Maple Yogurt Loaf!

This is a really tasty loaf that smells brilliantly too when baking! From its name, you can guess there is maple syrup and greek yogurt in this loaf, which makes it really moist, almost like a sponge cake but lighter.

I baked this because I had a pot of yogurt I wanted to use up but of course, I did not have enough yogurt and end up using a bit of sour cream instead, which I do not think affected the taste at all.

My dinner guest loved it so I sent her home with a couple of slices. I took the bulk of the loaf into the office though!

Chicken Casserole with rice!

My first attempt at proper cooking! I managed to convince a friend to be my guinea pig and be the first to try my cooking. This is the starter from the Cooking School I attended that I just doubled up to make into a main course. Also, rather than making the puff pastry, I just cooked rice instead.

To my delight, she actually seemed to really like it and it actually turned out quite tasty without much seasoning, which is what I really cannot judge i.e. what does 'salt and pepper to taste' mean?

The photo does not look too appetising probably because I have already started eating it before I remembered to take a picture!

I cannot believe how long it took though. From weighing, chopping, dicing to finishing the actual cooking, it took an hour and a half! Maybe if I do it everyday, it gets easier and quicker but in the meantime, I think cookng can only be an weekend option.

Now, I just need to convince the Husband to try...

Cherry & Sultana Loaf!

A lovely fruity loaf with rum! I baked this on a Friday evening as I wanted something fruity for breakfast for the weekend. It is really moist and full of glace cherries and sultanas. I am sure most people are aware I am a huge fan of sweet stuff and sultanas are the best thing for baking.

The receipe states 60ml of rum which means you can really taste the rum when you eat the cake. Good for people who like a strong flavour.

Fruit cakes keep really well though which is another reason why I like baking them. People in the office really like the high fruit content and the fact it is healthier than store-bought cakes!

Chocolate & Raisin Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Icing!

Chocolate cake candidate No. 4 is the winner! For people who have been reading my posts, you will realise chocolate cake No. 4 is basically a combination of cake No. 3 and icing from cake No. 2. I only made 1 layer as a taster and the actual cake for next Wednesday will be a sandwich cake. Seriously yummy!

Chocolate Orange Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Icing!

Since I got the cupcake book for Christmas, I have been quite keen to make as many different types of cupcakes as possible. My cupcakes used to be quite tasteless but with these new recipes, everything is turning out delicious. I have baked the carrot cupcakes twice, once for a friend's birthday, and both times were just as good.

These chocolate and orange cupcakes also turned out really light and delicious. The orange cream cheese icing complemented the cupcakes very well but they were yummy without as well. In this instance, my boss was quick to grab one early in the morning, especially since the boys in my team were back!

I also used my new silicone heart-shaped cupcake cases but they were not as non-stick as expected. In the end, some of the cupcakes got stuck and did not come out of the cases intact. Must remember to grease them next time!

There was only 1 cupcake left at the end of the day out of 12! A pretty good result considering there was chocolate cake as well which means everyone was high on chocolate that Monday!

Chocolate & Raisin Cake!

Chocolate cake candidate No. 3!

This was originally meant to be a chocolate and date sandwich cake but I substituted the dates for raisins as I personally find dates a tad too dry. The filling was meant to be made from double cream and fromage frais. Unfortunately I could not find any fromage frais so used quark cheese instead.

Quark cheese is basically almost zero fat cheese and I have to say not that tasty compared to regular cream cheese. But of course, things that are not good for you i.e. full fat cream cheese are always delicious! The cake itself turned out delicious and really moist but I definitely got marked down for the filling.

This cake scored 3.89 out of 5!

Lemon & Raisin Cupcakes!

These are really delicious lemon and raisin cupcakes! They were originally meant to be plain lemon cupcakes but I could not resist adding 80g raisins to make them yummier. Icing is a mixture of lemon juice, water and icing sugar which complemented the cupcakes perfectly. As 3/4 of my team were out of town, I decided to feed some cupcakes to clients who were visiting for a meeting with us and happily, they seemed to like them. Also, because I only had 10 cupcakes, I did not 'advertise' them as usual and the next thing I know, my boss was asking 'these are not the advertised chocolate cake!' but he ate one all the same. These cupcakes were finished in 2 days!