Apple and Cinnamon Muffins

What a beautiful day! Who else is loving this sun!? I'm definitely not ready to put away the shorts just yet so I'm hoping it lasts as long as possible. I need to keep this tan somehow!

Slutty Brownie Cake

Most of the time, I love baking. It's relaxing, you get to eat the end result, and it makes other people happy too. Other times, I completely understand why people cry on the Great British Bake Off. Breaking down over your burnt sponge or collapsed baked Alaska? Totally justified. This cake was one of those moments.

Kiwi, Banana and Mango Smoothie

The sun's back! Oh, how I've missed you.

Carrot Cake

As a child, the thought of carrot cake sounded awful to me. As did cheesecake for that matter. Who in their right mind would want vegetables and cheese in a cake? Oh, how young and naive I was...

Now that I've grown up a little, I've come to appreciate the modest carrot cake for what it is: an English classic. So, it was about time I made my own.

Beetroot Brownies

Is there anything more beautiful than a mountain of brownies?

No, I didn't think so.

Pumpkin Brownies

I love brownies. Indulgent triple chocolate brownies are my favourite thing to bake. In my opinion, nothing beats a freshly baked brownie, warm out of the oven, deliciously gooey, chocolate chips melting in the middle. So when I've seen recipes for brownies made with vegetables, from sweet potato to beetroot, I've always been intrigued at how they'd compare to my trusty chocolate brownie. With bags of pumpkin still left in my freezer, I decided to experiment with my favourite bake and try out some pumpkin brownies! Infused with cinnamon and nutmeg, these are brownies with a festive makeover!

Pumpkin Soup

Another pumpkin post! Just to warn you, there will probably be a lot of these...

Pumpkin Pie

Autumn is a time for all things pumpkin. Except for the pumpkin risotto I ate at Prezzo a couple of weeks ago, my experience of eating and baking with pumpkin doesn't extend that far. Halloween seemed to fly past this year, so much so that I didn't even have time to carve my white pumpkin (who else is loving these ghostly pumpkins? I think I may even prefer them to the standard orange ones!). So rather than wasting this beastie, I decided to try some pumpkin bakes for the first time. First up, of course it had to be pumpkin pie!

Spooky Gingerbread Biscuits

Happy Halloween! Okay okay, so I may be a day late, but hey, I've got my excuses! I didn't even have time to carve a pumpkin and my fancy dress was below par. My Halloween game was just not on point this year. I do apologise. Will some spooky gingerbread biscuits make it up to you? Maybe? Well here you go then...

Masala Chai Apple Cake

Last month, as part of my Pinspiration series, I created an Autumn Baking post listing all types of yummy autumn bakes I've been drooling over on Pinterest. I was immediately drawn to this masala chai apple cake, mainly due to the presence of "chai" in the title. In my mind, chai equals chai latte. I love chai latte. Chai in cake form with a subtle presence of apple? I'm sold.

Fun fact, I decided to make this cake right after hot yoga. I literally walked out of the studio and straight into the supermarket for ingredients. Because you always deserve a treat post-exercise, right?

Chocolate, Raspberry and Meringue Cake

What's that? Another birthday cake? Well, if you insist...

Lemon, Elderflower and Mascarpone Cake

My blog's had a make-over! What do you think of Doodles and Daydreams new look? Personally I love it. It's a lot cleaner and hopefully more professional, plus I've organised my posts into different categories so it will be easier to navigate. I've still got some changes to make but we're getting there!

So it's officially autumn. With the pretty poor summer we had this year, I'm not really sure how I feel about the fact that any chance of hot sunny weather has pretty much disappeared now. I'm still yet to get into the autumn frame of mind, so here's a nice summery bake for you!

Autumn Baking Pinspiration

Brrrr, it's getting chilly, isn't it!? I don't think I'm quite prepared for this cold weather yet, but I'm trying to ease myself into Autumn by remembering all the things I love about it. At number one? Autumn flavours. I just love all the spices around this time of year, be it in food, drink or candle form. Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger... mmmm just dreamy! Forget pumpkin spiced latte (although to be fair I haven't actually tried one yet), I'm all about that chai tea latte (if you haven't had it before, go and get one now. Right now. I promise you won't regret it). All this daydreaming about delicious flavours has got me thinking about Autumn baking. To Pinterest!

Chocolate and Honeycomb Checkerboard Cake

Happy September! How did that happen? I swear it just turned July the other day. With September comes a rush of birthdays, so expect a lot of birthday cake posts over the next few weeks! First up, Reiss' birthday! As explained in last year's Birthday Banoffee Cake post, he's not a huge fan of the standard (and my go to) chocolate cake, so I'm always looking for inspiration for something a little bit different.

Summer Baking Pinspiration

Now I have all this time on my hands (there are only so many job applications you can fill out before you begin to lose the will), I'm getting the baking cravings! For me, summer baking is all about light flavours with fresh fruit and berries, even better if they're hand picked! Time to turn to Pinterest for some delicious inspiration...

Malteser Tiffin

Sometimes you need a naughty homemade chocolatey treat that's quick to whip up and requires next to no effort to make. For those moments, I introduce you to tiffin. Essentially a fridge cake combining chocolate and biscuits, it requires no baking, just chopping, crushing, melting and mixing. Even the most inexperienced baking novice will find this a breeze! I followed this recipe for malteser tiffin, which has been my go to recipe for tiffin ever since I first made it during my first year of university; two years later and I'm still loving it!

Frozen Summer Fruits Smoothie

Smoothies are a super quick and easy way to fill you up and get your daily dose of fruit! And not only are they packed full of healthy vitamins, they're delicious too! This summer fruits smoothie with banana, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackcurrents and redcurrents is perfect for those hot sunny days; sweet, fruity and refreshing!

Butternut Squash and Chilli Soup

It's no secret that I absolutely love baking, and I would go as far to say I'm not too bad at it either! Unfortunately, the same can't be said for cooking. Whilst I love to experiment with my baking and add different ingredients here and there to see what works and what doesn't (hopefully the former!), if I even think about getting ambitious with my cooking and straying beyond my trusty jars of pre-made sauces, you know there will be a bordering-on-inedible mess on your hands. However, I can't live off tuna pasta or any other pasta-based dish forever, so I think it's high time I got a hang of this homemade cooking thing!

Golden Syrup Flapjacks

Another golden syrup recipe for you all! I've been doing quite well with my food recently! And I have to say, the aromas filling my flat right now after just baking these flapjacks are to die for... buttery, caramelly, sugary goodness!

Banana and Golden Syrup Muffins

What do you do when you have a load of eggs that need using up and some overly ripe bananas? Make some banana muffins of course!