Radio Lancashire appearances

Mr Lancashire Food aka as Synergy Digital Imaging has very kindly edited the recordings of my other appearances over the years on BBC Radio Lancashire and they are now avaliable on Youtube.

http://youtu.be/S2bfKduUs-w 2009

http://youtu.be/h_ShK9BwNcs 2010

Strawberry and elderflower jam

Another post featuring the delightful elderflower and that ever so delightful quintessential British Berry - the Strawberry. 

I like to make Strawberry jam ever year as I believe that the end result is far superior to any shop bought jam or preserve and you just can't beat strawberry jam on scones, on toast or in your victoria sponge.
Strawberry jam can be difficult to set as the fruit is low in pectin, so I tend to use jam sugar or add pectin powder to my jam so I am ensured a good set. I decided to add elderflowers to the mix to capture the beauty of the individual flowers and their fragrance and also some vanilla to further enhance the jams flavour.
I recycle my jam jars and  this recipe makes about 4 jars, so ensure they are washed and sterilised and warm in the oven ready for your potting.


Ingredients 

800g British Strawberries, hulled and washed
1kg jam sugar or ordinary granulated sugar and a sachet of pectin
3 large elderflower heads- snip off the tiny flowers and remove wildlife
2 tsp vanilla paste

Method 

Mash your strawberries into your jam pan and then add your sugar and pectin, slowly heat the pan until the sugar has melted, stirring frequently.
Once your sugar has melted increase the heat, keeping stirring until you have a good rolling boil which won't be stirred down, now boil until setting point or follow the instructions on your pectin as to long to boil.
Once setting point is reached stir in your vanilla and elderflower flowers and pot in to your warmed jars.
Allow to cool and store

BBC Radio Lancashire Visit - Cakes, brown sauce and elderflowers

I was recently invited to the BBC radio Lancashire studio to chat to Sean McGinty on his Saturday Summer afternoon show. I regularly tweet my local radio station and I am lucky that they follow me on twitter, so Mr Lancashire Food and myself packed our car with some goodies and trundled to Blackburn, at one point we were concerned with all the local flooding that we might struggle to make it to the studio, but we made it in plenty of time.


We arrived in Blackburn and after getting caught in a another rainy deluge we were admitted to the studio and offered a brew whilst we waited for our slot, everything they say about BBC tea  is true by the way !

After listening to a live artist we went into the studio and were warmly greeted by the team, Sean, Gareth and another chap. This is the 3rd time Lancashire Food has been featured on local radio and I know that the staff and presenters enjoy a good homemade cake.
We had decided to take along a couple of types of cakes, a twist on the fabulous Jo Wheatley's Tiffin and Apricot and Almond Loaf, we also took along samples of Elderflower cordial, mint syrup and Rivington Pike Sauce.

I used the opportunity as well as promoting my blog to promote the South Lancashire Clandestine Cake Club, Preston Cake City, Elderflowers, Leyland Festival bake off and the wonderful local supermarket we have in the North West - Booths and Chris Rawlinson, Head Chef at the The Red Cat at Wheelton.


It was great fun chatting about local food with Sean and we even had a link up with Julie from Clitheroe Food Festival too, helping to promote this local event , a strictly Lancashire food festival.


I am fairly sure that all the goodies were enjoyed by the team and was more than happy to leave the leftovers for more members of the team, Sean however wouldn't be parted from his sample of Rivington Pike Sauce, just waiting from the phone call from Booths now to sort the manufacturing rights !!

