Orange, rhubarb and almond cake

This cake is the lovechild of two BBC Good Food recipes: Berry Bakewell cake and Stewed Rhubarb. 

I've made the Bakewell (almond) cake countless times over the years with various berries and substituting the vanilla extract for almond extract or ground spices. It's satisfyingly simple and adaptable - my favourite kind of cake.

The stewed rhubarb and orange is a recipe I only discovered last year. I absolutely loved the flavour combination so was keen to make it again this year when my rhubarb was ready to harvest.

When I was making a batch of stewed orange and rhubarb last weekend I had a brainwave to combine the two recipes. I had previously made the cake with stewed rhubarb (no extra flavours) with great success (see here) so it wasn't much of a change to include orange.

For the cake batter I added the zest of an orange and instead of adding berries I put a few dessertspoonfuls of the (cooled) stewed rhubarb in the middle of the cake. I smoothed it out as a jammy layer before topping with the remaining cake batter and flaked almonds.

It's not a flashy looking cake but it is very tasty and with most almond bakes the flavour improves the following day. The orange lifts the cake, adding a subtle, sweet zing to both the sponge and the squidgy rhubarb vein running through the centre. 

I'm delighted that I have created another successful variation of this almond cake. It's the recipe which keeps on giving!

lemon and blackcurrant cake

I've had the lemon and blackcurrant cake from the Clandestine Cake Club book bookmarked since it came out 10 years ago but have always been unable to make it as I couldn't get my hands on any blackcurrants. 

Not anymore! In addition to the "rhubarb empire" we inherited an established blackcurrant and gooseberry bush in our new garden so my lemon and blackcurrant cake dream finally became a reality! (More on the gooseberries another time.)

This cake did not disappoint, it was well worth the wait. Good job, as I had baked it for a family birthday. The sponge itself is almost pudding-like: slightly heavier and juicier in texture compared to a Victoria sponge due to the addition of blackcurrants and ground almonds and also a lemon drizzle soak. 

The blackcurrant coulis/quick jam was also outstanding. What a flavour and colour! I will admit to not quite having enough blackcurrants for it (guilty of eating too many blackcurrants through the week) so I subbed in some fruit from a bag of mixed frozen summer fruits, picking out the blueberries, blackberries and blackcurrants to keep the dark purple colour.

I can see myself making this cake every year which is a lovely thing to look forward to each summer. If you have blackcurrants or can get access to any then I highly recommend trying this recipe. I also recommend serving the cake with fresh berries and cream!

Lemon and blackcurrant(ish) cake 

Recipe mildly adapted from Clandestine Cake Club by Lynn Hill

Sponges:

250g Softened butter (I used Stork baking margarine)

250g Caster sugar

4 large eggs

250g Self raising flour

50g Ground almonds

Zest of 1 lemon

100g Blackcurrants 

Lemon soaking syrup:

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tsp caster sugar

Coulis/jam filling

500g Blackcurrants (I only had 350g of fresh blackcurrants left so topped up the amount with a bag of frozen berries)

Approx. 100g Caster sugar (sweeten to taste)

Preheat the oven to 190C/ 170C Fan/gas mark 5 and grease and line x3 8" (20cm) round cake tins with baking parchment.

Beat together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour along with the lemon zest and ground almonds and mix until fully combined. Gently fold in the blackcurrants. 

Divide the cake batter between the 3 tins and smooth the tops evenly. Bake for approx. 20 minutes or until pale golden, well risen and firm to touch.

While the cake is in the oven, make the lemon syrup. Heat the lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan on the hob until the sugar has dissolved and the mix becomes syrup-y. Remove from the hob and leave to cool then drizzle over/brush onto the cakes a few minutes after they have come out the oven.

For the berry filling, put the blackcurrants and caster sugar in a saucepan over a low heat. Cook until the mixture turns into a thicker, jam-like consistency, roughly 5 minutes. Take off the hob and leave to cool.

Once both the sponges and filling are cool, assemble together by spreading the jam over two sponges then stack them on top of each other, then top with the remaining sponge. Finish with a dusting of icing sugar if you fancy extra flourish.

Adventures with rhubarb part 3: a failed loaf cake

Well this is embarrassing. After declaring in my last post that the only thing I was decent at baking was cake, here I am with a dud.

