I’ve had a few recipes saved up for the time when we don’t have a kitchen, and this recipe for chocolate and salted caramel squares is one of them. I apologise if you’re trying to be healthy there are some links to healthier things at the bottom of this post! The original title of this recipe (which I found on the BBC website) is ‘Salted chocolate and caramel squares’ – but as you can see, I’ve changed it slightly as it makes far more sense to me this way around! Whatever you decide to call them, this is a delicious twist on the traditional millionaire’s shortbread and the almonds and vanilla in the base are simply delicious. The caramel here is fairly runny and I could not get it to thicken up, so next time I make it I might use the recipe that I use for millionnaire’s flapjack with the addition of some salt. But if you prefer your caramel slightly thinner, this works just fine (and it tastes delicious anyway!).

Chocolate and salted caramel squares: ingredients

For the base
2 tbsp butter, for greasing
175g/6oz plain flour
25g/1oz cornflour
50g/2oz golden caster sugar
85g/3oz finely chopped toasted almonds
140g/5oz unsalted butter
1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out

For the caramel
225g/8oz golden caster sugar
100ml/3½fl oz water
150ml/5fl oz single cream
50g/2oz butter, cubed
½ tsp salt

For the topping
225g/9oz dark chocolate, 70 per cent cocoa solids
85g/3oz butter

Method

1. For the base, preheat the oven to 160C/310F/Gas 3. Grease a 20cm x 23cm/8in x 9in baking tin with butter.

2. Sift the flour, cornflour and sugar into a large bowl. Stir in the almonds, then rub in the butter and vanilla seeds.

3. Press the mixture into the base of the prepared tin. Transfer to the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until lightly golden. Allow to cool.

4. For the caramel, place the sugar and water into a heavy-based pan and heat gently until the sugar dissolves. Turn up the heat and simmer for 4-5 minutes, or until it turns dark amber.

5. Stir in the cream, taking care as it will bubble up. Stir in the butter and salt. Pour the caramel over the shortbread and leave to cool (I put it in the fridge overnight, but a few hours would do it).

6. For the topping, melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water. Pour the chocolate over the caramel and smooth out with a wet palette knife.

7. Place into the fridge and chill for at least 30 minutes, until firm. Cut into 16 pieces and serve.

Post updated 2nd October 2020.

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Ingredients

300g butter (you could use margarine if you prefer)
200g soft brown sugar
4 tbsp golden syrup
700g oats
2 pinches salt
100g crystallised ginger, chopped into fairly small pieces
75g dark chocolate, roughly chopped (I used 70% cocoa solids)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas mark 4. Grease and line a 10 x 15 inch baking tray. Melt the butter (or margarine), sugar and syrup in a pan over a low heat until melted and combined.

2. Mix in the oats, salt, ginger and chocolate and then press into the tray. It’s worth spending a few minutes pressing the mixture in with the back of a spoon, just to make sure that the mixture sticks really well.

3. Bake for 15-20 minutes and then leave to cool in the tray on a wire cooling rack. I usually let it cool for a little while and then cut it into pieces before it has completely cooled.

Enjoy!

Post updated 14th August 2016.

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A couple of weeks ago, me and my friend Daria had a little catch up in town – we were meant to be doing LGMC errands but ended up spending most of our time having lunch…and then cake! We both had some really yummy roasted tomato and mascarpone soup for lunch, and I decided to have a look and see if I could recreate it at home because it was THAT good.

I found this recipe on the BBC Good Food website and it’s pretty close to what we had for lunch – yay! I’ll definitely be making this again.

Ingredients

1kg very ripe tomatoes
pinch golden caster sugar
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
sprig of thyme and 2 fresh bay leaves, tied together
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp sundried or normal tomato purée
600ml vegetable stock
2 tbsp mascarpone cheese (or use double cream as alternative)

Method

1. Heat oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3 – 4. Bring a pan of water to the boil and get a bowl of iced water at the ready. Cut a small slit in the bottom of each tomato then plunge into boiling water in batches for 10 secs then lift out into the iced water.

