Birthdays & awaydays!

It's a strange fact that 3 of my very favourite men in the world have birthdays within 5 days of each other in January....first my Dad, then Wolfgang Amadeus and finally Paul! So I suppose you could say that I'm a true Aquarian-phile...my oldest friend (40 years in 2013) is also one. As my darling oldest nephew & my youngest sister were born a little earlier in January, too,  it can be a very expensive time of year in our household!

So my Dad turned 75 a week or so ago...as he has suffered ill health through most of his adult life, this is a huge reason to celebrate for all of us! His birthday is also our wedding anniversary (we married as a special surprise on his 70th!) so it's quite a day...

We just had a small family dinner at a local restaurant owned by our great friend David...Annie Bailey's . It's where Dad's surprise 70th party (and, therefore, our wedding reception!) was held...so the place is full of happy memories for all of us. I, naturally, baked the cake...

which was chocolate...with malted milk chocolate frosting...

and it was absolutely enormous! We told the guys in the kitchen to take a large slice and then the rest went home with my parents to be finished off ...which it was, eventually! A lovely, lovely evening.

Paul & I have a little tradition of going away for a long weekend near to his birthday. We try & go somewhere new, and make sure that Alice can come too. You may remember that last year we stayed in West Wittering in Sussex...this year, we chose Aldeburgh on the Suffolk coast. You can read more about the weekend on my other blog but I thought you'd like to hear about Paul's birthday lunch on this one! We went to a place we've often read about and wanted to visit...

The British Larder near Woodbridge.

It didn't disappoint. Everything was gorgeous...the menu changes daily, and they strive to be truly local. There is even a set of weighing scales on the bar and customers are encouraged to bring surplus fruit & vegetables from their own gardens...or any other produce...to be bought & used in the restaurant. Great idea!

Paul chose the venison scotch egg with homemade piccalilli & celeriac remoulade to start with...

I loved the pickled carrot & radish salad with toasted sourdough...but the real star for me was my dessert...

vanilla pannacotta with blood orange granita & a garibaldi biscuit. I can taste it still!

The granita was sharp, sweet, bitter...absolutely divine. The British larder is highly recommended and we look forward to returning!

A couple of weeks ago, I met my great friend and fellow blogger Hummus Boy for lunch at a favourite London restaurant, Great Queen Street in Holborn/Covent Garden. It's always fabulous here, to my mind...I've reviewed it before on this blog so I won't do so again. But I MUST mention our desserts...(see a theme here??)

Salted creme caramel...(only a touch of seasalt, not actively salty!) I can't believe that I ordered this (neither will Esther!) I have a lifelong aversion to anything eggy or milky...but my brain misread the creme caramel as creme brulee and when it arrived I was SO glad! Just so gorgeous...vanilla-y, caramel-y, not too creamy. A delight.

HB's featherlight 'beignets' (or tiny sugared doughnuts) with rhubarb jam and thick cream...ooh, so glad that he's the sharing type of friend! We almost clashed forks in our eagerness to devour the hot, crisp-yet-soft delights!

January was a good month - but I confess that I'm happy it's February! It's just that bit closer to Spring...and I'm planning my vegetable garden for the year. It's only tiny, so I allow myself the luxury of growing a few unusual things instead of carrots & potatoes. More soon...the ground is still hard as iron, after all!

I hope that you're full of inspiration and excitement for the seasons to come, too. xoxo

Marble Cake, Birthday Cake....

I made this gorgeous Sour Cream Marble Cake for our local coffee shop yesterday. Sadly, because it was an order, I can't show you inside! But the batter tasted so gorgeous...

I glazed it with a simple dark chocolate ganache. It made a really big, tall cake that would be wonderful for a special tea or birthday party - I can just see it with gold candles all over it!

It's adapted - once more - from Baked. I can't recommend this book highly enough, constant ideas & surprises. The original recipe was for a bundt cake, but my customers prefer plain round ones so that's how I made it. It probably took an extra half hour to cook this way, but I'll reproduce the recipe as it was originally and leave it to you!

Sour Cream Marble Bundt Cake

{from Baked - New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis & Renato Poliafito}

For the chocolate swirl:

6oz good, dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder

For the sour cream cake:

3 1/2 cups all purpose (plain) flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup/2 sticks unsalted butter, soft but cool, cut into small pieces

2 1/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs

16 floz (about 450ml) sour cream

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Grease the inside of a 10"(23cm) bundt pan & preheat oven to 350 degrees

To make the chocolate swirl, melt the chocolate over simmering water (again, I used a microwave but carefully!) and when completely smooth, whisk in the cocoa powder, remove bowl from heat & set aside

Sift flour, baking powder & soda & salt together and set aside.

Cream the butter until smooth (I use an electric hand mixer but a stand mixer - or wooden spoon if you're strong! - are also good) Scrape down the bowl & add the sugar, beating until the mixture is smooth & fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating each in well & scraping down the bowl in between. Add the sour cream & vanilla and beat until just incorporated. Add the dry ingredients in three additions, scraping down the bowl in between & only beat until each addition is just incorporated. Don't overmix.

Pour 1/3 of the mixture into the chocolate swirl bowl & mix gently to make a smooth chocolate batter. Spread half the remaining cake batter into the prepared pan, then dollop the chocolate mixture on top of the plain, leaving some plain batter peeking through. Pour the remaining plain mixture on top & pull a butter knife through the whole lot, swirling gently to create a marbled effect. Bake in the centre of the oven for approx 1 hour, rotating the pan halfway through. Check by inserting a skewer or cocktail stick into the middle of the cake - it should come out clean when cooked!

Cool in the pan,on a wire rack, for 30 minutes then loosen the edges with a knife and invert onto the wire rack before leaving to cool completely.

I made my glaze from about 1 cup dark chocolate, 1/4 cup double (heavy) cream & 1/4 stick butter which I gently melted together over a very low heat until shiny & smooth. Again you could do this over simmering water or in a microwave.

This morning I went over to a local restaurant that I supply - Annie Bailey's to build an 18th birthday brownie cake for a party at lunchtime today...

It takes quite a while to build one of these, using chocolate sauce as 'mortar' - but I think you'll agree it's worth it. I love the roman numeral candles especially (found on our Autumn trip to the States) and the long thin ones are sparklers...

Wish I could see it all lit up....but after a quick cup of coffee with my friends up there, I was off home!

No more baking today....time to relax!

Enjoy your weekend xox