                             

River Cottage Rocks #4 Baking Bliss - Chocolate and garden mint cake

I have been meaning to take part in the "River Cottage Rocks" blog campaign for quite a while now, but I couldn't miss out this month as the theme is "baking bliss". I have quite a few of the River Cottage books and have been an avid follower of Mr HFW since the gastro wagon, so I think I qualify to take part. River cottage rocks is a blog campaign run by Jo's Kitchen (@Jos_?Kitchen) with this month's theme being hosted by Charlotteskitchen (@gofreecakes)

My choice for the baking theme is Chocolate and Mint loaf from the River Cottage Cakes No8  Handbook, by Pam (the jam) Corbin page 161, this was actually a lemon verbena cake but there is a twist version using cocoa and mint. One of my earlier posts is a recipe to use mint from the garden in a River Cottage mint syrup, this is another recipe which uses garden mint. (I've got to get rid of it somehow !). The Lemon verbena - Scent from Heaven Cake recipe is posted on the River Cottage website here

The recipe calls for Ground rice but I didn't have any in the store cupboard, so I was going to substitute with polenta which I do have in, but I managed to get hold of the ground rice. I think the mixture would work well with gluten free flour for our ceoliac friends as there is more ground rice than ordinary flour in the mix. The recipe basically consists of making a tea with the herb and then using this in the cake mixture and in a drizzle syrup that you pour over the cake once baked. 

The cake smelt lovely whilst baking just like after dinner mints.

I am also posting this as a contribution to we should cocoa run by the lovely Choclette over at Chocolate Log Blog and Chele at Chocolate Teapot, guest hosted by A kick at the pantry door for June 2013.

                                                        

Lancashire Food - Elderflower Challenge

Recipe sharing Blog Challenge - an easy great fun event to celebrate Summer !

I really Elderflowers, its summery muscat scent that needs to be captured whilst the frothy blooms billow on the hedgerows. As some of you know I love it so much I grow a large bush in my garden so I can ensure its not sprayed or polluted, this is what I use to make a supply of summer delights. Over the years I have posted numerous recipes which feature this plant so I thought I would run a seasonal recipe round for all things elderflower, that quintessential forage ingredient for Summer.


Its easy to take part, just use the linky blog button thing (kindly designed by Synergy Imaging for me) and post on your blog and link back to this blog post by putting a link on this page. At the start of July I'll post a summary of all the lovely recipes posted.

LANCASHIRE FOOD - ELDERFLOWER CHALLENGE GUIDELINES 

• Post your blog URL link to the "linky" below, please include your email and the name of your elderflower recipe. Closing date for contributions is 30th June 2012.
• Copy the code from the challenge button below to add on to your post which will link back to this post.

• Please tweet that you have contributed to the fun!, use #elderflowerchallenge and mention @LancashireFood in your tweet.I will retweet any I see.
• The recipe can be your own or one you have seen somewhere else, please be respectful of copyright and give credit where due , please feel free to publish old recipes or old blog posts, but make sure you add the lovely challenge badge.

I haven't posted a recipe for cordial as they are hundreds available on the internet plus mine seems to change every year. Here are the links to some of my earlier elderflower posts

Elderflower champagne

Elderflower sorbet

Elderflower delight

Remember you can also use elderflower in ice cream, panacotta, glace icing, cake mixes, jellies and many other recipes and you can also use the flowers in jams and preserves.

I am planning on trying deep fried flowers, elderflower cake and a couple of other recipes this year, so I'll post and link as and when these are available.


Above all have fun and use this great seasonal  forage ingredient whilst you can !

Herbs on Saturday Blog challenge - Mint syrup

If your like me, once apon a time long long ago you were given a cutting of peppermint by a friend (I use this term loosely given mints behavior in the garden) you have a forest of the stuff which you have to battle with a machete every season. You just wish that more recipes that use it, Mint does have a some redeming features in the  kitchen as a herb, with the obvious lamb, boiled with the first new potatoes and its also fab in cold salads and used to garnish desserts and in pimms. But, it just grows to well and you can't use it all, I also make a fab strawberry and mint ice cream (thats another post) and loads of mint sauce but I just can't keep up with it.

As someone who always makes elderflower cordial every year , I have had an inkling for sometime to make a similar mint version. I spied in the River cottage perserves book, a recipe so I thought I would give it a go with some tweaks. Essentially you macerate fresh young leaves with sugar, salt and lemon juice (this less for its flavour and more to stop your mint going a sludgy brown), this is left overnight and then made into a sugar syrup with boiling water and then strained and bottled.

