Red velvet cupcakes

- 1 1/4c flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp cocoa
- 60g butter, room temperature
- 3/4c white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 c buttermilk (or 1/2c milk with 1tsp vinegar, left to sit for 10 mins)
- 1 tbsp red food colouring
- 1/2 tsp white vinegar
- 1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 180⁰C fan bake, and line 12 muffin tins with cupcake liners.
In a large bowl sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa. Combine with a whisk.
In a mixer (or with an electric hand mixer) cream the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla extract and the egg and beat until light and fluffy. 
In a separate dish mix together the buttermilk and the food colouring.
Alternately (in thirds) add the dry mixture and the buttermilk mixture to the creamed mixture. Scrape the sides of the bowl after each addition to ensure all ingredients are well combined. Mix well.
Remove mixing bowl from machine, and have a rubber spatula or wooden spoon ready to hand-mix with. Add the baking soda to the vinegar and quickly stir to dissolve baking soda. While still fizzing, add to the batter and mix through the liquid by hand.
Working quickly, spoon (or scoop with an ice cream scoop for even measures) thebatter into the prepared cupcake liners (about ¾ full). Place in the oven, and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of a cupcake.
Cool the cupcakes in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
When cool, ice! Cream cheese icing is my recommendation. 

Flourless peanut butter choc chip cookies

1c peanut butter (I used crunchy)
3/4c brown sugar
1 egg
1tsp vanilla
3/4tsp baking soda
Pinch salt
1/2c choc chips (I used dark)

- Preheat oven to 180deg C
- Beat peanut butter and brown sugar until creamy
- Add all other ingredients
- Place on lined baking tray, press with fork
- Bake for 8-9 mins, don't over bake
- Let cool slightly on baking tray before shifting to cooling rack

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.