Carrot cake - the smaller, gluten-free and dairy-free version

One thing I really like about baking is that you can start off with elements that look rather horrible (take, for instance, this bowl of oil, vanilla essence and eggs - slimy) and end up with something wonderfully un-horrible.

An aside: If you want to know the most effective way to crack an egg, check out this post over at Cupcake Project. Nerdy yet practical.

I made carrot cake back in February and rather enjoyed it. This time I used the same recipe but with gluten-free flour and dairy-free honey icing. I also decided that I didn't need a giant cake, so I halved the recipe and just made a single layer cake in a smaller tin (I guess about 8 inches, but estimating was never really my thing!).

The icing had a lovely, almost pearlescent sheen to it at first... but before long it got tricky on me and separated out rather badly. I think it was the combination of the honey with the Nuttelex. It still tasted fine, but if I was making the same cake again I would ice it JUST before serving so it didn't have a chance for mischief!

Chamomile Cupcakes with Honey Icing

I felt a bit mischievous cutting open and emptying teabags.

But it had to be done. This recipe for Honey Chamomile Cupcakes is another of Joy the Baker's masterpieces, and I was intrigued when I first saw it on her blog (<--here, includes full recipe). I finally got around to giving it a go today.

Just the word chamomile makes me feel more relaxed. The fragrance is even better. (Though, oddly, it's not my favourite tea to drink.) The recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of dried chamomile, which I now know is approximately equivalent to the contents of 6 teabags.

The honey icing is glossy and luxurious looking. As it should be considering the cream content.

And there you have it. Delightfully delicate cupcakes (actually mini cupcakes in this case - seemed appropriate for my first batch of "testers").


These are off to work with me tomorrow, but I've already had my only little taste taste, and I'm quite certain I will be making them again in the future... even if I have to eat them all myself. Lucky I got the large box of chamomile :)

Bacon, Potato, Tomato and Onion Quiche

Hold onto your hat. I baked something savoury. That's right. Dinner.

After declaring that I would make quiche I realised I had an odd selection of filling options available. I did some scouting and located some bacon bits in the freezer, one large-ish potato, a tomato and half an onion. A perfect 2 cups of filling, fried and cooled (...somewhat cooled, I'm a bit impatient) .

Eggs, milk, self-raising flour, a little melted butter. Fold in grated cheese and fillings. Look at that - I don't know how to focus my fancy camera on the batter.

Savoury has its moments.

Sweet Potato and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Joy the Baker has one of the prettiest baking blogs around so I was a bit excited when I found out she'd released a book. Joy the Baker Cookbook: 100 Simple and Comforting Recipes is as pretty as can be and I like it well enough just to flick through. Now that I've actually made something out of it I like it even better! If you want your own copy you can find it here on Book Depository, or probably somewhere else.

I like the oddness of this combination, but I'm also a sweet potato person in general. And everyone's a chocolate chip person, really.


This is the sweet potato after I baked it, peeled it and mashed it. Sweet orange starch.


Chocolate to dough. Ready to go.


The recipe said to space these 2 inches apart. Inches are not my area of expertise but that sounded like a lot of space so I expected these to rise monstrously. They didn't, so next time I'll just ignore that bit.


I ate one of these warm and declared it objectively awesome. Plus, these sorta add to your vegetable count ;)

LSA Banana Bread Muffins (gluten & dairy free)

I've made LSA banana bread before from a delightful Australian Women's Weekly recipe - see my previous post here. But you know I love mini cakes, so I had to try these as muffins.

The magic of LSA.


These do work as muffins. Don't think cupcakes though - they're heavy and less sweet.


But still great. Coconutty, banana-y single-serve goodness. With a tinge of golden.

Gluten and dairy-free apricot and spice cupcakes

We got a new camera! I know absolutely nothing about it yet, but thankfully it takes pretty good photos even on auto-settings.

This is a gluten and dairy-free version of the apricot and spice (sometimes apple and spice) cake that I usually make. The apricot version amuses me because they look kinda like eggs with big fat yolks.

These sank a bit. I think I should have baked them a little longer and/or used a little extra baking powder.

Apricot & Cinnamon Cupcakes

the gluten and dairy-free version

Makes 12-15 regular sized cupcakes

150g Nuttelex, melted

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 cups gluten-free plain flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon mixed spice

1 teaspoon ground ginger

6 teaspoons baking powder

Tinned apricots (400g tin is probably enough, an 800g tin is way too much!)

1. Prepare your tin/s and preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

2. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients (except apricots!).

3. Lightly press batter into each cupcake case.

4. Press an apricot half into each case of batter.

6. Bake for 20-30 minutes (depending on your oven). Test with a skewer.

These were a bit grainy (I blame GF flour) and a little bitter for my taste (I blame the Nuttelex). But they were edible AND free of both gluten and dairy. So, that works OK.

Snickers Cupcakes

Breakfast of champions! ...just kidding. This is a cream cheese cupcake filling mix with chunks of Snickers in it. It looks a bit gross when you mix it in (see below), but just because it's ugly doesn't mean it's bad.

Actually, these are really good. The base is chocolate, but then you get the chewy, creamy, nutty filling baked into the top...

And then you make a delicious caramel icing to go on top! Yes, I found another caramelly recipe.

This is another recipe from Betty Crocker's Big Book of Cupcakes. She calls them Chocolate Candy Cupcakes (recipe here) but I call them Snickers Cupcakes. Because, you know, I used Snickers. Betty refers to them more generically as "chocolate-covered nougat, caramel and peanut candy bars."

Often when I make something out of a book the photo shown looks nothing like what I end up with. On this occasion I feel like they were more similar than usual.

More importantly, they were delicious. Although very sweet, so be careful not to overdose! In fairness, I took these to a work bake-off and I think I was already over my sugar quota by the time I got to trying one. They probably deserve another chance ;)