ( small knob)
Red onion diced
2 cloves of garlic minced
8 mushrooms ( I used closed cup as that’s what I had but use whatever you like) chopped finely
Ground pepper ( I use a mix of black and pink peppercorns) and salt
Sprig of thyme
Olive oil

In a pan or small cazuela sauté your diced onion and garlic in olive oil and butter being careful not to burn the garlic, after a few minutes add your mushrooms and cook for 5 more minutes before adding your cream, thyme and seasoning. Remove from best
Heat a little olive oil in a large cazuela or pan which is ovenproof and pan fry your chicken breasts for a few minutes each side, pour over your mushroom sauce and cook at approx 190 deg or gas mark 4. After 20 minutes remove from oven and shred the chicken ( you can leave the breasts whole but I prefer it this way for this kind of dish) into the sauce before retuning to oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven adding a little more pepper and serve immediately.

* I served with sauté potatoes, peppers and leek and a giant salad but I imagine it would be lovely with rice or mixed into pasta.

This is a fairly naughty dish for me as it has double cream but it was worth it and I didn’t gain any lbs. 🙂

Instead of a dessert I was inspired by a tweet I saw from Beverley Glock who was the food expert at Plum cookery school for a recipe for Pimms frozen cocktails.. Now the recipe she tweeted had lime sorbet as a base but I didn’t have any limes so I improvised and it was refreshing and tongue
tingling.

My Not So Naked Fruity Cake – A Waitrose Recipe

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Chicken In Garlic & Mushroom Sauce

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