I suspected there was far too much fruit/liquid going into the cake batter as I was making it, but trusted the recipe anyway.

I should have trusted my gut. This is one soggy cake.

It reminded me of the time I baked this raspberry and apple cake (shockingly, 11 years ago?!) It was definitely fully baked, but sank into a stodgy heap whilst cooling due to excessive moisture from the fruit.

It's a shame as this is actually a nicely flavoured cake, I might even heat it up with custard to see if that saves it. If I were to bake it again I'd only add a couple of spoonfuls of the stewed rhubarb. Actually, it wouldn't be dissimilar from this almond and rhubarb cake I've made previously.

I won't bother writing out the recipe, which came from The Hummingbird Bakery's Cake Days book, as I feel the almond cake I linked to above is a better almond and rhubarb cake recipe.

Ah well. You live and learn. I'm moving onto rhubarb chutney next.

Gingerbread truffles

Every Christmas I make grand plans to try out a few new recipes. . . And every year I pretty much fail. At least I'm consistent!

I managed one new recipe last year, linzer cookies, but I had also planned to make these gingerbread truffles which I found at Baking with Granny, a lovely baking blog if you're not already familiar with it. Also see her post for nicer photography and less lumpy melted chocolate.

After weeks of no baking I felt inspired to make something two weekends ago and remembered these truffles. I reasoned that  gingerbread truffles could be a treat for any time of year, not just for Christmas.

The recipe is nice and simple, no baking required, with only a handful of ingredients: gingernut biscuits, ground almonds, ground ginger, condensed milk and melted chocolate.

I had to re roll the balls a couple of times until they looked suitably dainty as I naturally seem to make hulk sized portions. Eventually I ended up with 56 bite-sized truffles.

The only change I made was adding about 30-40g extra ground almonds as I found the mixture was too soft and sticky to hold the ball shape. The extra ground almonds helped to firm them up.

I also decided to cover some of the truffles in 70% cocoa dark chocolate. Normally I am the biggest white chocolate fan, however in the last year my taste buds have expanded to appreciate a good, dark chocolate. I guess this means I'm a grown up now?

As a result, I possibly prefer the dark chocolate covered truffles to the white chocolate ones as I like the contrast of the rich chocolate with the sweet, ginger, cookie dough textured filling. Both are incredibly tasty though. I'll definitely make these again. I kept a few truffles for myself then packaged up the rest to drop off at friends' and family's doorsteps as a winter treat. 

The only thing I felt on the fence about was the crystallised ginger topping. They're fine as tiny chunks and the truffles benefit from a decoration but I don't think it's something I'd want to eat as a big chunk. In other words, I have no idea what I'm going to do with the rest of this stuff! Suggestions welcome.

Battenberg cake

I've had a massive craving for battenberg cake for weeks, likely due to it appearing as a challenge in the first week of the latest series of the Great British Bake Off on tv, but somehow I only got around to making one last week. It was definitely worth the wait though. I bloody love a battenberg and to be honest it's a wonder I don't make them more often. A homemade battenberg cake is rather lovely.

I initially had plans for a fancier flavour combination, such as chocolate and orange, but the urge to make a classic pink and yellow chequered almond sponge was too strong. I'm so glad I went down the classic route, it was so yummy! As with most almond bakes I also found it tasted even better the following day.

It's not the neatest of battenberg cakes, but I'm amazed it turned out looking this presentable. Despite thinking I had coated my work surface liberally with icing sugar to stop the marzipan from sticking when rolling out, my marzipan stuck really badly. There were a few tense minutes of me very carefully unpeeling it from the table so I could wrap it around the cake. Somewhat miraculously I only ended up with couple of small tears and they were easily covered with marzipan flowers which I made from little stamp cutters from the left overs. Regardless of the tears, I think I'll use these cutters again on a battenberg cake as they make a really cute decoration. Also, it's fun to use the cutters and I feel bad about rarely using them!

Now that I've finally made a battenberg cake my thoughts have fully turned to festive bakes. I've spent the last couple of years making the same few things, but I'd really like to try some new recipes this year. I've bookmarked a couple so far, hopefully I'll get around to it.

Anyone else got festive bakes on the brain? I'd love to hear what other folk are planning to make.

Battenberg cake

Recipe from "Vintage Cakes" by Jane Brocket.

