tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75096232906636292782012-01-31T09:41:22.214ZChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.comBlogger3681100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-2008669951379746282012-01-29T18:25:00.000Z2012-01-29T18:28:37.434Z

And following on from the spectacular fail that was my attempt at Chelsea Buns, we'll move onto something altogether more successful. I spotted this recipe a while back in the February 2012 issue of BBC Olive magazine in a feature on cooking with oranges and lemons, and really fancied making it as an alternative to the other banana bread recipes I've tried in the past. The recipe can be found

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-671747296218575682012-01-28T19:00:00.001Z2012-01-30T19:09:45.690Z

Edited 30/01/12 in response to an anonymous comment. Please see end of post.I guess there isn't really much to say about these, but I'm going to anyway. I wanted to make a sweet yeasted dough to enter into the Teatime Treats challenge that is run each month by either Kate of What Kate Baked or Karen of Lavender and Lovage. This month's theme was sweet doughs or pastries and I fancied trying my

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-46107563344802002232012-01-26T16:05:00.001Z2012-01-26T16:07:54.347Z

Actually, that's a blatant lie. There are no peaches in this cake at all, it's just that there were supposed to be, and 'peaches and cream' somehow sounds better than 'apricots and cream'. Or it does to me anyway. Right, I'll stop rambling about the relative merits of the names of stone fruits when combined with the word 'cream' and tell you more about this rather attractive and delicious cake.

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-28358399277502301972012-01-22T18:00:00.001Z2012-01-22T18:00:16.099Z

This weeks Short and Tweet challenge (#shortandtweet) organised by @EvidenceMatters (blog here) was either Spelt Ginger Cookies (page 245) or Rye and Raisin Cookies (page 247). Or both, if you're greedy and fancy both recipes like me! I had seen the rye and raisin cookies before, but for some reason they hadn't really appealed to me. However, this time round the recipe looked like just the

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-43733068286613105872012-01-21T18:50:00.002Z2012-01-22T09:25:27.515Z

These were born out of the desire to use up various bits and pieces that were lurking in the fridge and around the kitchen. Tiny bit of creme fraiche, check... very overripe banana, check... and so we come to the recipe! Triple chocolate banana cupcakes Ingredients 90g butter 130g caster sugar 40g creme fraiche 2 eggs 1 medium banana, mashed 125g self raising flour 25g cocoa powder 1/2tsp baking

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-14515819696665923562012-01-15T22:25:00.001Z2012-01-16T17:55:18.976Z

These were one of the choices for this week's Short and Tweet challenge (organised by @EvidenceMatters, you can find the blog here) baking from Dan Lepard's book Short and Sweet. The other choices were Superwraps and Cider Vinegar Muffins, both of which I also want to make, but ran out of time (and freezer space for storage!). I have made these before from the recipe published on the Guardian

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-28039090383483836592012-01-12T19:20:00.002Z2012-01-12T19:24:36.176Z

When my lovely brother asked me what I would like for Christmas, my thoughts sprang, as ever, to baking. I have been very fortunate and have amassed quite a lot of baking kit - tins and cake cases and so forth, perhaps what I really need is more time to make things and experiment, and people on whom to test my experiements. But T couldn't really buy me some time for Christmas! So my next thought

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-90006088991864769282012-01-09T19:30:00.000Z2012-01-09T19:34:07.555Z

The skies may be grey and rain falling by the bucketload where I am, but at least the middle of winter brings bright colourful relief with the citrus fruit season. We now have beautiful lemons and oranges, satsumas, tangerines and the lovely clementines I used to make these shortbread, and hopefully the blood orange season is just round the corner. I adore blood oranges, for the novelty of the

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-69681960920039049072012-01-07T18:55:00.000Z2012-01-07T18:59:13.244Z

This is another of the type of cakes I regard as everyday 'snacking' type cakes. The ones that you keep in the cake tin to grab a piece of as you pass by. Not a posh dessert, but something simpler, just to keep you going. But this cake was no less delicious for that. I would almost call it frugal - it felt that way to me because I was using up lots of bits of ingredients that I had lying around

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-23286209111042291652012-01-04T22:30:00.003Z2012-01-04T22:33:39.454Z

I have wanted to make this cake for such a long time, and really don't know why I haven't got round to it before now. The recipe was first published in the Guardian here, in June 2008. Why, oh why haven't I made it before now? And indeed, why now after all this time? Well, this is one of the three cakes in this week's Short and Tweet challenge - there are some choices of what to make each week

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-73461109265309118242012-01-01T19:25:00.000Z2012-01-01T19:28:08.405Z

A rather puritan start to 2012 you may think. This week I have chosen to make Dan Lepard's extra-thin rye crispbreads from Short and Sweet for the Short and Tweet challenge hosted by Evidence Matters (@EvidenceMatters). I made them as a pre dinner nibble for New Year's Eve and when I mentioned to my dining companion, J, that I had made rye crispbreads she seemed rather underwhelmed. "What, like

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-69661497577334446962011-12-31T23:40:00.001Z2011-12-31T23:40:22.022Z

It's been a pretty tasty year round here (as far as baking goes!), so I thought that I'd recap some of the best bits of the past year in one post (yes, another of those 'here's what I made last year, wasn't it great!' posts!!!). These are my favourites of 2011, roughly one a month, but with a couple of bonus ones I just couldn't leave out. JanuaryRoasted potato olive bread This was such a tasty 

