PANPAPATO - ITALIAN CHRISTMAS CAKE

After a ski trip from which I will never recover and one Christmas party too many, I am very much looking forward to going home and stuffing my face with Christmas cakes of every origin and kind.

This one I’m sharing with you today (metaphorically sharing. Soz) is from Ferrara in the North of Italy. It’s called Panpapato (it’s the funniest name and it always takes me a good five minutes to spell it properly without adding extra pa’s in it. HA) and it’s full of nuts and yummy things and so rich and the most delicious. In fact, my dad posted a homemade one to me about a month ago because I couldn’t wait until Christmas. Miss impatient. Now I’m not saying this is better than my dad’s because my dad is the cake master but what you can do is make this one and then ask your dad to make another one and post it to you and you eat them both and happy days.

BOOZY MARZIPAN LOAF CAKE

If last week was coffee week, it really does look like the theme of this week that’s just passed is booze. Or maybe the four glasses of complimentary mulled wine I got given at the hairdresser’s today are making me talk nonsense. Either way, this is a very delicious moist almond-y marzipan-y loaf cake that is soaked in lovely spiced rum from a pretty bottle. Why not, “It’s Christmas” after all (?).

TREACLE TART

You spend the week drinking an average of 7.5 cups of coffee per day and you sleep 0.5 hours per night and have coffee cake for dinner and carry half your bathroom and wardrobe from home to arse-end of the universe and then to work and then to the centre and then back, then the weekend comes and you kind of hold right to the biggest slice of treacle tart you can possibly imagine with a mountain of vegan clotted cream on the side. Fill your tummy and smile and happy Monday.

TURKISH DELIGHT CAKE

Back from my beloved Birmingham with my belly full of vegan brownies and ice cream and apple crumble I stop by the Turkish supermarket and get a box of rose Turkish Delight to munch on the way home (about half a minute away. But I can eat several hundreds kilos of Turkish Delight in half a minute, you should know). The rest goes on this pretty cake, for Amber's birthday. It is. Good.

VANILLA & POMEGRANATE BAKED DOUGHNUTS

Belle and Sebastian, boots and baked doughnuts this week (and alliteration).
Make these, you're in for a treat.

ROSE PANNA COTTA

A very yummy dessert to keep the spirit of spring alive in you whilst the North Pole has come to visit (go home, North Pole) and to try and help digest the kilos of pumpkin brownies and toffee apple pies scoffed down earlier this week. Thank you rose water panna cotta, you're so nice to me unlike the North Pole who has been making my feet so cold.

TOFFEE APPLE HAND PIES

These yummy little things here have caused a bit of a conundrum, in that I didn’t know what they were. Well, I knew what they were, but I basically had to set up a plebiscite to decide what they were called.

It all goes back to last weekend when I went to this organic grocery store just around the corner from my house and got this toffee apple cake from their café. Well it was dry like a desert but the flavours were reeeeally good and cinnamony and very autumny. So I thought I’d bake something equally as autumny because it’s quite in fashion at the moment (heh), minus the I’m-eating-clay feel. And I went down the pastry route for some nice buttery flakiness. The buttery pastry nature of them would make me call them pasties, but as several interviewees pointed out, pasties are savoury and savoury only. Also they are kind of just like apple turnovers, however turnovers are triangular and these look much cuter right? So my very good friend Google came to help and it turns out these are a thing in America. These are called pies even though the pies I know look more like a wheel-shaped block of pig. But they are called pies the other side of the pond and they’re so little and cute and you eat them with your hands so there you go, hand pies. A Bonfire-night-meets-Halloween treat, I’m that international. For all my international fans (?) to enjoy.

PUMPKIN SWIRL BROWNIES

I was trying to come up with a very descriptive way of presenting my new favourite pumpkin thing in the world right here but perhaps there’s no need to because PUMPKIN SWIRL BROWNIES.

<3.

