''twas the week before her 16th birthday...

...and she asked...

“Can I design my own birthday cake?” 

“Of course you can my lovely!!!”

She had found a recipe online for a black forest gateaux. I gave it  a read, and you know when it just doesn’t sound right? The ingredients list was causing me some concern, it was missing something, I just got the hunch that it wouldn’t work... I read the reviews and it confirmed my fears, others had tried and failed, but I got the gist of what she wanted...

What she was after and it took us a week to gather the chosen recipes together was a cake to top all cakes!

4 layers (2 chocolate, 2 vanilla) sandwiched together with fresh cream, chocolate mousse and dark cherries, liberally doused in kirsch when all covered in dark chocolate ganache THEN topped with chocolate curls and 16 whole cherries, one for each of her years on this planet!!!

First layer was a Mary Berry genoese sponge cake, Nigella's chocolate mousse, cherries

top with a chocolate genoese sponge layer, then sandwich the next layer together with fresh cream.

Remember to use pitted cherries or remember to pit them BEFORE  you make the cake!!!

The Ultimate Birthday Cake!

When cut the layers were very impressive... everyone gave it a WOW!!

Then they demolished it.... this was all that was left... she has such greedy friends!!

Happy 16th Birthday Jo-Jo!

This struck a cord, thanks Marie!

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.

Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.

Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.

Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten.

Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.

Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.

It was never between you and them anyway.

-this version is credited to Mother Teresa......but I first read it on Marie's blog and it struck a cord.

Now me and Marie go back a long way, we have been friends for years, we're on the same journey but we just choose to sit on different buses. Not that we've ever let that get in the way of our foodie friendship! She's a pleasure and a delight to be with and with things like this for me to read on her blog every day, she gives me food for thought too... thank you Marie, you a very special lady x

Another special thing this week is this....

Tia Maria Cheesecake

I've never made a baked cheesecake before, no idea why I've put it off for so long, it was very simple to do, and the outcome was fab!!!  I found the recipe in a little booklet that came free with my Good Food magazine this month and while drooling over it, I figured I had Tia Marie left over from Christmas and all the other stuff was sat in the kitchen just waiting for me to bake it.... how could I refuse?!! The original recipe had it topped with continental chocolates, that was a step too far for us, we just wanted the hit of cheesecake... so here goes.... I baked it in the Pampered Chef Springform Pan used my batter bowl to mix the filling, it was so easy, in fact chilling it in the fridge took the longest time and it was pretty hard to wait, so we didn't!!!

Looking a little bit slumped!!!

It was rather sickly eating it warm and it didn't look the bees knees either but it was worth it, warm chocolate boozy goodness... delish!

Chilled and looking lovely!

Thankfully it is all gone and we can now start our 40 days without such temptation in the fridge.

Happy 50th Birthday Fr. Kevin

It all started back in 2010 almost a year ago, 6 of us had a meeting in a pub, as you do and started to hatch a plan... it had to be changed quite a few times, especially when himself decided to throw a spanner in the works and start mentioning the big 5-0 and what he was going to do.... but it all worked out in the end!

The local community centre was the ideal place to host such an event, its bright and airy, has a bar, big enough to hold our parish and it was within walking distance for most of our parishioners!

The food was amazing, we had asked everyone to bring a plate to share and the assortment was amazing, from traditional sandwiches, crudities and dips to smoked salmon sushi it was a wonderful spread. The desserts were pretty good too. My in-laws enjoyed the homemade sherry trifle the kids munched on chocolate cake and lemon roulade I skipped dessert and hit the cheeseboard, great great selection! Over 200 people turned out to wish our Parish Priest a 'Happy 50th Birthday' from the oldest parishioner to the youngest (seen in the arms of Rose in the photo below) we all had a lovely afternoon, I think we should all do it again next year!!

