Carrot & Sunflower Cake

Just because you're trying to eat healthily doesn't mean that you can't have cake. Yeeaah so you can't really get away from sugar when it comes to cake, but you know what they say: half the slice = half the calories, so you can eat twice as much! This carrot cake is packed full of carrots, pineapple, pecans & sunflower seeds, and is made using sunflower oil, wholemeal flour and brown sugar. I've done my best to make it wholesome so you don't feel so guilty about eating something sweet. This makes a large batch so be sure to share it with your friends.

Lemon Blueberry Gingernut Cheesecake Slices

I think that lemon and ginger work so well together, and the addition of blueberries make these cheesecake slices taste extra fresh and fruity. This yummy recipe uses ginger nuts to make the crunchy biscuit base. This is a really simple recipe that you can whip up in 10 minutes or so, just make sure it's nice and cold before you serve it. And like a proper cheesecake, it's nice served with cream. It helps to have your cream cheese at room temperature before you start.

Nutty Caramel Cheesecake Bars

I desperately wanted to make something with peanut butter this week, as well as using up some cream cheese. So here is my extremely tasty recipe for peanut butter cheesecake traybake, with a chocolate biscuit base and salted caramel topping. The biscuit base and the salted caramel can be made in advance too. If you have any plain or lightly salted peanuts lying around, chop them up and sprinkle them over the top for extra crunch.

Blackberry Crumble Cake

Now I don't usually like to bake cakes that involve washing up more than 1 or 2 bowls. Unfortunately this cake involves 3 bowls... but it's worth it. I love September, not for the massive spiders but for the huge amounts of blackberries you can find out and about in fields. There's nothing more satisfying than suiting up with long sleeves and gloves to brave the brambles and coming home with sacks of free blackberries.

Chocolate Fudge Brownies

Just when I thought I had already found the perfect brownie recipe, I tried this recipe. It just proves that you can never find the ultimate brownie, there will always be one to top it. But sod it, I will endeavor to strive for perfection! I love making brownies because they are a one bowl, one tin recipe. Minimal washing up! These brownies have the perfect texture; they are perfectly gooey on the inside, and crunchy on top. The best brownie, and so easy to make.

White Chocolate Brownies

So here is my new and improved white chocolate brownie recipe. I find that using white chocolate buttons makes these brownies so quick to whip up, you can literally have them in the oven in 5 minutes. Nuts are optional, it works well with or without. Pecans are the perfect nut to use as they add a delicate sweetness and just the right amount of crunch, but you can substitute walnuts if you like.

Nutty Butterscotch Bars

You have absolutely no idea how difficult it was for me to restrain myself from eating these before taking the perfect picture of them. I felt like vampire Edward Cullen catching sight of the oh-so-tempting Bella for the first time.

Well now that I have uploaded it... excuse me whilst I go and consume one...

...

Delicious. They are definetely more like a sweet as opposed to a cake. Fun to make, colourful, fudgy, rich and with so many textures this will satisfy any sweet tooth. I used pecans and pistachios as they are my all time favourite nuts but you can use any nuts that you like.

Rosie's Ultimate Versatile Brownies

Here is my ultimate recipe for "chewy on the inside and crunchy on the outside" chocolate brownies. It's basic and only takes 5 minutes to make and 30 minutes to bake, which is why this is the most baked cake in my house. To this recipe, you can add pretty much anything: Chocolate chips, Cherries, Walnuts, Pecans, Chocolate Chunks, Fudge Chunks, Biscuit pieces, Raisins, whatever the hell you like in your brownies. My husband however likes his brownies with no "bitty bits" so I just do plain old brownies.

If you like them rich and dark, use a dark chocolate with a high cocoa percentage (80% or more). If you like it sweeter, use a less intense dark chocolate. You can get away with using plain cooking chocolate, just don't use milk chocolate as it turns out far too pale and sickly sweet. I do have a recipe for "blondies"; the white chocolate brownies which you will also find on my blog.

Lemon & Blackberry Slices

A layer of lemon pastry, a layer of jam, a layer of frangipane with seasonal blackberries stuffed all over it, not forgetting a generous sprinkling of delicious crunchy almonds.

These slices are light yet have just the right amount of decadence to fill that "I need cake" hole. They'll also fill your house with a wonderful lemony scent.

...Now my husband always complains that I put too many nuts on my cakes, but I just can't get enough of them! You can make it as nutty or as un-nutty as your taste buds require.

Cinnamony Apple Crumbley Yummyness

This apple crumble slice lasted only a couple of hours before being wiped off the planet by a hoard of hungry cake eating monsters... oh wait, come to think of it, I think I ate most of these myself.

This was the first food item of 2012 that made me feel Christmassy, and far too early but who cares when it tastes that yummy. A layer of cinnamon, nutmeg & ginger coated apples and plump dried fruits sandwiched between layers of oaty brown-sugary crumbly crumble. Thinking about bagging these babies up and giving them as Christmas presents.