The resultant syrup can be used to make a refreshing cooling drink with ice and sparkling water (and very nice it is too). You can also use the syrup in your baking or to make desserts and added to teas or sorbets.

Just a pity it doesn't use more mint though .......

I am submitting this post to @KarenBurnsBooth #herbsonsaturday campaign, come join the fun.  

I am also entering this for the @BotanicalBaker #Summertimesipping campaign as well 

Peasant Salad

This salad is a great easy standard that never disappoints, its a warm salad for those summer days when the weather refuses to play ball and is unseasonably cool. Since our new hens arrived egg production has rapidly increased so this salad features boiled eggs too, you can use what ever you have in the fridge and whatever is growing in the garden or you have been able to nab from the hedgerow.

Ingredients

• Bacon - either pancetta cubes or smoked streaky chopped in to small pieces
• Boiled egg - 1 per person - quartered
• New potatoes - ruffords / jersey's or similar - just make it local if you can - boiled until soft, keep warm
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Cucumber
• Salad leaves - rocket, lambs lettuce, purslane, etc
• Mushrooms - chopped finely and fried in a little oil until soft.
• Olive oil or rapeseed oil
• Balsamic vinegar or your favourite fruit vinegar

Method

• Assemble your salad leaves , boiled eggs on a plate
• Quickly fry your bacon till crispy in a little olive oil, then add the mushrooms back to the pan to warm through
• Drain your potatoes and put on your plate
• Scoop your bacon and  mushrooms  using a slotted spoon onto the plates sprinkling all over the salad
• Add balsamic to warm pan along with pan juices, swirl and then use to dress salad
• Delicious :-)

Afternoon tea in the garden

In the recent spell of good weather (its finished now and we are back to a typical rainy cold english summer) afternoon tea in the garden was in order. So after a quick baking session, tea was served.

• Scones with homemade strawberry jam and clotted cream.The scones were made to a friends recipe.
• Cucumber sandwiches, I used the fab Valentine Warners recipe in What to Eat now.
• Sausage rolls- I must confess shop bought on this occasion, but you can check my earlier blog post for a great sausage roll recipe.
• Victoria sponge cake - a classic but in celebration of summer, a pink sponge filled with the classic jam filling 
• Lemon balm loaf cake as featured on an earlier blog post

Drinks were served from a selection of Pimms ,classic english tea and cloudy lemonade

Lemon balm loaf cake

Lemon balm is one of those herbs that once you have it you always will, it will happily self seed if it likes you garden and can become a bit of a pest. It has limited uses such as in a tea or a nice refreshing bath, so I thought I would have a go at using some in a cake recipe. Lemon balm or melissa for the unintiated has a lemon sherbet flavour with a herby back end on the tongue, so should be a perfect marriage for a traditional lemon drizzle cake.

Melissa is a very old fashioned herb and would have been a typical inclusion in the traditional cottage garden which is the style of gardening I favour, it has none discript white flowers, followed by loads of tiny dark seeds, which should be cut off unless you want to commercial harvest the plant.

I have tried cooking with the herb before but I don't have particularly fond memories of the result, but I think I used the older leaves which tend to go woody and be less flavourful. 

So firstly choose your favourite lemon drizzle cake and then add to the normal lemon zest in the sponge mix an additional 2tbsp of finely chopped lemon balm leaves. You normally make a lemon syrup to make the drizzle so I also added chopped lemon balm to my syrup too. The result is a moist lemony herby cake, very pleasant and a very good keeper if wrapped in foil and stored in a cool place. 

Bean Drinking Coffee tasting experience

Today has been a busy day, so a caffeine kick has been welcome,  A great local coffee bar has been running a tasting experience so we dropped by to check out the action.


Bean Drinking is run by the lovely Tom and his wife Zoe and is a great venue for a snack or coffee, they are great at supporting the local community and are often the venue for a variety of events such as cake clubs or knit and knatter groups.