These were my contributions

Spinach diamond puffs

300g frozen leaf spinach, thawed, drained well and chopped
1 small carrot
1 small onion
100ml mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
115g Gruyére cheese
1 packet (500g) chilled fresh (or frozen, defrosted) ready made puff pastry
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/Gas 6.
Place drained spinach on absorbent kitchen paper; press to remove excess moisture.
Chop spinach using Forged Cutlery Utility Knife.
Finely chop carrot and onion on Cutting Board using Food Chopper.
Place spinach, carrot, onion, mayonnaise and seasonings in Classic Batter Bowl.
Grate cheese into batter bowl using Deluxe Cheese Grater; mix well using Small Mix ‘N Scraper®.
Lightly sprinkle work surface with flour.
Using lightly floured Baker's Roller®, roll half of pastry into a 30-cm square.
Cut rolled pastry into sixteen 7.5-cm squares using Pizza Cutter (do not separate squares).

Using half of spinach mixture, spoon some spinach mixture onto centre of each square.
Flatten mixture slightly.
Lightly beat egg in Prep Bowl; brush beaten egg over cut lines in pastry and around outside edges of large square.
For each appetizer, bring two opposite corners of each square up over filling, pinch together firmly and twist or fold over.
Place on Medium Round Stone; brush tops with beaten egg.
Bake 20-25 minutes or until deep golden brown.
Transfer to serving platter using Mini-Serving Spatula.
Repeat with remaining pastry and spinach mixture to make a total of 32 diamond puffs.

And then the amazing Caramel Cake -

This makes a huge cake, enough to share with friends !

For more scrummy photos of this cake click here
For the recipe, you'll have to go to Ruth's website - click here

And the best cake of all was his birthday cake... expertly made by Caroline, a cake baker extraordinaire, its always handy to have one of these in your parish, we are never too far away from a piece of cake!!!
For the cake topper we do need to thank Ben's dad, after the photos had flown back and forth across cyber space it landed on his desk and he did a bit of jiggery pokery and voila - One Swindon Football Team Photo with  substitute player... can you spot which one he is?

Afternoon Tea with Nana

Well, she's moved in, got herself settled and we celebrated by inviting family, friends and the residents of her new sheltered home round for cake and coffee. I didn't try anything new, the old favourites were the best!

First we had Marie's Golden Jubilee Cake, light sponge dotted with raspberries and sandwiched together with clotted cream, this time I dusted it with icing sugar but I normally mix up a runny icing and splatter (technical term) it with it!! The old folk loved it, and have been talking about it all week... I'm just going to have to make another one. with the royal wedding coming up I've promised them a cake to help celebrate as they all gather round their new cinema style surround sound TV to watch the happy couple tie the knot! 

Then came the Mincemeat and Marzipan cake... being the end of February I'm still trying to use up all the Christmas leftovers... its usually one of the first things I make at the start of advent, when the first batch of mincemeat is made and the Christmas cake ingredients are all prominent in the shops.  I always make too much mincemeat, and at times like these I'm glad that I do! This is a moist tea loaf with the undertone of the mincemeat dotted with cubes of golden marzipan, (I still think of it as golden even though I use the natural uncoloured stuff - shadows of being brought up in the glowing 70's!!!)

Photo from the GF website

The last but not least was the Yummy Scrummy Carrot Cake and no, that's not the silly name I've given it, that's what its actually called!!! Check out the link above it will take you to the recipe and their photo... I didn't manage to capture my own as it was cut as soon as it had cooled and we raced off for the 2pm start... this again was very popular, its so soft, moist and moreish... the orange icing just gives it a hit of sweetness to offset the almost savoury element of this cinnamonney, carrotey loveliness...(now I did make those words up!!!) Delicious!

We had lots of old friends and family turn up, my nephew who is just about to turn two years old kept us all entertained and my Mum got to meet their oldest resident, he's 99 years young and he apologised for not meeting her sooner but he was away on holiday... oh the life of the retired!!! I didn't catch his name but we are going to call him Brigadier on account of his moustache... what a wonderful old gentleman, I may adopt him for my Grandpa!

Cinnamon Swirl Tea Bread... Toasted!

