8th Birthday: Strawberry-Chocolate 'The Battle Cats' Tiered Cake

For s's 8th birthday, he requested this as his birthday cake. It is from a computer game called 'The Battle Cats'. He also dressed up as a Battle Cat for Halloween, and we made AI-generated trampolining Battle Cats for his birthday invitations (his birthday party was at a trampoline park, with all the boys from his class)...

I've never made a tiered cake before, so this is definitely a challenge! But at least it looks like an actual cake. And I'm hoping if I get the cat and dog figures right, it'll be a hit...  

I decided to make three tiers - odd numbers are always good, and this seemed like the minimum to make it look legit. Five seemed like a bit much for a first attempt... and would also have been way too much cake! It definitely has to involve two different types of cake (looks like strawberry and chocolate); and two different colours of icing (pink in the chocolate cake and white everywhere else). It looks like there is cream on top of each tier, but (1) I hate cream and (2) it wouldn't keep or travel at all - so I wondered about trying a cream cheese based icing instead, and putting some pink in some of it for the pink icing. The cat and dog shapes and the orange base cake will involve fondant (white, black and orange). And then there are the extras: a gold number 8, a red and gold bow, a gold bell, white candles, strawberries, and white mini meringues.

I only had one round springform cake tin (c. 21 cm in diameter), and I didn't really want to buy more. I also wanted this to be the bottom/biggest tier, as I didn't want to end up with tons of cake. I used foil and string to make a mini (8.5 cm diameter) cake tin from two crumpet rings stacked one on top of the other - for the top tier. And decided the middle tier should be c. 15 cm diameter to look right, and that I would bake it in my 21 cm diameter tin and then cut down to size. The bottom and top tiers are strawberry cake, and the middle tier is chocolate cake.

For the strawberry cake, I remembered that the mango cake I made for s's birthday last year was based on a strawberry cake recipe, and it worked quite well - so I used that one.

For the chocolate cake, my friend H who makes excellent cakes suggested this Ottolenghi cake. Initially I thought it sounded delicious for adults but perhaps a bad idea for kids as it is quite dark and had lots of coffee in it... but then had a double brainwave: (i) I could use decaf! and (2) the kids will already have plenty with the rest of the cake, perhaps I should just make what I like the sound of! Also, it looked like a good colour and texture.

For the icing, I started out with this cream cheese frosting recipe. 

 I made three online orders of specialist items in advance:

1) From a raw food shop: freeze-dried strawberry powder (for the strawberry cake and icing), freeze-dried strawberry slices (for the sliced strawberry decorations - winter strawberries are awful and fresh ones wouldn't have kept). 

2) From a Christmas shop: wide red and gold ribbon with wire in it (to make the bow), a little gold-coloured bell (I also bought some Christmas crackers for Christmastime!). 

3) From a baking shop: orange fondant (which turned out to be hard and no use), pack of 10 white birthday candles with white holders (used 8), a gold glittery number 8 candle, some cake dowels (to assuage my fear of tiers - I think robust plastic straws e.g. bubble tea straws or reusable plastic ones would also have been OK), some cake boards (needed 2, cut to size - for the top and middle tiers).

Then I also did a big Føtex (our nearest big grocery store) shop that included: black fondant, white fondant, orange food colouring, unsalted butter, mini meringues, and the rest of the cake ingredients.

Also in advance of starting to bake, I improvised a base board - I used a round wooden board that was just the right size (approx. 24 cm diameter), and then used four blobs of sticky tack and four Lego pieces to make little cylindrical feet about a centimetre high. This felt like an optional extra at the time, but actually was probably essential as the board was strong enough to carry the cake (which was quite heavy when done); and the feet allowed me to pick it up easily. It also made it look more like the pic! I

I made the cake over 1 1/2 days (nb it also took most of a day before that to work out everything I needed from Føtex and do the grocery shopping). On Day 1, I made the strawberry cakes and baked them in the morning; then took a lunch break, then made the chocolate cake and the icings in the afternoon. On Day 2, I assembled the cake and made the decorations (the cat and dog characters, and the bow).

For the strawberry cake (bottom and top layers):

Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature before you begin.

10 oz / 283.5 g plain flour 

1 oz freeze dried strawberry powder  

1 ½ tsp baking powder 

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 

8 oz unsalted butter, room temp

½ tsp salt 

10 oz granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract 

zest of 1 lemon

1 tsp strawberry extract (did not have - used 1 tsp strawberry-lime juice instead)

6 egg whites, room temp (I bought the pre-separated egg whites for the first time for this, and was glad)

8 oz milk, room temp (used oat milk)

2 oz vegetable oil 

1 drop pink food colouring 

1 drop red food colouring

For the chocolate cake (middle layer):

8.8 oz / 250 g unsalted butter, room temp, cut into 1 cm cubes, plus extra for greasing

7 oz / 200 g dark (70%) chocolate, chopped into 2 cm pieces

1 tsp instant coffee (I used decaf), dissolved in 350 ml boiling water

8.8 oz / 250 g granulated sugar

2 large eggs, room temp, lightly beaten

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

8.5 oz / 240 g self-raising flour (used plain flour, including 3 generous tsp baking powder)

1 oz / 30 g cocoa powder

pinch of salt 

For the icing:

8 oz / 227 g 1 cup cream cheese, room temp

4 oz / 114 g / 1/2 cup salted butter, room temp

1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract

12.7 oz / 360 g / 3 cups icing sugar, sifted*

freeze dried strawberry powder

 

*I ended up using more. 

 

For the decoration and assembly:

1 pack black fondant icing

1 pack white fondant icing

1 pack orange fondant icing (nb the orange fondant icing I bought was bad so I coloured some white fondant with orange gel food colouring instead)

freeze-dried strawberry slices

white mini meringues

8 white birthday candles with white holders 

1 number '8' gold glittery birthday candle

Wide red and gold wired ribbon for the bow

Little gold-coloured bell

1 robust base board (the assembled cake was quite heavy) - used a round wooden chopping board with improvised feet - see explanation above.

2 cardboard cake boards (for the middle and top layers) - I drew circles on rectangular boards using the trimmed cake sizes and a compass, then cut down to size - slightly small is good, then they are easier to hide - I also cut a c. 1 cm diameter circular (ish) hole in the middle of each one so I could poke a dowel down the middle for max stability when assembled.

9 cake dowels (these are basically thick plastic straws - bubble tea straws seem to be recommended) - 4 for the bottom layer, 4 for the middle layer, and one longer, more robust one to go all the way down the middle.

