Cakes, Bakes & new Brownies for a friend...

A friend of mine has an exciting new venture on the near horizon...and I wanted to create a new brownie to wish him good luck and offer some sweet respite from the stress and confusion that always abound when a big creative project is coming together. These were what I came up with....TA DA! Toasted Pecan Salted Caramel Brownies....luckily, they're also quite beautifully photogenic...

they were packed absolutely full with chocolate chunks and pecans...but I think that too much is never enough, which is why I added the extra dimension of the salted caramel, one of my current favourite, favourite ingredients.
I wrapped them in black tissue, in a glossy black box tied with satin ribbon (my friend is very chic!) and they were well received and very much enjoyed...which was really the point! I'll squeeze the recipe into the book (120 and counting now...maybe 2 books is more sensible!) Very proud of them.

Back to the Coffee Tree...and I also made a new creation for them on Saturday. Based on a Dream Bar, but with added coconut, dried cranberries for some sourness...I can never leave things alone!

This is the tray before cutting...

and here's a slice in closeup. I wanted to have crispness mixed with chew, which I think was achieved. Very sweet, which made them perfect with a cup of strong coffee...anyway, they sold out so mission accomplished!

And this morning, I made Seville Orange & Almond Tarts...a sweet, shortcrust pastry tartlet with a layer of thick cute homemade marmalade (from a jar our friend Steve made last year...dark, bitter, perfect!) all topped with an almond frangipane to which I added some seville orange zest.

there's Steve's marmalade in the background too!

I made an extra one so I could show you inside...and as I'm a complete pushover for anything almond-y, I had to eat it later! Lovely, especially a little bit warm...

I've decided not to afflict a daily post on you...except sometimes...I read a very good article which said that one can blog too frequently & put people off! I'd hate to do that, so I thought I'd make it every couple of days instead...I wouldn't want you to get sick of me. But I'll still take the pictures daily so that I can post the deliveries then....

I'll leave you with a last picture of those brownies...I feel like a new mother!

Thanks so much for reading...have a great day xo

Join me at The Coffee Tree...

As I've been writing about my daily deliveries for almost a month now, I thought that it was about time that I introduced you to The Coffee Tree properly! So here we are, in the cold and gloomy early morning of a late January day...and the shop is always an oasis of warmth & brightness...and good coffee!

The little blackboard on the pavement sends good messages of what lies within...

and when you open the door it's a little like 'Cheers' - everybody knows your name! Or they all know mine, anyway!

Lovely Sue, one of the partners in the business, is always cheerful and smiling...and she's holding the free cup of coffee that I get in exchange for my deliveries each day!

I make all the cakes & slices...but not the croissants or danish...

These Date & Oat Slices are mine...I shared one with my Mum today, over a cup of coffee, as we discussed 'The King's Speech' which we'd just seen...yum!

And these were my specials of the day...I called them Mozart Bars, as it is my beloved Wolfie's 255th birthday today! The bottom is brown sugar butter shortbread and the top is salted cashew & butterscotch...oh yes, they were good.

In fact, it's lucky that I took these pictures first thing as they'd all been sold by the time I called in with Mum after lunch. But that's fine...I love it when people enjoy my baking and it sells well. That's why I do it!

At the moment, I'm baking Toasted Pecan Caramel Brownies....they're smelling good, and next is Ruby Cake from my new 'Sarabeth's Bakery' book - so watch this space!

Happy Thursday and thanks so much for reading xox

On the Farmer's Market...

For just over four years now, I've had a bakery stall on our local Farmer's Market which takes place on the 4th Tuesday every month, between 9am & 2pm. It's very hard work...but I also greatly enjoy it. I'll get back to my daily Coffee Tree posts tomorrow, but for now I thought that you might like to revisit yesterday's market with me....

I usually arrive around 8am to set up. The stalls are provided for us, we just have to supply our own tables...

Then, it's a question of unpacking the boxes & boxes, and dressing the stall. As the name of my business is The Blue Angel Bakery, I try and keep that colour predominant...but I like to be seasonal as well, so on the Summer markets I bring bunches of fresh herbs & flowers from the garden and set them in pretty jugs to brighten the tables, at Christmas there's lots of tinsel and a mini- Christmas tree (one year I had fairylights too!) and in the Autumn I decorate my gingerbread with fondant leaf cutouts and have pumpkins too. And always I have my beloved Susan Branch's latest calendar, turned to the correct page (and much admired!)

