AlphaBakes "K" Round up

Welcome to this month's AlphaBakes K round up. It's a difficult letter so thank you to everyone who participated. I've chosen a lucky winner at random from all eligible entries but you'll have to read till the end to find out who won. It's a great prize which I hope the winner will enjoy. Remember to check out Caroline's blog on 1st October to find out which letter we are using next.

First up is Kim from Cakes from Kim with Strawberry Kulfi. Kulfi is a traditional Indian dessert similar to ice cream. Kim got the spices from a gift subscription to the spicery and her version contains strawberries, pink peppercorns and cardamom.

Next is Fiona from Let Them Eat Cake! with Kugelhopf. Inspired by the Great British Bake Off, Fiona decided to make Kugelhopf which is a cake raised with yeast, filled with fruit and baked in a bundt tin, She chose orange, cardamom and almond which worked really well together. 

My co host Caroline from Caroline Makes made Kinder Bueno Cupcakes. I made these for the last round of AlphaBakes K which was her inspiration but she made quite a few changes thus creating her own unique version. I like the white chocolate filling which closely resembles a kinder bueno bar and the liquid chocolate drizzle.

We have a savoury entry next from Johanna from Green Gourmet Giraffe. She made a Kumara and poppy seed nut roast with strawberry glaze. Did you know that sweet potato is also known as Kumara? It sounds like the strawberry glaze was the star and I know I can't wait to try it myself.

Suelle from Mainly Baking made a Kentish Cobnut Cake. Cobnuts are traditionally associated with Kent and are only available fresh for a few weeks in September. She followed a traditional recipe which included some ginger. The cake was short and crumbly with a texture similar to shortbread.

Linzi from Lancashire Food has never baked with kiwi fruits before even though she likes eating them. She decided to make Kiwi Fruit Cupcakes and decorated them with buttercream and a slice of kiwi fruit. She also suggests leaving them plain and sprinkling with demerara sugar.

Stuart from Cakey Boi also used kiwi to make his Kiwi cupcakes with easy strawberry cream cheese frosting. The frosting sounds divine and it really is very easy to make. Check out the recipe if you don't believe me!

Dom from Belleau Kitchen delights us with Rose Meringue Cupcakes with a Kirsch and Cherry Jam Filling. The flavours sound delicious and if you click on the link there is also a photo for #bakeface which you can read about on his blog.

Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... found an old recipe book at an antiques market and one of the recipes was for Kentish Cake. It's a very traditional recipe and she's used the same ingredients but updated the methods to create this new again vintage cake.

Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog has created a rather unusual savoury entry for us. I've certainly never seen it before and would love to try one. She made Miso Muffins with Kale, Carrot and Courgette. She used vegetables grown from her own garden, a bit of goats cheese on top which you can clearly see in the picture and of course some cocoa. 

Next we have Tiramisu Cupcakes by Debra from My Little Kitchen. These were inspired by Mary Berry's Tiramisu cake which was the technical challenge for The Great British Bake Off a few weeks back. The K ingredient here is Kahlua! 

Finally my own (late) entry in the form of a Key Lime Pie. I've been busy travelling and moving house this month so I haven't been baking or blogging. I've not unpacked everything so it was a challenge making this recipe but it turned out well and it's probably one of the best desserts I've made in a while.

That's the end of the K Round up. As mentioned earlier, a lucky winner has been selected at random. The prize is a set of 6 pantry design spice tins sponsored by DotComGiftShop.

The lucky winner is .... Linzi from Lancashire Food. Congratulations!! Please check your email inbox.

Remember to check out Caroline's blog on 1st October to find out what letter we are using next. See you all back in November!

Key Lime Pie

This is my late entry to AlphaBakes which I am hosting so I am obviously allowing the late entry! It's been a really busy month what with going away for my birthday and moving house and being ill so I've not really had a chance to bake or blog much. I'm still living in a sea of boxes which makes it harder to bake as I don't have all my regular equipment. I had to be inventive with opening the can of condensed milk as I couldn't find my can opener. 

When I chose the letter K at the beginning of this month, J mentioned that he wanted a key lime pie. I've never made one before and was keen to make it for AlphaBakes but time ran away with me. Anyway I managed to bake this quickly earlier tonight and it looks really good! I've had a little taste (saving it for tomorrow)  and you can clearly taste the lime. I love the crunchy biscuit base and the sweetened cream adds extra indulgence whilst cutting through the rich filling. 

As mentioned this is for AlphaBakes which I am hosting this month with my co host Caroline from Caroline Makes. The letter is K for Key Lime Pie. The round up will be ready later tomorrow or Monday at the latest - apologies for the delay. 

 adding lime zest 

 baked crust 

 add the filling and bake for 15 minutes 

 looks a little plain... 

 add whipped cream and lime zest 

Recipe from BBC Good Food 

SRC: Easy Peanut Butter and Banana Flan

It's Secret Recipe Club Group D reveal day again. This month has gone particularly quickly probably because I've been so busy. If you need a quick reminder, Secret Recipe Club is a fun blogging challenge where each blog is paired with another blog in secret. You are given your assigned blog well ahead of time and the idea is you make something from that blog and everyone reveals what they've made on the same day! 

This month my assigned blog is Confessions of a Cooking Diva written by Julie. She lives in Utah, loves food, Basset Hounds and the colour pink. She's addicted to TV shows and is scared of spiders! She loves creating her own recipes as well as discovering new ones and she certainly has lots of great recipes on her site. 

As I was busy packing to move house when I got my assignment I knew I had to choose a relatively simple recipe, preferably a no bake recipe. I shortlisted her Strawberry Cream Pie and Easy Frozen Peanut Butter Banana and Chocolate Pie. However, if I had all my regular baking equipment, I really want to try her Key Lime Bundt Cake and Apple Pecan Cheesecake. 

