Category: Cakes & Muffins

Strawberry & coconut cupcakes

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This time last year, I was in stress-central. I was just about finishing up at the student paper: kissing goodbye to long evenings of cabin fever and fussing over typefaces, trying to let go of the tiny frustrations that made up my final weeks in the insular world of student media.

Instead, I’d begun spending 9-5 in a badly lit room with grey-tinted windows, worrying about the projects that would decide what grade would be on that piece of paper I would receive in July. I thought back to being 18, sitting, terrified, in a local cupcake shop and conducting an interview for the first time as my voice wobbled with nerves. My dreams took on the form of the work I was doing during the day, and I’d wake disappointed that I’d spent all night working and yet had to do it all over again. Continue reading →

Lemon syrup cake

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lemoncakesideSo you know how the foodie section of the internet is all creme eggs and hot cross buns and chocolate nests right now? Yeah, I thought maybe we could shake things up a bit.

I love a chocolate egg as much as anyone – I swear, chocolate always tastes better in egg form – but this year Easter weekend will bring three extra things: Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, and The Walking Dead finale. It’s a big TV weekend for nerdy people, and I for one am excited.

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Mamma’s banana cake

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Banana cake is one of those things that I’ll forever associate with home and childhood. It seems it’s also one of the few bakes that everybody has a version of, often that they proclaim to be the best. But hey, I’m not the boss of you, I can’t tell you what’s the best. I’ve not eaten every banana cake – proclaiming the best would be a huge responsibility! Although it’s a challenge I’d happily take on, it’d take a lifetime. All I can tell you is that this is my mamma’s recipe, and I love it. Continue reading →

Grapefruit & rosemary olive oil cake

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I work with a whole load of cake lovers. So far in 2013, not a week has gone by that hasn’t seen a collection of lawyers and journalists clustered around the goodies table, eagerly waiting for a slice whatever’s been bought from the bakery around the corner. We’re working our way through the whole cake menu, with a different option each week according to whose birthday it is, or, increasingly, what craving the purchaser had. We don’t need a birthday as an excuse for cake. A craving will do.

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That said, I stumped the office a bit last week when I rocked up with this grapefruit and rosemary cake. My colleagues dived into the banana cake no questions asked, but steered clear of the grapefruit, wincing distrustfully as I told them that really, it does taste surprisingly nice, until one brave soul finally tried a slice. And liked it. After that, the pile soon went down. Continue reading →

Apple cake with pecan and cinnamon crumble topping

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I have a confession to make: I’m one of those really annoying people who just will not follow a recipe. I can’t help it. There’s creativity in my bones, and I’m drawn to changing things in an effort to make them even better.

So naturally, I couldn’t leave this apple cake recipe alone. It could have swum on through the internet, living out a successful life on the Pinterest boards of many, untouched by my meddling fingers. But thank goodness it didn’t. Continue reading →