I need a recipie for some fancy looking cakes!

Does this help (Never guess I submit my own recipes to magazines etc):
Below is a cake recipe I've used a few times for charity coffee mornings and its always gone down a treat! At the end of the recipe I have suggested some alternatives for coffee as not everyone likes it.

Ingredients:


125g margarine
60g demerara sugar
2 medium sized eggs (beated together)
4 tbsps honey (clear is preferable)
2 tbsps strong black coffee (use instant and leave it to cool before use)
250g brown flour (although plain can be used as well)
3 tsp baking powder
90g shelled walnuts, roughly chopped
10-12 shelled walnuts halves


Method:

Preheat your oven to 170 C (Gas mark 3). Grease a deep 8 inch (20cm) round cake tin. This is best done by lining the base of the tin with greaseproof paper lightly greased with a little margarine and lightly grease the sides of the tin using a piece of kitchen towel containing a piece of margarine.

Into a large mixing bowl combine the margarine, sugar and honey. Using a wooden spoon beat them together until the mixture is light and fluffy. Please don't use a food processor for this bit as the texture is not quite the same. To the mixture add the beaten eggs a small amount at a time. Stir well after each addition. Once this has been done, beat in the cooled coffee. Add the flour and baking powder using a sieve (this ensures your batter will be lump free). This time using a large metal spoon fold the flour and baking powder into the batter. Once this has been done add the chopped walnuts and stir thoroughly.

Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared cake tin. Make sure the mixture is as level as possible in the cake tin. Use a spatula or icing knife to smooth the surface of the batter. Doing this will give the top of the cake a nice level glassy surface. Once you've done this add the walnut halves to the top of the batter. I prefer to arrange them around the edge as this gives you a portion guide when cutting it.

Place the cake tin in the centre of the oven until it has risen and is a nice dark golden brown. The cake should also be springy to touch in the centre (it only needs gently pressed to prevent finger marks in the cake!). The total cooking time is about 50 to 55 minutes. If you are using a fan assisted oven reduce your cooking time by 5 to 10 minutes to prevent the cake being burned. Once removed from the oven take the cake out of the cake tin and remove the greaseproof paper from the bottom of the cake. If you are having trouble getting the cake out of the tin run a sharp knife round the tin. Leave the cake to cool on a wire rack for about 20 to 30 minutes before serving.


Serving suggestions:

This cake is delicious on its own as it is very moist. But it can also be served with normal whipped cream, sweet vanilla whipped cream (add a couple of drops of vanilla essence and 1 tsp of white sugar to your cream before whipping it), orange rind, brandy cream (1 tsp of brandy added to cream to be whipped), caramel syrup or fresh fruit (strawberries and raspberries go particularly well). Or any combination of the above!


Alternatives:

Ok not everyone likes coffee, so as an alternative you can add the following in place of the 2 tbsp coffee:

- 2 tbsp cocoa (chocolate and walnut cake)
- 2 tbsp lemon juice (lemon and walnut cake)
- 2 tbsp orange juice (use the orange juice with 'bits' in for extra flavour, orange and walnut cake)
- 1 tsp of vanilla essence (vanilla and walnut cake)


I usually get asked about the calorific value of my baking, especially at coffee mornings. Roughly this whole cake works out at 3000 calories, so if the cake is sectioned into 12 (and this works out as a big piece!), it has about 250 calories in a slice excluding any cream added.

No problem, don't worry if you don't have brown flour normal plain works just as well.

How about a simple malteaser cake? I make mine by making a simple victoria sponge mix (60a flour, 1tsp BP, 3 eggs, 6oz sugar, 6oz marg), but substitue 1oz of sugar with horlicks. Bake the cakes in two tins and then sandwich together with chocolate cream made with 200g bar of chocolate, 1tbs cocoa, medium tub of double cream 1tbs butter (melt everything together and then whisk until thick and then add in about 3oz icing sugar). Only use about a third of the mix for the sandwiching and then spread another third around the sides of the cake and roll it in crushed malteasers. Spread the top of the cake with the rest of the mixture and decorate with malteasers. It's easy and looks impressive.