As you may have gathered from the limited number of pie recipes on my blog, homemade pastry is really not my strong point. After a food technology lesson when I was about 13 which resulted in pastry that would just not bind together I pledged my allegiance to Jus Roll more or less (except when it comes to baking club and baking with friends). Enter … Continue reading Coconut frangipane lime tarts (and mini tarte tatin)
Happy Hallowe’en everybody! This year I thought I’d share my recipe for gingerbread. Partly because they’re perfect to share at this time of year, or to give out to trick or treaters. Mostly because I have had zombie cookie cutters since I went to the cake and bake show back in March. These biscuits have an absolutely fantastic flavour. Almost makes you want to keep … Continue reading Zombie gingerbread
The other week Ed and I had a very companionable afternoon picking blackberries in Harrogate. I obviously got my new jumper full of thorns and we both ended up walking home nursing nettle stings. Anyway, armed with a large container of frozen blackberries (or brambles as my family calls them) and some beautiful apples very kindly given to me by my mum and FN at … Continue reading Harvest crumble bars (apple and blackberry flapjacks with crumble topping)
Autumn is one of my favourite times for cooking. I have really started to enjoy making the most of all of the seasonal produce, especially since moving to Yorkshire where local produce is fantastic. Even beetroot haters (of which I am one) will adore this cake. The cake is lovely and soft, the beetroot adding a richness – it adds an extra dimension and the … Continue reading Chocolate beetroot cake
So a couple of my friends and I have started a baking club. We all love to bake, but have experience in different areas of baking and having regular baking sessions gives us all a chance to learn from each other (and also have girl time). This week, in line with the Great British Bake Off we made different types of pastries. The main (and … Continue reading Baking Club week 1 – Chicken, mushroom, leek and bacon pie
Since making pizza (and therefore having dried yeast in my cupboard) I have become more enthusiastic about breadmaking and using yeast as a raising agent. These cinnamon buns are made using what I believe is an enriched dough and are absolutely lovely still warm from the oven with a cup of tea. These would also be a fantastic breakfast or brunchtime treat – leave out … Continue reading Cinnamon Buns (sticky buns)
I have a massive love of the type of biscuit where you can melt stuff in a pan and add it to dry ingredients. It makes baking things so quick and simple. Last week I had to provide baked goods to a cake stall at work (is bringing biscuits to a cake stall possibly not following instructions) and I made these Mars Bar cookies and … Continue reading Mars Bar melt cookies
When I was a student I lived in a house share with rather a lot of girls. It was as you would expect, fun, very messy and more pairs of make-up and hair products under our roof than we could possibly use. Now, I occasionally used to bake with my friend Lyd. At the time we didn’t even have a mixing bowl, we used to … Continue reading Cookies – inspired by Lyddie
This chocolate cake recipe is adapted from a recipe that the chocolatier Paul Young developed. I say adapted – I followed his sponge recipe but didn’t make the Mayan spiced syrup. Now, to set the scene I love to bake, and I especially love producing homemade cakes for my friends on their birthdays if the opportunity arises. My good friend Miss B had a birthday … Continue reading Chocolate cakes with cookie and cream icing
I don’t know why but lemons really make me thing of summer. Maybe its the yellow colour and because they taste so fresh. Either way I have always been made on lemons, when my parents cooked with lemons my brother and I used to ask for the remaining lemons to suck; something I didn’t realise not many people did until adulthood. Anyway, this makes an … Continue reading Lemonly loveliness – lemon drizzle cake
The Bunfight 