Pear and Walnut Cake

So its the start of December and our Christmas tree has come down from the attic and is standing upright in our living room and, shimmering it little lights.  The next couple of weeks we will be turning out minds to getting Christmas gifts to put beneath the tree.  But for me its still too early to start sharing festive recipes, so I will share this Pear and Walnut Cake that i made a few months back with pears I had picked from the garden. 

I don't remember the recipe I used - I think it may have been adapted from this recipe for Courgette, Apple and Apricot Cake, that is what happens when you don't write up a blog post.  What I do remember though, it was moist and delicious.  

Other Pear Recipes 
Chocolate Pear Crown Cake
Cinnamon Pear Cake

Turmeric Carrot Cake

Well this bug that has been knocking people for six finally hit me too.  I was in bed most of the week and my plans to take advantage of the good weather and dig the earth was a flop.  Here's hoping I am much better by the weekend and can get some seeds started at least. 

I made this cake just before I got unwell.  I had been wanting to eat cake for a while, but not a cake that was too indulgent.  

So I had decided on carrot cake when I saw two carrots languishing in my veg basket.  I got to work in the kitchen, grating the carrot.  

The idea of turmeric was really an afterthought, but I am glad I added it as it gave the cake a yellow tinge!

I guess I could have made it sweeter with butter icing on top, but I just wanted a simple cake, and a slice of this satisfied that want.

Other Turmeric Recipes on the Blog

Turmeric Nasturtium Pancakes

Turmeric Flapjacks

Turmeric Pasta with Blood Orange Dressing

Curried Shepherds Pie topped with Turmeric Mash

Turmeric Lemon Courgette Orzo

Turmeric Risotto with Preserved Lemons

Turmeric Cream New Potatoes

Turmeric Shakshouka with Eggs

Raw Vegan Butternut, Mango, Orange and Marigold Layer Cake

This is  not a cake 'cake' with a sponge, and its not a cheesecake though on first glance that is how it appears.

This is a Butternut, Mango and Orange Marigold Layer Cake,  which I have also pretentiously dubbed as Sunrise Cake.

The bottom is an almond crust, the middle Mango and butternut Squash filling is infused with Mango sweetness and then the topping finished off with a zingy zesty orange  jelly made with agar agar and then finished off with a light scattering of dried marigold flower petals - all depicting colours of the Sunrise. 

I was impressed with myself, though I have to admit the rice paper butterflies actually look a little out of place, here or maybe dare I say it tacky - I did like the scattering of the dried marigold petals.

This is not a very sweet cake, needs a squirt of (soya) cream to cut the richness of the butternut mango filling and the sharp twang from the orange topping.  Its also a very big cake, you can slice it in 8 pieces generously or in 14 slices.  I took some of it into work and shared it with my friends and some colleagues from omnivores to vegans and told them this Butternut, Mango and Orange Marigold Layer Cake was a Raw, vegan and gluten free cake. They were all very impressed and said they felt virtuous and quite light eating it.