And the winner is...

....after a later surge of entries (thanks to all of you, I truly wish you could all have won!) I have just pulled a name from all the comments...not very scientific, I put them all into a bowl and picked one with my eyes shut! The winner of the fabulous Honey & Co - The Baking Book is:



GEORGIE!!!! Many congratulations, Georgie. I must admit that my heart did a little loop of joy when I opened the scrap of paper to find your name, as I know after recent events and traumas you are definitely due a piece of good luck! I will get it sent off to you and I really hope you enjoy it. Let us all know when it arrives!

Thanks to everyone who entered. Georgie, along with everyone else who owns this beautiful book, will now be able to recreate the cake above...which is a larger version (I doubled the quantities) of the Peach, Fennel Seed & Vanilla Mini Loaf Cakes in the book. This, along with many other delights, will be on the stall tomorrow at Aylesbury Farmer's Market. The forecast isn't great from lunchtime on, but the morning looks ok...so if you are in the vicinity, do pop down to see me and my fellow stallholders! We really love to see you! 9am - 2pm in the lower Market Square.

Hoping you have a wonderful week....x

Recipe for an August afternoon...& a giveaway!

 My newest acquisition in the vast library of cookbooks that threaten to take over our home is 'The Baking Book' from the fabulous Honey & Co . You may remember that I wrote about their first book 'Food from the Middle East'...and gave a copy away here too! Well, this one is just as good...it contains some wonderful recipes - not all sweet - and I've been having such fun with it in my (not too copious) free time! I wanted to share the cake I made yesterday with you. As usual, I tweaked the original recipe. NOT because there was anything at all wrong with it - but just because I was giving it away to my family, and I know what they like! The 'real' recipe for Coffee, Cardamom & Walnut Cake has a rich coffee cream icing as a filling and on top. Delightful as that sounds, I knew that this wouldn't go down too well with 'my lot' as they prefer things less creamy and more fruity. So I followed the recipe for the cake, but added fresh apricots and finished it simply with the syrup from the original and a sprinkle of toasted walnuts after baking. The perfect marriage of flavours for a sultry August afternoon.

The cake itself is not difficult to make and has no weird ingredients...the only technique that may be new to you is making the 'burnt butter' that adds a deep, nutty note to the batter. This isn't difficult either...you simply melt the butter over a low heat and then increase it slightly, 'cooking' the butter until it turns a rich brown. It will smell delicious...sort of caramelly & hazelnutty...and you'll notice little brown specks at the bottom of the pan. These are good! Don't leave it, though...or it WILL burn, and black is not the colour you need....
                                     
 ...it should look like the photo above, in fact! It will be really hot to start with, so it may help to make it first and then set it aside while you get the rest of the ingredients together.

Coffee, Cardamom & Walnut Cake with Fresh Apricots
Inspired by an original recipe from Itamar Srulovich & Sarit Packer from their book Honey & Co - The Baking Book 

For the cake batter:

330g icing sugar
120g ground almonds
130g self-raising flour
80g roasted walnuts (plus a few extra to garnish)
1 tsp ground coffee (I used ground espresso beans)
1/2 tsp freshly ground cardamom
3 whole eggs
150g egg whites (from about 4 eggs)
140g burnt butter (see above!)
Approx 4-5 ripe apricots 

For the syrup:
2 tbsp honey (I used runny orange flower honey)
60g/ml water
50g caster sugar
a double espresso (or 60g/ml strong black coffee)

Preheat oven to 190c/170cfan/gas mark 5
Line a 9"/23cm square pan with baking parchment (or circular if you prefer!)

Stir the dry ingredients and nuts together in a large bowl, 


then add the eggs and egg whites and mix really well until smooth (I used my Kitchenaid for this) Pour in the warm melted butter (scrape in all the nutty brown bits too!) and stir carefully, then transfer to the prepared tin...

...break the apricots apart gently using your fingers, remove the stones and arrange in rough pieces lightly over the surface of the cake batter. Don't push them down, just lay them on top...

 Let the batter rest in the tin for about 10 minutes, then bake for about 35 minutes until set and golden brown...this may take a little longer depending on your oven. Meanwhile, bring the syrup ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan and remove from the heat. Once the cake comes out of the oven, brush the top generously with the syrup while still hot and let it absorb...

 ...sprinkle with the remaining toasted walnuts and allow to cool in the tin...

...before you dive in...(although it's lovely slightly warm, too...I'd eat it like that, with a big spoonful of labneh or creme fraiche...)

 Totally divine!

To celebrate this beautiful book, I'm giving away a copy to one of you loyal readers of this blog! 

All you need to do is leave me a comment on this post to qualify. I'll send it anywhere in the world, so don't worry that you'll miss out if you don't live in the UK. I'll make the draw two weeks from today, on Monday 24th August...good luck...and thanks for reading! Have a great week x

Giveaway results and exciting news!

