Some Birthday Cake?

I’ve been wanting to make Lamingtons, for quite some time now but when my son said he wanted a chocolate cake with coconut for MY BIRTHDAY…then that worked for me!  I’m just really happy we like the same sweet things lol!

A massive chunky, glossy ganache covered chocolate fudge cake topped off with naturally crunchy sweet coconut! Ummmm loved it! We all did!

I had to share some cake with you all…I hope you enjoy it, as much as we did!  Have a beautiful day friends! See you soon! Much love, D x

Click on the blue link below for the recipe…

My favourite chocolate fudge cake recipe…just top with extra coconut!

Toy Story Coconut Iced Sponge

I found some Toy Story sugar cake icon toppers so had to surprise my little ones with a cake. I just whizzed everything together and had a sponge base ready. My eldest loves coconut, so this came into play. End result a cute looking slim line sponge as I didn’t want them to have too much, that disappeared in minutes, especially as their Daddy helped eat it too. The almond extract tastes sooo good with the coconut and sugar! Yummmmm!

What was really cute was that my 3 year old would not eat the sugar characters as he said “No! Mummy, I can’t eat them, they are my friends!” Lol!

Have a tremendous day and I shall see you all tomorrow friends, much love D x

INGREDIENTS

110g Self raising flour
80g butter/low fat butter spread
60g sugar
1 large egg
2/3 tbsp milk
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 level tsp baking powder

Topping

1 cup icing sugar
Few tsps of water
Toy Story sugar paper icons
Desiccated coconut

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180°c, grease a small round cake pan

Put all the ingredients into a food processor or a large mixing bowl. Combine until you get a smooth cake batter

Place in the oven for 15 to 18 minutes, ensuring it’s cooked through

Meanwhile prepare the icing. Slowly add the water and mix until a sticky yet slightly runny icing forms

Once the cake is done, wait for it to cool down completely. Then spread out the icing on top sprinkle on the coconut and add the icons

It’s ready for those little eager hands to grab!

Extreme Bite Size Brownies

I love brownies and I’m always trying to experiment and get recipes developed so that we get extreme funky brownies to eat.  This time in a mini way,  I have made some bite sized chocolate brownies!  Bit like an extreme shot of chocolate as you would an espresso to kick start your day!  This bite size beauty will satisfy your craving and the naughtiness is distributed well.

I still have lessened the amount of butter and sugar to make these a little more less guilt free.  I had a whole batch yesterday in a large tray, to make them thinner too.  I approached my kitchen this morning and half had already disappeared… Who IS the culprit? I will have to put my detective hat on and find out!!

Whilst I investigate, have a beautiful day, see you tomorrow friends, much love, D x

INGREDIENTS

150g unsalted butter melted
150g plain chocolate pieces
65g plain flour
20g cocoa powder
2 large eggs
130g soft dark brown sugar
50g chocolate chips

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180°c, grease a large rectangular baking tray and line with some grease proof paper

In a bowl, pour the melted hot butter onto the chocolate pieces and set aside so that the chocolate melts. Stir well and let the mixture cool down

Mix the eggs and sugar together until sugar has dissolved into the egg and is creamy

Pour in the chocolate mixture

Throw in the flour and cocoa and gently combine as not to overbeat and knock the air out and stir in the chocolate chips

Spread evenly into the tray and bake for 20-25 minutes until the top has set

Leave completely to cool and then slice into mini squares

A Hazelnut Brownie Ice Cream Cake

I adore brownies and always have them with some ice cream, so I felt a cake combined with both elements would be just great!  So here you have a brownie based sponge with ice cream in the middle.  Please feel free to add any type of nut or even extra chocolate if you wish.

Have a stunning day!  And enjoy! Much love D x

INGREDIENTS

60g hazelnuts roughly chopped, some whole
60g self raising flour
130g caster sugar
50g cocoa powder
30g brown sugar
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
⅓ cup milk + 40g milk chocolate melted
1 cup melted butter/low fat baking spread
3 medium eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence

Filling
Vanilla ice cream

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 180°c, grease and line two 20cm diameter cake pans

• Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl or food processor

• Add all the wet ingredients, mix well and stir in half of the hazlenuts

• Divide the mixture between the two pans, scatter over the rest of the hazelnuts and bake for 20-25 until a skewer comes out clean when poked

• Leave in the pan to cool for 10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack

• When completely cool take one brownie half and spread on whipped ice cream and sandwich with the other half

• I like my ice cream soft and runny but you could set it in the freezer before serving

A Marble Cake

I had not intended to put this marble cake up as a blog post and that’s why I have not taken proper pictures. I was just experimenting with the recipe but it turned out fluffy and it had risen well. I had put a picture of the cake up on my facebook page as soon as it came out of the oven and everyone asked for the recipe so here it is friends.

I’ll be baking an Easter Russian Cake, yes I know it’s not Easter but the flavours are so very festive and Christmas is only 119 sleeps away! 😉

INGREDIENTS

175g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
150g white sugar
3 eggs
120g butter/low fat butter spread
25g cocoa powder

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180°c and line a cake tin with grease proof paper

Place all the ingredients, except for the cocoa into a large mixing bowl or food processor. Beat until all combined and fluffy for a few minutes

Pour half of the batter mixture into the tin and add the cocoa to the rest in the mixing bowl, mix well

Pour the remaining cocoa mixture into the tin and using a fork swirl into the vanilla batter

Place in the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, leave to cool and then grab yourself a cup of coffee and devour

Simply relaxing…

Life is very busy at the moment and August is so jam packed for me! But I still couldn’t resist baking some vanilla cupcakes.

