Beautiful breakfast....

Firstly, the Coffee & Walnut Cake that was delivered to the Coffee Tree this morning. There was also a Date Slice, but the photos were too dark to post! This is one of the most popular cake flavours at the cafe, and true to form I received a call shortly after lunch to say that the whole thing had been sold and could I please supply an extra cake tomorrow! So that's made now...more in the morning!

I didn't make that delivery today...Paul dropped the order off on his way into the office, as I stayed last night in London so that this morning I could have breakfast with a friend at this restaurant....

NOPI in Soho. It's also partly owned by a friend, and I've been several times already (although it only opened officially a month ago) but this was my first breakfast there. As you can see, today was a gorgeous, sunny Spring day in London...the kind of day that makes perfect strangers smile and wish you 'Good Morning!' which is fairly rare in the UK! Everyone was happy as I walked from Marylebone through the bright shiny streets. I arrived first as my friend was caught in traffic on the bus...so I ordered a coffee as I looked at the menu...

everything looked gorgeous. I wsa deciding what to choose when my friend arrived, slightly breathless and apologetic! We're the sort of friends who immediately talk and talk...and forget that we're actually there to order and eat...so it took some patience and gentle prompting from the waitress to get us to make a decision! This was my choice...

Black Rice with Coconut Cream, Fresh Mango & Banana. There was also some palm syrup on the side in a beautiful little misshapen jug. Divine. My perfect breakfast (which is saying something as I don't usually eat first thing...) Like a nutty, flavourful, milkless rice pudding with zingy fresh fruit & tropical hints....beautiful. My friend chose...

Courgette & Manouri Fritters with a mint & dill salad and yoghurt dressing. Crispy, fresh, cool....a little salty for my taste, but savoury and good. We shared each others plates and were greedy enough to order a mixture of sourdough bread and pastries on the side as well (although we were good and only ate what we wanted - regretfully leaving what we couldn't finish!) It all sounded so lovely we didn't want to miss out!

We ended up catching up and laughing for longer than I thought - I had to run to catch the train home, face red from the heat! But I've been smiling all day, because of the lovely beginning to this Friday. A special treat, a special feast & special friends. And now the weekend! Perfection.

Enjoy your day too - I wish you sunshine and laughter! xoxo

Just words..

Good morning and welcome to Saturday! I'm in London this morning, where it's grey, overcast...but thankfully dry and even warm by recent standards (about 10c) which makes such a difference...the birds sing and everything is a little less....Winter! That's the only word!

I have no pictures for today's post. Because I left for the weekend yesterday afternoon, I made my Coffee Tree delivery for today then...and wouldn't you know it, the battery went on my camera. SO annoying because I think pictures are a necessity. BUT I didn't want to not tell you what I baked, so here I am and hope you will forgive me...we are taking lots of interesting photos today to make up for it!

Firstly, I had a special request to make more of the Mini Victoria Sponges from earlier in the week. They sold so well and everyone who tried one loved it...so I made another 10 of those (and you all know what they looked like anyway!)

Then, I made a tray of Double Mango Cake. This is a beautiful, sunny coloured dessert...it also contained ginger, cinnamon and a little allspice. I called it 'double mango' because it was made with fresh and dried fruit. Earlier this week, a very thoughtful friend gave me a present from his recent trip to Thailand of some wonderful, soft & fragrant dried mango. While we could eat our way through the whole box quite easily, I thought it would be interesting to add some to this cake and see how it turned out. It looked and smelled good...very good....so I'll await the feedback on Monday!

Lastly, I made a big, tall, Caramel Cake. Two layers of sponge (I used organic dark muscovado sugar to give a butterscotch-y flavour and extra softness to it...) filled and topped with vanilla buttercream frosting. I also made some burnt caramel sauce which I cooled and spread on the bottom layer before the frosting, and then drizzled over the top of the cake to finish with a Jackson Pollock-esque flourish!

I so wish you could see it - but I hope that you can close your eyes and imagine. I'd like to cut you a slice right now. Maybe one day?!

Have a wonderful Saturday....xo