Oh my goodness. You need to make these fruity crumbly delights right now. Seriously. I'm actually eating one as I type! I fancied a change from making chocolatey, stodgy desserts which characterise winter baking so set about searching for something with peach in last weekend. I found it at Brown Eyed Baker, and wow. They are SO good.

 
I recently got a book by Shauna Sever called Pure Vanilla. I already own her book 'Marshmallow Madness' so I was definitely intrigued by this one as I think a delicate vanilla flavour is very under-rated and under-used when it comes to baking! This recipe is actually from BBC Good Food, but with a touch of vanilla inspired by my new book. I'd never made meringues before but don't be put off - they really aren't as difficult as people make them out to be. I'll be making these meringues for Mother's Day I think!

 
You can use this recipe to make gingerbread men, but if you have the time then mini gingerbread houses are a quirky idea. I had great fun icing and decorating mine, and will be giving some away as gifts. The houses are designed to sit on the edge of a mug of tea/cocoa etc. and look so cute! This recipe makes more than enough dough for mini houses, so if that is all you are making I would suggest you half the ingredients.

 
These cookies are a great idea for Christmas presents as they turn out bright red, and with white chocolate drizzled on top remind me of candy cane stripes! They look very festive and are deliciously chewy. I think quite a bit of preparation goes into these cookies so there's really no need to tell anyone about using a boxed cake mix... right?!

Adapted from Two Peas & Their Pod (Dec 2011)
Makes 10-12 cookies
Cooking time: 15 mins (plus 2 hours - overnight chilling time)
Ingredients:
1 box red velvet cake mix (Duncan Hines brand from the Stateside Candy Co, or Betty Crocker from any large supermarket)
2 tablespoons plain flour
2 medium eggs
125ml rapeseed oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
50-100g white chocolate (to melt and drizzle on top)

Cheesecake filling:
50g cream cheese
140g icing sugar
1 tablespoon plain flour

 
Do you know anyone that doesn't like mince pies? Crazy right?! Well, my flatmate is one of these strange people so I wanted to make her a different sort of pie so she won't miss out next week. I have to say, I would quite happily eat these "Not mince pies" over the real thing!
Adapted from Orange, Cranberry & Almond Mince Pies (Dec 2009) and An Alternative Mince Pie (Nov 2012)
Makes 24 pies
Cooking time: 20 mins (plus 15 mins for chilling)
Ingredients:
200g butter, chilled
400g plain flour
100g ground almonds
100g golden caster sugar
zest of 2 clementines
6 tablespoons of milk
1 egg and a splash of milk (for brushing the pastry with)

For the Filling:
2 cooking apples
30g dried cranberries
60g pecans
40g (plus an extra 3 tablespoons) golden caster sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 a teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions
1. You can use a food processor or mix the ingredients by hand at this stage. Whichever way you choose, mix the butter, flour and ground almonds until the butter disappears. Then add 100g golden caster sugar, and the clementine zest. 

2. Add the milk and keep mixing until a dough starts to form. This dough is quite crumbly so don't be afraid to add more tablespoons of milk (one at a time) to bring the mixture together. Tip the dough onto your work surface and shape into a flattened ball, kneading it if you need to. Pop it in the fridge for 15 minutes and you can start to prepare the filling for the pies.

 
I got the Scandilicious baking book a few months ago but have only just got round to making anything from it. These truffles are perfect for Christmas time; I imagine they'd make a pretty and thoughtful gift for anyone that likes coconut, however the only thing I'm planning to do with mine is eat them! The recipe in the book uses porridge oats instead of traditional cake leftovers. I also used 'the Kraken' spiced rum to make these; I think the hints of vanilla and caramel are a nice touch and work well with the cocoa powder.

 
I don't actually have any photos of these brownies (or the recipe in progress) which is odd because any time an occasion calls for it, I make them. They are gooey, chocolatey and delicious! This is my favourite recipe for brownies as I haven't come across another that produces such chewy decadence; it's no wonder the original is called 'Best ever brownies'! Rest assured, the next time I break out these chunks of cocoa heaven I will add photos to this post. In the meantime here's the details:

 
Continuing with an Autumn theme, I made this cake for a housewarming party and asked people to guess what it was made of. No-one could, and they were pretty surprised to find out it was parsnip!

Adapted from BBC Good Food (Nov 2009)
Cooking time: 45 mins
Ingredients:
175g butter, plus extra for greasing
250g demerara sugar
100ml maple syrup
3 large eggs
250g self-raising flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons mixed spice
250g parsnips, peeled and grated
1 medium eating apple, peeled, cored and grated
50g pecans, roughly chopped
zest and juice 1 small orange
icing sugar, to serve

For the filling:
250g tub mascarpone
3-4 tbsp maple syrup

Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 180C (355 F). Grease 2 x 20cm sandwich tins or line with baking paper. Melt the butter, sugar and maple syrup in a pan over gentle heat, then cool slightly.

 
More pumpkin! I have to admit I don't really have any interest in Hallowe'en myself but I went to Alton Towers scarefest last week with my flatmate who absolutely loves Hallowe'en. So for her I made these pumpkin cupcakes with a 'broken glass' topping (you definitely need a sugar thermometer for this decoration but it's sooo worth it!)

As I wanted to decorate these cakes with sugar shards that actually stick into the cakes themselves I didn't want a buttercream icing/frosting. This icing is very sloppy but does set slightly!
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Adapted from Allrecipes.co.uk and Martha Stewarts broken glass (Oct 2011)
Makes 24-28 cupcakes
Cooking time: 25 mins
Ingredients:
280g plain flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground mixed spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
110g butter, softened
200g caster sugar
5 tablespoons brown soft sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
180ml milk
250g pumpkin puree


 
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It's really starting to feel like Autumn around here so when I saw cans of pumpkin puree on a website for £1.29 each I just had to stock up and use it for some baking. Plus Starbucks have launched their Autumn flavours in the UK... spiced pumpkin latte for the first time, and salted caramel mocha/hot chocolate. 

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I'm absolutely in love with any seasonal syrupy concoctions from coffee shops so when I saw this recipe I knew it had to be the first thing I made with my new pumpkin tins! 


In the UK you can buy pumpkin puree from Waitrose/Ocado if you prefer that over online shopping.


These cookies turned out pretty cakey for me, I think if I made them again I'd melt the butter first as this usually turns out really chewy cookies.