2. Drain and peel the tomatoes then halve and place on a baking tray cut side up. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and the sugar. Drizzle with the vinegar and 1 tbsp of the olive oil. Roast the tomatoes for 1hr until semi-dried and set aside.

3. Heat the remaining oil in a large saucepan and cook the onion and carrot gently for about 10 mins until very soft. Add the tied herbs and garlic and cook for a minute more.

4.Stir in the tomato purée then tip in the roasted tomatoes and any juices from the tray. Pour over the stock and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil then turn the heat down and simmer for 10 mins.

5.Remove the tied herbs and discard. Add the mascarpone then take off the heat, blitz well with a hand blender. If you want a smoother soup then it can be sieved but this isn’t really necessary.

6. The soup can now be cooled and kept for 3 days in the fridge or frozen for up to 1 month. For a dinner party, serve the soup with a sprig of thyme and a drizzle of good quality olive oil. Enjoy with some delicious bread – you can find my tried and tested bread recipe here.

Post updated 17th February 2020.

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Ingredients

Olive oil, for cooking

2 large red onions, finely chopped

6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

400g red lentils

800ml vegetable stock – plus extra boiling water to avoid sticking

6 skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces

2-3 tablespoons madras curry paste (or use a milder one if you prefer)

300g baby spinach leaves

Sea salt and black pepper to taste (we don’t usually add additional salt)

Thick live probiotic yoghurt, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Heat a little olive oil in a pan, add the onions and garlic and cook for 4-5 minutes until softened.

2. Add the lentils and a little of the stock and simmer. Keep adding small amounts of stock bit by bit as the lentils cook and soften, as if you were cooking a risotto.

3. Once the lentils are starting to soften and break down, add the chicken and curry paste and stir well. Continue simmering and adding the stock until the chicken has cooked through. If the lentils start to stick to the pan at this point, just add a little extra boiling water to loosen it. We have found that we usually add at least 300ml extra boiling water as they do tend to stick quite a bit.

4. Add the baby spinach at the last minute, season with salt and pepper and stir until the spinach has wilted.

5. Serve immediately, with a dollop of yoghurt on top, if you like. Enjoy!

Edit: Want to make your own curry paste?

Little One absolutely loves this curry! We’ve been doing Baby Led Weaning with her since she was almost 6 months, and we must have tried this with her a couple of months in. We didn’t want to use a jar of curry paste with her because of the salt levels, so we made our own curry paste using a recipe from The Baby Led Weaning Cookbook. It’s so delicious! She loves naan bread too so we always serve this with naan and a little bit of rice, which helps to make this go further too.

This curry paste will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks. You can either use ready ground spices or grind your own in a grinder (or use a pestle and mortar). We usually leave out the chilli at the moment, but you can make this as hot as you like!

1 fresh mild/medium chilli pepper, deseeded (optional)

5-6 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated

2cm (3/4″) piece of fresh ginger, grated

4 tbsp ground coriander seeds

4 tbsp ground cumin seeds

2 tbsp mustard seeds, crushed

1 tbsp chilli powder (optional)

1 tbsp turmeric

1 tbsp paprika (we use sweet smoked paprika)

Olive oil

Put all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Add as much oil as you need to get the desired consistency.

Post updated 6th May 2017.

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The original recipe for the steak and ale filling is from the BBC food website (I have adapted here from this pie recipe) and the cobbler originally comes from this recipe.