If you are ever in the area please pay them a call, support your local barista !

Yogurt Lemon Drizzle for World Baking day

Well its World Baking Day , the idea being that you bake something, take a photo of it somewhere unusual and then tweet it using the #caking ! Well you all know me, anything for a bit of fun and also anything that involves baking is right up my street.


So this weekends bake of Lemon Drizzle Cake is my contribution, a deliciously light but moist cake with a good lemon flavour which features yogurt as an unusual twist on the norm.

Lemon Drizzle in the Greenhouse with tomato

Ingredients

• 175g softened butter or quality vegetable margarine
• 175g caster sugar
• Zest and juice of 2 lemons - unwaxed
• 120g natural yogurt
• 2 large eggs - free range
• 175g self raising flour
• 3 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp icing sugar
• 1/2 tbsp elderflower cordial

Method

• Cream your butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy
• Oil spray a loose bottomed case tin and base line
• Preheat your oven to 180C
• Add the lemon zest and yogurt and eggs to the sugar / butter mixture
• Mix well
• Add the Flour and mix again, then spoon into your tin
• Bake for 30-35 minutes until well risen and golden and cooked when tested with a cocktail stick
• Now allow to cool slighty and then remove from tin
• Meanwhile simmer the lemon juice and granulated sugar in a small pan until the sugar has dissolved and the volume reduced to a syrup
• Using a cocktail stick prick all over the top of your cake and then pour on the syrup
• Now cool fully
• Once fully cooled, mix the icing sugar and elderflower cordial to make a runny paste, drizzle all over the top of your cake.

Fantastic Food Show 2012

Phew , I am back from a busy visit to this years Fantastic Food Show at Ewood Park, Blackburn. This increasingly popular event features some fabulous local producers and retailers from the North West of England. 

More Artisan stall - delicious real bread

Its also a great opportunity for a food blogger like myself to catch up with with my favourite local producers and put faces to twitter names, also It is great to see more and more people becoming interested in where there food comes from and how it is produced.

Leagrams Cheese , yes that's the legendary Bob  Kitchen ! 

Here are a few piccies of what I bought and the general ambiance of the day, I am also caught on camera hobnobbing with Matthew Fort and Tom Parker Bowles. I also purchased some Bobs Bangers, loads more bread from More Artisan and some Black Pudding.

The elusive foodie Phil !

Tom Parker Bowles, myself and Matthew Fort 

Nigel Howarth demonstrating his BBQ technique 

Fabulous local produce

Chocolate assortment from The Chocolate Cafe

The fabulous "Fourcaccia" from More Artisan

Leagram Organic Cheese

Wholemeal Rhubarb Yogurt cake

Rhubarb that great standby ingredient from the garden for deserts and cakes, this easy recipe is not too sweet and can be enjoyed both as a cake or a dessert if serve with custard or cream.

Ingredients

• 3 large sticks of rhubarb, finely chopped into small cubes
• 1/4 cup softened butter or pure vegetable margarine
• 1 1/2 cups soft brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• Good pinch of ground cardamon
• 1 cup wholemeal flour
• 1 cup plain white flour
• pinch of sea salt
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 cup plain live yogurt

Method

• Preheat your oven to 180c
• Oil a shallow tin approx 9 by 12 inches
• Cream your butter and sugar 
• Add your egg and vanilla and incorporate well
• Now add your flours and bicarb and salt
• Lastly add your yogurt, mix well and then stir in your rhubarb
• Tip into your prepared tin and level, it is quite a stiff mixture
• Bake until golden and cooked through when tested with a cocktail stick
• Cool in the tin, will store for a few days but this is quite a moist cake so best eaten soon.

Piadina - Italian Flatbread

I love nothing better than making my own bread, not that its always totally successful, this is one recipe however that does not disappoint. Piadina from the "Romagna" region of Italy is a doddle to make and makes a great accompaniment to dips, olives, soup, proscuttio, etc. They are served in Italy filled with sweet and savoury fillings, the original street food. This recipe features mixed herbs, but if you are going for a sweet filling then miss this out.