Winter moves on...it has many of us in an icy grip right now, I know. But not here, thankfully! It's cold, blustery...but bright and not a hint of snow at the moment. Still, it's chilly enough, and it's the perfect time of year to be huddled in the kitchen with the ovens on, baking up a storm! As well as brownies , I've been making a few birthday cakes for friends and family (LOTS of birthdays here in January!)

 This was a simple one that we took to a supper party last week. I made it a plain vanilla victoria sponge, as I thought everyone would have had enough richness over Christmas...and although it was a 'significant' birthday the recipient didn't want any fuss...

 ..so i just made it simple and celebratory! And it was delicious I'm thrilled to say...

Now, before the giveaway results...some exciting news! Sugar Moon has been nominated in the 'Best Newcomer' category of the...

Yay! Even though I've been baking and cooking professionally for years and years, Sugar Moon is a new business, and we're absolutely thrilled to have been put forward for this award.
If you'd like to, I'd be so grateful if you'd vote for me! Voting is open until March...and it's so easy. You can vote from anywhere, too...lots of you have tried our brownies, I know...even some in Australia!! So if you want to, please click here ! Under 'categories' you will find 'Best Newcomer' and from there you can select Sugar Moon from the dropdown menu. Thanks so much! It would be fabulous to at least make the final round of nominations...

Ok, down to the most important business of this post...the winner of our giveaway!

CONGRATULATIONS to...............mcammuso2000! I'm sorry that I don't know your actual name! If you can send an email to the address at the top of the blog, telling me who and where you are I'll make sure that your fabulous copy of Honey & Co  begins winging its way to you!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered. I love reading your thoughts and comments...

Hoping that 2015 is being good to you so far. I'll post a recipe next time...perhaps you'd like to leave a comment requesting a particular type? Biscuit, cake, pudding? It's in your hands!

Where it happens...& giveaway results!

What a week it's been so far...although the last one really didn't end for me until yesterday afternoon! It was a 9 day week, strictly speaking. That's because yesterday was my monthly Farmer's Market day, here in Aylesbury. I've had a stall on this market for almost 8 years....and I love doing it, although it means a lot more work than usual. I start baking on the Saturday before (earlier in Winter, when it's cooler & I make more items that benefit from maturing, like fruitcake and sticky parkin..)

 And of course, it's not just brownies on the stall...so I get to be really creative and try out all the recipes that I find or devise & ache to bake! This was a divine Saffron Lemon Cake, from the book I told you about a couple of posts back...Honey & Co ...

 those are tiny strands of saffron above...they add such flavour & colour to this gorgeous confection. In the book, Sarit Packer (whose recipe it is) describes it as glowing..and it truly is!

 The cake above was a Fresh Apricot & Hazelnut one....I replaced almost all the flour with roasted ground hazelnuts. I love to be seasonal in my choices for the market, and in my opinion apricots are one fruit that tastes so much better cooked than they do raw, when they can be disappointingly 'woolly' in texture. I sell these cakes by the slice...and they sold out by lunchtime, I'm happy to say (the market runs from 9am-2pm.) I always have big towers of bestselling Double Chocolate & Walnut Fudge brownies for sale...but I l have always also had a 'Brownie of the Month' for regulars who like to taste something different. July's flavour was Fresh Raspberry Meringue....here is a tray before baking...

 that's freeze-dried raspberries on the top, which gives a beautiful 'zing' of pure berry flavour. They were a hit!
I'm happy to say that Sugar Moon Brownies are proving very popular already, even though it's early days...one recipient of a birthday gift pack (the 'taster' option, which offers 3 random flavours to try) posted this wonderful montage on her Twitter feed...

 It made me very proud...& thrilled that she enjoyed them so much!

As it's been so hot here in the UK, I thought I'd show you how delicious a brownie can be, even on a sultry day...

 ...this was a Toasted Pecan, slightly warm...with clotted cream ice cream & homemade caramel sauce....who could resist that?!

I wonder whether you might like a glimpse of the kitchen where I bake these delights? Many people assume that I use our kitchen at home. This would be virtually impossible! I bake so many trays that my domestic oven, great as it is, would just conk out...

No, this is where it all happens! I am very lucky to be able to rent a beautifully equipped kitchen unit that has everything I could possibly need, including storage for my essentials...including the chocolate that I use in vast quantities (it comes in 25kg sacks!)

 This is the view...farmland...& LOTS of rabbits!

 Outside is calm & peaceful...red kites nest in these trees...

 The unit is based on a former WW2 airfield...it's a heritage site, and although there are many businesses based here (including a rocket testing facility!) you can still see many fascinating traces of the history of this place...

 Bunkers, mess rooms, even the control tower still stands...

 ghosts everywhere! Recently, a memorial was unveiled to commemorate a US bomber crew who crashed on this site...the pilot bravely diverted to avoid coming down onto a nearby town, and therefore saved many lives. Stories all around me as I work. It makes it even better, I think.

 Plenty of space to fill the trays...(they are made in batches of 4)..

