zesty brick

27

lemon loaf

This and the banana loaf are the two that were made with melted butter. What i noticed is that they come out well packed and don't crumble as easily as other cakes do. Once its been in the fridge for a while it gets really hard but don't be fooled, it melts in the mouth straight away. 

I made some lemon syrup while it baked and immediately it came out i poured it on. 

its a jungle in and out

No matter how busy i get, i always find time to bake. Its a way to release my stress. This week has been quiet busy but i decided that this sunday i'll bake so after church i made this very interesting loaf.

26

nutty apple loaf

Before i even started i knew i'd love this one. It was packed with fruit, nuts and chocolate. Soft light brown sugar, butter and a tablespoon of strawberry jam were all mixed up first, then of course all the other ingredients.

I chopped all the dark chocolate, mixed nuts and apples and mixed them in by hand then covered it with cling film and put it in the fridge at 13:20. Was strange not to put something in the oven after mixing. So to make myself feel better, i made another loaf while i waited.

When it was out at 22:00, i must say it was pretty cool. Looked, felt and even tasted like really lovely ice cream. I had to scoop it out and into the prepared loaf tin and press it down.

The apples, dark chocolate and variety of nuts went so well together. I wish i didn't divide this mix into two because it tasted so good. I guess i shouldn't be eating so much so its a good thing i did.

 

banana love

Yesterday, i decided to make this banana loaf in advance for my valentine's day. It has no chocolate or strawberries or red and white frosting, but it was the next recipe so that was that. Really wasn't a bad substitute. Happy valentine's day everyone!

25

banana loaf

Started by mixing soft light brown sugar and eggs then mashed the bananas and they went in next.

After all the dry ingredients were mixed in i added the butter last, melted. 

It baked for about an hour and it smelt lovely. It was a bit drier than i had expected but tasted a lot like the hummingbird cake which i liked.

cookie edges

24
buttermilk pound loaf
Yesterday i made the first loaf in the book. Buttermilk is very much like yogurt. It doesn't have much of a taste so it came out tasting pretty much like a vanilla cake, quite neutral. Once again i didn't have the right tin size but this time i thought it would do. When i poured the batter into the tin, it looked like there was enough space for it to rise but i was wrong and it spilt onto the oven floor.

The  edges were flat and brittle. I broke them off and before the cake was cool i had a little treat. Made lovely cookies which i probably enjoyed more than the cake itself.

four spices

clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger

23
spiced pound cake
This recipe was easy and straight forward. Creamed the butter and sugar, add the eggs one at a time then all the dry ingredients. I divided the quantities by two again so i used two and a half eggs which was odd.

Came out clean and smooth once again and it always makes me happy. The recipe didn't include frosting and it really didn't need it. It had lots of sugar so it was very sweet and the spices went well with the sugar.

wake up!

Its been almost two weeks since my last post and i feel terrible. I was out of town for a little while and as much fun as it was, i really missed baking. So i'm back and ready to make up for it. Probably a good idea to start with some coffee! The minute i found out that the quantities in this recipe were even more than the last, i made up my mind to cut them all by half. 

22

coffee cake

I had to make a coffee essence first by bringing instant coffee granules and water to a boil till reduced by half. When it cooled i added it to the butter and sugar.

Reducing the batter was definitely a good idea. Like the last time, i used a 24cm ring mould instead of a 25cm ring mould, i made half of what i was meant to make and it was perfect for this mould. Are they saying double of this batter would have fit in a mould a cm bigger? I might just buy it to compare but i don't believe it. This mix also had a tiny bit of cocoa powder in it.

It came out of the oven nice and full with a crunchy top. I turned it out of the pan and it came out clean! I made sure i put enough butter and flour in the mould this time. 

Vanilla frosting with a bit of coffee essence mixed in, finished off with dark chocolate shavings. The crunchy top which was turned over made a lovely crunchy base. Yum!