When I was given the opportunity to review Bake In Black, the new music inspired cookbook by Eve O'Sullivan, the well-known food writer, and David O' Sullivan, I jumped at the chance; I had heard quite a lot about the book already (it was reviewed in Metal Hammer after all) and I was intrigued. The premise of the book is to take the title of a song or album from the world of rock and heavy metal and bake something inspired by it, resulting in recipes such as "God Save The Cream" angel cake (Sex Pistols), "Sweet Tooth O' Mine" honey, molasses and maple cake (Guns N' Roses), "Them Buns" white chocolate, apricot and orange swirl buns (Alice In Chains) and "Killer Queen Of Puddings" (Queen). There are a lot of recipes packed into Bake In Black, all of them delicious looking; the photos are all inspired by the band the bake is based on, making the book visually interesting as well as humorous.
Bake In Black is not just for fans of heavy metal however, as all of the recipes are well written and easy to follow, with some great flavour combinations and interesting twists on classics. I found it really difficult to pick one recipe to try, as there were so many that took my fancy, in the end though I went for "Battenberg Out Of Hell", the Meatloaf inspired battenberg cake (picked purely based on the name!). It is a chocolate and raspberry flavoured battenberg, the one in the book had an impressive nine sections, though I had to adapt it a little as I didn't have the right sized tins so had to make a slightly less impressive four sectioned one. It still looked (and tasted) really good though and the recipe was really easy to follow.
I did have to make one minor change, I found the chocolate half of the mixture to be too dry, so I added a little milk, other than that the recipe worked well and the finished cake disappeared very quickly. I will definitely be baking from Bake In Black again, and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone with an interest in baking, heavy metal or puns. Bake In Black is available to buy here, but you can also enter my competition to win a copy, simply fill out the Gleam competition widget at the bottom of the post. You can also read another review of it (and find another recipe from the book) on Patisserie Makes Perfect.
Chocolate Raspberry Battenberg
Ingredients
- 175 g butter softened
- 175 g caster sugar
- 175 g self-raising flour
- 3 eggs
- 50 g cocoa powder divided
- 4 tbsp Chambord liqueur
- 4 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp red gel food colouring
- 250 g marzipan
- about 150g raspberry jam
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 180C/375F/gas mark 4. Butter and line two 400g loaf tins (I used two 8x4in loaf tins to make a four section cake).
- Cream together the butter and sugar then whisk in the flour and eggs, divide the mixture in half and mix the Chambord and red food colouring into one half, and 35g (4tbsp) of the cocoa and the milk into the other. Spoon the chocolate mix into one tin and the raspberry into the other, level the surface and bake for 25-35 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Leave the cakes to cool in the tins for about 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Knead the remaining cocoa powder into the marzipan until it is well combined then roll it out into a rough rectangle, wide enough to wrap around the cakes when stacked.
- Trim the tops of the cakes if necessary so that they are flat and the same height (I had to trim the chocolate one but not the raspberry). Lay one loaf on top of the other and trim all of the edges so that they are straight and the cakes are the same size.
- If you used the 400g tins, cut each cake into quarters lengthways, turn each on its side and cut in half lengthways again, so you end up with 8 long strips of each cake. Lay a chocolate cake strip in the centre of the marzipan and trim the marzipan in a straight line at each end so it matches the length of the cake. Brush the cake all over with jam, lay a raspberry strip next to it and brush with jam, then another chocolate strip, then another raspberry. Push together tightly, brushing with more jam if needed; repeat until the cake is 3 squares high by 3 squares wide, then fold the marzipan over the cake, brushing the overlap with jam to seal. Turn the cake over so that the seam is on the bottom then serve (there will be leftover cake strips).
- If you used the larger tins as I did, measure the height of the cakes, then cut two strips lengthways from each cake the same width as the height, lay one chocolate strip on the marzipan, trim the marzipan to the same length as the cake, brush the strip of cake all over with jam and lay a raspberry strip next to it, brush with jam then lay the other chocolate strip on top of the raspberry one, brush with jam, lay the other raspberry strip on top of the chocolate one, brush with jam then fold the marzipan over the cake, brush the overlap with jam and turn the cake over so that the seam is underneath then serve.
Notes
Bake in Black Giveaway
– One winner will receive the following: A copy of Bake in Black
– The giveaway open to UK residents over the age of 18 only.
– The giveaway ends on the 25th of September at 11:59:59 PM.
– Entries using an automated process or software to create bulk entries will be disqualified.
– The winner will be randomly selected, announced in the Gleam giveaway box and contacted via their provided e-mail address shortly afterwards. Please claim your prize within 4 days of being notified.
More competitions at The Prizefinder
I am sharing this with Fabulous Foodie Fridays, Fiesta Friday hosted by Cooking With Aunt Juju and Dad Whats 4 Dinner?, Foodie FriDIY, Foodie Friends Friday, Friday Favourites and Friday Features.
Zoe (@Manikally_Kaos)
I usually listen to rock/metal but not when I'm baking and decorating cakes, I like to concentrate with no distractions. Love the look of this book.
trevor linvell
80s rock
Victoria Prince
Queen for me 🙂 I vary which CD depending on what mood I'm in!
That cake looks fantastic, and I love the sound of this book - really appeals to me!
LEE HARDY
Anything on the radio
Sarah Cocker
That battenburg looks divine
Pam Francis Gregory
Planet Rock
Catherine Eatwell
Anything I can sing along to
lisa tebbutt
omg i love this bake in black cookbook it looks fun
Annmarie Nutt
I listen to the radio, the cake looks amazing
Colette Sheeran
Magic or Smooth F.M.
Kate Phillips
I listen to Planet Rock, nice and loud.
Natalie Crossan
I like dance music
Emma
Anything on the radio
Laura Barratt
Rock music for me!
Kamila
I need silence when I bake so no music is playing
Heather Crowe
I am aching to own this book. Those cakes look.. so yummy!
Helen at Casa Costello
I keep seeing almighty recipes from this book - I need to invest! I tend to go all day without putting the radio on - I just forget and get lost in my baking. I think I must sing! Just love this batten burg - you have done such a neat job. Thanks so much for keeping going with #bakeoftheweek - you are this week's featured bake. x
heatherchubb
Wow! Your cake look amazing, i'm really craving a battenburg now.
Rebecka
No bakingpowder or bakingsoda? :O
hannahhossack
Hi Rebecka, the recipe uses self-raising flour which contains raising agents so there is no need for any baking powder.