To make the strawberry cake: Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature. Prepare your cake tins by greasing and lining with baking paper. I used one 21 cm round springform tin (bottom layer), and one improvised 8.5 cm tin (top layer). Place an oven rack in the middle position and heat the oven to 350ºF/176ºC. Put the butter in a large bowl and beat until smooth and shiny. Gradually sprinkle in the sugar, and beat until the mixture is fluffy and almost white. Add the egg whites approx. two at a time, beating in between. Whisk the flour, strawberry powder, baking powder, bicarb, salt, and lemon zest in a medium bowl. Combine the milk, oil, vanilla extract, strawberry extract (or juice) and food colouring in a separate medium bowl. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to butter mixture, followed immediately by about a third of the milk mixture, then mix until almost incorporated. Repeat two more times. When the batter appears blended, stop and scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Divide the batter between the prepared tins so that it comes up to the same height in both. Smooth the tops with a rubber spatula. Bake cakes until they feel firm in the centre and a skewer comes out clean or with just a few crumbs on it - about 35-40 min for the big cake (or a little bit longer), and about 22 min for the small cake (or a little longer). Transfer tins to a wire rack and let cool for 10 min. Invert cakes onto the rack and pop cakes out of tins. Cool completely before assembling and icing. When completely cool, keep covered in a chiller until ready to assemble.  

To make the chocolate cake:

Heat oven to 170°C/150°C fan-forced. Grease the same 21 cm round springform pan as used for the strawberry cake with butter, and line with baking paper.

Place the butter, chocolate and hot coffee in a large heatproof bowl and mix well until everything is melted, combined and smooth. Whisk in sugar by hand until dissolved. Add eggs and vanilla extract and whisk again until thoroughly combined and smooth. Sift flour, cocoa powder and a pinch of salt together into a medium bowl, then whisk into the melted chocolate mixture until smooth. Batter will be liquid, but don’t think you’ve missed something; this is how it should be.

Pour batter into the prepared tin, tapping the base of the tin to remove air bubbles, and bake for 50-60 min, until cake is cooked and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean or with just a few dry crumbs attached. The top will form a crust and crack a little, but don’t worry, this is expected. Leave the cake to cool on a wire rack for 20 min before removing from tin, then set aside on wire rack until completely cool. 

When completely cool, keep covered in a chiller until ready to assemble. 

To make the icing:

Beat the softened cream cheese and butter together until creamy and well blended, with no lumps. 

Add the vanilla. Then add one cup of icing sugar at a time, beating gently at first, until each addition is completely incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to incorporate it all. Then beat hard to combine. 

At this point I realised that it was way less firm than normal buttercream, looked up a normal buttercream recipe and realised what it needed was a lot more icing sugar...

Split the mixture - most of it should stay white (for sandwiching the strawberry cake and making the white cream-looking stuff, but a bit should be pink for sandwiching the chocolate cake. To the white mix, I added about one more cup of icing sugar to make a sufficiently firm texture. To the pink mix, I added some freeze dried strawberry powder, a few drops pink food colouring, and some icing sugar, until it reached a similar texture to the white icing.

Store in the fridge until ready to assemble. 

To assemble and decorate:  

Trim all three cakes so that they are flat on top and about the same height. Trim around the edge of the top one so you can see the contents. Trim the middle (chocolate) one until it is a circle approx. 15 cm diameter. Cut the bottom cake horizontally through the middle and sandwich with white icing. Cut the chocolate cake horizontally through the middle and sandwich with pink icing. Cut the top cake horizontally through the middle twice, and sandwich with white icing.

Smear some icing on the base board and then stick the big cake on it. Put some icing around the edges to help stick on the fondant around the outside. Roll out the orange fondant to about 2 mm thick, and wrap it as neatly and smoothly around the base cake as you can, trimming as needed.. I need to work on smooth fondant application!

Push 4 cake dowels into the cake within the area where the next layer will sit, then trim them so their height is just below the top of the cake. Cover the top of the bottom tier with a generous layer of white icing, so it looks a bit like the cream in the pic.

Put some icing on the medium sized cake board, then stick down the middle (chocolate) cake. Place it carefully in the centre of the bottom tier. Push 4 cake dowels into the cake within the area where the next tier will sit, then trim them so their height is just below the top of the cake. Cover the top of the middle tier with a generous layer of white icing, so it looks a bit like the cream in the pic.

Put the top cake on its cake board, sticking it down with icing as for the other two. Place it carefully in the centre of the middle tier. Push a long cake dowel down the middle of all the tiers until it hits the bottom board, then trim. Cover the top of the top tier with a generous layer of white icing, so it looks a bit like the cream in the pic.

Now make the cat and dog figures. I waited until now so I could see how big they needed to be to fit properly on the assembled cake. Roll out white fondant on a clean surface until c. 2 mm thick, then cut out the shapes with a sharp knife. Make their features with black fondant and press into place. Apply the shapes to the cake in the right places, using icing as glue. 

Make the bow with the wired ribbon and tie it around the stalk of the '8' candle along with the bell, to look like the picture.

Stick the bow+8 assembly in place on top, then put white mini meringues, freeze dried strawberry slices, and white candles in place around the cake to resemble the picture.

For transport, I found a transparent plastic storage box with a flat, separate lid. I put the cake on the lid, taped on a cushion out of bubble wrap to keep it in place, then covered with the box and taped that in place with gaffa tape. It worked - the cake survived the journey to the trampoline park in good shape!

Notes: If making the strawberry cake again, put more food colouring in - the batter was nice and pink, but after baking the cake wasn’t pink enough. I need to work out how to apply fondant so it comes out nice and smooth (I think a crumb coat and a flat-edged tool?). The chocolate cake was yum and I kind of want to try the whole Ottolenghi recipe with ganache and all. Probably the most delicious part of the whole cake was the improvised strawberry icing! The kids did not like the chocolate cake but the strawberry cake went down quite well (despite the cake looking a mess once sliced). I am not sure whether all the boards and dowels were necessary, but the cake did survive two rounds of birthday singing and transport beautifully, and it would have been a mega bummer if it didn’t after all that work…

S birthday mango-chocolate football cake

For S birthday this year, he wanted mango and chocolate, Dortmund football team themed...

I wanted to try making mango cake with freezedried mango powder this time. It was surprisingly hard to find a recipe with mango powder in it. I decided to use this one, subbing the raspberry powder with mango. And then mango icing based on this recipe. And coconut 'grass'.

I ended up doing a half size cake cos I realized it'd prob be too much if I did the whole lot. Meant 1.5 eggs, bit awkward, but if I was doing it for more people could do the whole lot...