175g soft butter (I used Stork baking margarine)

175g caster sugar

3 large eggs

A few drops of almond extract

150g self raising flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

40g ground almonds

Pink food colouring gel (A few drops to achieve your desired colour)

A couple of heaped tablespoons of your desired jam (recipe suggests apricot, I used raspberry)

500g pack of marzipan

Preheat the oven to 180C/ 160C Fan/ gas mark 4. Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin with greaseproof paper. Create a divider for the tin using a strip of card (such a cereal box) cut the same length as the inside of the tin. You want it to fit snugly so your two cake mixtures stay separate whilst baking. Cover the card in a sheet tin foil (so the card doesn't burn) and then again with greaseproof paper so the cake batter doesn't stick to it either.

Whisk together the butter and sugar in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Add the almond extract.

In a separate bowl mix together the flour and baking powder. Add the ground almonds and mix. Tip this dry mixture into the wet egg mixture and gently fold together until everything is combined.

Divide the mixture equally into 2 bowls (I weighed mine and they were roughly 325g each.) Pour one mixture into one half of the cake tin and mix a few drops of the pink food colouring into the other. Mix until the colour is well distributed and your desired shade of pink and pour into the other half of the tin.

Bake the cake on the middle shelf of the oven for approximately 25 minutes (although I think mine took longer, like 30-35 minutes) until well risen and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool on a wire rack before lifting the two sponges out the tin.

Once cool, cut both sponges in half length ways and trim all edges so they're all the same length and have straight sides. Eat the off cuts, they're baker's perks!

Dust your work surface and rolling pin with icing sugar and roll out the marzipan to the length of your cake and long enough so that it fully wraps around the cake. (About 45cm long.)

Warm the jam gently in a small pan over the hob then with a blunt knife or pastry brush, put the jam onto the sides of the pink and plain sponges. Assemble them in a chequerboard fashion and place in the centre of the rolled out marzipan. Brush with more jam, to make  sure it is all held together and brush all the sides to make sure the marzipan sticks to the cake.

Wrap the marzipan around the cake, pressing it gently but firmly so the jam sticks. Overlap the marzipan over the top to make a seam (which will become the base) and trim with a sharp knife. Also trim the ends to make the cake look tidy. Leave plain, crimp the edges of the marzipan or cut out decorations with any left over marzipan.

almond and rhubarb cake

Last month my uncle dropped off a pile of rhubarb at my doorstep. What's a lady to do with a pile of rhubarb? Bake, of course!

This cake is based on one of my favourite BBC Good Food recipes. I've used it countless times over the years with different berries, but never with other fruit.

I was unsure whether chunks of raw rhubarb would cook properly in the cake so I decided to stew the rhubarb first (with the addition of vanilla extract) then added it as a jammy layer in the middle of the cake before baking.

This worked really nicely. I loved the tart, jammy frill running through the centre of the cake. I thought it looked really attractive when cut open too. I stewed another few batches of rhubarb and stuck them in the freezer so I'm all set for another cake or a crumble.

Somewhat unfortunately I think I've killed the rhubarb plant which I inherited with my house. An impressive achievement considering it's a hardy plant. I've been steadily gutting and relandscaping my garden since I bought my house two years ago as it was seriously overgrown. The rhubarb plant got dug up and chucked into a shady corner on my path with the intention of replanting it after I weedkilled and reseeded my lawn... which I finally got around to doing this year. Perhaps I put it in too dark a spot when I replanted it, or perhaps it was doomed as it had been sitting out the ground for well over a year. Either way, it's a sad stump.

On the upside, my garden is really taking shape this year. The Covid lockdown has given me time to dedicate to my garden which I otherwise wouldn't have had. My new lawn has been seeded and is growing (incredibly patchy, but still a massive step up from brown earth), I've bought and filled hanging pots for my fence (the fence was built and painted last year), I have created a new border and filled it with colourful bedding plants, and I have finally filled my big planters with flowers, strawberries, onions and carrots. My fuschia and rose bushes have also recovered from their extensive haircuts and the rosebush has loads of pink buds blooming which are going to smell gorgeous when they open. I'm a complete gardening novice so seeing all this progress is ridiculously exciting and rewarding.

Now that lockdown restrictions are lifting in the UK my Dad has been able to come to my garden to help build a new garden shed. I knocked down the original one two years ago as it was completely rotten so I cannot wait to finally have a space to store all my gardening stuff!