I don't put everything out at once...many of my customers are office workers who visit at lunchtime, so I try and keep a good selection back so that everything still looks good a few hours later...

my youngest sister, Lucy, gave me the lovely pastel food flags for Christmas, so this month I used those to  decorate & display prices...they looked lovely! On the napkins in front, you see my samples...very important! So many people change their minds and buy something when they taste a piece first. Others just stand and eat handfuls before walking away...but that's another story!!

I try and have a few new products every month, but if I missed out brownies (3 types) or gingerbread I'd be lynched...

We 'regular' traders are always put in the same place, as we become known by people who expect to see us there every month. So I am always surrounded by friends - to my right is Debbie Grant, who makes wonderful home-made meals, specialising in dietary requirements. She's especially popular with older people who still enjoy good, homecooked food but find it difficult to cook themselves. We always have a good gossip and she's a lovely lady. To my left is Simon the Pieman helped by his wonderful wife Margot...

seen here bagging another order! They have probably the most popular stall on the market - their wonderful meat & vegetable pies are all handmade by Simon at his butcher shop, Parminters, in the nearby village of Haddenham and people queue at the stall almost before they've stopped the car!

And you all know what I sell....these Carmelita Bars...

Jamaican Ginger Cake...

sometimes Raspberry Muffins...

Apricot & Ginger Flapjacks...Brownies, Cheddar Cheese Scones, loaf cakes (yesterday Lemon Drizzle, Ginger) and anything else I have time for!

It can be cold, it's certainly tiring getting everything ready alongside my other orders (on Monday nights I stopped baking at 3.15am!) but I'm always glad I did it because it's really the only chance I get to stop and chat with 'real' people. It's wonderful and heartening to see the same faces month after month...to hear the lovely compliments and feedback they give me...even the difficult people are ok, because they provide some light entertainment! I collect 'quotes of the month'...my favourite of all time is ' Is there any meat in your brownies?'! Ah, the Great British public - what would we do without them??
Happy Wednesday and thanks for reading! xox

Baking Round-Up!

I'm sorry I've been AWOL for the past couple of days...I've been so busy with work and writing that I haven't found a minute to spare. BUT I did remember to take pictures, so I can now post a mammoth catch up from the end of the week!
Above is the Coffee & Walnut Cake I made...a real English favourite that always sells amazingly well.

The plain cake is made with ground walnuts, which mean that the cake is never dry and has a wonderfully deep flavour. When it had cooled I cut it in half...

and sandwiched it together with coffee buttercream...

making sure that there was plenty left to swirl on top. Then I finished with a generous sprinkle of broken walnut pieces..

I could actually do with a big slice of this right now

as we've just returned from a freezing but beautiful long walk with Alice and I'm having a cup of hot Earl Grey as I write. But, in fact, it's all been sold already...I'm pleased to say!

I also invented a new traybake (I think I invented it, at least I've never seen it before!)

It had a crisp, buttery polenta shortbread base, studded with dried sour cherries and topped with a light vanilla sponge cake baked with fresh cherries. So a sort of soft yet crunchy vanilla double cherry delight!

I did manage to sneak an edge as I cut it up (just to consumer test, you understand) & the sour/sweet tenderness was delicious...it's now going in my book!
Another old favourite were Buttermilk Raisin Scones....first I rubbed the butter into the flour& sugar until it was well mixed and added the raisins...

then I mixed buttermilk & eggs, poured it over the dry ingredients and mixed lightly with a blunt knife to form a soft dough...

patted the dough out and cut into rounds which I glazed with more buttermilk and sprinkled with demerara sugar..

before baking in a hot oven until well risen and golden brown...

at The Coffee Tree they were served warm,with a little dish of softened butter to spread. Yummy!
So that's a round-up of the baking adventures.. I also splashed out and bought two new baking books. One that I've wanted for a long time...

