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

A cake mountain....!

 It's been too long since my last post...a combination of being really busy & having my sister and her children visiting from Australia....but I've been taking photos along the way, so it's time for a bit of a catch up! These Blackberry & Apple Crumble Slices were on the menu at The Coffee Tree in mid-September...while the weather was autumnal (it's been in the 80's for the past week....although cooler today)

and then I devised some Caramel Walnut Shortbread Bars...

I halved the sugar in the shortbread part, to offset the gooey sweetness of the caramel...yum!

Another old favourite was on the cake stand last weekend - my most requested cake, Mango & Coconut...

it's the one that everyone remembers....I think maybe because the cake is white & soft & very coconutty...and it contrasts so beautifully with the vivid orange of the mango puree. Whatever it is, it's always greeted with 'oohs' & 'aahs'....which is the sound you grow to love when delivering cakes!

At the end of September, our local council holds a Breast Cancer Awareness day in the town....and for the past two years, I've supplied 100+ pink-iced cupcakes which are given away in the street during the morning. Luckily, my beloved sister Esther was around this year and took over the decorating duties - anything goes, as long as it's pink!

Thanks Est!

Some of the muffins I've made recently were the Plum & Almond delights that I've posted many times before, taken from Ottolenghi's first cookbook (always gorgeous, especially at this time when the plums are at their peak) I also baked these...

Peach & Raspberry Muffins, to use up the last of the late summer fruits. Ripe peaches bake beautifully, I think...

and so I also use them in this Blueberry Peach Bakewell Pudding, which I make as a dessert for a local pub, The Crown

it's gluten-free,too, which I find is becoming an essential option on menus and the market stall these days...so many people have a gluten or wheat allergy or intolerance. This dessert is delicate & delicious...so no one will feel they've missed out!

I was sorely tempted by this Hazelnut Chocolate Shortbread...made with ground hazelnuts and topped with a dark chocolate ganache. (Almost) irresistible - it's lucky that it was for an order. A hole in the middle of the tray is a big giveaway...!

While my sister was busy decorating the pink cupcakes, I was fully occupied too...wrapping 200 Double Chocolate Brownies in cellophane and tying with silver & pale blue ribbons. These were a special order for a wedding...our friends, Olly & Claire were married on September 25th...and these were to be take home gifts for their guests...

they glittered with silver & pastel blue too (it doesn't photograph well, for some reason) Paul & I delivered them in London, in two enormous boxes...200 brownies are incredibly heavy! But the wedding went beautifully, I'm very happy to say...and Claire told me that the brownies helped to make it a wonderful day!

Banana Cake is always a favourite. My niece & nephews adore bananas, which are currently incredibly expensive in Australia (they are grown there in the Northern Territory & the crop has been badly affected by weather this year) So while they were here, they ate as many as they could! I was left with some overripe ones in the fruitbowl...and this was the result...

frosted with cream cheese. Lovely.

Chocolate & orange is such a classic combination (although one of the customers on my market stall was eager to tell me that 'they don't go together, love'!!) and I put them together again for this gorgeous cake...

that didn't last long at The Coffee Tree!

Last Tuesday was Farmer's Market day...I had two fabulous helpers in the shape of my niece, Scout & my oldest nephew, Kip...they did brilliantly, taking the money & sending everyone off with a cheery 'enjoy your cake!' My brownie of the month for September was...

Toasted Pecan & Caramel. It was VERY popular! I even tried a little myself (almost unprecedented!)

I adore pecans (actually all nuts) but one of my other very favourite cake flavours is lemon....

and this was a lemon & poppyseed layer cake, filled with fresh lemon curd...

and finished with a lemon glace frosting. Oh. My. Goodness.!

Almost the end now!! This was a fabulous creation (though I say so myself....ahem)

Coffee Caramel Cake. Coffee sponge, with espresso buttercream and a homemade caramel spread that dripped artistically...

and looked, I think, very enticing!

So that's it - a potted history of the past month. Of course, I baked lots more...but mostly trays & trays of brownies, flapjacks & carmelita bars...not very interesting to post. Let's call these the highlights!

I'll finish with a tribute to my beautiful 9 year old niece, Scout. She was so helpful during the time she was here...usually awake first and always eager to lend a hand with deliveries. She also illustrated some of the labels to go with the Coffee Tree cakes for me...

I created Australia Slice for her, and for her brothers. Delightful children. I miss them so very much now that they are, once again, 12,000 miles and 24 hours away.

But life goes on...and so does the baking!

Happy week to everyone...it's great to be back xx

Bunnies, Books & Giveaways...

