Carrot cake

Dear all,

I have been digging through my picture archive and realised I may not have shared this cake with you. I make carrot cake quite regularly but for a birthday I thought I'd try decorating it a little differently. I love it!

 I made marzipan carrots for on top (similar to previously made carrot cupcakes) and of course had my usual orange zest cream cheese icing.

For added flair I stuck crumbled walnuts along the side. Pretty nifty if I may say so myself.

Oh and it tasted great too. Brilliant!

xoxo Jennifer

Wraps from Scratch

Dear all,

I am a self-proclaimed foodie and over the last few months I have been collaborating with a fellow foodie on some culinary experiments. We have been making a ton of stuff from scratch and have been working on making regular recipes healthier in our own way (less sugar, wholemeal etc). Some of my (failed) experiments have already been posted here and today I would like to share another. My friend suggested making wraps from scratch. It is very easy and I do not understand why I have not done this sooner. Here are our wholemeal wraps made with coconut oil. Scrumptious!

This brilliant vegie wrap had a veg mix in it, home made tomato salsa and topped with home made tatziki (because I had it lying around - who says I can't do fusion food? Was in fact a perfect addition!). 

I will never buy wraps again. Will be experimenting with different flavours as well maybe. Garlic wraps, maybe add chilli or paprika... Highly recommended!

xoxo Jennifer

New Year's Resolutions

Dear all,

It's January and so after all the christmas feasting a lot of us are working on our new year's resolution(s) to live better/healthier, and that includes myself! So not a lot of cake baking has been going on lately. I've mostly been making a lot of different soups and breads, but so far nothing worth sharing with you (visually not very spectacular you see - though all incredibly tasty!). But this week I tried something I should have done a long time ago: pita breads. Specifically wholemeal ones. I love love love the M&S wholemeal pita's but they aren't readily available to me here (yet) so I thought I'd try making them myself. Revelation!! So easy, so tasty!

They go perfectly with my soups, or with salady type filling for dinner. Happy New (healthy) Year everyone!

xoxo Jennifer

ps. Don't worry, I'm sure more cakes and bakes will follow soon.

Merry Christmas!!

Dear all,

For the final post of this year I would like to share (some) of my christmas bakes with you. Enjoy, and a merry christmas to you all!

Xoxo Jennifer

Experimental Persimmon cake

Dear all,

As part of a little experiment I chose to make a cake this week without adding sugar. I bought some persimmons at the market that turned out to be rather overripe when I got home. These were super sweet, so I figured I wouldn't need to add sugar if I added enough of the fruit.

I thought wrong. I puréed 2/3 of the fruit  and chopped up the rest to add to the cake. I also some freshly squeezed orange juice as the cake needed a little extra moisture.


Asides from the fruit(juice) I also added walnuts. And below you see the results.


Although the general texture of the cake was good it wasn't even remotely sweet! Even the chunks of persimmon seemed to have lost their sweetness. Also, while in my experimental phase I decided to use vegetable oil rather than butter - maybe next time I should check what a good ratio would be, as the cake also tasted rather of... vegetable oil!


All in all however not a total disaster. The cake was, let's say, different, but we didn't enjoy it any less. Served with my friend's sugar free hot chocolate (with real vanilla and a dash of cayenne pepper - fantastic!) it can still be called a success I think.

I want to try experimenting more, see what happens. So stay tuned!

xoxo Jennifer

Fondant chocolate cake

Dear all,

This week I would like to share something that a friend made, as it was just SO delicious and perfectly executed. So kudos to my friend Maaike for making the most fantastic chocolate fondant 'lava' cakes for my graduation party. Now tell me these pics don't make your mouth water!!

These absolutely gorgeous chocolate fondant cakes were served with a bit of whipped cream, raspberries and some fresh sprigs of mint. SO yummy.

Thanks again Maaike for these fantastic cakes - you're welcome to make these again anytime!

xoxo Jennifer

Pear cake

Dear all,

I recently found myself facing a huge pile of ripe pears from the market - perfect for making a cake!

This cake had bits of pear mixed in as well as on top. For added texture I added ground hazelnuts.


For extra shine I brushed over some warm apricot jam. Never tried that before, works well!


The only thing not visible (there was no time for pictures while devouring this cake!) was the extra special surprise: dark chocolate chunks. Not many, but enough for a pleasant surprise while sampling this delicious pear cake. Worth making again!

xoxo Jennifer