Ingredients

For the filling

1 kg/2lb 4oz braising steak, cut into matchbox-sized pieces

3 tbsp plain flour

salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tbsp olive oil

300ml/ 1/2 pint brown ale (I used Guinness)

2 garlic cloves

2 onions

250g/ 9oz carrots

1 fresh or dried bay leaf

handful fresh thyme sprigs

300ml/ 1/2 pint good quality beef stock (I used a Knorr beef stock pot)

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

250g button mushrooms

For the cobbler

200g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp mixed herbs
2 tsp oil
150ml plain, unsweetened yoghurt

Method

1. Mix the beef with the flour and some salt and pepper. An easy way to do this without making too much mess is to put everything into a large food bag, seal, then shake well.

2. Heat a tablespoon of the oil in a large heatproof casserole up to a medium heat, then add half of the beef, shaking off the excess flour and keeping the chunks well-spaced so they fry rather than sweat. The original recipe says to brown for about 10 minutes, but it didn’t take that long so just cook until golden-brown all over.

3. Transfer the first batch of meat to a bowl, then add a splash of brown ale or water to the pan and scrape up any meaty bits. Tip the liquid into the bowl of meat. Wipe out the pan with some kitchen paper, then add a tablespoon of oil and brown the second batch of beef. When the beef is golden-brown transfer it to the bowl and set aside. Repeat until all the beef is cooked.

4. Chop the garlic, onion, and carrots into chunky pieces. Add the final spoon of oil to the pan and heat gently. Add the vegetables and herbs to the pan and fry to soften for a few minutes.

5. Put the beef back into the pan. Pour in the stock and brown ale, then add the tomato purée and balsamic vinegar. If necessary, add a little more stock or hot water to ensure the meat is covered in liquid (this will prevent the beef from drying out). Bring to the boil then cover and simmer the stew for 1-1½ hours until the beef is almost tender and the sauce has thickened. Chop the mushrooms in half and then add about half an hour in, stirring well.

6. The original recipe then says to set aside to cool, overnight if possible. But we wanted to have this for dinner (and I hadn’t started it early enough) so I just put some of it into an oven proof dish whilst making the cobbler. Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas mark 6.

7. Make the cobbler dough by sifting plain flour and baking powder into a bowl. Mix in the herbs. Make a well in the centre and pour in the oil and yoghurt, bringing it all together to make a soft, but not sticky dough. Turn out onto a floured surface and cut into rounds, and then place them on top of the meat.

8. Cook in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the cobbler is golden brown. Enjoy!

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Ingredients

Serves 8

900g of tomatoes, halved
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
6 sprigs thyme
75g fresh breadcrumbs
75g pine nuts
2 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tbsp finely chopped chives
100g feta

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 120 degrees Centigrade. Lay the tomatoes cut-side up on a roasting tray. Mix the garlic with 3 tbsp of the oil, brush over the tomatoes and season. Roughly tear the thyme over the top then transfer to the oven for 2 hours until very soft and slightly wrinkled.

2. Heat the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil in a large, non-stick frying pan and add the breadcrumbs. Cook for 1-2 minutes until golden then add the pine nuts. Cook for a further 1-2 minutes then remove from the heat and stir through the herbs.

3. Spread two-thirds of the breadcrumb mixture over a serving plate and top with the tomatoes. Sprinkle over the remaining mixture then crumble over the feta.

We served this with some chicken, which was delicious! Yum

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If you follow me on Instagram (or you’ve seen the photos in my feed on my blog) then you may already know that yesterday our new Kitchen Aid mixer was delivered! I can’t believe we actually got one, after so long saying ‘I’d LOVE one of those!’. We chose the pistachio colour in the end, as it will look so lovely with our new kitchen when we get it done in a couple of months. That’s another exciting project to tell you about, but that’s for another time!

We wanted to try out our new gadget today, so chose this chocolate mousse recipe because it meant that we could make the mousse and the shortbread in it! If you want to make it for a special occasion, you could easily make this a day ahead. I love the combination of flavours – the coffee and chocolate, the orange and ginger. Yum!

