Snow-Flecked Brownies

The subject of this month's Sweet and Simple Bakes challenge is the much-loved chocolate brownie and the recipe we have used is Nigella Lawson's Snow-Flecked Brownies, as seen in Feast.

The chocolate brownie must be one of my top five all-time favourite cakes. It's a classic and surely epitomises everything the perfect cake should be - simple but indulgent, a rich combination of cakeiness and fudginess that is as at home on a dinner party table as it is served up for afternoon tea.

I've come across a number of brownie recipes in my time, some of which are merely slightly embellished chocolate cake recipes. Don't be fooled - a brownie recipe should contain substantially more eggs and chocolate (dark, 70% of course) than your average cake otherwise you are not going to get that dark squidgy centre.

So does this recipe beat my previous favourite? Nigel Slater's brownie recipe, from his Kitchen Diaries, has been my first choice for some time now and I have to say it stills just wins the day by a small margin. The recipes aren't dissimilar however Nigel cuts back on the proportion of eggs and flour and adds a bit of cocoa so you end up with a more chocolatey brownie. Don't get me wrong though, these brownies more than satisfied my need for something indulgent and I do like the aesthetically pleasing addition of icing sugar, especially at this time of year, when anything even faintly festive rings my bell.

The recipe can be found here. You should note that this makes a LOT of brownies. I halved the quantity and ended up with 14 perfectly sized squares. Oh, and if you want your pieces of white chocolate to maintain their shape and not melt into slushy streaks then you might want to leave the mix to cool a while before mixing it in.

Thanks go to Maria and Rosie for hosting the Sweet and Simple Bakes website and choosing another great recipe for us.

White Chocolate and Orange Cookies

The October Sweet and Simple Bakes challenge was a recipe for White Chocolate and Orange Cookies. To my great frustration I didn't have the chance to make these in time for the deadline but they sounded so tempting that I was determined to crowbar them into the schedule as soon as possible.

So here they and they absolutely lived up to my expectations. Packed with orange flavour and plenty of chocolate, they had the perfect cookie texture - crispy at the edge but with a soft chewy centre. Mmmmmm!

You can find the recipe here - give them a try!

Sweet and Simple Bakes - St Clement's Drizzle Cake

This month's Sweet and Simple Bake is the St Clement's Drizzle Cake - a twist on the classic lemon syrup cake thanks to the addition of orange zest and juice. This was very simple to make, as most loaf cakes tend to be, and as lovely on it's own for afternoon tea as it is teamed up with some vanilla ice cream for an indulgent pudding. The cake itself turned out to be wonderfully light and the orange/lemon syrup topping added loads of citrussy (is that how you spell it?) flavour. The next time I make this (and there will be a next time) I think I'll put more holes in the cake so the syrup soaks in even more.

Many thanks to Rosie and Maria for hosting the Sweet and Simple Bakes website and for choosing this great recipe for us.

The recipe can be found here.

Sweet and Simple Bakes - Carrot Cake

This month's Sweet and Simple Bakes recipe is the classic carrot cake. If there is such a thing as a classic carrot cake recipe that is, as this is one of those cake recipes that seems to have endless variations. This particular recipe is certainly different from the one I usually turn to, which requires less carrot but the addition of a tin of crushed pineapple.

My contribution this month was a bit of a rushed affair as I only got around to making it the day before the deadline. No matter though as carrot cake is one of those cakes that doesn't seem to mind too much if you're in a bit of a hurry. No need to worry about creaming butter and sugar or beating the eggs in thoroughly. Apart from a bit of faffy carrot grating you just need to mix together the wet ingredients, add in the dry and there you have it.

And it takes just as little effort to eat it too. This recipe is definitely a good 'un - moist, full of flavour and great texture thanks to the sultanas and walnuts. The icing is lovely too - I was worried it might be too sweet but that turned not to be the case. Thanks S&SB - I'll be making this one again.

You can find the recipe here.

Chocolate Orange Loaf Cake

This month I've decided to switch my monthly baking challenge allegiance over to Sweet and Simple Bakes as the recipe on offer this month looked too good to pass up. It's not a recipe I've come across previously but just the name was enough to tell me I was going to like it.

The chosen recipe this month was for Chocolate Orange Drizzle Loaf Cake and I think the name tells you all you need to know! And what a great recipe this is. The addition of orange zest and the orange syrup to what is basically a plain sponge recipe adds an enormous amount of flavour and, as you would expect, the chocolate is a perfect partner for the orange.

Chocolate Orange Drizzle Loaf Cake

For the cake

175g/6oz softened butter

175g/6oz caster sugar

3 large eggs at room temperature

Finely grated zest of two oranges

175g/6oz self raising flour

2 tbsp milk

For the orange syrup

Juice of 1 orange

100g/4oz granulated sugar (although I just used caster sugar again)

For the topping

50g/2oz dark or milk chocolate (I used dark and was glad I did)

Sprinkles of your choice (optional)

1) Preheat the oven to 180c/350f/gas 4

2) Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat in until fully incorporated. Add the orange zest, flour and milk and fold in gently with a spatula or metal spoon.

3) Pour the mixture into a greased/lined 900g/2lb loaf tin and bake for 35-45 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. When cool make little holes in the cake for pouring the syrup into.

4) Make the syrup by putting the orange juice and syrup into a pan and heating gently until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil and boil for a couple of minutes. Pour the syrup over the top of the cake. The leave the cake to cool completely before removing it from the tin.

5) Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. When melted spread it over the top of the cake. Smooth with a spatula or make patterns with the prongs of a fork. Add sprinkles if required. Leave the chocolate to cool before cutting the cake.