Cranberry, Coconut and Cream Cheese Bundt Cake

Isn't this cake beautiful? I love the shape of the cake and the dusting of icing sugar makes it look so inviting. I have to say a huge thank you to John for buying me this cake tin for Christmas. It has been on my wish list for a while now and I'm so pleased that I finally own one. I absolutely love Nordicware tins and have started a small collection of them.  I'm sure he had an ulterior motive buying the cake tin - a cake from the tin! I promised that he would have the first cake out of the tin and I knew I had to choose a good recipe to impress and show my gratitude. 

I saw this recipe on Jo's Blue Aga and bookmarked it immediately to use with my new bundt tin as it looked and sounded amazing. I'm so glad I did as I made it twice in the same week and have had endless positive comments about the cake. It's a lovely light sponge with coconut and cranberry and a delicious cream cheese filling in the middle. The cake is fragrant and looks stunning especially with a dusting of icing sugar. It would be perfect for Christmas as it has a festive look and feel to it or for any special occasion. 

John's reaction was "Wow- Ros's cake is amazing. One of her best yet!" Other reactions were " Too beautiful to eat", "How did you get that shape?" "Terrifyingly good!" "It's like a hidden treasure puzzle - there's a different taste and texture to every bite" 

I have to admit that I really did enjoy the cake even though I don't like coconut. I'm not just saying that because I baked the cake! It really was that good and I'd recommend you try it for yourself. 

I'm entering this to Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes. 

I'm also sending it to Tea Time Treats guest hosted by Jane from The HedgeCombers and run by Karen from Lavender and Lovage. The theme this month is eggs, eggs, eggs! This would make a stunning tea time treat.

 my lovely new bundt tin :) 

 

 I love the colours of the cranberries and coconut - reminds me of Christmas! 

 Half fill the tin 

 add a ring of cream cheese - you can just about see it here then fill with remaining batter 

 fresh from the oven 

 looks better with a dusting of icing sugar 

 you can see the cream cheese filling 

Recipe from Jo's Blue Aga

For the cake

270g unsalted butter, softened
250g caster sugar
4 large eggs, beaten
270g self-raising flour
100ml double cream
100g desiccated coconut
100g Dried Cranberries

For The Filling
200g full fat Philadelphia
3 Tbsp Caster sugar
30g Desiccated coconut

• Preheat the oven to 170c
• Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl and gradually add it to the creamed butter and sugar mixture. 
• Sift in the flour and mix well. 
• Add the cream and mix again until smooth.
• Stir in the coconut and cranberries. 
• Spoon half the mixture into the prepared tin and spread level using a palette knife. 
• Mix the ingredients for the filling in a small bowl. 
• Place the filling in a ring on the cake batter as shown above.
• Cover with the remaining cake batter. 
• Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• Allow to cool in the tin for 15-20 minutes before turning out to a wire rack to cool completely 
• Dust generously with icing sugar. 

Olive Oil Cake with Rosemary and Chocolate

This month's We Should Cocoa Challenge which is guest hosted by Linzi from Lancashire Food chose the theme 'new ingredient' ie a new ingredient paired with chocolate that you've not tried before. I've baked a lot with chocolate and have tried many combinations so my thoughts turned to herbs. I know rosemary and chocolate is a fairly common combination but it's not one I've tried previously so I was excited to try it out plus it would fit the challenge and quite a few other blog challenges too! 

A quick google search brought me to this delicious looking cake which I knew I had to try. It's a very unassuming cake. Not much to look at but it sure packs a punch in terms of flavour. Everyone who ate the cake said it was absolutely delicious. The rosemary flavour is strong but not overpowering. The little bits of chocolate complements the rosemary rather than opposing it. The cake itself tastes "healthy" especially with the wholemeal and spelt flour. Definitely a very successful recipe and one that I will be making again without a doubt. 

As mentioned, I'm entering this to We Should Cocoa hosted by Linzi from Lancashire Food who chose the theme 'New Ingredient'. We Should Cocoa is the brainchild of Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog. 

As it contains rosemary, I'm also entering it to Cooking With Herbs hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage.

I think this cake also fits the theme for this month's Four Seasons Food hosted by Louisa from Eat Your Veg and Anneli from Delicieux. The theme this month is Virtuous Food and eating this cake definitely makes you feel virtuous even though it's cake! 

As this cake is made from scratch, I'm sending it to Made with Love Mondays hosted by Javelin Warrior.