(for a half size)

For the cake:

5 oz plain flour

1 oz freeze dried mango

(1 oz cocoa powder)

1 1/8 tsp baking powder

3 oz butter, softened

5 oz sugar

1 1/2 eggs

3/4 tsp vanilla essence

5/8 cup milk

yellow + black food colouring 

 

For the icing:

4 oz cream cheese

2 oz butter

6 oz icing sugar

2 oz freeze dried mango

For the 'grass':

4 oz desiccated coconut

c. 2 tbsp warm water

green food colouring

 

Also:

White mesh from a bag of garlic

wire

six lego figures, three with yellow dortmund shirts made from felt

one little ball

chocolate, chopped

Heat oven to 180C / 350F. Grease and line the base of 1 9-in round baking tin.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, mango, baking powder and salt.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar til pale and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla.

Alternate adding the flour mix and the milk to the egg mix, beginning and ending with flour (3x flour, 2x milk), fully incorporating after each addition.

 

(if doing black and yellow for dortmund, split the mix and add black food colouring to one and yellow to the other)

 

Transfer to the tin. Bake til a skewer comes out clean - 24-28 min. Cool in tin 10 min before removing to wire rack. Cool to room temp.

 

For the icing, beat butter and cream cheese til smooth. Add icing sugar gradually, and mango powder. Beat until smooth and fluffy. 

For the grass, heat oven to 70C. Put coconut in a bowl and add food colouring and water and mix until it is s good and consistent colour. Spread thinly on a baking sheet lined with paper. Stir every 10 min til dry - c. 40 min total.

To assemble, cut the cake in two horizontally. Layer it with icing. Put top half on, cover with icing. Press 'grass' onto the top to make a football field. Make a goal out of net and wire and press it in on one side. Add the figures and ball to make a scene.

It didn't rise well. Perhaps it took too long to mix in the yellow and black. Or perhaps the baking powder was too old. Or perhaps something else went wrong... Oh well, it still tasted nice enough.

4th Birthday: Stegosaurus Cake

Little s turned 4! Emphatically (emphasis all his) not little any more…

It was the first of his birthdays where he had plans / expectations - we’ve been working on a birthday list since about March. Also the first one with no limit on allowing him to have cake any more, really. So I wanted to do a good cake. Last year was a truck, he was into cars. This year I decided it should be a dinosaur… which sounded like a big challenge! But then I hit on the idea of making a stegosaurus with biscuits as plates, and all of a sudden a plan came together and I felt like it was on… So I made a stegosaurus cake. 

The cake is the chocolate marble Bundt from my German baking book (Luisa Weiss - Classic German Baking). I’d been wanting to try the marble cake for ages so I could use the Bundt tin again, but then for this purpose I actually baked it in a loaf tin and springform tin to give more sculptable pieces. I added a bit of green gel colouring to the white parts, otherwise followed the recipe.

I think it might be a good idea to use Bundt cake recipes for 3D sculpted cakes - Bundt recipes tend to be quite dense and good at holding shape. I've not easily found tasty-sounding recipes that I’m confident would hold their shape before - weirdly most cake recipes don't mention whether they are good for sculpting.

The biscuits are chocolate gingerbread from here. I made the full quantity of dough but it was too much so I froze half. Even a half quantity was too much - a quarter would have been enough to make the stegosaurus-plates! But I was glad to have spares / different ones to choose from.

The icing was my favourite cream cheese icing, which has featured on every s birthday cake so far!

For the biscuits:

(make these in advance - they need to be baked and cooled before cake assembly, and will keep for a good few weeks in an airtight box)

 

150 g plain flour

25 g cocoa

1/2 tbsp ground ginger

60 g butter, cubed

60 g brown sugar

70 g golden syrup

 

Prepare paper templates for the stegosaurus-plates - I did five different sizes, at least six of each size, to have several of each kind to choose from when assembly / spares in case of accidents - and remember they come in pairs on the dinosaur, so a good idea to aim for even numbers. I made them pointy on both ends, thinking a point should help them to stick in the cake.

Heat oven to 180C. Beat together flour, cocoa, ginger, butter and sugar until you can’t see any lumps of butter. Dribble in the syrup and beat to a smooth dough.

Take about half of the dough at a time and roll out between 2 sheets of baking paper to the thickness of a £1 coin. Peel away the top layer of paper and cut shapes, using a small knife to cut around your paper templates. Peel away the trimmings and lift the shapes onto baking paper on a baking tray. Roll some shapes for the spikes as well - again, remember you are aiming for 2 matching pairs. When you have used all the dough and have plenty of shapes, put in the oven and bake for 12-13 min until firm (they catch easily because of the syrup and it's hard to spot because of the cocoa - be careful!). Take out and let cool for 10 min, then move to a rack to finish cooling, before storing in an airtight box until needed.

For the cake:

(do the day before or earlier the same day - needs to cool before assembly)

100 g dark chocolate (c.70%), chopped

100 g white chocolate, chopped

250 g butter, softened

250 g sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla essence

4 eggs

250 g plain flour

1 tbsp baking powder

c. 1 tsp green gel food colouring 

2 tbsp cocoa powder

3 tbsp milk

Heat oven to 180C. Butter and flour the cake tins (I used one round springform and one loaf tin).

Put the chocolates in two separate bowls and heat in the microwave in 30 sec bursts, stirring every so often, until melted. I found the white chocolate took much longer to melt, but we got there eventually. Set aside til needed.

Beat the butter in a large bowl with the sugar and salt until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and the eggs, one at a time, until well combined. 

In a separate, medium bowl, mix the flour and baking powder with a fork. Then beat the flour into the egg mixture. Scrape one third of the batter back into the flour bowl. Add the white chocolate to the larger portion of batter, along with green food colouring, and mix until no streaks remain. Add the melted dark chocolate, cocoa and milk to the remaining one-third of batter and mix until no streaks remain.

Scrape half the white batter into the bottoms of the prepared cake tins. Then put in all the dark batter. Then put the rest of the white batter on top. Swirl with the blade of a knife to marble, and flatten the tops. Bake for 30-45 min, until a skewer comes out clean. Start checking at 30 min. My round cake took 30 min, and my loaf cake took about 40 min.

Place the tins on a rack and let cool for 10 min before unmolding and letting it cool upside down. Let cool completely. Keep in the fridge, wrapped in clingfilm, until needed - good for a few days.

For the icing:

1/2 pack butter, softened

1 1/2 packs cream cheese, at room temp, drained

3-4 tbsp vanilla sugar

1/2 tsp green gel food colouring

Beat the butter on its own first, until smooth. Add the cream cheese and beat some more. Add the sugar to taste, and the green food colouring until you like the colour. Chill until needed (should be OK in the fridge for a day or so) / until the texture is good for decorating.

