Scary Cake

I was really worried about this cake, not worried about the outcome or if the recipe would be easy to follow, oh no I was worried by the amount of very unhealthy stuff in it.  Now I know cake is not deemed a healthy option but this Nigella cake seemed to be really scary!  I had some lovely white chocolate to use up from my sister and a some raspberries from my parents garden so I set about finding a recipe.  I have not made many Nigella recipes in my time usually due to the large quantities of butter/cream/sugar......etc.  Anyway I thought I would give this one a go, I actually halfed the quantities (an even number of eggs always makes this easier!) and then used less sugar, about 40g less I think and it worked really well.  I over cooked it slightly having not taken into account the lesser quantinty but I just about got away with it, 10 minutes less and it would have been moister.  I served it with fresh raspberries and creme fraiche as I thought the white chocolate ganache may be a little too much.  Scary but very very tasty!

Choca Mocha

I have fancied doing a mocha cake for a while now and with the in-laws arriving I had my chance!  Its another Hugh F-W recipe, and they always seem to work.  The only change I made was not marbling the two mixtures as quite frankly I dont think its a good look!  I just added the coffee and cocoa into the main mix.  It was lovely.

Happy Birthday Kate

It was my little sisters 30th Birthday last week so I duly made the cake, it had to be chocolate (I used the bero classic recipe) but I wanted a twist so the icing layer through the middle was blackcurrant as Kate loves purple stuff!  Iced with chocolate and decorated with flowers from the folks garden (all edible) and home make cake bunting, which quite frankly is one of life's essentials!

DIY Couture

I had a very exciting custom order recently for the launch of the new book by Rosie Martin of DIY Couture.  Rosie asked me to create a box of biscuits based on her 10 designs in the book to be used as a prize at the book launch night.

Strawberries

Although it is tipping down in most parts of the county it is June and very much strawberry season!

Bourbon time

Bourbons- my favorite shop bought biccie!  I had a home made one a couple of years ago and it was so good, I kept meaning to try making my own but iced biscuits always seem to take priority.  I had some chocolate butter icing left from a birthday cake I made so decided it was at last bourbon time.  I used a rectangle cutter and used my usual chocolate biscuit recipe and piped the butter icing onto one side and sandwiched together. yum.

Collections

I have always been a collector, I like stuff, pretty stuff....teacups, vintage buttons and lace, ribbons, handbags, the list is endless.  One of the best things about collections is displaying them, now I live in a tiny rented flat where most surfaces are covered already and space is limited but I dream of a farm house and lots of cabinets, shelves and walls for theses displays.  Kitchen ware and more specifically old bake ware is a real favourite,  below are some collections from the lovely RE who now have a shop in Liberty.