This weekend I had a go at my own pandan chiffon cake, inspired by my findings at the Great Brixton Bake Off.  But of course with a little Libertean twist…

I bought some pandan leaves from Loon Fung off Shaftsbury Avenue and made a ‘juice’ using 3 chopped up leaves per 1oz of cold water.  A pack of leaves made enough juice for 20 cakes, so I filled up ice cube trays with the excess so I can use it another time.

I then set to work making the chiffon cake.  Which, when finished, was described as “the lightest, fluffiest little cloud of a cake ever”.

But it wouldn’t be a Libertean cake if I left it at that.  So I made a coconut caramel icing to drizzle over the top.  The recipe needs a little bit of tweaking, but I will post it when it is perfected.

But in the meantime, may I introduce The Pandance…

This afternoon I went along to the Great Brixton Bake Off in search of cake inspiration.

After being happily side-tracked for a while by the fabulous swing dance troupe, who were doing a wonderfully weather-defying job of entertaining the crowds, I stumbled upon The PadDan Bakery stall.  This was exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to find.

I’ve tasted PanDan before, but never baked with it.  But after speaking to the PanDan bakery team and tasting their signature chiffon cake (pictured) I’m already scribbling out recipe ideas using this lovely ingredient!

The team told me that this was their first ever stall, and I heard that they even got a special mention from the judges of the Great Brixton Bake Off; so I’m sure they will be appearing at a lot more similar events and markets in London from now on.  Here’s where you can check them out online:

@thepandanbakery on Twitter, or facebook.com/thepandanbakery

I think we have a winner.  This is the Valhalla (http://libertean.wordpress.com/2012/03/11/the-valhalla/) but with different frosting – white chocolate and cream cheese.  This looks better, spreads better and tastes better.

I didn’t top this one with the ‘frost-bitten fruits’ as in the original, but this was just because we’d already eaten the strawberries.  So this edition got a sprinkling of left-over toasted chopped hazelnuts instead.  Lovely.

Yes, I think we may have just found the signature Libertean chocolate cake!

Beneath the snow-covered surface, topped with frost-bitten berries, lies a treasure trove of golden honeycomb and rich hazelnuts buried in this dense, dark chocolate cake.

Allow Valkyries to wing you away to Odin’s feasting halls as you plunge into this silky sweet, packed with nuts and honey-soaked fruit.  Heavenly?  Not quite.  This is Death by Chocolate, Viking style.

Best served with Mead.

I have a Naughty Little Secret to share with you… this is no ordinary chocolate cupcake.

This is not even an ordinary dark chocolate fluffy muffin topped with whipped white chocolate frosting.

Meet the Naughty Little Secret.  Adorned with gold, this is the richest girl in town, and she is in a league entirely of her own.

She dresses up all demure and respectable, but this is a creature of pure unadulterated pleasure.  Peel back her layers, nibble her nicely, and I challenge you not to squeal with delight when you come across her flagrantly flirtatious under-garments.

Some days she oozes with creamy ganache, sometimes she squirts deliciously decadent sea-salted caramel.  And on special occasions, she treats you to a mouthful of crème de marrons (the Nutty Little Secret, if you will).

This femme fatale knows all the best moves, and I think she still has several tricks up her sleeve that she hasn’t chosen to reveal yet.

This burlesque beauty really is quite a handful, and terrifically bad for you.  I dare you to take a bite…

On 3rd January Eric Hildred, or Grampy to me, snuggled down at home with loved ones nearby into the kind of long, deep sleep that you really need after nearly 92 years of doing lots of stuff.

And so it was with his nine decades of fulfilled life in mind, that my very clever sister (http://www.whiterosecakes.com/) and I set to work making a cake that would be worthy of celebrating it with.  I must point out that Kate must be credited with the design, baking, and much of the construction.  I was merely her eager sugarcraft student and decorating helper really – but proud nonetheless of my contributions!

It was an honour to commemorate the brave gentleman who served during the Second World War, and continued to wear his medals with pride while he raised money for the Poppy Appeal over the years.  The kind man who had a successful career in railways, and who enjoyed a long and happy retirement tending to his garden and allotment.  The spectacularly funny man who’s ‘home brew’ made in his shed was decidedly chemically volatile, and who’s perhaps slightly ill-advised pet doves made a mess of said beloved garden (and that of his neighbours!).  The mischievous grandfather who somehow always managed to find the silver sixpence in the Christmas Pudding (I swear we still don’t know his trick… Honest!) and who’s turn as Santa at playgroup when I was just a wee bairn had queues of parents out of the door as he took special care to converse properly with each and every child, or so I’m told.

Ok, so one or two of these memories couldn’t be crammed onto the cake, but see if you can spot most of them.  And, of course, none of the above says anything of the loving wife and family that my Grampy raised and loved so much.  But this cake wasn’t about us – it was for Grampy.  And it was with pride that we raised a glass to him on Thursday and felt so lucky to have been close to him.