Naked Gingerbread Wreath Cake

I'm sure if your house is anything like mine there will be more than a few tasty holiday treats being baked in the next week! 

This naked gingerbread wreath cake was actually something I baked last year for a Boxing Day party and as I baked it on the day I couldn't share it with you all before Christmas. 

This cake got so many compliments and it's actually surprisingly easier to make than you might think. I even made the same cake again for Easter and just changed the toppings to mini eggs and gold Lindt bunnies (find it here). 

Recipe via Tesco

Ingredients

100g (3 1/2oz) black treacle

100g (3 1/2oz) golden syrup

250g (8oz) light brown muscovado sugar

250g (8oz) unsalted butter 

4 medium eggs

250ml (8fl oz) milk

400g (13oz) plain flour

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 lemon, zested

250g (8oz) butter, softened

1 vanilla pod, halved and seeds scraped out 

500g (1lb) icing sugar, sifted

handful fresh rosemary

handful fresh thyme 

handful sage sprigs

100g (3 1/2oz) cranberries 

2 tbsp granulated sugar

Method

Preheat the oven to gas 4, 180°C, fan 160°C. Grease and line the base and sides of 2 x 20cm (8in) round cake tins with nonstick baking paper. In a large pan set over a medium heat, melt the treacle, syrup, sugar and butter, stirring frequently until the sugar has dissolved. Transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

Put the eggs and milk in a mixing bowl and beat, using an electric whisk. Beat in the cooled treacle mixture, then sift over the remaining dry ingredients and fold in, along with the lemon zest, until just combined.

Divide the mixture between the prepared tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until risen and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely. 

For the buttercream, beat the butter and vanilla seeds in a bowl. Gradually add the icing sugar, beating until pale and fluffy; set aside. 

Using a serrated knife, cut the sponges in half horizontally to make 4 layers. Sandwich the sponges together with a layer of buttercream, then spread the top with a slightly thicker layer to cover. Thinly spread the remaining buttercream around the sides, scraping of the excess to achieve a ‘naked’ look. 

To make a decorative wreath, weave the fresh herbs in a circle and arrange on top of the cake. Rinse the cranberries, then roll in the sugar. Arrange in and around the wreath.

Tip: To make the sponges less crumbly before icing, or even to save time on the day, you can bake them up to 2 days in advance, wait for them to cool and then wrap them in foil and baking paper, before storing them somewhere cool.

Double Coconut Muffins

I can't remember where I saw the link to these muffins last week (maybe on Twitter?) But thank you to whoever posted it! As soon as I read it I knew I had to go and find somewhere that sold coconut oil, it's not to easy to track done around here! I made a batch of these at the weekend using this recipe, and they still taste nice and moist today!!

Next time I want to try making them dairy free and add in some pineapple too!

Stacey's Smiles :)

The first smiles of January although we are already half way through the month, crazy right! 5 weeks today one of my closest friends from high school will be walking down the aisle! I am so excited I have no idea what to wear yet though!

I've been collecting recipes from magazines and blogs from a while now and I finally got around to sticking them all in a book! I'd had 3 recipes in here for a while and I needed to add to them from all the pages I had bookmarked on my computer! If you've got any favourite recipes please feel free to share them!

I loved this outfit Rosie Huntington-Whiteley wore back in December, you can't get away with wearing this in winter here, so I'm looking forward to spring so I can recreate her look! The Budget Babe found some great alternatives for her outfit here.

Photo Credit: The Budget Babe

Last Saturday it was so bright I snapped this picture from the car as we were driving home!

I'm also excited that Brandy Melville launched their online store today! I fell in love with their collection when I visited one of the stores in Rome last summer! They've just made it a lot easier for me to spend money!

Photo Credit

Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

I should probably start off by telling that these pictures are from last year! Yes I uploaded these pictures to a new post LAST December and never got around to typing up the recipe to share and then Christmas was over! Ive made these every Christmas for the past few years since I found the recipe in The Mail on Sunday magazine, You.

I made a batch of these earlier in November before Susie left for Japan, and I plan on making some more this week (if I get the time, I've have to work until 5pm on Christmas Eve)

Ingredients (makes approx. 20)

400g dark chocolate
110g butter softened and chopped
175g brown sugar
1 medium egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g plain flour
25g cocoa powder sifted
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
120g candy cane chopped

*Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Place 120g of the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and stir until melted and smooth. Roughly chop the remaining chocolate. Set both aside.

*Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 7-10 minutes or until light and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well combined. Add the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and melted chocolate and beat until combined. Fold through the reserved chopped chocolate.

*Roll tablespoonfuls of the mixture into rounds. Place on baking tray lined with non stick baking paper, allowing room for the cookies to spread, and flatten slightly. Press the chopped candy canes into the tops of the cookies and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are firm. Allow to cool on trays!

*Enjoy

You can substitute the candy canes with white chocolate chunks, or anything you like! This cookie recipe is one of the most delicious  ones I've tried, and also probably the most unhealthy one too!