Got your little one’s big 1st birthday coming up? We love celebrating birthdays – and by birthdays, we mean cake – so we’ve pulled together some of our favourite birthday cakes, made using our Piccolo pouches!
These delicious birthday cakes are easy to make (if we can, you can), look impressive (step aside Mary Berry) and fun for your older kids to get involved with too (great way to focus their energy).
Important notice, these cakes are not limited to 1st birthdays…
Upside Down Peach & Orange Cake
Preparation time: 30 mins | Ready in 70 mins | Make 12 slices |
Ingredients
- 175g butter
- 150g golden caster sugar
- 2 x tin of peaches in juice, drained
- 1 x Piccolo Peach & Apple pouch
- 2 large eggs
- 185g self-raising flour
- 70g ground almonds
- 1 tsp grated orange zest
Method
- Line the base of a 20cm, loose-bottomed cake tin with baking paper. Pre-heat the oven to 170C / gas mark 4.
- With one tin of peaches, slice the peaches in half lengthways so they are the same shape but thinner and line the tin working from the centre out. With the other drained tin, simply roughly chop the peaches. Cream the butter and sugar together in a food mixer until pale and fluffy.
- Add the eggs a little at a time to the creamed butter and sugar and beat gently (if there is any sign of curdling, stir in a tablespoon of the flour, but don’t worry as once you add the flour it will sort itself out).
- Mix the flour and almonds together and fold in, with the mixture at a slow speed, in two or three separate lots. Add the Piccolo pouch, orange zest if using and stir in the chopped peaches.
- Scrape the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Apple & Apricot Cake
Preparation time: 30 mins | Ready in 90 mins | Make 12 slices |
Ingredients
- 250g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 150g caster sugar
- 1 x Piccolo apple & apricot pouch
- 2 large eggs
- 150g butter, melted
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 225g cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced thickly
- 100g dried unsulphered apricots, roughly chopped
- 25g flaked almonds
Method
- Pre-heat the oven at 160c / fan 140c / gas 3
- Grease a 20cm loose bottomed cake tin and line with baking parchment
- Measure the flour, baking powder, sugar, eggs, almond extract and melted butter and Piccolo pouch into a large bowl. Mix well to combine then beat for 1 minute.
- Add the apples and apricots to the bowl and gently mix with a spoon.
- Spoon the mix into the prepared tin, gently level the surface and sprinkle with flaked almonds. Bake for 1 – 1.5 hour, until the cake is golden and firm to the touch.
- Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes then turn out.
- Serve with crème fraiche or vanilla ice cream.
Cherry & Yoghurt Cake
Preparation time: 20 mins | Ready in 45 mins | Make 12 slices |
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 3 x Piccolo Cherry & Yoghurt pouches (300g)
- 200g self raising flour
- 150g caster sugar
- Pinch of Salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 x large eggs (if not wanting to use eggs, you can use 100g coconut oil melted but will make quite a dense cake)
- 200g pitted fresh cherries, roughly chopped, or chopped dried cherries
For the Icing
- 1 tbsp cherry jam
- 250g icing sugar
Method
- Preheat oven to 180 C / Gas 4. Grease and flour one 20 x 30cm (9×13 in) baking tin.
- Mix together the yoghurt, flour, sugar and pinch of salt. Add the oil, vanilla and eggs.
- Beat until you have a smooth batter.
- Pour into greased baking tin and bake for around 45 mins until golden on top.
- Leave to cool, then mix the icing sugar with the jam, and enough water to bring to a smooth but not runny icing, and ice the cake!
Banana & Blueberry Cheesecake
Preparation time: 30 mins | Make 12 slices
Ingredients
For the Base
- 200g Digestives
- 130g Crunchies (x4 multipack = 130g)
- 130g Butter, melted
For the Filling
- 400g Cream Cheese (mascarpone or normal cream cheese)
- 100g icing sugar
- 300ml double cream
- 2x Piccolo Banana, Blueberry & Apple Pouches (200g)
For the Topping (optional):
- 50g Milk Chocolate, melted
- 1/2 sliced banana
- handful of blueberries
Method
- Melt the butter in the microwave on short bursts, or in a small pan over a medium heat.