A couple of weeks ago I was fortune enough to travel north to see my dear friend Marie. She was hosting a Pampered Chef show where I would demonstrate a couple of my favourite recipe for her.. now showing Marie how to cook new recipes is a bit like taking coals to Newcastle, very bizarre but while her show was a great success, food went well, company was great and I met Dawn, who is now a new member of my team. The highlight has got to be the scrummy food she made for me... she sent me home with a goodie bag full of Cinnamon Swirl Tea Bread.

Now when something arrives from Marie, it doesn't last long, Jo usually jumps on it and claims it as hers. Luckily I got in first and managed to slice and toast a couple of pieces of this... oh wow... so good and to quote Marie "its all rich and buttery and filled with a delicious cinnamon swirl", she advises that "you'll want to keep it all to yourself . . . but alas . . . it is TOO good not to share" . . . well sorry Maire, you had already shared it, I felt that was where it should stop... I ate both pieces myself!!! 
This was the 'taste' I woke up with this morning, so there's nothing else left to do that bake one myself... by Wednesdy if there is any left I'll toast it for my breakfast...mmmm roll on midweek!!!

We've all gone Battenburg Barmy!

Wikipedia says "Battenberg cake is a light sponge cake. When cut in cross section, displays a distinctive two-by-two check pattern alternately coloured pink and yellow. The cake is covered in marzipan and, when sliced, the characteristic checks are exposed to view. These coloured sections are made by dyeing half of the cake mixture pink, and half yellow, then cutting each resultant sponge into two long, uniform cuboids, and joining them together with apricot jam, to form one cake. Established variations are for coconut flavouring to the sponge cake and lemon curd or raspberry jam in place of apricot jam.

The origin of the name is not clear, but one theory claims that the cake was created in honour of the marriage in 1884 of Queen Victoria's granddaughter to Prince Louis of Battenberg, with the four squares representing the four Battenberg princes: Louis, Alexander, Henry and Francis Joseph.

This is one of Claire's favourite cakes, she used to love a slice as a special treat when she was little ( I didn't often buy shop bought cakes even back then) I've never made one but have often thought about it. However, while looking through my friends Facebook status I noticed that Suzi a fellow pampered cheffer and team mate had made a fab attempt at making this chequered cake, hers was a great colour and a lovely dainty little size, looking just like a battenburg should, her comments were, to quote " my first attempt at making battenburg, quite pleased with it and even if i do say so myself, tastes delicious."  Well, I thought I'd give it a go myself, Claire would love me for ever.....

...to the bat cave.... oh no, wrong alter ego.... I went into Tulip's Kitchen to weld my baker's roller and shake my batter bowl. The results were good... the colour was more a red than a pink, the size was great if you were the BFG and the marzipan went on forevvvvvvvverrrrrrr!!! I made it in my Square Bake Pan making one batch of cake mixture and split it into, colouring one half  'pink' and the other yellow, however two colours in one pan does not make for even colouring (as you can see by the photo) Next time I'll make two cakes so the colours stay separate and make two battenburgs, this really was mahoosive!
Comments flew "what's with the Battenburg fetish?" "off to make my own" and so it continued... and then I opened last months Good Food Mag which had been sat on the bedside table gathering dust (just haven't found the time to read it yet!) and lo and behold there on page  124 was " Bake a Classic Battenburg Cake", tips, how to make it different and what's in its name... oh if only I read it earlier.  I will be following this recipe next time and when April's copy hits the mat, I'll be waiting with a cup of coffee in hand and will read it cover to cover, I promise.... if I've got time!!!  

Jane's little Berry Tarts!

I first had these at a training day with the Pampered Chef, made by the lovely Jane from Team Kirby. For lunch we were asked to provide a plate of PC goodies, we're all foodies and all gain from seeing and eating other PC recipes (well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!) The lunch table was full of scrummy Pampered Chef recipes including these lovely little tarts. If anyone can tell me the recipe for that pasta salad we had I'd be grateful!?