ORANGE & CARDAMOM BISCUITS

I am trying really hard to stay away from pumpkin as this blog was quickly becoming a pumpkin baking blog, plus I'm drinking so much pumpkin spice latte that I foresee turning into a pumpkin myself before autumn is over, with a big orange belly and everything.
So yes, this biscuit recipe is 100% pumpkin-free, however no, I haven't given up pumpkin yet. It just means that whilst I develop a brownie recipe packed full of pumpkin goodness I have the best crunchy tasty sweet-but-tangy vegan biscuits to munch on. Oooh yiiiss.

RICE KRISPY SQUARES

These days I sometimes like to pretend I’m still in America (how very sane of me) and I sit on my own sipping Egg Nog and reading Preacher and sprinkling pumpkin spice on anything I encounter, and I thought I’d make something America-related again. 

So this one day in Williamsburg I found a small little shop selling organic groceries and I got this vegan marshmallow rice krispy bar and I went a bit nuts. I'd never had marshmallow rice krispy treats before (how very European of me) and regular marshmallows have gelatine anyway, so a whole new world opened up for me. I know, I know it's only rice cereal and sticky chewy things but they're the best aren't they. So I've recreated them and as they only take a split second to make they will be my accompaniment of choice for my Egg Nog and my pumpkin-spice-everything and I'll be eating them when I read Preacher and you all should too.

BAKEWELL SANDWICH CAKE

I didn't mention last Sunday that I was having a bit of a hard time (read: sheer panic. Utter despair. Tears. Hopelessness. Ha) with my oven last week. My beloved old oven broke in a mysterious way and I got it replaced but this shiny new one is such a twat :D. Shall I mention carob brownie charcoal soup and six (SIX) batches of soggy muffins that found their home in the bin. Maybe not.

But you don't mess with birthday cakes. So magically, when the moment came to bake my colleague Matt's birthday cake, the monster behaved. And a Sunday-baking-session later, baby Bakewell cake was born, properly cooked and everything. Thank you, monster oven, for dismantling my self esteem no more.
And here it is. It's a Bakewell cake because it's kind of like a Bakewell tart except it's not a tart, it's a cake. Ehe. It's sweet and moist and nice and fluffy and you should totally make it for a very English birthday. Or a Japanese or a Peruvian one, the cake doesn't mind.
Aaaaand many moooreeee. 

GLUTEN-FREE CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

This one is my first gluten-free Muffin Sunday. Not only have I completely ignored the occasion for a billion Sundays in a row, but also, when I finally felt inspired to produce some muffin goodness, American airport security tried really hard to wreck the party. The story goes like this. I go on my daily mad shopping spree to Whole Foods Market in New York. I run to the flour section (<3). I lay my eyes on this pack of coconut flour. Pack of coconut flour goes in my suitcase when I fly back to London. Pack of coconut flour looks dangerously similar to pack of cocaine. Airport security get dangerously suspicious. Airport security open my suitcase. I collect an unlocked suitcase and fear for the safety of pack of coconut flour. Pack of coconut flour is actually fine and I can bake coconut flour muffins for Muffin Sunday.

So this overwhelmingly exciting story is to say that we should all be very grateful for this Muffin Sunday. And that you should just get coconut flour off the internet if you want to coconut-flour-muffin your life away. But all is well that ends well and I will now enjoy my muffins that almost never happened and they’re the best and you should too.

PUMPKIN CINNAMON ROLLS

I came back from New York with 10 extra kilos of body fat, a spotty face, 10 litres of maple syrup and an obsession with all things pumpkin. In this recipe, you’ll find two of the above – that is, the maple syrup and pumpkin, if there’s any need for clarifying.

Weeeell, these moistest-ever-moist pumpkin cinnamon rolls with a super sticky maple glaze are such a mouth-watering twist on the traditional cinnamon rolls. It makes me a little bit emotional because my life is not the same now that I don’t have my pumpkin spice soya latte twice a day anymore and don’t see lines of pretty, pretty (massive) pumpkins in front of every house on every street.

