La Dolce Vita - Italian Inspired Bakes @ Ham and Jam in Preston

Living the good life - La Dolce Vita was our theme for our recent clandestine cake club outing, Italian inspired bakes.

All the flavours of Italy where present in some amazing cakes, we love a good theme and this was one of the best (well for me anyway as I love Italian food).

Our event was kindly hosted by our lovely friends at Ham and Jam in Preston city centre, one of favourite coffee shops when in town. Please check them out if you are visiting Preston they are near the Guild Hall and the Victorian Market, you are sure of a warm welcome, the food is excellent and coffee amazing.....

We got to taste a Lemon, ricotta and polenta cake (gluten free)

A cappuccino cake

A Zucotto cake

A Tiramisu cake

A Neapolitan Cake

And finally a Lemon, Elderflower and marscapone cake

As is the norm we indulged in lots of slices of these wonderful cakes, enjoying chatting about Great British Bake off and all manner of other topics. We were joined by a new member who came to see what we are all about and we look forward to tasting her baking at the next event in a few weeks time. If you fancy joining check out the tab for the South Lancashire CCC above.

Check out our post from our previous visit to Ham and Jam 

Double chocolate banana bread, great way of using overripe bananas.

Dark and foreboding.... this is just the case, rich in chocolate flavours, you would swear it contains alcohol (it doesn't !) dense, moist and or so very moreish.

We've all experienced the guilt of overripe bananas sitting in the fruit bowl becoming progressively blacker and blacker, this recipe solves that dilemma. Based on a recipe by Smitten Kitchen this is an easy recipe and is an excellent way of using those manky bananas to their best effect.

What you need

• 3 very ripe bananas - mashed
• 1/2 cup butter (melted), or coconut oil. Cool slightly
• 3/4 cup soft brown sugar
• 1 large free range egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp chocolate essence( I get mine from Bakery Bits)
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• pinch of salt (omit if using salted butter)
• 1 cup plain flour (would probably work gluten free, but I haven't tested as yet)
• 1/2 cup of cocoa (I always use Green and Blacks)
• 1 pkt of dark chocolate chips / chunks

You will also require a 2lb loaf tin, oil sprayed and base lined. I prefer to use loaf tin liners

What you do

• Pre heat your oven to 180c
• Mix the mashed banana and butter, sugar and egg, essence in a large bowl or use a mixer.
• Sieve in the flour, bicarb, cocoa and salt and fold until just mixed 
• Stir in the chocolate chips and the scoop into your prepared tin
• Level the top and place in the pre heated oven
• Bake for 55 minutes or so until risen and tests cooked when a skewer inserted into the loaf shows its cooked through
• Cool for 10 -15 minutes in the tin on a wire rack and then remove from tin and allow to cool fully.

We are linking up to several challenges this month

      We should Cocoa, theme this month is Anything Goes, hosted this month by Tin and Thyme.

            No waste food challenge hosted this month by Utterly Scrummy Food for Families.

Lemonade scones

Lemonade scones, a slightly unusual recipe but a scone never the less and one that creates the prefect scone for afternoon tea in a flash. Scones in my humble opinion need to be fluffy and light and no so sweet as to be cloying when served with fruit jam, this scone has it all despite containing lemonade it fresh and light and slightly scented with lemon, a perfect accompaniment to a dollop of homemade jam.

The recipe only has three ingredients (if you use a self raising flour- 4 if you use plain and baking powder) and the science bit is that the fizzy acidic lemonade activates the baking powder in the flour to give a superior rise in the oven. And rise they do, they tower as long as you don't man handle the dough too much. Some recipes also use double cream, not something I normally have in the fridge so I use creme fraiche and it works perfectly.

What you need

• 400g self raising flour
• 175ml lemonade
• 175ml creme fraiche

What you do

• Pre heat the oven to 200c fan /220c non fan
• Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, I use a stand mixer but you could knead together by hand
• Turn out onto a floured surface and cut using a round cutter to desired size, I use about a 2 1/2" cutter 
• Place on a lined baking tray and bake for approx 15 minutes until golden, the exact length of time will vary depending on the size of your scones
• Cool on a wire rack and serve when cold with cream (clotted, double whipping , your choice) and homemade jam, curd or honey.