This really is a very simple, no bake recipe with great results. I made a few minor changes as I had absolutely no equipment and minimal ingredients. Unfortunately the supermarket had run out of ready made pie crusts so I bought a flan cake instead and it worked quite well. I don't have a microwave in my new house and I haven't unpacked the pots and pans so I left out the chocolate drizzle. I did however have some mini peanut butter cups that I was given as a birthday present which was perfect to decorate this pie/flan with.

Recipe adapted slightly from Confessions of a Cooking Diva

1 ready made pie crust/flan cake
1 banana, sliced
200g cream cheese
300mls double cream
100g sugar
250g smooth peanut butter
Mini peanut butter cups to decorate.

• Whisk the cream until stiff then place in a bowl.
• Whisk the peanut butter, cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
• Stir in the whipped cream.
• Place the flan case on a cake tray or plate.
• Place a layer of sliced bananas on top as shown.
• Fill with the cream cheese/peanut butter filling.
• Decorate with mini peanut butter cups.
• Chill overnight before serving.

An InLinkz Link-up

Blackberry, Lemon and Vanilla Cheesecake

J's favourite fruit is blackberries and he is always asking for a blackberry dessert. Luckily I had a large box of blackberries from my colleague's garden in the freezer. I've made numerous crumbles with them but this time I wanted to make something a little special. J also loves cheesecake hence this blackberry, lemon and vanilla cheesecake. The inspiration for this recipe was a lovely two layer cheesecake but unfortunately mine looks nothing like that! However, it tasted heavenly and that's what really counts. I made a vanilla layer using vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste and a blackberry & lemon layer. The blackberry layer was a little tart and paired perfectly with the sweeter vanilla layer. 

I'm sending this to  Four Seasons Food hosted by Louisa from Eat Your Veg and co hosted by Anneli from Delicieux. The theme this month is "getting fruity".

It also fits in to Shop Local hosted by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary. This challenge was created to highlight produce from local sources. The blackberres in this recipe came from a colleague's garden. 

 digestive biscuit base 

  blackberry mix on the left and vanilla mix on the right 

 ready to go in the oven 

 after baking for about 25 minutes 

 adding vanilla mix on top which mostly sunk to the middle, pushing the blackberry layer to the outside 

 

Recipe adapted from ivillage.com
40g butter
300mls sour cream
18-20 digestive biscuits
900g cream cheese
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
220g caster sugar
180mls milk
4 eggs
360g frozen blackberries
zest and juice of 1 lemon

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Melt the butter in the microwave or in a small saucepan.
• Blitz the digestive biscuits in a food processor and stir in the melted butter. 
• Press into the bottom of a lined 23cm springform tin making sure that the biscuits also go partway up the sides of the tin.
• Place in the fridge to chill whilst you make the filling. 
• Beat the cream cheese and sugar until combined. 
• Add in the milk then beat in the eggs, one at a time.
• Add in the sour cream and continue mixing until smooth.
• Divide the mixture evenly between 2 large bowls. 
• In a food processor, puree approximately 300g of the blackberries with the zest and juice of 1 lemon. Pour into 1 of the cream cheese mix and stir in the whole blackberries.
• In the 2nd cream cheese mix, add the vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste and mix well.
• Pour the blackberry filling on to the biscuit base and bake for approximately 25 minutes  (recipe said 10 minutes but even 25 minutes was not enough for me - it probably needs 35-40 minutes) 
• Remove the cheesecake from the oven and pour the vanilla filling on top.
• Return to the oven and continue baking for another hour or until the top is set.
• Chill in the fridge before serving. 

Banana and Berry Loaf

Apologies for the long absence, September has been a really busy month as I was away celebrating my birthday and moving house in between! I then got a bad chest infection/sore throat which meant no unpacking, no baking or blogging! Anyway I am just about back on my feet so I thought I'd share this recipe with you quickly. I baked this back in August before moving house as I had leftover ingredients to use up. It's a really quick and simple bake and tastes amazing!! I really loved the chocolate chunks with the berries and bananas. 

I'm sending this to the No Waste Food Challenge run by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary. This month it's guest hosted by Mireille from Chef Mireille's East West Realm. I used up leftover fruit and half a bag of chocolate chunks for this recipe.

Similarly it's suitable for Credit Crunch Munch hosted by Sarah from Maison Cupcake for Helen and Camilla.

It's also perfect for the Vegetable Palette hosted by Shaheen from Allotment 2 Kitchen. The September challenge is purple and blues. The blueberries are blue but they look purple after baking! 

Finally to Four Seasons Food hosted by Louisa from Eat Your Veg and co hosted by Anneli from Delicieux. The theme this month is "getting fruity" and there's plenty of fruit in this!

 I like adding chunks of banana rather than completely mashing them up 

 adding sour cream 

 lovely fresh berries 

 leatherwood honey - a really fragrant solid honey from Australia 

 chocolate chunks for extra indulgence

 

An original recipe by bakingaddict 

220g flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
115g brown sugar
1 tablespoon Leatherwood honey
80mls vegetable oil
2 eggs
125mls sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 bananas, cut into large chunks
blueberries,raspberries and a handful of chocolate chunks (I forgot to weigh the berries but just throw in what you have)

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Whisk the sugar and vegetable oil together then add in the eggs and continue whisking. 
• Stir in the mashed bananas followed by the sour cream .
• Gently fold in the berries by hand.
• Add the flour and baking powder to the mixture.
• Stir in the honey.
• Mix briefly being sure not to overmix.
• Finally stir in the chocolate chunks and pour into a loaf tin. 
• Bake for approximately 50minutes - 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Check at 45 minutes as you will need to cover the top with foil if it's too brown.