Ingredients (makes 6)

For the chocolate mousse

30g/1¼oz unsalted butter, chopped

100g/3½oz dark chocolate, broken into pieces

3 free-range eggs, separated

25g/1oz caster sugar

1 shot espresso

For the fiery ginger shortbread

100g/3½oz unsalted butter, softened until very soft, plus extra for greasing

80g/2¾oz plain flour

30g/1¼oz icing sugar

30g/1¼oz cornflour

drop of vanilla essence

50g/1¾oz fresh root ginger, washed, unpeeled, finely grated

2-3 pieces crystallised ginger, sliced

For the candied orange peel

1 large orange, peel only, white pith removed, sliced into 0.5cm/¼in strips

80g/2¾oz caster sugar

150g/5oz demerara sugar

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

2. For the chocolate mousse, bring a little water to the boil in a pan, then reduce the heat until the water is simmering. Suspend a heatproof bowl over the water (do not allow the base of the bowl to touch the water). Add the butter and dark chocolate and stir until melted, smooth and well combined. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.

3. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until nearly white and thick in consistency.

4. Gently stir the whisked yolks into the butter and chocolate, then add the coffee.

5. Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed, then gently fold them into the chocolate mixture, until just combined.

6. Transfer the mousse to small cups or ramekins and chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours, or overnight.

7. For the ginger shortbread, cream the butter until pale and fluffy in a bowl. Sift in the flour, icing sugar and cornflour and beat again until fully incorporated. Stir in the vanilla essence and grated root ginger.

8. Place walnut-sized balls of the mixture onto a greased baking tray, about 2cm/¾in apart (you should get about 18 from this mixture). Spread each ball of the biscuit mixture out slightly using the back of a spoon, until flattened into biscuit shapes. Top each ball with a slice of crystallised ginger, then transfer to the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the shortbread biscuits are pale golden-brown. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for a few minutes, then carefully lift them off the tray and onto a wire rack, using a palette knife, and set aside to cool completely.

9. For the candied orange peel, fill a small saucepan with water and bring to the boil. Add the orange peel and bring to the boil again, then drain well.

10. Re-fill the pan with water, bring to the boil, return the orange peel to the pan, return the water to the boil, then drain again.

11. Re-fill the pan with 150ml/5fl oz of water, add the caster sugar and bring to the boil, stirring well. Add the orange peel, reduce the heat until the mixture is simmering and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the liquid resembles syrup, stirring occasionally.

12. Tip the demerara sugar into a shallow bowl. Once the syrup mixture has thickened, remove the orange peel and coat each piece in the demerara sugar. Shake the peel in the sugar until it is completely covered. (NB: Once cool, keep the candied orange peel uncovered until needed.)

13. To serve, place the ramekins of chocolate mousse onto serving plates. Place one or two shortbreads alongside each. Sprinkle the mousse with the candied orange peel.

Enjoy!

This recipe was taken from the BBC website.

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Many of you will already know that I am a huge fan of making curds, and this blackberry curd is fab. I’ve used lemon curd in loads of recipes now, and another recent discovery was raspberry curd (the recipe in yesterday’s post produced the best ever batch!). My latest version is this amazingly purple blackberry curd – have you ever seen anything quite like it?! We went foraging for blackberries near where we live a couple of weeks ago, and were surprised by how early they were this year! So get yourself out foraging today and make a batch of this wonderful curd. You’ll be glad you did!

Ingredients

500g fresh blackberries
4 tablespoons water
125g golden caster sugar
2 tablespoons cornflour
4 egg yolks plus 2 whole eggs, lightly beaten
125g butter, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Method

1. Put the water and berries in a large pan and bring to the boil. Put a lid on the pot and allow it to simmer for about 20 minutes or until very soft.

2. Place into a food processor or blender and whizz up very very well. Take care here because the fruit is really hot! Once blended, pour through a fine sieve with a bowl underneath, making sure there are no seeds in the bowl. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before moving on to step 3 – otherwise you may end up scrambling the eggs by mistake!

