How do you like them apples? Apple Hazelnut Crumble Cake

There’s an apple tree in my garden, looking a little neglected and wistfully shedding its fruit on to the grass. I share my garden with the other residents in our little block of flats and there don’t seem to be many takers of the small, rough-around-the-edges, apples it has to offer. But I’m a little rough around the edges too and I hate to think of them going to waste, so I added ‘think of lots of things to do with a glut of apples’ to my ever-expanding to-do list. Never one to turn down a challenge, I’d like to make a hot chilli apple jam, apple sauce, apple pie, tarte tatin, blueberry and apple muffins, and a whole host of apple-licious treats. There may not be enough hours in the day, but I’ll keep you posted! This cake appealed to me as it’s super easy, and makes a nice change from a traditional crumble – don’t get me wrong, I love a good crumble, but sometimes it’s good to spice things up a little. And that’s what I was aiming for with the luxurious feel of the crumble that sits proudly atop this cake; I topped it with ground hazelnuts (whizzed quickly in the mill of my food processor, but chopping finely will do), and added in ground almonds and oats for a moreish texture. The crunch of the crumble is a wonderful juxtaposition with the baked apples and the soft, light sponge. I hesitated in layering up the full 3 apples as I thought they might make the cake soggy (you’ll see this in the picture of the slice below), but in hindsight, that was very silly; so once you’ve got one layer, keep on going until you use ‘em all up to get that lovely visible, soft shelf of appley loveliness.

Apple Hazelnut Crumble Cake

For the hazelnut crumble topping

• 50g plain flour
• 20g oats
• 40g margarine/butter
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 60g light brown sugar
• 30g hazelnuts, ground (keep these separate)
• 1 tbsp ground almonds

For the sponge

• 60g unsalted butter, softened
• 140g plain flour
• 100g caster sugar
• 1tsp baking powder
• 1 large egg
• few drops vanilla essence
• 80ml milk
• 3 medium apples

1. Preheat oven to 170c, grease a 20cm springform tin.
2. Prepare the crumble topping; sift the flour and cinnamon in a bowl. Add the butter and use your fingers to rub into a breadcrumb texture. Stir in the sugar, oats and ground almonds and set aside.
3. Now, cream together your butter and sugar. I did this by hand ’cause I was feeling old school, but feel free to use an electric whisk/mixer.
4. Add the egg and vanilla extract. Sift the flour and baking powder, and combine, gradually stirring in the milk. The mixture should be light and smooth. Pour into the prepared baking tin.
5. Peel, core and slice your apples, arranging neatly on top of the sponge layer. Loosely and evenly sprinkle over the crumble mixture. Top with the ground hazelnuts and bake for 35-45 minutes.

Serve with cream, vanilla ice cream, custard – or whatever else takes your fancy!

Epic win: Banana Bread and Peanut Butter Cake wich

The sandwich is a modest little thing. If it were a person, I imagine he would stand with his hands in his pockets, scuffing the floor with his shoe and trying not to make eye contact.

But this unassuming chameleon has a lot to be proud of; he can take on anything – from fish fingers to fillet steak, marmite to ham and mustard. Done properly, with delicious, fresh bread, a hearty filling and those crucial condiments to add ‘je ne sais quoi’, it is truly one of my favourite simple pleasures. In its versatility, you might say it’s a little like my absolute favourite pleasure – CAKE!

So when the lovely people over at find-me-a-gift.co.uk gave me the opportunity to bring these two pleasures together, it’s safe to say I was more than a little bit excited. Ladies and gentleman, let me introduce the latest addition to my bakeware family – the CAKEWICH:

The cakewich mould is made from high-quality  silicone, which means it’s super easy to get the cake out, super easy to clean, and makes super cool-looking cake. What more can you want?

The wonderful Christine over at Angrycherry.com recently created a heart-achingly amazing recipe for a peanut butter and jelly cakewich that had me trying to lick the screen, so I knew I peanut butter just had to be involved. Prepare yourself for the finger-licking-good luxury of peanut butter frosting. Never one to turn down an opportunity for extravagance and to indulge my sweet tooth, I also adapted my easy peasy banana muffin recipe to form the gooey, moist ‘bread’ of the cakewich.

Banana Bread and Peanut Butter Cakewich

Ingredients

For the banana bread

300g plain flour

2 large eggs (I used duck eggs for added ‘phwoar’)

150g caster sugar

100g light muscovado sugar

3/4 large ripe bananas (the riper the better!)

125g margarine, melted

1tsp baking powder

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the frosting

110g smooth peanut butter

55g unsalted butter, softened

125g icing sufar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

tbsp of milk, if needed, to combine.

