Chocolate Orange Zebra Cake (eggless)

Hi everyone!

Sorry it has been such a while since my last post, I’ve been getting all doctor-ified! Yes, you read right – I have finally graduated from my PhD! Woohoo! You can call me Dr Cake now. 😉

Mint Chocolate Brownie

Welcome back… to you and to me!

It has certainly been a bit of a hiatus since my last blog post. It was not really intentional, and it didn’t reflect a lack of baking, but rather an increasing devotion of all my writing energy towards my thesis. But I’m very pleased to say that I submitted that beast in February, and then spent the following month and a half in the UK/Europe. My husband was temporarily working in Hull, and we travelled to Edinburgh, Dublin, York, London and Lisbon. It was a fantastic trip and I have been inspired to try and bake some of the delicious treats I ate over there.

Healthier Chocolate Caramel Slice (gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, low refined sugar)

Hello friends!

Sorry it’s been a bit quiet on the blog lately, most of my spare writing energy is channelled into thesis writing these days. I had a great time in the USA, although that feels like ages ago now. I enjoyed exploring San Francisco, the conference was excellent, and I spent a couple of days in Yosemite National Park, which was stunning! I did try one snickerdoodle in the States, but I have to say, mine were nicer. Perhaps it wasn’t so fresh.

Now, as I’ve mentioned before on the blog, I’m fairly skeptical of so-called ‘healthy baking recipes’ as they tend to be oversold by people who have forgotten what butter tastes like. But I’d seen this one extolled by people I trust (such as my friend Jess), and my curiosity was piqued. I finally got around to making it, and I have to say, I was impressed!

I wouldn’t say it tastes identical to a regular Chocolate Caramel Slice, but it’s pretty damned good, and so pleasing to know that it’s not totally bad for you. Even my husband thought it was delicious! It is easily made dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan and depending on the dark chocolate you use, can have no refined sugar! Amazing!

Chocolate & Prune Cake

For most of my life, there has been one thing, and one thing only, that I associate with prunes. Can you guess what it is?! 😉

Fibre. Yep, prunes have always been strongly associated in my mind with the gut, and getting things moving. So when I noticed that two of my newest cookbooks contained recipes for Chocolate Prune Cakes, I was intrigued. Could I really eat prunes without it being for dietary reasons?

It’s that time of year again!

Hello!

Yes, it is that time of year again: Easter! My birthday! Autumn! Impending doom!

Easter!

Which, when it comes to baking and sweet treats, means Hot Cross Buns and Easter Eggs. I’ve just pulled a tray of Chocolate Hot Cross Buns out of the oven, and boy are they delicious!

In praise of the humble banana loaf

Until yesterday, I never quite realised just how important banana loaf was to me. You see, it has always been a part of my life, something familiar and comforting, but something to which I never really paid a lot of attention. You see, banana loaf isn’t really anything special, but it has always been there in the background of life.

Recipe Challenge: Ruske Kape (Russian Hats)

Hullo and velcome to my blog! (I hope you read that in a Russian accent)

Today’s post is my entry into Lina’s recipe challenge for February, which was cakes from around the world. What a fun idea! I picked Ruske Kape, or Russian Hats, which are adorable little individual cakes, which kind of resemble (surprise surprise) Russian fur hats. According to Wikipedia, they are from Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia. They consist of two layers of spongey chocolate cake, sandwiched together with buttercream, decorated on the sides with coconut and topped with chocolate. Yum!

Now, I have to admit, this WAS indeed a challenge.

Chocolate Lamingtons

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! Mine has been lovely, catching up with lots of friends and attending our second wedding of the summer. Love is in the air!

This week I’ve had a real hankering for lamingtons, so I decided to make some with the help of my new recipe book, Treats From Little and Friday, kindly donated to me by my supervisor (her favourite recipe bookmarked, look out for Chocolate Brioche, coming soon!).

Crazy Chocolate Cake

As an avid baker with a father with a severe egg allergy, I have baked many a Crazy Chocolate Cake in my time. I guess the reason it’s called ‘crazy’ is that the recipe is dairy-free and egg-free. In today’s world it probably needs to be gluten-free too, to cover all bases.

The recipe I’ve used for most of my life came from a hospital fundraising cookbook, and was okay, but nothing too special. I recently stumbled upon this recipe from Chelsea Winter and was intrigued. Balsamic vinegar? Would using dark cocoa powder make a difference? And… how good does that glossy chocolate icing look??? I had to give it a go.

Chocolate, Rum and Raisin Truffles

Happy holidays everyone! I have been rather absent from my blog in recent months, due to a combination of factors – dud recipes, baking the same old things, being too lazy to write things up and getting mega stressed out with my PhD. This year I want to complete my PhD with my mental health in tact, so hopefully getting back on the blog will help with that.