cooking

Chocolate Orange Cake

Chocolate Orange Cake

I’ve never had Chocolate Orange cake before. In fact I don’t think I’ve even seen one on offer anywhere and I have no idea why not! Chocolate and orange are a well-established hit-combination so why not a Chocolate Orange cake? So I decided to experiment and invent one. The sponge is a basic Victoria Sponge(…)

Fruity Fatless Tea Bread

Fruity Fatless Tea Bread

There really couldn’t be a simpler recipe than this, and the beauty of this cake is not only that its packed with fruit, it also has not butter or oil in the recipe (unless you slather it with butter when you eat it of course!). The only thing to remember is to plan ahead, as(…)

A Really Special Blackberry and Apple Crumble

A Really Special Blackberry and Apple Crumble

There are a couple of reasons why this was a very special pudding. Partly because we went out early in the morning to forage for fresh blackberries, and partly because the crumble topping in this recipe is something VERY special – it must be the addition of ground almonds and cinnamon, but it’s light and(…)

Bacon and Egg Cupcakes

Bacon and Egg Cupcakes

I’ve seen these everywhere on the internet and couldn’t resist trying them. These aren’t so much my typical baking sweet treat as a real weekend brunch special. Bacon and eggs but in a cute cupcake package. What’s not to love? I didn’t use any particualar recipe, I just made it up as I went along.(…)

Saturday Baking: Banana Pecan Bread

Saturday Baking: Banana Pecan Bread

There’s nothing quite like the aroma of freshly baked Banana bread and fresh coffee to make your house smell amazing, and it’s also very tasty to enjoy afterwards!  This recipe is an adapted version from Nigella’s Banana Bread. Make sure you leave it in the tin until it’s completely cold otherwise it’ll break up as(…)

Lemon Shortbread Kitten Biscuits

Lemon Shortbread Kitten Biscuits

I had a bit of a baking fail today. It was my mum’s birthday a couple of days ago and I planned to make her belated birthday cupcakes using the boobie-cake recipe, which is scribbled inside one of my recipe books. It was only when I had started spooning the rather stiff mixture into the(…)

Saturday Baking: Chocolate Orange Brownies

Saturday Baking: Chocolate Orange Brownies

I simply had to share a bit of a cooking revelation I had. I made brownies yesterday but instead of using plain dark chocolate I used dark chocolate flavoured with orange and WOW the results were good! Gooey, tasty, dark and delicious. I think they’re even better than the amazing ‘unbeatable’ brownies from a couple(…)

Saturday Baking: Coconut Jam Sandwich Cakes

Saturday Baking: Coconut Jam Sandwich Cakes

You know when you fancy trying something just a little bit different? We seem to be going through cake like nobody’s business now that the school holidays have started so I thought I’d try these Coconut Jam Sandwich Bars. When I saw the picture (and thought ‘mmmmm’) I didn’t realise there would be *quite so(…)

Unbeatably Good Brownies

Unbeatably Good Brownies

I went for some total baking decadence today. All things considered you really can’t beat a great home-baked chocolate brownie. Not the bland stodgy ones you buy in shops, they’re a completely different animal. If never had a home-baked brownie I urge you to try these – they are dense and rich and slightly chewy(…)

Old Fashioned Cherry Cake

Old Fashioned Cherry Cake

I’ve been eating cherries like they’re going out of style this week, so what could be more appropriate than baking an old-fashioned English cherry cake for the weekend? I’m not sure that glacé cherries really count as one of your five-a-day, but it’s a lovely piece of cake to have with your morning coffee and the(…)

Saturday Baking: My Crush on Nigel Slater Continues…

Saturday Baking: My Crush on Nigel Slater Continues…

As you might have noticed from last week’s delicious lemon and thyme cake, I’ve currently got a massive chef-crush on Nigel Slater*. This week I was looking to use up brown bananas *again*. I don’t know why I bother buying bananas they never get eaten! Anyway, this looked like something a little different to try(…)

Saturday Baking: Nigel Slater’s Thyme & Lemon Cake

Saturday Baking: Nigel Slater’s Thyme & Lemon Cake

Bear with me, I know the idea of thyme in a lemon cake might seem strange but it adds something truly special to it. I took this recipe from Nigel Slater’s The Kitchen Diaries II, which I can’t recommend highly enough. I love the way he delights in simple good-quality ingredients and makes thoughtful unfussy(…)

Sunday Baking: Deluxe (and Easy) Carrot Cake Traybake

Sunday Baking: Deluxe (and Easy) Carrot Cake Traybake

Fancy something delicious for the weekend? How about this? It’s moist, tasty and fabulous, and there’s nothing like the combination of carrot cake with buttercream and a splodge of whipped cream too. I can’t recommend this cake highly enough – hope you like it too! x Ingredients: 175g/6oz golden caster sugar 175ml/6fl oz olive oil(…)

Saturday Morning Baking: Fat-Free Banana Muffins

Saturday Morning Baking: Fat-Free Banana Muffins

I’ve spent the last week tidying-up Theo’s enormous birthday cake (somebody had to eat all that cake), and my arteries are groaning from all that buttercream so I’m baking healthy again today. Instead of making the same No-No Banana Loaf I tried a few weeks ago, I decided to try to make some fat-free banana(…)

My Minecraft Cake Debacle

My Minecraft Cake Debacle

I should have learned by now NOT to ask my son what kind of cake he wants for his birthday. When he announced he wanted a Minecraft cake this year I was pretty chuffed. After all, Minecraft is known for being blocky, pixelly and badly rendered so how hard could it be?* Well, as you(…)

Saturday Morning Baking: No-No Banana Cake (No Fat, No Sugar)

Saturday Morning Baking: No-No Banana Cake (No Fat, No Sugar)

This should actually be called Yes-Yes Banana Cake as you can eat as much of it as you like totally guilt free! I’ll be honest, the idea of a fat-free sugar-free banana cake sounded a bit grim before I tried it, but I’m on a diet at the moment and frankly, I got a bit(…)

Vintage Baking: A Delicate & Delicious Coconut Cake

Vintage Baking: A Delicate & Delicious Coconut Cake

Am I making you feel hungry? I’m making it my mission this afternoon to try to photograph this cake in a way that shows just how delicious it is – how does it look? It’s not an overtly coconutty cake, more a classic sponge with a delicate coconut flavour, then smothered in strawberry jam and(…)

Vintage Baking: Brooklyn Blackout Cake

Vintage Baking: Brooklyn Blackout Cake

I love baking, it’s such a satisfying thing to do (and it gives you a great reason to eat and share cake – bliss!). For my husband’s birthday a few days ago I made a Brooklyn Blackout Cake: a dark, rich and very chocolatey cake covered in dark chocolate custard frosting.