AlphaBakes "H" Roundup

Welcome to November's "H" AlphaBakes round up. It's been a busy month for me and I'm guessing it's also been a busy month for most of you as we had less entries than usual. Thank you to everyone who took the time to enter. I've chosen a winner at random from all eligible entries for our prize this month which is a copy of 500 Cupcakes by Fergal Connolly & Judith Fertig sponsored by Quarto Publishing. Read to the end to find out who the lucky winner is. 

Jean from Baking with Franglais made a hazelnut, plum and chocolate cake. It's a recipe from the BBC Good Food website for their October Clandestine Cake Club in Loire Valley as the theme was "a taste of autumn". French plums and hazelnuts were the seasonal ingredients and the flavour combination worked beautifully. It's certainly a very impressive looking cake and is quite easy to make. 

Kate from the Gluten Free Alchemist made chewy, chocolate, cherry and chili flapjack. The H comes from Hungarian paprika and Hot chili! The chili is subtle and really elevates this traditionally sweet treat. She made 2 batches of this delicious treat, do head on over to her blog to find out why! 

Johanna from Green Gourmet Giraffe made a healthy treat which is gluten free, vegan and full of good oats and seeds. It's a Glo Bar and he H ingredient is hemp seeds. She got this recipe from a fellow blogger, Angela Liddon who blogs at Oh She Glows. I love how she's decorated it which has given me ideas for the future.

Next is my own entry with Hot Chocolate Cupcakes. I chose a recipe from our prize book this month 500 Cupcakes. It's a fairly straightforward recipe with a delicious icing and marshmallow fluff on top.

My co-host Caroline from Caroline Makes made Hershey's Cookies 'n' Creme Pudding. She used a recipe from the Hershey's website and it tasted very creamy and chocolatey.

Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... made Chilli Mayonnaise Brownies using Hellman's Mayonnaise. It's a healthier alternative to traditional brownies as the mayonnaise replaces a lot of the fat and some of the eggs and there's no loss of flavour or satisfaction. It's a lovely chocolatey brownie with a hit of chilli! 

Suelle from Mainly Baking made a cake specifically for AlphaBakes using a Harry Eastwood recipe. It's a Honey Breafkast Fruit Cake which uses finely grated butternut squash to replace much of the fat and it of course contains honey! The cake was delicious with almond being the predominant flavour but you could also taste the honey and the lemon zest.

Kate from the Gluten Free Alchemist is back but with something completely different this time... Homemade Fresh Gluten Free Pasta. Her daughter was diagnosed with Coeliac disease so she has been making all sorts of gluten free recipes and finally decided to try her hand at making her own fresh pasta. She experimented with a few new ingredients and it looks and tastes just like regular pasta. 

Stuart from Cakeyboi shared with us an old recipe but a good recipe nonetheless. The recipe is Honey and Ginger Cookies made with Manuka honey and Root ginger. The cookies are crisp on the outside but soft in the centre and you can clearly taste the honey plus you get little hits of ginger. 

Fiona from Let Them Eat (gluten free, lactose free) Cake! was all set to make an apple butter victoria sponge but she was struck down by a cold. She made these ginger, lemon and honey biscuits instead which she maintains helped cure her cold. They are light and tasty and of course gluten free!

That's the end of the round up. As promised, a winner has been selected at random (names in a hat) and the lucky winner is.... Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than...  - congratulations! Remember to check out Caroline's blog on 1st December to find out what letter we are using in December. See you all in January!

Addendum 30/11/14

So sorry I missed out my co-host Caroline from Caroline Makes second entry. Clearly great minds think alike as she also made a hot chocolate cupcake with marshmallow fluff. She served hers in cute tea cup moulds and cupcake cases and topped them with marshmallow fluff and colourful shaped marshmallows. The cupcakes were chocolatey, light and fluffy which closely resembles hot chocolate.