With the summer cherry season coming to a close how could I not go out with a bang? I’m going retro & brining back a dessert that should never have fallen out of fashion, black forest cake. It’s as good now as it was in the 70’s & 80’s, even better I’d argue as let’s …
The sun is shining (for now), the flowers have bloomed, plants have fruited & Wimbledon has begun… it can only be British summertime! A very welcome season, us Brits truly know how to make the most it. We light our barbeques at any given ray of sunshine, dining al fresco in the garden until the …
June & July are blackcurrant season in the garden. Harvesting actually does span over two months for me because our blackcurrant bush is very old, very big & its fruit continues to ripen at different stages in early summer. It’s one of the few nice things that I actually inherited with my house. The previous …
With several jars of apricot jam already made & stowed away in the pantry for the year ahead, whilst I’ve already been enjoying it on toast & pastries in the morning I had an idea one morning that I just could not get out of my head… until now. As far as preserves go, I …
Ever wanter to enjoy the carby goodness of bread but without all of the faffing around of kneading, rising & proving? Well, rye bread may just the your answer, yes it takes a long while but hand-on time is all but 5 minutes which makes it so easy to make! Yes, it’s perfectly possible to …
When the sun is beaming & it’s 30C, even in the shade baking can get a little difficult (not through lack of trying I might add). So, lately I’ve resorted to getting a little more creative with the freezer. With a couple of juicy mangoes to hand, I had full intentions of making a creamy, …
If, like me, you may have gone a little overboard with the elderflower cordial & produced way too much (with each year, I never learn), then adding it into simple cakes or icings is a great alternative to using it in drinks. The sweet, floral notes of elderflower work with pretty much most other summer …
Pretty pink peony season is short but beautiful but their fine colour & perfume can be enjoyed in many more ways than simply sat looking pretty in a vase? You can actually use that floral scent & even colour in desserts & drinks (preferably some kind of cocktail), much in the same way that you …
A controversial topic amongst many (or at least some), do vegetables really have a place in cakes? The answer of course is YES! They most certainly do. It’s no small secret that I am a keen follower in the practice of adding vegetables to cakes. Many varieties of sweet potato cake, pumpkin muffins & parsnip …
Thing’s are finally hotting up for the summer leading me to create many more cooling, no-bake desserts for the season. This week, I finally found several punnets of the illusive gooseberries. They can be a little tricky to find for sale as the poor gooseberries have undoubtedly gone out of favour here in the UK. …