Betty's rhubarb - a crumble and a tart

Dare I say it, but I think I can almost see a glimpse of light at the end of the house renovating tunnel. The demolishing stage felt neverending, but things are finally going back in. Plumbing  is underway, the rewiring is nearly finished and new insulation and plasterboard are going up. Plasterboard automatically makes the space look cleaner and brighter which is exciting.

There have been a few "oh my god, WHAT?!" discoveries and eyebrow raising moments in my six months of house-ownership, but thankfully they have been manageable and fixable without too much cost rather than devastating.

One of the more pleasant discoveries was finding rhubarb growing in the overgrown garden. I didn't expect to find anything edible growing there so it felt like a real treat. Thanks, Betty!

*Betty was the elderly lady who owned the house before me. We found a *lot* of her stockings tied round bits of trees when we were excavating the garden a couple of weeks ago. An elderly neighbour also told me she used to keep clothes in her microwave?! She sounds like quite a character!

As there wasn't a huge amount of rhubarb to use I baked a crumble and bulked it out with two eating apples. I also added a sprinkling of ginger and cinnamon since they pair well with rhubarb. The resulting crumble was incredibly tasty although perhaps a touch on the sweet side. I guessed the sugar quantity and underestimated how much sweetness the eating apples would add to the filling.

Lovely red filling! 

A few weeks ago I trimmed off more rhubarb with the intentions of making another crumble, but my Mum suggested a tart instead. After a raid of the fruit bowl I ended up making an apple, nectarine and rhubarb frangipane tart.

It was a very spur-of-the-moment decision to make a tart, so I used a roll of shop-bought shortcrust pastry from the freezer rather than make my own. Some may frown, but I am absolutely ok with the occasional baking shortcut, particularly when it comes to pastry... and custard powder. I have no shame.

Speaking of custard powder, this tart tasted even better the following day served with custard. Custard made from powder *and* shop bought pastry in one photo/pudding. Told you, no shame.

I definitely felt I achieved a better balance with the sweetness in this tart. I also liked the more fragrant, summery addition of vanilla and nectarine compared to my more autumnal flavoured crumble. My only disappointment with this tart was that it could have done with a few more minutes in the oven as I think there was a slightly underbaked bit of frangipane right next to the fruit layer. At least my pastry wasn't soggy. No soggy bottoms here!

On the whole though, as a spontaneous bake I was pretty pleased with my effort. It's also the first tart I've made in quite a few years. (Holy moly, last time was in 2012 if I don't count mini tarts I made in 2014. Seriously?!) Next time I'll have to be more organised and make my own pastry.

Rhubarb and apple crumble 
I recommend reducing the sugar quantity if you prefer a sharp rhubarb flavour.

fruit filling: 15oz (425g) red rhubarb, chopped into 1 inch chunks
3oz (85g)  caster sugar
2 eating apples, cored and chopped into similar sized chunks
sprinkling of ground cinnamon and ginger

crumble:
4oz (115g) butter (I use slightly salted)
6oz (175g) plain flour
2oz (55g) porridge oats
3oz (85g) soft brown sugar

Preheat oven to 190C/ Fan 170C/ Gas 5 and grease a pie dish with butter. Chop up the fruit for the filling and put into a saucepan along with the sugar and spices. Gently simmer on the hob for a few minutes until soft, but not pulpy. Pour the mixture into the pie dish.

For the crumble topping, rub together the butter and flour in a mixing bowl then mix in the porridge oats and sugar. Spoon the mixture on top of the fruit filling in the dish. Bake for 30 - 40 mins. Serve warm with custard or ice cream. Or both if you're feeling decadent!


Rhubarb, nectarine and apple frangipane tart.

fruit filling:
7oz (200g) rhubarb, chopped into 1 inch chunks
3 nectarines, chopped into similar sized chunks
2 eating apples, cored and chopped into similar sized chunks
a sprinkling of cinnamon (under 1/4tsp)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

one pack of ready roll shortcrust pastry (or make more own)

frangipane topping:
4oz (115g) caster sugar
4oz (115g) softened butter
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
4oz (115g) ground almonds
1oz (28g) plain flour
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
a handful on flaked almonds for the topping

Requires an 8 inch (20cm) tart/flan tin.