Ingredients

• 180g strong white bread flour
• 100ml ish warm water ( you might need a bit more depends on your flour)
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1tsp mixed herbs
• 1tbsp olive oil, plus more for oiling

Method

• Sieve your flour, herbs and salt into bowl
• Mix your water and oil in a jug and pour into your flour mix
• Bring together into a dough ball
• Knead for about 5 minutes on a floured or oiled surface
• Allow to rest for about 20 minutes (may be longer) covered with a tea towel in an oiled bowl
• Cut into 4 pieces and shape / roll into rounds about the size of your largest frying pan
• Oil and preheat your frying pan
• Cook each round for approx 2 -3 minutes on each side, until you have some nice golden spots 
• Then turn and cook the other side
• Serve hot or cold

Potato and lovage soup

Well its May and its unseasonably cold, after a morning in the garden I decided to make this quick and easy soup. I had noticed that one of my lovage plants was in lush fresh leafy growth so a recipe that would use this bounty was in order. Lovage is a herb which grows easily in my Lancashire garden and seems to enjoy having a moist position, its flavour is a yeasty celery , its seeds are used in southern european cuisine. The soup was whipped up very quickly.

Ingredients

• Potatoes - peeled, chopped into small cubes
• Onion, peeled finely chopped
• Lovage leaves - go carefully its quite strong in flavour, finely shredded
• Vegetable stock
• Butter / Oil

Method

• Heat your oil / butter in large saucepan
• Gently fry your onion for 2 minutes
• Now add your chopped potatoes
• Stir and allow to sweat for a few minutes
• Add the shredded lovage leave and the vegetable stock to just cover
• Bring to boil and simmer until the vegetables are cooked
• Taste for seasoning , add if required and either serve as it is or partially blended if you like a thicker soup.
• Garnish with a whole lovage leaf

Fruity Mocha vegan cake

Our household is the proud new owner of 3 new chickens to add to the existing flock of hens we already have. The old girls are still laying but their production is dropping off that why we have added to our flock.So this case is ideal if you don't have any eggs in or your hens are on a go slow. This recipe like my earlier vinegar cake recipe uses flavoured vinegar to give lift to the cake and to replace the eggs. Its also low fat as well as the recipe has a very small quantity of oil in it.

Like all vinegar cakes I have the feeling that the cake will improve with a couple of days wrapped in foil. The cake smelt delicious whilst baking pleasantly scenting the house, the original recipe used raspberry preserve and vinegar, however I substituted homemade strawberry jam and homemade strawberry vinegar as thats what I had, I also used instant coffee to enhance the the cocoa in the cake.

Ingredients

• 3 cups plain flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1/4 cup sunflower oil
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• 2tsp strawberry vinegar mixed with 1/4 cup water
• 3/4 cup strong instant coffee 
• 3/4 cup strawberry jam 

Method

• Sieve the flour, cocoa, sugar and bicarb into a large bowl
• Preheat your oven to about 180c, if fan about 160c
• Grease and base line a loose bottom cake tin
• Mix all the wet ingredients with the dry , work quickly and ensure everything is well mixed 
• Your batter will be fairly stiff, dollop into your prepared tin and level
• Bake for approx 45 minutes until tested cooked with a skewer
• Allow to cool in tin
• Wrap and store for a couple of days before eating
• Delicious served alone or if you are not vegan yoghurt or creme fraiche.

I am sumbmitting this recipe for June 2012 - We should Cocoa -coffee challenge

CCC No 6 - English Country Garden Cake

The theme for this session of the South Lancashire Clandestine Cake club was "English Country Garden" a suitable theme despite the unseasonal weather. Our venue was Suzanna's at Little Scotland, Blackrod a country house restaurant. We were lucky to have a gorgeous selection of cakes on the evening ranging from a Lemon and poppy seed cake to apple and elderflower.