Assembly and decoration:

Two dark-green mini M+M type sweets

Cocoa powder

Build the dinosaur shape: I used the middle part of a round cake (baked in springform pan) for the bottom part of the body. Then made the top part of the body from most of the loaf cake (loaf pan). Most of the rest of the loaf cake became the head, and the edges of the round cake were good for the tail (naturally curved) and legs (matching pairs). A few gaps needed filling with offcuts, but in general it's good to stick to as few pieces as possible to avoid crumbs that get in the icing, and bits falling off. It worked surprisingly well.

When the shape looks OK, put a layer of icing all over to fill in small gaps. I prefer a relatively thin layer of icing so there were a few escaped chocolate crumbs in it, but I figured for a dinosaur's skin that was OK. And then I also sprinkled on some cocoa powder to add some more dinosaur-y texture / dirt anyway.

I used a couple of mini m+m type sweets for the eyes, and cut small holes in the icing through to the dark cake inside for nostrils. Finally, I stuck in the biscuit plates and spikes.

Wait til as close to serving as possible to decorate, especially to stick in the biscuits - I did it all the night before and the biscuits softened overnight, and a couple of them flopped over and had to be rescued with extra icing. Although actually I quite liked the taste of the softer biscuits.

Chocolate cake

I bought a kilo of ceremonial grade (100%) chocolate to support a covid fundraiser for a permaculture cacao farm in Guatemala. It arrived a few months later and it’s a significant brick of slightly powdery, almost smoky chocolate. I don’t find it awesome for just snacking, but it makes a great hot beverage - the smokiness really comes through. The restaurant that organised the chocolate fundraiser sent this recipe through with the chocolate info and I thought it sounded worth a try - although the original was with 77% choc so I had to adapt...

106 g sugar

80 g butter

54 g 100% chocolate

2 eggs

Melt butter, sugar and chocolate in a double boiler. 

Meanwhile, set oven to 150C and butter a baking tin (I used a loaf tin for this amount - cake ended up about 1 in deep). Also break the eggs into a bowl and beat lightly.

When all is melted, add the eggs to the chocolate bowl and whisk. It may split but keep whisking - it will come together. When smooth, pour into prepared tin and bake for approx. 25 min (35 min for 5 egg version). Done when a sharp knife comes out clean. Take out and let rest in the tin until cool.

This was adapted from a version with 5 eggs, 200g butter, 200g sugar, and 200g 77% choc - that’s why the numbers are a bit weird. I also worked out for 3 eggs, which might have fit a little better in the tin: 120g butter, 159.6 g sugar, 80.4g 100% choc. Or for 5 eggs and 100% choc do 266g sugar and 134g choc. 

I wasn’t sure if it’d work with subbing 100% choc for 77% - had a feeling 100% wouldn’t be good for melting / cooking - but it worked really well!

Chocolate tofu pudding

I have made chocolate tofu many many times since I first tried it (here). But realized when I was looking for the recipe recently that actually my noted recipe was a bit inadequate. So here is an updated version, adapted to use one whole typical 349g Mori-Nu type silken tofu package.

175 g chocolate

75 g sugar

120 ml hot water

349 g pack of silken tofu (preferably the kind in a tetra pak, not floating in liquid)

1 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp vanilla powder

pinch cayenne

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Dissolve the sugar in the hot water. Put the tofu and spices in a blender cup. Scrape the melted chocolate into the blender, and pour in the sugar syrup (let it cool slightly first). Blend until smooth. Transfer to glasses, ramekins or other containers (I like to use jars for easy storage), and refrigerate for at least 30 min before eating - preferably at least 2 hours for ideal texture, although it'll taste good right away. Keeps fine in the fridge for a few days.

Banana tahini chocolate cake

I got on a bit of a roll with tahini baking after making these - couldn't believe I hadn't done more of it before! This was the next thing I tried - was also delicious, although I wished I could taste the tahini...

2 large ripe or overripe bananas (approx 250 g weighed with skins on / ¾ cup mashed)
60 ml veg oil
50 g tahini
1 large egg (at room temp)
50 g caster sugar
35 g soft dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
60 g flour
25 g cocoa
¼ tsp fine sea salt
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
100 g dark chocolate chips
1-2 tsp sesame seeds (to sprinkle on top)

Heat the oven to 170C / 150C Fan / 325F. Grease and line a 1 lb / 450 g loaf tin (approx 21 x 10 x 6 cm / 8.5 x 4 x 2.5 in). Peel and mash the bananas in a large bowl, then beat in the tahini, followed by the oil, then the egg, and finally the sugars and vanilla. Mix flour, cocoa, bicarb and salt together with a fork in a separate, medium bowl, and then slowly beat into the batter. Fold in the chocolate chips. Add the batter to the prepared tin, smoothing the top, and sprinkle over the sesame seeds.

Bake for 45-50 min until risen and firm to the touch, and a skewer comes out almost clean (bearing in mind chocolate). It will probably crack on top. Let cool completely in its tin on a wire rack. Once cold, remove from tin and wrap in parchment then foil and leave it for a day before slicing and eating.

Tahini chocolate cookies

I came across this recipe and it marries two of my favourite things (dark chocolate and tahini), and everything I’ve ever baked with tahini I have loved, but there hasn’t been nearly enough, and so clearly I had to make it. Then I looked at the cookbook it came from and realised it is some kind of cancer diet cookbook... I am not sure how I feel about diet advice for cancer, mostly I try and trust my body to tell me what it needs. But sometimes it is nice to think there is something within your control, like the food you eat every day, that can make a difference. Anyway, I haven’t done anything drastic with diet, although I have found it comforting to cook and to try and make appetising, varied food for my wee family, even when I didn’t feel much like eating. Weirdly, my appetite during chemo was often similar to when I was pregnant, so I had some practice already of figuring out what to eat when I don’t feel like eating. Also, I am a consummate snacker / grazer, which I think has helped stave off nausea in both situations.

Anyway, back to the topic: tahini! dark chocolate! As I made these I was reminded of happy gluten-free baking adventures in Boston, making gluten-free vegan treats for A, H and me. These cookies are fundamentally really similar to the sunflower butter gf cookies I used to make - I have no idea why I didn’t think of replacing the sunflower butter with tahini before, given how much I love tahini and how much easier it is to find...