If you're making your own shortcrust pastry, prepare that first. If you're using shop-bought, roll it out big enough to cover the base and sides of the tin. Press it into the tin (using a left over scrap of pastry to push it into the grooves/sides of the tin) and prick the base with a fork. Cover with tin foil and weigh down with baking beans to stop the pastry from puffing up in the oven. I also leave the edges hanging over the tin and trim them back after the tart comes out the oven. 

Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated oven at 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 6, until you can see the pastry turning golden, then remove the foil and beans and put back in the oven for a further 2 minutes to help dry the pastry out. 

Whilst your pastry case is in the oven make the fruit filling. Chop all the fruit in similar sized chunks and put into a large saucepan along with the cinnamon and vanilla. Gently simmer on the hob for a few minutes until everything has softened. Leave to cool whilst you make the frangipane topping.

Turn the oven temperature down to 180C/Fan 160/Gas 4. For the frangipane, beat together the sugar and butter with a mixer for a few minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add in the ground almonds, flour and vanilla extract and mix until everything is fully combined.

Pour the cooled fruit filling in the base of the tart case, followed by the frangipane mixture, which may need a bit of coaxing over the fruit filling with a palette knife as it's a stiffer mixture. Make sure the frangipane fully covers the fruit filling. Sprinkle a handful of flaked almonds over the top. 

Bake in the oven for at around 35 minutes until golden on top and the frangipane is firm to touch. (I forgot to write down how long it was in the oven for, but it was definitely over 30 minutes so keep an eye on it after half an hour),  Serve warm, but not hot, or completely cool. Both are delicious. Cream, ice-cream or custard make lovely accompaniments.

bakewell slices

I've been wanting to bake Bakewell slices for absolutely ages, at least a year, so I'm really pleased to have finally made them. That's one less bookmark in my baking books! I'm determined to work through more of them this year.

I made these slices for Mother's Day back in March as my Mum loves almond bakes. (Is it just me or does March already feel like an eternity ago?!) They went down an absolute treat and didn't hang around the cake tin for long.

I baked the shortbread base the night before and left it to cool overnight and made the frangipane topping the following morning. I often avoid recipes if they have too many stages or look too involved so this tactic worked nicely for me. Saying that, these slices really weren't difficult or particularly time consuming to make. The shortbread base is far less hassle (and mess) to put together than making pastry.

My only change to the recipe was adding almond extract to the frangipane mixture as I really wanted a strong almond flavour. I recommend it if you're also an almond fan. As I baked this a while ago I can't remember how much I added, likely no more than 1/2tsp as almond extract is pretty strong. A little goes a long way.

Mmmmmmm, frangipane, jam and shortbread. Not much else to say, really!


Bakewell slices
Recipe (slightly altered) from "Vintage Cakes" by Jane Brocket, published 2012

shortbread base:
200g plain flour
50g ground almonds
50g caster sugar
125g softened butter
1 large egg

Filling:
4 -6 spoonfuls (or more, I won't judge) of your preferred jam. I used raspberry

Frangipane topping:
125g softened butter
125g caster sugar
2 eggs
125g ground almonds
75g self-raising flour
1/4 - 1/2 tsp almond essence
handful of flaked almonds

Line a 20 x 30cm tin with greaseproof paper and set aside. Put the flour, ground almonds and sugar in a large bowl. Cut the butter into small cube pieces and rub into the flour mixture with your fingertips until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Lightly beat the egg in a small bowl then add to the breadcrumb mixture. Using either a blunt knife or your hands mix it all together until it becomes a soft, sticky dough.

Press the dough into the lined tin, taking care to make sure it's evenly distributed and pushed into the corners and edges. Prick the dough all over with a fork (around 20 times) then cover with clingfilm and let it chill for an hour. Preheat the oven to 180C/ 160C Fan/ Gas 4 before you take the tin out of the fridge.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until the base is dry and just starting to change colour. Be careful not to over bake it. Once baked, leave to cool on a wire rack while you prepare the topping. Leave the oven on if you're continuing with the topping.

For the frangpine, whisk together the butter and sugar in a large bowl (with a mixer) until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the ground almonds, flour and almond essence and fold everything together until everything is fully combined.