- Put the digestives and crunchies in a sealed plastic bag and bash away with a rolling pin until you get a small crumb.
- Mix in a bowl with the melted butter until well combined. Tip into a 20cm deep springform tin and press down firmly. Pop in the fridge until it is set.
- To make the Cheesecake filling, whisk the cream cheese and icing sugar until combined. Pour in the double cream and continue to whip the mixture until it starts to thicken like a mousse.
- Either mix in the blueberry, banana and apple pouches to make an overall purple cheesecake and whip again, or leave the pouches to swirl on top of the cheesecake.
- Pour the mix onto the biscuit base, smooth over (if using the pouches to swirl, pour over the puree in swirling movements and mix in with a spoon to get marbling effect). Cover and chill in the fridge for at least 5-6 hours but ideally overnight.
Blueberry & Banana Cake
Preparation time: 20 mins | Ready in 60 mins | Make 12 slices |
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 250g self-raising flour
- 175g butter
- 175g light muscavado sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons demerara sugar
- 1 small apple, grated
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- zest of 1 orange
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 Piccolo Blueberry & Banana Pouch
- 200g blueberries
- 3 ripe bananas
For the Icing
- 200g icing sugar
- 1/2 Piccolo Blueberry & Banana Pouch
- 1-2 tsp warm water
Method
- Preheat oven to 180 C / Gas 4.Grease and flour a large loaf tin.
- Rub the flour, butter and muscavado sugar together to make fine crumbs. mix into the cinnamon and demerara sugar and set aside.
- In a bowl mix together the eggs, grated apple and orange zest.
- Stir the baking powder into the earlier rubbed-in crumb mixture then quickly and lightly stir in the egg mixture. Fold in the berries and 1/2 of the Piccolo pouch. Spoon into the tin and level.
- Bake for 1 hour. Test with a knife / skewer, if it comes out clean it is cooked through. After 40 minutes, cover loosely with foil. Leave to cool before removing from tin.
- Once cool, make the icing and let it drizzle over the sides. If you want a thicker icing, simply add more icing sugar. Decorate with flowers and sliced blueberries.
Strawberry Ice Box Cake
Preparation time: 30 mins | Ready in 180 mins | Make 12 slices
Ingredients
- 1 x 250g pack of digestive biscuits
- 300ml crème fraiche or half crème fraiche / half full fat natural yoghurt
- 3 x Piccolo banana, strawberry and peach puree pouches
- 2 x medium bananas, thinly sliced
- 300g of thinly sliced strawberries
Method
- In a trifle bowl or glass casserole dish, place a layer of digestive biscuits, breaking them to cover the base of the dish.
- Over the biscuits, spoon a thin layer of crème fraiche, then a thin layer of the Piccolo pouch.
- Place a layer of sliced banana over the puree.
- Repeat a layer of the biscuits, crème fraiche and puree before adding a layer of strawberries.
- Add one more layer of crème fraiche and decorate the top with fresh strawberries.
- Cover and place in refrigerator overnight or until the biscuits have become soft (at least three hours).
Sweet Potato & Beetroot Chocolate Cake
Preparation time: 20 mins | Ready in 25 mins | Make 12 slices
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 2 x Piccolo Sweet Potato, Beetroot & Apple pouches (or 250g well-drained, cooked beetroots, pureed)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 250g caster sugar
- 250ml vegetable oil
- 3 eggs
- 225g plain flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
For the Decoration
- Whipped cream or a layer of melted chocolate
Method
- Preheat oven to 180 C / Gas 4. Grease and flour one 20 x 30cm (9 x 13in) baking tin.
- In a large bowl, combine the Piccolo purees, eggs, vanilla, oil and sugar. Mix with an electric mixer on low speed until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, mix together flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cocoa. Add to the creamed mixture, beating together well. Pour batter into prepared tin.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until done. Cool and frost with your favourite icing or melted chocolate.
