Jacqueline, aka my mum, sent us this
date and walnut cake, which I’m betting my dad enjoyed in his lunchbox at work
for a few days!
Jean from Baking in Franglais made a
double coconut cake – it contains coconut soaked in coconut milk, with an added
hit of lime. I like the way the bundt is decorated with lime-flavoured icing.
Here’s a cute dog basket cake I made in
a cake decorating class a while back (but have only just posted on my blog). It
wasn’t anywhere near as hard to make as it looks and would be a great birthday
cake for a dog lover.
My co-host for Alphabakes Ros sent over
these homemade digestive biscuits made by her talented mother. I bet they would
be perfect dunked in a cup of tea!
These dinosaur cookies from Sarah at
Maison Cupcake are super cute and just the thing for a children’s birthday party!
They are very neatly decorated too.
And
now for something deliciously decadent…. Dark chocolate truffle cupcakes from
Helene at I Cook With Butter. She shared these with her boyfriend – lucky guy!
D is for dates, says Sue from MainlyBaking – specifically, date and maple brownies. I’ve never tried putting fruit
in brownies before, but it’s a great idea if you want to reduce the calorie
content.
Olivia from Liv A Little Bakery treated
us to these amazing Devil’s Food Cupcakes which she says are moist and super
chocolatey. They look very tempting!
A
bit of an off-the-wall one from me…. Dog biscuits! I made these for some
four-legged friends at Christmas though there’s nothing in them that humans
couldn’t eat. Apparently they went down really well with the dogs!
These date and prune bars seem like a
healthier alternative for anyone on a new year diet…. Thanks to Sally aka
Recipe Junkie for sending them in. This post is combined with a couple of
recipe book reviews which are quite interesting (especially if you like cookie
dough!)
Corina at Searching for Spice says these
double chocolate chip cookies are the best she’s ever made – with a vote of
confidence like that, I will definitely be bookmarking this recipe!
Helen from Fuss Free Flavours uses an
ingredient I’ve never heard of in her dukkah and sun-dried tomato muffins.
Dukkah is an Egyptian spice blend where the exact ingredients can vary. I think
these muffins look really interesting and would be great for brunch.
Al from Alastair’s Miscellany has dared
to alter a Mary Berry recipe – but I’m sure she would forgive him as this date
and walnut loaf looks so nice! It helped feed ten hungry people on one of Al’s
walks – if you like hiking as well as baking, make sure you check out his blog!
Another date recipe but one using some
pretty unusual ingredients (you’ll have to check out the post to see what I
mean) – in these raw chocolate, date and cashew truffles from Choclette ofChocolate Log Blog. She says they were very tasty with a nice chewy texture.
Devil’s Food Cake makes another appearance
in this month’s challenge – this delicious creation is from Eira at Cook BooksGalore. I had no idea that devil’s food cake is traditionally made of beets – I’m
sure that isn’t the case very often now!
I
absolutely love dulce de leche so it was a pleasure to see this dulce de leche crème
brulee with banana ice cream from Claire of Under The Blue Gum Tree. She wanted
to recreate a particular restaurant’s dessert and I think she has done fantastically
well!
Jean
at Papers and Cakes has sent us a date, coconut and chocolate chip cake, which
she made to use up some ingredients in her kitchen cupboard – her children couldn’t
wait to eat it and if you have any left, it will still be moist the next day.
Angela from Garden, Tea, Cakes and Me used
a Nigella recipe to make this Devil’s Food Cake, which she says is very rich
and indulgent – and I really want some now!
Jen from Blue Kitchen Bakes won a raw
chocolate making kit and used it to make these raw chocolate oat and currant
cookies, which includes dates as one of the ingredients. They are vegan too so
I will definitely be bookmarking these to make for a vegan friend!
Arabian Nights meets a traditional
Victoria Sponge in this cardamom rose cake with orange drizzle from Karen at
Lavender and Lovage. She says the cake is light and fluffy with the warmth of a
mellow spice. It’s also a flavor combination I wouldn’t have thought of!
Devil’s Food Cake makes another
appearance, this time in cupcake form, with beautiful peaked icing. This entry
comes from Sue at Fold in the Flour and she says the frosting is an
American-style seven minute frosting which is like soft meringue. I tried this
type of frosting once and it didn’t turn out very well, so I’m impressed at how
good Sue’s looks!
This dark chocolate almond cake comes
from Grace at Life Can Be Simple… it looks delicious or as Grace says, “uberliciously
good”. I like the sound of that!