3. Whisk the eggs in a medium sized pan before adding the rest of the ingredients. Place on a medium heat and whisk continuously with a balloon whisk until the mixture starts to thicken. This takes about 7-8 minutes.

4. Next, lower the heat and let the curd simmer for another minute, continuing to whisk. Pour the curd into the hot, sterilised jars – fill them up as full as you can, and cover with wax disks and seal them quickly.

5. When the jars have cooled, label and store in a cool place. You might get a little bit of separation as it cools, but it’s just butter that you can skim off the top. Once open keep in the fridge – it usually keeps for about a month – but if you’re anything like me, it won’t last that long!

If you’re looking to try another blackberry recipe, I can highly recommend this blackberry ice cream one! We make it every year now and it’s a firm favourite.

Post updated 1st August 2017 and 22nd September 2020.

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Ingredients

For the curd

500g fresh raspberries
4 tablespoons water

4 eggs
12oz (350g) golden caster sugar
8oz (225g) unsalted butter, left at room temperature and cut into small cubes
1 level dessert spoon of cornflour

For the cake (for two 20cm/8in diameter cake tins):

300g butter, softened (plus extra for greasing)
300g caster sugar
4 eggs
A few drops (not more than 1/4 teaspoon) of almond essence or extract
100ml milk
300g self-raising flour, sifted
300g ground almonds
300g fresh or frozen (and defrosted) raspberries
50g flaked almonds
Icing sugar and a little water to make some water icing

For the buttercream (if not using fresh cream)

250g icing sugar, sifted (plus extra for dusting)

80g unsalted butter, at room temperature

25ml semi skimmed milk

A tiny drop of almond extract
 

Method

To make the curd

1. Put the water and berries in a large pan and bring to the boil. Put a lid on the pot and allow it to simmer for about 20 minutes or until very soft.

2. Place into a food processor or blender and whizz up very very well. Take care here because the fruit is really hot! Once blended, pour through a fine sieve with a bowl underneath, making sure there are no seeds in the bowl. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before moving on to step 3 – otherwise you may end up scrambling the eggs by mistake!

3. Whisk the eggs in a medium sized pan before adding the rest of the ingredients. Place on a medium heat and whisk continuously with a balloon whisk until the mixture starts to thicken. This takes about 7-8 minutes.

4. Next, lower the heat and let the curd simmer for another minute, continuing to whisk. Pour the curd into the hot, sterilised jars – fill them up as full as you can, and cover with wax disks and seal them quickly.

5. When the jars have cooled, label and store in a cool place.

To make the cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas mark 4, then butter the sides of the cake tin and line the base with a disc of baking parchment.

2. Cream the butter in a large bowl until soft. Add the sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.

3. Whisk the eggs and the almond essence or extract together in a small bowl for a few seconds or until just combined, then gradually add the eggs to the creamed butter mixture, beating all the time. Next beat in the milk, then add the flour and ground almonds, carefully folding these in until they are just mixed.

4. Next add the raspberries and fold in gently so as not to break them up too much. Tip the batter into the prepared tin, then scatter the flaked almonds over just one of the cakes. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Use a small sharp knife to loosen the edges, the carefully remove the cake from the tin and leave to cool completely.

6. As the cakes cool, make the buttercream by creaming together the butter and icing sugar. Add the milk and almond extract and beat until smooth. Place the bottom cake on a serving plate and then spread a few dessert spoons of the raspberry curd over the top. Then spread your buttercream or cream over that before placing the other cake on top.

7. Mix a small amount of water icing so that it is thick enough to pipe. Fill a piping bag with a small-ish nozzle and then pipe lines across the cake, like on the top of a Bakewell tart (no need to worry about precision piping here!). If serving later, you may need to chill it in the fridge, and remove a little while before serving.

Enjoy!

