It has been a busy old week this week with some birthday baking for our friend Danny, who just turned 40. His wife Monika asked me to bake him a birthday cake for his party, something chocolate-y, and as I had the perfect chocolate cake in my repertoire from Henry’s christening cake, I was happy […]
chocolate
Foodie penpals – February 2015
I love a lot of things about Foodie Penpals. Obviously I love getting food by post (I mean, who wouldn’t?). I also love picking out goodies to send to a stranger, based on their answers to a few simple questions (for example “what won’t you eat?”). I have discovered bloggers who I have continued to follow […]
Why I love … Cocoa Loco
Find out more about ‘Why I love …‘ For several years, I’d badger Andrew into buying me a chocolate Easter egg, and I’d buy him a Yorkie one, and then we’d both feel slightly outraged by the ratio of chocolate to money and promise to never do it again. Then Easter would roll around and […]
Baking with Betty Crocker
I was recently invited to Betty Crocker bake and decorate event in London and was disappointed to discover that Betty was invented in the 1920s by American Mad Men. ‘Her’ first product was Bisquick (still available in shops now) and ‘she’ was introduced to the British market in the 1990s. My brother Jason and I […]
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Birthday dinner at The Berkeley by Marcus Wareing
Andrew and I went through a stage a few years ago where we went to a lot of Michelin-starred restaurants, but then we decided to buy a house and realised that going out to posh places wasn’t compatible with saving money for a house, and we pretty much stopped going out for dinner all together. […]
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Nothing says Happy Birthday like a cake covered in Maltesers
I may have mentioned before (once or twice) that I am quite a fan of chocolate. I really like Hotel Chocolat (and think that because it is quite expensive I won’t inhale it so quickly as ‘normal’ chocolate, although that doesn’t always work) but I also love the usual brands you can find in the […]
Celebrating US Independence Day with chocolate Coca-Cola cake
When you are making something to celebrate US Independence Day on 4 July, you can’t go too far wrong than making something which involves coca-cola, the brand that apparently created the red and white Santa Clause we know today. Personally, I have never been a fan of fizzy drinks – it’s one of the few […]
Nigella’s chocolate molten babycakes
My mum’s birthday was on 9 February, which this year fell between me flying back from Sri Lanka and her flying out to Grand Canaria. As a consequence, we only saw eachother this week – although that worked out well as we had the chance to share our holiday experiences and for me to give […]
GBBO challenge week 7 – Religieuse
Find out more about my Great British Bake Off challenge. If I wasn’t already an athiest, making Religieuse this week would have turned me into one. These little choux bun towers, named for the nuns they are supposed to resemble (you’d have to be on drugs to mistake mine for nuns), represent what I dislike […]
GBBO challenge week 5 – millionaire’s shortbread
Find out more about my Great British Bake Off challenge. So, the latest episode of the wonderful Bake Off included a technical tuile challenge, signature traybakes and showstopping biscuit towers. Now, tuiles are lovely and all that, but they probably aren’t the most pleasurable type of biscuit to eat, and they do look like a […]