The day this post will be published in the University paper, November the 15th, the first Friday of winter and my favourite day in the whole calendar…is my birthday. It’s a big deal. Always has been and always will be.
I count down for months.
On my 18th, the entire sixth form was prepped weeks in advance and one of my teachers actually sent an email to a group of students to remind them the night before the big occasion. They treated me like a six year old, giddy with excitement, who needed nothing more than balloons and cake and someone singing Happy Birthday every five mins in the corridor. With a smile from ear to ear, I walked through the buildings with my badge on, trying to guess what the theme was for my surprise party, gleefully thanking people who wished me a nice day and politely ignoring those who liked to remind me I was getting old. Then they brought alcohol and the day got more interesting!
My 21st started around three months ago when I received a birthday card containing tickets to see a musical in London on the day in question, and the fun hasn’t stopped since. Ninja Housemate turns 21 on the 18th so it only makes sense for us to have a joint birthday party and we’re having a whale of a time in the process.
I must just add, that while I’m having fun with these pseudonyms, and Ninja Housemate has appeared several times now, I may have to change her name…. She’s just been accepted onto her perfect Masters course which requires a great deal of celebration, champagne and the potential alteration of her pseudonym to Kingston Housemate…but we’ll see how I fair.
Two of our housemates and my best friend are already 21 so we have lots of ideas for a party. There is only element over which we have no control over…yep, you guessed it…the cake.
Nothing, Nil. Zero. Zilch.
We’ve been banned from baking.
Which rather ruins my article.
And my relaxation time between shifts and study.
However, I will not be thwarted!
Gym-Monkey Friend is baking, The Biscuit Monster and the Little One will be baking AND Director and Desert Housemates will be baking…but that will not stop me!
As luck would have it, a very beautiful friend of mine, a colleague at work, will have turned 18 by the time you read this, and what better way to celebrate finally being able to drink legally, than alcoholic cake! Now, I know it’s depressing to read about an 18th birthday party, for most of us it’s been too long since we turned 18 and it ‘s upsetting to realise we’re no longer sneaking into clubs, or buying cider in supermarkets with fake I.D or sipping fosters in the local bus stop (I don’t speak from experience, on that last one). However, the truth of the matter is, people are turning 18 all over the place and it’s only fair that we welcome them to adult life…not that all of us have found it yet.
I narrowed my choices down to Champagne Cake or a cocktail-based cupcake. It would have been cheaper to do champagne with hindsight, I could have bought a glass from work rather than a bottle from Tesco, but on asking the birthday girl, Mojito’s were the favourite cocktail and therefore the basis for my recipe.
As per normal, I looked at several different recipes and then made my own based on my patience, personal preference and the ingredients I could access easily. The recipe makes twelve cupcakes, an abundance of icing and some rather lovely decorations. All of which, I’m pleased to say, were a hit.
Cakes
Ingredients
– 125g Butter
– 125g Sugar
– 125g Self Raising Flour
– A slug of Rum
– 1 tbsp. Mint – finely chopped
– 1 Lime, zest and juice
– 2 eggs
– Vanilla Essence
Method
– Whisk the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. If your arm doesn’t hurt, you’ve not been doing it for long enough
– Add the eggs little by little
– Add the finely chopped mint, zest, juice, rum vanilla essence and finally the flour, scraping the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated.
Be sure to save a little mint and lime zest back from your icing.
– Spoon the mixture into twelve cupcake cases and bake at Fan 160C/Gas Mark 4, for twenty minutes.
Frosting
Ingredients
– 20ml of Rum
– 125g Cream Cheese
– 250g Icing Sugar
– Finely chopped Mint and Lime Zest
Method
– Mix the ingredients together until you have a stiff frosting that can be piped onto your cupcakes. Do this using a piping set or a sandwich bag with a hole in the corner. Add a little green food colouring to heighten the Mojito experience.
Crystallised Lime Slices
Ingredients
– 1 lime
– 240ml Water
–225g Caster Sugar
Method
– Slice the limes thinly
– Blanche the slices for two to three minutes until the pith is translucent
– Add the sugar and simmer the syrup mixture gently for ten minutes
– Drain and leave the slices to dry for an hour before coated them in sugar and leaving to set.
Chocolate Decoration
Take a bar of Cadbury Mint Bubble, melt it down and wait for it to almost harden again before drawing shapes onto a piece of greaseproof paper.
Leave these to set in the fridge and then carefully peel off the paper with a sharp knife to place on top of your finished cakes.
(I used edible glitter to turn my shapes silver)
Crazy about Cake 