sweet

Black Forest frangipane tart
17Nov

Black Forest frangipane tarts

Pie making is not my forte and after watching endless Buzzfeed pie making videos I started to really worry about my skills, especially as me and Kelly decided to host an Instagram pie party. I have been testing different types of shortcrust pastry recipes for a while but my nutty versions were huge fails. I also made peace with my “rustic” crust style (or rough around the edges as I call it sometimes) but instead of getting so hung up on the look of the pie edge I moved on to the most important bit: filling and its endless possibilities! Frangipane was one of the first things I ever baked, and have baked quite a few times over the years with a variety of fillings. I have never actually made the traditional frangipane recipe, the addition of sweet jam has always been too sweet for me. Thinking about the warmth darkness of a black forest gateau I wanted to bring the flavours of cocoa and dark cherries to this tart. I soaked the cherries in Port and orange juice, which initially was a haphazardly addition as I didn’t have any kirsch and it turned out sooooo good. Best to leave it to
3 mins read
2920 Views
Banana bread trifle with custard and salted caramel
12Aug

Banana cake trifle

Our fridge has buckled during the heatwave, it has slowly given up on us and the amount of food we’ve had to throw away is tragic. We’re big on bananas but we haven’t been able to keep up with how quickly they have gone from green tips to freckled black, the perfect excuse to experiment with banana bread recipes. I have made banana bread with sour cream, yoghurt, buttermilk, black treacle. My work colleagues were sick of it and so was my family, my freezer started to work overtime to keep it all from going to waste. There are no rules when it comes to layering these trifle pots, mix and alternate as much as your glass is tall with banana, cake, custard and salted caramel. Top it with loads of caramelised nuts. Banana cake trifle (serves 3-4) For the custard: 150ml milk 150ml double cream 1 tsp vanilla paste 1 tbsp cornflour 3 egg yolks 50g sugar 1. Add milk, double cream and vanilla paste to pan and bring it to a slow boil, remove from heat and leave it to cool 2. Whisk the yolks and sugar until pale and fluffy, add to milky mixture, return to hob
3 mins read
2457 Views
Apple oat muffin with chai icing
15Feb

Apple oat muffins with chai icing

  I am not the best at picking breakfast. It’s for sure my favourite part of the day, but sometimes I  wake up craving for something sweet and unhealthy to have with my coffee like…chocolate cake. In fact when I was a kid, while everyone was having cake for dessert, I used to save a slice in the fridge just so that I could have it for breakfast the next morning. Many people frown upon this practice, so as an adult I kinda made a connection that bran cereal or poached eggs for breakfast show a certain level of maturity. So here’s my compromise: a small muffin, naturally sweetened with bananas, apples and oats with a healthy (ahem) dollop of sugar and chai on top because…well mornings are tough and you should have something to look forward to on a Monday morning. So when you can spare an hour, whip up this recipe and keep it in an air tight container and it will last you for at least half of your week. Apple oat muffins with chai icing (yields 10 small muffins) 100g oats 100g plain flour 2 eggs 90g softened butter 80g golden caster sugar 1 banana, mashed
3 mins read
22636 Views
Ginger and lime cookies, perfect for Christmas
19Dec

Ginger and lime cookies

I fell in love with ginger not so long ago. My husband urged me to try the famous Mcvitie’s Jamaican Ginger Cake and I was unable to stop at one slice only. It has since become my second favourite cake after the carrot cake from the Hummingbird Bakery which we had our wedding. After the Jamaican cake my views of baking with ginger changed dramatically, before I would never venture out of savoury dishes when using ginger. This recipe calls for ginger in syrup, don’t even try to use powdered ginger or any other form of ginger, you just wouldn’t get the fiery kick rounded up by chewy sweetness. And don’t be scared by the icing, it’s super easy, you only need 3 ingredients and a piping bag. It flows easily onto the biscuit and any mistakes on the design can be rubbed off with a dab of water on your fingers. Ginger and lime cookies (yields 20-25 cookies) Biscuit base: 200g butter 100g caster sugar zest of 3 limes 360g plain flour 180g stem ginger in syrup (drained), grated 1. Beat sugar and butter with an electric mixer, add grated ginger and zest. 2. Using a paddle attachment add
3 mins read
1173 Views
vegan chocolate brownies
03Dec

Super fudgy vegan brownies

I don’t identify myself as belonging to any particular food tribes, whether it is clean eating, paleo or vegan. Sincerely, I love butter too much. This is not to say I don’t enjoy cooking and trying recipes from all of these tribes. Cooking with butter, cream and even meat is very easy as they have deep, rich flavours. But maybe I think like this because I am so used to cooking with these ingredients and any attempts to cook vegetarian or vegan recipes is something that takes a lot of effort. Fruit puree is what keeps bringing me back (made this dairy free cake a while ago), substituting it for dairy and eggs in a multitude of things.
2 mins read
1402 Views
26Apr

Banana split with brigadeiro fudge sauce

Things I am loving at the moment: I no longer listen to the radio. Some may think this is a bad thing but in my car I have a very narrow range of stations, mainly consisting of songs that are on the chart playing on a very annoying loop. I downloaded an app called Castbox and have started to explore the world of podcasts. My absolutely favourites are The High Low and Dear Sugar Radio. I can’t get enough of Cheryl Strayed and Steve Almond. I want to go out and have a beer with them. Weekends without my phone. It actually died and I didn’t even try to charge it. I forgot about it and it was all good. Re-watching old films that I was too young to understand when I watched it first time around: As Good As it Gets, Donnie Darko and Good Will Hunting eBay. I am planning my sister’s hen do whilst on my night shifts. I am going for a mermaid theme. All the glitter and streamers arrived on time and on point. Condensed milk. I’ve decided that ganache is well over rated as a sauce and that brigadeiro sauce should take the crown.
2 mins read
1189 Views