I have also made these scones with gluten free flour (my own mix) and they work fine, they obviously don't rise as much but they are still very tasty, more of a scone meets shortcake, they could also be made dairy free if you can get hold of a dairy free cream substitute, its already egg free so very allergy friendly all round.

Gluten free version 

I recently discovered  a half used bottle of lemonade in the back of a cupboard, past its best before date but still fizzy so  that what I used in this recipe and they turned out fine. So I am going to use this post as my link up to Credit Crunch Munch this month.

                                         

Credit Crunch Munch is a blogger challenge created and hosted by Fab Food 4 all and Fuss Free Flavours.

Gill Osborne - Middle Holly Cottage

We have another shy featured foodie this month, so instead of a picture of Gill we have a photo of the lovely Middle Holly Cottage which Gill runs with her husband Andy, as a country B and B and now Tea Room and Cake Parlour. Despite hailing from other parts Gill loves Lancashire and its produce which she uses extensively in her establishment.

What is your favourite cookery or food book or publication?

That’s difficult bearing in mind I must have over 100 cookery books on my shelf! I mostly use books by Annie Rigg, Rachel Allen, Mary B, Dan Lepard. Pinterest is great and so is the Internet. Plus I do purchase several monthly publications too.

What sentence sums up Lancashire Food to you ?

Good, honest, down to earth and wholesome food, maybe with a few tweaks here and there!

If you weren’t doing what you do now, what would you like to be ?

That’s, easy, I’d love to run my own high street bakery selling high quality bread, cakes and patisserie.

Which piece of kit could you not do without ?

My 35 year old Kenwood Chef, my third arm. I’ve used it nearly every day and it’s only let me down once. In my opinion it was the best wedding present we got!

Who would join you at your ultimate dinner party and why?

Just my family, they’re the most important people in my life. I don’t think I could handle anyone famous, I’d be too on edge and not sleep for days before!

What would you tell your younger self?

Go for it, believe in your own ability, don’t be afraid of what others think, just be your own confident self

Describe your style in three words

Honest, Creative, Confident

What was your latest foodie gadget purchase?

A little Russell Hobbs blender, great for whizzing herbs or bits of anything really. Oh and my microplane greater – every kitchen should have one!

What is your greatest achievement to date?

Opening the tea room at Middle Holly Cottage, my dream to bake for others to enjoy.

What is the worst mistake you have made?

Not going to catering college when I left school, it wasn’t the thing to do then but gosh do I wish I had. Everything I know now is pretty much self taught.

Tell us a secret about yourself ? It may be something we wouldn’t expect !

I was a Rosebud Queen in our village fete when I was 8 years old. I still have the head-dress I wore.

Middle Holly Cottage Tea Room and Cake Parlour - Afternoon tea

In Lancashire we pride ourselves on a warm and friendly welcome and there is no finer way to spend an afternoon then enjoying the delights of afternoon tea. On a cold blustery spring day we ventured forth to Middle Holly Cottage in Forton for such an afternoon.

On our journey up to Forton where Middle Holly is situated, we saw the cars temperature gauge plumet by 3 degrees and experienced hail, rain and thunder. Fortunately for us Middle Holly is really easy to find being situated just of the A6 and on arrival we were warmly welcomed into the cosy tea room and cake parlour by Gill who runs Middle Holly with her husband Andy. 

Originally from Cheshire but now firmly settled in Lancashire, Gill and I enjoyed a lovely chat about all things food, the WI (she's a member just like me), the Clandestine Cake club, catering for free from diets and Lancashire in general.

Gill is really passionate about her beautiful B and B and tea room being the best they possibly can and she carefully features the best  quality local and seasonal produce on her menu's. She wants all her customers to experience a warm, genuine and memorable experience when staying or eating at Middle Holly.

Gill makes all her own bread, cakes, jams, chutneys and her eggs come from her own  garden hens and sources all her other ingredients as locally as she can. For example she proudly serves Dewlay's Lancashire Cheese, which is little a few minutes walk down the road.

We were invited to experience the Deluxe Afternoon tea which was served in the pretty Garden Room area, thoughtfully decorated in country pastels and the tea, cakes and sandwiches all served on eclectic vintage china, complete with home knitted and crocheted tea cosies by Gill's Mum !

We started our tea with a shot glass of homemade seasonal vegetable soup, very tasty and flavourful which was very welcome given the weather outside, Gill makes sure that when she blends her soup you still have little chunks of vegetables so you can really taste the fresh vegetables in the soup.

