Toffee Apple Bundt Cake

You might have heard the news by now... Alex and I are engaged!!! It's so exciting - the last week has been such a crazy hyper blur! Sitting in work on Monday, my heart was beating so fast all day I felt so dizzy!

We collected the ring on Tuesday, and I felt it was quite unfair that I got such a wonderful token of love from Alex but didn't give him anything equal back in return. I had heard that it's tradition for a girl to get her fiance a watch, but Alex has a lovely watch already, so that was off the cards. In the end I suggested that he could have a ring of his own.... only that it would be edible... a bundt cake to be precise!

And so tonight I made, and got down on one knee with this sticky toffee apple bundt cake :)

Also, to add to the randomness of the evening, our weighing scales decided to stop working, so I had to guesstimate all the ingredients!

Verdict: sugary sweet (especially after adding the glaze), but a bit hit with us!

This recipe is called "Apple Harvest Pound Cake with Caramel Glaze" and is found on AllRecipes.com

Ingredients:

For the cake

400 g white sugar

355 ml vegetable oil

10 ml vanilla extract

3 eggs

375 g all-purpose flour

5 g baking soda

1 g ground cinnamon

6 g salt

318 g apples - peeled, cored and chopped

115 g chopped walnuts

For the glaze

115 g butter or margarine

10 ml milk

110 g brown sugar

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch Bundt pan.

2) In a large bowl, beat the sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; stir into the batter just until blended. 3) Fold in the apples and walnuts using a spoon. Pour into the prepared pan.

4) Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted into the crown or the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool for about 20 minutes then invert on to a wire rack.

5) Make the glaze by heating the butter, milk and brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar, then remove from the heat.

6) Drizzle over the warm cake. Place a plate underneath the cake to trap all the drips and then pour over the cake a second time.

New favourite choc chip cookies!

Hullo again!

I have made so many of these over the last few months, and they all get eaten up very quickly, which is always a good sign! The recipe uses white chocolate and raspberries, but other great combinations are....

* white chocolate and dried cranberries

* dark chocolate and crystallised ginger

* milk chocolate with candied orange peel and some orange zest in the batter, and...

* (the classic) milk choc

Verdict: My quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie is not quite over yet, but these are definitely close to the mark!

Tip: Bake them at 20 degrees less than the recipe says and for less time. Leave to cool on the baking trays, and they will be extra squidgy!

This recipe is from the Nestle Carnation (UK) recipe website.

Ingredients:

225g (8oz) unsalted butter, softened

225g (8oz) caster sugar

170g tube Carnation Condensed Milk

350g (12oz) self-raising flour

150g (5½oz) white chocolate, chopped

175g punnet raspberries

Directions:

0. Preheat the oven to 180ºC, 350ºF, Gas Mark 4 (* tip - set the oven to 150-60 degrees *)

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar, until pale and then stir in the condensed milk.

2. Sift in the flour and then work into a soft dough with your hands. Mix in the chocolate.

3. Take a small handful of dough and flatten with your fingers.

4. Place 2-3 raspberries into the centre of the cookie and fold over the sides of the dough to encase the raspberries.

5. Repeat with the remaining dough.

6. Place onto parchment lined baking trays, spacing well apart and bake for about 15-18 minutes or until golden brown at the edges, but still a little soft. (* tip - bake for only 10 or so minutes *)

7. Leave to cool slightly and set before transferring to a cooling rack.

The dough without the raspberries will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days or for about 1 month in the freezer - freeze in small slightly flattened chunks and bake as required!

A post so unbelieveably long overdue, I no longer deserve the title "Baking Queen"!

Hello hello hello!

I have baked so much over the past few months, but have been so bad at documenting it here - I do apologise :)

We've made pizzas, tomato and pesto tarts, all kinds of chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal cookies, biscotti, gingernuts, toffee apple cake and so much more!!

But I only have pictures of two of the creations I'm afraid, so only two recipes today... more will follow soon, I promise!

Clare