Chocolate Spice Cake

This cake reminds me of honeyed spice cake, very moist, but not too dense. It’s actually quite light and fluffy, with a gorgeously sweet Biscoff-Maple glaze!

Smoothed to Perfection

The Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 130g plain flour
• 45g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp ground cinammon
• 3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 55g dark brown sugar
• 100g caster sugar
• 235ml milk with a squeeze of jemon juice (you can use any milk here, even dairy free!)
• 80ml sunflower oil
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• For the glaze:
• 85g biscoff/speculoos
• 125g icing sugar
• 2 tsp maple syrup
• Splash of milk
• Chocolate to decorate (optional)

Method:

• Sift the flour and cocoa powder into your mixing bowl or stand mixer, and add in the rest of the dry ingredients
• Mix until well combined and no lumps remain
• Add in the milk, oil and vanilla and mix well
• Make sure all ingredients are well combined then pour into a lined loaf tin and bake on 175oC for 40-45 mins
• When cake is baked, leave to cool and make the glaze
• Sift in the icing sugar into a mixing bowl and add in the rest of the ingredients
• Mix vigorously until you get a thick glaze
• When cake is cooled, pour over the top and leave to set
• I grated chocolate over the top for a pretty finish

Moist and fluffy spice cake

 

Want a slice?

 

Chocolate ginger sandwiches

This weather is craaaayzee! Horrible and cold, snow and rain. PLEASE bring the spring soon! To comfort myself on another cold night, I decided to spice it up with an ingredient I don’t normally use… Ginger. I was inspired by the Domestic Sluttery Just Desserts theme of Fred and Ginger.

Of course, every Ginger needs her Fred, a delicious bite of chocolate! So here they are, my choco-ginger cookies, sandwiched together with a marscapone cream cheese stuffing!

Fred and Ginger biscuits

Ingredients:

• 290g plain flour
• 30g cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 170g softened unsalted butter
• 200g light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 100g golden syrup
• 60g dark chocolate chips
• Granulated sugar, to roll the dough in
• One package marscapone cheese
• Tsp vanilla bean paste/syrup
• More golden syrup!

Method:

• Whist together brown sugar and softened butter in bowl and add the egg and golden syrup until all combined
• Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, spices and bicarb
• Mix well until all ingredients are combined
• Stir in chocolate chips
• Shape into round balls, you should make about 30
• Roll in granulated sugar
• Place onto baking parchment covered tray and bake in a preheated oven at 175OC for 12 mins, or until cracks form in the tops of cookies
• Leave to cool for a few minutes then transfer onto cooling rack
• Make the filling by whipping the marscapone and adding in vanilla and as much golden syrup as you like!
• Spread on cooled cookies and munch… I think these are much better the next day!

Cookie balls waiting for the oven

 

Just out of the oven and ready to be sandwiched together!

 

Kissing cookies!

 

 

Stacked up ready to be eaten!

 

Go on… take a bite!

 

So have you had any successful baking experiments recently?

Pumpkin Pancakes and Porridge

Morning! I’ve got the perfect breakfast post for you today, and it’s Pumpkin-themed, what better?! I’ve missed big american-style breakfasts on my healthy eating kick, so I thought I’d give it a go, and i’m happy I did because I had 2 very yummy breakfasts this weekend. First up, Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin Pancakes with caramel drizzle

These were delish!

The recipe:

• 1 cup (american measurement) of pureed pumpkin (you can find the brand Libby’s in Waitrose)
• 2 dollops (heaped tablespoons) of fat free greek yogurt
• 8 eggs
• half a tsp of bicarbonate of soda
• some vanilla bean paste
• 2 tsp of cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp mixed spice

Method:

• Whisk all wet ingredients together, then stir in the dry ingredients until the batter comes together. It should be quite thin
• I used a few sprays of fry light but you can use butter in a frying pan
• Scoop the batter in (I used an ice cream scoop)
• When the pancake bubbles up on one side, flip it

Flippin’ amazing!

Serve whilst hot! I stacked berries in the middle of my pancakes for an extra healthy kick, plus drizzled my sugar free caramel syrup on top. My mum’s boyfriend positively guzzled them down and he isn’t even on a healthy kick!

Stacked with berries and drizzled with sauce

These definitely fuelled my snowy 7-mile walk on the heath!

Walking with Kolo the snow dog

On Sunday morning I wanted to use up the rest of my pumpkin, so I called on Chocolate Covered Katie’s recipe for healthy baked oatmeal (That’s porridge to us Brits!)

Pumpkin Porridge

The recipe:

• 35g porridge oats
• Quarter american cup pureed pumpkin
• Splash of skimmed milk
• Tbs sweetener such as splenda
• 100 ml water
• tsp cinnamon
• dash of nutmeg
• splash of vanilla esscence

Method

• Combine all ingredients and mix until combined
• Pour into a heat-proof ramekin
• Bake on 200oC for 20 mins
• Turn up to 250oC for last 5 mins for a crispy top
• Serve warm, I put some berries in the top and obviously also drizzled on some of my favourite caramel sauce!

Tastes like a big breakfast cookie!

I hope you enjoy! Whats your favourite weekend breakfast?

Brunch Baking

Morning all, I think 10am calls for a spot of brunch… what do you think?! This is the brunch I made for New Years Day:

New Years Day Brunch!

Enough to feed 15? More like 50! I laid on a huge spread, starting off with bagels, crumpets, spreads and dips, working our way onto cheese and crackers and crisps, then onto dessert… Fresh from the oven cinnamon rolls, fruit pastries, triple chocolate brownies, blueberry muffins, white chocolate pretzels, and rice crispy cakes, as well as chocolate and biscuits! I also added in some chocolate spoons which stirred into hot milk to create the BEST hot chocolate!

