0 Kiwi fruit cupcakes

I have never made Kiwi cupcakes before despite this being a fruit I often enjoy eating, I like the combination of juicy fruity almost opal fruit flavour and bright green flesh. They are however not a fruit that immediately springs to mind when you fancy baking.

I think kiwi fruit are cute, like little furry creatures that live in the fruit bowl and there are numerous ways of accessing the bright green flesh, my preferred method being slicing and I have made kiwi fruit jam in the past with great success.

For this recipe you can dress with butter cream and a kiwi slice or just leave plain and sprinkle with demerara sugar for some crunch. Its an easy tasty bake which works with gluten free flour as well as normal wheat flour.

What you need

• 2 large kiwi fruits or 4 small kiwi fruits, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
• 2 cups of plain flour 
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 egg - free range
• 1 cup skimmed milk
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• 1/4 cup coconut oil - melted
• Demerara sugar - for sprinkling
• Buttercream (optional)
• Slices of Kiwi for decoration
• Large muffin cake cases

What you do

• Pre heat the oven to 200c /180c fan
• Line the cupcake tin with the case cakes
• Beat the eggs, oil, milk and vanilla together in a large bowl, I used my mixer. 
• Sieve the flour,baking powder, cinnamon, sugar and salt into the bowl and mix together quickly
• Fold in the chopped kiwi fruit
• Spoon the mixture into the cake cases - this mixtures makes approximately 12 large muffins / cupcakes.
• Sprinkle the tops with demerara sugar if using
• Pop into the oven and bake for 20 minutes or so until well risen, golden and cooked through when tested with a cocktail stick
• Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack
• When fully cool, decorate with buttercream if you wish

I'm entering this post to this months Alphabakes hosted by The More than the occasional baker , the letter this month being K - for Kiwi fruit in this case.

                                                       

 And to Bake of the Week hosted by Casa Costello

                                                            

And also to Treat petite over at Cakeyboi, the theme this month being "Anything Goes"


                                            

Love Cake Jibberjabber - the theme this month is Back to School - Something new. As I said earlier in the post I haven't baked with Kiwi fruit previously.

                                     

Detail: Kiwi fruit cupcakes

0 Rustic plum cornmeal cake

This summer has been fairly poor for our Marjorie plum tree, a reasonable crop was developing but then we had a freak wind storm, followed by drought and then rain, so I had to do battle with the local wasps to snaffle enough plums to make this cake. I love English plums but the season is very short and unless you can get your hands on a supply from a generous local grower making jam or any type of preserve can be an expensive business.

I decided to make this cake to showcase my plums and combine them with a tasty polenta cake recipe I had been meaning to bake for sometime. The plums impart a delicious moist tang to each slice and provide colour to a very plain bake.

Stunningly simple and very rustic this cake needs no more embellishment than a light dusting with icing sugar.

So lets bake and create a beauty

What you need

• Oil Spray for the tin
• Couple of English plums - cut into segments, stoned removed
• 175g softened salted butter
• 225g caster sugar
• 3 eggs - free range, beaten
• 150g fine cornmeal / polenta (ensure gluten free)
• 100g gluten free flour - plain
• 2 tsp xanthum gum
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• Icing Sugar (optional)

Round loose bottomed cake tin - oil sprayed and base lined 

What you do

• Pre heat the oven to 180c
• Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer until light and fluffy
• Now add the rest of the ingredients (except the plums and icing sugar) to the mixture and mix until well incorporated.
• Pour into the prepared tin and artistically arrange to plum segments on the top of the cake
• Place in the oven and bake for 40-50 minutes until golden, well risen.
• Cool in the tin
• Once cool remove from tin and serve (optionally sprinkled with icing sugar)

I am linking up to this months Alphabakes hosted by Caroline Makes and The More than the occasional baker in rotation. This month's them is P - for plums and polenta in my case.

And also bake of the week created by Casa Costello and hosted this week by Hay in a Day

                                                         

Detail: Rustic plum cornmeal cake

0 Amaretto chocolate torte - Gluten Free

Chocolate cakes are always popular regardless of the time of year and this is a recipe I have been using for quite a while even before I went gluten free, the resultant cake or should I say torte is not a natural beauty but it is light, moist and very chocolately. The addition of amaretto and almond essence make this an adult treat and a cake that can both happily be served with a cup of tea or cream for a dinner party.

Whipped up in a flash this is an easy reliable recipe, which despite having a fragile top (as you can see from the photographs) is happy to sit in a cake for a few days whilst its devoured. Its also currently a favourite as it uses a good quantity of eggs and the battle of the egg mountain continues, 3 hens equals 3 eggs a day most days and as we are a 2 person household that's a lot of eggs. We do give to friends but most of our neighbours keep hens too so the market is limited locally.

