Alphabakes Roundup - May 2013 - K

I was looking forward to seeing what you would all come up with for Alphabakes this month after I randomly chose the letter K, and as usual you didn’t let me down. We had a lovely prize on offer this month -  a copy of Cooking with Flowers by Miche Bacher, courtesy of Publishers Group UK and worth £16.99. Scroll down to see who won...

I decided to kick things off with a cake I made in March for a charity bake sale at work; remember you can enter old posts in Alphabakes (ideally if you edit the post and attach the badge). I normally like to bake something each month, after all this is my own challenge, but in this case I couldn’t resist sharing this cake with you – I copied a design that I saw on the internet and I think it makes excellent use of KitKats. The cake itself is a Mississippi mud pie, the ‘mud’ on top is chocolate ganache and the pigs are made of fondant.

My co-host Ros from The More ThanOccasional Baker was also quick off the mark with these kiwi and strawberry muffins. She also used spelt flour to make the bake a little healthier; I think she’s chosen a lovely summery combination of fruits.

Jacqueline also used KitKats on her cake, which is a chocolate sponge with chocolate buttercream and grated chocolate on top. Sounds like someone is a bit of a chocoholic!

 I’ve never heard of this next bake but it looks wonderful – Kentish Pudding Pie, courtesy of Suelle from Mainly Baking. It’s a kind of rice pudding in a pastry case and Suelle says tastes a lot like a baked egg custard tart.

I was thinking about making key lime pie but then received a book of cheesecake recipes for my birthday and came across a key lime pie cheesecake. I love cheesecake so had to make this one – it tasted lovely, really zingy and creamy.

I also made some chocolate brownies featuring hidden Hershey’s Kisses – I used the cookies and cream variety which I found held their shape well and gave a satisfying bite in each brownie.

Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog came up with a pretty unusual bake for Alphabakes this month – Kransekake. Otherwise known as marzipan macaroons, they are a Scandinavian speciality and this recipe is also suitable for anyone who can’t eat wheat or gluten. They look very tasty especially with the chocolate drizzled on top.

My co-host Ros found time in between jet setting to Paris and Amsterdam this month to bake some more Alphabakes goodies. I love these Kinder Bueno cupcakes – Ros has recreated the flavours of the chocolate snack bar in cake form! She’s made a white chocolate and hazelnut cake filled with nutella and topped with chocolate frosting and a square of Kinder Bueno – these look absolutely scrummy!

Elizabeth from Elizabeth’s Kitchen suggests you don’t ask about the calorie content of this Konditor & Cook Chocolate Biscuit Cake… it contains biscuit, walnuts, sultanas, mango, cherries and chocolate. Which in my book means it must be three of your five a day! 

Elizabeth also sent us this Khobez – something I was unfamiliar with. It’s a kind of Arabic flatbread that would be great to mop up the juices of your dinner.  I wonder as well if you might be able to stuff something inside?

Lucie from Big Cook Tiny Kitchen has managed to squeeze a lot of Ks into this entry – Kinkajou and Kidney Bean Koftas. The recipe itself is for the Koftas – you must check out her blog to see what a Kinkajou is! Funnily enough she suggests serving the koftas with Khobez – maybe Lucie and Elizabeth should get together for dinner! This is also Lucie’s first food blog challenge, so welcome!

Ros’s mum used Kirsch as her Alphabakes ingredient to make this black forest cake. The chocolate curls on top make it look very pretty and I bet the rest of the cake looks and tastes just as good!

I love chocolate brownies but had never heard of a Kladdkaka – a sticky Swedish brownie.  It looks wonderfully goey - thanks to Gil from Tales of Pigling Bland for sharing it!

Janice at Farmersgirl Kitchen found the letter K challenging but came up with this wonderful Kugelhopf – a yeasted sweet bread usually baked in a decorative tube tin. It has the added kick of  a pear liqueur which sounds very tasty.

I’d never have thought of this particular combination so kudos to Elizabeth from Law Student’s Cookbook for these Kit Kat Cheesecake Brownies. Don’t they look delicious?

Welcome back to Mel from Sharky Oven Gloves who we’ve not seen in a little while J In between writing her thesis she has made this Kumara, cardamom and chocolate cake – kumara is apparently the New Zealand name for sweet potato. Sounds like a very good way of using leftover veg!

And welcome to Jen of Mummy Makes Cakes who is entering Alphabakes for the first time, with her knotted white bread. The knot is very cleverly done and looks great – as the name of this style suggests, like a monkey’s fist!

Claire of Under The Blue Gum Tree lives in South Africa and often uses local ingredients; these Little Kudu Pies are a good example. Kudu is a species of antelope and Claire has combined the meat with a red wine gravy for these lovely looking little pies – you could also use beef or venison.

Fiona from Sweet Thing You Make My Heart Sing sent us this Kremesh, a sort of vanilla slice from Hungary – she says it tasted amazing but didn’t look very good. I think it looks fine but I can imagine that it is quite difficult to make!

This colourful American Chocolate and Kiwi Cake comes from Eira at Cookbooks Galore, adapting a recipe she found in a magazine at the hairdresser’s; she says that adding a little coffee brings out the delicate flavor.

 

 Another kiwi entry in the shape of this kiwi and ginger cheesecake, from Karen at Lavender and Lovage - I love cheesecake and this looks like a lovely summery dessert.

Thanks to everyone who entered this month when we had another relatively difficult letter. Without further ado, the winner of our giveaway this month is... someone who has participated every single month since Alphabakes started. Congratulations, Jacqueline!

I feel that in the interests of full disclosure I should point out that I am related to Jacqueline, but the winner was chosen completely at random. All eligible entries were assigned a number in the order in which they were sent in, and I used a random number generator to pick one number at random. Ros and I are not eligible for the prize as we host the challenge.
 

Find out which letter we are baking with in June at The More Than Occasional Baker.