Well, I thought it was about time that I treated my loyal readers again! But more of that later...

One of the joys of baking as a career is the fact that I can offset the cost of new cookbooks against tax! So I probably buy more of them than strictly necessary...but I reason that I really need them to keep up to date (!) That's my story & I'm sticking to it anyway...my latest acquisition is...

Baked in America by David Muniz & David Lesniak...two Americans who moved here and opened a bakery called Outsider Tart in Chiswick, London. I'm not too sure that I like the way the book is laid out - cakes and the frostings for them are in separate sections of the book, a sort of mix & match idea that I find hard to read and use. But there are some good ideas there. This for example:

Peach & Cinnanmon Cake. Yum. In the book it's called Mom's Apple Cake, but at the end of the recipe there's a small mention that 'Mom's notes say this is great with fresh peaches...' which got me thinking. And 'Mom' was right! It is. Here's the recipe (also good with apples!!) Handily they all come with measurements in both US & metric versions...

Peach & Cinnamon Cake - (adapted from 'Baked in America' by David Muniz & David Lesniak)

Preheat oven to 180c/375f.
Grease and line a 10" cake tin with baking parchment

For the filling:
4 large ripe peaches, sliced as thinly as possible
6 tbsps light brown sugar
4 tsps ground cinnamon

Combine in a small bowl & set aside to macerate.

For the cake:
450g/3 cups plain/all purpose flour
450g/2 cups caster/superfine sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
240ml/1 cup flavourless oil (I used sunflower, they suggest canola)
4 large eggs at room temperature
60ml/1/4 cup whole milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl or jug, combine the eggs, oil, milk & vanilla. Slowly pour the wet ingredients over the dry and mix until just combined.

Spoon 1/3 batter (it will be thick) into prepared pan & spread to cover bottom. Arrange 1/3 peach slices over batter...don't let  them touch the sides of the pan or they will stick. Continue layering, finishing by arranging final peach slices on the top & drizzling any remaining cinnamony juice over. The mixture does become difficult to spread & cover the peach layers...just do the best you can. When the cake rises, it will cover them beautifully. Bake for 1-1 1/2 hours until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Cool in the tin for 30 mins before removing and leaving until cold on a wire rack. I melted about 3 tbsps apricot jam with a little water and used this to glaze the top. Delish!

Yesterday I had to bake 140 shortbread rabbit biscuits for a wedding tomorrow...Debbie & Stuart are neighbours of ours and she loves bunnies! 70 are to be used as placecards for the reception, so I put them into clear cellophane bags and tied them with thin ivory satin ribbon. Debbie has attached hand-letterd luggage tags to them with the names of the guests...cute! The others are to be put in bowls around the venue for the evening party. they were quite plain - she didn't want any frosting or decoration, but I managed to persuade her that a little edible glitter would be a good idea! (NOTE: bunnies are NOT the best shape for cut out cookies....the ears are too fragile and easily snap. I made quite a few extra in case!!)

You probably remember me posting about the book launch that I went to in June...well, the author Vanessa Kimbell came up with a lovely idea on her blog . She calls it...

The idea is that when you are baking, you make a little extra and give it away to someone you might not know well, but feel deserves a little treat. I already do this...the postman always makes sure he pops by at Christmas for a hot mince pie and the checkout lady who is so kind at the supermarket often gets some surprise brownies. But Vanessa made me resolve to spread the cake love around more often! I started on Tuesday evening. I had a selection of cakes and slices left after that day's Farmer's Market, so I boxed them up...

and took them around to our local independent greengrocer & his family. Matt and Tanya have 6 children and they all (even the little ones) work really hard in their fantastic shop that is an Aladdin's cave of unusual fruit & veg - they mainly supply the local Asian and Carribean communities. Every morning I walk past them as they unload their van, on my way to deliver to the Coffee Tree. We usually have a chat about 'what's in the box'! So I thought it would be nice to treat them  to a few goodies...like Cashew Chocolate Truffle Cakes...

and, of course, my famous Walnut Fudge Brownies...

which reminds me of my Farmer's Market 'Quote of the Month'. You may not believe this...but trust me, it's true! A woman hovered over my (clearly marked) sample plate and asked "Are there any nuts in your walnut brownie?" !!! No wonder I needed a good rest afterwards...my answer, in case you are wondering, was short and sweet. "Yes". Deep breath & big smile. It's the only way to cope sometimes...

Ok, now to that giveaway! This is a good one....
As I started this post with cookbooks, I wanted to give one of you one of my favourites...

