Love Cake January 2015 round up

The diet has been blown, the savings plan spent in the sales and the weather has either blown us away or snowed us in. There is only one solution to all of this – cake! To kick start January I decided to throw a bit of fruit into this month's challenge because as I always say – cake is good for you! So let's see how you've been feeling fruity this month.

It's always nice to start off with something a bit unusual. Linzi from Lancashire Food spotted some persimmon at her local market and saw their potential in cake baking. They gave moistness and succulence to her Spicy Persimmon Bundt Cake and a selection of spices a touch of warmth for these winter days.

If you've in need of a showstopper cake this year then stop the search now. This glorious creation from Kate at The Gluten Free Alchemist is layer after layer of sheer splendidness. Get ready for the name - Layered Dark & White Chocolate-Raspberry Cake with White Chocolate Ganache & Raspberry-Pomegranate Sauce - gluten free. What more can I say? Look at the photograph again and then go away and try to make it yourself.

I'm definitely not sizeist when it comes to Bundts so I more than welcomed Paul from Beer and Baking for the first time with his Banana and Honey Bundtlettes. Not only has he added some fruit and swapped sugar for honey but added some extra healthy ingredients in oats, wholemeal flour and whey protein.

January is the time to start thinking about marmalade and I know how well it works in a cake. Corina from Searching for Spice has made a few resolutions this year and happily cake fits into her future plans. She has kicked off the year with an Orange Buttermilk Cake with Marmalade Cream Cheese Icing. The addition of the buttermilk in the cake plus the cream cheese icing makes this a lovely moist cake with the extra tang from the marmalade.

Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog has delved into the unpublished archives for her Lemon Cake with Chocolate Icing. This little treasure from 2012 combines a zesty lemon cake with a classic chocolate icing.

If you have half used jars of mincemeat in your kitchen then look no further than Helen from Family-Friends-Food recipe for Mincemeat and apple shortcake slice. If you have decided to cut down on cake you could probably sneak this in as a biscuit!

After deciding against making another chocolate and cherry cake Ros from The more than occasional baker went for a very fruity Chocolate and Raspberry Layer Cake. It's an epic three layer affair with chocolate cake, raspberry jam icing and a final topping of chocolate ganache. The last flourish is a selection of fresh raspberries on top.

If you're after something new to try and make this year then look no further than these Blackcurrant and dark chocolate macarons from Kate at The Gluten Free Alchemist. Macrons are not for the bish, bash, bosh baker but one for the precise cook but look what you can achieve!

If the waistband has started to feel a bit tight then JuggleMum Nadine is here to help. Her Guilt Free Roulade combines the fruity goodness of dark cherries with fat free fromage and Quark. Nadine says a serving of this is just 4 Slimming World Syns. Hurray!

If you have tried banana loaf recipe after banana loaf recipe and still not happy then then the search is over. This is the ultimate recipe from Banana Loaf Recipe and provides a free printout which you can use if you want to make this with children.

I went more for a dessert this month with a Chocolate orange cheesecake. It's a bake-ahead recipe with a chocolate orange filling and all topped off with fresh orange slices. The base is made from ginger biscuits for that extra hit of flavour.

Thank you for everyone's entries this month. We have now completed a whole year of Love Cake! I'll be back in a few days with the Love Cake birthday theme.