CARROT CAKE

31 AUGUST 2014

I. Love. Carrot. Cake. It's always my cake of choice when out for coffee, so its a bit weird that I've never made one. Maybe I've been afraid that my own attempt just won't live up to my expectations of carrot cake. That it would be dry and disappointing and leave me questioning my baking abilities...

Well, I decided to bite the bullet this weekend and give it a try - how bad could it really be? As it turns out, not that bad at all! I adapted one of Mary Berry's recipes by adding a handful of sultanas, half a teaspoon of cinnamon, and a splash of dark rum to the cake mixture before baking. I also replaced one teaspoon of vanilla essence with dark rum in the cream cheese frosting. The absence of butter in this recipe and the use of bananas make this cake deliciously moist and naturally sweet - one slice just isn't enough!

COCONUT & BLUEBERRY CAKE WITH LEMON ICING

17 MARCH 2014

I had a bit of a craving for coconut cake at the weekend. I don't really know why, but it's something I haven't had for ages so I thought I'd try putting something together. Whilst I'm a big fan of the coconut, I wanted to make my cake a little different. After a bit of research here's what I came up with...

INGREDIENTS (makes one small loaf cake):

2oz caster sugar
2oz unsalted butter
4oz self raising flour
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
1oz desiccated coconut, plus extra for sprinkling
A handful of fresh blueberries
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Icing sugar

METHOD:

Pre-heat your over to 180 degrees Celsius. Put the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream together until very pale and soft. This can take some time depending on the temperature of your butter. It's a good idea to let it reach room temperature before you start.

Beat the egg and milk together in a separate bowl. Alternately add the flour and the egg and milk mixture to the creamed butter and sugar, beating in thoroughly after each addition.

Add the blueberries and coconut and mix. If your mixture feels a little stiff at this point, just add a drop more milk and stir to combine. Pour your cake mixture into a lined loaf tin and bake for 30 minutes, or until a knife comes away clean when poked into it.

When your cake is baked, turn out of the tin onto a wire rack and leave to cool. In the meantime, prepare your lemon icing by squeezing the juice of half a lemon into a bowl and mixing in icing sugar until a thick paste is formed. This should be thick but not so stiff that you can't stir it.

Wait until your cake is completely cooled and then spread the icing out on top. Sprinkle with desiccated coconut and leave the icing to set. As always, cake tastes best when served with tea, so make a brew and enjoy!

GINGERBREAD RECIPE

19 DECEMBER

So, the gingerbread house I made went down pretty well. So well in fact that I want to share the recipe with you so you can all enjoy some homemade treats this Christmas! I've written the recipe on my recipes page which you can see here. Let me know if you try it and how you get on. Happy baking!

LOVE | Hannah

LEMON DRIZZLE CAKE

17 NOVEMBER 2013

I've been feeling a little under the weather this weekend - husky voice, stuffy nose, pounding head, the works - but still I managed to drag my sorry self into the kitchen for an hour to see if I could bake myself better. Strangely, I've never baked a lemon drizzle cake before, so I thought I'd give it a try. This recipe is from Paul Hollywood's How to Bake, and is probably one of the nicest sponges I've ever made. It's so light and fluffy, one slice just isn't enough! Click here to follow the full recipe.

LOVE | Hannah