Method

For the banana bread

1. preheat your oven to 180 c, and lightly grease the silicone mould
2. Mash the bananas in a large bowl until nicely mushed up. Add the eggs, sugar, and melted butter and mix until smooth and well combined.
3. Sift in the flour, bicarb and baking powder, and fold in until well combined.
4. Bake in the centre of the oven for aound 60 minutes. Check after 45 minutes. It’s ready when a skewer comes out clean. Be careful with this one – the top may look ready, but the insides can still be gooey.
5. The nature of the tin means you should get a slight dome on the top. This is exactly what you want so you can slice it off, leaving yourself with the look of sliced bread. Tada!
6. One the cake has cooled, slice it in half to add your ‘filling’.

For the frosting

1. Put the butter and peanut butter into a medium bowl and beat with an electric mixer for several minutes until combined.
2. Gradually mix in the sugar to combine, adding milk if necessary. Add the vanilla and beat until fluffy.

It’s safe to say that this cake isn’t for the faint-hearted. Though deliciously simple to make, it’s sweet, moist, gooey, unapologetically indulgent, and undoubtedly a whopper in terms of calories. This, of course, translates to a mouth full of awesome that just keeps on giving. If it makes you feel better, eat it with some fresh banana sliced on the top and tell yourself you’re getting one of your five a day.

The humble sandwich will never be the same again.

Cor limey! Coconut and lime cupcakes

Limes are just glorious, aren’t they? They’re so versatile. They can go with almost every drink under the sun, with fruit, with vegetables, with meat or fish. They seem to have a wonderful knack of making you feel a little bit livelier and of bringing the sunsine with them.

Naturally, they’re right at home making a zesty impression on a good dessert.

My boyfriend loves a bit of lime, and as we celebrated five years together this week, I thought I’d show my love by getting creative with these little green fellas. He’s been badgering me to make a key lime pie for weeks now, but after checking a couple of recipes and realising I’d probably gain half a stone just from weighing the ingredients, I decided to go another way.

I also had a pack of sugarpaste that was calling me from the cupboard. So follows my first attempt at working with sugarpaste for cupcakes. Next time, I’d probably roll it out a little thinner, as I’m not a huge lover of the taste of icing and I think cosmetically, it could be a little neater. But generally, I’m pleased, and I think they look rather cute!

Not so cute was my attempt at making a teddy bear with my leftover scraps. Evil dictator teddy bear birthday cake, anyone?

Yeah. Keep practicing, Laura.

Anyway! These cupcakes are zesty, lively and lovely. I added a few drops of green colouring for cosmetic value, but they’d be just as delicious without it.If I wasn’t a Weight Watcher, I’d have added a tablespoon or two of coconut milk to the frosting and played around with the quantities – one to try for yourself!

The base is adapted from the basic Hummingbird vanilla cupcakes, and they’re topped with a tangy cream cheese frosting and fondant icing toppers.

Coconut and lime cupcakes

Serves 8

For the base

135g plain flour

140g caster sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

40g unsalted butter, at room temperature

120ml whole milk

1 egg

Zest and juice of 1 lime

Coconut and lime frosting

115 g cream cheese

45g butter

100g icing sugar

Juice and zest of 1/2 a lime

2 tablespoons of dessicated coconut

1 or 2 tablespoons coconut milk (optional)

Method

1.  preheat the oven to 170 C (325 F)/Gas 32
2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, lime zest and butter and beat slowly until you have a sandy texture. Beat in half of the milk until just incorporated.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, lime juice and and remaining milk, before pouring into the flour mixture and beating until incorporated. Give it a couple more minutes until smooth, but don’t overmix.
4. Spoon into paper cases and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the sponge springs back to your finger.
5. While they’re in the oven, crack on with the frosting. Cream together your cream cheese and butter in a bowl. Add lime juice and coconut milk (if using), before folding in the icing sugar and dessicated coconut. You can also add green food colouring if you like – a couple of drops will do.
6. Chill before using and make sure the cakes are completely cold before icing, or it will run straight off and make a gooey mess – I speak from experience!

A sweet surprise

I came back to Bristol this week from a short break in London after managing to bag a £1 room at the rather lovely Hoxton hotel in their pound sale (did I mention that I hold the title of Queen of Bargains?).

LOVED these cushions!