1 large egg
½ cup tahini
½ cup almond flour (used normal almond meal)
½ cup coconut sugar (used normal sugar)
½ tsp baking powder
One 3½ oz / 100 g 70% (or higher) dark chocolate bar, coarsely chopped
pinch coarse sea salt

Heat the oven to 350F / 180C and line a baking sheet with baking paper. In a medium bowl, beat together the egg, tahini, almond flour, sugar, and baking powder to make a thick, sticky mixture. Fold in the chopped chocolate. Scoop about 1 tbsp of batter and place it on the baking sheet. Continue, spacing each cookie about 2½ in apart (they will spread a bit), until you have used all of the dough. Sprinkle cookies with the coarse salt. Bake 8-9 min, keeping an eye on them as they can burn easily - they should be just lightly browned on top (nb mine took longer: c 20 min). Let cool for 10 min on the baking sheet, then finish cooling on a rack.


These were simple and delicious! They seemed a bit greasy when shaping but baked up ok. There was maybe a bit much (!) chocolate, I used almond meal, which I suspect is a bit different from almond flour but was what I had, and they still came out looking like cookies and tasting good. Could be good with an oat-raisin-cinnamon situation instead of chocolate. Probably easily veganised with a flax egg, although I didn’t try it (just checked, and my favourite Lidl chocolate is vegan - hurrah). Also, might be interesting to try them with black tahini - I have some...

Chocolate biscuit cake

I have made chocolate biscuit cake before, it's a classic. This one is slightly different - not necessarily vegan, and didn't add milk/cream. Approximately followed this recipe.

This turns out to be an excellent use-up recipe - it came to mind because I had a pack of biscuits I knew I wouldn't eat before they got old, and then some chocolate that was either too milky or I wasn't that into for another reason, and then some ends of packets of dried fruit and nuts got in there, the end of a pack of butter and a bit of coconut oil, even a few green tea biscuits (these last not entirely recommended)...

250 g / 8 oz biscuits (used mostly havrekiks = oat biscuits, recommended; and threw in a few green tea biscuits, not so recommended)
300 g / 10 oz chocolate (mix of milk and dark is OK, I favour the dark)
100 g / 3 1/2 oz butter (or margarine, or coconut oil)
150 g / 5 oz golden syrup
175 g / 6 oz dried fruit (used a mix of cranberries, chopped crystallized ginger, chopped apricots and raisins; all recommended)
60 g / 2 oz roughly chopped nuts (used a mix of pecans and hazelnuts; both recommended)

Line a 20 cm / 8 in square tin with cling film, leaving extra hanging over the edges. Put the biscuits in a bag and bash to pieces with a rolling pin.

Melt chocolate, butter and golden syrup together in a medium bowl (large enough for all ingredients) over a pan of hot water. When all is liquid and smooth, take the bowl off the heat and mix in the bashed biscuits, dried fruit and nuts. Spoon into the prepared tin and press down / level off. Let cool to room temperature, then put in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours. Then turn them out, peel off the cling film and cut into squares. Store in the fridge.


It is very rich so small pieces are sufficient. This makes a lot - a half quantity would be a good amount for our household. But I am thinking it should freeze well, so put about half in the freezer - let's see how that goes.

If I make this again, I think I'd try reducing the golden syrup, and using coconut oil instead of butter and less of that too - it is maybe a little too sweet for my taste; and starts to get a wee bit melty quite quickly when it comes to room temp.

Another banana cake - but I haven't found the perfect one yet

I ended up with a lot of bananas that needed eating again - this hardly ever happens, but then now all of a sudden twice within a short time... This time my main requirement was that it didn't involve softened butter, since I didn't feel like waiting for it. I found this recipe pretty quick, and decided just to go with it - I guess banana and chocolate sounded pretty good!

3 large ripe bananas
1/2 cup (115 g) butter, melted
3/4 cup (145 g) light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla essence
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup (130 g) plus 1/4 cup (35 g) plain flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup (about 20 g) cocoa
3/4 cup (130 g) chopped chocolate

Heat oven to 175C/350F. Grease a loaf tin and line the base.

Melt butter and put into a medium bowl, then mash the bananas into it. Whisk in the sugar, egg, vanilla, bicarb, and salt until thoroughly combined. Add 130 g flour, stirring until just combined. Pour half of batter into a second bowl. Into one bowl, mix the remaining 35 g flour and the cinnamon. Into the other bowl, mix the cocoa and chocolate. Dollop batters into the prepared loaf pan in large alternating spoonfuls. Use a flat knife to make a few figure-8s through the batters, to marble them together. Bake for 55-65 min, until a skewer comes out clean. Let cool for 10 min, then invert onto a cooling rack. Keep in a cake tin or wrapped in foil.


While baking this, I realized I have developed a banana cake wishlist: it should have oil in it (not butter), honey (not sugar), and should have walnuts and/or chocolate chips. With this in mind, I checked around for the perfect recipe... I found three possibilities - next time I have an excess of bananas, I will have to try one of these: cake 1, cake 2, cake 3.

Banana Cake I (also: Baking with Honey V)

We just returned from a very pleasant couple of weeks in Scotland. I had long promised S that we would go to Scotland for an actual holiday, and tour around a bit so he can see more than just Edinburgh and the Lothians. The beginning of Festival time is probably one of my favourite Edinburgh times - things just warming up, not quite in full swing yet, then a taste of the real thing. I accidentally booked a table at the Kitchin for Aug 2... and then it turned out my uncle was planning a big party and my dear friend would be in town for the first look at a play-experiment based on her book (part of the Books Festival), both on the same day (Aug 12), and so a Scotland tour suddenly developed bookends in Edinburgh. The promise to S had been that he would get a 'whisky tour of Scotland', so we decided we'd need a car to get around... but then remembered how much we both dislike driving so I tried to come up with a route that would give a good taste of Scotland and take in some serious distilleries without too much driving. Along the way, I realized how long it's been since I travelled around much in Scotland, and how little I really know, since almost all my travels there have been as a kid/teenager, and usually with someone else doing the planning... In the end, we planned a few days on Islay (for max. whisky tour potential plus gorgeousness of western isles), and stops in Glencoe on the way and at Loch Tay on the way back, for a bit of highlands.

