655. Madeira Cake

So here is a whole selection of sweet treats. Before Christmas my mum went on a cruise around the Mediterranean including a visit to Madeira. While she was there she picked up some of their traditional local cake, which is totally different from the Madeira cake you get here. Madeira cake here is much like a pound cake, and frankly is just dull, but this was lightly spiced and very rich. Kind of akin to a Jamaica ginger cake but less sweet.

656. Cornish Fudge

I got some fudge for Christmas. Proper Cornish cream fudge is the best - it’s probably the only thing in the world where I’m more than happy with just plain vanilla. I’m kind of obsessed when it comes to fudge because as far as I’m concerned, fudge is soft and creamy and squidgy. If anyone ever gives me that crumbly, sugary abomination that masquerades as fudge then I will not be happy; that stuff is just a waste of sugar. 

657. Peppermint Rock

I actually got this rock back in the summer when I was on holiday. It’s one of those things that you absolutely have to buy when you go to a British seaside down, but that you actually will probably never end up eating. The first few licks taste minty and sweet and yummy, but then you remember that you’re eating a stick of sugar and you’re tongue starts to feel funny and so you put it down and never eat the rest of it.

657 down, 1139 to go

643. Sachertorte

If someone decided they were going to make up a new cake just for me, they would probably come up with something along the lines of a sachertorte. Chocolate + either apricot or cherry (in this case apricot) is just one of the best combinations that exists in any foods, in all the world, ever. Sachertorte is also surprisingly light; the sponge is super airy and not too sweet and pairs perfectly with the thin layers of apricot jam and rich chocolate ganache. I had this in Wally’s Deli in Cardiff, which was opened years ago by an Austrian man, so their cafe is filled with lots of authentic Austrian cakes (and that country knows their cakes). I need to go back soon so I can give the linzertorte a try!

643 down, 1153 to go

632. Toasted Teacake

I already had hot cross buns for the list before, which are basically a decorated toasted teacake, so this was perhaps a pointless addition to the list. Then again, I’m never going to complain about eating a warm, toasty, crispy, sweet, spicy, butter-drenched bun. I love to have toasted teacakes for breakfast, or as an afternoon snack with a cup of tea. I have some in my freezer now…

632 down, 1164 to go

619. Carrot Cake

As much as I bake I’d never made a carrot cake before. However I decided to make a cake for my friend’s birthday and we found out that carrot cake was her favourite so I gave it a try. I used a recipe I found online for the cake, and topped it with loads of cream cheese icing and some fondant carrots that Pie and I made. The cake turned out much better than I expected and was moist and delicious, and even Pie liked it (usually carrot cake is his second least favourite cake).

619 down, 1177 to go

580. Yule Log

A few years back when I attempted to make a yule log, it quickly became my biggest ever culinary disaster. It stuck to the pan, it stuck to the paper, it broke when it rolled, the frosting soaked into the sponge… I could go on. Luckily this year there were no such issues. I used a recipe from the Hairy Bikers, which involved a flour-free sponge. It turned out amazingly light and I shall absolutely make the same sponge recipe over and over again - it would be perfect for any kind of gateau or ice-cream cake. I then kind of negated the lightness by coating the whole thing in an inch of chocolate buttercream, but hey, it’s Christmas.

580 down, 1216 to go

579. Gingerbread

Hi all, I’m back from my Christmas break with my second annual batch of festive foods!

There are so many kinds of gingerbread it was really hard to pick which one to try for the list. There is the rich, soft almost cake-like stuff, the crunchy gingerbread men cookies, these super crispy and chewy biscuits that my mum used to make, and of course there is the solid slabs which are just perfect for house building. I went with the latter partly because it would take the best picture, and partly because the witch’s house is probably the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about gingerbread. Taste-wise it isn’t actually the best - it’s made to hold up the house not to taste delicious - but it’s definitely the most fun.

579 down, 1217 to go

542. Lemon Curd

I visited Harrods a while back for work, it was like a shopping trip to go and see our products. I would generally never go to Harrods of my own volition; it’s overcrowded and overpriced and there is practically nothing there that I would buy. Except cakes. Delicious, beautiful cakes. When I visited they had this awesome princess castle cake that was just to die for, but lacking the £1000 or so I would have needed to take that home, I settled for a praline eclair and a lemon curd roulade instead. I THOUGHT that I would have preferred the eclair, but oh no, it just did not even compare. The roulade was divine; it was tangy and gooey and I want to make my own version (sans the tacky name decoration).

542 down, 1254 to go

453. Fondant

If you know me at all by now, you may have realised that I like to bake things. Normally though I never use fondant, because buttercream is delicious, and fondant really does not taste that good. It is of course fantastic for decorating though. My flatmates were having a little party where we played a massive game of Risk, so I decided I would have to make some themed cupcakes for it. I coloured the fondant super bright to resemble the game colours, and then went with the star emblem which is pretty key in the game to decorate them. I got a bunch of decorating tools for Christmas so this was a great way of putting them to use!

453 down, 1343 to go

415. Chocolate Fudge Cake

Normally when you have chocolate fudge cake it has 2 or 3 or 4 layers but I decided I wanted to make it a bit healthier (if chocolate fudge cake could ever be healthy) so I just made a single layer cake, and then tried to be all ‘fancy’ with my piping set. I just made a moist dark chocolate sponge, and then made a chocolate fudge frosting with dark chocolate, butter and of course lots of sugar. Needless to say it was really rather tasty and it did not last very long.

415 down, 1381 to go

327. Fruit Cake

I went to a Christmas party at my friends’ house on Sunday afternoon and she seemed to have had a bit of a baking extravaganza. As well as traditional Christmas cake there was also cupcakes and cookies and pastries and mince pies (which will feature in a future post). I never really like traditional Christmas cake. Actually I don’t really like any of the dried fruit based Christmas baked goods. This was a lighter fruit cake than usual though so just a small slice was nice.

328. Cranberry

The cookies were cranberry and chocolate. I love cranberry in pretty much everything. It’s so deliciously sour, and I love sour. I have cranberry juice all the time but I thought it was best to wait until I had real cranberries before I put them on the list. I should have more over the next few weeks when I have some lovely homemade cranberry sauce with my Christmas dinner.

328 down, 1468 to go