Exploring the local area, we headed for boutiquey, hipster-esque Spitalfields Market, perusing the cute dresses, jewellery and some rather fetching, uncannily similar, Cath Kidston-esque floral messenger bags (one of which I sadly didn’t nab and am now mourning). The eternal tourists, since we were in the area we wandered toward Brick Lane. I loved taking in the air, infused with a vast array of aromatic spices that seem to wrap around you and pull you toward windows, filled with everything from pakoras to beautiful pistachio-sprinkled pastries and over-the-top tier cakes with extravagent coloured piped frosting. With achey feet, we wandered towards the hotel and I spotted something that instantly brought a huge smile to my face – a sign pointing to The Hummingbird Bakery. If it’s possible, I felt a bit cake-struck (like being starstruck, but by amazing cakes). I, like many, have the book and dip into it regularly with yummy results. I was desperate to try the real thing and compare it to my own efforts. I loved the styling, layout, and feel of the place. It’s classy, colourful and chic – the perfect atmosphere for indulging a sweet tooth. And I’ve got a whole mouth of them. After much to-ing and fro-ing, we went for a rather large slice of the Red Velvet cake (always good to try out a contemporary classic) and a carrot cake cupcake – mainly because you have to spend £5 on a card, and a slice is £4.60 to take out, very crafty! The Red Velvet was a generous, beautifully burgundy, triple-layered slice, with fluffy, moist sponge, topped with a super-sweet cream cheese frosting, typifying the classic American style of baking. The frosting was possibly a little too sweet for me, but I wholeheartedly (and quickly) enjoyed it. The carrot cake cupcake arrived in the cutest little box I think I’ve ever seen, complete with tiny metal carry-handle. Not very environmentally-friendly, but it certainly added to the premium feel (and no doubt partially explained the premium price tag). Again, it was beautifully moist and light, with hints of cinnamon, a perfectly matched frosting, and an individual walnut to finish. A great thing that I took away from my visit – aside from two gorgeous pieces of cake – was a reassurance that the book was actually pretty true to the real thing, and that the cakes I’ve made myself weren’t far off the quality and taste of those produced at Hummingbird. A really wonderful feeling. So I’m off to peruse the book, drool a little, and figure out what treats I’ll be whisking up in the near future. If you’re a Hummingbird fan too, what have been your favourite things to bake?

Low-fat, low-sugar, lemony and…lovely?

I’m writing this to the soul-destroying background of Emmerdale, which will be followed by a torturous visit to Coronation Street.

This can mean only one thing; my darling motherbear is visiting. She’s also a recently-diagnosed diabetic, which posed an interesting challenge to a bake-aholic who likes nothing more than to welcome guests with a (large) slab of sugar-laden cake.

I tried searching for diabetic recipes, and I did find a few – some with granulated sweeteners, and others with honey or other substitutes. Some just had plain weird lists of ingredients. I’m not keen on the concept of artificial sweeteners – I get hideous images of gargantuan brain tumours just thinking about them – so I had a look on the Weight Watchers website instead, and found this low-sugar cake with only 4 propoints (160 cals) per serving; double win!

It’s definitely not the most delicious cake I’ve ever made, but for one with essentially a meringue base with a bit of flour, it’s pretty tasty – and quite light, too. Of course, a (low-fat) lemon cream-cheese frosting and tangy raspberries can hide a multitude of sins. Nevertheless, a rather lovely treat if you’re watching the waistline – and with only 75g of sugar, it could be a viable option for diabetics.

I would always recommend checking with the individual, though, as every diabetic is different in what they can and can’t eat.

Lemon and Raspberry cake

serves 9
Ingredients

• 75g caster sugar
• 3 medium eggs
• 75g plain flour
• Zest of two lemons, squeeze of lemon juice
• 200g low-fat cream cheese
• 2 tbsp low-fat Greek Yogurt
• 2 tbsp lemon curd (this can be substituted for a good squeeze of lemon for less sugar)
• 75g raspberries

1. Preheat oven to 190/170 fan/Gas mark 5/and line a 9 inch square baking tin.
2. Whisk the eggs, sugar, salt, lemon juice and half of the lemon zest with an electric whisk for 5 minutes until thick, light and fluffy (just before they become meringue-like). I did this in a food processor with whisk attachments as my handheld is broken
3. Gently fold in the flour with a metal spoon and spoon into the tin.
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes until firm but springy.
5. Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese, yogurt, lemon curd and remaining lemon zest until smooth. Chill in the fridge until the cake has cooled.
6. Spoon over the frosting, smooth with a spatula, and decorate with the raspberries, pushing them down a little.

Ripe for the baking

Any number of things can inspire me to get my baking hat  on. A special occasion, a special friend, a risky peruse of my many cookbooks, or just a dreary Sunday.

This time it was the sight of three very ripe bananas.

Forget peas and carrots, it's all about tea and cake

Suitably revolted by them sitting on their desks looking dejected, my colleagues were about to throw ‘em. The old saying ‘waste not, want not’ popped into my head – my mother’s favourite and undoubtedly one that’s helped to make me bootylicious over the years -  and I scooped them up and saved them from the bin.

Despite being very ripe – and I’m talking almost completely black – these kept fine in the fridge for another couple of days until I was ready to use them for a Sunday afternoon treat for a friend who was popping round. You can also freeze them, if you’re that way inclined.