These were made in the Deluxe Mini Muffin Pan with sweet shortcrust pastry dibbed to perfection, cooked blind (remember to prick the bottom of the pastry otherwise it will puff up.) and left to cool.  For the filling I mixed extra thick double cream with crème fraiche and a touch of vanilla flavoured icing sugar and piped it into the empty pastry cases using the star nozzle on my easy accent decorator. The berry topping was a mix of berries left to marinate in a little lemon juice and icing sugar just until the the berries started to give up a little of their juice... amazing! This was made from memory because while I was scoffng them we were all all quizzing Jane on how she'd made them. I hope I got it right Jane? They'll tasted delicious either way!

Oh yeah and before it gets lost in all the scrummy food - the training day with our brilliant Executive Director Sue Caldwell - I don't just go for the lunch, the training and support we get as consultants is second to none. It was as expected, it was an amazing day! As always she inspires, motivates and passes on great ideas and tips so our hosts and guests get the very best out of their Pampered Chef Shows! Thanks to all those who helped to organise such a great day especially the infamous Sarah 'L' Jackson* who organised the Gloucester Posse!

*If she could remember any of the original S L Jackson's quotes she may say something like 'That's one tasty Little Berry Tart!!'  'I'm loving these gawd damn berry tarts on this gawd damm Pampered Chef lunch table"  (Did you see what I did there?  I can't say her name without trying to quote the man himself (Samuel L Jackson for those who are still struggling!!!) 

Here comes Rudolf....

I picked up the Morrison's magazine last time I was in and came across a recipe for these cute little Rudolf Cupcakes. Now we've got a Christmas themed cake sale planned on the 19th for Jo's World Youth Day funds, so I thought these would be of great interest to the children and would be worth their parents parting with a £1 a piece!  I stored the recipe away with the intention of making them in a week or two but I had to go to the dentist today! He told me my gums have a cold... no seriously, that's what he said.... I have to stay out of the cold and eat warm scrambled eggs all week :-( but hey, enough about my teeth.... back to the cupcakes! 

The nursing and reception staff at my surgery are fundraising this week by selling homemade Christmas cakes and biscuits. My tooth was hurting so much I made a bargain with my dentist, if he made the pain go away I would make them a tray of cakes to sell... deal? Not exactly, I'm still in pain but the tray of cakes are done!

These are so cute, the cake is fluffy and flavoured with orange zest the topping is a homemade chocolate frosting. The recipe calls for the shop bought stuff but you know me, I don't do that so I used this Chocolate Frosting recipe - it was delicious, light not overly sweet and oh so chocolate-y. I have the leftovers in the freezer waiting for our cake sale now!!!
Would you pay £1 for a Rudolf Cupcake?

Caramel Cake

I first tasted this delicious cake when Caroline made it for our weekly toddler group, now you regular readers will know I ain't got not toddlers...lol  but Caroline's cake is worth heading into the church hall for a fat slice of cake... The recipe for Caramel Cake - comes from Ruth's blog the Pink Whisk, she wasn't the runner up of  Great British Bake Off for nothing... this is amazing!!!

 A moist cake, made fatter by using my regular sandwich tin and not the size that Ruth had called for. It was sandwiched together with caramel butter icing with caramel icing... the finishing touch was the crushed diam bars on the top!

I could have eaten two pieces at a time, instead I cut one large piece!!!

Carrot & Orange Cupcakes

With the arrival of my Pampered Chef 3 tier cake stand I've been on a bit of a cup cake crusade lately . They don't travel too well in a school lunch box [you should see the mess at the end of the day] but they are very very girlie and the flavour combinations are endless, watch this space for more...

Using vegetables in cakes is one of my favourite ways of getting the kids to eat one of their 5 a day. Adding the orange disguised the carrot even further. 

The cream cheese frosting balanced the sweetness of the cake perfectly and the grated orange zest looked very pretty!

This is a waitrose recipe, simple instructions and very easy to make.

Ingredients

2 large eggs
175g golden caster sugar
150ml sunflower oil
200g self-raising flour, sifted
3 tsp mixed spice
2 medium carrots, coarsely grated
1 tsp vanilla extract
Finely grated zest of 2 oranges
1½ x 200g tubs Soft Cheese
50g golden icing sugar, sifted

Method

1.Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Place 12 paper muffin cases in a deep bun or muffin tin.

