It's about time I made something a little healthier than my usual bakes and this recipe is dedicated to all my health conscious family and friends. Not only does it not have any butter and sugar, it also has tons of nutritious chia seeds. You can now eat (more) cake with less guilt!

A friend needed help with an earl grey flavoured cake so I made a test cake to see how it'll turn out. Well it was supposed to be a test cake but somehow I ended up making a stacked 9 inch cake, which involved tripling the recipe (now that's a lot of cake batter and frosting).

Cupcakes sparked my love for baking when I made my very first batch for a friend's birthday, and I'm at my most relaxed state when I'm baking cupcakes because I've made them so many times in massive quantities for the baking society that I know the recipes by heart. But ever since the last society event, I've stopped making them and have focused on whole cakes and tarts so it's nice to get back to cupcakes.

The star of this recipe is  Guido Gobino's gianduja (chocolate hazelnut) spread I got during my trip to Turin, Italy. The spread contains more than 35% hazelnuts while Nutella typically has only 13%. Besides the richer hazelnut flavour, the gianduja spread is thicker, smoother and more velvety, which makes the swiss meringue buttercream exceptionally delicious. I couldn't stop myself from "taste testing" a few spoonfuls. But if you can't get your hands on the gianduja spread (Venchi stocks their own spread), you could always use Nutella instead.

#5 Vanessa My partner-in-crime and greatest supporter in life (apart from @nyoncat) likes: chocolate, coffee, my chocolate chip cookies, frozen cream and meringue. And if you put them all together, you get one sinfully decadent cake. Happy birthday Van, I'm naming this monster of a cake after you!

#4 Tricia My housemate chanced upon a new greengrocer, Parkway Greens Greengrocers (Parkway Greens, 52 Parkway, Camden, London, NW1 7AH), near our place that opened early this year. I got to try some of the fruits that Trish bought and they were so much sweeter and fresher than the ones I usually get from the supermarket.  Anyway, the main point of this post isn't about the greengrocer but the passion fruit she bought (this was pretty exciting news to me because I've never had an actual, whole passion fruit before) and since she couldn't finish it before her vacation, she asked me to make something with it.

#3 Samantha I first met Sam when we were 13 and as desk mates at school, we drove each other crazy every day. It's been 9 years since our fateful meeting and even though we hardly see each other now, we've always shared a love for baking. Just last week, Sam came down to London for a few days while on exchange in Sweden and we arranged to bake together. She brought along a massive bottle of Baileys and I see myself either getting tipsy by drinking it neat or churning out Baileys related baked goods for the rest of the month. Thanks Sam! ^^

#2 Crystalbel I made some s'mores cupcakes last week for the end of term get together and Crystalbel wanted more after demolishing her share. She offered to make Hainanese Chicken Rice in exchange for s'mores and who am I to say no. Chicken rice for cake - that's a good deal.

This will be a thank you post dedicated to everyone involved in the London Inter-University Bake Off, with the recipe of my entry as a thank you gift :)

The Bake Off was a joint event with University College London (UCL), King's College London (KCL), Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and was held at the London School of Economics (LSE) with proceeds going to the Target Ovarian Cancer charity. We had a total of 52 entries for both the 'Sweet' and 'Savoury' categories and raised £299.70.

Those numbers were way above my expectations and I'm extremely grateful for the overwhelming response from the competitors, the people who came to taste and vote for their favourites, the judges and for the assistance provided by the baking society committees of UCL, QMUL and KCL. Most importantly, I'm thankful for my supremely capable LSE Baking Society committee, who managed to make our last event so successful. Pulling off this event of such scale is something to be proud of considering we're a new society with limited funds and no prior experience.

FoodCycle is a UK charity that combines volunteers, surplus food and spare kitchen spaces to create tasty, nutritious meals for people at risk of food poverty and social isolation." You can find out more here if you're interested in volunteering for a worthy cause!

The LSESU FoodCycle Society held their bake off last Wednesday to raise money for FoodCycle and I decided to enter my chiffon cake with lightened strawberry creme patissiere. First prize for these light and fluffy babies! They are perfect if you are tired of eating regular cupcakes and they also contain less butter/oil. A moment on the lips forever on the hips? Not when you're eating these.