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Project Life is a pocket scrapbooking system, and this is one of the things that originally attracted me to it (other than the pretty colours and patterns!). I think this will be good for doing little bits at a time – something that I can pick up and do a little of, and I can put a few post its in as reminders of what needs to go where. I like having the option of the different size cards on a page too, and the pockets come in lots of different layouts. I decided to get a box of different pockets to mix and match, and I also got the Blush pink chevron album (pink AND chevrons – what’s not to love?!).

I must admit that if there’s a choice of a set of something, I don’t usually like mixing it up with another set – but I really couldn’t decide between the Blush and Strawberry core kits and thought that they would compliment each other really well! I got one of them on offer from Hobbycraft, so decided to get the other one too – I shouldn’t need to buy any for a long time!

So here are my first pages – I’ve mixed up the Blush and Strawberry cards and I think it looks fab! Can’t wait to get making more pages, and I’ll add a few bits on these ones too

There are so many different things that you can buy for Project Life, and I’m not going to lie, it can get a bit pricey. This was probably the main reason I put off doing it for so long! But the materials are such good quality, and by shopping around and getting a good deal you can get it a little cheaper. One of the best things I’ve bought is the round corner punch (see photo below). You could easily use this to make some of your own cards – print or stamp your own for a totally unique scrapbook. I’ll definitely be adding a few of my own into mine!

Despite my initial doubts about the cost, I am so pleased that I’m starting my Project Life scrapbook. Shop around and buy little bits at a time to build up your stash, and this will spread the cost. For UK people, check out Hobbycraft for supplies. I’m an even bigger fan of Craftie Charlie and Papermaze though – support independent businesses!

I’ll be sharing my pages as I go, but would love to see yours if you already do this – leave a comment on the post with a link to any blog posts you’ve done!

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As you can see, the top has a band just under the chest with little buttons to fasten it. I decided to unpick just above the band, so that I could use it for a waistband on the skirt and leave the ties attached at the back. There is a piece of elastic sewn into the back too, and I wanted to leave it in so that I wouldn’t have to insert a zip.

I unpicked the fabric at the front and then cut away the back piece, just a little higher than the elastic. I was so pleased with how it looked – and it fit as well! After faffing about trying to work out how to neaten the top edges without losing most of the waistband, I had a rummage in my craft supplies and found some lovely ribbon that would cover it up and compliment the fabric really well. But – disaster! I was about an inch short of what I needed! It made me think of that bit in West Side Story in the dress shop: “How much can one little inch do?” A lot, when you’re an inch short! How frustrating!

So I had to put it to one side for the evening to be picked up another day… When I started work on it again after buying some more ribbon (I got a 5 metre roll, just to be sure!) I pinned one side of the ribbon to the front of the skirt. I had to get rid of the top button to be able to make sure that the front was level with the back, and then I stitched along the edge. It was really tough doing this around the back with the elastic (which explains why there are no photos of this bit!). I’ve never done it before so was making it up as I went along really, trying to keep it stretched out as I stitched. To finish the other side, I handstitched catching the skirt fabric but not the front side of the ribbon.

Ta-dah! My ill-fitting top has now become a skirt, perfect for these long summer days that we’re enjoying at the moment.

This is the back – I’m pleased that I kept the ties!

Having done this alteration I’ll definitely be more confident at doing another – it’s one of those things that I really didn’t want to ruin this top! But I didn’t, hooray! So if you’re like me and you’ve been putting off an alteration for ages, give it a go!

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The pattern I used for these trousers is Simplicity 1520 – it’s easy to follow and there are only 3 pieces (front leg, back leg and elastic), so easy to handle as a beginner. You also don’t need to worry about pattern matching for PJs – this means you can go bonkers with pattern without worrying! This pattern has sizes for all the family too, as well as different lengths.

The bow on the front is decorative – I chose this yellow ribbon to compliment the fabric, which I made whilst watching the Tour de France in my home county of Yorkshire on the telly! I’m really pleased with the fit of these trousers too – even though they look like MC Hammer trousers when they’re hung up, they are much less baggy

Ta-dah! I’ll be blogging about my other projects soon, so stay tuned!