Let’s just devour them celebrating my newfound friend America and by the way also that Adam got me this internet domain and my blog is all serious now (he is, oh, the best). And that today I chopped all my hair off (don’t ask). And lastly, that my friend Kris gave me the vegan bible as a present for my birthday. I’m making everything that’s in there. Omnom – tears of gratitude/melancholy – omnomnom – repeat.

ORANGE PUMPKIN CAKE

I don't usually get overexcited when it comes to cake (yeeeeh right hhaa), but everyone, I've made this orange pumpkin cake and it's aaaahhh so good with its syrupy orange glaaaaaze. Like, crazy good.
It might be because I get all emotional when autumn approaches, like it gets dark earlier and all that and I can use pumpkin and all these autumny flavours without feeling like I'm doing something illegal. And that I'm flying across the pond this week so I've been so excited to bake American cakey stuff.
Or none of the above and this is just the best cake on earth.
Who knows.
I love you cake.

BANANA ICE CREAM WITH DATE CARAMEL

Bananas and dates are the best combination ever. Fact. And as we're having a bit of an Indian summer here in London at the moment, I thought I'd go down the ice cream route with them this time. Mate (!), this is the most painless dessert to make ever. So good. And it's even good for you as it's literally just bananas and dates. And a blender <3. Hooray. 

RASPBERRY & PISTACHIO TART

My gluten-free adventures continue, how exciting.
So as not to murder my coeliac colleague, this time I made quite a yummy gluten-free vegan raspberry & pistachio tart. Not all of it made it to work (vegan gluten-free tart pregnancy), but hey, murder-free deliciousness, what more can you ask for.

PAIN AU CHOCOLAT

Life is incredibly more bearable when you're stuffing your face with freshly baked vegan pain au chocolat. I highly recommend that you all try.

GLUTEN-FREE COCONUT LOAF CAKE

So I suddenly got quite interested in vegan, gluten-free baking because challenges are cool (raw stuff doesn't count because you use crazy ingredients anyway. Uhuh) and this is my very first vegan, gluten-free, non-raw (that is, baked. That's the normal word people use. I'm foreign) cake. I wanted to make sure you couldn't tell it was vegan and gluten-free and as I'm very thorough I just ate half of it with my hands over the sink. No, you can't tell it's vegan and gluten-free.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BAKED DOUGHNUTS

There's times when you really need a chocolate doughnut. Or seven.

PEACH & LEMON BUNDT CAKE

Bundt cakes are like the best thing ever (fine. Second to hair straighteners), because they’re so pretty without really doing anything, and they’re massive so you can have lots of pretty cake and be beautiful on the inside and out. Make this one whilst it’s still kind of summer, it’s so delicious and light and moist and did I mention how pretty it looks and how delicious it is.

CAROB HAZELNUT SPREAD

My very good friend carob is back. This time, it’s in spread form and it saves me from impending poverty. It might be that I’m now the one and only tenant of a flat in trendy (?) Dalston, or that yesterday evening I drowned my sorrows in my other very good friend dark chocolate spread, officially running out. In either case, my survival instinct took over and lead me to my pack of carob powder. And I made spread with it. Spread is my very good friend. So here it is, my dear, dear carob spread. Poverty I fear you not.

VANILLA CHIA PUDDING

When life makes you feel like a diseased pigeon, fight back with badass yummy superfood pudding. Amen.

CHERRY FOCACCIA

Sticking to my roots again today with some nice Italian focaccia. This is a sweet version, which people sometimes freak out about, but it's definitely a thing and definitely super tasty. Needless to say it's better than the savoury one. Pinky promise, trust me or try yourselves (and/or both).

RAW JAMMIE DODGERS

I'm quite sure vegans all over the UK are forever thankful to Burton's for making (accidentally?) vegan Jammie Dodgers. Several parties and social situations must have been saved from wreckage by that one packet of Jammie Dodgers that lies unattended amongst trays of cheese and shortbread or whatever it is that people eat at parties here. How would I know. Anyway now I'm bringing Jammie Dodgers to the next level. These are vegan but also raw and gluten free and there's no possible excuse not to eat them. Unless you're like allergic to deliciousness. In which case, it may be worth the pain. Let me know.

