Goji Berry & Peach Crumble

I know what you may be thinking, goji berry, really? Initially I thought I might be on something but I tell you what, don’t knock it until you try it. Peaches are one of my absolute favourite fruits, they are so delicious and juicy. The delectable addition of the goji berry is a real game changer. Not only does it bring an added texture to the crumble it also absorbs all the juices when it’s baked and becomes these little bursts of heaven with every mouthful.

Ingredients:

• 70g Self-raising flour
• 45g butter
• 30g light brown sugar (for crumble)
• 1 tbsp light brown sugar (for peaches)
• 2 tbsp dried goji berries
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 4 peaches, sliced and cored
• 35g crushed walnuts

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170°.
2. In a bowl, add the sliced peaches, 1 tbsp of sugar and the goji berries and mix thoroughly.
3. Spread the goji and peach mix evenly on a baking tray.
4. In a separate bowl add the butter, sugar, cinnamon and flour and crumble together using your fingertips. Add the walnut pieces and thoroughly crumble together.
5. Sprinkle the crumble evenly over the peaches. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until nicely golden.

Best served hot and with a drizzle of single cream.

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Rum Cake

It’s December and Christmas is just around the corner, I am SO excited and love the time leading up to the big day. This cake is so spongy, moist and delicious, just so so good. You can definitely taste the sweet rum flavours in this. If you’d like it to be a bit more boozy add a few splashes more. Fabulously served with a hot cup of tea.

Ingredients:

• 120g self raising flour
• 120g caster sugar
• 120g butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 1tsp baking powder

Syrup

• 3 dessert spoons of rum (I used Captain Morgan’s spiced rum)
• 1 tsp caster sugar.

Icing:

• 125g icing sugar (plus extra for dusting)
• 2 dessert spoons of milk
• 1 dessert spoon of rum
• a splash of vanilla extract
• sprinkles (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4.
2. In a bowl add all the ingredients. Using a hand whisk combine the cake mixture to make a batter. 
3. Line a 9 inch circular baking tin with baking parchment and pour in the cake mixture.
4. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Whilst in the oven make the syrup by combining the caster sugar and rum, then leave to one side. Using a knife or skewer check if the cake is cooked if the utensil comes out clean then remove from the oven.
5. Use a toothpick to gently pierce holes at the top of the cake while it is hot. Then pour over the rum syrup, making sure it has covered all of the cake. Leave to absorb the juiciness and cool.
6. Once the cake has cooled, flip it upside down. 
7. In another bowl combine all the ingredients from the icing list (but the sprinkles) thoroughly. Then evenly pour and spread this over the cake. You’ll find that this is a thinner kind of icing. Then leave the sponge to absorb this sweet concoction. 
8. When the icing has soaked in but not dried, decorate with your choice of sprinkles. I’ve gone for a more Christmassy looking cake, hence the holly and the festive colours but go to town and make that cake look cute and pretty.
9. Finally, dust over with some icing sugar.

Enjoy 🙂

Ginger Spiced Rocky Road

Let’s be real now, December is right round the corner so let’s not waste time and get those preparations under way. I know there are many of us that have taken to online shopping to get ourselves ready for Christmas celebrations and boy, it will be here sooner than we think. Rocky road is a simple, no bake dessert that can make a fantastic treat and gift to your friends and loved ones during the holiday period. Bringing in those Christmassy vibes I have created a ginger spiced dessert that showcases the flavours of Christmas time.

Makes 16-18 pieces.

Ingredients:

• 200g dark chocolate, chopped
• 200g milk chocolate, chopped
• 200g ginger nut biscuits
• 3 tbsps golden syrup
• 130g unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 100g mini marshmallows

Method:

1. Line a 10.5 x 8 tin with greaseproof paper and then leave aside.
2. Put the chocolate pieces, butter and golden syrup in a heatproof bowl and place above a saucepan that is filled with a small amount of water. Gently simmer and occasionally stir the chocolate mixture until smooth and silky. (Be sure that the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl and that no water touches the chocolate as this will cause it to seize up.) Once ready, take off the heat, add the cinnamon and ground ginger, mix and leave to cool slightly.
3. Place the ginger nut biscuits in a sandwich/freezer bag and give it a good bash with a rolling pin until there’s a mixture of chunks and dust. Then place the contents into a large bowl along with the mini marshmallows.
4. Pour the chocolate over the marshmallows and biscuits and mix thoroughly.
5. Place into the tin and spread it out evenly into the corners. Leave in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Dust the rocky road with icing sugar (optional) and cut into 16-18 pieces.

Enjoy!

Banana and Coconut Crumble

During the lockdown period everyone has gone to town on making banana bread. Now, don’t get me wrong, banana bread is good but I wanted to mix things up a bit and made my own little twist to a classic dessert. So here we are, another way to make use of those extra bananas; I hope you all enjoy.

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe bananas
• 100ml coconut milk
• 1tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 dessert spoon of coconut flakes
• 70g self-raising flour
• 42g butter
• 30g light brown sugar
• 2tsp maple syrup

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5.
2. Roughly slice the bananas, layer and spread across a baking dish.
3. Put the coconut milk, cinnamon, nutmeg and maple syrup in a bowl and give it a good mix.
4. In a separate bowl put the flour and butter together and rub to make a crumble.
5. Then add the sugar and the coconut flakes and mix together with your hands.
6. Pour over the coconut milk mixture over the bananas.
7. Evenly scatter the crumble over the bananas and bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the crumble is golden brown.

Best served hot. Delicious on its own or with a serving of single cream or ice cream.

My First Bundt Cake!

I’ve never really had a massive sweet tooth, I am definitely a more savoury kind of girl; as I’m sure you’ve seen from my recipes they are more focused on more ‘main meals’ rather than sweets and desserts. To be honest, I don’t think I am very good at the whole ‘baking thing’, but hey, I do actually quite enjoy it and am willing to give it a go.

I was gifted a bundt tin a while ago now and hadn’t got round to using it. Of course, during this weird lockdown time I thought I’d do some experimenting and give it a whirl. For my first bundt cake bake I was quite proud of myself, it turned out better than I thought it would. I attempted to make a spiced bundt cake that consisted of ginger, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg-  delish, I know. There is definitely room for improvement though, I found that the spices were not as prominent as I’d’ve liked, the texture was soft but not as light (hence the icing to give it some added moisture) and the mixture rose a lot more than I thought it would; perhaps too much cake mix or baking powder. Considering the tin I have is smaller than the ‘standard’ sized bundt tins, the end result was bigger than I expected.

Now that I have given it a go I am slightly more confident to try again and to also try other bakes.

Hope you’re having a lovely friday 🙂

Carla x