It was first published in the early 1990's under a different title (Memories with Food at Gipsy House, I think...) but was reissued  a few years ago...and it's wonderful. Good recipes but the real joy is the little anecdotes and stories dotted throughout by Mr Dahl himself. It was written, with his wife, very shortly before he died and is a fascinating peek into their family life. It's quite a difficult book to get hold of - but as we live near the town he lived in, there are always copies available there. I'll send this (inscribed by me to you, whoever you turn out to be) to anywhere in the world so don't think you'll be left out if you don't live in the UK.
To be in with a chance of winning, just leave me a comment on this post...I'll draw the name on the morning of 9th September (can you believe that's just 2 weeks away??)

Good luck, have a fabulous weekend (it's a long one here for us, yay!) and thanks so much for reading. Why don't you try a Random Bake of Kindness too? It really makes you feel good! xoxo

It's been a while...

If you read my other blog, Mozart's Girl , you'll know that we had a break in the Lake District last week. When I go away, I bake the Coffee Tree's orders for the week in advance - choosing recipes that freeze or improve on keeping...so it's always really fraught in the lead up to time off!

But I must admit that I've felt refreshed by not baking for a few days, and my enthusiasm has returned really quickly since we've been home...luckily, because I have the Farmer's market tomorrow...so it's been back to my oven with a vengeance since Friday. Above you see a Lakeland Ginger cake that I devised for Saturday's delivery. It's quite a light cake, sticky and topped with a glace ginger & lemon butter syrup.

This, on the other hand, is a much darker & spicier gingerbread. This is the mixture before baking...I found these beautiful wooden baking moulds on the Bakery Bits website and couldn't resist them even though they're a bit expensive to give away...

here's a baked cake...they are now all tied up in cellophane wrappers with blue bows and labelled ready for the morning...along with these...

beautiful Banana Teabreads. I got the recipe for these from one of my favourite bloggers, Mary at Ocean Breezes & Country Sneezes who posted that her Nana used to make it (Mary was just one of her 40 grandchildren!!) The recipe looked delicious and was very simple - so I thought I'd give it a try...

smells wonderful - thanks to Mary & her grandmother!
Lastly, a photo of a cake I made just before we left...Caramelised Peach & Vanilla. I love the look of this and it always sells well at the coffee shop.

I hope that you're having a lovely week so far...xx

Easter Week Creations...

Fresh Raspberry Shortcakes....delivered this morning & two were ordered before I left the shop! Looked so pretty...

I use mascarpone instead of cream inside...it holds it's shape better and keeps a little longer too...I'll be making these again in a month or so, when English strawberries arrive at the market...

Peach & Apricot Shortbread...buttery polenta shortbread top and bottom, sandwiched with fresh ripe peaches and tart apricot preserves...

Lemon Curd Layer Cake....I have a real weakness for anything lemon...so  I make sure there is lots of zest in the sponge and juice in the frosting so it's really sparkly & zingy in your mouth...

Malted Coffee Cake....in the UK, coffee cake means that it's coffee flavoured! I know my friend Nancy will be curling her lip at that...as she doesn't like it at all - so apologies to you sweetie & I hope you enjoy some of the other treats in this post instead!! I use malted milk powder in the sponge, and real espresso...but it's quite a subtle coffee rather than a caffeine smack in the mouth!

And with the Malteser decoration, it looks so yummy doesn't it?

Monday is ANZAC Day....more on my Mozart's Girl blog later in the weekend about that. But the traditional biscuits/cookies to commemorate the day are called....Anzacs! They are actually incredibly popular all year round at The Coffee Tree...so I make plenty...

oaty, coconutty, syrupy & crunchy. I'm giving you the recipe in case you want to make some...they keep really well in an airtight tin. Apologies for the metric measurements...

Anzacs (makes 16)

Preheat oven to 180c/375f

Line a large baking sheet with non-stick parchment

85g oats
85g coconut
100g plain flour
100g sugar
100g butter
1tbsp golden syrup/dark corn syrup
1tsp baking soda
2tbsp boiling water

Place oats, coconut, flour & sugar in a bowl and mix well. Melt butter in a small pan with the syrup and set aside. Dissolve soda in boiling water in a small cup. Add soda mixture to butter & syrup...it will foam up! Quickly add liquid to dry ingredients and mix well. Take small balls of the mixture (I find it easier to have wet hands for this) and place, spaced about an inch apart, on baking sheet. Flatten slightly with the heel of your hand & bake for 8-12 minutes, turning pan halfway through baking time. They will be dark golden brown when ready. Remove from baking sheet with a palette knife and cool on a wire rack - they will firm up as they cool down. Store in an airtight tin.

Enjoy - with love from me! xoxo