SULTANA LOAF

The fact that my breakfast every morning before nursery school used to be a (whole) baguette should have probably made me realise that bread is my one true love. I probably also should have listened to my mum saying that one day I would open a bakery and make (and eat?) bread like there's no tomorrow. But no big deal. Shall I make up for it now? (everyone: Yeeees) Cool. Here's the fluffiest most flavoursome sultana loaf. Or should I say here was? In any case, this was made in my flat, and not bakery I'm afraid. And nevermind selling it. I'll just do it for the glory.
Hail, bread.

CHOCOLATE & HAZELNUT TARTLETS

Comfort food anyone?

STRAWBERRY MOUSSE

Weekend away in Bridgnorth implies that I don't bake for three entire days and that I therefore need (need) (NEED) to make something quick and easy and yummy and using the extra pretty cutlery and plates and cups that I bought for 50p at local car boot sale. Slice - blend - fridge - DONE. This is called (delicious) efficiency. Or (delicious) vegan + gluten-free strawberry mousse.

VANILLA ALMOND BISCOTTI

I cried inside a little bit titling this post "vanilla almond biscotti", as my very Italian self knows that the word biscotti means everything and nothing. Biscotti is Italian for biscuit, but biscuit of any kind. Therefore, if you find yourself in an Italian bakery, and all hopeful tell the baker you would like some biscotti, they quite likely will sneer at you and say "That's fortunate, as we have a million kinds". The secret word, everyone, is cantuccini.
But language-police rant aside, and back to serious stuff, these biscotti aka cantuccini are the bomb. Half the stuff didn't even make it to the second bake as I was eating it straight from the cooling rack. I know, such an outlaw. But they are that good! And all vanilla-y and almond-y (and also just as hot as magma when you take them out of the oven. Who knew). You can serve these to your friends and show off with anecdotes about their real name and pretend you're secretly Italian and everything. Or don't, just keep them all to yourself and scoff the whole batch going "Mamma mia" between each bite.

DATE CARAMEL BANANA SANDWICH CAKE

I’m very thankful to Mother Nature for providing mankind with two of the best things in the world, joint winners with hair straighteners – dates and bananas. Not only do they taste diiiilicious as they are, you can also turn them into whatever the hell you want, from syrup to cakey things to egg substitutes to healthy caramel to generic baking usefulness (!), and all you need, if anything, is a (beloved) blender. High five Mother Nature! The following is a banana and date feast, in the form of a vegan banana cake with date caramel filling. It tastes good, it’s moist and sweet, it could be worse for you, and it looks proper, doesn’t it. Sponsored by Mother Nature.

CAROB BROWNIES

I'm one of those unlucky people that gets a migraine when eating too much chocolate. I know, it's very sad isn't it. Not that it stops me from having enormous quantities of it or anything, but let me get my daily dose of sympathy. Anyway. Look what I've brought to you today. It's carob brownies! They don't contain chocolate! They are gooey! Moist! Delicious! Chocolatey! (saying carob-ey wasn't particularly descriptive) Amazing right? If you can get over the fact that they contain more sugar than flour, get your apron out (I know you have one). Get baking. Migraine-free carob heaven.

RAW BLUEBERRY TARTLETS

After making the prettiest cake ever, I found myself overloaded with blueberries. This was because my plan B after miserably failing at acquiring edible flowers (Turnips @ Borough Market, I forgive but not forget. Or maybe not even forgive), which you could also call “running around M&S during my lunch break, desperately looking for a pretty-enough alternative to edible flowers to use on a cake I am meant to make in less than 3 hours”, was decorating with more blueberries and other berries. Luckily, boyfriends saved the day and a plan B was never needed, so I was quite ridiculously happy to have not only a successful cake but also a lifetime supply of tasty berries. Some of them had already been shovelled into my mouth and digested and everything, the rest feature in these delicious vegan, raw and gluten-free tartlets that, just so you know, have been partly shovelled into my mouth too and are in the process of being digested. Too much information? Omonomnomnom

BLUEBERRY & LEMON SANDWICH CAKE

I’m so happy with this pretty pretty little cake. Not only is it the first proper sandwich cake I’ve made in my life, it’s also the first proper birthday cake I’ve made in my life, and therefore the first proper sandwich birthday cake I’ve made in my life. Lots of firsts in there. And lots of cake.

