NEW CREATION: Christmas clusters (by mistake)

It always so happens that when I plan to how you a recipe, it always goes wrong.

I baked individual pineapple upside down cakes for my parents anniversary meal - I didn't take a picture and actually they went splendidly well. 

Still, I don't think I could have salvaged the look of that Swiss roll! 

* 

It's too early to be thinking about Christmas, by apparently it's only 20 Fridays away. 

And these cakes have nothing to do with Christmas, bar the fact that they give off, what reminds me of, a Christmassy aroma. 

The culprit: mixed spice. It is one of my all time favourite spices and I just had to add them to these rock cakes gone wrong. 

This recipe here is a mixture of some of my favourites in the baking world: the aforementioned mixed spice and rock cakes. 

Rock cakes were one of the first things that I learnt to make at school in year 7 and they've been one of my favourite things to bake. They're so simple, delicious and don't (unlike most cakes) rely on appearance to make them a winner. In fact, the messier the better. 

So what I've conjured up today is a smaller and more spices version of the traditional raisin rock cakes. 

Behold the Christmas Cluster!

Yeah ... the oven makes them look better.

We ate them as they were, but I feel like they should be served warm and with cream! Feels like winter's coming!

Rub butter into flour

Add dried fruit, sugar and spices

Add 1 egg

Add milk and stir

Bake at 200 degrees C for 20-25 mins

And you're done! Tah-dah!

Barbie Girl

Surprisingly, we don't have barbecues nearly enough since Dubai has the most perfect weather for them. We, in fact, have them less than we used to in England - only about 3 times a year. Much of the barbecues we go to are ones that we are invited to by friends. And, off we went, yesterday.

To be honest, I don't know why we don't do barbecues more. They are just perfect for every occasion. You can eat as much or as little as you want and can pair every taste with a selection of spices, side dishes and salads. 

Yesterday was a 1st birthday party. A first for me and all! 

The food was kept simple, but there's nothing wrong with simple when the flavor is there! The burgers were chunky and homemade grilled on the barbecue and topped with jack cheese. I then added lettuce, tomato and avocado to a sesame seed bun. Then summer berries to finish. 

A dessert that was also on offer was an ice-cream straight from Texas: birthday cake ice-cream! It was, actually, delicious but it wasn't enough on the cake front with my eyes lingering over a Micky Mouse cupcake stand.