Christmassy pear & minced fruit cake with home-made marzipan

If you read my previous recipe, you’ll know I made my own mincemeat a few days ago, for the first time ever. It’s delicious and I wanted to try using it in a few ways. So yesterday there were traditional mince pies (and people from outside the UK were like – wait, there’s no meat in these?! Bizarre how some cultural things don’t travel.) Today I baked a fancy fluffy christmas cake using up the mincemeat in combination with pear and some very quick marzipan balls which are hidden in the middle of the cake (surprise!). I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Ingredients

For the cake:

3 medium eggs

100 raw cane sugar or honey

200g very finely grated courgette

120g ground almonds

1,5 tsp baking powder

zest of 2 lemons

a pinch of salt

For the filling:

150g mincemeat

1 large pear, diced into fairly hefty chunks

80g almond flour

50g honey

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
Beat the eggs and sugar/honey together for five minutes till very fluffy.
Add the other cake ingredients and mix well.
Add the diced pear and mincemeat.
Mix almond flour and honey in a blender until well combined. Then roll out small balls in the palm of your hand.
Pour half the cake mix into a 18cm diameter pre-oiled cake tin.
Put the marzipan balls on top, spread out over the surface.
Pour over the other half of the cake mix and flatten the surface.
Bake for 35 mins. Let cool entirely. Enjoy with cinnamon ice cream or something similar.

18 Dec 2020 0

Lazy-day rhubarb & courgette cake

Some days I don’t want fancy decorations or perfectly finished cakes. Just give me flavour and texture on a plate. Wasn’t sure what to do with my rhubarb bounty so this simple recipe was born for those lazy afternoons…

Ingredients

3 eggs

100g sugar

80g liquid honey

200g peeled and finely grated courgette

150g buckwheat or rice flour

50g almond meal

2 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

About 100 to 150g rhubarb, cut into small chunks.

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 180C.

Oil a 20 inch diameter cake tin.

Beat eggs, honey, and sugar for 5 mins till fluffy.

Add the rest of the ingredients and stir till combined.

Mix the rhubarb into some extra rice flour before you also add it to the mix.

Pour the cake mix into the tin and bake for 45 mins. Put a sheet of baking paper on top so it doesn’t brown too much.

Enjoy!

28 Jun 2020 0

Lemon, ginger & honey cake

Anxiety, loss, threat… It’s difficult to remain optimistic these days. I cope with a mix of work (distraction!), mindfulness… and relaxation (more distraction). Baking keeps the wolves of anxiety at bay, and for that I’m truly grateful.

Yet while humanity struggles, nature is blossoming and spring is here. Hope springs! So here is a lemon and ginger cake to put a spring in your step, even if that is indoors or in other confined conditions. Lots of love and self care to you all.

Ingredients

200g boiled and mashed carrot

120g runny honey

2 eggs

Grated zest of 1 big lemon

Grated ginger, about 10g (but if you’re not a fan, take less)

60g rice or buckwheat flour

60g ground almonds

2 tsp baking powder

A pinch of salt

For the drizzle: juice of 1 lemon and 3 tbsp fine sugar

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 180C and line a bread tin with baking foil.

Mix eggs and sugar for 3 minutes and then fold in all the other cake ingredients gently.

Pour in the cake tin and bake for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, make the drizzle by mixing lemon juice and fine sugar.

Once baked, prick holes in the cake right through to the bottom and pour the drizzle over. Leave the cake to stand for 10 minutes and forget about your worries and strife! ❤️

27 Mar 2020 0

Courgette choc chip cookies

Life has gone into a higher gear recently so I haven’t been able to bake as much. But this weekend I wanted to bake some cookies for my kid to take with him to school next week. I’ve wanted to experiment with courgettes in cookies for ages, and these are certainly a healthy and filling snack for school or work!

Ingredients

1 egg

115g softened butter (dairy-free works too)

40g sugar or substitute

90g runny honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

120g buckwheat flour (replace with rice or oats)

80g teff flour (replace with almond or other nut flour)

70g tapioca starch (replace with potato or corn starch)

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

125g grated courgette

125g chopped dark chocolate chunks

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 175C.

Mix all the wet ingredients separately, then mix the dry and add to the wet.

Add the courgette and choc chunks at the end.

Add a little bit more buckwheat flour if it’s too sticky.

Take tablespoons of the mix and drop them on a baking sheet. Smooth the tops of the cookies with a wet fingertip.

Bake for 15 mins until golden.

3 Nov 2018 2