What's the last thing you baked?

This weekend was BAKING MAD in order to supply our moorings baking for the open gardens weekend (we raise money for the RNLI every year).

I made a double batch of chocolate cupcakes with Baileys icing, a double batch of mojito cupcakes, and a batch of butterscotch brownies on Friday night, then my husband made a double batch of banana bread, a cointreau & chocolate cake, and an orange drizzle cake on Saturday, then I made another batch of butterscotch brownies and a mojito cupcake batch on Saturday night after the previous lots sold out.

Between this and our Sunday roast, our oven was on for a good 5-6 hours each day...

I baked some bread yesterday, and today I am attempting Chelsea Buns, because they're the closest thing to cinnamon buns I could find in any of our recipe books.  I'm tweaking the filling to add cinnamon. 

I've never made a sweet bun type thing of any kind, minus the Pillsbury ones that come in the can, so it should be interesting.  I'm a bit concerned at the moment because the dough seems really buttery, but I guess we'll see!

They seemed to have turned out alright, although I'm not sure they are what they are supposed to be...

The dough never really rose like it was supposed to.  It feels more like a pastry than a dough. I'm wondering if it was too much butter/not enough yeast. They still taste good anyway! 

I baked carrot muffins today with vanilla buttercream icing. I must say that they turned out surprisingly well. Most things I've cooked haven't tasted quite right - or rather, the ingredients aren't the same so it hasn't had that "back in America" taste.

The only thing I had to omit was sweetened shredded coconut because I've only seen dessicated coconut in the supermarkets I checked. Back in America it's everywhere...

I made a strawberry almond crumble from Nigella's <i>Kitchen</i>. DH has decided it's his favourite crumble topping ever and now wants it on every crumble-type dish. I thought it was good, but not the only crumble topping I'd ever want to eat ever again.

I made a quiche lorraine for a friend who's had a bad fall from a horse and can't use one of her hands at the moment - so I'm guessing cooking is out!  I'm taking it round later on - hope she likes quiche!!

Finally broke my new KitchenAid mixer out of its box and made macaroons for the first time ever! I followed this recipe and one sheet turned out PERFECT and the other was hollow, which later I found out to mean they weren't cooked long enough. For a first attempt, I'm very happy with that!

I also made a batch of butterscotch brownies and a batch of chocolate cupcakes, too. All the above are for our last open gardens bake sale event tomorrow...

Currently baking some oatmeal raisin cookies with 2 loaves of bread on deck for after.

The cookies are a different (simpler) recipe from the one I normally use, because I didn't have all the stuff, and they smell freaking awesome. 

I made a raspberry bakewell tart for DH which he didn't eat 

I made a loaf of bread, but my bread-fu continues to be bread-foo and I forgot the sugar so it didn't rise 

and I made carrot cake muffins but this recipe (nigel slater's) doesn't have enough carrots, either.  I need a brilliant, bursting with carrots and incredibly moise carrot cake recipe!

I made a loaf of bread, but my bread-fu continues to be bread-foo and I forgot the sugar so it didn't rise 

What is your bread recipe and how do you knead it?  I never put sugar in my bread and it rises a treat!  Mine is 1000g strong bread flour, 600 ml warm water, 10g dry yeast, 20g salt.  It makes 2 nice sized round loaves.

What is your bread recipe and how do you knead it?  I never put sugar in my bread and it rises a treat!  Mine is 1000g strong bread flour, 600 ml warm water, 10g dry yeast, 20g salt.  It makes 2 nice sized round loaves.

The one I've been using is 500g bread flour (usually a mix of white, wheat, and/or rye), 300ml water, one sachet of yeast, tablespoon of butter, and a tablespoon of sugar, tablespoon of salt makes one loaf.  The last couple of times it wasn't rising so I reduced the salt to one tsp (salt limits the growth of yeast) but I forgot the sugar so it still didn't work. It rose overnight - we don't have the heat on so I didn't have a warm place to let it proove for an hour, but didn't do much on the second proove, even in the kitchen with the oven on to keep it warm.  It used to work, but lately it hasn't.

Pillsbury Funfetti cupcakes - mix sent to me from my sister in the states. Sort of juvenile, I know but for some reason, these things are a HUGE hit here and my hub absolutely hates to share them with the neighbors (which is pretty much the only reason I make them).

  That stinks! I guess it must be the sugar, though I never put any in so I'm not sure how that works.  The only thing I can suggest, and this is how I bake my bread anyway, is to have your oven on the highest temperature it goes to for the first 10 minutes of baking and then turn it down to 190/180/170 for the rest of it.  The shock of super hot air will make the bread rise quite a bit and will help to give it a nice crust as well.  I tend to underknead my dough despite my best efforts (kneading is so boring!!!) so it can be kind of floppy.  It usually helps give it a lift.  

I also usually have a roasting tin with hot water from the kettle in the bottom of the oven.  The steam helps to make a nice crust.

I need a brilliant, bursting with carrots and incredibly moise carrot cake recipe!

I don't know if it's brilliant, but this recipe did the trick for me:

Carrot Muffins
1 ½ c flour
1 c sugar
½ tsp salt
½ tb baking soda
½ tb cinnamon
¼ tsp ginger
¼ tsp nutmeg
¾ c oil
2 large eggs
1 tb vanilla extract (the real stuff)
¾ c chopped nuts (optional)
1 c grated carrot
½ crushed pineapple

I think the pineapple is what made it moist. I couldn't taste it and the cake wasn't dry. I guess if you want it more carroty you could up the amount to 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cup. I might do that next time because the carrot flavor wasn't that pronounced.

It makes 12 muffins and I baked it at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.

Thanks  I've had carrot cake with pineapple before and it definitely makes it more moist and a bit sweeter.

I'm thinking about trying Pioneer woman's carrot cake recipe, but the pictures don't look as carroty as I want, either    I think I'm just going to have to experiment with more carrots and adjusted cook-times.