 And a brilliant oven that can hold 16 of them at a time. However, once I have made the 16th I usually find that the first 4 are ready to come out...

 The oven is a Unox BakerLux ...an amazing piece of equipment that injects steam or dry heat...whichever is appropriate for the recipe...

 brownies need dry heat. Then they are cooled, before the worst part of my job....

 putting the lids on the trays! Tedious & wrecks the finger pads. But my hands are terrible looking anyway after 20 years of professional cooking...and the radio eases the boredom!

Then they are labelled with flavour & baking date and stacked for (brief) storage.

So, a glimpse at where it happens!

And now, those giveaway results - apologies that they are a little late due to the market preparations. My approach is very unscientific...I write out all the names on strips of paper, put them in a large mug & pick one out! For the brownie pack, there were only 3 eligible entries....& the winner is ANNE HAMILTON! Anne, if you email your address (or the name & address of your recipient if you would like them sent as a gift, together with any message you would like to include) to me at hello (@) sugarmoonbrownies (dot) co (dot) uk ...(obviously I have doctored the address to prevent spammers!) then I will send out a box of 12 brownies in 3 assorted flavours asap!
The winner of the 2 beautiful books (lots of entries for these...I'm so sorry there's only 1 winner, I will hold another International giveaway soon!) was SYLVIE who is in France! Sylvie, please email me at the same address & let me know yours!

Thanks so much to all who entered and to all who read and enjoyed the posts and left such great comments. They are all very much appreciated!

Until next time.....x

Cookbooks to cherish....Part 2, the vintage selection..

As you probably know if you've been to my website, Sugar Moon Brownies, I come from a long line of bakers...at least back to my 3 x great grandfather. Above is the original auction document, dating from 1880, when my great-great-grandfather Robert Adam Took bought the family bakehouse, shop & restaurant. He had rented it for some years before the sale, so was already established in business. The bakery remained in the family until my grandad decided to change careers in the 1960's and give up the 4am starts...understandable, but I often wish he'd just rented it out again so that our family still owned it! All that history...it had been a bakery right from the 1500s...and still is, of sorts (a well-known chain now..)

I was very close to my grandfather, and I learnt so much from him. Through the years he gave me many of his treasured books and baking equipment...and the rest came to me when he died. He was especially skilled at sugar work (which I am not!) and made his own wedding cake in 1934...

which was probably almost as tall as my tiny grandma! I love to look through the books and paraphernalia that came from him and those before him...they are an insight into another world, and of course they bring him back to me too...

 Can you imagine anyone now making...or paying for...a sugar omnibus?? An amazing piece of history, though...as are these...

 beautiful line drawings of 'fancy ice moulds'....fancy doesn't really start to describe them, by our standards! Both these beauties are contained in this wonderful publication...

one of a series of 6 volumes that I own, they cover every aspect of the subjects...even down to equipping your own bakery and how to price the goods therein!

Grandad loved to collect recipes and wrote many of them down...

 This is from his formal recipe book...he was very neat & meticulous...as you can see, he inscribed it to me the year before he died...

 Remember that these were commercial bakery recipes, hence the huge quantities!

 the book is full of scraps written on envelopes, torn from newspapers and magazines...

 His other notebook is much smaller and scruffier...this was the one at his side in the bakehouse, to refer to and scribble in..

 Stained by age, grease and the heat of the ovens...they are amongst my most prized possessions...

My most special & precious book is very beautiful, even though the binding is showing clearly the fact that it's now 206 years old...

 At the front is a series of very detailed illustrated suggestions for laying out the dessert table...

 a hundred years before 'Downton Abbey'....

 they are an absolute testament to the skill of the cooks and bakers back then...working with rudimentary ovens where the temperature control consisted of moving items further from or closer to the fire...

 and the 'Two Guinea Cake' has mesmerised me from childhood...some poor little kitchenmaid whisking 54 eggs for ten minutes! But still...it's really a historical document now, rather than a cookbook....I am very lucky.

 I have used 'All about Gateaux' many times...it contains great ideas and templates for all sorts of fancy cakes...

 and some brilliant adverts at the back...

 This 1920s beauty is really comprehensive...

 even if I think many of the recipes sound & look rather vile! And I have a good selection of pamphlets and booklets, mainly distributed by various ingredients salesmen...

 Still beautiful, though! The last book I wanted to share with you wasn't my grandfathers, and isn't British at all...although this is the British edition, printed in 1938...

 If you can search out a copy of 'The Country Kitchen'...( you could try here )....you are in for a complete treat..

It's mainly a memoir of growing up in the USA in the countryside of the late 19th century...but there are recipes and some hilarious characters, too. It's beautifully written and utterly charming!

So, that's a little look at some of my vintage gems...I hope you've enjoyed it...there are more but I'll save them for another time! There is still nearly a week left to enter my two giveaways (details in the last post) and to do so just leave me a comment after either that one or this...

The afternoon is beautiful...time to grab a cup of coffee and plan the rest of the week! I hope that yours is wonderful and thanks for reading!