The Great British Baking Show

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We have fallen in love with the Great British Baking Show.  We've been streaming it on Netflix, and we absolutely love it.  We've become arm chair experts in the fine art of baking pastry.  I found Chetna's cookbook - The Cardamom Trail.  Having seen her beautiful dishes, I decided that I had to get the cookbook and try some of these gorgeous creations myself.  Cardamom was a new flavor for me.  I had heard of it, but never cooked with it in any way, shape, or form.  (There aren't many spices I'm not familiar with, but Cardamom is one of them.)  It took me a while to find the Cardamom.  It wasn't in the "regular" spice aisle at our grocery store.  It was in the organic food section.  

With the purchase of the Cardamom, we began cooking our way through Chetna's cookbook.  First up was the Carrot and Banana Spiced Cake.  This very easy cake recipe hid an unexpected depth of flavor.  

*Note - due to our gluten and dairy allergies, we subbed in Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Flour and used fake butter in place of the real thing.  I couldn't tell the difference at all! 

For this recipe, I couldn't find a dairy free version of the Mascarpone Cheese that is called for in the icing.  Let me tell you, the cake didn't need it!  It was rich, moist and all around wonderful!  If I were to make this for company, I would top the cake with powdered sugar, just to make it pretty!  If I had a paper doily on hand, I would put the doily on top of the cake and then sprinkle the sugar on the doily and then remove it, leaving the gorgeous lace like pattern on the top of the cake.

(I admit it, my cakes don't look nearly as good as anything produced on the British Baking Show.)

I've got the ingredients for the Black Sesame and Lime Cake as well as Clove, Cinnamon, and Chocolate Cookies waiting to be pulled together for Easter Sunday.  I can't wait to see how these taste!