Another Baketastic Day!

Yesterday was another day I spent doing basically nothing but baking.

The occasion? My favourite cake eater is leaving the company he’s been working with for the last sixteen years, and today was his leaving do.

And because he’s so popular and has so many friends at work (especially on days when he brings cake), more than one cake was required.

 

I love my intense baking days, but they are always really exhausting, too, and I’m still rather tired today.

So I’m giving you my list of cakes baked yesterday in photos with no stories to go with them. Feel free to make up your own – the more gruesome, the better! :)

 

For those of who you like a challenge: spot the cake for which I used food colouring! ;)

 

 

Cherry And Mint Chocolate Tray Bake

 

Coffee Cream And Walnut Cupcakes

 

White Chocolate Chip Cake with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

 

Sesame And Pear Cake

 

Hazelnut And Courgette Balls

 

Lemon Tray Bake

 

Pumpkin Pie

Yellow & green courgette pie

Behold!

It was on a sunny day of August that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of baking around me, that I might infuse a spark of pie-ness into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet. It was already one in the afternoon; the sun pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow and green filling of the creature…

 

 

Marvel at the marbled marvellousness!

No food colouring was used  in the making of this pie.

I love that it looks savoury but isn’t! :) As for the taste, it’s quite similar to my pumpkin pie as I have used the same spices. The texture is different, as was to be expected. I have used more fromage frais and less cream because courgettes hold so much water. The filling is still quite wobbly, but then I didn’t even let it cool completely before I cut it. Who needs patience when they can have awesomeness!? :-P

Pumpkin Pie

So I’ve baked my first ever pumpkin pie, hooray! No, it’s not Thanksgiving yet. Actually, it’s August and about 30° C (86 F) outside. But I need to be prepared for Thanksgiving, don’t I!?

Here’s a picture of the pie:

Fresh out of the oven!

As you can see, I went even further away from the original recipe and made it half-and-half: pumpkin pie and pumpkin pie with chocolate! Because chocolate is always good.

And here’s the recipe:

Dough:
250 g flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
75 g sugar
120 g butter (I used margarine)
1 egg

I love getting my hands dirty. And when I was done with that, I made the dough… :-P
I let it rest overnight, don’t know if it needs that but that’s what my nana always does with this kind of dough. And what my nana says, goes.

Filling:
450 g pumpkin, cooked soft
150 g brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 pinch of cinnamon
1 pinch of ground cloves
1 pinch of salt
2 tbsp honey (as a sub for maple syrup)
2 eggs
100 g cream
75 g fromage frais (low fat)

Mash it all, beat it, do other things to it that sound menacing, and revel in the sliminess of the mixture. Take a minute or two to think of at least 12 naughty things you could do with it!
Then pour it into the baking tin lined with baking parchment and the dough. If you want, stir in and/or sprinkle on top some chocolate drops.
Bake  at 180°C (356 F) for about 45 minutes.

Next time, I will have to do something about the edge of the dough; it looks a bit too messy for my taste. Maybe I’ll cut it off next time. Or make funny shapes.
My team of experts (i.e. me and my husband) agree that the chocolate drops are a lovely addition. Unless you make a half-and-half cake, however, you probably want to stir them in before you pour the filling rather than sprinkle on top.

A slice of pumpkin pie and its spotty brother