Something Sweet & Simple

This weekend was another get together for the crew - wine, giggles & nibbles. Naturally, I made cakes.
I decided to keep it simple and go old school with vanilla butterfly cakes. You can't go wrong with this recipe and they make such pretty little cakes that no one can say no to!

I'm especially excited about this week's creation as I used my own homemade lactofree butter to make the buttercream and it worked perfectly. So for all those other lactose intolerants out there, great news, proper buttercream is back in our lives! Herah!

click here for my Buttefly Cakes recipe 

By the way, the recipe for these cakes is the same as I use for a Victoria Sponse Cake.

Happy Guinness Day!

Did you know that September 22nd is Arthur Guinnes day? No, neither did I until someone at work told me. And as ever, it's any excuse to bake!

Who is Arthur Guinnes you ask? Why, the founder of Guinness itself of course!

So on Wednesday night, I stopped off at Tesco's on my way home, picked up a 4 pack of Guinness & set off to bake chocolate and Guiness cupcakes.

I'm not going to lie to you, the first batch was a near disaster. 24 cupcakes in the bin. It was mildly heart breaking.

The second batch, however, redeemed my faith in baking as they turned out not that bad at all. I have Nigella Lawson to thank for this recipe - I didn't quite trust my skills in creating a chocolate and Guinness cake recipe and figured it was best to play it safe and adapted her big cake recipe into cupcakes.

Miss. Lawson did not disappoint; her recipe produced an incredibly moist sponge cupcake with a declious creamy frosting. Andm despite the mildly disasterous first batch which we will forget about because it was an oven issue, not a recipe issue, they were surprisinly easy to make!

They even look like little Guinnesses!

So, Happy Arthur Guinness Day everyone!

click here for the Chocolate and Guinness Cupcake recipe
Just a word to the lactose intolerant's out there, this recipe cannot be adjusted as it contains sour cream. Upsetting, I know. There are alternatives out there that go by the name of Tofu-something-or-other made from tofu, but I wasn't brave enough to try it! Apparently you can exchange sour cream for yoghurt in baking but it risks altering the consistancy, though not the taste. 

The Key is in the Lime...

Last weekend, we had one of the many Christinas of the family to stay. A photo was taken recently of all the living Christinas (including mum) and they totalled five - including the not so living there's another 3 going back three generations and before that... well for before that I'd need to dig out the family tree. And I'm not that committed to producing a post about my family tree. Not to mention I've probably already lost your interest!

The bottom line is, it's safe to say I feel pretty left out being an Amie.

But back to the baking! So in honor of Christina's visit mum cooked a proper meal with a beginning and a middle, but left the end to me - on request of Mother Christina I went back to my roots and made Key Lime Pie, one of her favourites from when we lived in the States.

Key Lime Pie gets its name from Key West in Florida where it was originally made, the home of the limes. Traditionally, a Key Lime Pie would have a graham cracker base but alas I'm in grey and dull Britain and so a digestive base it is. This, plus the can of condensed milk, does sadly mean this tasty morsel isn't lactose free (sob!) but it's worth it. Because to be blunt, it tastes awesome.

My Key Lime Pie was gobbled up pretty quick so I assume it tasted as good! It was also surprisingly easy and quick to make so I would reccomend it to anyone, even a novice; it's bound to impress.

Click here for the Key Lime Pie recipe