Cake Auction! .......Cake recipes? Pleeese help!

Hubby needs to bake a cake for our sons fundraiser! Its a cake auction so the cake needs to Sound good AND Look good! We are debating weather something a little different will have more bids or NOT? Ideas from you experts would be appreciated :0)

What is the fundraising for?

But to you something really exceptional and will create a great interest is this recipe.

***Moroccan Honey & Mint Syrup Cake***

Batter;
160g butter softened (never melt butter when softened butter is asked for),
310g sugar,
1 ½ tsp dried or fresh mint,
6 eggs,
230g coconut &
210g Self raising flour.

Preheat oven 150c.
Beat butter, sugar & mint until change of colour.
Add small quantities of egg, coconut & flour beating well between each addition to prevent mixture from curdling.
Repeat until all is used.
Line a lightly greased 22cm spring release cake tin with baking powder.
Pour in the batter, bake for 1 –1 ½ hours ( you can make the mint syrup during this time).
Check if cake is baked by inserting a skewer in the centre.
If it comes out clean, cake is ready.
Remove from oven and allow to cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes.

Mint Syrup;
200ml water,
180g sugar &
1 ½ c roughly chopped fresh mint.
Place all in a saucepan, bring to boil stirring to ensure sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat & allow to cool for 30-45 minutes.
Strain through a sieve and discard mint leaves.
Use the syrup as directed in the following.

Assembly;
75g butter,
180g honey &
180g flaked or slivered almonds.

Preheat oven 170c.
With the cake still in tin, prick 60 to 75 holes in the top and down into the cake.
Pour the mint syrup evenly over the top of cake slowly to allow seepage into cake.
Place butter, honey & almonds in a saucepan & melt together stirring until well combined.
Do not allow to boil.
Remove from heat and immediately spread this topping on the cake to cover the whole top.
Place the cake back into oven & bake the topping to a light amber colour approx 15 minutes.
Remove and allow to cool in tin for 20-30 minutes.
Remove cake from tin carefully and remove paper gently while still warm.
Dust with icing sugar before serving.
P. S. Please avoid burning the top upon second time in oven.

And the cake is at it's best after a couple of days though one can start eating it from when it is cold and up to a couple of weeks plus.

This recipe is posted elsewhere in here but felt to do this seperate from them if you wish to use it for a fundraiser.

Cheers.

Fundraiser is for my lil fellas school, it is pet day tomorow and the blokes have been asked to bake a cake for auction, this cake sounds awesome will check the cupboards for ingrediants, the mint could be a hard one ... ... . may check the garden too lol

Found some mint, but didnt read about the almonds... ... ... *sigh* any other ideas?

Humming Bird Cake ~
1 & 1/2 C flour
2 T baking powder
1/2 t taking soda
1/2 t cinnamon
1/w t dry ginger
1 C brown sugar
1/2 C dry coconut
2 eggs
3/4 C oil
2 mashed banana's
one reg tin crusthed DRAINED pinapple.

Mix the whoe lot in a bowl, throw in a greased cake tin, bake at 180 deg C for about 50 to 60 mins.

It's seriously delicious. Ice this if you want with either passionfruit or lemon icing but mine never makes it quite that far hahah!

YUMMMMmmmmmmmmmoooOOOOOOO!

Perhaps a nice slices of most nuts or chopped nuts may help.

It just gives that very nice finish so if something that replicate would or should be okay, it will not take away the taste of the cake itself if all else is done. Cheers.

When I make hummingbird cake, I put cream cheese icing on the top

I have just put the humming bird cake in the oven. Lol, don't know how it will turn out because I can't bake to save myself. But it sounded so nice and easy that I had to try!

so hey Falcon ~ how did your Hummingbird cake turn out?
I'm interested because the very first time I made it (earlier this year) I panicked because it sounded so easy I was just bound to screw it up but actually it was dead easy. So how did you find it? And if the the top of the cake cracks etc then just chuck icing on the top ... covers a multitude of sins haha!

Morning Darlingmole, it was lovely thank you. Unfortunately im the only one that thinks so. The 2 year old just ate the icing off the top (as they do) and the 2 males of the house didn't like the pineapple in it. Lol they asked if I could just make one with the banana, ammmm sounds like a banana cake to me. I so wish I did not live with such a fussy bunch! But I must thank you again for the recipe for the stuffed cob loaf, it is a big favorite within our group of friends. I have a friend who loves giving those parties (like Tupperware)she has one nearly every week of some sort or another and these loaves always make an appearance, and everyone says how nice they are. Hope your baking you are doing today works out for you after your issues with conversions. LOL.

darlingmole, i had a hummingbird recipe that uses the pineapple UNdrained. i have used this recipe and it comes out great. gets me confused when yr version is 'drained'. what do u think

Haven't done a cake auction; but done a number of cake stalls.
This is what i have found out.
1. Cakes which sound normal sell better than quirky ones. (e. g. a chocolate cake, rather than a chocolate and raisin cake).
2. At a cake stall, cakes which are decorated (even with a cirlce of sweets) sell better than cakes which are iced but left plain.

Finally, people eat with their eyes - it needs to look good.

This sounds interesting/falconhell2002 or darlingmole, could you post it please?

As for the cake for auction, everyone seems to like carrot cake, and you can decorate it with a sprinkle of nuts and crystallised fruits - ginger, mango etcIt also looks inviting with curls of lemon zest on the icing.