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-22611905794675511012011-12-29T23:30:00.001Z2011-12-30T10:17:55.553Z

I love it when unplanned baking works out for the best! As I'm sure regular readers will have gathered by now, I have a very bad habit of buying ingredients with no plans for them. They sit in the fridge, all the while I'm wondering what to make and the expiry date is advancing upon me. Finally I have to either use the item or shamefully dispose of it. This bread is the result of one such

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-54822049360448278892011-12-28T17:15:00.001Z2011-12-28T17:18:56.426Z

I'm not very keen on traditional Christmas pudding, and my very kind family gave me free rein to create this year's Christmas dessert. I honestly have no idea how I decided to make this particular thing, because I don't like sherry either! J mentioned to me that she really likes baked cheesecakes, and had previously mentioned that she likes the kind of cheesecake with dried fruit baked in it, so

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-28713518434253993912011-12-25T13:25:00.000Z2011-12-25T13:26:37.136Z

Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope your day is filled with peace and joy,happiness and fun

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-42545332219085177872011-12-24T19:45:00.000Z2011-12-26T11:54:53.594Z

After last month's apple chocolate challenge, this month Choclette has been kind to us and given us orange to pair with chocolate, a classic combo. Chocolate and orange work so well together that this month the challenge has been to come up with something different. Well, I haven't really done something different, but I have made a really rather good cake, and that should be counted a successful

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-38491959348337642732011-12-22T22:36:00.000Z2011-12-22T22:37:09.790Z

I was wondering what I could make to use my star shaped mould (well, I need to use it when I can, and Christmas is definitely that time!) and looked back through my archives to see what I had done with it last time. You can see the results here. Because it was so successful, I decided to repeat the cake pretty much the same as last time. It then occurred to me that with a Nigella recipe in a

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-55616220831561276742011-12-21T20:00:00.001Z2011-12-21T20:32:02.977Z

I don't often bake things that I cannot eat (for obvious reasons of greed!) but J loves marzipan, Stollen is a very festive and seasonal bake and I was intrigued by this recipe (it's the second one down), recently published by Dan Lepard on the Guardian website. I had previously thought that Stollen was always a yeasted treat, but this was a non-yeasted version of Stollen. I have made a more

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-61493478845345905332011-12-20T22:25:00.001Z2011-12-20T22:25:19.820Z

 Using the same format as Celia, of the fabulous Fig Jam and Lime Cordial, I'm going to show you just a little of what is happening in my kitchen this December. I'm probably more festive than you'd guess from my recent posts, it's just that I'm running out of time to blog all the things I've made! Anyway, to start I'd like to introduce you to Rudolph. As a child I was so obsessed with fluffy

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-2731642863126961362011-12-19T19:20:00.001Z2011-12-19T22:54:52.653Z

Well, it seems that I am finally feeling more festive (not that I've got things sorted or organised - far from it but hey!) and anyway how could you resist such a name for this lovely treat? Why are they Rudolph's flapjacks? Well, because the contain carrot of course! Don't worry, this isn't an unwelcome intrusion - just think of carrot cake (and we all know how delicious that is!) and you'll be

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-61762025940766123142011-12-17T13:00:00.001Z2011-12-17T13:11:24.379Z

As tradition dictates, December is the month for a festive photo for No Croutons Required. Jac has asked for any festive photo. I took this photo of the sun setting last year on Christmas day, with just a sprinkling of snow visible on the rooftops in the foreground. Snow is most unusual for the northwest of the UK, so I doubt I'll get a chance to capture a scene like this again, and on Christmas

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-8361270255485751572011-12-15T18:55:00.000Z2011-12-15T18:55:46.047Z

Well, it's definitely winter here now - temperatures have been around 3-5C for the past few days, which is far too chilly for my liking, but at least not as bad as last year when we'd had snow by now! (I like temperatures around 26C!!! Fat chance, even in summer!) Anyway, I thought it would be a good idea to make a cheery, sunny cake to help me remember back to the long distant times when I

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-54361143666546558522011-12-11T20:00:00.000Z2011-12-11T20:02:53.517Z

Sunday evening, must be #shortandtweet time again! Once again I was really pleased that the pick for this week was the rye apple cake. I have made this cake before in the past, but didn't have all of the correct ingredients for it, so I was pleased to have an excuse to revisit the cake. You can see what I thought of it last time here (I don't think the links to Dan's forums work any more. I'm

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-54865506758866332922011-12-09T11:40:00.001Z2011-12-09T11:40:12.923Z

Disclaimer: I was approached and asked if I would like to review a product, which was sent to me free of charge. I did not receive any payment. The review is my view of the product, positive or negative, as I found it. The product in question was a set of spatulas by the company Joseph Joseph. I haven't used any Joseph Joseph products before but have seen them in department stores, where they

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-77737352594761232272011-12-04T18:00:00.001Z2011-12-04T18:02:26.098Z

I was really pleased when @EvidenceMatters announced that for the December #shortandtweet challenges the first week was going to be the wholemeal bread recipe. I've made this before, but it must have been in pre-blog days because I can't find it anywhere in my archives, and more tellingly, I can't find any photos of it. It's been so long since that I take it for granted that making something

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-81898026460715888282011-12-03T18:40:00.000Z2011-12-03T18:41:07.485Z