2.Put the eggs, sugar and oil in a large bowl and beat with an electric whisk for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.

3.Using a metal spoon, gently fold in the flour, spice, grated carrot, vanilla extract and half the orange zest, until thoroughly combined.

4.Divide the mixture between the muffin cases then place in the oven for 20-25 minutes until well risen and golden brown. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack.

5.For the frosting, beat together the soft cheese and icing sugar until smooth. Chill until ready to use. Spread liberally over the cooled cakes and top with the remaining zest, or, as shown, make long strips of zest using a zester.

The World of Food Blogging

I love writing this blog, sharing kitchen tips and recipes with you all! Its fun when I get recognised as 'Tulip' from Tulips Kitchen and apart from the odd stalker (you know who you are...) you are all lovely. Updates have been pretty slow this summer, but its not because we haven't been eating, I've just had no time to sit and type up what I've cooked. The photos are still being taken tho...

This is a spinach quiche using a tortilla wrap as a base, works really well if you get the biggest wrap you can find [these wholemeal ones came from Tesco] and line a stoneware mini baker with it a quiche filling baked on a 180c until the filling was set made me a fantastic light lunch. Crispy and filling but without the stodge or faff of pastry!  Note the homemade salsa on the side... can't get enough of this stuff!

This is a a rhubarb square, so morish you can't just eat one! I like to serve them cold with pouring cream but Mum likes them warm with ice cream. The recipe can be found by clicking here

Feel free to leave a comment, ask for a recipe or help on anything food related, if I don't know the answer I have a gaggle of foodie friends who are bound to know the answer!

Happy Birthday Holly & Jo

This is a mini version of the cake we made today!

I get a lot of pleasure baking for others, there's nothing better than presenting someone you care about with something you've made. This pleasure it seems has been passed on to Jo as it was her suggestion that we make a cake today. We were looking for a cake recipe that was something a little special, we didn't want a regular chocolate one and had decided on something a bit more grown up.  This cake was everything we wanted it to be, light white sponge, homemade lemon curd topping and the white chocolate truffle centre, the whipped cream was just the icing on the cake. Now baking a cake for someone is usually a happy occasion, this one was a little different, we made this to bring a little sweetness to a sad day, I hope it did its job!

Thanks to Chris for sending me the link to the recipe it turned out amazingly well, although we never doubted your choice for a minute, you are definitely the cake lady!

You can find the recipe by clicking here
The recipe calls for a 9" pan and we only have a 7" which means we made the cake and had enough mixture left to make 6 cupcakes as well, at least we got to taste what the main cake was like. We'll definitely be making this again.

Portuguese Custard Tarts

I first heard of these when Claire's friend, who is Portuguese, came back from holiday and brought her a homemade one! Claire raved about it... so i thought they must be good, coz Claire doesn't rave too much about cakes, she's a take it or leave it sort of girl!!! She has since had them in Nandos but while they are nice, she declares them not as good!

Well imagine my surprise when I was looking through an Australian Woman's Weekly Cake Cookbook (Thanks Cathy, a gift from her first trip to see her Sister!) when I came upon the recipe for them... couldn't resist trying the recipe out and maybe earning some Mummy brownie points! A quick internet search and I found the recipe along with all the other Australian Woman's Weekly recipes here, Phew that saved me a job of  typing it up!

The verdict was a big thumbs up, the filling was sweet, but not too sweet, the flavour of the vanilla with a faint hint of lemon had a delicate oozy scrumptiousness about it, the pastry was light and buttery! Only problem was, by the time Claire had tried one, then taken 3 for friends and me and Paul had scoffed a couple just to make sure we liked them... they were all gone!

Time to make some more...

Marie's Rhubarb and Custard Muffins

Marie's done it again! While perusing her website I came across these beauties!

I made a dozen and let me tell you they didn't last long!

The rhubarb provided a sharp contrast to the sweet oozy custard, fab when warm but just as nice when cold. Nana loves anything rhubarb so I popped over with a couple and they were very well received!

Thanks Marie, you're a star!