Once the shortbread base is cool (roughly 15 minutes after it's out the oven) spread a layer of jam on top. Carefully spread the frangipane on top of the jam, making sure the two don't mix together. Don't worry about it looking too neat though or being uneven around the edges. Scatter the flaked almonds on top then bake it for 22-25 minutes until risen and golden brown in colour. If a sharp knife/skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean then it's done. Leave to cool before removing from the tin. Once cool, cut into slices with a sharp knife. I cut mine into 16 although you can make them as big or small as you like.

bakewell biscuits

I can't believe how little I've baked this summer. This week I felt I was starting to suffer from some sort of baking deprivation so I rectified the situation with these bakewell biscuits. If I had left it any longer my eyelids might have started twitching.

This was an incredibly satisfying bake. Whoever thought to create a bakewell tart/biscuit hybrid should give themselves a pat on the back. These are very tasty biscuits and the recipe yields a surprisingly large batch which is great for greedy people like me who rarely ever just eat one biscuit with their cup of tea. I think I ended up 26 biscuits in total (the batch, not the amount I drank with my tea.)

The recipe (which I slightly adapted) is from a Co-op magazine although I discovered it on one of my favourite baking blogs, The Caked Crusader. I'll be the first to point out that my batch turned out different looking to CC's. My biscuits spread quite a lot in the oven, I'm assuming due to my butter being very soft and my warm hands when I handled the mixture, so they lost their thumbprint indentations. They're still visually attractive and taste delicious, but I don't think they can be considered thumbprint biscuits anymore. 

The main changes I made to the recipe were swapping out the vanilla for almond extract and omitting the lemon zest and juice. I wanted the biscuits to be purely about almond and raspberry - no other flavour distractions.

The biscuits have crispy edges, slightly chewy, jammy centres and are packed with almondy goodness. It's like having a bakewell tart without needing to faff about making pastry. Basically, these biscuits make me feel very happy. My vintage embroidered tablecloth also makes me happy, even though it's a sh*t to iron.

Here's hoping it will be less than a month until my next bake.

Bakewell biscuits

175g softened butter (I used a combination of unsalted with slightly salted butter as that's what I had to hand)
175g caster sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 egg
150g ground almonds
150g self raising flour
approx. 1/2 jar good quality raspberry jam
handful of flaked almonds

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Line some baking sheets with baking parchment - at least 4 baking sheets or 2 reused/rotated.

Beat together the butter, sugar and almond extract for a few minutes until pale. Add the egg and beat well. Add the ground almonds and self raising flour and stir until everything is fully combined.

Take a heaped teaspoonful of the mixture and roll into a ball in the palm of your hands. Place the balls onto the baking sheets, spacing them well apart as they will spread. I had 8 per baking sheet. Push your thumb into the centre of each ball to create a well and spoon about 1/2 teaspoon of jam into the centre. Sprinkle some flaked almonds on top.

Bake in the oven until golden and well spread. Although the original recipe says to bake for 10 minutes, both the Caked Crusader and I found ours took longer at 16-18 minutes. Leave to cool and firm up on the trays before transferring to a wire rack/tin/your mouth.

orange, almond and yoghurt loaf

Baking late at night is a bad idea, but sometimes you really want to have a cake ready for the next day (or for midnight munchies) so you go ahead regardless of tiredness. I was about to spoon the mixture for this cake into the tin when I thought "this is an unusually stiff mix" so I glanced back to the list of ingredients in the recipe. It turns out I had forgotten an egg.

Luckily I was at a stage where I could still add the necessary third egg, not halfway through baking! This is the kind of blunder you see on tv programmes like the Great British Bake Off and shout "YOU IDIOT!" at the contestant. This time I had the privilege of shouting at myself.

My cake turned out lovely, thankfully. It's one of those plain, unassuming cakes but that doesn't mean it's boring or not tasty. Neither the orange or almond is overpowering; they just happily sit together. Perhaps they're balanced by the vanilla extract, which oddly enough isn't mentioned in the recipe title despite being more obvious than the yoghurt.

Anyway, it's one of those fresh flavoured cakes which goes perfectly with an afternoon cup of tea or coffee. It's also rather nice with a light spread of marmalade, if you feel so inclined.

