Gibby Bakes

At the minute I seem to be firing out bakes faster than I can write about them! After a pretty hectic weekend visiting the theatre and then a rage room, I'm taking some time to just sit, relax, and write about my recent masterpieces. One bake I'm particularly proud of is this gluten free Carrot Cake! My first time trying the semi-naked technique. Carrot Cake is up there with my absolute favourite cakes ever. I know it's a bit of a controversial one, but the flavours and textures of this cake are absolutely to die for!  And the best part, it's so easy! For the sponge, vegetable oil, soft brown sugar, and eggs are beaten lightly in a bowl until combined. Grated carrots, orange zest, and dried fruit (I used dried cranberries for a little sour kick) are then folded through, before gluten free self raising flour, mixed spiced, ground ginger, and ground cinnamon are sifted into the mixture along with the bicarbonate of soda! When the dried ingredients are fully incorporated, ...

Tell you what, I've wanted to have a go at a batch of Viennese Whirls for so long now, and lately if the chance to bake something vegan and/or gluten free comes up I seem to be embracing the challenge! The lemon curd just peeping out! These Viennese Whirls are flavoured with lemon zest, and are filled with a vegan vanilla-flavoured American buttercream and a homemade vegan lemon curd. I'm sure this isn't the first time I've made vegan lemon curd, but for the life of me I can't remember which bake I used it for... I know I've made vegan passionfruit curd to go in my vegan Strawberries and Coconut Cream Meringue Cake, so maybe that's what I'm thinking of? Preparing the dough for the whirls is very easy. To start with, all you have to do is cream together vegan butter and icing sugar, before adding gluten free flour, xanthan gum, corn flour, and lemon zest. This method is so easy it almost feels criminal! The resulting dough, which is very similar to shortb...

Vegan and gluten free cake is taken to a whole new level courtesy of these recipes from Freya Cox's Simply Vegan recipe book! I don't think I've ever used a recipe book quite as often as I have this one, and I honestly cannot recommend this book enough! Without further ado, say hello to my first show-stopping bake of the year, this vegan and gluten free Winter Spice Pumpkin Cake! Confession time, I actually baked this cake nearly three weeks ago, but I've just been so busy with job interviews, buying a car, and more baking (of course!) that I've been struggling to keep up with writing about my bigger bakes. A few smaller posts helped to ease me back into the flow of blogging, and writing about my Aperol Spritz Mini-Cakes eased me back into longer posts, just like this one is about to be!  Anyone who has been keeping somewhat up to date with my blog posts will know that I adore pumpkin spice, and wintery vibes in general. As the nights are getting lighter and spring ...

My pumpkin spice mission continues! If you've read even a couple of my posts then you'll be absolutely sick of me banging on about this, but I just love autumn! After a few doctors appointments and illnesses I've managed to get back out running, and I reckon it's the best time of year for it. A favourite route of mine involves running in circuits up and around the park woods, and after seeing how the colours on the trees had changed since my last run I knew I just had to do some more autumn inspired baking!  The Pumpkin Spice Cupcake  alongside a vegan Carrot Cake  Cupcake! In all honestly this is my second attempt at these cupcakes. The first cakes I made simply just to try some more vegan and gluten free baking, and I had a nightmare! I ordered myself some cute little autumn leaf cupcake cases to go with the theme, but they were a strange size. They were halfway between fairy cake cases and bun cases, and I didn't have a tin the right size to accommodate them. Thi...

It's my honest opinion that Autumn and Winter are the two best seasons of year. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing all the little lambs in the fields in Spring, but like I said in my cinnamon rolls post there's something about the warming spices we associate with the colder months that I just can't get enough of! Enter then this Pumpkin Spice Swiss Roll! The roll! I've never been one for pumpkin spice anything before, and I always felt that the smells and colours always outshone the flavour of these kinds of foods and drinks. A few weeks ago though I thought I'd give the pumpkin spice frappe in Starbucks a go, and I instantly fell in love with the flavour! The same day, I came across this recipe on theloopywhisk's Instagram page, which felt like a sign! I simply had to give it a go! Did I mention it's gluten free too? This roll is so warming thanks to the added ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves! Just imagine eating this whilst being wrapped up in a cozy...