Baking to me is a complicated science, one that I really do not understand. I manage to cook savoury meals with an element of creativity and dare I say it, flair, but baking is another matter. Biscuits I manage to cope with, but anything that requires rise is definitely not my forte. Poor Dominic has had to taste test the most horrendous concoctions. The latest being a spelt, chocolate, whole boiled orange cake that quite literally could have been used as a deadly rubber weapon. I have learnt so much whilst trying so desperately hard to be good at baking. For example, coconut oil sucks the air out of a cake so always fold it in at the last minute, banana as a butter substitute will never work with an acidic cake i.e the orange one I speak of before, and that too many eggs can turn a cake into a tyre.
So, when it comes to cake baking I am on the hunt for the much more knowledgeable. Now, in my pre-Lena-sugar-filled-snack-days my go to recipes came from the likes of Delia, Mary Berry, Peyton & Byrne, Hummingbird Bakery and Magnolia Bakery (a book I thankfully loaned to a friend and subsequently can't remember who, otherwise I'm sure I would have more fillings by now!) But when it comes to no sugar bakes I am still discovering those masters. The lovely Melissa over at
My Wholefood Life has a wonderful list of treats, and after trying out this little number I'm collating my own list of to what to try next!