Baking

A collection of baking recipes

Pumpkin & Feta Muffins

- Michael 2 Comments

Pumpkin Feta Muffins

It’s that time of year where I put squash, or pumpkin, in pretty much everything. For some people pumpkins are only relevant for Halloween, or as the word in front of ‘spiced latte’, but for me it’s an ingredient I look forward to all year. It’s a great change from sweet potato, offering so much colour, a level of nuttiness and an incredible versatility. Last year I put up recipes for Pumpkin Cinnamon Buns (I’ll be putting up a new glaze recipe for this soon), a pumpkin & nutella pie & pumpkin jam and the year before that it was a pumpkin cinnamon loaf cake. This year, thanks in part to Maddie buying the Ruby Tandoh cookbook it was into savoury muffins. The original recipe actually called for sweet potato, but as just that morning I’d raided our local shop for as many squashes as I could carry it only felt appropriate to make them Pumpkin & Feta Muffins.
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Blackberry Sloe Gin Tart & Gin Explorer Box

- Michael 2 Comments

Blackberry Sloe Gin Tart

Gin is good. If you’ve ready any of my other posts on the matter you’ll know my feelings about it by now, but if you’re unsure then go look at them here and here. It’s obviously best when drinking, but every now and then it’s fun to cook or bake with it. It lends itself best to go alongside citrus or floral flavours, like lemon or earl grey, but in this recipe I wanted to go for something more autumnal, and wanted something to partner with the sloe gin from my Gin Explorer Box.
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Honey & Rye Cake

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Honey & Rye Cake

As alluded to previously, before I popped up to Leeds for the Bloggers Blog Awards, I went to my parents in Scotland and due to the weather on a couple of the days, I ended up doing a good amount of baking. Ingredients up there can be slightly more awkward due to a need for things to keep. My dad also has a bread machine, and because of this he has a large stock of different flours. We unearthed a bag of rye that he practically begged us to use as he had no plans to and didn’t want it to go to waste. After raiding the cupboards we worked out that honey was probably the best ingredient we had at our disposal for doing something cake-y. Some quick (by my parents island internet standards) googling took place and we found that honey & rye cake is actually a particular french special.

Honey & Rye Cake
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Cardamom & Chocolate Braid

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Chocolate & Cardamom Loaf

I’ve just returned from a week up in Scotland at my parent’s on Mull. I’ll be writing up a travel diary of the week soon, after part 2 of my New York trip, but while I was away I baked a number of things. Rainy days on the Isle of Mull are ideal for baking. You’re not going to get much else done, apart from a quick walk of the dog around the loch all wrapped up in waterproofs, so what better way to spend a day than in the kitchen baking? I made a number of things on this trip, but with the Great British Bake off well underway (and the possibility that it could all go to shit with a move to Channel 4) and bread week featuring a challenge for baking chocolate bread, I thought I’d start with the Cardamom & Chocolate loaf we made on the first day.
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Olive Oil Cake (Optional Gin Glaze)

- Michael 4 Comments

Olive Oil Cake

Admission: I had never made Olive Oil Cake before a week ago. I have since made it twice, and had to talk to myself seriously about making it a third time in less than a week. The thing is, it’s that easy to make. Yes it takes a good amount of time to bake and then cool, but it’s simple. A simple bake that you just want to sit and eat with a fork in one go is a rare find. There’s a great many simple recipes which I love, but I think this one has now taken its place as my favourite. I’d rather make this than yet another Victoria Sponge, for instance. It also works perfectly well without any frosting, so you haven’t even got to worry about decorating it. See, it’s simple.
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