Baking for my 100th

This week my kitchen has been working overtime! On Saturday it will be my 100th parkrun, and so of course I need to bring cakes. I’ll be going to Ellenbrook Fields as that is where most of my club mates run and marshal, and Dad and Tony will cycle there to meet me. Mum has also offered to make some cakes so I will meet her in the car park.

Mum said she would make some carrot cakes and chocolate cakes, so I decided to add some variety (and also think about what I like after a run, in the hope that other people like that sort of thing too).

First up, tea loaf. I really love a fruity cake after a run- it feels more dense and filling than a normal sugary cake, so I made two tea loaves on Wednesday night- I soaked the fruit before I went to work, weighed out all the ingredients when I got back from work, and then after yoga baked them in the oven.

I had a short run on Thursday and stopped for a lot of photos- it didn’t come out that well but the sunlight was shining through the blossom and it was glowing.

I also tried to make a new route, partly through a park (hooray for lighter evenings) but it wasn’t quite long enough- I need to add a bit on still.

On Thursday I went for sticky gingerbread loaf cake.

I love making this- you add bicab into the dry ingredients, melt together treacle and syrup, and then when you pour the wet into the dry, it bubbles up (like when you make honeycomb)- it’s like alchemy in the kitchen. Although this one kept bubbling in the oven and ended up overflowing just a smidge.

Ah well, once they are all cut into pieces no-one will know.

On Friday night it was time for brownies and lemon drizzle cake.

I then got a text from my mum saying she had baked around 50 cupcakes- I hope a lot of people want some cake after!

They basically covered our entire kitchen worktop.

I then had a huge slicing session late on Friday night:

I thought I had some napkins in the cupboard but I can’t find them, so if I leave early enough I am going to stop at the shop and get some, as I think people will need them, especially for the brownies and ginger cake.

What sort of cake would you go for after a run or parkrun?