Gibby Bakes

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 ...

Christmas Day is probably the only day of the year that the whole family sits down together for a full meal (unless we go out for tea of course!), making it a really special meal. Usually at Christmas we just have soup as a starter, however this year we decided that we'd switch it up a bit, and naturally I offered to whip us up a tasty first course! After trawling through my recipe books for some inspiration, I came across this Wild Mushroom and Gorgonzola Tart! Admittedly I'd never tried gorgonzola before, but I knew instantly that this was the tart for us!  The tart in all its glory! Disclaimer, not everyone at ours is a fan of mushrooms, so I did make a Butternut Squash and Goat's Cheese Tart, which happened to be gluten-free too, as a second option. Making two starters, a dessert, and biscuits to give as part of Christmas presents meant I was in the kitchen for a very long time on Christmas Eve, but I simply watched a couple of Christmas films, and old Gavin and Stacey ...

Now, I know I've already touched on these biscuits in my Mince Pies post, but as I said the history behind them is so fascinating that I had to give them their own little post. So this will be a little break from tradition for this blog, as I'll be focusing a lot more on the history than I will be on the method! Even though these biscuits look quite thick, I've still rolled the  dough out too thinly! That being said, I'll start with a short piece about the method. These biscuits are made by combining butter, sugar, flour, ground almonds, and cinnamon in a bowl until a stiff dough forms. Some recipes call for the use of milk too, though it wasn't necessary in this case. The resulting texture is very short and delicate, which is where the name polvorone comes from. Polvo in Spanish means powder or dust, and they really do crumble into a powder in your mouth. This doesn't sound pleasant, but the texture is rather heavenly!  Polvorones are a variety of mantecados, ...

Confession time, I'm not really a mince pie lover. If the option is there for a mince pie alternative, I'll usually take it. Whenever I've made them in the past it's usually because I've felt like you have to give them a go at Christmas, and it's certainly been for other people, not for me. Recently though I've been seeing people online use different toppings in place of a pastry lid, and I saw the perfect opportunity to try something new! The Mince Pies with the crushed  shortbread topping! For me, the making of the mince pies is probably more enjoyable than the actual eating, and the method is so easy. By rubbing together plain flour and butter, then stirring in sugar and an egg, you produce a sweet pastry that is wonderfully short and melts in the mouth. Shaping the mince pies is also so easy, as you simply roll out the pastry and use it to line a muffin tin! In the past I've struggled with making the mince pies look attractive, but I'm sure you...

The latest recipe on the Jane's Patisserie website, these Hot Chocolate Cupcakes, much like the Mulled Wine Cupcakes I wrote about earlier, are up there with the coziest bakes ever! After seeing Jane debut these cupcakes on her Instagram page, I just had to have a go at them for myself! At this point, Jane says jump and I ask how high! A close up of one of the  cupcakes! The sponge for these cakes is wonderfully light, and the flavour of the hot chocolate powder comes through perfectly without providing any excessive sweetness. Extra sweetness isn't usually an issue for me as I have a very sweet tooth, but given the kind of frosting this recipe calls for even I was slightly apprehensive about the flavour.  What really drew me to these cupcakes was the "marshmallow fluff" frosting! I'll admit to not being a massive marshmallow lover, least of all of those tubs of marshmallow fluff you can buy. I'd make an exception for smores around a bonfire, but generally the...

What do you do when you've promised to bake a little something for an engagement party at the beginning of winter, but have absolutely zero inspiration? You make Mulled Wine Cupcakes, of course! Simple, but effective! It's that time of year again where mulled wine returns to show its face in pubs and restaurants, and my place of work is no exception. I can be a bit fussy with mulled wine, but I really liked the taste of the one we serve. It tasted quite strongly of orange alongside the spice mix, which gave me the idea to prepare a batch of cupcakes flavoured with mulled wine! The perfect winter warmer, these cakes were arguably one of the best ways to enter into the festive period (or to step into Christmas, if you will)! Before starting on the cake batter, I began by making my own mulled wine to use for the sponge. This mulled wine was very easy to make. I just had to combine red wine with orange zest and juice, cinnamon, and cloves, and leave it to infuse for about half an h...