Sunday 29 July 2012

Chocolate Weetabix Loaf Cake

This indulgent treat is a little out of the ordinary, and potentially much healthier than normal cake, considering the basic ingredients. There are a variety of standard recipes on the internet, but I wanted to add a twist!



For this cake you will need:
2 weetabix biscuits (any brand works)
2/3 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar (for taste, using whole cup caster works too)
1 and 1/3 cup self raising flour
1 and 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
a handful of chocolate drops (i used chopped up chocolate buttons, but you could add dried fruit instead or as well)
250ml milk
1 egg, lightly beaten (optional)
A loaf tin - I used a fairly large loaf tin, but a small deep tin will work just as well. 

  1. Preheat your oven to 180C/Fan 165C/Gas 4 then grease and line your loaf tin.
  2. Crush the 2 weetabix into a bowl with your hands to make fine crumbs.
  3. Add the dry ingredients and mix in well. At this point most people would say with a wooden spoon, but I used a metal one because it was at hand!
  4. If you are using an egg, beat this lightly in a measuring jug and add enough milk to make up to 250ml. alternatively, just use 250ml milk.
  5. Pour (with some assistance and its a sticky mixture!) into your loaf tin and put it in the preheated oven. It should take around 40-60 minutes to cook, depending on your oven and how deeply your tin is filled. Mine was ready in 40 minutes and was delicious.
  6. Once golden and a little crispy on top, check with a clean knife.
  7. When cool enough to handle, tip onto a wire rack and remove lining paper.
Ready for devouring!

Slice and enjoy with lashings of butter! (I did say it was only potentially healthier!)


Saturday 28 July 2012

So I haven't had much time to bake lately, I haven't had much time for anything really. Life is having one of those non-stop hectic moments and I'm struggling to keep up. A few months ago I was diagnosed with suspected IBS, which at the time was fairly devestating news. So many friends suffer from this chronic condition, and I didn't want the same struggle for myself. Selfish I know. I've managed fairly well, take tablets and treatments daily to ease the symptoms, but now and then I get bouts of pain that are unbelievable and without remedy. This weekend I'm having one such bout, and all I want to do is curl up in bed with a hot water bottle and a big bar of chocolate. Unfortunately summer showed up, so it's too warm for hot water bottles, and chocolate is one of my IBS's biggest enemies. Sucks, right? I know this has nothing much to do with baking, but I guess the two are related, I've not had as much time to bake lately, because I've been worried on the affect it may have on my condition. Maybe I will try some tummy friendly recipes some time soon... As for life, it can wait for me to catch up, I need a break, even if that means a weekend called in sick at work...