Balham Cake Off, Round TWO...

♥ Ceri makes...  Earlier today I was competing in round TWO of the Balham Cake Off at Trinity stores.  This week's challenge was to bring along a Balham inspired bake.

Everyone was so creative with their entries...

I'll pop my vanilla cupcake recipe on the blog later this week so you can try it at home yourself!

Upcoming Balham Cake Off dates here...

See you there!

♥ Ceri makes...  xx

Vintage Sewing Machines...

♥ Ceri makes...  while stocking up on cake decorating supplies for round TWO of the Balham cake off at the Wimbledon Sewing Machine Company my friend Kate and I made an unplanned trip to the adjoining sewing machine museum.

The London Sewing Machine Museum is a treasure trove of vintage sewing machines of all shapes and sizes.  

Admission is free and it is open on the first Saturday of every month.  Perfect for a rainy day in SW London!

♥ Ceri makes... xx

Flourless Chocolate Cake...

♥ Ceri makes...  as promised here is the recipe for my first Balham Cake Off  challenge - a gluten free bake...

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Kirsch Soaked Morello Cherries.

How to make at home...

♥ 225g caster sugar                    
♥ 300g plain chocolate
♥ 225g unsalted butter             
♥ 6 eggs, seperated 
♥ 1 tsp vanilla extract                
♥ 180ml strong cafetiere coffee, or to taste

♥ Plus a 23cm round springform cake tin

♥ Preheat an oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas Mark 4
♥ Grease and line your cake tin
♥ In a food processor pulse the chocolate and sugar until fine
♥ Mix in the egg yolks, butter, vanilla extract and coffee
♥ In a seperate bowl whisk the egg whites until they form stiff white peaks
♥ Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate mix
♥ Pour into the cake tin and bake for 45-55 minutes or until a crack forms on the top of the cake
♥ Once cooled the cake will sink a little bit, but do not worry this is normal!  If you aren't serving until later pop it in the fridge to keep fresh

♥ To make the cake a bit more special
          ♥ Soak half a carton of morello cherries in a few generous splashes of kirsch or to taste
          ♥  When ready to serve spoon the kirsch cherries onto the centre of the cake

Enjoy! x

♥ Ceri makes... 

Balham Cake Off, Round ONE...

♥ Ceri makes...  so Sunday marked the beginning of the five part Balham Cake Off hosted by Trinity Stores Cafe and Deli.  The challenge for this week was to bake a gluten free cake.  Not your average bake!  After some deliberation I decided chocolate was the way forwards and whipped up a Flourless Chocolate Cake with Kirsch Soaked Morello Cherries.  Yummy!  Recipe to follow so keep checking the blog!

Here are some of the delicious looking entries...

Pop into Trinity Stores for one of the upcoming challenges,  dates below.  If you mention my blog I will even give you a taster of my entry!

See you there x

♥ Ceri makes xx

The Vintage Event Balham...

♥ Ceri makes... had a lovely Sunday afternoon yesterday with the lovely Sammi at The Vintage Event held at the Balham Bowls Club.

A good selection of stalls with lots of lovely vintage treasures, from dresses to teacups.  Delightful.

 
To find out when the next Vintage Event is follow them on twitter @TheVintageEvent


♥ Ceri makes xx