End of Term Treat for My ex-colleagues...

I've worked with children for over 19 years, loved every minute of it, but there comes a time when enough is enough and you've just got to put the little darlings behind you and follow your dreams.

While working in school I would always take a cake into school during the last week of term.... just to help the week pass quicker. For many a new recipe, they were my guinea pigs, I wonder if they still remember the beetroot and chocolate cake, or the chocolate & courgette one?
This one is just pure chocolate, chocolate sponge, chocolate butter icing to sandwich it together and plain, milk and white chocolate drizzled on top... what could be nicer for a pre Easter treat?

I dropped this into school during the last week of term, thanks guys for being great friends!

Made using  9" sandwich pans

Pre heat oven 180c

6 oz butter

6 oz caster sugar

6 oz Self Raising Flour

3 Eggs

3 level tablespoons of cocoa powder

2 tablespoons of boiling water

• Grease and line sandwich tins with butter and a dusting of flour
• Mix butter and sugar until light white and fluffy
• Add egg and flour alternatively until all mixed
• Mix cocoa with boiling water in seperate cup
• Add to cake mixture and beat in until mixed
• divide into pans, level tops 
• Cook for 18-20mins or until a light touch to the top has it springing back
• Allow to cool for 5 mins turn out on wire rack and cool completely
• Sandwich together with chocolate butter cream  or cherry jam
• Decorate 

Coffee Kisses

This entry was written in the February half term but then it got lost in the draft copy wonderland that is my laptop.
Thought I'd post it now. They were lovely and she deserves to get credit for them. Only thing is, I hope she doesn't make them again soon. We ate the whole batch in one afternoon... scary how addictive we found them!

Its half term this week, which usually means the kids take over the kitchen...now in years gone past they have all been in there, cook books marked and flour scattered. However its all a bit quiet these days, one of them works full time the other is a student and spends most of the time in the bathroom or sleeping which leaves my 14yr old all alone in the kitchen. :-(

This half term she decided that she would use the Bero cook book. This little book brings back so many memories for me, it was the book I used in home economics (well that’s what we called it back in our day!!!!) I was given a copy back in 1982 and have used it weekly ever since. Its falling to pieces, pages have stuck together and some of the recipes can’t be read, but I’ll stick it and mend it and keep it forever…however I was so pleased to receive a new copy in the post by my very good friend Chris. She sent me a 40th edition copy and Jo loves it, its not sticky for one, but has all the same recipes in. She sat in the living room with a packet of mini post it notes and labelled all the recipes she intends to make over the week. First on her list were coffee kisses, these were one of the first things I made at school (the very first being the dreaded mincemeat stuffed apples…. (Who in their right mind thinks this would be a great first recipe for children? My horrible H.E. teacher that’s who!!!)

Just the smell brought back memories of my cookery lessons, the light in the class room, the smell of the electric oven, the taste of that first bite….oh it was too much to resist, I ate 6 of them with a strong cup of coffee…the were blissfully delicious! Paul couldn’t stop eating them either. Not sure we will have any left to share amongst guests, visitors or grandparents….oh well there is always the large Madaleine, or heart shaped chocolate biscuits to offer!

Jo-Jo's Coffee Kisses

Low Carb Coffee Cake

I used Adrienne1's recipe for coffee cup flax seed bread and a very large latte mug to cook it in.

Into the 1/4 cup of flax seed meal and 1/2tsp of baking powder, I mixed in 1 teaspoon of Canderel and mixed. I then added the egg and teaspoon of melted butter to this I added 1 level teaspoon of instant coffee, which I had mixed with 2 teaspoons of hot water to dissolve, then mixed thoroughly, microwaved on high (750watt) for 1 minutes and 30 seconds. What I ended up with was a moist, cake like consistency with a great coffee flavour! I couldn’t taste the sweetener or the flax seed for that matter as the coffee flavour was overpowered them!

I spread it with mascarpone cheese and it was delicious!

It really hit the spot! I have the leftovers stored in an airtight tin and intend to make little sandwich cakes with them to take to a friends!!! Photo of that to follow!!!!