sweet

Marble chocolate cupcake
13May

chocolate marble cupcakes

What are we celebrating? Certainly *not* having a cold. Healing took a lot of Lempsip, saline spray, chocolate buttercream and sprinkles. Also binging on The Office. The marbled cupcake was a recipe I wanted to recreate as it brings me so many good memories. It was a favourite at my grandmother’s house. Hot, hazy afternoons with milky coffee and a slice of marbled bundt cake. This recipe seems long but it is very straightforward. The buttercream is vegan but you can substitute the plant based butter and milk with regular butter and milk. . Chocolate marble cupcakes (makes 12) 250g butter 220g caster sugar 3 eggs 220g plain flour 4 tbsp milk 1 tsp vanilla paste 1 ½ tsp baking powder 2 tbsp cocoa + 2 tbsp milk For the buttercream: 150g chocolate 60% cocoa solids, melted 250g Flora plant butter, softened 400g icing sugar 3 tbsp cocoa powder 50ml of oat milk . 1. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Line a muffin tin with paper cases. 2. Beat the butter and caster sugar together until the mixture is pale in colour. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. 3. Add the flour, 4 tbsp
3 mins read
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Speckled dairy free cake with vegan buttercream
01Apr

pistachio and orange cake

The air is filled with hope. This week, after a long lockdown restrictions have start to loosen and we can now meet friends and families outdoors. Our calendars have started to fill up with picnics in the sun, and most exciting is being able to celebrate Easter with out families over the long weekend. If you are in the UK you’ll know how excited people get when Cadbury’s Mini Eggs start appearing. Those little yellow bags full of addictive crunchy, chocolate-y balls. For me they are akin to a class A drug. And this orange and pistachio cake is my second favourite thing right now. I have made this recipe many, many times and tweaked to be now one of my go-to traybakes, delicious with buttercream or just runny icing. This cake mirrors the speckled shell of the mini eggs, and apart from them this cake is totally dairy free. I made the icing using Flora 100% plant base butter and I will go as far as saying that it tasted better than actual buttery buttercream. . Pistachio and orange cake (Serves 8-10 people) 6 oranges 6 medium eggs 375 caster sugar 1 tsp olive oil 250g plain flour 200g
4 mins read
2096 Views
5 ingredient Nutella pie
24Mar

5 ingredient nutella pie

Easter is around the corner and you frankly can’t miss it over here, the mountains of chocolate eggs in the supermarket are overwhelming. Every year they bring more flavours, I swear! Sure I got the ol’ faithful bag of mini eggs, but when it comes to chocolate nothing brings me as much joy as a spoonfull (or two) of Nutella straight out of the jar. And if you’re reading this, you probably one too. And whether you eat it out of the jar or strictly spread it on toast, get on this because I bet you have most of these ingredients in your kitchen right now. Only 5 ingredients!!!! Death by chocolate does not get easier than this. 5 Ingredient Nutella pie (serves 6) 200g of white cake such as madeira (a couple of days old is best) 2 tbsp cocoa powder, plus extra for suting 50g melted butter 400ml double cream 150g Nutella 1. Lightly butter a 18cm loose-bottomed tart tin, and set aside. 2. Place cake in a food processor and blend it until you get fines crumbs. Add cocoa powder and melted butter, and continue to mix until all ingredients have combined. 3. Tip cake mixture into
3 mins read
1425 Views
Hummingbird bircher muesli
21Mar

Hummingbird bircher muesli

We are on full weaning mode in our house. Flo is still figuring out what she likes and dislikes and in order to not waste a lot of food I am trying to incorporate different flavours and textures to some of her firm favourites. In Flo’s opinion, there is no better breakfast than oats, and I don’t completely disagree (they come a close second to eggs for me). And rather than having the same old milky porridge with a sprinkle of fruits on top I started making her batches of bircher muesli the day before with a variety of fruits blended in: bananas, coconut milk, and applesauce. It has become a family favourite and a regular midmorning snack for me with all kinds of toppings: yoghurt, berries, toasted seeds, nut butter…the options are endless. This bircher muesli is inspired by one of my favourite cakes: hummingbird. Because I am a sucker for anything with pineapples. And if you are feeling extra indulgent you can add more pineapple, just keep the sugar tablespoon ratio the same to the 100g for the pineapple. Hummingbird bircher muesli (serves 3-4) 100g rolled oats 200ml oat milk (any other plant base milk would work too)
3 mins read
1389 Views
Loaded rocky road with cake and nuts
13Feb

Loaded rocky road

Rocky road is one of my husband’s favourite bakery snacks, he often has a slice with takeaway coffee  when he thinks I am not looking. I thinks it is really important not to be wasteful when it comes to cooking and baking and I love to incorporate leftovers in new recipes, so in this loaded rocky road version I have added leftover cake (vanilla with blueberries) which I had made a couple months ago but it came out of the oven looking a little bit sad with a big sink hole in the middle. I chopped it (whilst still a little frozen so as not to crumble too much) to add a soft texture to the rocky road slices, together with mini marshmallows, which are a must! The crushed biscuits and nuts bring in the crunch – add salted roasted nuts for an explosion of flavour, snicker-y in nature. The beauty of this recipe is that you can add almost anything you have in your cupboard: dried fruits, candy, pretzels, seeds, the list goes on! Just remember to keep the additions proportionate to the amount of chocolate used. Loaded Rocky Road 550g of dark chocolate 70% solids is best 220g
3 mins read
1689 Views
Quindim - coconut baked custard
23Jul

Quindim

Best described as a coconut baked custard, this sweet is traditionally made in tiny molds and eaten in one bite. The perfect little snacks that you find in traditional bakeries in Brazil. I really wish I could have made more than 3 quindins but they were an accidental bake after having some leftover yolks and not knowing what to do with them. A problem you often face after making meringues. Next time you have extra yolks forget about curds and custards – make quindim. Quindim (serves 3) 1 tbsp butter, melted plus extra for greasing 6 egg yolks 100g caster sugar, plus extra for coating 100ml coconut milk 40g desiccated coconut 1. Heat oven to 180C. Rub 3 ramekins, about 100ml capacity liberally with the soft butter. Sprinkle with the caster sugar to coat. 2. Soak the coconut in coconut milk and leave it to rest for 10 minutes. Stir in sugar and let it rest for a couple of minutes. 3. Over a medium bowl sieve the egg yolks, perforating them, letting gravity make them run through the sieve.  Add melted butter to yolks. 4. Mix yolk and coconut mixtures with a hand whisk. Pour into ramekins and place in
2 mins read
1733 Views