Orange, Maple and Grape Traybake

This week a colleague brought a bag full of home-grown grapes into work that were free for the taking. Naturally, the first thing that came into my head was cake. I’d never made a cake with grapes before, and wasn’t entirely sure if it would work so I perused the internet for inspiration. After looking at a handful of recipes that included dessert wines, I found this New Zealand recipe for a simpler, lighter cake. I’ve adapted it slightly, and the end result is actually much better than I had expected! The recipe has no butter, oil or lard, but it makes such a light, moist sponge, that’s a little sticky on top. Go on, try it! You’ll be surprised!

Just For Two - Orange and White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

 

Sorry about the lack of recipes around here these past few weeks. James and I finally got the keys to our first house on the 31st of July and we have spent every day since at the house, replacing ceilings, moving stud walls and generally demolishing everything we wanted to change. It's been hard, and a little bit stressful, but it will all be worth it in the end. It's probably going to be another couple of weeks before we actually move in and I get a bit of time to myself again, but for now, here is a little cookie recipe.

I took yesterday evening off to watch the Great British Bake Off with my Mum, and as it was biscuit week, I adapted this recipe from No. 2 Pencil to make just two cookies that we could eat warm whilst watching it. Also, sorry for the awful photo... I was tired...

White Chocolate, Orange and Cranberry Muffins

I made these fruity muffins to help fuel a friends house move at the weekend... if you've read the recipe below, you will see that these muffins have no sugar. Yup. That's not a mistake. All of the sweetness in these tasty muffins comes from the honey, so make sure to use a good quality honey rather than supermarket value ones! Although I did find that they stuck to the cases a little bit, it's fun to nibble it off the paper :)

Terry's Chocolate Orange and Ginger Flapjacks

 

I know that now Christmas is over, you're probably all sick of chocolate and sugary treats, but this is a good way to add a little something to any left over Christmas chocolate you have. Between us, James and I were given four Terry's Chocolate Oranges this Christmas, so I used half of one of those to make these moreish flapjacks.

Orange and Pecan Parsnip Cakes

This recipe is a little spin on the parsnip cake I made a couple of months ago, and they're SO good. The treacle gives a much richer flavour than the maple syrup, and compliments the orange well. Feel free to leave the pecans out if you have nut allergies!

Ingredients:

175g unsalted butter

2 tbsp treacle

240g demerara sugar

3 eggs

250g self raising flour
1tsp baking powder

1tsp mixed spice

250g parsnips, peeled and grated
Zest and juice of 1 orange
50g chopped pecans

For the frosting:

75g unsalted butter

200g icing sugar
1 tbsp orange juice
Pecans to decorate
 

Pre-heat your oven to 180c and line a muffin tray with cases.

In a large saucepan, melt together the butter, treacle and sugar over a low heat until smooth.

Remove from the heat and leave to cool for a few minutes.

Next, whisk in the eggs before adding the flour, baking powder and mixed spice and mix well.

Add the grated parsnips, and stir until thoroughly combined. Lastly, add the orange zest and juice, along with the chopped pecans, and mix well.

Divide the batter equally between your muffin cases and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the sponges are springy to the touch, and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean.

Leave to cool on a wire rack.

To make the frosting, put the butter and icing sugar in a microwavable bowl and heat in the microwave for 15-20 seconds, until the butter is just starting to melt. Gently mix together until it’s lightly and creamy. Add the orange juice and stir until well combined.

Once the cakes have cooled, use an icing bag to pipe spirals of frosting on top of each cake, and top with a pecan.