I used my Spicy Courgette Cake recipe as the cake base for this cake , the recipe is available on the link to an earlier posting and then decorated as a country vegetable garden. I was mostly inspired by the great Fiona Cairns, the royal wedding cake maker. 

I covered the courgette cake with vanilla butter cream on the top and sides, I then used cut up "matchmaker" style chocolate sticks in orange to create a rustic fence round the garden. I then cut out to vegetable beds from chocolate regal ice and surrounded these with chocolate vermicelli.

I then created vegetables using a combination of ready coloured and home coloured fondant icing and then shaped to create the different vegetables, I also used a sweet I located on my local market as a berry bush and spaghetti to create canes for a climbing vegetable. All in all the decorating took about and hour and a half a lot longer than I normally take to decorate a cake, I enjoyed the decorating and was particularly happy to feature vegetables as this is something I enjoy growing as well. 

The decorated cake was very popular at cake club and with my work colleagues who enjoyed the leftovers.

Foxholes at Runshaw College

Our local college has a training restaurant which I first visited probably about 10 years ago. A repeat visit was in order so many months ago I booked a place on one of their themed evenings where the students plan an evening of food and entertainment normally to raise money for charity. The training restaurant has is open a couple of days a week for lunch and dinner, so you have to book well ahead as the food is very inexpensive for the standard.


So "Flavours of Eastern Europe" was our theme, intrigued we arrived to a complimentary welcome cocktail (choice of alcoholic / non alcoholic), the building is a fairly utilitarian but the students have made an effort to make it more welcoming and attractive. We waited to be seated in a busy lounge area, after a pretty short wait we were seated and asked to choose from the menu , which had 3 starters , 3 mains and 3 desserts all with a suitably eastern european theme. The table was attractively decorated with fresh flowers and themed napkins and a nice touch was a bottle of tap water, we also had some lovely fresh bread delivered.


Our starters arrived after a pretty short wait to be delivered by a pretty nervous young waitress, I had chosen  roll mops of pickled herring which was served with brown bread and butter and cucumber. This arrived attractively presented on a white  platter each curl of herring sat on a flower of cucumber, the herring was stuffed with sweet spicy onions, delicious and healthy too. Mr B had the borsch, fairly chunky in texture, well flavoured and served with a dollop of sour cream on top.


On to the mains, we had both chosen the goulash, this arrived served in a dinky little saucepan with rice and rosti , we also had a dish of wonderful steamed cabbage and grilled to tomatoes to accompany. The food was tasty and well flavoured, the odd piece of beef could have been a little more tender but all in all pretty good.


On to the desserts, I had chosen Polish Honey cake , which was a moist little tower of cake topped with a cream swirl and accompanied with a fruit jelly terrine and a vanilla sauce. Mr B's dessert was a coffee mousse topped with a crisp caramel swirl, the mousse was worthy of a fine dining restaurant.


Once we had finished our meal, we were delivered 3 samples of eastern european beers to match against one of three descriptions, we got all ours correct after some deliberation and won a bottle of one of the beers.


We had a delightful evening and look forward to returning in the future. Apologies for no photos had camera problems.

Baba ganoush - Aubergine puree

After securing a bargain of 2 large shiny glossy aubergines for £1 on my recent visit to the shops, I decided to give baba ganoush a whirl. The only problem being that I don't have any tahini in the store cupboard. So baba ganoush without tahini it is.

Baba ganoush originates from the near east, Turkey and Bulgaria and essentially is a roasted aubergine puree, enriched olive oil, garlic and lemon juice. Deliciously simple, its ideal served with crudites or bread sticks alongside drinks or as part of a mezze.