This cake was purely the result of staring in the fridge and wondering what to make to use up various ingredients. These included blueberries and raspberries on offer from the shops, and soured cream with no future plans attached to it. The recipe is effectively something I've made up, but based extremely loosely on Nigella's Chocolate soured cream cake, insofar as I looked at her recipe before

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-2563115658154460612011-11-30T19:10:00.000Z2011-11-30T19:13:29.662Z

Beautiful soft buns Also known as.... the buns that nearly didn't get made! It's been ages and ages since I last posted a savoury bread recipe that is new to me, but I've been having a love affair with soda bread and various other tried and true breads, and haven't felt the need to experiment too much. However, when Dan's recipe for slider buns was published in the Guardian a few weeks ago I

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-55978518423725191842011-11-25T23:00:00.000Z2011-11-25T23:21:46.504Z

These are a different, but equally seasonal take on the clotted cream cupcakes I first blogged just over a year ago. I've made and blogged about them since, noting down how I had changed the recipe and I decided that it was time for them to have another outing, with a few more changes. I guess that really it was a combination of ingredients looking at me that decided the final recipe, but I

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-54293895306160910102011-11-22T19:20:00.000Z2011-11-22T19:20:58.044Z

This month Chele has set the We Should Cocoa challenge, and she admits herself that it's a tough one. Keeping it seasonal, the choice this month is apples. Like I'm sure many other people have found this month, there seems to be a distinct lack of apples and chocolate pairings in recipes out there. Many other fruits pair extremely succesfully with chocolate, including that other seasonal gem,

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-69017753080197343342011-11-21T19:20:00.000Z2011-11-21T19:21:48.927Z

Having been tagged twice, by Kate at What Kate Baked and Suelle at Mainly Baking, for Food Bloggers Unplugged, I thought I had better get on and think of some answers. The idea of the ten questions is to learn a little more of the person who writes the blog and it was started by Susan of A Little Bit of Heaven on a Plate So here are my answers.... 1. What, or who inspired you to start a blog?

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-90752283407478339972011-11-20T17:45:00.001Z2011-11-20T17:49:15.750Z

I love a good tea-cake; toasted, lavishly buttered and enjoyed with a good mug of hot chocolate on a chilly winter's morning, it's the perfect way to start the day. Well, we haven't got the chilly mornings yet (not that you'll catch me complaining about that - I hate the cold!) but that just means that I'll have to make these again when such mornings roll around. This week's 'Short and Tweet' 

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-70090235110339979042011-11-13T17:45:00.000Z2011-11-13T17:49:17.940Z

Again, I'm only just going to get my post up before the Sunday 6pm deadline! These are the second item I've made from Dan Lepard's new book, Short and Sweet, for the challenge set up by Evidence Matters on twitter and the Short and Tweet blog. Check it out for more information. This week there was a choice of recipes, we could make either the cheese and black pepper buttons (p258) or the

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-14733441746862226432011-11-10T19:15:00.000Z2011-11-10T19:18:14.165Z

After making Dan Lepard's banana muffins last week, I had some very ripe bananas left over and wanted to find a home for them. A standard banana bread wasn't appealing to me so I decided to search for brownie recipes. I was very happy to discover that a book I already owned (Vegan with a Vengance) contained a recipe that someone else had adapted, and that I have adapted further. Thanks to Sara

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-75397847397072724372011-11-06T17:30:00.000Z2011-11-06T17:32:17.782Z

Short and Tweet is a new baking challenge being set up by Evidence Matters. There is a new blog dedicated to short and tweet here, check it out. I'm going to be fairly brief here, largely because I need to post this soon if I'm going to make the 6pm deadline for entering the challenge! The idea is that a group of people make the same (nominated) recipe out of Dan Lepard's recently released book

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-10164887122081258562011-11-05T20:40:00.000Z2011-11-05T20:41:01.102Z

These are Dan Lepard's recipe from his fabulous series How to Bake (from which the recipes in the recent Short and Sweet are taken), published last week. I was lucky enough to be able to find some relatively ripe bananas in the supermarket so I was able to make them straight away. As a no-nut person, I substituted the nuts for 100g raisins. Luckily I like raisins (well, obviously, otherwise I

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-25176906120804543042011-11-01T22:40:00.000Z2011-11-01T22:40:27.387Z

Disclaimer - the little sugar rose is sadly not vegan - I forgot to buy vegan-friendly decorations and since most of my recipients are not vegan I guessed they wouldn't mind! Well, the clue is in the title - these are indeed vegan chocolate cupcakes to celebrate world vegan day, which is held each November 1st, to celebrate the founding of the world's first vegan society in 1944 by Donald Watson

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-41937256052941134882011-10-29T16:40:00.001+01:002011-10-29T16:40:05.140+01:00

These came about because I had a surfeit of various ingredients that I wanted to get rid of make into something delicious. First on the agenda - half a carton of buttermilk. Next up, a half used tub of half fat creme fraiche. Thirdly, some rather ripe pears that I am singularly failing to eat in raw-fruit-good-for-you form. Finally, crystallised stem ginger. I suppose the last one didn't really

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-72851047491706983402011-10-24T19:30:00.000+01:002011-10-24T19:34:05.786+01:00

It seems that round here, chocolate is the theme for the month, what with all of the chocolate containing goodies I made for Chocolate Week, and the preceeding double chocolate ricotta scones (oh so good!) and now this rather delicious chocolate cream cake. I shall have to make some more fruity cakes to balance it all out and make sure my ginger pear cake doesn't feel lonely... what can I say