The One Ingredient Challenge hosted by Nazima from Franglais Kitchen and Laura from How to Cook Good Food has the theme of "Healthy Recipes" As far as cake goes, I think this is fairly healthy as it contains no butter and other healthier ingredients.

You know how much I love a multi blog challenge recipe so I'm going to send this to Tea Time Treats guest hosted by Jane from The HedgeCombers and run by Karen from Lavender and Lovage. The theme this month is eggs, eggs, eggs! This recipe contains 3 eggs and it's a perfect tea time treat.

 caster sugar, spelt flour, olive oil, wholemeal flour, milk, rosemary, eggs, dark chocolate 

 flour mixture on left, rosemary milk mixture on the right and chopped dark chocolate 

 ready to go in the ove

 It's a plain looking cake but it's really tasty 

 You can see the lovely crumb texture and the bits of hidden chocolate 

Recipe adapted slightly from local belle

120g spelt flour
230g wholemeal flour
170g caster sugar
1.5 teaspoon baking powder
2.5 tablespoons chopped rosemary
140g dark chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup milk
1 cup olive oil
3 eggs

• Preheat the oven to 170C
• Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
• In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and add in the olive oil, milk and rosemary. 
• Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined.
• Stir in the chopped chocolate.
• Pour the batter into a round cake tin or a loaf tin and bake for about 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool completely. 

Banana, Cranberry, Pecan Oat Muffins

There is normally an abundance of healthier recipes on the blogopshere in January after the indulgence of Christmas and New Year. I will certainly be baking some healthier treats but a few naughty treats as well. In addition, I also want to use up any leftovers I have so there may still be a slight festive flair to the recipes this month. This recipe is one of those where I tried to use up whatever I had left in my kitchen and it worked beautifully. The muffins tasted 'healthy' with the wholemeal flour and oats and the combination of cranberry and pecans with a little mixed spice was heavenly. This recipe could be tweaked further, perhaps the addition of yoghurt or some chocolate chips if you are feeling indulgent. 

I'm sending this to the No Waste Food Challenge hosted by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary. I created this recipe to use up my old bananas and leftover fresh cranberries from Christmas, leftover pecan nuts from a previous bake and the end of a bag of oats and wholemeal flour. I also had a bit of honey left so I added that too. 

And to Treat Petite hosted by Kat from the Baking Explorer and Stuart from Cakeyboi. The theme this month is "Free From".  This recipe is free from butter and plain flour. 

And to Four Seasons Food hosted by Louisa from Eat Your Veg and Anneli from Delicieux. The theme this month is Virtuous Food and I think this certainly fits the bill. It's not quite salad leaves and fruit but it's tasty and healthier than shop bought muffins.

I'm also sneaking it into the Biscuit Barrel Challenge hosted by Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... who has chosen the theme "Spices" The recipe does contain 1 teaspoon of mixed spice which is not a lot but it was certainly present so I hope Laura will accept this.

An original recipe by bakingaddict
Makes 15 muffins

The quantities are slightly made up as it was what I had in my cupboard but it worked well.

150g wholemeal flour
35g spelt flour
125g rolled oats
100g light brown sugar
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon mixed spice
50g honey
2 eggs
2 bananas, mashed
125mls vegetable oil
~ 180g fresh cranberries
~100g pecan nuts

Dark brown sugar for sprinkling (optional)

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Mix the flours, oats, sugar, bicarb, baking powder and mixed spice in a large bowl.
• In a medium bowl, beat together the honey, eggs, mashed bananas and vegetable oil.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed - be careful not to overmix.
• Stir in the fresh cranberries and pecan nuts.
• Spoon into muffin cases and if desired, sprinkle approximately 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar on top of each muffin before baking. 
• Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Eat warm or allow to cool on a wire rack before storing and serving. 

Chocolate Orange Cake with Homemade Orange Curd and a Giveaway

One of my colleagues celebrated her birthday on 2nd Jan. I think it's hard having a birthday close to Christmas or New Year as you probably get a joint present as a child and less of a celebration as an adult! However, a birthday is a birthday and I decided to surprise her with a delicious birthday cake especially after she was moaning how no one wants to go out or celebrate the day after New Year. I chose a chocolate orange cake as it's her favourite cake and decided to fill it with homemade orange curd and covered it with an orange curd buttercream. The cake was absolutely divine and there were lots of happy faces in the office. 