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So, in case you missed it earlier in the week, me and Tom had a World Cup Cake Off! We took our cakes to work on Monday (thankfully, they made it in one piece) and shared them out around the office. And the unanimous result is…

…a draw! Haha!

To make two cakes in our brownie pans, we used 5 eggs and 10oz/280g of butter, sugar and flour. My cake was a lemon sponge with buttercream and homemade lemon curd in it. Tom made a chocolate sponge with chocolate buttercream – I have to say that it was super tasty!

So here’s to the next World Cup cake in 2018! I’ve spotted these hemisphere cake pans, so maybe an actual football cake next time…? There’s plenty of time to think about it I guess!

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I tried out this recipe this evening and it’s really easy, really tasty and low fat – brilliant! I halved the quantities here for the two of us, except for the 400g tin of chopped tomatoes. I think next time I’d put a whole chilli in for 2 people, but that’s just personal preference! I used linguine here, which was slightly on the done side because we were trying to rescue a butterfly…

This recipe comes from the July 2014 edition of BBC Good Food magazine.

Ingredients (serves 4)

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large aubergine, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
400g/14oz fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped (or a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes)
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
400g/14oz dried tagliolini pasta (we used linguine)
Small bunch of basil, roughly chopped
50g/2oz pecorino, grated (or veggie alternative)

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and cook the aubergine for 5 minutes until starting to brown and soften.

2. Add the onion, garlic, chilli and oregano and cook for just a few minutes. Add the tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and about 200ml water, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for about 20 minutes until the tomatoes are reduced and the sauce is thickened.

3. Meanwhile, bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the tagliolini following the pack instructions. Drain the pasta and return to the pan. Add the sauce and toss well into the pasta with the basil. Serve with the grated pecorino.

Enjoy!

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In 2006, we were very lucky to get tickets to go to some of the World Cup matches in Germany – I’m not a huge football fan, but I must admit that going to matches is far more exciting than watching it on TV! As the 2010 games were in South Africa (and going there was never going to be a possibility) I decided to make a World Cup cake instead – here it is:

Apologies for the stuff in the background – this photo is from my pre-blogging days! Anyway, this year Tom asked if I would make another one. The conversation went a bit like this:

Tom: “Are you making a World Cup cake this year?”
Me: “Yeah, ok!”
Tom: ” How are you going to decorate it?”
Me: “A bit like the last one.”
Tom: “Can we put a flag on it?”
Me: “No.”
Tom: “I want to make one with a flag on.”
Me: “Ok – I’ll make one and you make a flag one!”
Tom: “Let’s do it! A World Cup Cake Off!”

I’m actually not that competitive, but had to admit that it sounded like fun! So I agreed, and this weekend we constructed our cakes. I have to admit that I’ve eaten a little too much ready to roll icing this weekend…so will be on mainly savoury food this week haha!

I can’t give too much away about the flavour of the cakes (apparently it’s up to our work colleagues to decide which is the best) but here are a few photos from the making process. We made our cakes in a brownie pan, because it’s a perfect pitch shape (although we did have to cut them a bit to be able to get them into the boxes that we’re taking them to work in). We’ve placed the cakes on the lids for easy decorating and transportation!

Once you have stacked your cakes, cover them with green ready to roll icing, and then use some white water icing in a piping bag to mark out the pitch.

You might find that you can’t get all the lines on, but that’s ok. It seems that these teams are only playing 2-a-side too, because they are quite big and don’t all fit on the cake!

If you have any spare icing, you could make bunting too!

The flag cake is made from one layer on the bottom (covered in green icing) and then the diamond and circle are cut out from the other layer. The pitch is marked out first:

Then the layers can be stacked:

Then the finishing touches are added:

Ta-dah! So we’ll be taking these to work tomorrow on the bus – fingers crossed they make it in one piece! Hopefully it will make people feel better now that England are out…I’m cheering on Ivory Coast as they’re my team in the sweepstake!

