A few delights...

My weeks seem to be getting busier and busier...can you believe it's almost March already? Unbelievable to me. It's time to change the tone of my baking a little...not too Spring-like yet, but moving away from the very comforting, heavier cakes...slowly, slowly.
Yesterday, I made a tray of Cardamom Orange Cake with a cream cheese frosting...

Cardamom is a beautiful, warm and underused spice which goes perfectly with fresh orange. This smelt gorgeous.

Next, an Espresso Walnut Cake with Vanilla frosting...I replaced quite a proportion of the flour with ground walnuts to lighten and moisten the mixture and to make sure that there was a really good walnut flavour. Coffee is a natural partner...I used espresso, to make it slightly darker and more sophisticated than my usual Coffee & Walnut Cake. No filling in this one either...just the vanilla buttercream on top, with a sprinkle of espresso and broken walnuts to finish...
Today, as it's half-term here, I wanted a child pleaser for the Coffee Tree. I came up with this creation...

Caramel Peanut Shortbread. Another one that I had to make and deliver VERY quickly before I devoured it! Crisp, buttery polenta shortbread....caramel & peanut butter filling, topped with roasted salty peanuts and, finally, dark chocolate ganache....

oh I'm so glad that it's not still here!

Hoping your Thursday is as lovely as mine...and that you make time for a treat somewhere, somehow xo

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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