Carrot cake

This recipe is for carrot cake, which I got from The Pioneer Woman's website

Ingredients:

Cake -

• 2 cups of caster sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups of self-raising flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cups of grated carrots

Cream cheese icing -

• 100g butter
• 200g of cream cheese
• 1 pound of icing sugar
• 1 cup of pecans
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla

Method for the cake:

1. Mix the sugar, oil and eggs in a large bowl
2. Sift the flour, salt, baking powder & cinnamon & add to the first mixture
3. Add the carrots & mix well.
4. Pour the mixture into a greased pan.
5. Cook for 25-40 minutes
6. Allow to cool.

Method for the cream cheese icing:

1. In a large bowl cream the butter & add the cream cheese.
2. Add the sugar & vanilla and blend.
3. Mix the nuts into the mixture
4. Spread on the cake once it has cooled.

Triple Chocolate Brownies

This is my recipe for triple chocolate brownies..

Ingredients:

• 275g plain chocolate
  
• 275g butter
  
• 175g plain flour
  
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
  
• 325g caster sugar
  
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
  
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
  
• 85g milk chocolate, cut into large chunks
  
• 85g white chocolate, cut into large chunks
  

You can switch the quantities of chocolate if, for example, you prefer milk chocolate to plain chocolate. However, with brownies, I find that plain chocolate works better for the main chocolate as it creates a nice bitter taste & the milk & white chocolate chunks add a hint of cream.

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4 & line a baking tin (12in x 8in, 1.5in deep) with lightly buttered greaseproof paper or foil.


2. Put the plain chocolate and butter into a large bowl & place over a pan of simmering water & allow to melt.


3. Place the flour & baking powder into a bowl and set aside.


4. Remove the melted chocolate & butter mix from the heat and stir in the sugar


5. Add the eggs & vanilla essence & stir.
   
6. Add the chocolate mixture to the flour & fold together.


7. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin & place in the oven & bake for 25-30 minutes.

The brownies will be ready when the top is firm, but the inside is soft.

Allow the cake time to cool in the tin before removing & cutting into squares to serve.

Cupcakes with piped buttercream topping

So finally i have found a recipe for buttercream frosting that is thick enough for me to pipe & make my cupcakes look pretty.

I went through a bit of a trial & error before discovering the perfect concoction for my buttercream.

I tried one recipe which had me making a type of meringue type solution, involving egg whites & sugar being whisked over a bowl of simmering water.

At first i thought it was working..the mixture seemed thick & sticky enough to be piped, but after 20 minutes of hand whisking i gave up as the egg white's weren't 'peaking' as it was advised on the recipe :(

But then eventually my day was made & i discovered a great recipe for thick buttercream!

It actually contains similar ingredients that i used in my first attempt at making buttercream, which turned out much thinner & wouldn't pipe (click here for recipe)

So, here's the ingredients:

• 400g Icing sugar
  
• 220g butter
  
• 3 tablespoons of milk
  
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Method:

1. In a bowl, cream the butter until smooth.
2. Beat in the vanilla extract
3. Then beat in the icing sugar, a bit at a time.
4. Add the milk and beat to combine.
5. Preferably with an electric mixer/hand mixer beat the mixture, at a high speed, for an extra 5 minutes until it is lat a light & fluffy consistency.

The buttercream can be stored in a fridge for up to about 10 days. After taking it out of the fridge & before using it, bring it to room temperature and re-whip before use.

With this buttercream recipe i used my piping bag & topped gluten & wheat free cupcakes with pretty frosting & sugar decorations. (Please note that the buttercream is gluten & wheat free, but th sugar toppings are not.)

Here is the result...

Gluten Free Vanilla Cupcakes

This next recipe is for cupcakes which contain no gluten or wheat...ideal for people with coeliac disease.

My mum has coeliac disease, so now when i bake cakes or desserts I mostly make them using a gluten free recipe so my mum can enjoy them too.

I have come across a lot of cupcake recipe's for coeliac's & often they are made with almonds & bulked up with all sorts of things because a gluten free cake is often harder to bind & crumbles easily.

However, I've found that keeping the recipe just the same as a normal cupcake and just replacing the normal flour with a gluten & wheat free one works out just as great.


These are the flours i use when baking gluten & wheat free foods. They are 'Doves Farm' plain white & white self-raising flour blend.

It works just as well as ordinary flour..it's just a bit more expensive!

Also, to ensure & help the mixture to bind better i sometimes add milk or an extra egg.

So, here is my recipe for gluten & wheat free cupcakes using this flour..

Ingredients:

• 115g Doves Farm gluten & wheat free flour
• 115g butter
• 115g caster sugar
• 3 egg
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 2 tablespoons of milk

If you are making these cakes for somebody with a gluten & wheat tolerance, ensure that the other ingredients you use are suitable for coeliac's have not been contaminated with foods containing gluten or wheat in them. For example, ensure the butter you use does not have gluten bread crumbs in it.

Serves 20-25 cupcakes

Method:

1. Firstly grab your paper cases & line them in your bun tray & pre-heat your oven at Gas Mark 5
2. Put butter and sugar into a mixing bowl and beat together with whisk or wooden spoon until a fluffy & pale mixture is formed.
3. Add the eggs one at a time & beat.
4. Once the eggs have been mixed in, add the flour, baking powder & vanilla extract & mix until everything has blended together and a pale mixture has formed.
5. Divide the mixture evenly between the cases. I like to use either a teaspoon or a small sized ice cream scoop to do this.
6. Put the bun tray into the oven and bake the cake mixture for about 15-20 minutes or until cakes are a light golden colour.

And as you can see they turn out just like normal cupcakes...

Enjoy :)