Mandarins are in season now and my uncle gave me a big bag of mandarins freshly picked from his tree. There were so many mandarins that there is no way I could finish them in time so I decided to make a mandarin almond cake. The amazing thing about this cake is that it is gluten and dairy free (without the cream cheese frosting). All it needs is eggs as its binding agent and it is so easy to make that it is almost fool-proof. I loved this cake so much that I made it three times (partly because I have loads of mandarin to get through) and it was such a hit amongst my friends. The cake together with the cream cheese frosting is a match-make in heaven. Ingredients for the cake  3 large mandarins (or 4 small ones) 5 large eggs 120g caster sugar 250g almond meal 1 tsp vanilla essence Ingredients for the cream cheese frosting 250g cream cheese 30g butter 40g icing sugar 1 tsp vanilla essence Directions Preparation time: 80min Baking …

Who knew that mud cakes were actually that easy to make? I adapted this recipe from Donna Hay and as usual, made some changes to it. When I first saw the recipe, I was shocked that it was that simple – mixing of the wet and dry ingredients together. I’ve added coffee granules into my mud cake because it gives a little punch and helps to enhance the taste of the chocolate. Warning: this mud cake is very rich, moist and absolutely delicious. If you are a huge chocolate fan and trying to be on a diet, then this cake is your kryptonite. I’ve always like to use Lindt 90% dark chocolate in my baking but Cadbury 86% dark coco works perfectly fine too. The trick to making the perfect chocolate cake lies in the quality of the chocolate used so don’t scrimp on it! I made this cake twice, the first time without Kahlua and the second time with Kahlua. Honestly, I could not taste the alcohol because the chocolate was overpowering. One thing about …

My first ever gluten-free baking! I’ve never ventured into gluten-free baking mainly because there are never a need to. But a few of my friends have coeliac disease so I decided to make a gluten-free cake for them. So what exactly is gluten? It is actually a protein that is found in wheat, rye, barley, soy. Gluten plays an important role in baking. It’s like a binding agent that helps the dough become more elastic and chewy. Without gluten, the texture of the baked goods tend to be harder and less chewy. For my little experiment, I’ve adapted the recipe from BBC Good Foods. This recipe requires the whisking of the egg whites help create a nice moist texture to make up for missing gluten. I used Lindt 70% dark chocolate and kahlua (or you can use any coffee liquor or brandy) for a nice little hint of alcohol. The cake turned out to be moist and absolutely delicious. This will be my go-to gluten free cake. Nutrition per cake Ingredients 85g unsalted butter 85g …