Summer Fruits Bundt

Having recently renewed my love for my Bundt tin, I thought I would whip it out again. With this smattering of summer sunshine we have been graced with, a cake with summer fruits was in order for sure.

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The plan for this bake was to redo last years summer fruits cake and (hopefully) improve it. Basically, I added alcohol into the mix and swapped the baking tin. Not hugely inventive, but hey, whatever works right?

I simmered the frozen fruits over a low heat with a blueberry liqueur to give them a bit of a kick and swapped out the golden syrup for honey instead. I would like to say that was a health conscious decision, but in reality, I had run out of golden syrup…

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Lewes, East Sussex

I must admit that I am one of those people that rarely visits different places in England. If I have time off work, I am desperately trying to book a holiday somewhere outside of the UK (must. find. sun…).

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After visiting Lewes though, I really want to try a bit harder to explore what we pretty much have on our door step!

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Rob and I were only there for 2 days, but even in that short amount of time we managed to fall in love with the place.

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It was packed full of history- from the castle with original stocks and the old monastery ruins, to the cobbled streets and shop buildings. Even the residential areas had kept in with the old style shingle walls and beautiful architecture.

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We spent the whole day wondering the old winding streets and catching up with lost relatives.

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A little early evening walk was accompanied by the most beautiful sunset. It was a perfect way to round off the day.

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We retired to a Bed and Breakfast in town, set in the most decadent of town houses.

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We were presented with a hearty breakfast for two the next day- I managed three whole courses before 10am! Go team!

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What a spread.

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Before we knew it, the time to head home was upon us. We will certainly be visiting again soon… And definitely spreading our wings a little closer to home for a weekend break in the UK.

I am trying to plan our next mini-break already -Do you have any UK gems I should look into?

Chocolate and Cinnamon Babka

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I must start this post with a thank you. A MASSIVE thank you in fact to The Gentleman Baker who put me onto this bread bake. Before him, I had never actually heard of Babka before.

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I had spied his incredibly mouth watering photo of a ‘just baked’ Babka on Instagram and had to find out more. Obviously, out came Google search, an apron and the bread flour…

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Chocolate Babka is a perfect fit with MyChocolateSoul. Indulgent, soul nourishing food that will put a smile on almost anyone’s face. How could I not give it a go?!

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Having scoured the internet for further info on this Polish/Jewish sweet bread, I settled on an amalgamation of two recipes. The Purple Foodie’s recipe was my starting point and base recipe, but I also went back to The Gentleman Baker’s version for the glaze too. Both are quite similar: You knead, you wait. You knead, you wait. You fill with chocolate and cinnamon, you twist, you wait. You bake, and devour.

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Creamy, soft, light sweet-bread with a crisp shiny crust, encasing molten cinnamon-y chocolate chunks. What’s not to love?! Granted the calories might be a little hinderence to a fully blown unfaltering love affair with this bread, but once you’ve tasted it, I can promise you that calories are the last thing on your mind (Yes, yes, I am well aware that I am meant to be on a health kick *rolls eyes* …).

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I cannot recommend this bake enough. I mean, there is no way you cannot have a go at this really. It’s called a chocolate Babka for god’s sake.

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Babka.

It should Just be baked because of it’s amazing name.

Have you baked a Babka before? Or even heard of one? The recipe I used produced two big loaves (one of which I froze just before baking, and once defrosted baked just as well as the first) – who fancies a slice?