TUTORIAL IT

Next is my own entry with Hot Chocolate Cupcakes. I chose a recipe from our prize book this month 500 Cupcakes. Its a fairly straightforward recipe with a delicious icing and marshmallow fluff on top.


My co-host Caroline from Caroline Makes made Hersheys Cookies n Creme Pudding. She used a recipe from the Hersheys website and it tasted very creamy and chocolatey.













Addendum 30/11/14

Its the end of March and Easter is just round the corner. We have had a great selection of entries this month with lots of variety probably because its an easy and versatile letter. Do remember to check out Carolines blog on 1st April to find out which letter we are using next.

First off the mark is Carolines mum, Jacqueline with her ginger and sultana cake.


Next we have Limoncello Cheesecake Squares from Kat from The Baking Explorer. She wanted to make use of her leftover limoncello and created these beautiful squares of cheesecake topped with a slice of lemon.


Moving on to something different, Dom from Belleau Kitchen baked this delicious smoked paprika, tomato and cheddar swirl loaf. He used a jar of Moroccan Tomato and smoked paprika paste and strong vintage cheddar to create this delicious loaf.


Kate from the Gluten Free Alchemist baked this Vanilla-Blueberry Cake with Meringue Cream which is of course gluten free. She was sent a selection of gluten free products from Delicious Alchemy to review and she used one of their sponge cake mixes for this recipe. She added in fresh berries, meringues and fruit jam which surely must count for more than 1 of my 5 a day!


Jean from Baking in Franglais made these chocolate and ginger sweetheart cakes for last months AlphaBakes V but has very cleverly changed it to sweetheart cakes to fit with this months theme. She is having a new kitchen put in and hence has very limited cooking/baking facilities. She made these with a chocolate cake mix, ground ginger and preserved ginger.


Jacqueline is back with her second entry in the form of a swiss roll with strawberry jam filling.


Suelle from Mainly Baking made one batch of dough to create two delicious cookies. She made semolina cookies for us using dates, pomegranate molasses, rose water and orange blossom water in one and pistachio and rose water in the other. Its a Dan Lepard recipe and she recreated them beautifully. She prefers the date cookies but they were both delicious.


Helen from Family Friends Food made a Spiced Hazelnut Loaf Cake with Chocolate Fudge Frosting. She was instructed to make a cake with chocolate icing. The original plan was for pear and cinnamon but it turned out to be hazelnuts and speculaas spice instead. Her recipients thoroughly enjoyed the cake which is no surprise as it sounds delicious! Helen sent in 2 entries for our V challenge last month but unfortunately it ended up in the spam email folder. Please have a look at her delicious entries - Nutella shortbread hearts and White chocolate & raspberry hamantaschen sandwich biscuits



Karen from Lavender and Lovage sent in this Shaker Lemon Pie. Her post reminisces about her time in PA and will inspire you to travel. Shakers are a religious group that broke away from the Quakers and many of them still have village communities in certain states. They are known for their simple and frugal lifestyle  which is why this recipe uses all of the lemons to give a really tangy lemony taste.


Next is Johanna from the Green Gourmet Giraffe who baked lots of lovely treats for her daughters birthday. Her entry is rainbow cupcakes using rainbow sour straps. The cupcakes are decorated with baby blue icing to resemble the sky and thick white icing for the clouds. The finishing touch is the rainbow sour strap. She also made sausage rolls, chocolate mint cupcake and banana yoghurt cake.



My co host Caroline from Caroline Makes baked this showstopper of a cake for Comic Relief. Its a Floating Malteser Cake which uses sour cream. I baked a similar cake back in Oct 2014 which is where she got the recipe and idea from but used only maltesers as they are the official partners for Red Nose Day. How amazing does the cake look?


Carolines next entry is homemade marshmallows where the key ingredient is sugar. She attended a meringue and marshmallow class at Cakes 4 Fun and these marshmallows are what they made in the class.


Next is my own entry with Snickerdoodles. I love the name of it and its basically a sugar cookie rolled in cinnamon sugar. They are really thin and crispy and can be quite addictive to eat!


Moving on to something savoury for a change, Elizabeth from Elizabeths Kitchen Diary baked a garlic and rosemary foccacia with smoked sea salt. Her post has tips on how to taste olive oil which is judged on three primary dimensions – fruitiness, bitterness and pungency. The bread was served with an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip which needed regular topping up!


Stuart from CakeyBoi delights us with his Irish Stout Mocha Loaf Cake. The cake has chocolate, coffee and stout. Its topped with a simple cream cheese icing and looks like a pint of Guinness with the contrasting dark sponge and light frosting.