Ingredients

• 2 large aubergines
• Extra virgin olive oil
• garlic (to taste)
• Lemon juice
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method 

• Puncture your aubergines, before roasting in a medium oven until softened and collasped
• Allow to cool fully, then scrape out the aubergine flesh from the skin. Place the flesh in your food processor
• Add your peeled garlic cloves, 2 tbsps olive oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice to the aubergine flesh
• Blend until smooth and season to taste
• Serve with your choice  of dippers

Barlotto with wild greens and bacon

Barlotto is the english equivalent of risotto, using pearl barley instead of risotto rice and the perfect foil for wild greens.Our wild greens were collected from the local hedgerows, a delicious easy recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 large shallot finely chopped
• Bacon lardons / pancetta
• Pearl barley
• Chicken stock - keep hot on the hob
• Wild greens ( nettles and wild garlic)
• Parmesan to finish
• Salt and pepper
• Oil olive / sunflower oil

Method

• Soften your shallot in a little oil in a large frying pan
• Add your bacon lardons and fry until lightly golden
• Now add a good handful of pearl barley per person
• Stir so the barley is coated with the juices in the pan
• Add some of the hot chicken stock to the pan and simmer, gently stirring until absorbed
• Keep adding stock and stirring until the the pearl barley is soft and the barlotto is not too runny.
• Taste and season
• Serve finished with parmesan cheese

Chocolate & whiskey bundt cake

Last weekend I had a marathon baking session, to create some 'thank you' cakes for the care staff at my late Father in laws care home as way of a token of thanks. Amongst other cakes was this dark delight, with a more adult flavour. Dark and foreboding this is definately a cake I will be making again, drizzled with white chocoloate the contrast with the almost black cake is great. I am sure you could substitute other alcohol for the whiskey, maybe amaretto, rum or coffee liquer and it  would work as well.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of cocoa , plus a couple of spoons for dusting your tin
• 1 1/2 cups of freshly brewed coffee
• 1/2 cup alcohol of your choice
• 1 cup of butter
• 2 cups of caster sugar
• 2 cups of plain flour
• 1 1/4 tsps of bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 2 eggs - free range
• 1 tsp vanilla

Method

• Use will need a 10" bundt tin or a round cake tin of a similar size
• Preheat the oven to 160c 
• Oil spray your tin and then dust with cocoa powder
• Combine the coffee, alcohol, butter and cup of cocoa in a saucepan, over a low heat melt and combine the ingredients
• Take of the heat and add the sugar, stirring until dissolved
• Allow to cool slighty
• Now mix all the flour, bicarb and salt in a seperate bowl.
• Whisk the eggs and vanilla together in a jug, then whisk into the cooled cocoa mix
• Now whisk in the dry ingredients, until throughly mixed
• Pour into your prepared tin
• Bake in the oven for 40-50 mins, until tested cooked with a cocktail stick
• Cool in the tin for a couple of hours before removing from tin
• Once cooled drizzle with melted chocolate to decorate or sprinkle with icing sugar
• The cake keeps well and the moisture level and flavour improves.

I am refreshing this post to take part in Baking with Spirits challenge hosted by Janine who blogs at Cakeoftheweek.

                                               

In celebration of the Bundt, this post is being linked to National Bundt Day UK with Dollybakes

The Hedgerow Handbook by Adele Nozedar

I decided recently to treat myself to a couple of new books, (another one of my addictions), I love a beautiful book and have quite an extensive library of cooking, baking and food related volumes. I also have over the years amassed quite a collection of gardening, flora and fauna books too.

I have always been interested in wild food and foraging and my latest purchase,a beautifully illustrated book from Adele Nozedar is no exception, a Wales based author with a fascination for all things mystic, herbs, plants and the seen and unseen worlds.

The book features an illustrated section for all the most commonly found hedgerow forage edibles, each plant is stunningly illustrated to ease identification and some lovely anecdotes and stories are shared, along with simple home remedies. Each plant has several recipes suggested for it, some more unusual than your run of the mill foraging book. This book would be a great addition to your rucksack when out for a walk and equally at home on your cook book shelf in your kitchen. 

The book is an absolute joy and I can't wait to try some of the recipes in the book with some great local sustainable ingredients.