It's not Wimbledon, but...

It's coming to the end of the summer season, so I'm making the most of all the beautiful strawberries around at the moment. And what better way than to cheesecake some up!

The Hummingbird's Strawberries and Cream cheesecake will not disappoint. Firstly, the fact that I didn't manage to get a photo of the cheesecake before everyone tucked in should tell you everything you need to know!

And secondly, my brother didn't believe that it was homemade - speaks volumes!

The filling is just your typical Hummingbird cheesecake with the addition of some stewed strawberries. I love the way they colour the cheese... swirly and pink, brilliantly girly!

The mascarpone and cream topping, with a touch of icing sugar, was beautiful - I could have eaten that dolloped on strawberries all day! I did do a pretty decoration of chopped strawberries, but then the cheesecake was cut into pre-photography so you don't get to see that, I'm afraid.

Everyone had a spoon of extra strawberries on the side - to make it half-healthy, you see - and the noises coming from those who were tucking in. Well, if you couldn't see what was going on in that room you might've wondered what you were about to walk into...!

All a-struesel

I'm still undecided if not having a lot to say about a cake is a good thing or a bad thing. I think, though, on this occasion it's a good thing - the Apple Struesel cake was unbelievably easy!! I had a little helper in the form of my 12-year-old niece and she did practically the whole thing, that's how simple it was.

But the taste... oh my, I went back for seconds! I'm not usually a fan of fruit on sponge as it can make the sponge soggy, but no worries with that here. Mainly because I doubt the cake will last that long!

Simple and tasty - no complaints about that!

I wonder what this one would taste like with rhubarb instead of the apple... might have to give it a try!

Use your loaf

I think I have a problem. A loaf of a problem. I can't stop making the Hummingbird loaves! It's no bad thing... they're utterly delectable, but I keep meaning to try my hand at some more cupcakes but getting side-tracked by a loaf of two!

Tonight's loaf was a bit leftover-friendly. After making the blueberry crumble loaf at the weekend, I had a pot full of blueberries left over... not being a fan of the blue berry, I needed something else from the pink bible to chuck them into. Enter stage left - the Blueberry and Soured Cream Loaf.

A very quick and very easy recipe... I think even my boy could manage this one! Just your typical "mix the wet ingredients, sift in the dry, gently stir in the berries. Et voila! Into the oven for an hour...

I've just sliced the loaf and it feels so moist under the knife. I think I was rather generous when I added the soured cream to the mix... but, the more the better in my book! Makes me wish I liked blueberries so I could have a taste though. I'll have to await my workmates' feedback tomorrow.

Do not disturb - busy baking

Wow - what a weekend! It was my dear old nan's 80th birthday celebrations this weekend and the whole of my dad's side of the family got together for a bit of a shindig. I, of course, was tasked with feeding the 500 with desserts and cake!

First of all, I knocked-up a pretty little (read: big) birthday cake for nan. It's not a Hummingbird recipe (blasphemy!!), but it was pretty so here are a couple of pics...

This was the first time I have made such dainty little flowers... they didn't turn out how they looked in my head, but, still, I was more than happy with the end result.

Anyway, on to more important matters - the desserts! I wanted to do a cheesecake - my first Hummingbird cheesecake! - so opted for the Lime and Chocolate one. I figured the ladies of the family would be happy with the chocolate, and the lime meant we could pretend it was one of our five a day.

I'd read on the Hummingbird's Facebook page that some people had had some issues while baking the cheesecake. You wrap the cake tin in tin foil and place that into a large baking tray, then add water. Bearing the Facebook warnings in mind, I made sure the tin foil was double-strength and there were no gaps! Plus, I didn't add quite as much water as was recommended, just to be on the safe side.

I think it turned out ok! I split the cheesecake a little when transferring it from tin to pretty plate, but it was nothing a bit of grated chocolate didn't mask (baker's secret!).

Next up, I wanted another fruity recipe so went for the blueberry crumble loaf. I was a bit worried about this one - I'm not a fan of blueberries so wasn't sure how many of my family would be. I worried needlessly - this one was a massive hit!

I loved how the blueberries gave the loaf mix a pretty tinge of purple as I gently stirred them through.

I couldn't bring myself to brave the berries and try to loaf, but I did steal some of the crumble topping... I'm now a convert - all future crumbles by moi will feature chopped pecans!

