Strawberry Cake

Strawberries are one of my favourite things about Spring and Summer - I can never get enough of them and I eat them every day, so of course I'm always excited to try new recipes with strawberries and this Strawberry Cake will delight any strawberry lover. There's strawberry in the cake AND in the icing.

Orange Almond Syrup Cake

Orange and Almond are a wonderful match and together in a cake, perfection!

Chocolate and Strawberry Swiss Roll

A delicate chocolate sponge filled with sweetened whipped cream, strawberry jam, and slices of fresh strawberry - this Chocolate and Strawberry Swiss Roll is a real crowd pleaser.

Chocolate Peppermint Cake

This Chocolate Peppermint Cake is simple to make and a great idea for a festive cake.

Berry and Almond Cake

Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and almond work together beautifully in this lovely light cake, perfect for afternoon tea.

Boston Cream Pie

Two layers of beautifully light sponge, filled with a thick vanilla Creme Patissiere and covered with a luscious chocolate ganache - Boston Cream Pie is a simple, elegant, and truly indulgent dessert.

Coconut Cake

I've always had a thing for Coconut Cake. And I can eat a great big chunk of this one, as it's completely sugar free, sweetened naturally with Norbu.

Coconut and Passionfruit Loaf

This light and fresh loaf brings out the brilliant tropical flavors of coconut and passionfruit.

Vanilla Buttermilk Cake

Vanilla is one of my favorite flavors, and buttermilk a favorite in baking - here's what happens when you combine the two.

Cinnamon Bun Mug Cake

Breakfast, or and easy snack to go with your morning tea or coffee is just two minutes away with this  simple Cinnamon Bun in a Mug!

Triple Layer Brownie and Dulce de Leche Cake

Three layers of pure chocolate heaven...

This triple layer brownie and dulce de leche cake has got to be my favorite cake so far. It's incredibly decadent, rice, and moist.

Apple and Strawberry Crumble Cake

As far as cakes go, this one isn't all that bad. By that I mean, it's slightly on the more healthy side than your average chocolate cake. That means you can eat a bigger slice. Which you will want to do. Trust me. 

Christmas Fruit Cake

Fruit Cake is one of those things that, to me, is synonymous with Christmas. This recipe is so simple to follow and the cakes taste exactly right, and deliciously moist.

Belgian Chocolate Cake

It's rich, fudgy, chocolatey, delicious, and EASY: Gluten Free Belgian Chocolate Cake.

I recently took part in the Otago Medical School Research Society PhD Student Speaker Awards, where I took second place. To celebrate this, my PhD supervisor suggested that I bring in a cake for morning tea. My supervisor is gluten free, so began my first adventure into gluten free baking. 

Mini Lemon and Berry Cakes

I am excited to be back to blogging after a week and a half away at a conference in Argentina.

Today I am sharing these super easy mini Lemon and Berry Cakes with you. This is a little bit of a cheat recipe, as it's really just a few small adaptions to my Lemon and Raspberry Loaf.

Chocolate and Banana Bundt Cake

I am so happy to be writing this guest post as part of the 12th Blogiversary Celebrations on AprilJHarris.com. Twelve years is an absolutely amazing achievement. I just celebrated by 1^st Blogiversary last month and that took a lot of work and dedication so 12 years absolutely blows me away.

Chocolate Overload Cake

A while ago my good friend Michaela from An Affair From The Heart created a fantastic Chocolate Espresso Cake which I instantly loved. My honey had his birthday coming up, of course I had to make him a cake, and of course Michaelas cake was the first thing that came to mind. Here is my adaptation - Chocolate Overload Cake.

I adored this cake. It was easy to make (only one bowl!), and easy to decorate. The cake itself was perfectly chocolaty and deliciously moist. I think this is the kind of cake best described visually, so here are a whole load of photos!

Lemon and Raspberry Loaf

Lemon loaves are simple to make and taste fresh and delicious, and they taste wonderful with this burst of added raspberries.

Strawberry Shortcake

I orignally made this cake back in May for dessert on our anniversary. I really loved the way the strawberries lent a fantastic moisture to the shortcake mixture, and just the overall freshness of the cake. I love that this cake is just a little bit different. I find it to be somewhere between a shortbread cookie and a proper cake

This was then one of the last recipes I photographed with my old point and shoot camera. At the time I thought the photos were lovely, but then before I got around to posting this lovely wee dessert I got a camera that took AMAZING photos and I just simply couldn't post the recipe anymore!

I made this cake again a few days ago, to make sure I had cake on my birthday. After all, what's a birthday without cake?!

Strawberry Shortcake

Serves 10

250 g (8.8 oz) butter, softened
1 Cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 Cups plain flour
1/2 Cup cornflour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 410 g (14 oz) cans of strawberries, drained and chopped (about 250 g fresh would be perfect if they are in season!)

1.  Preheat oven to 180C (350F) and line a 23 cm springform cake tin with baking paper.

2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time and add vanilla.

3. Fold in the flour, cornflour, and salt. Spread 2/3 of the mixture into the base of the prepared cake tin. Spread the chopped strawberries over top.

4. Sprinkle the remaining mixture over the top (I did it kind of like a crumble). Bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden brown on top and set.

5. Cool in the tin. Dust with icing sugar prior to serving. Serve with cream, custard, or ice cream.

Chocolate Mudcake

Chocolate cake is just one of those recipes where everyone has a favorite. I have been working on the perfect chocolate cake recipe for such a long time now, trying to find the right balance of flavors, richness and moistness. Not to mention getting that icing just right!

So after lots of playing around and testing out cakes, here's what I have for you!

Chocolate Mudcake

Serves 12

Cake:

2 tsp granulated coffee
1 Cup hot water
1/4 Cup whiskey (or orange juice)
200 g (7 oz) dark chocolate, broken into pieces
250 g (8.8 oz) butter, chopped
1 1/2 Cups sugar
1 1/2 Cups plain flour
1/2 Cup self raising flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs

Vanilla Buttercream:

1/2 Cup butter
2 Cup icing sugar
2 Tbsp cream
2 tsp vanilla extract

Ganche:

1/2 Cup Cream
200 g (7 oz) Dark Chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 140C (280F) and grease a 23 cm springform cake tin.

2. Place the coffee, water, and whiskey in a saucepan over a medium heat and heat to a simmer. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and chocolate, continue to stir until melted in. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Set aside to cool.

3. Sift the flours into a large bowl and make a well in the center.

4. Whisk the eggs and the vanilla. Add to the cooled chocolate mixture and pour into the flour. Stir until combined.

5. Tip into the prepared tin and bake for about 1 1/2 hours, until the cake has shrunk away from the edges of the tin and the top of the cake is firm to the touch. Cool in the tin for about 20 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

6. When cool, cut the cake in half. Make the buttercream by beating the buttercream ingredients together. Spread over the top of the bottom half of the cake. Replace the top.

7. Make the ganache by melting the chocolate into the cream in a microwave proof bowl. Spread over the cake.

8. Store the cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator.