AlphaBakes "S" Roundup

It's the end of March and Easter is just round the corner. We have had a great selection of entries this month with lots of variety probably because it's an easy and versatile letter. Do remember to check out Caroline's blog on 1st April to find out which letter we are using next.

First off the mark is Caroline's mum, Jacqueline with her ginger and sultana cake.

Next we have Limoncello Cheesecake Squares from Kat from The Baking Explorer. She wanted to make use of her leftover limoncello and created these beautiful squares of cheesecake topped with a slice of lemon.

Moving on to something different, Dom from Belleau Kitchen baked this delicious smoked paprika, tomato and cheddar swirl loaf. He used a jar of Moroccan Tomato and smoked paprika paste and strong vintage cheddar to create this delicious loaf.

Kate from the Gluten Free Alchemist baked this Vanilla-Blueberry Cake with Meringue Cream which is of course gluten free. She was sent a selection of gluten free products from Delicious Alchemy to review and she used one of their sponge cake mixes for this recipe. She added in fresh berries, meringues and fruit jam which surely must count for more than 1 of my 5 a day!

Jean from Baking in Franglais made these chocolate and ginger sweetheart cakes for last month's AlphaBakes V but has very cleverly changed it to sweetheart cakes to fit with this month's theme. She is having a new kitchen put in and hence has very limited cooking/baking facilities. She made these with a chocolate cake mix, ground ginger and preserved ginger.

Jacqueline is back with her second entry in the form of a swiss roll with strawberry jam filling.

Suelle from Mainly Baking made one batch of dough to create two delicious cookies. She made semolina cookies for us using dates, pomegranate molasses, rose water and orange blossom water in one and pistachio and rose water in the other. It's a Dan Lepard recipe and she recreated them beautifully. She prefers the date cookies but they were both delicious.

Helen from Family Friends Food made a Spiced Hazelnut Loaf Cake with Chocolate Fudge Frosting. She was instructed to make a cake with chocolate icing. The original plan was for pear and cinnamon but it turned out to be hazelnuts and speculaas spice instead. Her recipients thoroughly enjoyed the cake which is no surprise as it sounds delicious! Helen sent in 2 entries for our V challenge last month but unfortunately it ended up in the spam email folder. Please have a look at her delicious entries - Nutella shortbread hearts and White chocolate & raspberry hamantaschen sandwich biscuits

Karen from Lavender and Lovage sent in this Shaker Lemon Pie. Her post reminisces about her time in PA and will inspire you to travel. Shakers are a religious group that broke away from the Quakers and many of them still have village communities in certain states. They are known for their simple and frugal lifestyle  which is why this recipe uses all of the lemons to give a really tangy lemony taste.

Next is Johanna from the Green Gourmet Giraffe who baked lots of lovely treats for her daughter's birthday. Her entry is rainbow cupcakes using rainbow sour straps. The cupcakes are decorated with baby blue icing to resemble the sky and thick white icing for the clouds. The finishing touch is the rainbow sour strap. She also made sausage rolls, chocolate mint cupcake and banana yoghurt cake.

My co host Caroline from Caroline Makes baked this showstopper of a cake for Comic Relief. It's a Floating Malteser Cake which uses sour cream. I baked a similar cake back in Oct 2014 which is where she got the recipe and idea from but used only maltesers as they are the official partners for Red Nose Day. How amazing does the cake look?

Caroline's next entry is homemade marshmallows where the key ingredient is sugar. She attended a meringue and marshmallow class at Cakes 4 Fun and these marshmallows are what they made in the class.

Next is my own entry with Snickerdoodles. I love the name of it and it's basically a sugar cookie rolled in cinnamon sugar. They are really thin and crispy and can be quite addictive to eat!

Moving on to something savoury for a change, Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary baked a garlic and rosemary foccacia with smoked sea salt. Her post has tips on how to taste olive oil which is judged on three primary dimensions – fruitiness, bitterness and pungency. The bread was served with an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip which needed regular topping up!

Stuart from CakeyBoi delights us with his Irish Stout Mocha Loaf Cake. The cake has chocolate, coffee and stout. It's topped with a simple cream cheese icing and looks like a pint of Guinness with the contrasting dark sponge and light frosting.

Kate from the Gluten Free Alchemist is back with another entry in the form of St Clement's Cakes. The name comes from a popular children's nursery rhyme  'oranges and lemons say the bells of St Clements'. This is a fatless, gluten free sponge with lots of ground almonds, Macadamia Blossom Honey and lots of oranges and lemons!

Alexandra, the Lass in the Apron made some Scotch Girdle Scones which are cooked on a griddle rather than baked in the oven. The inspiration comes from the book 39 steps which is a classic spy thriller where the protagonist ends up running across the wilds of Sccotland as a fugitive and spends a lot of time wondering where his next meal is going to come from. The scones are crisp and golden on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside.

Kerene from the Dream Baker baked some super cute My Melody French Sables. She used a My Melody cutter to create the inside of this cookie which is a cross between a shortbread and butter cookies. She got the insipiration from a hidden rainbow heart cookie.

Moving on to something a little different, we have a Matcha Green Tea Irish Soda Bread baked by Shaheen from Allotment 2 Kitchen. This was inspired by an Irish colleague raving about Irish Soda Bread and St Patrick's Day in the middle of March.

Jen from Jen's Food who is the queen of baking with cranberries delights us with Cranberry and Lime Shortbread Creams. She is a self confessed cranberry addict and has lots of lovely cranberry recipes on her blog. This recipe uses cranberry powder and has some lime flavouring in the filling. The look really pretty and we have been warned that they are very addictive!

Next is my second entry with Lemongrass and Lime Sorbet with Lime Jelly. This is my first time making sorbet and I was surprised at how easy it was. The flavour is inspired by a Thai lunch I was cooking for some friends who were well impressed.

Johanna from the Green Gourmet Giraffe is back with Sprinkles Cupcakes made as a fun birthday party activity for her daughter. She baked some cupcakes the day before and laid out a table with icing and different sprinkles for the children to decorate their own cupcakes. The kids clearly had a great time and got to take their cupcakes home.

Next is a lovely spring sort of cake from Ten Times Tea. It is a spelt sponge cake with orange, lavender and chamomile served with stewed rhubarb with orange and rose and chamomile creme anglaise. 

Last but not least is Choclette from Tin and Thyme with her Surprise Easter Egg Cupcakes. The cupcakes have grated marzipan, lemon and cardamom and a hidden chocolate egg inside! These are perfect for Easter which is only a few days away.

And that's the end of the Super 'S' AlphaBakes round up. Remember to check out Caroline's blog on 1st April to find out what letter we are using next. It will be the half way mark for round two of AlphaBakes!