What a lovely weekend, and a great excuse to try out some new Hummingbird recipes :)

Cookie monster

This weekend is turning out to be a bit of a baking bonanza, and we're only on Friday night! It's my dear old nan's 80th birthday celebrations on Sunday, and I have been tasked with supplying the birthday cake. Of course, me being me, I'm not just going to go out and buy one of Tesco's Finest... so that's why I've spent tonight baking two big, square victoria sponges in preparation for icing and decorating tomorrow!

The whole family are getting together for nan's birthday knees up, so - good as my birthday cakes supposedly are (I've had some excellent feedback, which is always nice!), I don't think my relatives would be too impressed if I showed up with only that to offer, considering how many goodies I've been shipping off to the office lately!

So, this evening I traipsed around the supermarket collecting enough baking ingredients to feed a small army - which is quite apt, seeing as that's what my family is equivalent too!

First on the list were the Apricot and Almond Cookies. I'd never put fruit into cookies before I baked the apple and oat Hummingbird cookies last week and they were delish, so I was pretty confident these apricot ones would be a hit. And... let's just say, I only have my own opinion so far but - two cookies down already - I wasn't wrong!

Even the cookies dough for this one tastes better than I could have imagined.

...and it literally took me all of about ten minutes to knock up! One handy hint - the recipe calls for "roughly chopped dried apricots". Rather than having to drag out one of my gorgeous, but super-heavy, chopping boards, I simply used some kitchen scissors to snip the apricot right into the dough - easy, and less washing up!

My little pink Hummingbird bible recommends that this recipe gives 10-12 cookies. Either I'm being tight with my dough-per-cookie, or the Hummingbird is being more generous than Santa on Christmas Eve, but I got 15 healthy-sized cookies out of the recipe.

Only problem is, I've already munched and rounded this 15 down to a baker's dozen... and I'm not sure the remaining 13 are going to survive until Sunday! Well, 13 is unlucky for some...

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy

I think I'm a little bit in love with the loaf recipes in the Hummingbird book - the Lemon and Poppy Seed one included. Considering I'm a bit of a cupcake junkie, this is quite a revelation! Though, I must admit, it may be down to my laziness to spend my evenings in the kitchen icing each individual little cuppycake.

The loaves are all as easy as it comes - mix everything up, whack it in a loaf tin (very Jamie Oliver!), and bake for up to an hour. See, even the baking time allows you to go away and do something else. I'm always so wary when I put cupcakes or cookies in the oven as they take no time at all to bake and tan.

The Lemon and Poppy Seed loaf was no exception. Everything went in (including Ricotta cheese - who'd'a thunked it?), and came out an hour later smelling deeelish! The deliciously tart lemon syrup was dribbled over the top and, literally, that's it!

My office guinea pigs are omitting lots of mmms - I think this is a good thing!

An apple a day

If there's one way I recommend of getting your five-a-day, it's with the help of the Hummingbird. I haven't ventured far into the fruity-bakes territory yet with the Hummingbird's latest book, but I think these cookies may be the start of something beautiful.

I've made these Apple and Oatmeal Cookies tonight purely because I don't have the ingredients in for anything else! But, for once, my disorganisation has paid off. These, my friend, are LUSH!

Apples, oats, and a helping of cinnamon (my favourite!), trust me... perfect cookie rolled into one! I haven't gone wrong (yet) with a Hummingbird cookie, so I definitely plan to try some more very soon.

I did have one or two concerns while making these little delights - the recipe calls for light brown sugar, but I only had light brown muscavado sugar. I've used muscavado in cookies before, so was quite certain it would be fine. And it is, but I'm not sure if this might be the reason that my "dough" for more of a "mix". Regardless, the mixy dough has baked up just fine.

Another substitution was the use of Pink Lady apples instead of the Granny Smiths that the recipe asks for. The all-important taste test has proven that those little Pink Ladies are just as good as old Granny Smith in this instance!

Fifteen loooooong minutes in the oven, and I finally got my cookies. Why is it that time goes more slowly when you're looking through the oven glass? ;)

One word of warning - be careful when dolloping your dough on to the baking sheets, as if they're too close you'll end up with a merged, giant cookie. Actually, you might like to try this... :)

I'm sure my work guinea pigs will appreciate all the slaving over a hot oven I did(n't) do tonight. Or, as per usual, they'll all dive in as soon as I've sent the "help yourself" email round the office! I think that's a sign that my baking is all right...