I made my own orange curd based on my lemon curd recipe. I reduced the sugar amount slightly as oranges are sweeter than lemons and it worked beautifully. I also rubbed the zest of the orange into the sugar by hand as I remember reading somewhere that it releases the oil from the zest and you get a more intense orange flavour. The sugar definitely smelt gorgeous. I did the same with the sugar and zest for the cake recipe and the feedback I got was that the cake tasted better! It's the same cake as the chocolate orange cupcakes with a hidden surprise that I made a week ago. Apparently the cupcakes were more zesty and this cake has a more defined orange flavour. I'm going to try this with my other citrusy bakes next time. 

I was sent an egg separator called Pluck to review from findmeagift. I decided it was a good time to try it out as I needed 2 egg yolks for the recipe. It's a nifty little gadget that you place over the egg yolk, squeeze the silicone chamber to extract the egg yolk, then squeeze again to release the yolk. I have to admit I wasn't sure if it would work when I first saw it but it does and I'm quite pleased with it. It's easy to wash and the silicone is food safe. A great gift for a kitchen gadget lover like me! 

If you want a chance to win one for yourself then just complete the rafflecopter widget below. A winner will be selected at random. The prize is only available to UK residents. Good luck! 

 Pluck egg separator. Crack egg in a bowl. 

 It works! 

 I decided to take a video so you can see how it works but it was difficult to have the camera in one hand and the Pluck in the other. Anyway I'm sure you get the idea :)

 

 I'm not sure if you can see that the sugar has turned orangey in colour after rubbing in the orange zest. 

 I did the same with the golden caster sugar for the cake (rubbing zest into the sugar) 

 homemade orange curd 

 cakes ready to go in the oven 

 spread a generous layer of orange curd in the middle 

 my cakes have odd shaped edges as I didnt have the correct size of pre cut parchment paper and was too lazy to cut the right size! Luckily frosting covers everything :) 

 I piped buttercream roses and decorated it with some coloured sprinkles and mini terry chocolate orange slices.

Chocolate Orange Cake
115g good quality dark chocolate
90g unsalted butter, room temperature
175g golden caster sugar
75ml fresh orange juice
zest of 1 orange
2 large eggs
185g plain flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon semi-skimmed milk, at room temperature
Orange curd
zest of 1 orange
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
85g butter
pinch of salt

Orange Curd Buttercream Frosting
200g butter
375g icing sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons orange curd
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice

• Preheat the oven to 170C 
• Melt the chocolate over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Set aside to cool.
• Place the sugar in a small bowl and rub the orange zest in with your hands. 
• In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and orange zest infused sugar until the mixture is pale and smooth. 
• Add the eggs and beat again briefly.
• Combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl. 
• Mix the orange juice and milk in a jug.
• Add the chocolate to the creamed mixture and beat until just combined. The batter will still be streaky. 
• Add 1/3 of the flour mix and beat until it all just comes together. Add half of the juice/milk mix and beat again until the mixture just comes together. 
• Repeat these steps until all the ingredients have been incorporated.
• Divide the batter into 2 sandwich tins and bake for about 25 mins until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
• Leave the cakes in the tin for about 10 mins before cooling on a wire rack.

• To make the orange curd, place a fine mesh sieve over a medium bowl and set aside.
• Place the sugar in a small bowl and rub in the zest of 1 orange with your hands. The sugar will turn orange in colour and smell strongly of oranges. 
• In a medium pot, whisk together the orange juice, orange zest infused sugar, egg yolks and pinch of salt.
• Place the pot over a medium-low heat and add the butter.
• Stir the mixture with a whisk. You may want to use a spatula to scrape down the edges. 
• Cook the curd until the butter is melted and the mixture is the thickness of warm hot fudge. 
• Remove from the heat and immediately pour into the fine mesh sieve over a medium bowl. 
• Press through the sieve leaving any cooked egg bits in the strainer. 
• Allow to cool completely before storing and using. 
• To make the frosting, beat together the butter, juice and half of the icing sugar until smooth. 
• Gradually add the remainder of the icing sugar and orange curd and beat again until smooth and creamy. 
• You may need to add a few more drops of juice depending on the consistency of frosting required.
• To assemble the cake, place 1 cake on a cake board. Spread a generous layer of orange curd on top and place the second cake on top. 
• Pipe buttercream roses all around the top and sides of the cake.
• Decorate with mini chocolate orange slices and coloured sugar pearls. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Blogoversary and Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone and Happy 4th Birthday to my blog! I really can't believe that it's been 4 years since I started this blog. It has gone from strength to strength and I have all of you to thank. I've met so many fantastic bloggers through this blog - some on their blogs, some via twitter and some in person! A year ago I wrote that 2012 was a great year for my blog and I planned to take a slower pace in 2013 due to other commitments. I've certainly blogged less, a total of 113 posts compared to 166 in 2012 but it didn't feel like I baked any less! I managed to expand my repertoire a little and venture outside my comfort zone mainly in baking pastry and trying out a few unusual flavour combinations and ingredients. 

