DB Baking Competition Winners 2023

Winning recipe: Vegan Carrot Cake Daughter & Daddy Duo: Stanley Clark & Tim Clark 250g plain all-purpose flour 1tsp baking powder 1tsp baking soda 2tsp ground cinnamon 1tsp ground nutmeg 300g light brown sugar 260g carrot, grated 2tbsp finely ground flaxseed meal 120ml canola or vegetable oil 1tsp vanilla extract 1tbsp apple cider vinegar 100g chopped walnuts (optional) For the icing: 480g icing sugar 110g vegan butter 1tsp vanilla extract 1tsp apple cider vinegar 2-3tbsp fresh lemon juicePreheat your oven to 180°C fan. Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and ½ tsp salt. Mix together. Add the sugar and carrot, and mix well. Next, prepare your “flax eggs” by adding 2 tbsp finely ground flaxseed meal to a bowl with 6tbsp hot water. Let it sit for a minute to become gloopy. Add the flax eggs, oil, vanilla extract, apple cider vinegar and walnuts to the mixing bowl. Mix everything together. Divide the batter evenly between 2 prepared 7-inch cake pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of one of the cakes comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Meanwhile, prepare your lemon buttercream icing. Add the icing sugar, vegan butter, vanilla extract, apple cider vinegar and lemon juice to a bowl. Beat together thoroughly. Finally, ice the cake – use roughly one-third of the icing in the middle and two-thirds on top – and decorate the top and sides with additional chopped walnuts.

1st Runner Up: Pineapple & Nut Mooncakes Sister & Brother team: Elaine Huang & Joseph Huang

200g plain flour 140g inverted sugar syrup 30g oil For the filling: 2 pineapples 100g dried fruits 100g nuts and seeds 1 egg yolk

Preheat your oven to 180˚C fan. Mix the plain flour, inverted sugar syrup and oil together. Knead the dough for 2 minutes and then keep it in wrapping film for 3 hours. For the mooncake filling, use 2 pineapples to make 300g pineapple jam: cook the pineapple flesh for around 1 hour until the flesh becomes jam. Fold the dried fruits (raisins, dried peach etc.) nuts and seeds (sunflower seeds and chestnut etc.) into the jam. Next mould the 10 mooncakes, each weighing 50g – 20g skin dough and 30g filling. Brush the top side of the mooncakes with egg yolk. Bake for 15 minutes.

2nd Runner Up:

Carrot, Beetroot, Apple & Ginger Cake Buddies: Liza Avelino & Daisy Eugenio

250g plain flour 2tsp baking powder ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda 1tsp ground cinnamon 5 whole cloves, freshly ground ¼ tsp nutmeg, freshly grated 200g light brown sugar 200ml sunflower oil 3 large free-range eggs 250g carrot, beetroot, apple & ginger, grated 85g dried mixed fruits 100g mixed nuts, chopped 2-3tbsp fresh orange juice For the frosting: 110g butter, softened 100g icing sugar ½ tsp vanilla extract 300g cream cheese

Preheat your oven to 180˚C/ 160˚C fan. Mix the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, spices and ½ tsp sea salt together in a medium sized bowl. Add the sugar and stir until combined, breaking up any lumps with your fingertips. Add the oil and eggs to the dry mixture and beat well. Fold in the carrot, beetroot, apple, ginger, dried fruits and nuts, adding enough fresh orange juice to make a soft batter consistency. Divide the mixture evenly between 2 prepared 8-inch cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before unmoulding. To prepare the frosting, cream together the butter, icing sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Gently fold in the cream cheese until combined. Using a palette knife, spread a third of the frosting over the top of 1 cooled cake, top with the other cake and spread the remaining frosting over the top (and sides, if you want). Decorate the cake as desired.