Please welcome Ahlam of My CupcakeHabit, who is new to blogging and entering her first baking challenge with this
month’s Alphabakes. Thanks for entering, Ahlam – and especially thanks for
sending us these gorgeous dark chocolate and orange truffles! I’m sure if I ate
them, I couldn’t stop at one!
My
sister Clare had a snow day recently and decided to do some baking. She made
these date squares, which use oatmeal and brown sugar, and have a layer of
pureed dates in the middle. Clare says they are a bit like flapjack – I think
they look delicious!
Dates are also the main ingredient in
our next entry – sticky date cake with toffee sauce. Yum! Ruchira at the Great Cookaroo added Jack Daniels to the toffee sauce and I have to say this looks
like the perfect pudding for a cold winter’s day.
Here’s a savoury entry, which we haven’t
had many of this month- duck pie, or croustade de canard, from Anneli at
Delicieux. It uses dried figs, which Anneli says adds a wonderful sweetness
that works perfectly with duck. I’ve cooked duck a few times but never thought
to put it in a pie, what a great idea.
Like my sister, I was stuck at home one
day because of the snow – though I was working from home rather than having a
day off. But as it got dark and I came to the end of my working day, I really
wanted to bake something, but wanted a recipe I could easily halve and that was
cake but didn’t involve frosting (to save on a few calories). So I made these
double chocolate muffins, which hit the spot perfectly!
Double chocolate chili brownies are next
on the menu from Elizabeth’s Kitchen. They use mayonnaise rather than butter to
reduce the fat content, which is a trick I think I will have to try! Chili and
chocolate is a great combination too.
We have a double entry from Fiona at
Sweet Thing You Make my Heart Sing: first these pretty orange and lemon daisy cupcakes, which are a reminder that spring is just around the corner.
Fiona also made these Danish pastries and says
they are definitely worth the time and effort to make yourself. These would be
great for breakfast or for dessert. As she has made two entries for Alphabakes
this month, Fiona gets two entries into the prize draw.
By
coincidence our next entry is a Danish- in this case, a Danish chocolate
Streusel- swirled coffee cake. That’s quite a mouthful, which is exactly what I
would like of this cake! Angela of the Charmed Cupcake says all the kneading
paid off with a very light, airy, moist and fluffy result.
Mich
at Piece of Cake sent us this dark chocolate almond cake, which she says is
rich and moist with a slight nutty flavour.
Ros, my cohost for Alphabakes, who blogs at The More Than Occasional Baker, baked and
decorated this supercute dog birthday cake – she piped the ‘fur’ using a grass
tip, and the cake itself is a Swiss roll. I think it’s funny that Ros and I
both entered dog cakes in our own challenge – we didn’t know that was what each
other was going to do!
Helen
from Fuss Free Flavours has a new food dehydrator from Lakeland and used it to make
these chocolate, orange, date and seed energy balls. She says you can leave
these overnight in the oven if you don’t have a dehydrator. They look like
quite a healthy option!
Mel
of Sharky Oven Gloves is enjoying the sun in the southern hemisphere and made
this date, coffee and walnut cake to share with her new housemates, which I’m
sure they appreciated.
Mmm, doughnuts…Deidre of the KitschCook made these delectable cinnamon sugar doughnuts. I remember seeing on the
Great British Bake Off that doughnuts aren’t that easy to make, so well done
Deidre, these look amazing!
Now we have a bit of a cheeky entry from Dom at Belleau Kitchen – but
he’s so charming I’m beginning to think he can get away with anything! He sent
us these Fleur du sel caramel oatbars, which don’t have D in the name, or an
ingredient beginning with D, but they were made by him – Dominic! They do look
very nice, even if the link is a bit tenuous!
Last but by no means least, just squeezing in before I posted the roundup is Kit from i-Lost in Austen with this beautiful hazelnut dacquoise with chestnut cream. It's a creamy dessert that she says is light and delicious and not overly sweet. The perfect way to begin the new year!
And the winner of this month’s prize – On A Stick, a recipe book featuring all kinds of foods you can serve on a stick – is….
Helene from I Cook With Butter.
Congratulations, Helene – can you please provide us with your address at alphabakes@gmail.com and your prize will
be winging its way to you soon.
I don’t know about you but I can’t wait
until Friday when Ros will reveal which letter has been randomly chosen for
February- we’ve done about half the alphabet already so I’m trying to work out
which ones are left! Check out her blog at The More Than Occasional Baker on
Friday. Happy baking!