Next came our tottering tower (cake stand), strewned with viola flowers, salad and herb leaves, and bedecked with finger sandwiches of home cooked ham, egg mayonnaise and Lancashire cheese and homemade chutney, all served on homemade organic bread. Gill likes to ring the changes and try different flours in the bread baking (most of the bread is made by Andy), so our selection was farmhouse white and  a seeded bread. The sandwiches were delicious, generously filled  and the homemade bread makes such a difference to the taste experience. Alongside our sandwiches we also had a little bowl of Lancashire Crisps, we love those too and again show careful thoughtful sourcing.

Our next  cake stand layer was a fruity raspberry fool served in a pretty vintage teacup and homemade crisp and light chocolate eclairs. The fool was perfectly balanced in terms of sweetness and tartness so as not to be cloying, the eclairs light and airy and filled with fluffy whipped cream.

The top layer of the stand has two huge pieces of cake, which we split in half so both myself and Mr LF could experience the floral rose and almond cake and slated caramel layer cake. Again all homemade, We particularly loved the salted caramel layer cake with its salty yet sweet topping. By this stage we were getting very full so we agreed with Gill to take away our scones (choice of fruit or plain), if you can squeeze them in they come accompanied with cream and  a choice of Gills Homemade jams. The scones are huge, and unlike a lot of other scones I have tried, not in the least bit disappointingly dry and tasteless, these were light and tasty, they were our treat later in the day when we returned home with the last of our homemade rhubarb and strawberry jam.

Last but not least a handmade homemade truffle each, just to round things off !! 

Outside Middle Holly has views over to the Bowland Hills, a little misty and obscured whilst we were there due to the inclement downpour but stunning non the less. 

We loved our visit to Middle Holly and meeting and chatting with Gill, despite it being an awful day the tea room was still fairly busy, so if you are planning a visit I would book just to be on the safe side as given the high standard of afternoon tea and cake on offer, Middle Holly is sure to be very popular. The tea room is currently open Thursday, Friday and Saturday and in the summer on Sundays too.

Check out the website for further details of the tea room and B and B. 

Our meal was provided free of charge for review purposes, we were not compelled to write a positive review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.

Cakes Regional and Traditional - Julie Duff

In what seems ages ago I was kindly sent a copy of a the lovely Cakes, Regional and Traditional by Julie Duff by the publisher - Grub Street. I love a good recipe book and this was let me tell is fab, its stuffed full to the gunnels with over 200 recipes for some fantastic British Cakes. 

Handily the book is divided into small and large cakes both regional and country (meaning baked across the country), there is also a section dedicated to Ginger cakes too. The recipes are throughly researched and you get the feeling that these are recipes that have been handed down through the generations and all the ones I have baked from so far have been very reliable.

 Now avaliable in paperback its a great addition to my extensive cookery book collection (bookcases now groaning !). I am pleased to note that there are all the Lancashire favourites featured and also a couple of more unusual ones too, the only little niggle with the book being not every recipe being illustrated.

Pictured are the Lancashire Teacakes which feature in the book and are for the unitatited a little like a fruited scone , using strong bread flour but raised using baking powder. They were very tasty served buttered and disappered quickly.

The book is avaliable from any good local book seller - ISBN-978-1-910690-06-2 published by Grub Street.

Easter spiced currant biscuits

After all that chocolate, I thought I would bake something fruity and traditional. What better than a lovely buttery currant biscuit, not too sweet, not too spicy.

Currant biscuits are a traditional English Easter treat, but  they are frankly great at any time of year. Biscuit baking is much more forgiving than cake baking and  is something I should do more of.

These bakes expand only slightly whilst baking and store well in an airtight tin, they would also make a fab gift in a pretty basket or box for any celebration.

What you need

• 300g plain flour (gluten free works ok, just watch the texture)
• 150g icing sugar
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 175g butter, cold and diced
• 1 egg - beaten and mixed with 1tbsp of water
• 125g currants
• 1 egg white
• caster sugar for sprinkling

Prepare a couple of baking trays - lightly brushed at oil

You will also need a 6cm ish cookie cutter

What you do

• In a food processor whizz the flour, icing sugar, spice and diced butter until the texture of fine breadcrumbs, a mixer or even by hand would work too
• Add the egg/water mixture to the processor and mix until it clumps.
• On a floured surface turn out the mixture, pull the mixture together and knead in the currants
• Wrap the dough in clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes or so
• Pre heat the oven to 160c 
• Flour the worksurface again and roll out the chilled dough to approximately 4mm thick, cut out round and place on to the prepared trays, keep rolling out until all the dough is used up.
• Brush with the beaten egg white and sprinkle with a little caster sugar before baking for 10 - 15 minutes until lightly golden and sparkling.
• Remove carefully from the trays to a wire rack to cool fully.

