First, before we go any further, let me just be completely clear that this cake contains coconut sugar instead of cane sugar. To me that’s not really sugar-free, although it does comply with the rules of this week’s Bake Off challenge. It may not be table sugar – the white, granulated stuff that we know […]
New recipe
Week 36 – potato and courgette rosti (new recipe)
During the last week I have for various reasons been buying breakfast and lunch instead of making my own. And it’s bloody expensive! A fruit salad for breakfast, soup and yoghurt or sandwich for lunch, throw in a coffee and you are looking at £7-10 per day in the City of London. An expensive way […]
GBBO week 4 – baked cheesecake: Speculoos biscuit cheesecake (Lotus Biscoff)
Have you ever tried speculoos biscuits? If you have ever been to a little coffee shop on the continent and been served a lightly spiced, caramel biscuit with your coffee then chances are you have tried one. Or maybe you tried to recreate my homemade speculoos biscuits? My point is, if you haven’t tried them […]
Week 34 – gooey cheesy aubergine / eggplant bake (new recipe)
There’s not much for me to share with you about my week ahead, so I thought I would share with you a recipe for gooey cheesy aubergine (eggplant) bake which I made on Monday as one of our meat-free Monday meals (Andrew is getting wise to this, but he has realised that you can have […]
GBBO challenge week 3: bread – soda bread and home-churned butter
I cannot start this post without commenting on Paul’s amazing lion bread sculpture. How impressive was that? I did briefly entertain the idea of making a bread sculpture of my own (obviously in the shape of a cat), but sometimes life is too short eh? Baguettes are something I would like to make one day, […]
GBBO challenge week 2 – Biscuits: oat shortbread Welsh dragon box with cat-shaped bourbon biscuits
I do love biscuits. My favourites, in no particular order, are chocolate coated malted milk biscuits, chocolate coated digestives, hob nobs, and boaster cookies. If we’re talking homemade then I love custard creams and shortbread (I don’t like shop-bought versions of these unless the shortbread is the proper buttery stuff), my nutella-stuffed chocolate chip cookies […]
Week 33 – homemade pasta and chocolate spread tasting
We’ve had a busy week working on our kitchen project this week: what that means is I have been picking out my dream kitchen and appliances, and Andrew has continually reminded me of our limited budget. As I keep telling him, if he thinks I cook well now, imagine how amazing our dinners will be when […]
GBBO challenge week 1 – Cake: Gin & Tonic madeira cake
I do love a bit of Bake Off, and Andrew even lets me watch it … although he only managed approximately 40 seconds of it before he stuck his earphones on. I genuinely don’t understand why he hates the show so much – it’s so relaxing to watch, and of course a great way to pick […]
Jewelled Persian rice with pomegranates, walnuts and parsley
A while ago I was contacted by the chaps at Amira rice, asking if I’d like to receive a few recipes and some samples of their rice to try. I said yes, not expecting to receive a large box filled with portioned containers of each ingredient I would need to make one of their recipes: […]
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40th birthday cake – drunken Welsh dragon vanilla cake
Yes, you did read that correctly: I made a 40th birthday cake of vanilla sponge and it was decorated with a drunken Welsh dragon. Sound strange? Well, it actually was completely suitable for Andrew: it was his 40th birthday, he is Welsh, and he loves getting drunk, so voila! Actually I can’t take credit for the […]