It required an intense baking session that lasted until 12 am last night, which included the production of four different kinds of filling/icing creams (I’m never happy am I). And during which I did not grate my finger. Did not. Plus, another session at 6 am this morning for decorating, carried out in sleep-walking mode. Prior to this, I also sent my boyfriend all the way to Canary Wharf to get me edible flowers (he’s a good, good person). And previously had an argument with evil grocers who forgot to get the aforementioned edible flowers I ordered five days in advance. But all this, plus a very awkward bus ride to work this morning, holding a cake tin in my arms like my life was depending on it, all this was oh-so-worth-it because this cake, this very pretty and very delicious cake was for our dear, dear Alejandra. Also called Aleyandra. And also called Alexandra. To everyone’s favourite Maverick, happy birthday, or feliz cumple, or a mixture of the two. 

SEEDY FRUITY FLAPJACKS

On Sunday I made muffins to take to work because I’m nice, but as I’m also forgetful I left them at home. Therefore yesterday I made flapjacks to take to work because I’m nice, and wasn’t on this occasion forgetful. Here they are in all their seedy fruity golden-syrupy goodness for all you nice people out there (and not-so-nice, I’m not here to judge). Gluten-free and everything, and so so easy to make.

ORANGE MUFFINS WITH HIBISCUS GLAZE

Muffin Sunday is back with a vengeance. Well, I had a small diatribe with myself about these muffins, as they kind of look like cupcakes, with the pretty pink glaze and everything. But they have the typical muffin texture and typical muffin taste (?) and typical muffin deliciousness, so they definitely are muffins. Also, it’s not Cupcake Sunday, it’s Muffin Sunday, you know! Anyhoooww, if you can get hold of the dried hibiscus flowers, go for it and use them for the glaze as hibiscus goes really well with orangey citrusy stuff (and makes super good tea) (downside: it’s pink). 

I’ll make up for the unbearable girly prettiness of these things next week, with some vegan deep-fried cow or something to that effect.

CANDIED HAZELNUTS

These tasty nut things are so so easy to make. The weather has been so merciful to us that I didn’t want to spend ages in the kitchen, melting in front of the oven or on the hob to prepare some cake or cream or ganache or baked stuff. I’d rather go to the park with all my friends and enjoy the sun and drink lemonade and be merry.

No, I’m only joking. I’m munching on these whilst watching Masterchef with the curtains down and the company of my only friend Calvin the yak. Living the dream.

MINI BANOFFEE PIES

It took me three long days to complete this recipe, and I’ve made it just. I decided I wanted to make banoffee pie on Sunday, but didn’t have any tartlet tins. So I bought tartlet tins. Then I realised I didn’t have any coconut milk, so on Monday I got the coconut milk. But to make the caramel, you need to refrigerate your can overnight. So on Monday night, I put the can in the fridge ready for Tuesday. But on Tuesday, after making the caramel, I remembered you also need four hours for it to set. And, as I wasn’t particularly excited at the idea of staying up until 1am staring at the fridge and waiting for it to work its magic on my jar of caramel, I just gave up and saved the date for today. Several complications with cling film later, I can definitely say these mini banoffee pies were a bit of an effort to make. You’d expect there’s a but here, yes? Well there’s actually two. But number one: these are deliciousness in a tartlet tin. And when I say deliciousness, I mean I-don’t-care-if-they-haven’t-set-yet-I’m-going-to-eat-two-right-now-as-a-starter-before-a-bowl-of-tomato-soup deliciousness (that was a long one). And just when you think that’s enough of a reason, but number two: you get an extra half a cup of caramel from the recipe, and may I suggest that you have it as a dessert after your tomato soup that you ate after two banoffee pies?