What you need

• 200g salted butter - chopped into chunks
• 200g dark chocolate - broken into pieces
• 4 eggs - large and free range
• 200g caster sugar
• 50g plain flour (Gluten free)
• 50g ground almonds
• 1 tbsp amaretto
• 1 tsp almond extract

Greased and base lined round cake tin, loose bottomed or springform is best about 22cm diameter

What you do 

• Melt the butter and chocolate in a pan over a very low heat, keep stirring so it melts and is smooth. Allow to cool slightly.
• Whisk the eggs and sugar in a mixer until light frothy and the consistency of custard. This will take about 5 minutes.
• Add the chocolate and butter mix to the egg and sugar mixture and also the flour and almonds, fold in with a large metal spoon retaining as much air as possible.
• Once full mixed pour into your prepared cake tin and bake for 35 minutes until risen slightly and set in the middle. This is more of a torte than a cake.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool in the tin

This recipe is being linked to We should Cocoa created by Choclette and hosted this month over on Utterly Scrummy food, the theme this month is Gluten Free, so this cake qualifies.

                                                      

And I am also linking up to  Baking with Spirit , created by Cake of the Week and hosted this month over at The usual saucepans , the theme being a re-invented classic. This chocolate torte is a recipe I have had for a while but I have added the twist of amaretto and almond extract to give it an adult twist, its also gluten free too which is always a bonus.

                                                                 

And my final linky is to Alphabakes, with the letter D this month, so I am using Dark Chocolate as my entry into this challenge hosted by Caroline Bakes and More than the occasional baker.

                                                       

I am also linking up to Bake of the Week over at my fellow cakeclubbing WI member blogging chum Casa Costello 
                                                            

Detail: Amaretto chocolate torte - Gluten Free

0 Orange yogurt loaf with orange glace icing for Alphabakes

The theme for this month's Alphabakes is "O", I plumped for one of the more obvious O's - oranges, this easy bakes uses orange zest in the cake and the oranges juice in the glace icing which creates a lovely contrast to the soft crumbly cake. Using my trusty yogurt cake recipe I just added the finely grated zest, its a very versatile recipe and would also work well with lemon.

Oranges are great at this time of year and signal to me that the festive season is just around the corner. The resulting cake is beautifully elegant and ideal for afternoon tea, give it a try.

What you need

• 1C yogurt
• 1C sunflower oil
• 1 egg
• 2C caster sugar
• 3C self raising flour
• Grated orange zest

For the glace icing

• Icing sugar
• Orange juice

What you do

• Mix all the cake ingredients together until you have a smooth cake mixture
• Pour into 2 prepared loaf tins
• Bake in a pre heated oven at 180c for approx 45 minutes until cooked through
• Cool in the tin intially and then on a wire rack
• Once the cake is fully cool, then mix the icing sugar with a little orange juice till the icing is the thickness of double cream
• Drizzle onto the cooled cake artistically

Alphabakes is hosted by Caroline Makes and The more than the occasional baker on alternate months

Detail: Orange yogurt loaf with orange glace icing for Alphabakes

0 Carrot Cake

I admit it I've got a thing for vegetable cakes, a few years ago carrot cake was considered a bit fringe and rather unusual, nowadays its everywhere. Its an easy bake and this recipe is one I have been using for a number of years, I can't even remember where it came from, topped and filled with a vanilla cream cheese buttercream its a fab afternoon tea table staple.

The carrot adds moistness and the spice additional layers of flavour, to this lovely cake.

What you need

• 2 carrots - finely grated (I use my handy microplane grater)
• 3 eggs - free range
• 150ml vegetable oil
• 200g soft light brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 175g plain flour ( you could use part wholemeal if you like)

You will also need to oil spray and base line two approximately 20cm sandwich cake tins

What you do 

• Pre heat your oven to 180c 
• Sieve the flour, spices and baking powder onto a plate
• In your trusty mixer beat together your eggs, sugar and oil, now add the grated carrot. 
• Add the sieved flour mixture and quickly mix in the flour retaining as much air as possible in the mixture
• Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tins, bake in the pre heated oven for 25 minutes or so until cooked through when tested with a skewer.
• Cool for a few minutes in the tin, then cool fully on a cooling rack
• When fully cool fill with your favourite buttercream and if you like top it with buttercream too.

This months theme for the Alphabakes challenge is C - so carrot cake qualifies easily, check out the challenge on The More than Occasional Baker and Caroline Makes blog for more details.

                                              

Detail: Carrot Cake