It's getting to be really, really cold around here. Gusty winds, ice and a bit of sleet yesterday all trigger my "comfort-food" reflex ~ excellent for my husband, not so good for my, ahem, curvaceous body! But that aside, not only have I been making some wonderful culinary creations (blowing my own trumpet much?), I've been inventing some new ones along the way, and rather surprisingly, they have come out very well indeed.



My first cake is an old faithful recipe that has never let me down. Even if I've had to make it in the worst of circumstances (this one was concocted whilst a beast played the bongos in my right eye), it still comes out wonderfully. It's from a book by the Chocolate-guru Helge Rubinstein called, invitingly, The Chocolate Book. If you can find a copy, I very much recommend a read of it. There are usually good stocks of it in charity shops up and down the country. I took liberties with this cake, and added ground almonds, which made it more voluptuous and more melt-in-the-mouth. I took it out earlier than usual, to ensure complete gooey-ness. Served with cream as more of a dessert than a cake, it hit the right spot when in need of some chocolate therapy.



Those cupcakes are carrot-cake cupcakes, altering an already-tested recipe from the CupcakeBakeshop blog. The incredibly swirly icing was because, at the very last moment, my icing bag split. I could've done it manually, but I used an unused (and sterile, I hasten to add!) syringe from the dog's medicine cabinet. See, necessity is the mother of invention!



Then comes my pièce de résistance, an apple tart. This is completely my own recipe, although they are all pretty in style. You have three parts: pastry, custardy-inner and apple slices on top. My pâté sucrée, or sweet pastry was of my own invention as well (not that it's a secret or anything). I wing things, and they either work out or not. But I have now been cooking long enough to know by rote when things look like they'll work or they wont! I'm posting the recipe separately because it's just a bit too long (and a bit too special) to be lumped in with this post as well, so it'll get posted tomorrow!



I haven't even mentioned the Festive Flapjacks yet. My own concoction which I'll also post the recipe to, they are my new favourite sweet-thing (diets be damned), and will be made often, especially in the run up to xmas!