Easter Treat - Marbled banana and chocolate hazelnut loaf, gluten free too !

We are hosting We should cocoa this month, so we just had to join in the fun. This month's theme is eggs and this recipe using eggs in two formats, the traditional hens type and liberal quantities of Crispy chocolate eggs. I am really happy as well as this post gave me the opportunity to utilise this beautiful Emma Bridgewater plate in the photography, which appropriately enough features both feathers and eggs in its design, I just love it....

The bake is a perfect Mothers Day or Easter treat and is a lovely easy recipe even though its gluten free, better the day after baking so the banana flavour is more prominent. Loosely based on a Good Housekeeping recipe but made gluten free.

Eggs are a celebration of Spring and new life so have a go and bake yourself a celebration of the new season.

You will need

• 50ml Sunflower oil
• 3 medium eggs - free range - beaten
• 200g caster sugar
• 3 ripe bananas -mashed
• 225g plain Greek yogurt
• 300g plain flour - gluten free
• 1tsp bicarb
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp xanthum gum *
• 150g chocolate hazelnut spread (check gluten free, most are)

To make topping

• 2tbsp chocolate hazelnut spread
• 1tbsp milk - skimmed
• 1 - 2  bags of chocolate crispy eggs - smashed (check gluten free)

2 * 2lb loaf tins - lined

What you do

• Pre heat oven to 160c
• Line your loaf tins - I use the prepared liners from the £ shop, but greaseproof paper will work fine too.
• Whisk the oil, eggs and sugar in a stand mixer bowl until pale, light and fluffy
• Add the banana, yogurt and flour, bicarb and baking powder and quickly mix, until you have an incorporated batter.
• Divide the mixture into two, into one half mix in the chocolate hazelnut spread
• Dollop (great word) blobs of each mixture into the prepared tins and then swirl with a knife to create the marbling.
• Place in the oven and bake for approximately 1 hour and 10 - 20 minutes, until you cakes are well risen and test cooked with a skewer.
• Cool in the tins on a wire rack
• To decorate when cool, mix the chocolate hazelnut spread with the milk and drizzle on to the top of your loaves, sprinkle with the smashed crispy chocolate eggs.
• Serve in decadent slices, store in the fridge covered with foil for a couple of days if it lasts that long.

We are also linking up to Dom over at Belleau Kitchen for Simply Eggcellent

                                                         
To Caroles Chatter - Food on Friday - Easter Foods

                                                           


Bake of the Week - Over at Casa Costello and new co host Maison Cupcake


                                                           

Gluten free, dairy free chocolate cake, with vegan frosting

I love this cake, its so virtuous but so so delicious and really you can't tell its gluten free or dairy free, its so moist and chocolatey and very decadent yet light even with the frosting.

Our latest cake club theme was free from cakes and as I  have made this cake a few times gluten free previously successfully, I wanted to challenge myself and make it dairy free too, as often ceoliacs also suffer dairy issues as well. Amazingly this cake is even better dairy free and the vegan frosting is fabulous and if I dare say it, I think I prefer it to true buttercream.

Apologies for only one photograph, but whenever I make this cake it disappears way too quickly, the recipe is based on Phil Vickery's Gluten Free Chocolate fudge cake but made dairy free and with a vegan frosting.

For those of you who don't normally bake gluten free or dairy free, you'll be relieved to note that the recipe doesn't call for loads of weird and wonderful ingredients, and you can find everything you need in any decent supermarket.