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-3047367797128923242011-10-19T22:35:00.001+01:002011-10-19T22:37:03.256+01:00

I have once again proved to myself that my willpower is non-existent, at least when it comes to the buying of new cookery books, and in this case more specifically, baking books. Yes, the new Primrose Bakery Book jumped into my basket as I walked around the supermarket a few days ago. I did have a quick flick through it though first, to make sure there were recipes in there that I wanted to make

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-25326342524949226682011-10-16T12:25:00.000+01:002011-10-16T12:26:04.522+01:00

Yes, this cake is just as rich and delicious as the title suggests! Well, I did want to go out on a high note at the end of Chocolate Week. This is actually an amalgamation of recipes from two different authors. The original Devil's Food Cake is a(nother!!) recipe from the Great British Bake Off cookery book. I don't think I've used a book this much for ages, and definitely recommend it (and

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-89063356556771282912011-10-14T23:20:00.001+01:002011-10-14T23:23:17.875+01:00

Theme of the week - yes, Chocolate Week continues - so much chocolate, so little time.... As a change from cake, I fancied sweet, crunchy biscuits but naturally these had to incorporate chocolate in some way. Instead of incorporating the chocolate into the biscuit, my recipe said to dip the finished biscuits into chocolate - who am I to argue? I'm so in love with oaty flavours at the moment -

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-89102754621459915782011-10-13T22:45:00.001+01:002011-10-13T22:53:35.470+01:00

Yes, National Chocolate Week continues, as does my celebration of the delicious substance! This is the chocolate cake recipe I turn to when I have run out of other ideas and want a reliable, rich, bitter and fudgy cake. I've made this cake many times over the years, it's definitely a keeper. The recipe comes from Nigella Lawson and she actually uses the base recipe twice in her How to be a

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-31520446209805342522011-10-12T22:45:00.001+01:002011-10-12T22:49:44.778+01:00

It seems only right that my celebration of Chocolate Week should contain my submission to We Should Cocoa, the challenge designed to celebrate chocolate in all ways throughout the year. This time, Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog is hosting and she has chosen chilli as the ingredient to pair with chocolate for this month's challenge. A tricky one, I'm sure you'll agree, but instead of

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-18679210221507126412011-10-11T22:45:00.000+01:002011-10-11T22:48:09.606+01:00

When I was contemplating what I could bake to celebrate Chocolate Week, I thought that really, baking seven cakes was a bit much, and I'd be better to break it up a bit with some biscuits! I've wanted to make chocolate crackles for ages now, I just love the way they look, and always wondered if I'd be able to get as good a result as those printed in the books. I've actually got a couple of books

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-56145310625783633232011-10-10T22:20:00.001+01:002011-10-10T22:21:05.403+01:00

My celebration of Chocolate Week continutes with another great chocolate flavour combination... ginger and chocolate are such a winning combination and I don't use them together nearly often enough. I can't quite think to myself why I haven't got round to making this recipe before now, given my love of this combination. It was originally published in April and can be found on the Guardian

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-68193095947992062082011-10-09T19:00:00.000+01:002011-10-09T19:03:36.180+01:00

It's nearly here! What, I hear you cry, what is nearly here? Well, Chocolate Week of course! This annual event (this year the 10th-18th October) was established eight years ago now, and you can find out more about it here, on the Divine website. Divine have been the main sponsor for this event since the start, and there are lots of yummy chocolate ideas on their website (as you'd expect really!)

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-67665273652134487552011-10-02T19:15:00.000+01:002011-10-02T19:18:24.130+01:00

I knew it was only a matter of time before I turned my new favourite scone recipe into a chocolate version, especially after seeing Choclette's lovely scones during international scone week. That time came when I realised I needed to use up some ricotta cheese sitting quietly in my fridge (undemanding stuff, that ricotta) before it expired. As with lots of the best things in life, these are

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-77870557619930105442011-09-30T19:45:00.000+01:002011-09-30T19:53:57.481+01:00

I was determined to participate in random recipes this month hosted as ever by Dom from Belleau Kitchen. As an avid magazine subscriber I have piles and piles of them, and couldn't even begin to think about picking a recipe. But then I remembered my blue folder.... In days gone by when I was more organised (and had fewer magazines) I'd eventually get round to cutting out the recipes I fancied (

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-1979826838194749422011-09-27T20:45:00.000+01:002011-09-27T20:47:10.680+01:00

Well, I've called this a bread, mostly because it's a yeasted dough, but it actually tastes far more like cake to me! Which is great, I get to eat cake for my breakfast if I make this bread mmmmm, cake! I blame the whole thing (quite happily though!) on Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial, who, months and months ago, posted a recipe and method for an absolutely amazing looking blackberry crown.