Orange, almond and yoghurt loaf
Recipe from Hummingbird Bakery "Cake Days" book

190g (7oz) unsalted butter, softened
190g (7oz) plain flour
1 tbsp finely grated orange zest (1 whole orange)
190g (7oz) caster sugar
3 large eggs
60g (2oz) ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt (optional, I didn't add it as I used salted butter)
 25g (1oz) plain yoghurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
10g (1/3oz) flaked almonds (or a handful, if you don't care about being precise)

Preheat the oven to 170C/ 325F/ Gas 3. Grease and line a 8.5 x 17.5cm (3 1/2" x 7") loaf tin with greaseproof paper.

Beat together the butter, sugar and orange zest in a large bowl with your mixer until soft and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs individually, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything gets incorporated. In a separate bowl combine the flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt. Tip this into the other mixture in two batches and mix on a slower speed on your mixer until just incorporated. Add the yoghurt and vanilla and mix until everything is combined.

Pour the batter into the loaf tin and scatter the flaked almonds on top before baking in the oven (on the middle shelf) for 50 - 60 minutes until golden, firm on top and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. I think my cake took 10 minutes longer to bake, so keep an eye on it depending on how quick your oven cooks as you don't want an overbaked, dry cake (or a sad, underbaked one!)

Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning out and transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. 

almond and banana bread

Sometimes I feel like the only thing I bake is banana bread. Perhaps I should start eating bananas before they get to that ugly stage so I can bake other things.

It was the usual situation of having stuff to use up: 3 small rotting bananas, a 100g lump of marzipan left over from my carrot and coconut battenberg cake and 2 nearly empty packets of ground and flaked almonds. My banana bread was destined to be heavily almond flavoured.

For whatever reason this cake seemed to take ages to bake. It looked cooked on top just after an hour but felt decidedly gloopy when I stuck a skewer in the middle. I think it ended up being in the oven for about 1hr 30 minutes. I'm wondering whether the grated marzipan affected the bake.

It all turned out pretty good in the end though. A lovely, crunchy crust with a soft crumb. Almond and banana are both strong flavours but I think they play together happily in this loaf. My only change would be to roll out the marzipan to bake in the middle instead of grating it. I think a squidgy layer of marzipan would have made a lovely texture contrast.

Almond and banana bread
Banana bread recipe adapted from Mary Berry's Baking Bible

100g (4oz) margarine or softened butter
175g (6oz) caster sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp almond essence
2 bananas (I used 3 small)
200g (7oz) self raising flour
25g  (1oz) ground almonds
1 level tsp baking powder
2 tbsp milk
100g block of marzipan, grated
a handful of flaked almonds to scatter on top

Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/Gas 4 and line a 2lb loaf tin with baking parchment. Put all the ingredients except the flaked almonds in a large bowls and mix together for about 2 minutes until smooth and well combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and scatter the flaked almonds on top. 

Bake in the middle of the oven for roughly 1 hour 30 minutes until well risen, firm to touch and skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. I would check on the cake after an hour in case it cooks quicker than it did in my oven. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

carrot and coconut battenberg cake

I've had this recipe bookmarked for ages as I've been itching to make a battenberg cake for a while and I was really intrigued by the flavours of this version.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out; it's a classic with a twist. In hindsight I could have decorated the cake with one of those fancy crimped edges that Paul and Mary would have done on the Great British Bake Off, but ultimately I just want to tidy up the kitchen and eat the cake. It's a wonder I can restrain myself long enough to take a few photographs for the blog.

I'm not sure how to describe the flavour of this cake. The dominant flavour is almond, obviously due to the marzipan (mmmm, marzipan) followed by apricot as it is in both the sponge and the jam, then the warming spices of cinnamon and ginger. Despite carrot and coconut being in the title of the recipe I'd say they provide texture and  moisture rather than big flavour. They're there, but more subtle.

The carrot cake half didn't rise as well as the coconut half so I had a bit of levelling to do once the cakes were cool. I'm assuming that's due to extra moisture from the carrots, apricot chunks and orange food colouring. Other than that the cake came together very smoothly. Although I'm generally not keen to add food colouring to cakes, I love the extra punch the orange colouring adds to the carrot cake half. It really enhances the classic battenberg chequerboard pattern.