We stayed in B+Bs all the time we were travelling, then with my uncle while in Edinburgh. For the drive/hike days, we visited a big supermarket and pretty much created a larder in our car boot - we had little luggage, it was full of food+drink. Since we were heading for some slightly out of the way places, and we're both veggie, we wanted to make sure we had plenty of emergency supplies. We actually did a very good shop, and got decent food that lasted for most of our lunches and even some picnic dinners. The one thing we bought and didn't eat was bananas - we came back to Edinburgh with a full hand of week-old bananas. At that point, I decided it was about time I contributed some baking to the party preparations - there was already a gang of about 8 people staying over, so I was pretty sure some banana bread would find an audience. A quick Google found this recipe, which I doubled since there were lots of us, and made two loaves - one with walnuts, the other with chocolate (also from our uneaten car-supplies). The chocolate one baked in C's silicone loaf tin was a particular success.

olive oil
250 g self-raising flour
3 ripe bananas
2 tbsp apple juice
125 g butter (at room temperature)
2 large eggs
½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp honey

Optional: 50 g chopped pecans, walnuts, or chocolate

Heat the oven to 180C/350F. Grease the bottom and sides of a loaf tin, and line the base. Mash the bananas in a medium bowl, then add the apple juice and stir. In a separate, large bowl, cream the butter, then beat in the eggs one at a time. It might look a little lumpy, but it's OK. Fold in the flour, cinnamon, honey and banana mixture until just combined. Mix in the chopped nuts or chocolate.
Dollop into the prepared loaf tin, then bake in the hot oven for around 40 min, or until golden and a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for about 10 min, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Baking with Honey IV: Ginger, honey and chocolate biscuits

A Delia recipe for ginger-chocolate biscuits caught my eye, but I ended up making the first one that came up on Google instead - this. It's quite similar to National Trust biscuits, but why not try something else instead... Since I haven't managed to find golden syrup or treacle here, I subbed honey, and so this ended up being another honey recipe.

225 g / 8 oz butter
100 g / 3½ oz golden syrup (used honey instead)
200g / 7 oz soft brown sugar
150g / 3½ oz flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt flakes
4 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
400 g / 14 oz rolled oats
2 eggs, beaten
50 g / 1¾ oz stem ginger, chopped
115 g / 4 oz good quality dark chocolate

Heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Line two baking trays with paper. Melt the butter and the golden syrup / honey in a pan over a low heat. Set aside to cool slightly. Combine the sugar, flour, baking powder, salt and spices and mix well to combine. Stir in the rolled oats and mix well. Pour in the melted butter and syrup/honey and stir until well combined. Then stir in the beaten eggs and the stem ginger.

Spoon in even, heaped teaspoons onto the lined baking trays, leaving room for them to spread. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Remove the biscuits from the oven and set aside to cool completely.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl suspended over a pan of barely simmering water. Dip the biscuits in the melted chocolate (or spread a bit on them with a knife/spoon), and place on a cooling rack until the chocolate has set.


These were nice. Not super special, but nice and gingery - anything with ginger, especially stem ginger, usually works for me... They are a soft, cakey kind of a biscuit - rock bun kind of texture. I did some with chocolate and some without - I thought we liked them both equally but the chocolate ones did disappear first...

Chocolate raspberry hazelnut muffins

All weekend I was resisting a craving to cook, all the time... We had pretty epic evening plans: Friday was dissection party followed by cabaret in the Dome of Visions. Saturday was Sonar Copenhagen (Zebra Katz!). So daytimes needed to be a bit chilled. It wasn't quite as sunny as some days recently, so cooking and chilling didn't seem like a bad use of time.

Biggest part of the craving was baking-related. I am very much hooked on anything with chocolate, hazelnut and/or raspberry at the moment. So made these muffins, with all three. Hazelnuts just on top, as I find they are wasted mixed inside a cake. Had been a while since I baked anything with egg, and these are appropriately light and fluffy. Slightly adapted this recipe.

(makes 12)

200 g / 7 oz plain flour (used about 70:30 plain and white spelt)
25 g cocoa powder
15 g / 1 tbsp baking powder
115 g / 4 oz sugar
100 g dark chocolate, chopped (used 50 g)
2 medium eggs, beaten
150 ml / ¼ pt milk (used yoghurt mixed with water 50:50)
115 g / 4 oz butter (used coconut oil), melted
200 g / 7 oz raspberries (skimped a bit)
2 tbsp chopped hazelnuts

Heat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/GM 4. Prepare a muffin tin. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder into a bowl. Stir in the sugar and chocolate nd make a well in the centre. Mix the eggs, milk, and melted coconut oil/butter together and pour into the well, then stir until just combined. Fold in the raspberries. Spoon the batter into the muffin cases. Sprinkle chopped hazelnuts on top of each one. Bake for about 25 min, until a skewer comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Best still warm from the oven, but still good when cooled.


Hit the spot, predictably. Very light and tender.

S's birthday: chocolate hazelnut (nutella) cake

With all the moving and then the moving again, S's birthday kind of crept up on me this year. I remembered about making a cake middle of this last week and cast around for inspiration... He likes nuts... Decided on chocolate hazelnut, partly inspired by seeing this recipe - she has the same squirrel biscuit cutter as we do! Partly, I just realised, by a nutella-filled croissant I ate (and loved, when usually I can take or leave croissants) at brunch the other day.

I followed that same recipe for the cake part - we had milk and eggs left over from making pancakes so it seemed like an excellent use of them (especially wanted to use up the milk, we never get through milk, even when it is in European size cartons).

Then I spotted nutella in the supermarket (another thing I've always had a soft spot for but couldn't have when being vegan^, and decided to go rogue and nutella-based for the icing. Goodness knows I've had sooo many icing disasters, but still always seem to think I can just chuck stuff in a bowl and make it up as I go along...
DR
Our current apartment has all these mod cons, like microwave and food processor - so I could grind nuts in processor, melt choc in microwave etc. Got to admit it felt quite labour saving!

(makes a rather massive 2 layer, ~8 in round cake)

For the cake:
3/4 cup hazelnuts
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
good pinch of salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup veg oil
1 heaping tsp coffee granules dissolves in 3/4 cup boiling water

For the icing / decoration:
1/4 cup hazelnuts, plus 3
~25 g butter, softened
~1/4 cup icing sugar
1/2 jar nutella
75 g 70% chocolate, melted
1/2 tsp coffee granules
~2 tbsp plain yoghurt

Heat the oven to 175C / 350F. Grease and line a high-sided 8 in cake tin with removable base*. Grind 3/4 cup hazelnuts in a food processor until quite fine, then transfer into a large mixing bowl. Put the 1/4 cup hazelnuts for the decoration on a baking sheet and toast for about 10 min in the oven as it warms up, then set aside to cool. Add sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, bicarb and salt to the ground hazelnuts and whisk together. In a separate, medium-sized bowl, beat together the eggs, milk and oil. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Add the hot coffee and mix again. It is a pretty runny cake mixture. Pour into the prepared tin and transfer to the oven. Bake for about 60 min (start checking at 45 min)*. It is done when a skewer comes out clean. Take out of the oven and let sit for 10-15 min before turning out onto a cooling rack and leaving until completely cool.

