cake

Quick Carrot Cake Recipe

Posted on by maya

 

hi-guys

I’ve never been one to sleep in, mainly because my lack of social life ensures an early night. However, I’ve always enjoyed an extra hour or so in bed on Sundays, especially when on holidays. So it was a surprise when this morning I woke up unusually early to the sounds of what my sleep-deprived mind imagined to be a battle going on outside my bedroom. As it turns out, it was simply my younger siblings on an enthusiastic Easter egg hunt around my house, their chocolate-fueled excitement apparently making any kind of discretion at 7a.m. impossible.

Luckily, one giant, mint-flavoured, gold foil-wrapped chocolate egg later, my abrupt awakening was forgotten and I officially switched over to Easter-celebration mode. I wanted to share this delicious carrot cake recipe with you guys today, because it’s such an Easter classic! The bright, colourful carrots combined with crunchy pecan nuts, flaky coconut and warm spices, make a perfect, aromatic batter. The moist cake is topped with a fluffy mascarpone icing that just brings it to the next level. I just barely managed to snap a few photographs of it, before my family promptly devoured it in seconds.

Make sure to let me know in the comments below what other posts you guys want to see this spring. Happy Easter! signature

 

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Ingredients

cake
75g self-raising flour
1 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 carrots, grated
50g pecans, chopped (plus a few to decorate)
30g desicated coconut
75g light brown sugar
2 eggs
3 tbsp fresh orange juice
75g butter, melted
Icing
250g mascarpone
3 tbsp icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
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Method
  1. Preheat the oven to 190’C (375’F). Grease and line a baking tin with baking parchment.
  2. Sift flour, spices and baking powder into a large bowl.
  3. Add pecans, coconut, sugar and carrots. Mix well.
  4. Add eggs, orange juice and butter. Stir until well combined.
  5. Pour mixture into baking tin. Bake for 20-30 minutes.
  6. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
  7. For the icing, beat together mascarpone, icing sugar and vanilla extract until smooth.
  8. Spread the icing over the top of the cake and decorate with a few pecan nuts.
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How to Make Snowball Cookies

Posted on by maya

hi-guys

So I’m not going to lie, I’ve been wanting to share this recipe with you guys for months but have been patiently waiting for it to be socially acceptable to post Christmas recipes (which according to my mother would be the 1st of August)! Anyways, now that I’ve heard every single Christmas song ever written being played about a hundred times over in the last week, I figured it’s a perfectly acceptable time for making snowball cookies.

Personally, there’s nothing I love more on a cold winter’s day (or any day, really – weather’s pretty irrelevant) than to snuggle up in bed, briefly consider the possibility of being productive and ultimately end up just eating cookies for a couple of hours. And what with Christmas break coming up, I thought I’d spread some Christmas cheer and encourage you all to do the same 🙂 – because I’m such a great influence. And trust me, these little icing-covered, melt-in-your-mouth balls of deliciousness make the perfect snack to share with your family (or enjoy by yourself – I don’t judge) over the holidays!

I hope you get a chance to try them out over the weekend – if you do, make sure to let me know in the comments below!

ingredients

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1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup icing / powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups plain flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
plus additional icing sugar for rolling

method

Preheat the oven to 250°C/400°F. Combine butter, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl.

Add the flour and salt. Mix well until a crumbly dough forms.

Shape the dough into balls. Place the dough balls on a cookie sheet and bake for about 9 minutes until set (don’t let them brown 🙂 ).

Leave the cookies to cool slightly, then roll them in icing sugar while they’re still warm. Enjoy!

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Rich Chocolate Brownie Recipe

Posted on by maya

Every once in a while we all crave something rich, decadent and chocolatey (unless of course you’re allergic/don’t like chocolate, in which case you’re unfortunately missing out on one of the great joys of life). The summer holidays are a great time to bake a batch of brownies and share them with friends and family (or alternatively, enjoy them by yourself on the couch while watching your favourite TV show 😉 ). For years this has been my go-to brownie recipe and I’ve included step-by-step photos to make sure it’s really easy to follow. I thought this was the perfect thing to post on Father’s Day, since I’m absolutely certain that no Dad could resist freshly baked brownies. Let me know in the comments below what you guys like to bake/do during the holidays and if you found this recipe helpful!signature

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Ingredients

brownies ingredients

100g/ 1/2 cup butter

175g/ 3/4 cup caster (granulated) sugar

175g / 1/2 cup dark muscovado sugar

125g dark chocolate

1 tbsp golden syrup

2 eggs

100g / 3/4 plain (all-purpose) flour

2 tsbp cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

Method

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1. Gently heat butter, sugars, chocolate and golden syrup in a heavy based saucepan. Stir until mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

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2. Beat together eggs, then whisk in the cooled chocolate mixture.

