We are only one month away from Garrod Day! On the 25th November, we celebrate the birthday of Sir Archibald Garrod, the AKU pioneer who first understood the inherited nature of the disease way back in 1902. Garrod day is marked by hosting coffee mornings all over the world and year we get very excited to see all the fantastic cakes people bake to be sold. However, if you are stuck on what to bake read our past blog and carry on reading for an extremely tasty recipe for a Jaffa Drizzle Loaf.

Photo and recipe: Mary Cadogan/BBCGoodFood

Ingredients for the cake:

140g butter, softened
200g self-raising flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
200g golden caster sugar
3 large eggs
6 tbsp milk
Finely grated zest of 1 large orange

To finish:

3 tbsp orange juice
50g golden caster sugar
50g dark chocolate

Head to the BBC Good Food website for the full method. 
The site has loads more fantastic cake recipes that you could bake for Garrod Day, head here for some baking inspiration. 

This year Garrod Day will be on the same day as our UK patient workshop, which will be held at the fabulous Bluecoat venue in the centre of Liverpool. Liverpool is the spiritual home of AKU, AKU research and the National Alkaptonuria Centre (NAC). The all-day workshop will include talks on how to manage diet and exercise while taking nitisinone, a relaxing Pilates session and a talk from DevelopAKUre Chief Investigator, Professor Ranganath, who will update everyone on the important DevelopAKUre clinical trial outcomes and much more. We will also have magnificent AKU Society celebratory cake on and lots of opportunities to talk to other AKU patients. We invite all AKU patients from around the UK to attend this important event

Please contact our Patient Support Manager, Lesley Harrison, lesley@akusociety.org if you would like to come to the workshop. We can even organise transport and hotel for you to stay in.

We will also be hosting an exciting raffle during the workshop, so make sure you come with lots of change. We have a delicious bakery hamper from RoughHandMade based on the docks of Liverpool; a dashing Glenryck themed apron and tea towel set and even a London Zoo goody bag. We are still collecting prizes, so keep an eye out on our social media channels to see what else we will have on offer.

If you are interested in hosting your own Garrod Day Coffee Morning, please contact our Fundraising Officer, Juliet, juliet@akusociety.org to order your free coffee morning kit. With one month to go, there is still plenty of time to plan your Garrod Day Coffee Morning, so get your kit soon. Happy baking!