RAW Baking

 I was very pleased when my niece Tia asked for a  cheesecake as her birthday cake. As she admitted it's the first time she's not asked for a chocolate birthday cake ! This recipe mixes fresh  cream, cream cheese and icing sugar . The result is a delicious creamy cheesecake on a biscuit base . Happy 15th birthday Tia! 😊 

I thought it was about time I made a no sugar cake and as my friend gave me some apples over the weekend, I found this recipe. It uses apples, maple syrup and cinnamon for the sweeteners and yoghurt to keep the sponge moist and springy. It was surprisingly tasty, especially warm out of the oven. In truth, a dollop of cream alongside would be perfect but of course, this would defeat the idea of the cake being a healthy alternative :) Not forgetting the protein element which is another bonus!

Homemade Granola. I have been meaning to make my own granola for ages, so I am so pleased that at long last I did it and even better, it tastes really good! I like knowing what is exactly in my granola - no hidden sugars, which often happens with bought granola.  Here's the quick and easy recipe I used:- 1 Banana - mashed up 3 tbsp Maple syrup or honey 80g Peanut butter (or any nut butter) 210g mixed unsalted chopped nuts 160g rolled oats 100g dried fruit 1 tsp cinnamon Instructions:- Mix mashed banana, peanut butter & maple syrup/honey. Add chopped nuts, oats & cinnamon to the mix. Spread the mixture thinly on a baking tray. Bake for 20 mins in oven 170c/325f. Once cooled ad the mixed fruit. Store in air tight jar for up to 2 weeks. Delicious with Greek yoghurt!

 A delicious chocolate and vanilla marble effect sponge. Filled and topped with chocolate butter icing and then finished with some gold sprinkles!

These lemon cupcakes were made for my colleague, Stephanie `Baby send off' at work. She goes off on maternity leave very soon.   I added lemon juice and lemon rind to both the sponge and butter icing for a lovely zesty flavour. Then added sprinkles on top to finish them off!

This is a light, creamy cheesecake with crushed digestive biscuit base. You can also use ginger biscuits as a change. I decorated the top with edible flowers. Borage.  So pretty 😍 

 I'd forgotten how much fun pasta is to make. It does take time but it's worth it. For 3 people, we used 2 cups plain flour, 3 eggs and a desert spoon of olive oil.  Knead all these ingredients together for about 10 minutes until it has an elastic texture and is not too wet.  Then pull.it through your pasta machine and voila! We made tagliatelle.  It takes 3 -4 minute's to cook. Truly delicious 😋   

 A 4 layered chocolate 🍫 😋 fudge cake to celebrate Erin and Layla's birthdays 🎂 🥳 

This is a summer themed birthday cake. A classic victoria sponge, topped with strawberries and edible borage flowers. It looks so pretty, if I say so myself.  Happy Birthday to my Brother in law, Paul.

 I made a classic victoria sponge birthday cake for my father in law, John who turned 80 yesterday. Filled with strawberry jam and butter icing. This cake is always a popular choice!

 This recipe reminds me a little bit if sticky toffee sponge receipe. It has a lovely toffee smell when cooking.  The dates are soaked in butter and hot water and then mashed up to create a toffee like substance.  Heres the link to the BBC recipe website  Date and walnut cake recipe . I sprinkled sugar and walnuts on the top.

Birthday Brownies for my sister's birthday on Wednesday. These triple chocolate brownie recipe creates soft, fudge like brownies which are delicious! This recipe uses milk and dark chocolate as well as a heaping of cocoa powder, giving an intense taste of chocolate. Even better add a scoop or 2 of vanilla ice-cream and some gold leaf on the top.  

This was a great cake to make with my niece, Eden. We creating 6  different brightly coloured bowls of cake mixture, using gel food colouring. 😋 Then simular to a marble cake, added the different colours randomly unto the cake tins. Here's the result

You heard me correctly - this is not a triple but quadruple chocolate cake made for my colleague, Keith who was retiring. This loaf cake had a chocolate sponge with chunky choc chips, topped with chocolate icing and chocolate flakes. 😍  It got the thumbs up from my work colleagues, so I'm happy!

Here is this year's birthday cake for my mum. A rich coffee cake - full of flavour with a moist sponge. I was a bit worried about getting the cake out of the ring cake tin but with a bit of patience, it came out in one piece! Phew.