Rose's Heavenly Cakes by Rose Levy Beranbaum. It looks wonderful - a real encyclopaedia of cakes, which I sometimes need when I run out of inspiration. The other is one that was recommended to me by my dear friend Kary at My Farmhouse Kitchen who received a copy as a Christmas present

Sarabeth's Bakery, by Sarabeth Levine. I've only had a chance to have a very quick look so far, but it seems just my sort of thing and I can't wait to try some recipes out. Hopefully, Kary & I will ve trying out the same recipe on our blogs soon and comparing results in our posts, which will be so exciting!

So that's the end of another week. I'm looking forward to the next one already. I have my monthly stall on our Farmer's Market on Tuesday, which means a lot of work but is always fun (and cold!) I hope that you have a wonderful weekend. Thanks so much for reading, and for your lovely comments which mean so much to me xo

Marmalade & Meringues

Hello...Happy Wednesday! It's the middle of the week already, and as I write the moon is bright and full in the clear sky. We woke to frost this morning and it's been  gorgeous sunny day...I think that the temperature will plunge again overnight but when it's gorgeous like this I don't mind a bit. My mother told me that she had to go out into the fields at the farm at 2am this morning to release a sheep that had got it's fleece trapped in the bramble hedge. I was worried for her, out in the dark & cold, but she said that she'd felt 'privileged to be outside in all that beauty'...which was a lovely thing to hear. I knew just what she meant.

First, today, I wanted to show you my new teatowel...that's it in the picture above - gorgeous, no? I love teatowels and collect them from wherever I visit (I have several kind friends who add to my collection too!) This is my new favourite...

So, it's marmalade season....bitter Seville oranges are one of the very few truly seasonal fruits - they are available for a very short time from mid-January here. Reading my friend Cherry Menlove's beautiful blog reminded me to buy them & MAKE MARMALADE!! So I prepared jars, labels...and scrubbed the gorgeous fruit (I also added in some limes & lemons for extra interest...)

this is the cooling period after boiling to soften the skins...then the chopping, which I love! Boiling with sugar until just right and potting into the warm jars...

and then labelling, leaving to cool - and that satisfying feeling of a job well done and the cupboard stocked! For us, for friends and family..for enjoying a little taste of bittersweet sunniness whenever and remembering the dark, rainy January day when I made...

That was for home. For The Coffee Tree today, I decided to use the egg whites left over from yesterday's Lemon Passionfruit Bars to make meringues. I love meringues - eating and making.

I made them last night and left them in the oven to dry out and crisp up. These were made with brown sugar for a caramel flavour and a touch of espresso coffee powder too..still a little chewy & toffee-like inside.

This morning, I mixed some sweetened chestnut puree with pure vanilla seeds and mascarpone to make a thick, luscious cream...

which I used to sandwich the pairs of meringue together. Chestnut puree has an amazing texture and flavour...it tastes so deep and complex, it's almost alcoholic!

I think these looked so pretty, resting on their little paper cases - another individual delight!
They don't keep well, but hopefully they won't have to...a good dessert for a special dinner perhaps?

I hope you've had a beautiful day...and that you can see the moon, wherever you are!

xo

Citrus Celebration

In this, the coldest season of the year, it's fairly hard to find inexpensive and plentiful fruit. Bananas. Pineapples. Actually, anything tropical is good. And the citrus fruits are at their peak now...just what's required for a zingy, zesty tang to cut through the murk & gloom of January!

That's why these were perfect for today. Lemon Passionfruit Bars.

The base was a biscuit one (crushed graham crackers) with added coconut....then I made a thick, buttery, voluptuous fresh lemon & lime curd and added the ripe pulp from 3 passionfruit...a quick blast in a low oven just to set the filling to a gentle wobble...

a sprinkle of sweet, flaked coconut and then a night in the fridge to set and mingle the flavours.
This morning, I cut them into 16 bars. I kept 2, cut into miniatures....to keep in the fridge, tightly wrapped, for when we need a quick hit of sunshine!
But the rest I delivered to The Coffee Tree. Fairly simple to make, sparkling fresh. Tastes like Spring is on the way...and with the beautiful, clear sunny day we had, it feels like it too!

Happy Tuesday xoxo