While the cake is baking prepare the icing and decoration. Beat the butter and icing sugar together until smooth, then add the nutella. Add the melted chocolate and coffee, beat some more, add the yoghurt and beat until well combined. At room temperature it is quite soft but it goes hard in the fridge, so you can try and optimise the consistency for when you assemble the cake. Keep it in the fridge while the cake cools. Rub most of the skins off the toasted hazelnuts, then transfer them to the food processor and process just a little, until roughly chopped. Transfer to a bowl and keep until ready to assemble.

To assemble the cake, first trim and even out the top (mine was pretty craggy and high)*. Then cut through the middle parallel to the base to make two layers. Put the bottom layer on a plate, then spread half of the icing onto it (if the icing is too solid you can heat it a little in the microwave but be careful not to overheat). Put the other half of the cake on top and spread the rest of the icing over that. This is enough icing for the middle and top but not to go down the sides - I don't like too much icing and quite like to see the layers. Place the squirrel cutter gently in the middle of the cake and carefully sprinkle the chopped toasted hazelnuts all around it, so that the top of the cake is covered in chopped nuts except for the silhouette of the squirrel. Pack the nuts down around the edges of the cutter then carefully remove the cutter. You should be left with a neat squirrel silhouette. I put an appropriately sized and shaped piece of nut to be his eye, and then arranged three whole hazelnuts as if he might be holding / chasing them.

^Actually, I just noticed the Fotex brand nutella (which tastes just like the real thing to me) is actually vegan. Go Denmark! So it would be dead easy to make this icing vegan. In fact, I think it would be just fine to use straight nutella as the icing...
*Original recipe called for two tins, but I had one so that's what I used. Using two would be preferable as it would significantly reduce baking time (to more like 30 min) and give more even rising.


Actually, the icing worked really well. I wanted the yoghurt and coffee to lighten the nutella and add some sour / bitter. And the chocolate to deepen and richen, and also add some bitterness and thickness. Think it worked. And mmm nutella. It was kind of a conscious decision to cover the top with nuts as I always think chocolate icing can look a bit like poo. But also I just ended up with quite a lot of chopped nuts and felt the need to use them all. I'd kind of intended to just use them to fill in the squirrel shape originally. Or without a squirrel cutter could have made a paper template or just covered the whole top with chopped nuts. S said it's like Ferrero Rocher. This is true, although it hadn't occurred to me until he said it. Perhaps unwrapped Ferrero Rochers would make good decorations if you didn't want to go the squirrel route.

Note: I wanted to make a proper cakey cake this time, but for a flourless style nutella cake this Nigella one looks delicious.

Chocolate, ginger and orange biscuits with golden syrup

S discovered a new word while surfing Urban Dictionary the other day: procrasturbaking (meaning, baking as a form of procrastination). Yesterday I was a little short of sleep / hungover after aerial show and subsequent drinks, and just really didn't feel like working (it was Sunday!). So I read some Guardian online instead, and found this biscuit recipe. And then I procrasturbaked.

The recipe was easily veganisable, which tempted me. And I love golden syrup. Also it's another good opportunity to use stuff up - this time weird hot chocolate in the form of dusty chocolate chunks, and homemade crystallised ginger and candied peel.

(makes approx. 20 biscuits)

50 g golden syrup
150 g light brown soft sugar (I used a mixture of this and raw sugar and it was fine)
90 ml sunflower oil
1 tsp vanilla essence
60 ml fake milk
210 g plain flour
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
¼ tsp salt
100 g candied ginger (used a mixture of candied ginger and candied peel)
100 g dark chocolate, chopped into small chunks
Zest of 1 orange (added candied peel to the ginger instead)

Heat the oven to 180C / 350F and line two baking trays with baking paper.

Measure the golden syrup, sugar, oil, vanilla essence and fake milk into a large bowl and mix. In a separate bowl mix the flour with the bicarb and salt, then add this to the wet ingredients. Stir until the just combined, then add the candied ginger, chocolate and orange zest (or candied peel).

Put teaspoons of the batter on the prepared baking trays, leaving space for spreading. Bake for 15-17 min, until the cookies’ edges are golden brown and the centres are puffy. Leave to cool for ~10 min then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.


I had to put one tray in the bottom of the oven, which it turns out is really hot. So those ones were a little burned. The rest were excellent though - nice texture, and the ginger / orange / chocolate combination is definitely a good one. Clever idea to use syrup to make a chewy texture. I think these would be easily made gluten-free as well (I'd sub plain flour with an almond-rice-cornflour mix similar to this) - the golden syrup may help with binding.

Chocolate cherry coconut

My Mum used to make this sometimes - it's from the WI Book of Biscuits. I have that book now, with her annotations in places. I don't make stuff out of it that often, but it's ace - all the recipes are minimal and pictureless and simple and they work. I've made this every once in while since I was about 12 (although this is the first time I attempted a vegan version).

I love glace cherries even though I know they are wrong - I like to think of them as cherries with all the cherry removed and replaced with sugar. Yum. Coconut, cherry and dark chocolate is an amazing combination.

I veganised the recipe slightly by replacing the egg, but otherwise the recipe was vegan (and gluten-free) already.

5 oz / 150 g chocolate
2 oz / 50 g margarine
4 oz / 100 g sugar
1 egg (I replaced with ~2 tbsp soy yoghurt and ~2 tsp cornstarch - other egg replacements should also work)
2 oz / 50 g glace cherries
4 oz / 100 g desiccated coconut

Line a Swiss roll tin (flat-based tin with straight sides) with tinfoil (if you only have large tins you can make a false wall with the foil). Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (small bowl set over almost-boiling water), then spread it out over the foil evenly and leave to cool.

Once the chocolate has set, heat the oven to 170C / 335F. In a medium bowl, cream the margarine and sugar together. Beat in the egg (or soy yoghurt+cornstarch). Chop the cherries and fold them in, along with the coconut. Spread over the chocolate and bake for 15-20 min. Let cool in the tin and when cool cut into slices.


The version with egg is (unsurprisingly) a bit fluffier on top, but either way this is amazing - like a Bounty bar made with good ingredients, and with cherries in it!

Chocolate and cinnamon biscuits (gluten free)

First community garden workday tomorrow. Some gluten-free baking in order. Tried a new recipe. This one.