RAW SACHERTORTE

You may have noticed that I’ve been completely ignoring Muffin Sunday for two entire weeks. I know I’m being very ungrateful towards muffins, but the truth is, I have two very embraceable reasons for this lack of muffin-making. The first is, I got myself a blender! Haha. Sorry. But I did. So I had to make something using it this week. Period. The second is, this is Sachertorte! The most delicious cake on the face of the earth, in my very valuable opinion. We used to get this from the bakery every year for my dad’s birthday and I think it’s been at least two or three years since the last time I was home for one (sadness creeping in). How can you not miss this chocolaty and jammy moist deliciousness. Anyway, I thought, it’s (British) Father’s Day today so it makes a bit of sense to make Sachertorte. It’s like I’m at home for my dad’s birthday, except I’m not at home and it’s not my dad’s birthday. Ha. Anyway, let me get to the blender part. As I bought myself a blender (I need to stop this, I know), I can now grind almonds and cashews and all sorts of stuff, which makes it so much easier to make raw desserts. So I thought I’d make my own version of Sacher: vegan, gluten-free and 100% raw. And also kind of 100% blended. I don’t want to give too much away but I had a quarter of this cake in one go whilst taking pictures of it, it’s that good (camera covered in chocolate). I’m considering to start selling it under the label “I can’t believe it’s not Sacher”. I’ll let you know how it goes.

COCONUT PANNA COTTA

It is now in the public domain that I bought a blender. And if you didn’t know, now you do. I thought I would be blending away stuff all day long, but in fact I was quite intimidated by it at first. It might be because I am known for breaking stuff in very mysterious ways. However, after spending several moneys (!) on it, being stopped in the street by jealous passers-by on my way home from the blender shop (!?) and having received a giant parcel from my mamma full of nuts and dried fruit (which, I think you should know, also included a mouse kitchen timer) (awww), it’s only a matter of time before I fully master it. In this recipe, I take it easy on the blending, and, in fact, you don’t really need one, but I used mine anyway because did you know I got myself a blender. I also used my new mouse kitchen timer (awww). But anyway, this time I’m making vegan and gluten-free panna cotta using coconut milk, and I might lose Italian points if I say it, but this one’s better than the traditional one, serious. It’s so full of flavour and goes perfectly with the raspberry sauce, which I made using a blender. Because I got myself one. Ok enough. Try it it’s yummy.

CHOCOLATE ORANGE CAKE TRIANGLES

This started off as a relaxed after-work baking session, but slowly turned into an adding-up of over-excitement and oh-my-god-this-is-so-good baking spree. I was meant to bake some super plain and simple orange cake slices, to use up a couple of lonely oranges I had on top of my kitchen counter. But, I also had a can of coconut milk and some chocolate chips, and everyone knows that chocolate and orange are perfect together, am I right. So after making the cake, I started making a chocolate glaze, and after making the chocolate glaze, I made an orange glaze. And only after making the orange glaze, only then, could I stop. But that’s fine because I got myself a blender and from now on I’m going to blend everything around me, be it breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert, so this might be the last non-blended product I ever make in my life, but anyway, it’s delicious, try it, you know you want to.

LEMON & LAVENDER BAKED DOUGHNUTS

So yeah, it turns out I missed Doughnut Day. My brand new doughnut pan, after my cheap, awful-quality one let me down quite some time ago, arrived on Thursday but apparently it wasn’t a clear-enough reminder (I am very forgetful, you should know). But I had to make up for it somehow. So, dear Muffin Sunday, I apologise, but not this week. This week we’re celebrating Doughnut Sunday instead. And before this gets unbearably confusing, I shall introduce you to my new creation, brought to you by the aforementioned new doughnut pan and a very lucky find from Borough Market, a pot of dried lavender. They’re the perfect spring flavour and aren’t they prettyyyyyy.

