Cake tin is now full

Since my last freshly baked blog I’ve been twitching every day to make something new. I did manage to make some experimental marzipan brownies on Thursday which were very chocolatey but the recipe needed tweaking, re-making and photos taking before I could post them here. Needless to say they’ve all gone so they couldn’t have been that bad.

I thought I’d make something simple like a no bake bar of something very sweet. So I scoured the internet and came across this Australian recipe which is lovely, simple and uses many kitchen staples. I love Australian cake recipes especially Australian Women’s Weekly, it has the naughties recipes which make my eyeballs pop.

Chewy Rice Bubble bars (I’ve been calling them chewy bubble bars)

• 105g Kellogg’s Rice Bubbles
• 75g granola
• 200g condensed milk
• 60g butter
• 80ml honey

I put the condensed milk, butter and honey in a non-stick saucepan and boiled away for a short while but probably not 10 minutes The caramel started to colour I lost my nerve and turned the heat off and add it to the rice bubbles and granola and worked quickly to get it in the tin before it started to set. I then promptly forgot the milk chocolate bits but it tastes just as nice without. My caramel had only just started to colour so my bars are very pale and I should have boiled it for longer. I also used a 21 x 31cm tin which was too big so shaped them in just half the tin. A small swiss roll tin would be better. However I think they are supposed to the thin because they are extremely sickly! They are sticky, very crunchy and surprisingly chewy. We keep them in the fridge.

The next cake tin would be filled with chocolate fruity flapjacks AGAIN. Yes we’ve just finished our last batch last week and didn’t give any away but felt the need to produce more. We’ve convinced ourselves its a health bar, ha I wish. I now think anything with Milled Flaxseed, Cocoa and Berries is health therefore giving me free reign to eat anything containing it. We’re going to start looking like flapjacks…..

Lastly a Nigella recipe for chocolate orange cake which I’ve never made before but I’m very pleasantly surprised It has a very light fluffy texture and delicate crumb but the top of the cake is a bit like gingerbread really sticky so I’m not sure about adding a topping. I might have got a bit excited when I added the cocoa and added double the amount but the result hasn’t suffered.

Chocolate orange cake

150g stork (or butter)
2 x 15ml tbsp golden syrup
175g dark muscovado sugar
150g plain flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
50g cocoa
2 eggs
zest 2 oranges and juice of 1

Beat the stork (or butter) and golden syrup until well combined and then beat in the dark muscovado sugar (this gives the sticky finish to the bake). I added the eggs one at a time beating them well each time. I measured and mixed the flour, cocoa and bicarbonate and then added it gradually to the sugar mix. The batter looked quite thick but after adding the zest of 2 oranges and the juice of one (I had large oranges) it soon came back to a good drop consistency. I put the batter into a 8″ round tin with baking parchment on the bottom only and baked at 170’c for 38 minutes, I checked the cake at 30 minutes and it still wobbled like a jelly but I hate overcooked chocolate cake. A 2lb loaf tin requires 45 minutes.

I would love to hear any suggestions for a topping for this chocolate orange cake.

Thank you for reading