Fifteen Bakes

This year I've still managed to fit in a baking session in amongst my studies; it's often just what I need to forget about the everyday and still quench my need to be creative and make something- even better that you can eat it! As well as sticking the recipe, I love to tweak things a bit, and there's been the baked creations from family and friends too. So this year:

1.   Apple cake

2.   Scones   by my Dad

3.   Apricot and yoghurt loaf cake   from Waitrose

4.   Victoria sponge

5.   Chocolate jumbles   adapted from Nigel Slater

6.   Lemon and lime drizzle cake   adapted from Mary Berry

7.   Apricot, honey and pistachio   from Twigg Studio

8.   Hazelnut and chocolate banana bread   adapted from Nigella

9.   Eton mess

10. Orange blossom flapjack   from Honey & Co - The Baking Book

11. Gluten-free chocolate cake   from Doves Farm

12. Vanilla biscuits   from BBC Good Food

13. Birthday Bake Off creations   by my colleagues

14. Cinnamon, cardamon and orange bundt   adapted from Honey & Co - The Baking Book

15. Winter berry pavlova

Parsnip & Ginger

These days I don't even bat an eyelid when I hear about a vegetable being utilised in a sweet cake. Over the past year it has been a theme or a challenge to try the less usual - courgette, beetroot and now parsnip. To say I am obsessed with the Edinburgh bakery Lovecrumbs is an enormous underestimate; I almost squeal with delight when a new picture is posted on their Instagram feed. The parsnip and ginger cake was one such occasion and immediately afterwards I hunted down this recipe from Baking Mad. The parsnips came from our weekly veg bag - which we are really enjoying. I was in a bit of a rush to make the cake this weekend and made the mistake of not reading the recipe fully before I start. See the egg picture above: I should have melted the butter first, so ended up straining out the egg (which I saved for an omelette last night), melting the butter and re-adding fresh eggs. Faff!

To the cake: it's delicious! Give it a go! The parsnips make the sponge light and the ginger in the cake and icing give it a fantastic spicy kick. My work colleagues today devoured it, which must be a great sign. So... which vegetable next?

Chocolate & Beetroot

I had an urge to bake last week and so I went back to a recipe I have been tempted by for a long while. I like to try more unusual flavour combinations, like the courgette cake, and this time it was Nigel Slater’s chocolate beetroot cake. The beetroot flavour is there but very subtle and the cake itself is rich and moist. The recipe is very easy to follow but make sure you have an electric whisk to hand – soft peaks takes a long time with a hand whisk! Mum and Dad popped over on Sunday and enjoyed their slice, and Dan won’t let me take the rest to work… so it must be good!

Lemon and Poppies

A birthday is a great excuse for me to get baking (although simply bringing in baked goods for my colleagues seems to be too at the moment!) For Louise and Mike's birthday I decided to bake a lemon and poppy seed cake, adapted from this Mary Berry recipe. I simply added the poppy seeds and a squeeze of lemon juice. The decoration was inspired by the Lovecrumbs Bakery in Edinburgh which I came across this week. Their flavour combinations sound magical and visually the cakes are beautiful. If ever I'm up in Edinburgh I'll be sure to go.

Back to the birthday cake, it went down a treat so I think this is a recipe to be replicated again and again!

Merry Christmas

Ho ho ho! Merrrrryyyy Christmas! The season is upon us but the big day itself has come and gone. It was a lovely day with my family; eating, drinking, playing games and watching the Downton Abbey Christmas special. I was treated to a wondrous selection of kind gifts - Santa delivered in the night without me even noticing! My favourite of these I hope to post about soon. 

I am ashamed to realise that this is my first post in December - what has happened? Life, well no, work. University work. I aim to update with what has gone on over this over the next few days...

Australia Day

Lamington's by me. Anzacs by Leah. Vegemite and beetroot cob. Curried egg on bread. Our Australia day feast!

Glorious Grub

I've really enjoyed getting back into cooking since moving into the flat. I baked honey cake and Emma made us a delicious vegetable and noodle soup. Don't worry mothers, we're eating well!

Cake Tower

During a quiet and relaxing weekend, I often get the urge to bake something. Today I felt like a bit of experimentation, so I made up this recipe for chocolate nutty cupcakes. They're very basically:

4oz sugar creamed into 4 oz marg, pop in two eggs (from the chicks) and then mix in 4oz self raising flour. For the flavour stir in 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder, 2 tblsp of shredded coconut and a small handful of chopped mixed nuts (I used almonds, pine nuts and hazelnuts). Spoon into cake cases and pop in the oven for 15-20mins. Easy!

The pictures are taken with the cake stand which Steph and Lou gave me for my birthday!

Old Fashioned

Yesterday Lauren and I had an adventure around London. Our main aim was to visit the London Street Photography exhibition at the Museum of London, which we really enjoyed. 

We then walked along to Spitalfields where we popped into a sweet sweet shop, A. Gold Tradition Foods of Britain, where you can buy lemon curd or traditional lemonades, or purchase a sandwich for lunch. I love the bunting hanging outside! We had a drink and a slice of treacle tart at the Market Coffee House just along the way. It was like stepping into an English restaurant in the early 1900s, which we loved. I spotted one of the winning team from this year's University Challenge (the one that looked like Napoleon Dynamite!) in there which excited me greatly!

The Big Day

What an incredibly wedding it was! I watched the arrivals and the service with friends and family and to this moment can't believe how beautiful the day was, especially the bride! What a dress! We had a barbeque in the afternoon and across the country (and the world) so many people were celebrating in different ways. I love the official wedding portrait and here is the British Monarchy Flickr page. So now one more day off, and then back to normality...

Easter Eggs

I love Easter as a time for a big meal with the family, sitting chatting, doing crosswords, having elbow nudges from the dog, playing with the chickens and enjoying the sun. I love long weekends, and especially having two (thanks Wills and Kate!)