We’d love to hear what you think of our cakes – feel free to leave a comment below!

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I haven’t done any baking for such a long time because we’ve been trying to eat more healthily recently, but we had a couple of days off this week and I just fancied doing a bit! I decided to look for a new recipe with fresh raspberries and came across this one – these cupcakes are quite tangy and so moist, so if you’re looking to make something that isn’t too sweet, these are perfect. Serve them warm with some creme fraiche – yum!

This recipe comes from the BBC Good Food website and was originally published in Good Food Magazine in July 2005.

Ingredients

200g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
200g unsalted butter, softened
4 eggs
200g caster sugar
3 tbsp milk
50g ground almonds
zest of 1 medium orange
150g punnet raspberries, lightly crushed, plus extra to decorate

For the sugar crust
juice of 1 medium orange
4 tbsp caster sugar

Method

1. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper muffin cases.

2. Tip the first 8 ingredients into a large bowl and beat with electric whisk until smooth (or use the usual creaming method if you’re like us and you don’t have a mixer!)

3. Fold the crushed raspberries through the batter.

4. Divide the batter between the cases (they should be about half full) and bake for 20-25 mins or until golden and just firm.

5. Whilst the cupcakes are in the oven, make the topping by mixing together the orange juice and sugar until well blended.

6. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and allow to cool a little. Drizzle each with the orange and sugar crust mix. Top with the extra raspberries to serve.

Enjoy!

The post Warm raspberry and orange cupcakes with an orange sugar drizzle appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Lemon posset is one of those things that I’ve seen on loads of cookery shows, but have never got around to making – until now! It’s surprisingly easy to make and tastes delicious, so if you’re looking for something to make for friends I’d highly recommend it. The amounts here serve 2 people, but you could easily double up the quantities. Serve in some small glasses or ramekins (my UK followers might recognise these ones if you’ve ever eaten a Gu dessert – we’ve recycled the ramekins they came in!).

This recipe comes from the May 2014 edition of BBC Good Food Magazine, and has been adapted from Tom Kerridge’s ‘Proper Pub Food‘.

Ingredients

225ml double cream
65g caster sugar
Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon, plus zest to decorate
Shortbread or biscotti to serve (optional)

Method

1. Mix the cream and sugar together in a saucepan over a high heat and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

2. Turn the heat down to a simmer and stir for 1-2 minutes until the bubbles are quite large. Add the lemon juice and whisk thoroughly.

3. Pass the mix through a fine sieve into a bowl and leave to cool for about 5 minutes. Skim off any air bubbles, then pour into serving glasses or ramekins.

4. Leave to cool completely and then place the possets in the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours. When set, serve with shortbread or biscotti. Enjoy!

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I seem to have been working on loads of things that I can’t quite share with you at the moment, so I’m really pleased to be able to share this project with you at last! I had been meaning to revamp my Filofax inserts for ages but didn’t get around to it for the start of the year. However, I tend to work in academic years anyway because of my current day job, so I decided to do it anyway!

I’ve written this tutorial for Less Grafting More Crafting, which is the craft business that I started last year with my partner-in-craft, Daria. We’re focussing much more on online stuff now that she’s a Mama, so we need to be super organised with our craft time and the posts that we’re scheduling! So I decided to make it my blogging Filofax – this will hopefully mean that between the two blogs I’m really organised!

You can see the full tutorial here, but I thought I’d put a mini gallery here so you can get an idea of what it’s like. I have a massive obsession with washi tape at the moment, and I’ve used it a lot to customise the pages! I’ve bought many tapes from the lovely Jen at Moon Stick Supplies – she’s got a fab selection (look out for the zebras – they’re my fave!).

It’s really easy to revamp your Filofax/organiser – and so much fun!

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