Wow. 2011 gone already. I once heard that time seems to more quickly as you age. Each year that passes by is a smaller fraction of your life. When you’re four years old, a year is a quarter of your existence! By now, as I edge further into my twenties, I find myself thinking ‘Really? Today is Dec 31? It’s that time of year already?’.

This past year was a busy year for me. I continue to live up to my title ‘The Baking Medic’, trying to bake every week if I can. Despite my best efforts, not everything that I bake is shared on this blog. Sometimes there is just no time to take a good photograph before it is all gobbled up!

I suppose, in a way, this is meant to be a reflection of the year 2011. I’ll share with you my favourite recipes of 2011 as well as a few other highlights of the year. Also, around Christmas, I baked the delightfully decadent flourless chocolate cake (from the Green & Blacks cookbook) that you see in the picture above. The cake is dense, smooth, and undeniably rich. A friend once told me that he actually felt his heart rate speed up after eating a piece of this cake. So it is not for the faint of heart. ;) But for those who dare to eat a slice, they will find themselves in chocolate heaving.

So, without further ado, let’s take a peak at my favourite recipes of 2011, shall we?

January:

Star Wars Sugar Cookies. Who knew Darth Vader could be so delightfully scrummy?

February:

A Mini Cake for Two that I made for B and I to enjoy on Valentines. I baked it in a can for baked beans!

March:

A Bakewell Tart, made as an unconventional Birthday cake. :)

April:

April was a month of muffin madness. I'll spare you the endless pictures of muffins, but I concocted several variations of my favourite basic recipe. These first were the Pear And White Chocolate Muffins. I also made Jaffa Cake muffins, White Chocolate and Coconut muffins, Bakewell muffins... the list goes on!

May:

Post-Exam Victory Hamburder Cupcakes were my favourite for May.

June:

Yeally Yummy Overnight Cinnamon Buns

July:

Cookie Monster Cupcakes. Quite possible my favourite cupcake ever. I've made these before, but I made them again this summer for a fundraiser for B's Charity Firewalk.

August:

August found me back home, roadtripping in the Rockies. Lake Louise is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. However, most of my cooking was done over an open fire. So no time for baking in August!

September:

September saw me baking lots of my favourite Condensed Milk Chocolate Fudge. It so simple, but delicious. And the possibilities for variation are endless!

October:

'Ghost Cupcakes' - made during my trial run for my cupcake decorating class. Almost too cute to eat. Almost.

November:

So beautiful, but so easy. I love this Rose cake. I made it again for my mum's birthday a few days ago with a Gluten Free Carrot Cake.

December:

What a wonderful year 2011 has been. Looking forward to seeing you in 2012!

Flourless Chocolate Cake:

adapted from the Green & Blacks Cookbook

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon ground almonds plus extra for dusting tin
• 300g (101/2oz) dark chocolate, minimum 60% cocoa solids, broken into pieces
• 275g (10oz) caster sugar
• 165g (51/2oz) unsalted butter
• pinch of sea salt
• 5 large eggs
• icing sugar or gold dust

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Brush a 9″ springform baking tin with a little melted butter and dust with the ground almonds, shaking off any excess.
2. Melt the chocolate, caster sugar, butter and salt in a heatproof bowl suspended over a saucepan of barely simmering water, then remove from the heat.
3. Whisk the eggs with the ground almonds and fold into the chocolate mixture. The mixture will thicken after a few minutes. Pour into the cake tin and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
4. Remove the sides of the tin and leave the cake on the base to cool, then dust using a fine sieve with icing sugar or brush with edible gold dust.
5. Optional: To make the festive snowflake design, I folded a piece of paper first in half, then in half again, and lastly folding it in half a third time to get a sort of triangle. I then cut random shapes out of the paper from the folded edge. Exactly how you would make a paper snowflake when you a kid. Gently unfold the snowflake and lay it on top of the cake. Dust the icing sugar over the cake using a fine sieve. Carefully list off the piece of paper and voila!