Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaake!!!

So, in an effort to be prouctive this weekend, Boy and I made CARROT CAKE!!! No camera, so no photos, but here's a pic off ze interwebs to get your mouth watering...

Image from caketodays.com

It is awesome, though as the cooking instructions say cook for an hour - rather than the 12 - 20 minute in the oven cakes I normally do, I think I might cook it for less time next time we make it, to compare consistency...

As I'm celiac, and dairy and potato free, cake is always something we make at home. This one was a ground almond and rice flour base, with an egg and muscovado sugar binding agent. (We used dark muscovado instead of light - which is what the recipe called for.) The fruit / veg elements were lots of carrot - obv - and a zested and squeezed orange, plus sultanas, vanilla essence, baking powder, cinnamon and toasted pecans and hazelnuts. (We added hazelnuts, as we didn't have enough pecans, and I think it made the cake more awesome!) For frosting, we didn't use the cream cheese version in the recipe, but I mixed random amounts of soy butter and icing sugar, with a few drops of warm water, vanilla essence, cinnamon and zest and a bit of juice of a lemon. Nomnomnom.

If anyone wants the actual recipe, it's in the AMAZING book Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache. I do so love that book. The Chocolate Full Stops are my go-to cakes - particularly in muffin form. Everyone loves them, though opinion is divided over whether it's the book-recommended Coffee icing or my own Cinnamon-Choco-Vanilla-Buttercream on top that makes the best experience. I've also had successes with the Christmas Cupcakes as gifts for the festive season (though some of the ingredients are an arse to find), and Orange Squash Cupcakes, which were loved at a lunch party. The Blondie is scrummy though we substitute Dark Chocolate for White and Blueberries for Raspberries. Courgette and Camomile Cupcakes are a particular favourite of my Mother's... My Dad prefers the American Vanilla Cupcakes. The Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cupcakes, while not my favourite, were very much enjoyed as an after exams reward, and I swear it was feeding Banana and Sticky Toffee Cake to my friend's long-time crush that brought them together at last... The Coconut, Lime and Blueberry slice recipe convinced our Chinese Geology PhD housemate that I was a gift sent from heaven last year, and the Rosewater Fairy Cakes were rather guiltily enjoyed by all when I took them to work while I was interning in the fashion press office a couple of years ago.

So all in all, £12 well-spent... (It was on offer in Waterstones at the time - it's £20 RRP - and I'd say it was worth that too!)

So how can I spin cake into fashion???

Well, I'm rather in love with all the carrot-cake colours out there in stores, so here's a selection of my favourite you-could-almost-eat-them pieces...

Topshop Unique Woven Wedge Sandals

TBA Organza Ballerina Print Skirt

Whistles Cobra Print Dress

Topshop Knitted Contrast Trim Top

I'm seriously contemplating hunting out those shoes, though Topshop shoes have never fitted my horrendously-hard-to-find-comfy-shoes-for feet... And the TBA skirt is top of my purchase-when-I-have money list. I have their mushroom skirt from last season, so I'm hoping it might be equally reduced in a sale at the end of this season!

Hmmmmm. All this writing has made me hungry. MORE CAKE TIME!!!

Xxxc