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-13670316120754760862011-09-24T17:00:00.000+01:002011-09-24T17:00:11.150+01:00

We should cocoa is one! Happy Birthday! To celebrate the first birthday of the best chocolate blogging event out there, Chele at Chocolate Teapot has invited us all to create a tasty chocolate treat that we would like to see at the virtual first birthday party. I can't believe it's been a year since the first we should cocoa was announced - how time flies. I do remember being very excited about

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-70453823655194915552011-09-19T21:45:00.000+01:002011-09-19T21:47:10.023+01:00

When Suelle recently posted her Chocolate and Marzipan Yogurt Cake I was instantly taken with it - the flavours sounded delicious and the texture of her cake looked fabulous. I really wanted to try it out. Well, I can't think what I did wrong - I must have missed something vital out of the recipe or changed something without realising what kind of impact it would have, but my first attempt was

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-45476679048622257682011-09-17T17:55:00.000+01:002011-09-17T17:58:07.706+01:00

I spotted this recipe in the current issue of the Waitrose Kitchen magazine and was pleased to have a home for the two bananas that were threatening to overwhelm me with banana-smell every time I entered the kitchen. I don't really know why I bought them in the first place - I went through a phase (a very long one, a couple of years probably) of having a banana every single day for breakfast (

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-44271916345618081052011-09-11T20:10:00.001+01:002011-09-11T20:10:47.075+01:00

No, not a dried fruit cake at all, not even with exotic fruits (though that's an idea... dried cranberries, pineapple, papaya, apple, pears hmmm, don't use those much). Anyway, sorry, back to the fruit cake here, a cake with summer fruit in it. Yes, it's now autumn, but the last of the summer fruit is still available and affordable at the supermarkets (plus this is an adaptable cake!) and I made

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-26524370913865048632011-09-06T22:30:00.001+01:002011-09-06T22:30:00.785+01:00

I always intend to enter No Croutons Required, the vegetarian soup/salad challenge run by Jac at Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa at Lisa's Kitchen. This month the theme is using an ingredient grown in your garden. I have to confess that really, the only thing that grows in my garden is weeds, so I'm really hoping that this soup can still be included. Aside from the weeds, the only surviving culinary

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-56330820613270037912011-09-03T18:35:00.000+01:002011-09-03T18:36:37.082+01:00

I really fancied a rich chocolate square, brownie like but not a brownie, if that makes sense. After some hunting I came across this recipe for vegan brownies on allrecipes.co.uk and it seemed to fit the bill. As usual, I adapted the recipe slightly, un-veganising it (sorry!) to include some butter (I'm sure it would work really well as stated though!) and halving the recipe. I made it in an 8"

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-37671457321173931362011-08-30T18:35:00.001+01:002011-08-30T18:38:20.023+01:00

Inspired (and aided!) by Celia, Brydie and Joanna, these are my bread rolls made with my new bread presses a spiral, a kaiser/vienna and a rosette/rosetta (I bought two of them from Bakery Bits, here you need to scroll down) but I need to play around some more with the recipe that I'm using. When I press the rolls they flatten a lot, and my dough doesn't seem to have much oven spring, resulting

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-52258532446349831002011-08-29T18:30:00.000+01:002011-08-29T18:34:40.253+01:00

Maize bread One of the points of keeping this blog is to record the things I make and bake - wonderful, and not so wonderful. Periodically I have a complete fail and occasionally just can't bring myself to blog about it, but mostly you get the good, the bad and the indifferent (in my opinion - you might try these and love them). Blogging the indifferent reminds me that I've made it, why I wasn't

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-71710388741599852542011-08-26T19:10:00.001+01:002011-08-27T09:35:51.720+01:00

Well, it's the end of the month, and this month Choclette set us the challenge of using rose with chocolate. I have seen lots of  lovely looking cakes popping up all over the place, but lots of people saying they weren't sure what to make. I have to admit that I am definitely in the 'don't know how to pair rose and chocolate' camp on this one! Definitely a challenge. I was going to make a dark

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-9302560015212741012011-08-25T22:45:00.000+01:002011-08-27T23:02:25.076+01:00

Congratulations to Choclette and I'll be Sally for now, you are the winners of a copy of the Great British Bake Off second series cook book. Apologies to all those who didn't win! Choclette, I've emailed you details, I'll be Sally for now, please get in touch with me at cakecrumbsandcooking@googlemail.com - I tried your email but it failed to deliver.

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-88805492274782703402011-08-21T20:00:00.001+01:002011-08-21T20:14:54.359+01:00

In my kitchen (inspired by Celia).... some goodies from Bakery Bits - pure lemon oil, I can't wait to use this. It smells sweeter than lemons, lemony but without the acidic backnote of either zest or juice. I'm sure this will enhance anything lemon I make. And because I'm a chocoholic, chocolate essence. I just couldn't resist. Smells pretty good, but not as bitter as my preferred dark chocolate

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-56629048933843197902011-08-20T15:15:00.001+01:002011-08-20T15:15:20.826+01:00

I'm doing pretty well with using my magazines at the moment. This is another cake recipe from BBC Good Food, this time from the August 2011 issue. The original recipe is for an apricot cake, and also has a flaked almond topping, but I decided to adapt it to use the mixture of stone fruit I had available at the time. I changed the recipe slightly by using 150g butter and 50ml olive oil. This was

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-42433321932506760562011-08-17T20:20:00.000+01:002011-08-17T20:24:03.695+01:00

Firstly, remember that you can still win a copy of The Great British Bake Off - How to Bake .... by going here. Right, now onto the rest of the post! I have a terrible confession to make. I am lucky enough to own a lovely freestanding icecream maker (like this one), bought as a birthday present by my parents when I was 21. I don't use it very often. I like ice-cream, but the palaver of making

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-41053303879845091942011-08-14T11:50:00.001+01:002011-08-14T12:02:21.599+01:00