Triple chocolate brownies

Cinnamon rolls

Lots of cinnamon rolls!

Hot chocolate spoons

Berry pastry

Blueberry cinnamon crunch muffins and oreo rice crispy cakes

White chocolate covered pretzels

Healthy Pumpkin Pie

Happy Tuesday Cake Snobs! If, like me, you have a genuine Tuesday face, (sad and droopy) this post should cheer you up! Continuing on my healthy eating theme (I’ve now lost a stone and a half in 12 weeks) and feeling a bit american, this weekend I made the classic american dessert Pumpkin Pie. With pumpkin (obviously) being the main ingredient, I turned this usually calorific pie into a low fat delight!

Pumpkin Pie

I made this pie by mixing together a mish mash of different ingredients and hoping it would work! With one can of Libby’s pure pumpkin (I found this in a lovely grocery store in High Street Kensington) I added a tsp of cinnamon, half a tsp of ginger, half a cup of milk, a packet of Quaker quick oats (27g) as well as splenda and calorie free caramel sauce to taste. Then I mixed vigorously and put in a tinfoil pie dish.

I baked it at 180OC for 45 mins, then left to set overnight (a few hours in the fridge should usually do it) and sliced it up the next day. You can have this hot or cold, but i think I like it best served hot with a dollop of yoghurt. Don’t worry, it wont last very long, but with hardly any calories, its guilt free!

So you wont mind if I have the last slice?

 

Healthy Baking 2

Hi Cake Snobs! As some of you may know, I’ve changed my diet since the end of August this year to try and be a bit healthier. Of course i’m still making/baking cupcakes which means still having a taste but it means that the other aspects of my diet are better. Yesterday I reached my Club 10 award in Slimming World, which means I’ve lost 10% of my body weight. I’m really happy and hope it will spur me on further! So without further ado, here’s some recipes I made for last night’s SW buffet:

Lemon Meringue Pie:

Syn free LMP

 

• 500g Quark (fat free cream cheese)
• Juice & zest of 1 and a 1/2 lemons
• 6 tbs sweetener (I use splenda)
• 5 egg yolks
• Beat this in a bowl and spoon into silicone cupcake cases or ramekins
• Bake in the oven at 180 degrees celsius for about 14 mins
• Whilst this is happening, whisk remaining egg whites (5) with a squeeze of lemon juice until it forms soft peaks, then add in about 4tbs sweetener and vanilla essence.
• Once “pies” have been baked, pipe or spoon this mixture on top and bake for a further 8 mins.
• Serve once slightly cooled.

Take a bite of pie!

Mini meringues

I’ve also been enjoying breakfast, and my favourite weekend treat is to kick back with a bowl of special porridge, which I make as normal but add a dash of cinnamon to the oats/milk/water whilst cooking. Once the porridge is made, I drizze some Walden Farms sugar&fat free caramel syrup over it and add a handful of fresh raspberries. DELISH!

Special Porridge

For a pimped up version – bake your porridge oats for half an hour, it tastes like a muffin!

Baked Blueberry and Raspberry Porridge

I don’t know about you, but here in England we dont usually bake our porridge! However, I wanted to try something different, and after looking around on Pinterest, I decided to do my own twist on the very American “baked oatmeal!”

This recipe has no sugar (you can add your own as I did!) and is a perfect way to start the day! I made this using American measuring cups.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup any oats
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk (I used skimmed)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
handful of fresh blueberries
handful of fresh raspberries
Maple syrup to serve

Method:

In a small mixing bowl, mix together the oats, cinnamon, baking powder and milks. Add the vanilla extract. Throw in your fresh berries and give the mixture a quick stir to combine. This should only take a minute!

Spoon the mixture into a small tray (this only makes a single serving) and bake for 20-25 minutes on 220oC depending on how stodgy you like your porridge!

Remove from oven and drizzle with maple syrup or any other sweetener and eat! This should keep you going on your weekend!

*Adapted from The Oatmeal Artist

Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins!

New post is up on Groupon - to make these gluten free I replaced the all-purpose flour with gluten free and added a tsp Xantan gum.

Enjoy Cake Snobs!

PS: best enjoyed hot from the oven!

 

Recipe:

 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup skimmed milk
1 cup fresh blueberries
Half tsp cinnamon powder

Method:

Combine all dry ingredients: flour, sugar, salt and baking powder
Place vegetable oil into a measuring cup, and add the egg and milk
Add this to flour mixture
Fold in blueberries
Fill muffin cups right to the top
On the top of the muffins, dust lightly with cinnamon powder
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done. This recipe should make about 10

Crusty blueberry and cinnammon muffins!

These blueberry muffins are gorgeous, and of course I had to put my own spin on them!

Recipe:

1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 cup fresh blueberries

For topping:

1/2 cup white sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, cubed – I used 1/2

1 & 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

- I also added white chocolate chips to make this really sinful!

Directions

1. Combine all dry ingredients: flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.
2. Place vegetable oil into a measuring cup; add the egg and milk .
3. Add this to flour mixture.
4. Fold in blueberries.
5. Fill muffin cups right to the top
6. To Make Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix and sprinkle over muffins before baking. Add choc chips if desired! I actually made more of a paste with this, rolled it into balls and flattened it over the cake mixture.
7. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.Makes about 10.

These are a gorgeous teatime treat and will keep visitors coming back for more!

PS: recipe from AllRecipes and tweaked by me!