Chocolate Brownie Cake
Preparation time: 20 mins | Ready in 25 mins | Make 12 slices
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 350g plain chocolate, broken into pieces
- 275g unsalted butter
- 3 medium eggs
- 225g Dark Brown Soft Sugar
- 150g self-raising flour
- 75g Dark Chocolate Chips
- 1 x Piccolo Banana, Strawberry & Peach pouch
For the Icing:
- 100g Icing Sugar
- 150g very soft unsalted butter
- 1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste
- 200g Bonne Maman Cherry Compote
- 1 Piccolo Cherry & Yoghurt Pouch
- 1 tsp cocoa for dusting
Method
- Preheat the oven to 190C / Gas Mark 5. Grease and base line 2 x 22cm sandwich tins.
- Melt the chocolate and butter in a large bowl over a pan of simmering water.
- Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and sugar until pale and fluffy. Stir in the chocolate mixture and then fold in the flour, 1 x Piccolo pouch and chocolate chips. Divide between the 2 tins and bake for 25 minutes until just cooked. Allow to cool, then chill.
- To make the filling, whisk the butter, sugar, piccolo pouch and vanilla extract together until pale and fluffy. Drain the cherry compote.
- Spread the butter icing over 1 half of the brownie cake, spoon over the drained cherries and top with the remaining brownie cake. Dust with cocoa and serve.
Classic Victoria Spongecream
Preparation time: 30 mins | Ready in 20 mins | Make 12 slices
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 200g caster sugar
- 200g softened butter
- 4 eggs
- 200g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp milk
For the Filling:
- 100g cream cheese
- 100g softened unsalted butter
- 100g icing sugar
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 3 tbsp. raspberry jam
- 1 x Piccolo Banana, Blueberry & Apple pouch
- Fresh raspberries to put in between layers
Method
- Heat oven to 190C/ fan 170C / gas 5. Butter two 20cm sandwich tins and line with non-stick baking paper. In a large bowl, beat together the softened butter and sugar until pale. Mix in the eggs one by one and then add the rest of the cake ingredients.
- Divide the mixture between the tins, smooth the surface with a spatula or the back of a spoon, then bake for about 20 mins until golden and the cake springs back when pressed.
- Turn onto a cooling rack and leave to cool completely.
- Once the cake is cool make the cream centre by whisking the softened butter until there is only smooth butter, then combine with the cream cheese and mix thoroughly together.
- Start incorporating the icing sugar using a sieve, and using a metal or wooden spoon, gently fold the icing sugar in slowly. Make the filling by mixing together the jam and pouch. Spread this mix over the layer of one of the sponges followed by a layer of the cream cheese frosting and a layer of raspberries. Sandwich the second sponge on top. Cover the cake with a sprinkling of icing sugar and lots of fresh fruit, or make double the cream cheese filling and use this as a layer of icing on top of the cake.
Red Velvet Cake with Raspberries
Preparation time: 30 mins | Ready in 40 mins | Make 12 slices
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 120g white flour
- 100g wheat flour
- 1 1/2 tsb baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 150g golden caster sugar
- 1 x Piccolo Cherry & Yoghurt pouch
- 3 eggs
- 240ml buttermilk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Red gel food coloring, 5 – 10 drops (varies with brand)
- Mini chocolate chips (optional)
For the Icing:
- 200g icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 200g cream cheese, softened
- Punnet of raspberries
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180 C / Gas 4. Grease and line one 20 x 30cm (9 x 13in) baking tin.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Use a whisk to mix dry ingredients and set aside.
- In a large bowl or mixer combine the Piccolo pouch, sugar, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and red gel food colouring. Stir to combine.
- Beat together the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients and mix well.
- Pour batter evenly into cake tin. Bake for 30 – 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
- For the icing. Beat all ingredients together until creamy and fluffy. Allow cakes to cool. Using dental floss or a sharp knife, slice cakes in half.
- Spoon about 2 tbsp of cream cheese icing on the bottom half and layer and spread evenly, add a layer of raspberries. Place top half back on and then cover tops with icing and decorate with raspberries.
