A Little Lebovitz Magic...& the giveaway result!

I started the day by baking these Banana & Toasted Macadamia Muffins for the Coffee Tree...

Banana is another flavour that is quite difficult to sell, I find - people either love it or really hate it. So this may have been the Marmite of muffins...but I'm happy to say that they did sell well...thanks, in no small part, to the toastiness of the crushed macadamias I think...they set the sweet fruit off perfectly.

On Wednesday night, I had the great pleasure of meeting the legendary blogger, pastry chef deluxe and food writer David Lebovitz at a dinner event hosted by La Fromagerie , the iconic cheese & everything special food shop in London's Marylebone. Several of my friends were there, including Christine & Marta , and we ate delicious small platefuls & drank perfect wine while chatting & listening to David and La Fromagerie's owner Patricia talking about the meal, and most importantly about David's latest book - just published in the UK - 'Ready for Dessert'. We sampled 6 of the divine creations that night - Almond Ding (which was demonstrated by David amidst much hilarity), Ricotta Cheesecake with Orange & Aniseed, Chocolate Orbit Cake, Peach-Amaretti Crisp (perhaps my favourite...) Blackberry Brown Butter Financiers and Champagne Gelee. All fabulous. And, of course, I bought the book...gorgeously personalised just for me...and got a hug & a kiss from another of my foodie icons to add to my (small) collection too!

So, I had to try some of the recipes immediately - both are at The Coffee Tree this weekend....the first, which had half gone when I delivered the second this morning is the Chocolate Cherry Fruitcake...

As usual, I tweaked a little bit (not because the recipe required it, just because it's what I DO!)....the original has a glace icing, but I went for a showy ganache. Also, I replaced the alcohol (which I can't use for the coffeeshop as children etc need to eat it) with pomegranate molasses & water, which I thought complemented the tartness of the dried sour cherries really well...a very easy but gorgeous cake.
The second creation was the Fresh Ginger Cake, which (as the name suggests) contains no ground ginger but LOTS of the finely chopped fresh root variety...this makes the flavours sing amazingly. Again, I eschewed the given topping and substituted the Fresh Lime Cream Cheese frosting from another recipe in the book, for Guinness Ginger Cupcakes....

also sprinkled a little candied ginger ....because I love it's sweet heat!

So, I cannot wait to try some more recipes soon...I love a great new book that gives me inspiration in my never-ending quest to please my customers! Highly recommended.

And, lastly, the giveaway results for the Roald Dahl cookbook. Out of twenty names, the first out of the 'hat' (actually, it was a mug!) was....JoEllen!!! AKA AlicesRoses. Congratulations to you and I hope you love the book which will shortly be winging it's way over the Atlantic....let me know what you think!

Thanks so much to everyone who left lovely comments and entered my giveaway...I'll have another one soon. I'm also planning a new Random Bake of Kindness in the near future...it made me laugh, but also reflect on the fact that some of you are worried about the recipients thinking you're mad if you join in. I know just what you mean...people can be so suspicious, it seems hard for them to accept that others are purely being nice, out of the kindness of their hearts. I don't blame you at all for not running the gauntlet of  their icy stares! I once gave someone a sample of brownie and their first question was 'what's the catch??' It's really sad - but it's the way the world can be, I guess. I just try and break down those barriers, little by little (and I'm used to people thinking I'm a little strange, anyway!)

Hoping that everyone has a fabulous weekend....why not bake something for someone you KNOW will appreciate it? Like yourself, for instance :-) That's a kindness too...
xoxo

A week of cake.....

Such a busy week...the last before the schools go back, and I think it could be that parents are taking their children out for last treats and stopping for coffee & cake during 'back to school' shopping trips. Whatever it is, a lot of cake was made (and eaten!) in the past few days...
First, this coconut cake. A white and beautiful thing, made with real coconut milk and frosted with a coconut cream icing and shredded strands of sweetened coconut too...

It always sells very well....

as does this, milk chocolate Flake Cake! It was very early morning when I took this picture, hence the flash...

and these were delivered the same morning...Toasted Hazelnut & Blackberry Swirl Muffins. Hazelnuts seem to divide people...I'm not sure why, but sometimes they sell really well and sometimes not. As they are one of my favourite nuts, I don't really understand this - but it's the way it is, so I've given up trying to analyse too much!

These were little Banana Loaf Cakes, iced with passionfruit....a delightful little hit of tropical sweetness in the last few grey days of August!

My favourite of the week was probably this Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake. I left out the 'Coffee' bit on the label, though. In the US, it means a cake to accompany coffee...in the UK, it means that it contains coffee. And this one doesn't, but as I prefer a plainer cake this would be perfect for me!

Thursday was the first day of September...to celebrate I made this Apple, Walnut & Raisin Cake with Maple Frosting. Of course, it turned out to be the warmest day for weeks, so it wasn't very seasonal in the end! But I still think it was a good way to welcome the new season!

This one I was particularly proud of....golden Butter Cake with a fresh Raspberry Buttercream. I had to note on the label that no artificial colouring was used - the pink was so bright! But it really did all come from lots & lots of fresh raspberries...

Pretty!

Finally, a personal one....it was my darling Mum's birthday on Tuesday and I went over to the farm in the afternoon to join my sister and nephew in a small tea party for her. Of course,I took a cake! She, like me, prefers a plainer cake with no creamy frosting - she also has a wheat intolerance. So I made a very zesty Gluten-Free Lemon Drizzle Cake, drenched in zippy syrup and sprinkled with edible glitter. I finished it with a nasturtium flower...a particularly beautiful one freshly picked from my garden.
But  that wasn't enough - there had to be candles. As she is an - ahem - mature lady, I thought my choice particularly appropriate...

And it made her laugh, which is the most important thing!

I hope you've had a good  week too....it's raining softly as I write, but still very warm. I'm planning what to bake for Monday now...my mind buzzing as always. I'll let you know what emerges from the oven!

Thanks for all your lovely comments on my last post - still plenty of time to enter my Roald Dahl giveaway if you haven't already. I'll count any new commenters on this post too. xoxo