What you need

• Vegetable oil spray - for spraying your cake tins
• 225g plain gluten free flour ( I mix my own by using rice flour, finely ground polenta(cornmeal) and cornflour)
• 1 tsp xanthum gum (not absolutely necessary if you don't have it)*
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarb
• 50g Cocoa powder (I like Green and Blacks)
• 100g vegetable spread (I like vitalite)
• 250g dark brown sugar
• 3 eggs - free range
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• 1 tsp glycerine (not vital if you can't find it)*
• 200ml - dairy free milk substitute( I used Coconut Dream)

*Both these ingredients assist in the texture of the cake but its still good without them

For the frosting

• 200g icing sugar
• 50g cocoa
• 50g vegetable margarine (vitalite or pure sunflower are both good)
• 2 tbsp vegetable milk
• Couple of drops chocolate essence (optional)

Optional Dessicated coconut to decorate.

What you do

• Pre heat the oven to 180c
• Oil spray and base line 2 * 20cm round cake tins
• Sieve the cocoa, flour, baking powder, xanthum gum and bicarb on to a plate
• In a stand mixer, cream the vitalite and sugar until lighter in colour and fluffy
• Add the eggs, vanilla and glycerine and a little of the flour, mix slowly, continuing to add the flour, then add the milk to the bowl and continue to mix until a smooth well mixed batter is achieved.
• Divide the mixture into the 2 prepared pans evenly, level the tops and place in the oven
• Bake for approx 25 minutes, until the cakes test cooked with a cocktail stick
• Remove from oven and cool in the tins for approx 10 minutes and then on a wire rack until fully cool.
• To make the frosting, mix all the frosting ingredients in a mixer bowl and beat until you have a smooth fluffy frosting, cool in fridge before using to fill and decorate the cake
• The frosting mixture is enough to fill the cake and frost the sides and top
• To finish sprinkle a little dessicated coconut around the edge to finish

Free From Cakes - South Lancashire Clandestine Cake Club at Duk Deli and Cantina, Chorley

For our most recent meeting of  South Lancashire Clandestine Cake Club we are back in Chorley, where our meeting was kindly hosted in the newly opened Duk Deli and Cantina on Cleveland Street, right in the heart of the town near the market.

The theme of "Free From" Cakes was chosen as our venue is award winning when it comes to catering for allergies of all types. We had cakes that were gluten free, dairy free, egg free, sugar free, fat free, gluten and dairy free and you just couldn't tell , the cakes were amazing, we had lemon drizzle, chocolate cake, date cake, strawberry cake,sugar free carrot cake, vegan raw cake and many more.

We had a great time and were very well looked after by the lovely friendly staff at this cute new town centre venue, members discussed the different gluten free flours now avaliable, free from baking in general and our favourite healthy cook books.

Pictures are courtesy of Lancashire Food Photography and Colin Shepherd one of our baking members. Apologies as a couple of cakes are missing from the images on the day, they were all delicious.

Yuletide Gingerbread - dairy and gluten free

Who doesn't like sticky gingerbread, the prefect accompainment to present wrapping and one sure fire way of putting in the festive mood. 

This gingerbread is the sticky cakey kind and not the crunchy gingerbread man type of gingerbread, again not a beauty and a recipe that practically always sinks slightly in the middle but it has a beautiful spicy warmth with just the right amount of cloves. Easily made dairy and gluten free if required so its a recipe for all. 

A tip for you - lightly oil the container you measure the treacle in otherwise it will make a very sticky mess.

What you need

• 50g soft brown sugar
• 50g granulated sugar
• 120g quality vegetable margarine (dairy free) - I use Pure
• 1 large free range egg
• 150ml treacle
• 300g Self raising flour ( I have made this gluten free and it works fine, you may need to a little more water)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 heaped tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 heaped tablespoon ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• Pinch of salt
• 60ml of warm water

2lb loaf tin - oil sprayed and lined

What you do

• Prepare the baking tin
• Preheat the oven to 175c
• Cream the sugars and margarine in a mixer , until well mixed, fluffy and lighter in colour
• Add the rest of the ingredients to the mixer
• Mix quickly until you have a smooth mixture
• Scoop into the prepared tin and place in the pre heated oven
• Bake for 50 - 55 minutes
• Cool initially in the tin
• Remove from tin to a wire rack to cool fully
• Wrap and store in an airtight tin, if you can leave it for a few days its starts to go delightfully sticky.
• Delicious served with a cup of tea 

We are linking up to Love Cake over on JibberJabberUk , theme this month is "Festive Fun"

                                                        

Simply Eggcellent - with Dom at Belleau Kitchen, theme this month "Anything Goes"

                                                           

And finally Recipe of the Week with A Mummy Too.