ORANGE BLOSSOM BRIOCHE

It might be that I had a very challenging week, and I'm just going to name a few happenings to give you the picture, such as blocked-off roads, car crashes, buses dropping me off twenty kilometres from my destination (let me get to work will you?), next-door buildings on fire, fifteen million leaving parties on school-nights, and some good old drama, but I was on a roll already. So I thought I might as well face the challenge of yeast once again, this time going the brioche way. Because, to make up for all the apocalyptic incidents of the past 6 days, this week we also booked our Eurostar tickets for a quick trip to Paris in August. Celebratory yummy brioche in my belly. 

ALMOND TRUFFLES

There’s a special recipe for you today. Today is the Italian National Day, Festa della Repubblica, or Republic Day. Sixty-eight years ago, Italy officially became a republic. Although it’s public holiday in Italy, it’s obviously not in the UK, so I went to work as usual. But tonight I’ll have a mini personal celebration for the occasion. And shovel some very Italian sweets into my face, as one does.
I was saying yesterday that I’ve been reading through really old Italian cookbooks. Well, whilst exploring among dozens recipes calling for obscure ingredients like “odour of vanilla” and Crataegus azarolus, whatever fruit that is, I also came across this really cool book written in 1891 by Pellegrino Artusi, who, Wikipedia informs me, was “an Italian businessman and writer, best known as the author of the cookbook La scienza in cucina e l'arte di mangiare bene (The Science of Cooking and the Art of Fine dining)”. So, three hours spent on Google Books later, I got crazy excited about this whole vintage Italian recipe thing. The cookbook is brilliant in all ways – amazing recipes even to modern standards and the best writing ever (I mean, Jam Roly-poly renamed “English sausage”. Ha). Interestingly enough, 90% of cake and pudding recipes use ground almonds, which make them either gluten-free or easily gluten-free-able (!). And even though most of them call for shocking amounts of eggs, the recipe I’ve chosen is not only gluten-free, but also surprisingly (and definitely accidentally) vegan. The original uses a cherry liqueur called Maraschino, but I’m not sure that’s very popular outside Italy. So, I swapped that for the cherry syrup from a tin of cherries (you could also use cherry juice instead). And for extra prettiness, I coated the almond balls in cocoa powder and more ground almonds, in addition to the grated chocolate from the original recipe. Everything else is 100% vintage and so delicious!

PEACH & GINGER SPELT MUFFINS

I spent the day reading Italian recipe books from the late nineteenth century and baking. Can you think of a better way of celebrating Muffin Sunday? I’m sure you can’t. Happy Muffin Sunday everyone. After banana and strawberry and lime and coconut, here’s a version with summery fruit, spelt goodness and a hint of spice. You can munch on these whilst I try to veganise a 1909 cake recipe that calls for 8 eggs and half a kilo of lard.

TROPICAL FRUIT COOKIES

The -nth cookie recipe sharing really does prove that I could sit all day munching and chewing and scrunching cookies. And sipping tea. This actually should be a paid occupation. Or an Olympic sport. Imagine.

So another weekend, another cookie for all you cookie monsters out there. Packed full with fruit this time, so you can have your five-a-day and feel slightly less guilty about scoffing down this whole delicious lot.

BANANA OAT COOKIES

I promised myself that I wouldn’t bake as often during the week as I get home quite tired after work and I wake up quite early in the morning (you kind of grow old on the bus through the City at rush hour). But then, two things happened. Firstly, the two bananas I bought some day last week turned worryingly black. With worryingly black, I mean too black to be eaten by human beings, and possibly any creature populating the earth. But definitely not too black to use in baking (eeh, you see where this is getting). Secondly, this book arrived at the office and it was like Christmas. I hadn’t even got to the end of it and I already decided I had to bake something as soon as I got home. The conciseness of the ingredient lists saved me from a pit-stop at the corner shop and – oh joyful day – one recipe contained the sacred words “2 small, very ripe bananas”. Banana oat cookies, you are a blessing.

