2013 - My favourite posts

Looking through my archives, it seems I wrote 100 posts last year. Goodness knows how many spelling mistakes they contain, or incomplete sentences that don't make sense. I tend not to ready my old posts that frequently, but every time I do, I am generally shamed by my writing. There's a resolution waiting to be made - more proof reading, and attempting to follow the conventions of good grammar a little more rigorously. And fewer exclamation marks (!).

Yesterday I posted the 10 most viewed posts on my blog during 2013. They were mainly all cakes, and only one or two were actually from 2013. It's hard to believe since it doesn't seem that long ago, but I've been writing this blog for 5 years, and 2014 will be year six. Craziness.

Today, I've chosen my 13 favourite posts from 2013. Things that I'm particularly proud of, or exceeded all taste expectations. There are still a fair few cakes in there - don't panic…

Gevulde Speculaas - dark dense with spices and marzipan
Dairy free coconut "cheddar" cheese. It melts! And grates! And doesn't taste horrible! If you've tried dairy free cheeses, you'll understand that the exclamation marks are entirely warranted here.
Chicken Ballotine - deboned, stuffed and tied - all my own work (thanks YouTube!)
A dairy free take on a traditional Swedish Princesstarta - it coincided with a perfect summers day and made a fantastic barbecue pudding
Squidgy Spiced Date and Fig Cake - gluten and dairy free and absolutely delicious  
No Cook Tomato and Almond Pasta Sauce - super easy, super satisfying
Rainbow Hello Kitty Cake for Mini-M's birthday. At 1am the night before I was beginning to wish I had chosen something that involved fewer miniature liquorice whiskers... 
Mr E's Birthday Cake - 30 individually iced After Eight faces = lots of decorating fun
Chard Pecan and Lime Pesto - tastes cheesy without any cheese in sight, this is so much more than the sum of its parts
Vegan chocolate orange cheesecake - the base is my favourite part - better than your average biscuit base!
Samoan Paifala - gorgeous coconut milk pastry filled with pineapple custard filling
Three Minute Mulled Plums - a great way to use up supermarket plums that never ripen
Sprouts are not just for Christmas - amazing every day, teamed with carrots, honey, hazelnuts and orange