When the Great British Bake-Off was on the BBC last year, I really enjoyed watching the contestants progress through the rounds, seeing what they would come up with for the various different challenges, and seeing how they all interpreted the 'technical challenge' recipes set by Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood. I can't say I've baked many of either Mary or Paul's recipes, not owning any books by

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-30824507308956673332011-08-11T20:15:00.000+01:002011-08-11T20:18:21.708+01:00

Woo-hoo! Sourdough success! Thanks are again due to the amazing Mr Lepard (plus my sourdough starter, more on that later) and his book The Handmade Loaf. Every time I look at this book I find breads that I really, really want to make. There are some breads requiring only commercial yeast (fresh/dried), some requiring only sourdough and a few hybrids too. There are even some that don't need yeast

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-53180898114040694432011-08-08T19:10:00.001+01:002011-08-08T19:11:02.974+01:00

What, you mean you hadn't heard about this?!? It's international scone week!!! (Check out Celia's blog for links to some of last year's participants) And I couldn't be happier because I love scones. I'm sure I've said this before, but never mind, now I've said it again. They're just such a good portable snack - not too sweet, not too rich (well, until you slather with butter/clotted cream/jam),

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-84310184612741879632011-08-06T22:25:00.000+01:002011-08-06T22:25:35.777+01:00

Mmm, I realised after I wrote the title that there's no way of you knowing that this cake was originally in ring form! I promise that I did make it in my bundt tin, and it was circular once upon a time. I was sort of intending this cake to be my birthday cake, but then it didn't really turn out as well as I had hoped and I ran out of time to do any sort of decoration, so it was just another cake

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-36584215547850594432011-08-05T18:45:00.001+01:002011-08-05T23:16:41.818+01:00

This is another cake to help those of you with garden gluts of courgettes. Admittedly, there will be other recipes out there that will help more, 225g of courgettes is only about 1 medium one, but sometimes every little helps, and this would be a great way to disguise courgettes for the vegetable hating, cake loving ones in your life. Obviously they can't just eat cake for ever though..... This

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-58790512912196840182011-08-03T22:05:00.002+01:002011-08-03T22:08:15.568+01:00

These were a very quick and easy bake that I spotted in a recent issue of BBC Good Food magazine. They ticked all the boxes - super quick to make and bake, reasonably cheap to make (especially if you use frozen fruit) and fairly healthy to boot. Well, they only contain 50g of butter for the entire tray, and they've got fresh fruit and oats too so although they aren't as healthy as say, a piece

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-21631865065427905482011-08-01T19:20:00.000+01:002011-08-01T19:21:35.128+01:00

What are these? Coming soon.... Well, I may have forgotten to mark my blog's 3rd anniversary, but this post is my 300th, so I'm going to celebrate that instead. I'm more of a sprinter (figuratively speaking only - you wouldn't catch me sprinting for anything but the bus, and only then if absolutely necessary) than a marathon runner - the initial phase of a project is far more exciting than seeing

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-81608263814680395922011-07-30T19:40:00.000+01:002011-07-30T19:43:16.890+01:00

A couple of sweet things followed by a savoury. I do try and mix it up a bit so that those of you who aren't so interested in the cakes don't lose interest entirely, and those who don't want to see just bread aren't bombarded by yeasted entities. Me, I love them both.... hence why they all feature here! Do you prefer posts about bread, or do cakes rock your world more? I found sumac in the

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-51202123699514737842011-07-24T09:30:00.000+01:002011-07-24T09:33:27.922+01:00

I originally wrote this post last October but then never got round to inserting the pictures, recipe, finishing it off and posting it. However, I hope you'll forgive me, because now seems a pretty good time to post it, since redcurrants are actually in season and you'll be able to use fresh ones, preferably from the pick-your-own rather than the frozen ones I used to create some freezer space. I

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-87114821174119842062011-07-17T18:25:00.000+01:002011-07-17T18:25:51.268+01:00

For Dom's random recipe challenge I pulled down a few of the baking books I consider my favourites, and then tried really, really hard to decide which was my favourite. I eventually decided on 'On Baking' by Sue Lawrence which regular readers will know that I've mentioned quite a few times on the blog. It's just such a lovely book - there's always something in there that I want to make, and she

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-18945846959681253362011-07-14T09:00:00.000+01:002011-07-14T09:00:01.554+01:00

I'm still trying to get to the bottom of my everlasting bag of rye flour (don't know how 1kg can last so long though to be honest I'm not sure why I'm trying to use it up because it's not as though I dislike it and the chances are that as soon as it's finished I'll buy another bag, thus perpetuating the problem...) and decided to combine it with some of the barley flour that I used recently for

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-49735370407398307542011-07-09T09:00:00.008+01:002011-07-09T09:00:09.558+01:00

Yes, you did read that correctly... chocolate raisins. I was looking round for inspiration for something to do with a very over-ripe banana. Just the one. Not the three or four called for by most recipes for banana bread. So I decided to make something up of my own. Hence the looking round for inspiration. And then my eyes landed on a lonely, unloved looking packet of white chocolate raisins.