(makes ~22)

2 tsp demerara sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup / 130g brown sugar
1 cup / 100g fine brown rice flour (used 125g TJ's GF flour mix instead of brown rice flour and cornstarch)
1/4 cup / 25g cornstarch
1/2 cup / 60g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup / 60ml fake milk
1/3 cup / 80ml veg oil (used grapeseed)
1 tsp vanilla essence
50g chocolate, chopped

Heat oven to 180C / 350F. Grease and/or line a baking tray with baking paper.

Mix demerara sugar and 1/4 tsp cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.

Mix brown sugar, rice flour, cornstarch, cocoa, bicarb, 1 tsp cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl with a fork. Make a well in the middle and put in fake milk, oil and vanilla. Mix to a firm dough. Add the chopped chocolate and mix.

Take small lumps of dough (~2 tsp), roll into balls and flatten slightly, then place on the prepared baking tray, leaving a little space for spreading. Sprinkle with the cinnamon-demerara sugar mixture, then put in the oven and bake for 10-12 min. Let cool on the tray for a couple of minutes before transferring to a rack to finish cooling.


I wasn't sure about these at first: think they improved after sitting in a box overnight. Pleasant, soft texture; held together pretty well for GF; very chocolate-y / cocoa-y; all disappeared @ lunchtime so I guess that was a good sign.

Chocolate, banana and okara muffins

So many possibilities with okara... Pondered making cornbread again. Decided to go the sweet route this time - would be nice to have a pudding option ready for S when he returned as well as salad...

Unusually had some almost overripe bananas (prob due to not modifying banana purchase quantity while S was away), so decided to follow this muffin recipe (note that site has lots of other interesting okara ideas).

(makes approx 10 muffins)

1 large banana 
1 cup okara
1/4 cup fake milk
1/4 cup veg oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp baking powder 
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup wholemeal flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350F. Prepare a muffin tin with liners or grease. Mash the banana in a medium bowl, then add the okara, veg oil, sugar and vanilla and beat with a fork. In a separate mixing bowl, mix the baking powder, bicarb, flours, salt and cocoa together with a fork. Add wet to dry and mix until just combined, adding in the chocolate chips in the final few strokes. Transfer mixture to prepared muffin cups (fill each ~ 2/3 full). Bake for 20-25 min, until a skewer comes out clean.


These were good. The okara does a lovely job of adding texture and moistness without doing much in the way of taste.

Popcorn muffins

I made a lot of popcorn and started daydreaming about baking with it. I was running short of snack muffins so muffins were the obvious choice (referred to this recipe). These are fun!

(makes ~9 muffins)

5 cups popped corn (2 1/4 cups after homogenising)
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (use less if the popcorn was salted)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup fake milk
1 tbsp ground linseed mixed with 2 1/2 tbsp boiling water
2 tbsp veg oil
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Version 1 = dark chocolate, sour cherry and thyme - add 1 tsp dried thyme, handfuls of sour cherries and of dark chocolate chips/chunks in with the dry ingredients.
Version 2 = mango, coconut and cardamom - add 1/2 tsp freshly ground cardamom, 2 tbsp dried shredded coconut and ~4 tbsp diced mango (from frozen) to the dry ingredients.

Heat oven to 400F. Prepare a muffin tin. Grind popcorn (I used the blender) until it is mostly pulverised (don't worry about a few remaining unground kernels - they will be fine+fun). Put ground popcorn in a medium bowl with flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and any additional dry ingredients (see Versions) and mix with a fork. In a separate bowl, beat together the fake milk, linseed mixture, veg oil and vanilla essence. Add wet to dry and mix until just combined. Dollop into prepared muffin cups and bake for 25-30 min, until lightly browned and a skewer comes out clean.


They are tasty but with so many additional flavours the popcorn is lost. I plan to tweak this to get a version that actually tastes like popcorn!

Pumpkin, cranberry, chocolate and orange muffins

I had experiments with a bag of fresh cranberries in mind - first crumble (with apples I scrumped with M the other day), then these. I based them on a pumpkin muffin recipe I'd used before, but tweaked the flavours to incorporate the chocolate, ginger and orange I wanted to be in there. It's kind of a second iteration of these ones.

(Makes 12)

1 3/4 cups plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup demerera sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
Pinch of salt
Zest of two little oranges
1/4 cup chopped dark chocolate
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup fake milk
1/2 cup veg oil
1 cup fresh cranberries, roughly chopped

Heat oven to 400F. Prepare a muffin tin. Mix flour, baking powder, sugars, ginger and salt in a bowl with a fork. Add orange zest and chopped chocolate and mix again. In a separate bowl beat together pumpkin puree, fake milk and oil. Add wet to dry and mix til just combined, adding the chopped cranberries in the last few strokes. Scoop the mixture into muffin cups. Bake for ~25 min, until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes in the tin before transferring to a cooling rack.


These are great. I overcooked them slightly but the pumpkin makes them wonderfully orange in colour, the orange and ginger taste exciting, and the cranberries and chocolate are beautiful to see and insert little jewels of intensity... Yum.

Chocolate rosemary biscuits

We went to the Pembroke sauna for the first time in ages. I wanted to take something in case we needed a post-sauna snack. Biscuits seemed like a sensible, easily portable, easily eatable, quick to make option. I didn't have much time before we had to go, so I had a quick look at ppk and immediately settled upon these. I didn't have fresh rosemary so I used dried.

(makes ~15)

1/2 cup refined coconut oil, solid state (room temperature - not cold)
2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary (used 3/4 tbsp crumbled dried rosemary leaves)
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup fake milk
1 tbsp ground linseed
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/3 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 cup roughly chopped dark chocolate (or chips)

Heat oven to 350F. Lightly grease two large baking trays. In a large bowl, beat the coconut oil and rosemary with a fork until fairly smooth. Add the sugar, and beat a bit more. Add the milk and linseed and beat. Mix in the vanilla. Add about half the flour, as well as the salt and bicarb, and mix with a spoon. Add the rest of the flour, along with the chocolate, and mix to combine. Take out walnut sized pieces of dough, round them up, flatten and place on the baking trays (they will spread a little). Bake for 10-15 min, until bottoms are golden brown. Take out and let cool for 3 minutes or so, then transfer to cooling racks to finish cooling.


These were good - decent texture and taste. I find refined coconut oil a little dull (thus it needed using up!), might prefer these with real coconutty coconut oil. I'd also like to try these with olive oil - could imagine chocolate, rosemary and olive oil being beautiful together. Difficult to get the balance of rosemary and chocolate quite right - some bites I couldn't find the rosemary, others missed chocolate, others it was bang on. Quite salty - could reduce the salt. Nice and quick and easy though, and a pretty good post-sauna snack.