When you regularly read someone else’s blog, you begin to feel like you know that person. Isabella King’s Coriander Queen blog was one which I followed avidly, struck by the charm of her writing and beauty of her profile picture, not to mention the delicious sounding recipes, illustrated with tempting photographs. I was lucky enough […]
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Cookbook challenge – Anthony Bourdain: roast chicken with lemon and butter
Andrew and I love Anthony Bourdain. His TV shows are a perfect mix of travel and cooking, so that they appeal to us both, and although I don’t think he’s the kind of person I’d want to know (man, he’s scary), he is entertaining, witty, and writes a great book. His latest book is ‘Appetites: […]
GBBO week 9 – lemon fondant fancies
Okay I know I have only just posted my tudor pie (chicken and leek with hot water crust – delicious), but I am catching up before the GBBO ends tomorrow (sob, end of an era as who knows how it will be reincarnated on Channel 4?). For patisserie week there were the options of savoury […]
GBBO week 8 – chicken and leek pie with hot water crust
I can’t say that Tudor week on the Bake Off was one of my favourites – I cannot stand marzipan so didn’t fancy much that the GBBO crew made for week 8, so my only option really was a pie. That’s not a bad option, to be fair, and to meet the Tudor theme I made […]
GBBO week 7 – vanilla and speculoos roulade with strawberries and cream
It’s already week 7 of the Great British Bake Off, and the latest challenges were based around desserts. Options were a signature roulade, a technical marjolaine, or a showstopping range of petite mousse desserts. Once again I had to cater to Andrew’s fussiness so couldn’t make a marjolaine which is meringue, nor mousse – Andrew […]
GBBO week 6 – coconut and raspberry cake
Botanicals … when I think of botanicals I think of gin … I do have a rather one-track mind where my favourite tipple is concerned though. Mmmmm, gin. But for the Great British Bake Off botanicals week I was a bit stumped, as I have already made a G&T cake. Inspired by my weekly visits […]
GBBO week 5 – Danish pastries
I was going to title this blog post ‘Easy Danish pastries’ because the dough I used was a cross between a rough puff and an enriched dough, so it wasn’t as much hard work as it could have been … however, it wasn’t that easy either, so I thought it best not to mislead with […]
GBBO week 4 – Chinese style duck filled yorkie puds
For the first time batter has featured in the Great British Bake Off … and probably the last time as the news reaches us that the show is moving over to Channel 4 without Mel, Sue, or Mary Berry. Sad news, as whatever Bake Off becomes, it won’t be the same series we all fell […]
GBBO week 3 – plaited loaf: cheese, tomato and pesto couronne
The latest edition of Bake Off involved delicious bread – possibly one of my favourite things ever, but sadly something which makes me fat: because once I start eating the stuff I literally cannot stop. Mmmmmm, lovely bread. Anyway, the options this week were chocolate bread, which sounds utterly amazing but there’s no way Andrew […]
GBBO week 2 – chocolate hazelnut (Nutella) viennese whirls
For the second week running my newborn son (well, he’s over a month old now – where has that time gone?!) has allowed me to 1) watch the Bake Off, 2) bake my week’s challenge, and 3) blog about the challenge. Now if only he’d allow me to have more than a 3 hour stretch […]