MY OWN BIRTHDAY CAKE

This is my own birthday cake .. It was a vanilla cake with 2 layers, one with marmelade and one layer of buttercreme. I used sugar paste to cover the cake, the flowers and leaves are coloured sugar paste. The text I wrote on with chocolate. The side is covered with a green ribben.

CLASSIC APPLE PIE

This is a recipe I’ve found in a magazine and if you could see my copy you would know that I’ve had it for years! ou can never go wrong with an apple dessert; I’ll hardly ever eat apples but in a dessert they are the perfect companion!

Ingredients for 8 persons:

• 1 kg apples, cut and sliced in cubs
• 3 eggs
• 180 grams white granulated sugar
• 20 grams baking powder
• 180 grams melted butter
• 180 grams all purpose flour

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 175°C
• Mix the egg yolks with 80 grams of sugar to a creamy substance, this takes at least 4-5 minutes. It needs to have a yellowy colour
• Add the baking powder, butter and flour to the mixture
• Mix the egg whites until stiff with a pinch of salt and mix through the rest of the mixture. Do not over-mix as you will otherwise loose your airy structure
• Butter a baking tin so the cake won’t stick
• Spoon the mixture in and push in the apple cubs with a fork. Sprinkle with 100 grams of sugar and put it in a preheated oven of 175°C for 80 minutes.

BANANA CUPCAKE WITH CHOCOLATE LAYER

This is an alternative recipe to my previous banana cupcake recipe I've put on my blog already. I can't really say which one I prefer as they both have a nice flavour (according to me).

Ingredients:

• 175 grams full-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 125 grams unsalted melted butter
• 150 grams white granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 4 small bananas (mashed)
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Steps:

• preheat the oven to 180°C
• prepare your cupcake tray by putting the cupcake papers in
• mix the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a bowl
• in a different bowl mix the melted butter and sugar until combined, beat in the egg one by one and add the mashed bananas and vanilla extract
• mix the flour mixture into the second bowl but don't do it in one go, add the flour mixture in 3 goes
• divide the mixture in the cupcake papers and put it in the oven for 25 minutes
• to decorate the top you can melt a bit of milk chocolate and pour it over, make sure that the cupcake has cooled down

AMARETTO TRUFFLES

Ingredients for 24 truffles:

• 175 grams milk chocolate
• 2 tbsp Amaretto liqueur
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 4 tbsp icing sugar
• 50 grams ground almonds
• cocao powder to cover the truffles

steps:

• Melt the milk chocolate with the liqueur in a bowl set over a saucepan of hot water, stirring until well combined
• add the butter and stir until it has melted
• stir in the icing sugar and the ground almonds
• leave the mixture in a cool place until it is firm enough to roll truffles
• roll the truffles in some cocoa powder and chill them in the fridge