This whole page is dedicated to showcasing some of the special bakes I’ve made for those nearest and dearest to me.  I really love trying to figure out what they love and think of some way to incorporate that into their cake…and if all else fails, I sneakily ask them!

I may add some of these cakes onto my blog as recipes as time goes on (some are already up there!), so if there is something specific from the pictures below you’d like to see, let me know!

I am based in Brighton and can bake cakes to order, so if there is anything you like the look of from below, get in touch and I’ll see if I can work something out!

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Carrot Cake
Spiced Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

My step-dad loves anything ginger flavoured, and over the years for his birthday or Father’s day I’ve made him cakes such as a classic rich sticky ginger cake and a fruit, ginger and whiskey cake…but this year I thought I’d take it back to basics and make a carrot cake, but really vamp up the spicing with lots of ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg.  I also made my first sugar paste decoration…It’s just a carrot, but you’ve gotta start somewhere, right!?

 

Snickers Cake
Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel, Peanut Butter Cream Cheese filling and a Chocolate Ganache

Haribo Anti Gravity Cake
Vanilla Sponges sandwiched between Vanilla Buttercream and Raspberry Jam, topped with more Vanilla Frosting and LOTS of Haribo!!!

I made this cake for my cousin Jack’s 21st birthday.  He has a huge sweet tooth and loves anything made with sugar, so what better cake to make than one pouring itself with sweets!  This was my first attempt and an anti-gravity cake, and I’ll definitely now be making more!

 

 Pumpkin Cheesecake
Pumpkin Cheesecake with a Ginger Crumb Biscuit Base

Chocolate Raspberry Brownies

These brownies are heavenly! Super gooey, but the sweetness is off-set by the sharp raspberries so they’re not too sickly… which is perfect as you can definitely eat more than one!  I made a huge batch of these for a girl’s weekend away to the coast a few years ago, and every brownie went! Always a good sign I’d say!

 

Oreo Cake
Chocolate Cake with a ‘Oreo’ Cookie Frosting

I made this HUGE cake for a birthday girl who loved Oreo biscuits; which is fine, but she’s also gluten free and you can’t get gluten free Oreos!  However, what I did find were Udi’s gluten free sandwich cookies…amazing!  This cake had to be cut in half once sliced as it was that tall, but the birthday girl loved it…who doesn’t want mountains of cakes?!!

 

 

Chocolate Orange Schichttorte

I first made this really complicated cake for my Mum’s birthday.  Her absolute favourite flavour is chocolate orange and I was waiting for an opportunity to put that into a cake.  This tested my abilities to the max, but I somehow pulled it off!  Her friend then saw the pictures of the cake and requested I make it for her friend’s 60th birthday…who was I to disappoint?! It’s quite a lot of pressure making such a complicated cake for someone else, as it I didn’t do it right, it would have been such a let down!  Thankfully though, it turned out great!

 

Easter Simnel Cake

I had never made, or even heard of, a Simnel Cake before this.  I knew I wanted to make something for Easter so I asked around and found out that this traditional cake is usually eaten for Easter.  It’s a fruit and marzipan cake, flavoured with spices, citrus and almond.  I decorated mine with chocolate drizzle, because who doesn’t want to eat some chocolate on Easter!?

 

Caramel Cupcakes
Caramel Cake with Caramel Frosting

These cupcakes are already on my food blog if you want the recipe.  These cakes are flavoured with caramel in the batter mix for the cake, but also in the frosting.  Super delicious, and somehow not too sweet!  Definitely a crowd pleaser.

 

Gin and Tonic Cake

This is me in cake form!  My girlfriend’s and I LOVE gin and tonics, and so this cake was born!  It is so zesty it just bursts with flavour, but is completely balanced out with the botanical flavours of the gin and tonic…with a lime glaze on top, making sure it’s not too tart.  This is a sure winner to any sunny day…along with a gin and tonic of course!

 

Ginger Lime Cheesecake

This may not look too pretty (I blame my photography entirely!), but my gosh, did this taste good!  I made this once to take to London for my friend who was making us dinner.  I knew we’d be having some gin and tonic’s throughout the evening, and I wanted to make something that would compliment that well.  My gin and tonic cake had already been tasted by them (on the blog already!), but they hadn’t tried this! A spicy ginger crust topped with a creamy but zesty lime top…bliss!

 

Chocolate Peanut Whoopie Pies

I made these with my friend a few years ago now.  I had never had a whoppie pie before, and from the Hummingbird bakery cookbook we made these!  Chocolate and Peanut Butter is a winning combination, and they were sandwiched between a marshmallow frosting…dreamy!

 

Chocolate Fudge Cake
Chocolate Fudge Cake with Chocolate Fudge Frosting and Freeze Dried Strawberries

You can’t mess with a classic chocolate fudge cake…except when trying to make it gluten free!  It’s really important to keep the cake as moist as possible as gluten free flour can make things quiet dry, but I managed it with this cake.  Always a crowd pleaser!

 

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

 I can’t turn up somewhere without bringing something, and this bundt cake is a great cake to show off the seasonal autumn flavours.  A spiced pumpkin sponge, speckled with apples, cinnamon and pecans.  It not only tasted great, but it’s also really pretty, which I find definitely helps it go down!

 

Chocolate Guinness Cake

A celebration cake for someone who loved a good ale!  I’d heard great things about combining ales with chocolate, so this cake was an experiment, but it worked!  Coated in a classic vanilla frosting, which is always a winner.

 

Lime and Coconut Cupcakes

If you know me, then you’ll know that coconut is my absolute favourite flavour! I put it in everything and anything I can…so obviously it shows up in my baking every so often!  I had an excess of limes in my kitchen, and apart from using them in a gin and tonic (!) I thought I’d bake something to take in to work for my colleagues.  These cupcakes are made with the zest of the lime, and frosting has some of the juice.  Sweetened with the frosting and the tropical taste of the coconut, they were all gobbled up by the end of the day!

 

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

I made this cake for my youngest sister’s birthday a few years ago.  The recipe is up on my blog already if you want to have a go!  We both love hazelnut chocolate, found in our favourites such as Nutella or Ferrero Rocher chocolates, so I thought I’d give it a go in a cake for her.  The chocolate cakes are sandwiched between salted caramel and a hazelnut frosting, all coated in more frosting and decorated in hazelnuts.  Unfortunately I never even got to try a slice, but I hear it went down well!

 

Lemon Bundt Cake

A classic; lemon cake!  A moist lemon sponge, drizzled in a light lemon zesty icing.  A great start to bundt tin baking!