Many, many apologies for being away for so long. Not sure quite what's happened - maybe a combination of returning to work, and planning some major life changes - all good stuff, I promise, but I won't go into that now in case it doesn't happen. I have been baking in between, but just haven't sat down to write in the evenings. So, just to prove it, here's a resume of what I've been up to... Oh, and I seem to have deleted some photos in transfer from phone to computer. So you'll just have to believe me!
Mocha Cake
Made this back in May (blimey, it has been a while!) It was a treat for Evan's old pre-school teachers, as a 'congratulations' for achieving their outstanding from OFSTED. No mean feat, and very richly deserved. We always knew they were fantastic, but it's great to have it acknowledged. I didn't get to try the cake, but was assured it was yummy!
Cinnamon Pecan Buns
Oh, I really wish I hadn't lost the photo of these, because they looked great... if I say so myself. A cross between tear & share bread, and Chelsea buns. They are drizzled with icing, and every time Megan came in the kitchen she pointed and said "milk", "cake". So this recipe has now been renamed 'Megan's milk cake'.
Baked chicken with lemon & garlic
Those who read about my garlicky cottage pie (January 2014), will understand why I was wary of this recipe! It has 20 cloves of garlic in, and I thought of cutting down but then got brave! The recipes was actually delicious, and not too stinky! The cloves are added, unpeeled, to chicken pieces; herbs; wine; lemon zest and juice, and stock. This is baked, and then the garlic squeezed on to toasted baguette slices. Garlic bread produced at the table. I'll definitely make it again, as it's a great entertaining dish.
Baked Mediterranean pasta
Rachel says that this recipe was invented by her husband one night, when the whole family were starving. As it takes 40-50 minutes to cook, I'd love to ask her how starving they were by then! But seriously, this is another great entertaining dish. It's got some of my favourite flavours, including chorizo; capers; olives; goat's cheese and Gruyere cheese. Oh yes, and 6 cloves of garlic! But again, not too stinky and a really rich, satisfying dish.
Irish coffee meringue roulade
I made this to follow the Mediterranean pasta, both served when my parents visited. Rachel initially gives the recipe as coconut meringue, with lemon curd cream and raspberries. However, none of my family are that keen on coconut, and this was a variation that Rachel suggested (the other is cherries and rosewater cream, which sounds good). Well, the appearance wasn't great - my meringue crumbled and is was more of an 'Irish coffee mess'. However, it tasted lovely and the roulade was easier to make than I thought. I'll try this again, maybe with one of the variations.
Spinach, potato & goats' cheese tart
Made for a family day out at our favourite seaside resort, Sutton on Sea. It's a great picnic recipe - next time I'll season it more, as the spinach and potatoes have a fairly bland flavour.
Pissaladiere
Made for a church lunch, back in May. It's a fairly simple tart, filled with cooked onions; garlic (of course!); herbs; anchovies and olives. Made a change to the usual quiches which often get brought for this type of function (I once heard it said that the Lord's Prayer should be reworded 'give us this day our daily quiche'. I like that!)
Easy soda focaccia
Rachel points out that this recipe doesn't contain yeast, and so is more a cross between focaccia and soda bread. This was indeed how it turned out. We served it with pasta, and it made a great, quick alternative to the garlic bread that we often have. It is kneaded briefly, like soda bread, and baked for 30 minutes.
Italian hazelnut cake
I'd actually made this once before, when I belonged to a local book group. It was my turn to choose, and I'd picked Anthony Capella's 'The Food of Love'.
If you want a funny, silly and slightly naughty read, try this! It describes the love affair between an American student and Italian chef, and the vivid descriptions of the wonderful food made me drool! I wanted an Italian dish to take to the group, and this fitted the bill perfectly. They loved the book, and my cake! It's made with ground hazelnuts rather than flour, so as long as you use gluten free baking powder, good for coeliacs.
Chocolate, marmalade & hazelnut cake
Another gluten free cake, made with ground hazelnuts. It's has a rich texture and a great chocolate/orange flavour.
Tarte Tatin
I've made this before, but that was Delia Smith's recipe. Whereas she slices her apples thinly, Rachel has them cored then quartered. Don't think I cooked the caramel quite enough, as you can see I didn't get the rich dark finish that tarte tatin is supposed to have. Still tasted good, though. I like to serve mine as Delia suggests - with crème fraiche. I find the sharpness of the cream cuts nicely through the sweetness of the caramel and apples.
Honey buns
Made for a pre-school coffee morning. They are lovely little cupcakes, with melted honey in the batter and honey icing on top. I made them with children in mind, thinking they tend to eat the icing on cakes and leave the sponge (well, mine do anyway!) This icing blends in to the cakes, so it isn't so easy to do. They went down really well.
Butter free sponge cake
Also made for the pre-school coffee morning, but this time for the grown- ups. The sponge is butter free. Instead, you whisk egg yolks, sugar and water to make a mousse, and then gently fold in flour and baking powder. The result is a really lovely, light cake. A perfect summer bake, when filled with whipped cream and strawberries.
Iced orange cake
A lovely summery sponge cake, made with orange zest and topped with an orange icing.
Florence's orange cake
Some similarities to the above, but a bit more sophisticated. The sponge contains orange zest and juice. It's baked into 2 sponges, then each split in half. They're sandwiched with an orange buttercream filling, and covered with orange glace icing. Made for a family fun day at church - I didn't actually get to try any, as it disappeared so fast. I guess that's a compliment!
Zucchini bread
A really easy recipe, made a bit like carrot cake but with grated courgette instead. Similarly to carrot cake, it has a really moist texture. Made it for our holiday in Scotland, when we stayed with some friends. We all loved it! We all ate really well in Scotland, I'm now a big fan of Scotch pies and really want to try and make some!
Pretzels
I made the honey and cinnamon version of these, which turned out a bit like doughnuts in texture. Nigel was a bit thrown, as he's only ever had crispy pretzels. Cheeky Megan loved them, and kept pinching them from the pantry! My shaping wasn't great, but OK for a first go I suppose.
Upside-down cherry cake
I made this to take to a friend's 40th birthday barbecue. Rachel's main recipes uses cranberries, and she suggests variations of gooseberry; blackberry; apple and pear. Well, I had some cherries to use up and they worked well.
So that's it, I'm up to date. Hope I haven't been too long this time. Aiming for normal service to resume from now on! I'm finding baking really addictive, and start to feel a bit 'twitchy' if I haven't had a new challenge for a week or so. Still on track to meet this challenge, and I already have an idea for the next one. Watch this space!
