Thursday, October 31, 2013

Sweet New Zealand #27 Round-up

At last, I can count the remaining days of the fit24 challenge on just one hand. Like I've mentioned before, the sleep and steps were a breeze but not having sugar was absolute torture! 
It was nice to see that the rest of the blogosphere has not subjected themselves to the same challenge and have given me the pleasure of living vicariously through their entries for this month's Sweet New Zealand round-up. 



First in the roundup is from Alessandra, the lovely lady who started Sweet New Zealand, and her Vanilla Cupcakes with Italian Butter Icing. They feature on the front cover of her new book Party Food For Girls and shows us how easy they are to decorate with pretty edible flowers from her garden!



Next, we have Carmella at Easy Food Hacks, with a Caramel Cake with Sea Salt from Jordan Rondel's recipe book, The Caker. The rustic looking cake is lightly infused with mandarin and the sprinkle of sea salt on top of the caramel sauce is just genius.



Egged on by her flatmate, Bridget at After Taste made a fantastic looking Cherry Ripe Mud Cake. While Cherry Ripes aren't a favourite in my household, her picture makes me want to give it a try in cake form. We always have a few at the bottom of a Cadbury Favourites packet that I could use..



After being inspired by a picture of a layered Cheesecake/Carrot Cake on Pinterest, Alice from Alice in Bakingland created her own, easier version: Carrot Cake Cheesecake. I don't know about you, but anything with cream cheese frosting gets my tick!



Not one for super ripe bananas, Sue at Couscous and Consciousness made Caramelised Banana Bread by sauteeing still firm bananas in butter and sugar. This was a slight twist on a Donna Hay recipe and was made as part of the breakfast food theme at the I Heart Cooking Club.


Amanda at Move Love Eat decided to forgo store bought custard and make some Homemade Custard and Stewed Fruit. Considering that I'm on a no sugar month, I'm delighted that none of it appeared in Amanda's recipe for custard (she used artificial sweetener) or the stewed fruit (I guess the fruit is sweet enough by itself). She has even posted nutritional information!



Upon hearing of my sugar free month, Alessandra quickly sent me a recipe from her Only Recipes blog which featured a very vibrant Pretty Fruit Salad. With watermelon season coming up, this will be a very refreshing treat to have on a hot day.

Being able to host Sweet New Zealand this month has been a real pleasure for me. It has been so exciting to see new blogs and meet their owners through great recipes and I look forward to participating next month when I have full use of sugar again!


Thank you to everyone who participated and thank you Alessandra for introducing me to this wonderful bunch of bloggers. Next month's host is Mairi from Toast who will be looking for your November entries. See you there!

3 comments:

  1. Great hosting, commentary and roundup Lucy, thank you!

    Is your sugar-free time finished now? Or will you continue on for another month? Well done, I wonder if I could!

    Ciao
    Alessandra

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  2. Great roundup Lucy! And well done on your sugar-free month! :-) Cx

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  3. I was wondering how you were going Lucy! Good on you for sticking to it in the face of at least looking at such temptation :)

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