This recipe is quick and easy peasy banana squeezy. It’s also positively angelic at just 4 propoints each (around 150 calories). Which is why, yesterday, I ate three of these bad boys.

It’s not my fault; they’re just so moreish. Squishy, sweet and light all rolled into one.

Don’t believe me? Give them a whirl and see if you can refuse seconds…

I got a lotta love for these beauties

Easy Peasy Banana Muffins

Makes 12 – takes 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 200g plain flour
• 100g caster sugar
• 50g light muscovado sugar (or light brown sugar)
• 1 egg
• 3 large ripe bananas (blacker the better!)
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• 75g light margarine, melted

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180/Gas 4/150 fan & line a 12-hole muffin tin
2. Mash up your bananas in a mixing bowl – should be easy if they’re nice and ripe.
3. Add your egg, sugar and melted butter to the mashed banana
4. Sift your flour, baking powder and bicarb into the mixture and then fold it in until smooth.
5. Spoon evenly into baking cases (around 4/5 full).
6. Pop into the oven and check after 15 minutes – they should be light and spring back when touched. If too soft, pop in for another 5-10 minutes, keeping a close eye on them.

Et voila! A super-easy, low-fat treat that’s great for breakfast or snuggled on the sofa with a cup of tea.

Get your five-(cakes)-a-day

I love cake. I love baking it, eating it, sharing it with friends and loved-ones, trying to be better at making it, and trying to making people smile with it.

But, like a tumultuous literary love story,  my affair with cake is dangerous. I pore, obsessively, over cookbooks, agonising at what to bake – which springy sponge will bring me closer to baking perfection. Essentially, I try to find the Platonic form of the cupcake.  I bake. And then – inevitably – I eat.

And cake loves me too

I joined Weight Watchers 8 weeks ago, and – for obvious reasons – was forced to put my affair on hold. That is, until this week.

I recently nominated Bristol-based One25 – a wonderful organisation which helps women trapped in street sex work to build new lives – as our office’s Dress-Down Friday charity for the next few months. Last Friday, we started our office fundraising.  Clearly, this was the perfect occasion for cake; cake for a great cause; awareness-raising cake; cake to celebrate transforming the lives of women. But….Weight Watchers?

At this point, some of you might say ‘but you don’t have to eat any of the cakes?’. To you, I say, ‘get a grip, you utter buffoon. Of COURSE I’m going to eat the cakes. Not all of them, but at least two, JEEZ!’

Harry Eastwood's beautiful book of cakey amazingness

But have no fear – waistlines and worries were saved thanks to cakes made with…vegetables?!? 

Yep, you heard me right, vegetables. In this instance, courgettes. A little while ago, while perusing cake books on Amazon, I stumbled accross a book with endless (110 to be precise) 5-star reviews. Finger poised to order, I spotted a mention of grating butternut squash and scattering ground almonds which stopped me in my tracks.

This was Harry Eastwood’s first book, packed to the rafters with gluten-free, guilt-free, bakes, written with love and made by lovingly grating many, many vegetables.

Most of the recipes use no butter, making them deliciously low in fat, and the calorie and fat content for each is listed in the back. Perfect for the intrepid cake-explorer who wants to avoid developing their own ‘cake shelf’, these bakes have been some of the best ones I’ve made, and although it may seem utterly bonkers, I thoroughly recommend it.

This week, I went for American Vanilla Cupcakes,  so-called because of their supreme, L.A-esque, lightness and low saturated fat content – only 1 gram per cake!

Flour- check. Sugar - check. Green veg - check..?

These cupcakes are really some of the lightest, fluffiest, and most delicious I’ve ever eaten. The grated courgettes puff them up like little white clouds, and the absence of butter makes them seem vaguely saintly.

Harry recommends that these are topped with her ‘snow meringue icing’ – a tooth-achingly sweet, marshmallowy frosting, which looks simply beautiful.

But, despite its wonderful texture, I found it a little too sickly for my taste. This time, I went with a basic buttercream.

Sadly, at the time of making said buttercream, I had enjoyed several large glasses of wine, and it all went a bit Pete Tong.

Too emotionally exhausted (read pissed) from the late-night frosting debacle, the cakes were iced at 7.30am, bleary-eyed and mildly hungover. The end result, as you’ll see, was far from professsional, but the cakes

And with fruit on top, SURELY one of your 5-a-day?

were enjoyed with ‘ooh’s and ‘aaaah’s and cries of ‘courgette?! Really?!’ by colleagues.

Having totted up their Weight Watchers points like a massive saddo (7, if you’re interested), I gleefully enjoyed one (and a half) guilt-free.

Lessons learned: always, always have your butter at room temperature when making frosting, and never, ever, try to make frosting after a bottle of red wine.