May There Be Cake

There’s few things we love more at Spicery HQ than a home-baked treat to go with our morning cup of coffee, and the team really pulled out all the stops last month. When we posted some of these photos on our social media, a few of you asked if you might be able to have the recipes - so here you go!

This is a really indulgent, grown-up chocolate cake – the slightly bitter, malty flavour of the Guinness is balanced perfectly by the sweet buttercream. It even has the appearance of a pint of Guinness as the super dark sponge is topped with a pale, creamy ‘head’ of icing. Ailbhe made 2 versions, both vegan, though one was topped with non-vegan butterscotch pieces for a delicious crunch. 

Ailbhe got her recipe from here

This banana cake has a rich, nutty flavour from the use of gingernut butter – it's delicately spiced with cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg, and full of chunks of dark chocolate which come as a lovely surprise when you bite into it! Expertly iced by Chris to resemble the Death Star as it was served up on Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you!), with the lovely addition of fresh raspberries and blueberries on top too. 

Chris got his recipe from here

You can’t go wrong with a classic chocolate cake – Robyn couldn’t believe how easy this was to make, and we couldn’t believe it was vegan! The sponge was moist, dark and fudgy with thick, glossy chocolate icing poured over the top, then sprinkled with grated chocolate and a handful of fresh raspberries to decorate. 

Robyn got her recipe from here

Sinead made use of the Spicery’s chai tea blend which contains a mix of warming spices like cloves, ginger and green cardamon - she heated this in oat milk and then strained it (instead of using a chai tea bag as the recipe suggests). The result was a batch of fluffy cupcakes infused with deep, aromatic notes of delicious spices that transport you straight to a crisp autumn day (but go down just as well in summer!). For the icing, she also recommends reducing the amount of sugar in the recipe to 2-3 cups, which is plenty to make a thick, sweet, chai-infused vanilla buttercream.  

Sinead got her recipe from here (but she used all-purpose flour instead of cake flour)

Chocolate Oranges are for life, not just for Christmas, but they’re not vegan – no fear, this vegan recipe gets the balance of chocolate and orange so spot on that you wouldn’t realise it didn’t include any segments of the real thing. The cookies come out crunchy on the outside but soft and gooey in the middle – just how you want them - and were a real hit in the office, as everyone seems to love this flavour combination! 

Georgia got the basic cookie dough recipe from here and the elements of the chocolate orange flavour from here, mashing up the 2 recipes. She used chopped dark chocolate with orange (lots of supermarkets do their own-brand version) instead of Terry's chocolate orange and omitted the segments on top to make it vegan.

A babka (also known as a Chocolate Krantz Cake) is a sweet braided cake that originated in the Jewish communities of Poland and Ukraine. In Kelly’s version, orange zest is mixed in with the dough, which is then spread with a rich chocolate filling before being braided – then, when the cake is hot out the oven, it’s brushed with a sweet coffee syrup infused with cardamon for a gorgeous glaze. This pairs amazingly well with a cup of coffee! 

Kelly got her recipe from here and also added ½ tsp ground green cardamon to the syrup

Dexter’s no-bake chocolate torte definitely had the ‘wow’ factor! The recipe advises that a little bit of fruit compote on the side would be a great addition to help cut through the richness, and we agree that a slick of cherry or raspberry compote alongside a slice of this torte would make a really impressive dinner party dessert. Be warned, this is seriously rich and indulgent, so a modest slice goes a long way!  

Dexter got his recipe from here and also added a pinch each of sea salt and nutmeg, ¼ tsp cinnamon and the zest of ½ an orange

Kayleigh renamed her cake a Lemon Smush™ after it collapsed somewhat, however this name really does it a great disservice. It was moist, zingy, crumbly and really very delicious, with the slightly rustic appearance only adding to its charm, as a proper homemade cake (especially something like a classic lemon cake) really evokes a feeling of nostalgia. Besides, it was nothing that a layer of sweet lemon icing and a few party rings couldn’t fix, and was hastily scoffed down by vegans and non-vegans alike!  

Kayleigh got her recipe from here

Whilst Kelis’ trademark dessert might still be her milkshake, it turns out the singer has a few more sweet treats up her sleeve – she is now a certified chef with a degree from the esteemed Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in N.Y.C, and has recently published her first cookbook. Tommy took inspiration from here, producing these incredible chocolate chip cookies that were perfectly soft and chewy. The addition of ready salted crisps might sound like an odd one, but it really works – trust us!

Tommy got his recipe from here

The combination of biscuit, nuts and dried fruit in this tiffin gives it a lovely variety of textures – crunchy, chewy and crumbly. It has lots of sophisticated flavours too, with homemade ginger biscuit as well as stem ginger syrup, tahini for a hint of nutty savouriness, chopped pistachios, dried cherries, toasted pumpkin seeds and plenty of dark chocolate. A really delicious grown-up treat to enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee!

Jess got her recipe from the book ‘One: Pot, Pan, Planet’, pasted below:

You need:

• 120g plain flour
• 30g rice flour
• 100g cold unsalted butter or vegan butter
• 50g golden caster sugar
• 30g stem ginger in syrup, very finely chopped
• 200g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
• 100g tahini
• 3 tbsp syrup from the stem ginger jar
• 80g pistachios, shelled and roughly chopped
• 40g dried cherries
• 40g sultanas
• 30g pumpkin seeds, toasted

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4
2. Sift the flours into a mixing bowl. Add the butter and rub together with your fingers until the butter is soft and no large lumps are visible. Stir through the sugar, ¼ tsp salt and the stem ginger to combine.
3. Line a 20x20cm tin with baking paper and pack the biscuit mixture into the base. Prick a few times with a fork, then place in the hot oven to bake for 18 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
4. While the biscuit is cooling, break the chocolate into 2cm pieces and place in a heatproof bowl with the tahini and stem ginger syrup. Pour a 2cm depth of water into a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Place the chocolate bowl over the saucepan, making sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water.
5. Stir until the chocolate is melted. Remove from the heat and mix through the pistachios, dried fruit and seeds.
6. When the biscuit is completely cool, roughly chop it in the tin before tipping and stirring it into the melted chocolate, leaving the baking paper in the tin to use again. Pour the chocolate mixture back into the paper-lined tin, cover with cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight.