Cake #151 - Lemon Cat Cup Cake

Thursday Cat Theme Cake - Lemon Cat Cup Cake with Lemon Jam and Ice Cream.

No excuses. It was a hectic day and I nearly did not bake any cake at all as I rather do so than bake c**p. Then I remembered the very, very nice Nutella cake in a mug and I also remembered this cat mug warmer I knitted last year.

Again, I was amazed you can actually bake a yummy cake in a mug in the microwave within minutes after making the batter.

The recipe is from here. I did not make any sauce but instead, enjoyed the cake with lemon jam (lemon curd would have been better but I did not have any!) and vanilla ice cream. Good, good!

Cake #150 - Fruit and Nut Loaf

Wednesday Natural Ingredient / Healthy Cake - Dairy-Free Fruit and Nut Loaf of Dates, Apricots, Walnuts, Sunflower Seeds and Pumpkin Seeds.

Another brown cake. Pathetic. When I look at pictures of my cakes from the past week they all are brown and very dull-looking. Of course they are more colourful in real life! Like this one - the orange apricot really has a bright orange colour but in the picture it does not show up. Dull. Maybe I should change the background somehow. Or create more colourful cakes. After all, I am more a baker than a photographer.

The recipe for this cake is from here. I used sunflower oil instead of butter so therefore I can call it dairy-free. And I also used a little different fruit and nuts compared to the recipe - dates, dried apricots, walnuts, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds but otherwise followed the recipe carefully. Worth baking and works well as a morning boost, too!

Cake #149 - Ricecake Cake

Tuesday Humour Cake - Ricecake Cake, piled ricecakes with Peanut Butter and Nutella in-between and melted milk chocolate on top.

My daughter absolutely wanted to name the pile cake Holy Grail!.- And she wanted to take some to school for lunch as ricecakes are... ok to have in your lunchbox. Oh, well.

Cake #148 - Spicy Raisin Cake

Monday Mood Cake - Spicy Raisin Cake.

A little Christmassy aromas - but I do miss Christmas. And when it is cold and frosty outside, warm spices are a good way to create warmth. Comfort eating? Yes, that, too!

Spicy Raisin Cake
100 g raisins
150 ml buttermilk
3 eggs
150 ml granulated sugar
150 ml (dark) syrup
150 g butter, melted
450 ml plain flour
1,5 tsp bread soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground ginger

1. Soak raisins in buttermilk for an hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 175C / 350F and grease and flour a 2-litre bundt cake pan.
3. Beat eggs and sugar until white and fluffy.

4. Fold in flour, spices and bread soda together with melted butter, syrup and the raisins with the buttermilk.

5. Pour into pan and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes.

6. Let cool a little before removing from pan.

7. Enjoy with a warm cuppa wearing your warmest woollen socks and maybe a hat, too?

Cake #147 - Revamped Banana Bread

Sunday Classic Cake - Revamped Banana Bread with Home-Made Caramel and Whipped Cream.

I think banana is one of the most versatile fruit to be used in baking. I tastes good the way it is but it goes well with various spices, too. Do not throw overripe bananas into the bin - rather throw them into the batter! Cakes, muffins, bread, cookies.

How about deep-fried bananas? This revamped banana bread and the caramel really remind me of deep-fried bananas. I wonder if we have any vanilla ice cream in the freezer...

Sponge
175 g soft  butter
150 g soft light brown sugar
2 bananas, very ripe, cut into small chunks
3 eggs
150 g self-raising flour
75 g ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder
50 ml natural yoghurt

Caramel
200 g soft light brown sugar

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160 C / 340 F and grease and flour a 2-litre square pan .
2. Then make the caramel by tipping the sugar into a frying pan, shaking it to an even layer.  and heating it gently until it melts. Once melted to a golden caramel, pour it onto a baking sheet and leave to cool, then smash into small pieces.
3. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add the bananas and beat in with the eggs, flour, almonds, baking powder and yoghurt until smooth.
5. Stir in 1/3 of the caramel and spoon into the pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes until the cake is golden and a skewer comes out clean. Let cool.

Decorate the cake with whipped cream and caramel pieces.

Cake #146 - Serrano Ham and Feta Cheese Ring

Savoury Saturday Cake - Serrano Ham and Feta Cheese Ring.

Make a small batch of your favourite pizza dough, roll it and cut it into 10-12 triangles. Place the triangles so that you form a circle in the middle. Fill each triangle with tomato puree, ham and cheese (I used serrano ham and feta), then lift each corner to cover the filling. Glaze with egg, sprinkle some poppy seeds on top and bake in the oven at 200 C / 400 F for about 15 minutes.

Try with puff pastry or even ready-to-bake croissants for a fast savoury snack!

Cake #145 - TGIF

Friends First Friday Cake - TGIF, Chocolate Cake with Marble Icing.

You cannot always succeed with the looks of your cake but TGIF!!!

Chocolate Sponge
175g self-raising flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp soda
150g caster sugar
2 large eggs
150 ml sunflower oil
150 ml milk
2 tbsp syrup

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C/ 350 F and grease and flour a 1 kg loaf pan.
2. Sieve flour, cocoa and soda into a bowl. Add sugar and mix well.
3. Make a well in the centre and add syrup, eggs, oil and milk. Beat well until smooth.
4. Spoon the mixture into the pan and bake for 35-40 minutes until risen and firm to the touch. Remove from oven and leave to cool before spreading the icing.

Marble Icing
100 g butter
300 g icing sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
a drop of milk

50 g white chocolate, melted

1. Beat together all ingredients for the icing until smooth.
2. Spread the icing on the cake.
3. Pipe the melted white chocolate on the icing and mix a little to create a marble look.
4. Make some plain icing with icing sugar and a drop of water and write TGIF on the cake as the icing does not look good at all.