Plum, Orange & Cardamom Cake with Brown Sugar Crème Fraiche
Sometimes, all I want is a fresh piece of cake. Warm from the oven is best. Light as air and packed with buttery vanilla flavour. This cake is just that. A very simple cake recipe that you can whip up really easily. The added cardamom, ginger and orange just hum in the background, creating a wonderfully fragrant slice. Fresh plums are arranged on top before a sprinkling of pistachios adorns the top. Once its cooled, I like to dust it with a little icing sugar and serve it with a dollop of crème fraiche which has been slightly sweetened with some brown sugar. The slight tang works really well against the sweet, soft, warm sponge.
Hazelnut Frangipane Mince Pies
I think these may become a yearly bake for me. Golden, crisp, flaky pastry with nutty hazelnuts and a punchy, perfectly spiced mince meat. Let’s not forget the obligatory sprinkling of little crunchy demerara sugar too.
Toasted Oat & Cornflake Caramel Truffle Bites
It starts with a layer of toasted oats, crunchy cornflakes and salty crushed crisps that are coated in lashings of amber caramel. Once patted into a tray, it gets topped with a thick, decadent dark chocolate ganache with a hint of coffee and salt. Once set, a thick dusting of cocoa powder adorns the top before being cut into the neatest little bars.
Apple Fritters with a Winter Berry Glaze
A soft, fluffy doughnut studded with a spiced apple and blueberry filling glazed in a punchy winter berry glaze. The perfect winter sweet treat.
Gooey Hazelnut Praline & Chocolate Milk Buns
Soft, tender milk bun swirled with a hazelnut praline and chocolate filling, finished with a generous blanket of brown butter cream cheese frosting and chopped chocolate. The brown butter frosting is spooned on top of the buns while they’re still warm from the oven so that it nestles into all of those empty spaces, mixing with that indulgent nutty filling. The chocolate chunks melt slightly while the buns cool so you’re left with the most decadent and sticky dessert bun.
Ginger White Chocolate & Rye Cookies
I love that you bite into these cookies and hit a melty morsel of gingery white chocolate just sitting amongst an unassuming cookie dough. I think the addition of dark rye flour contrasts really well against the sweetness from the chocolate and gives these sweets a bit more body.