Even in stressful and hectic times, I have to bake.  It’s my way, of relaxing.  AND what’s better is that you get a sweet reward at the end! It’s a win, win!!!

This is the recipe I used and the result was yummmmmy!!!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/cupcakes_93722

Have a stunning Sunday friends! Much love, D x

Banana & Lemon Iced Squares

After seeing Selma @ Selma’s Table and Karinna @ Cheesy Biscuit make wonderful citrus flavour desserts, I just had to make me some.  This time however I introduced a new fruit into the mix ~ the banana.  I wasn’t sure how this recipe would come out but I was pleasantly surprised by the flavour combination.

It’s like a little tropical sunshine shines onto your palette when your eating your way through a spongy, sweet, soft square of deliciousness! 

Another very simple and quick bake.  Great to impress for when you have friends coming round for coffee or a sweet treat for the family.  I reduced the butter content and flour content so that you really get the fruits coming through.  I especially love the tang of the sharp lemon icing…

Hope you enjoy it!  I’m about to share some of it with my little nephew later on this afternoon.  Have a beautiful day, take care…much love D x

INGREDIENTS

150g softened butter
1 large ripe banana
100g caster sugar
3 large eggs
200g self raising flour
1 tsp lemon extract
3 tbsp milk

For the icing

Juice of one lemon
5-6 tbsp of icing sugar

METHOD

• Grease and line a deep rectangular dish and preheat oven to 180°c

• In a food processor blend the banana, butter and sugar together until it combines.  Stir in the lemon extract

• Crack in the eggs, put in the milk and give it another whizz.  Gradually add in the flour and mix until combined

• Empty out into the baking dish and level out using a spatula

• Bake for 30-35 minutes untilk golden brown specks appear and a skewer comes out clean when poked into the centre of the sponge

• Vigorously mix the icing sugar and lemon juice so that it becomes a smooth and sticky icing texture

• Once baked let the sponge cool down.  Top off with the icing using a spatula to cover the whole sponge

• With a sharp knife cut into squares

Serve on its own or with some ice cream…

The Red Velvet Birthday Cake

My first ever red velvet cake for my husband’s birthday!  He recently told me he liked it so that then became the cake of choice.  To compliment the flavour I wanted to smother the cake in a light chocolate buttercream frosting and to add a little acidity and sharpness the frozen summer berries came into play.
My 3 year old greased the cake tins with his favourite brush whilst I whisked up the colourful batter.

I used a tried and tested batter recipe as it being the first time and especially for an occasion.  However the buttercream recipe is all mine…
Extremely delicious and minimal work.  The fruit and chocolate biscuit fingers make it that more glamorous, until my little one decided to stick his toy plastic dinosaurs right in the middle with the candle!  Well, after all it was for his Daddy!

The red velvet sponge part of the recipe can be found @ http://divascancook.com/the-best-red-velvet-cake-recipe-easy-homemade-moist-with-southern-flair/

Light chocolate buttercream frosting

INGREDIENTS

70g milk chocolate melted
100g butter or low fat butter spread softened
200g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

METHOD

Beat the butter and icing sugar together

Add the vanilla extract and melted chocolate and combine well

Spread on the top of the cake, also in the middle of the 2 sponges and then all over

Place some frozen berries on the top.  Stick chocolate fingers around the side of the whole cake

I’m taking some of this cake with me to Angie’s Fiesta Friday Party over at the Novice Gardener come join us!

Paneer Shashlik Masala

My husband absolutely adores paneer! He loves to eat it, prepare it and to cook it. So what better than to have a guest post recipe from him. He made this awesome masala yesterday for his birthday. I feel if you like something so much, automatically you’re able to make it soo well. This is extremely true for my husband!

He didn’t make it too spicy! knowing that our 3 year may want some, because he loves it too! and he was right… He nearly gobbled up EVERYTHING and we hardly got any! Lol 😉

So please be sure, if you have children, MAKE MORE!!! We’ve learn that for next time!!

Happy Birthday Honey! Your birthday cake is about to me made! Much love, D x

INGREDIENTS

1 green bell pepper diced
1 onion diced
250g paneer cubed
Handful of chopped coriander
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp dried coriander
Pinch of toasted cumin seeds
5 tbsp natural yoghurt
3 tsp tikka masala paste

METHOD

Put all the ingredients into a large bowl

Mix the tikka masala and yoghurt together

Pour over the ingredients and combine so that all the paneer, onion and pepper is covered

Cover and place in the fridge for 2 hours to marinade

In a large deep frying pan, warm up 1 tsp sunflower oil on a medium to slow heat. Cook the paneer through. This may take up to 10 minutes or more. Stirring occasionally

Once the paneer is soft and hot all the way through you are ready to devour

Serve up on a flatbread bread of your choice. We had a kidney bean curried flatbread I had made during the day

Dairy-Free Coconut Gelato

Melissa’s absolutely incredible coconut gelato looks crazy gooooood! I can’t wait to try this. My mouth is watering just by looking at the amazing pictures!
Awesome work honey!
Thanks for sharing x

Much love, D x

Smells Like Brownies

If you’ve been hanging around here for a while, you might know that my mom has a lot of food intolerances. We don’t get to share as many meals as I would like now that we live in different cities, but I am always looking for recipes and treats to share with her!

Ice cream has been kind of a doozy. When I was in high school, my mom and I used to have “Girls Weekend” regularly—basically two days packed full of shopping, Taco Bell (don’t judge me), chick flicks, and enormous amounts of ice cream. We still talk about doing that, but there are so many roadblocks! I have a toddler; she can’t eat ice cream. The capstone of the whole weekend, staying up late and eating ice cream until we make ourselves sick, has taken on a whole new meaning for her.

I know there are tons of…

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