I'm not sure yet what direction my blog will take in 2014 but I do know that I definitely want to keep it going. I guess we'll all have to wait and see :) 

Right no more long soppy messages or reflections, on to the cake! This was actually a cake I made for a colleague who told her husband she wanted to be treated 'like a princess for a day" So it was decided (by my team!) that I would bake a big pink cake and I chose to make this giant vanilla raspberry cupcake cake. It has fresh raspberries in the batter and raspberry jam in the middle. It's decorated with white chocolate fingers, piped buttercream roses, wafer butterflies and coloured sugar pearls and some edible glitter. The finishing touch is the pink satin ribbon. Everyone was really impressed with the presentation of the cake and it tasted heavenly. Light and soft sponge with lovely tart raspberries. A perfect celebration for a birthday - for my colleague and for my dear blog. It also looks much better than my previous attempt so I'm doubly pleased with myself. 

 I love fresh raspberries! I know it's not seasonal but it's just so pretty and tasty too. 

 ready to go in the oven 

 looking good 

 Fill with raspberry jam 

 spread buttercream around the cake and arrange white chocolate fingers around the base 

 ready to be decorated 

 view from the top 

 can you see the edible glitter? 

This recipe makes 1 giant cupcake and 6 small cupcakes - be careful not to overfill the giant cupcake mould! 

For the cake
375g butter
375g sugar
6 eggs
375g self raising flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
150g fresh raspberries

For the icing
300g icing sugar
120g butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons of milk
pink gel paste (optional)

For the filling and decoration

Raspberry jam

White chocolate fingers (about 1.5 boxes) 

Sprinkles

Edible glitter

Pink satin ribbon

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
• Add the eggs one at a time and mix well between each addition.
• Mix in the flour and vanilla extract.
• Finally stir in the fresh raspberries.
• Fill the cupcake mould until 2/3 full - do not overfill!
• Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Allow to cool completely.
• Sandwich the top and bottom with raspberry jam.
• Make the icing by beating all the ingredients together until smooth. 
• Decorate as shown above. 

AlphaBakes Jan 2014

Happy New Year everyone! Welcome to the first AlphaBakes challenge for 2014. As you know we are almost running out of letters now and we've still not come upon the dreaded 'Z'. Fortunately it's not the letter for this month but a close cousin... "Y" Yay!

If you've not already seen the "X" round up from Dec, do check it out as there are lots of festive entries and one or two unusual ideas for X.  As mentioned in the Dec AlphaBakes round up I will be hosting AlphaBakes for Jan instead of Caroline who will be back hosting in Feb. Usual rules apply. Please remember to email your entries to alphabakes@gmail.com by 25th January 2014.

1. Post your recipe on your blog and link it to The More than Occasional Baker and Caroline Makes, stating the relevant month's host. If you do not have a blog, email us a picture and a brief description of your entry which we will include in the round-up at the end of the month.

2. You can use your own recipe or someone else's recipe. The recipe can be sweet, savoury or a mixture! Anything goes as long as the random letter is predominantly featured in the recipe as one of the main ingredients or flavours or in the name of the bake itself (i .e . not as a garnish , or using 'flour' for the letter F!) You can also republish old posts/recipes but you must include the information for this challenge as stated in these rules.

3. Add the logo to your post and add 'alphabakes' as a label to your post.

4. Email your entries to alphabakes@gmail.com by midnight (GMT) 25th of each month. Please include: 

• Your name (that you want included in the round up or we will use the name of your blog)
• Your blog post URL
• Recipe title
• Photo of recipe (to be included in the round up)

5. You can submit as many entries as you like.

6. You do not have to participate every month to join in.

7. You may submit your entry to other challenges as long as it complies with their rules.

8. If you use twitter, please use the tag #alphabakes and mention @bakingaddict and @Caroline_Makes. We will retweet all those that we see.

9. Have fun! :)