Udi’s UK and My Monumental Minion Celebration Cake!
As the increasingly early anticipation of Christmas is drip-fed into our subconscious from every direction, my family and I are still in birthday mode. Autumn is a busy time for birthdays in our household, but the end is in sight with just 3 more birthdays to go. So, the thought of Christmas has been neatly parked for at least a couple of weeks.
Last week marked William’s 5th birthday. One giant gluten-free milestone in his little life and one that he was bursting with excitement for. You would have thought it was Christmas Eve in our house the way he repeatedly asked how much longer until he was 5. I make the mistake, (and between you and me, do each year) of asking all three children what kind of birthday cake they would like me to make for their birthday celebrations.
With one eye on Great British Bake Off repeats and the other eye on my laptop I made the fatal error of agreeing to his gluten-free cake choice. The deal was done, eye contact made and contract agreed, legally bound as far as William was concerned and so he ran off.
This years choice of cake was a Minion from Despicable Me 2 called Kevin. ‘Happy’ is one thing I was not at that moment in time. This vivid yellow cake character grinned back at me on screen with just one eye. I knew I was going to be challenged, but two can play that game, eh? I am not one to be defeated by such a monumental, 3D masterpiece in front of me.
It has been said that Minions are ‘impulsive creatures with little self-control, but with a wide-eyed wonder and odd innocence that endears them to viewers and makes them relatable’. Read more. Essentially, this is William in a nutshell! Maybe we will become friends after all.
I usually make cakes from scratch, gluten-free or otherwise as I get an enormous amount of pleasure from experimenting and fine tuning recipes. I have to say, I was a tad nervous adhering to instructions as I am more of an intuitive baker, a bit like a musician who plays music by ear, but I chose to break away from routine and used Udi’s Delicious and Fluffy Sponge Cake Mix.
It lived up to its name and certainly rose to the occasion as you can see from the dissection of my cake post party. The sponge was soft in texture and didn’t leave you with that heavy feeling that some cakes can. A number of people were surprised when I told them it was gluten-free, commenting that they could not tell the difference.
Using a cake mix certainly saves you the labour of measuring out the dry ingredients, if you don’t have a well stocked cupboard or maybe the confidence to bake from scratch and you don’t need a lot of extra ingredients on-hand either. Simply add 2 large eggs, softened butter, gluten-free vanilla extract and milk or water.
This mix is a versatile blank canvas which you can put your stamp on with the introduction of your personal favourite flavours but as the Minion cake was made up of many layers filled with homemade strawberry jam and buttercream I didn’t want to overpower the cake with lots of additional flavours in this instance. The mix retails at £2.50p and is presently available to buy in Tesco.
Whilst we are on the subject, I think it is important to say that it is not just us celebrating a birthday milestone, Udi’s UK have now been trading in the UK for over a year and going from strength to strength with the range and availability of gluten-free products rising continually as we speak.
And so, for a couple of weeks the pressure is off me to bake another birthday celebration cake. The Minion was a big success and so was the sponge. It made it through transit to the party which is always a bonus with various strangers stopping along the way to ask all about it and ultimately I was happy with the end result. But I am wondering what photo the imminent 2 year old will choose as his birthday cake, or should I say point at!
Every bake is unique for a reason…and this is why I love baking!