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3. Sieve together the flour, cocoa powder and baking sugar and fold into the egg and chocolate mixture.

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4. Mix until ingredients are well combined.

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5. Spoon the brownie mixture into a lightly greased cake tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180’C/350’F for approx. 30 minutes, or until the top is crisp and the edge of the brownie starts to shrink away from the tin.brownies 8

6. Technically, you’re supposed to leave the cake to cool before cutting it into squares to serve. However, seeing as you’ve put in all this hard work, I think its perfectly acceptable for the chef to try some while it’s still warm ;).

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Simple Sponge Cake Recipe

Posted on by maya

hey

I haven’t posted a recipe in a while, but since I’m on holidays I finally got a chance to do some baking yesterday and take some half-decent pictures for you guys 🙂 . I make this simple vanilla sponge so often, it’s now become my signature cake and go-to recipe whenever I’m baking a dessert for guests. It’s light, moist and incredibly easy to make! Let me know in the comments below if you try this cake out, and what other recipes you’d like to see on Arsty Teen.signature

 

 

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 175g / 7/8 cup caster/granulated sugar
  • 175g/ 3/4 cup butter (softened)
  • 175g/ 1 1/2 self raising flour (sifted)
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla essence

for the glaze

  • 280g/2 cups icing sugar
    (sifted)
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • 2 tsp vanilla essence

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 180’C (375’F) and line a 5 x 9 inch rectangular baking tin with parchment paper .
  2. In a large bowl, combine sugar, vanilla essence and butter.
  3. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Tip: To make sure the mixture doesn’t curdle, add one tablespoon of flour along with each egg.
  4. Mix in the rest of the sifted flour.
  5. Empty mixture into tin and bake for 35-40 minutes.
  6. When the cake is ready, remove from oven and leave to cool.
  7. While your cake is cooling, make the glaze. Combine the sifted icing sugar, milk and vanilla essence in a small bowl until the mixture is smooth and glossy.
  8. Pour the glaze over your cooled sponge and leave to dry.
  9. Enjoy!
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How to make the perfect Sticky Lemon Syrup Cake

Posted on by maya

About two years ago, I went through what I like to call my “Lemon Syrup Cake” phase. What is this, you ask? Let me explain.

The “Lemon Syrup Cake” phase is a sudden, inexplicable obsession with Lemon Syrup Cake that lasts approximately 9 months. Symptoms including baking this cake constantly, eating it constantly and staring at this recipe longingly for several hours.

As I said, I eventually managed to move on (cinnamon is my new fascination), but during this time I did manage to perfect my “Lemon Syrup Cake” recipe. Of course, I had to share it with you guys and I wish you all luck as you embark on you “Lemon Syrup Cake” phases!

Ingredients

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for the cake

  • 150g / 3/4 cup caster sugar
  • 175g/ 3/4 cup butter (softened)
  • 175g/ 1 1/2 self raising flour (sifted)
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • juice and zest of 1 lemon

for the syrup

  • 1 cup caster sugar
  • juice and zest of 2 lemons
  • 1/3 cup water

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 180’C (375’F) and line a 5 x 9 inch rectangular baking tin with parchment paper .
  2. In a large bowl, combine sugar and butter.
  3. Add eggs and flour. Mix well.
  4. Stir in vanilla extract, lemon zest and lemon juice.
  5. Empty mixture into tin and bake for 35-40 minutes.
  6. While your cake is baking, make the lemon syrup. Heat sugar, lemon juice, zest and water over a low heat until the sugar has completely dissolved (about 10 minutes).
  7. When the cake is ready, remove from oven. Using a fork or skewer, poke holes all over the cake (this helps the cake absorb the syrup).
  8. Pour syrup over cake and leave to cool.