Baking Bo

Okay, so this one is kind of cheating. The ingredients and quantities are exactly the same as the carrot cake cupcakes I made a few weeks ago. I was asked to make a birthday cake for my friend Craig, who is a coeliac (allergic to gluten.) This is only the second time I've baked with gluten free flour so I did a test cake just to make sure it worked. It came out really well! The cake itself is also dairy free, unless you are intolerant to eggs, I know some are. The cream cheese frosting, however, is not! Ingredients: For the cakes 175g dark brown sugar 200g self raising flour 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1 tsp mixed spice 1 tsp cinnamon zest of 1 orange 150ml oil (sunflower or vegetable) 2 eggs 200g carrots, grated a handful of nuts, to decorate (any nuts will do!) For the icing: 50g butter, softened 150g soft cheese 200g icing sugar 1/2 tsp vanilla extract Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 180 (160 fan.) Grease and line a 7 inch cake tin with grease proof pap...

Another weekend, another cookie recipe! This is another one I can't take any credit for. I got this recipe from The Anna Edit's blog . They are chewy and gooey in the middle, but crispy on the outside. I am yet to try the white chocolate and miso flavour combination, but I can vouch the milk chocolate and hazelnut cookies are delicious Ingredients: 225g butter, 200g light brown sugar 100g caster sugar 2 eggs 360g self raising flour 1 tsp cornflour 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 250g milk chocolate, chopped 100g hazelnuts, chopped Method: 1. Mix the butter and sugars together until fully combined. Once creamy, mix for a further 5 minutes until it is paler, light and fluffy. Mix the eggs in, one at a time. Add the flour, cornflour, salt and bicarbonate of soda and mix. Add the chopped milk chocolate and hazelnuts and combine. 2. Place 10-12 mounds of the mixture onto a plate and freeze for 30 minutes minimum. 3. Preheat the oven to 200 fan. Line a baki...

This recipe was requested by my wonderful yoga teacher, Louise . I have made this cake once before for my friend Hils' birthday. I got this recipe from BBC Food .  Ingredients for the cake: 225g butter, softened  225g caster sugar 4 eggs 50ml coffee 225g self raising flour 75g walnuts  Ingredients for the buttercream: 125g butter, softened  200g icing sugar 50ml coffee  12 walnuts, to decorate  Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 180. In a bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well to incorporate each egg before adding the next one.  2. Add the coffee and stir well. Add the flour and walnuts. Spoon the cake mixture into two lined and greased 20cm cake tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and golden brown. Leave to cool. 3. To make the buttercream, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and pale. Add the coffee and stir well. Spread the buttercream over the top...

I  cannot take any credit for this recipe. It is one I found through  Lily Pebbles . She made an  IGTV  of how to make them and I immediately wanted to try them. I found the  recipe on her blog  so am posting it here for you to read! Ingredients: 85g good quality cocoa powder 400g caster sugar 125ml vegetable oil 4 eggs 2 tsp vanilla extract 250g plain flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt  60g icing sugar  Method: 1. In a medium bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, caster sugar and vegetable oil. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the cocoa mixture until completely smooth and combined. Chill for at least 4 hours.  2. Preheat the oven to 180c fan. Line two baking trays with baking paper. Put the icing sugar onto a plate and using a tablespoon, spoon some of the mixture onto the plate. Roll the mixture into a ball, coating each one wit...

This week's recipe was inspired by a request I had from my wonderful friend Fay. I combined her wish for carrot cake and cupcakes to make, well, carrot cake cupcakes! My recipe is inspired by this one from BBC Good Food. They are light and sweet, with tangy cream cheese frosting. Delicious! Ingredients: For the cakes 175g dark brown sugar 200g self raising flour 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1 tsp mixed spice 1 tsp cinnamon zest of 1 orange 150ml oil (sunflower or vegetable) 2 eggs 200g carrots, grated a handful of pecans, to decorate (any nuts will do!) For the icing: 100g butter, softened 300g soft cheese 100g icing sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 180 (160 fan.) Line a 12 hole muffin/cupcake tray with paper cases. (I ended up having enough mixture to make 17 cakes in total so maybe have a few extra cases handy just in case!) 2. In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, flour, bicarbonate of soda, mixed spice, cinnamon and orange ze...