Ultimate chocolate cake

• 3 cups self-raising flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1½ tsp vanilla extract
• ¾ cup cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking soda, sifted
• 200g butter, softened
• 1 cup milk or unsweetened yoghurt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup boiling hot coffee

- Preheat oven to 180deg C

- Grease two loaf tins or one LARGE cake tin

- Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl (large mixing bowl, mine was overflowing)

- Bake for approx. one hour or until knife comes out clean.

Banana choc chip muffins

I lost the recipe for these, but they were AMAZING

Lemon Sour Cream Muffins

1/2c sour cream
50g melted butter
1tbsp lemon rind
3/4c sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2c self raising flour

- Preheat oven to 180deg C & line a 12 hole muffin tin
- Beat sour cream, lemon rind, butter, sugar, eggs and flour on low speed until ingredients are just combined. Increase speed and beat for 2 mins until thick and creamy.
- Spoon into muffin tins and bake for 20-25 mins
- While warm, stab holes with a tooth pick and pour over a mixture of equal parts sugar and lemon juice. Remove from trays soon after, otherwise the sticky lemon juice mixture makes them stick.

These were delicious! A little tougher than muffins should be, but such a good flavour!

Upside down brownie

1 1/2c flour
1/2tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/6c cocoa
115g butter + 55g butter
1c sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2c milk
1/4c peanut butter
1/2c brown sugar
2 bananas, cut length ways

- Preheat oven to 180 deg C and line a baking dish with non stick paper
- Beat butter (115g) and white sugar until fluffy, beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla.
- Stir in dry ingredients and milk and mix well.
- Put the banana in the bottom of the baking tray.
- Mix together peanut butter, brown sugar and remaining 55g butter and spoon over the bananas
- Pour over the brownie mix
- Bake for 45 mins, let cool for 10 mins and then invert onto a platter to finish cooling.

Hmm this is a bit weird. Not as rich as I like my brownie to be, and 45 mins was definitely overcooking it so I'd go 35-40 mins if I did it over again.

Chocolate cake

• 250g unsalted butter, chopped
• 200g dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/3 cups milk
• 1 ½ cups caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ cups plain flour
• ¼ cup self-raising flour
• ¼ cup cocoa

-Preheat oven to 150 deg C
-Place butter, chocolate, milk, sugar and vanilla in a large saucepan and melt over a medium heat
-Set aside to cool (IMPORTANT, or you will scramble the eggs!!)
-Add eggs and whisk
-Pour into a large bowl and add flour and cocoa. Mix well
-Pour into a slightly greased 20cm cake tin and bake for approx 1hr 25 mins. Allow to cool completely in tin. NB: My cake cracked like a desert, before it was cooked on the inside. It turned out fine.
-Ice when cool (I just used normal chocolate icing, cocoa, icing sugar, butter and hot water)

I don't know what this tasted like! It was Tom's birthday cake so he took it to work, but the mixture worked well, no issues with the cake rising, looked nice and rich so I would imagine it was good! And Tom didn't bring any home which is always a good sign.

Lemon syrup loaf

2 eggs
100g butter, melted
2 Tbsp grated lemon rind.
1 cup castor sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk

- Preheat oven to 180 deg C
- Beat eggs and butter
- Add lemon rind and sugar and mix until creamy
-  Mix in flour, salt, baking powder and milk
- Bake in a loaf tin for approx 45 mins or until golden
- While hot, pour over a mixture of 1/4c lemon juice and 1/4c sugar and leave to cool in tin

This was really good! I love lemon flavoured stuff, and I love how it went crispy on top from the lemon sugar poured over. My oven burnt it on one side which was a shame, but it was a hit at work anyway.

Chocolate chip muffins

2 cups plain flour
4 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
100g butter, melted
3/4 cup Caster Sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 cup milk

- Preheat oven to 180 deg C
- Mix all ingredients with electric beater. Do not overmix or muffins will be tough.
- Put in muffins cups or greased muffin tray.
- Bake for 10-15 mins or until golden - I think mine took 20 mins