Banoffee whoopie pies

Page 129 - Banoffee whoopie pies

These were my kind of whoopie pie - caramel icing which I LOVE plus banana sponge!

If I make them again, I would put more banana in the sponge, or chop it up a bit more as I only got the odd whiff of banana in mine. And for some reason the filling was a little soft so didn't set as well as before, perhaps more sugar needed next time?

Nevertheless I have a bowl of filling in the fridge just crying out to be eaten later on - result!

Raspberry trifle cupcakes

Page 116 - Raspberry trifle cupcakes

These were a lot of effort to make... but well worth it :-)

The raspberry and jam in the centre were a nice surprise I think and the custard topping meant that they were not too sweet. I took them to a baby shower and they were perfect for a (chilly!) summers day!

Having made a couple of recipes with custard, I'm wondering if the same principle applies to making ordinary custard to have with desserts - I may need to try it out soon!

Cola cupcakes

Page 139 - Cola cupcakes

Now these do taste like cola! Perhaps it's because cola has a more distinctive flavour than lemonade? It's not too strong, but noticeable enough - random!

Again, I do have a LOT of cola syrup left over... who knows what I can use that for, ice lollies perhaps?!

Lemonade cupcakes

Page 112 - Lemonade cupcakes

I don't know what I was expecting but these really taste like lemon cupcakes as opposed to lemonade... but I guess that's because there's no way you can make a cupcake taste fizzy!

These are super easy to make, and rather tasty - although I'm now left with lots of lemonade syrup that I need to find something to do with!

Strawberries and cream cheesecake

Page 121 - Strawberries and cream cheesecake

I was so excited about making this recipe... and I wasn't disappointed... the cheesecakes in this book are AMAZING!

It was quite easy to make, although I wasn't sure if I'd reduced the strawberries down enough as the cheesecake was much more soft than the vanilla (summer fruits) cheesecake I made a few weeks ago. I also used Hob Nobs in the base which I wouldn't do again as it lost its crunchiness. But the fresh strawberries on top gave it a real "twang" and I loved it!

Can't wait to see if there are more cheesecakes coming up - I'm not going to cheat and look too far ahead in the book :-)

Peach and raspberry tart

Page 115 - Peach and raspberry tart

A lovely summer's dessert which I took to a BBQ with friends last night. I seem to be on a roll with pastry at the moment... or perhaps the recipe is just really simple. But either way this came out of the tin easily and looked lovely with the fresh fruit on top.