RASPBERRY JAM CROSTATA

My mum saw my blog and told me off. She said that all cakes and cookies and treats here are very British and there’s no Italian recipes in sight. You could argue that my cardamom pudding recipe last week was adapted from an Italian cookbook, but truth is: I’ve never made a proper Italian cake. I have nothing against Italian sweets and desserts, I promise. BUT, most Italian cakes are quite simple (recipe- and flavour-wise), much less sugary, less buttery and gooey (and in most cases, significantly healthier) than their British counterpart. Actually, there’s no Italian word for muffin, cheesecake, brownie, nor cookie. Italian traditional biscuits are the drier kind (see biscotti & co.), and we don’t really do shortbread as such. So, even though I’ve always been best friends with stuff like pandoro and bomboloni and tiramisù, which are all but dry, low-sugar and healthy, I still found myself stuffing my face with huge amounts of muffins, brownies, cookies and all sorts of puddings as soon as I stepped into the UK, and that’s what I learned to bake.

But not today! Today I will be a militant Italian baker – I will show you the wonders of crostata. This tart is very quick and easy to make, full of flavour, super pretty and reasonably healthy. It’s also quite customisable as you can use whatever flavour of jam you prefer for the filling. Actually, crostata alla Nutella is a thing in Italy. Just saying.

Buon appetito!

COCONUT & LIME COURGETTE MUFFINS

I made these muffins for Muffin Sunday. Ok, I just made that up - there's no such thing as Muffin Sunday, but there should be. Especially because I was trying to bake some doughnuts for Doughnut Sunday (fine, that's not a thing either), but failed miserably due to a doughnut pan disfunction. So I switched to muffins to cheer myself up. This gives me the right to celebrate muffins, and therefore, the right to create Muffin Sunday. I hope you agree! Also, if you were slightly freaked out by the word "courgette" sitting right next to "coconut" and "lime", and even more worryingly, "muffin", don't panic. That is actually a thing. Courgettes here do the same job as bananas or carrots and make the muffins all nice and moist and delicious. Give it a try!

CARDAMOM PUDDING

If you're sad, have some pudding.
(And if you're not)

BLACK FOREST COOKIES

I christened these cookies “black forest cookies” because I made them to replace a black forest cake. I’ll expand a bit. They do contain the same main ingredients as a black forest cake: chocolate and cherries. However, cookies are much much easier to carry around London on buses than a cake. And I have a friend who’s having a birthday party tonight. And his favourite cake is black forest cake. So, I made these. Makes sense now? Cake-replacement cookies!

Well then, before you even start reading the recipe, let me warn you. These cookies are possibly the unhealthiest thing I’ve ever baked in my life. Vegetable fat! Margarine! Bucketfuls of sugar! Egg-replacement powder!!! But I have no regrets. They are delicious. 

(Thank me later)

APRICOT & GOJI BERRY PUFFED RICE BARS

These could be considered a fancy version of kitchen-sink bars. After a disastrous attempt at making vegan white chocolate cookies with a veeery watery fake white chocolate bar the other night, I ran out of flour, oil and pretty much everything you need to bake something edible. However, upon inspecting the kitchen cupboard looking for treats yesterday evening after work (I did find treats by the way. And consequently ate the treats. A lot of them. BAD), I also discovered a sad-looking pack of puffed rice lying there at the back, together with two little bags of equally sad-looking dried apricots. I also had a pack of goji berries, and I actually had been looking for some nice recipe to use them in. Add an opened jar of peanut butter and ta-daah. Mission accomplished. No more abandoned puffed rice. No more forgotten dried apricots. This has cleared some space in my cupboard (and officially allows me to refill it asap), and after throwing everything in a pan (everything but the kitchen sink, as they say), has brought to life some lovely, quite healthy puffed rice bars, which are also vegan and gluten free. I can’t really complain, can I! Should you want to experiment with these bars yourselves, feel free to throw in whatever you have in your cupboard (yeh ok, within reason): dried fruit/nuts of any kind all work a treat (!) here.