AlphaBakes "E" Roundup

Welcome to the E round up of AlphaBakes. Even though it's our second time using the letter E, we've had some really creative entries that are completely different to the first round of E Alphabakes. I wonder what else you will come up with if we go through this a third time?! Remember to check out Caroline's blog on 1st June to find out what letter we are using next month. 

First up is myself with an Eton Mess. I had planned to make an Eton Mess cake as well but ran out of time. This classic dessert is perfect to throw together at short notice and really spells out summer. I used ready made meringues, fresh strawberries, strawberry jam and whipped cream laced with strawberry jam. 

Next is Caroline's mum, Jacqueline with her Chocolate Easter Cake. I love the tin that she used which looks like my petal bundt tin as it creates such beautiful shapes. Plus look at all that lovely chocolate dripping down the cake. 

Sudha from Spicy, Quirky and Serendipitous sent in Eggless Oatmeal Almond Butter Cookies. She baked this to celebrate the beauty that is her little one who says that 'losing your imagination is worse than being deaf and blind'. These delicious cookies were created on the spot without a plan or recipe. 

Sarah James from Tales from the Kitchen Shed made these gorgeous Everyday Bread Rolls which are also called Ted's rolls named after her father in law. She makes these almost everyday as they are very easy to make and they freeze well too. She has great step by step pictures on her blog so do head on over. 

We have two amazing entries from The Dream Baker. Custard pudding which contains lots of eggs as the key ingredient. There are beautiful step by step photos on her blog so if you want to know how to make one of these beauties, head on over and check it out. 

Her second entry is Shortcrust Egg Tarts. Her mum used to bake fruit egg tarts and these are reminiscent of those happy childhood days. The recipe is adapted from one of the first food blogs she stumbled upon which has been kept in an ever growing collection of recipes to make. 

Jean from Baking in Franglais made this Economical Chocolate Cake for less than £1!! I'm impressed that she made a buttercream icing for the cake and it looks miles better compared to the shop bought cake which also costs £1. 

Sue from Mainly Baking came up with this Apple and Pistachio Cake with Elderflower Drizzle. The flavour combination sounds delicious and she says that although subtle the cake was lighter than expected and very tasty. It was also fortuitous that her elder tree was in bloom so she could add a bunch of elderflowers to the picture. 

Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary sent in these Oatmeal Raisin Spice Cookies. Where's the E I hear you ask? Well there's 2 eggs in the ingredients and they are also Essential Eating for Every Explorer! Elizabeth and her youngest went out for an adventure in the woods and packed a picnic lunch including these tasty cookies. They are a staple from her own childhood forest adventuring. 

Jane from Fromage Homage made Elderflower Cheesecake.  She gathered the elderflower herself and used a BBC recipe as her inspiration. Read her post to find out more about the ancient tradition of 'dropping the cheesecake'! This time last year, she made a Sambocade which is a medieval elderflower and cheese tart which is a worth a look in too.

Stuart from Cakeyboi made these cute Lemon and white chocolate meringue cookies. The key ingredient of course is egg whites. He was looking for something lighter hence these lemon meringues but added in some white chocolate to 'pimp it up'!

Next is my co host Caroline from Caroline Makes with an Engagement Cake with hidden heart. She bought a Wilton Tasty-Fill Heart Pan ages ago and finally got round to using it for a colleague who recently got engaged. She made a chocolate cake and filled it with pink buttercream and then covered the cake with cream cheese frosting and heart sprinkles.

Alexandra from The Lass in the Apron made some Everyday Double Chocolate Cookies. She used her mother's 'world-traveling oatmeal-chocolate chip-walnut cookie recipe' and since her mother is allergic to eggs, the recipe contains no eggs. It's a very versatile recipe and can be the basis of many recipes. For this recipe, she used rice krispies for extra crunch, cocoa powder and chocolate chunks for extra chocolate flavour.

Next we have Eclair Cupcakes from Kate from the Gluten Free Alchemist. These cupcakes are based on her love of Cadbury's eclairs which are chewy toffee filled with a chocolate centre. The sponge is rich with real toffee and there is a hidden dark chocolate ganache filling inside. She's decorated them with a sprinkling of icing sugar, a chocolate button and a piece of toffee.

Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than ... made honey and chocolate chip cupcakes for us. The E is from locally grown English honey which she bought from a PhD student. The honey is clearly the star here and she kept the decorations simple to showcase the honey.

For a change, we have a savoury entry from Shaheen from Allotment 2 Kitchen who made Savoury Nettle and Blue Cheese 'Eccles' Cake. If you are not familiar with Eccles cake, do head on to her blog where she explains it beautifully. It is traditionally filled with currants or raisins but her savoury version is made with Stilton cheese, nettles, ground elder and spinach.

Fiona from Let Them Eat Cake made some Earl Grey and lemon scones. She soaked the raisins overnight in earl grey tea and baked them into a scone with lots of lemon zest. The flavours complement each other beautifully and the earl grey added a lovely fragrance to the scones.

That's all the Excellent 'E' entries for this round of AlphaBakes. Make sure you check out Caroline's blog on 1st June to find out what letter we are using next month.