If you love battenberg cake and fancy something a little bit different then I'd definitely recommend giving this recipe a go :)

Carrot and coconut battenberg cake

Recipe (marginally adapted) from "Peek-a-boo cakes" by Joanna Farrow. Pub. 2014

carrot sponge:

100g margarine

100g light soft brown sugar

2 eggs, large

100g self-raising flour

1/2tsp baking powder

1/2tsp ground ginger

1/2tsp ground cinnamon

75g carrot, finely grated

40g dried apricots, finely chopped

25g ground almonds

orange food colouring

coconut sponge:

100g margarine

100g caster sugar

2 eggs, large

100g self-raising flour

25g dessicated coconut

1/2 tsp baking powder

decoration:

200g apricot jam

375g marzipan

icing sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C/160 Fan/Gas 4. Cut a strip of cardboard the same length and depth as a 8" / 20cm square cake tin (I used a cereal box). Cover the strip with baking foil and fit it down the centre of the tin. Grease and line the bases and sides of the two sections with greaseproof paper.

In a large bowl, beat together all the carrot cake ingredients, excluding the food colouring, for about a minute until smooth. Add some food colouring to enhance the "carrot" colour, mix well, then pour the mixture into one side of the tin. Level the surface.

In another large bowl, beat together all the coconut cake ingredients for a minute until smooth. Pour the mixture into the other side of the tin and level the top so it rises evenly. Bake the cakes in the centre of the oven for about 40 minutes until well risen and just firm to touch. Cool on a wire rack before peeling off the greaseproof paper.

Once the cakes are completely cool, set them side by side on a work surface and level their height using a sharp knife. It's important they're the same height for stacking. Trim the sides of the cakes if necessary as well. Cut each sponge in half lengthwise so you have 4 strips of sponge. Warm the jam in a saucepan on the hob to slacken it and remove any lumps with a sieve if necessary. Use half the jam to stick the sponges together, stacking them in a chequered pattern.

Sprinkle a layer of icing sugar on a work surface and roll out 375g of the marzipan in a rectangular shape until it is big enough to wrap around the cake. Brush the marzipan with the remaining warm jam, put the cake in the centre and wrap the marzipan up over the sides. Trim until neat and turn the cake over so the overlap is at the bottom. Brush the ends of the cake with any remaining jelly and any left over/spare marzipan can be used be roll out into squares to cover the ends.

mini raspberry bakewell cake

Last week I had cause for celebration -  an issue which has been causing me immense stress and anxiety throughout the whole of this year has finally been resolved. I feel like a massive weight has finally been lifted off me. Hopefully I'll start sleeping better and stop feeling like such an emotional wreck.

Anyway, that was a bit deep and vague. Let's talk about cake. Basically the first thing I wanted to do to celebrate was bake a cake. A little raspberry and almond cake.... all for me!

The recipe is from BBC Good Food and I halved the quantities to fit the mixture in a 6 inch cake tin.  I also added a few dollops of raspberry jam in the middle of the cake as I only had a handful of raspberries and I subbed the vanilla extract for almond essence for an extra almond kick as it's something I mentioned doing the last two times I used this recipe - first time here and a blackberry version here.

The cake was every bit as good as I remembered, possibly better since I oomphed up the almond flavour. I had a piece fresh from the oven and it was just the most comforting thing ever - warm almond sponge, squidgy raspberries and crunchy flaked almonds. Perfect.

Last night I warmed up a slice, made a big mug of tea and sat down to do some knitting whilst watching Ghosts of Mars on tv. A pretty fantastic Sunday evening, I'm sure you'll agree!

Mini raspberry bakewell cake

75g ground almonds

75g margarine/softened butter

75g golden caster sugar

75g self raising flour

1 large egg

1/4 tsp almond essence 

100g (ish) of raspberries. I only had about 50g so added a couple of teaspoonfuls of jam for flavour

handful of flaked almonds

icing sugar, for serving

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/ Gas 4 and grease and line a 6 inch cake tin. Put the ground almonds, butter, sugar, self raising flour, egg and almond essence in a large bowl and mix everything together for about a minute until well blended. 

Spread half of the mixture into the base of the cake tin and scatter half your raspberries on top. If you're short of raspberries like me, just put a few small dollops of raspberry jam on top to make up the difference. Spread the rest of the cake mixture on top. Arrange the remaining raspberries on top and scatter with a handful of flaked almonds. 

Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 40-45 minutes until risen, light golden and firm to touch. A skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean. Leave to cool for 5 minutes or so before taking it out of the tin. Cool on a wire rack or serve warm with a dusting of icing sugar on top.