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-73797212067098742772011-07-05T20:30:00.000+01:002011-07-05T20:30:32.259+01:00

There hasn't been very much bread on the blog recently. That isn't because I'm not eating much, on the contrary I'm eating as much as ever, but have been revisiting old and new favourites, particularly this loaf, made with spelt flour and white, and the more recent soda bread, which has displaced every other bread in my affections at the moment. I just love the way that all the different flours

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-56767975311335717072011-07-02T19:20:00.003+01:002011-07-02T19:20:38.539+01:00

I think I should really have submitted this cake for last month's We should cocoa challenge; it was a lot more successful and tasty than the strawberry and white chocolate muffins I ended up submitting. Ah well, never mind. After the debacle of the not-peaking-muffins I still wanted to try out the strawberry and dark chocolate combo - being much more a fan of dark chocolate than either milk or

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-75713499950595981052011-06-29T22:40:00.000+01:002011-06-29T22:42:44.208+01:00

The last post for June this year, and I'm being a bit cheeky really, so I hope that the organisers of the blog events that I'm submitting this for won't mind that it isn't an exclusive! I recently treated myself to 'Hungry?' which is the new cookery book by Innocent (they of the making smoothies fame). I haven't had a proper chance to look through it yet, but was vastly pleased that a quick (

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-60818560466343275372011-06-28T19:00:00.000+01:002011-06-28T19:00:00.479+01:00

This is an adaptation of a courgette loaf (mine isn't a loaf!) recipe I found in Sue Lawrence's book 'On Baking'. Courgette season is almost here, so when it really starts and all the home gardeners who are overrun with courgettes threatening to turn into marrows overnight start to despair of what to do with them all, I hope this recipe will help a little. Unfortunately I wasn't organised enough

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-11640767269039319382011-06-26T09:45:00.000+01:002011-06-26T09:46:07.569+01:00

I've seen a couple of recipes around recently using cream as an ingredient, not surprisingly, Dan Lepard is behind a couple of them, but Suelle started a discussion on Dan's forums about using cream as an ingredient in baking which was very interesting. I decided that I really ought to do some investigating into this..... well, seemed only right to have to try out a recipe and see what the

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-11873987370843219742011-06-25T09:25:00.000+01:002011-06-25T09:25:45.999+01:00

I like to think of this cake as an 'everyday cake', a snacking cake, something to be there in the cake tin for when the urge for a little something sweet strikes. There isn't a gooey rich icing or frosting, but that's what I mean by an everyday cake. The cake is good enough not to need any embellishment, it can stand on it's own merit. This is an adaptation of a recipe in Linda Collister's Easy

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-58535101889648956562011-06-19T18:00:00.000+01:002011-06-19T18:01:59.414+01:00

I've been meaning to participate in No Croutons Required, run by Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa of Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen for ages and ages now, but because the deadline is before the very end of the month I always end up missing it. I'm also not the world's biggest fan of soup really, so winter months are difficult to think of a salad. I'll have to be more creative in the future!

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-76137794631058559542011-06-18T19:30:00.003+01:002011-06-18T19:33:07.697+01:00

June seems to be whizzing by rapidly and I haven't made much of a start on all of the challenges I want to participate in, but it always seems to happen that way - I'm very much a last-minute type person. Anyway, I have at least managed to get this month's We Should Cocoa entry made. This month Choclette at Chocolate Log Blog is hosting the challenge and she felt that after some pretty difficult

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-45992396962708137562011-06-16T20:10:00.000+01:002011-06-16T20:10:31.289+01:00

Sometimes there really is no good reason for making the cake I end up making. I guess this is pretty much one of those times! My only criteria for the cake I wanted to bake was that it needed to use three eggs. That's it. I didn't want to carry out an extensive search through various recipe books, umming and ahhhing over which cake to make, weighing up pros and cons, deciding if I could be

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-41448792673750593652011-06-12T22:00:00.000+01:002011-06-12T22:00:46.778+01:00

Although I read lots and lots of different blogs, there are some that I find myself coming back to time and time again. The recipes are appealing and it seems as though I'm on the same wavelength as the author of the blog. One of these lovely blogs is Mainly Baking, written by Suelle. I think that part of the reason is that we both enjoy Dan Lepard's baking recipes from the Guardian newspaper,

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-78488150329603609112011-06-11T20:45:00.000+01:002011-06-11T20:46:49.365+01:00

This is the fourth and final post in my mini series on baked goods using condensed milk - the others are double chocolate blueberry cookies, brown sugar chocolate cake and blueberry and cranberry condensed milk oat cookies. It's also another in my 'Marked and Made' series - all of the things that I've had bookmarked either physically or on the t'internet as being things that I should really get

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-60386755472608926622011-06-05T19:10:00.001+01:002011-06-05T21:21:47.968+01:00

I seem to be on a bit of a Dan Lepard baking spree at the moment. The latest cake I made was one of his more recently published recipes, this honey and treacle cake. When I looked at the ingredients I had everything in my storecupboard (in almost sufficient quantity!) so it was fairly inevitable that I would end up making this, especially as I love this type of ginger cake and am currently

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-4062805467552788962011-06-02T21:50:00.001+01:002011-06-26T09:56:19.777+01:00

The trouble with starting to revisit lists of things you meant to make, and things you meant to do, is that there was obviously a reason for the item to go onto the list in the first place. When I was making the brown sugar chocolate cake, I was browsing through the many pages in Dan Lepard's forum, specifically the board where the Guardian recipes are posted. The brown sugar chocolate cake was

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-62090729657302601782011-06-01T07:00:00.000+01:002011-06-01T07:00:07.855+01:00