Kate from the Gluten Free Alchemist is back with another entry in the form of St Clements Cakes. The name comes from a popular childrens nursery rhyme  oranges and lemons say the bells of St Clements. This is a fatless, gluten free sponge with lots of ground almonds, Macadamia Blossom Honey and lots of oranges and lemons!


Alexandra, the Lass in the Apron made some Scotch Girdle Scones which are cooked on a griddle rather than baked in the oven. The inspiration comes from the book 39 steps which is a classic spy thriller where the protagonist ends up running across the wilds of Sccotland as a fugitive and spends a lot of time wondering where his next meal is going to come from. The scones are crisp and golden on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside.


Kerene from the Dream Baker baked some super cute My Melody French Sables. She used a My Melody cutter to create the inside of this cookie which is a cross between a shortbread and butter cookies. She got the insipiration from a hidden rainbow heart cookie.


Moving on to something a little different, we have a Matcha Green Tea Irish Soda Bread baked by Shaheen from Allotment 2 Kitchen. This was inspired by an Irish colleague raving about Irish Soda Bread and St Patricks Day in the middle of March.


Jen from Jens Food who is the queen of baking with cranberries delights us with Cranberry and Lime Shortbread Creams. She is a self confessed cranberry addict and has lots of lovely cranberry recipes on her blog. This recipe uses cranberry powder and has some lime flavouring in the filling. The look really pretty and we have been warned that they are very addictive!


Next is my second entry with Lemongrass and Lime Sorbet with Lime Jelly. This is my first time making sorbet and I was surprised at how easy it was. The flavour is inspired by a Thai lunch I was cooking for some friends who were well impressed.


Johanna from the Green Gourmet Giraffe is back with Sprinkles Cupcakes made as a fun birthday party activity for her daughter. She baked some cupcakes the day before and laid out a table with icing and different sprinkles for the children to decorate their own cupcakes. The kids clearly had a great time and got to take their cupcakes home.

Last but not least is Choclette from Tin and Thyme with her Surprise Easter Egg Cupcakes. The cupcakes have grated marzipan, lemon and cardamom and a hidden chocolate egg inside! These are perfect for Easter which is only a few days away.


And thats the end of the Super S AlphaBakes round up. Remember to check out Carolines blog on 1st April to find out what letter we are using next. It will be the half way mark for round two of AlphaBakes!

Hi everyone. Welcome to the final AlphaBakes round up for now. If you missed the announcement at the beginning of May, we are taking a break from AlphaBakes for a while. Weve kept it going for 52 months which is over 4 years and in that time weve managed to run through the alphabet twice! Thank you to everyone who has participated in AlphaBakes through the years and we hope to be back in the future. In the meantime, sit back and relax as we go through the fanfastic final "F" entries for this month. 

Suelle from Mainly Baking baked a chunky fig, apricot and prune cake. Its a river cottage recipe which she found whilst searching for a recipe with dried figs. It turned out to be a lovely fruit cake with spice and citrus notes. 

Caroline from Caroline Makes baked Ferrero Rocher cupcakes using Ferrero chocolates that she received from a neighbour at Christmas. She adapted my recipe (which was also adapted from someone else!) and made a few changes which resulted in a beautiful and delicious cupcake. I love the chocolate shot on top. 

Kate from The Gluten Free Alchemist brings a savoury twist to our round up with a delicious sounding Japanese Fried Tofu with egg, spring onion and bonito flakes. Sadly she is going through a sudden bereavement but has managed to find the time and effort to create a delicious and nutrient packed meal. The recipe is inspired by her time in Japan where she was introduced to a version of this dish by Japanese friends. 

Caroline from Caroline Makes is back with an M&M chocolate birthday cake. She baked a chocolate birthday cake for her fiance and had an extra layer of cake which she used to create another chocolate cake. It has chocolate buttercream icing and chocolate fingers around the cake and a sea of M&Ms on top. Im pretty sure there were no leftovers from this! 

Next is Stuart from Cakeyboi with his Brownie Batter Swirled Cookie Dough Fudge. He combined cookie dough fudge with brownie batter fudge and added some chocolate chips just before serving. As you can imagine they are quite rich but Im pretty sure Id find it hard to stop at just one of these! 

Last but not least is my own Chocolate Fudge Cake. Its a Mary Berry recipe and it was quick and simple to put together with great results. The cake was light, moist and chocolatey and the ganache was absolutely divine. 

Thats the end of the "F" round up and AlphaBakes for now. Hope to see you again soon!