These cookies are the third in my mini series of things to make with a can of condensed milk. (The first two are these double chocolate blueberry cookies and this brown sugar chocolate cake.) I was looking on the Carnation website, browsing through all of the things I could make with my can of condensed milk (and there are a lot! it's a pretty good website for ideas) and came across this cookie

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-68905878307350984722011-05-30T07:30:00.001+01:002011-05-30T07:30:00.191+01:00

This is the second of my 'things to do with a tin of condensed milk' mini series. The first can be found here - double chocolate blueberry cookies. It's also resurrecting a series I started a very long time ago, 'Marked and Made' - things that have, for one reason or another, been languishing on the 'to bake' list for far too long. I guess it's just my way of acknowledging having finally made

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-20581146879627438052011-05-29T15:00:00.002+01:002011-05-29T15:00:07.242+01:00

I think I'm sneaking this one in just in time..... again. I always plan to be more organised, but then somehow, time seems to run away with me and before I know it it's the end of the month, deadline day and I still haven't submitted my entry. This month the theme is salad, which is unfortunate given the weather we've been having. I suppose casserole as a theme in May just wouldn't have seemed

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-71311063534188199992011-05-28T18:45:00.000+01:002011-05-28T18:47:35.053+01:00

The Fairy Hobmother (aka Ian from Appliances Online) has been very busy recently, appearing on many blogs granting wishes. I left a comment on this post by Jacqueline over at Tinned Tomatoes, very cheekily asking for a new cooker!!! Well, although Appliances Online, who sell cookers and other white goods, couldn't quite run to a cooker (which I wasn't expecting in the slightest) I was very

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-11057158788077074832011-05-26T11:30:00.000+01:002011-05-27T10:53:04.742+01:00

Sorry about the lack of activity round here. I've got lots and lots to post but have been unexpectedly without internet access for the past few days - I was staying in a hotel that I'd expected to have wi-fi and had been planning to catch up on some posting, but there was no wi-fi, so obviously no posting! Never mind, I'll try and make up for it now. Starting with 101 uses of a tin of condensed

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-28759729620340094412011-05-21T19:35:00.000+01:002011-05-21T19:39:57.202+01:00

I've been meaning to join in with Dom's random recipe challenge since he first announced it a few months ago, but for various reasons haven't managed it. This month, however, I was determined that I would make the recipe before the deadline. And, by happy chance the theme for this month is 'Just desserts' - perfect for my blog! I've been having a bit of a tidy up recently and decided that

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-30529966205264656912011-05-18T20:15:00.002+01:002011-05-18T20:15:14.584+01:00

It is once again time for this month's We Should Cocoa hosted alternately by Chele of Chocolate Teapot and Choclette of Chocolate Log Blog, and after missing a couple due to dislikes and allergies I was thrilled when Chele announced that this months challenge was to be roulades. Actually, that's a slight lie, I was pleased to know that I'd be able to participate, but rather less pleased to be

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-81510515225048247212011-05-16T12:50:00.001+01:002011-05-16T13:00:20.761+01:00

Thank you Celia. Well, I think that's pretty much the most important thing I could say about these fabulous cookies - if it weren't for Celia over at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial I would never have made these. I guess I ought to thank Dorie Greenspan too, from whom the recipe originates. Thanks Dorie! I think I vaguely remember her posting about them the first time round, but then when she revisited

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-70912772025386591242011-05-15T20:15:00.002+01:002011-05-15T20:29:35.163+01:00

I was sorting through my baking cupboard the other day and amongst the (many) ingredients I found that I either wanted or needed to use up was a tin of caramelised condensed milk. OK, in all honesty there were two tins.... what can I say? They must have been on special offer (I am the marketing man's idea of heaven, with suggestible tattooed across my forehead). A while ago, because they both

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-77082945606085337602011-05-14T23:15:00.000+01:002011-05-14T23:18:25.306+01:00

No real reason for making these. I had soured cream that needed to be used up, chocolate is a popular default option and I fancied having a try at feathering a decoration, after seeing Katie's beautiful decoration here. These seemed like reasons enough to bake. I amalgamated a few recipes in books that I looked through to come up with something that suited my ingredients. So these are mine!

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-1214500794783480892011-05-09T21:45:00.000+01:002011-05-09T21:48:34.846+01:00

When I was making the Mill Loaf the shape you see above was the shape of loaf I was actually aiming for! A good pert, perky loaf, standing to attention, rather than slouching all over the place. Apparently I still need yeast to help me achieve this. I have blogged about this bread before here and used exactly the same technique as described there. This time I used wholemeal flour rather than

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-58447474910865264482011-05-06T23:00:00.001+01:002011-05-15T22:49:43.481+01:00

Is it a house brick, or maybe solid porridge? Was it all just a big mistake, or is it actually a loaf of bread? Well, it's defnitely bread, but it also comes under the heading of a big mistake too. Let me elaborate.... the recipe/inspiration for this bread comes from The National Trust Teatime Baking Book, yes, that one again (apparently my new favourite book). However, I had a bit of a mix-up

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509623290663629278.post-10977985197749546572011-05-03T16:20:00.000+01:002011-05-03T16:21:22.734+01:00

This is another cake from the same book as the rather delicious Kedleston Marmalade Cake. So although it was a bit of a naughty Christmas self-present at least I've used it more than some of my other books (and yes, two recipes made does constitute more than I've made from the majority of my cookery books, and I'm hanging my head in shame as I admit this!) I really enjoy making loaves like

Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13067886984635079539noreply@blogger.com7