Little Poppet Cupcakes

Little poppet Cupcakes - lovingly prepared for your special occasion or an everyday treat.

I was recently given the opportunity to review these beautiful handcrafted cupcakes from "Little Poppet Cupcakes" who are based in Bolton, the selection I was given to review were thoughtfully titled "Blooming Lovely ", and they were. 

A delightful selection of dreamy looking cakes are lovingly presented in a special presentation carrier which holds the cupcakes.The decoration was superb and tastefully presented, I particularly liked the Daisy flowers, all were stunning and any recipient of these cakes would feel very special. The buttercream topping was a dream not too sweet, the icing soft and yielding and the cake soft and vanilla flecked. What more do you need in a cupcake? Treat yourself today.

Jamming !

After picking up a bargain of 2 kilos of fresh English strawberries at the market, jam making was in order. I always feel that homemade jam is far superior to shop bought, the flavour sparkles and is delicious on scones or in Victoria sponge.

I experimented with two different recipes, the first one was a "Pam the Jam" from River Cottage, the second off the back of the jam sugar packet. We will have to see which one comes out better, Strawberry jam is particularly problematic and can easily up as strawberry soup, so its all in the set.

Jam is a great addition to the store cupboard and preserves the fruit for those dark winter days.

Pear, cardamon and sultana cake

My lovely friend Jo, delivered a huge carrier bag of pears from her garden this week so I have been scouting about for recipes to use my bounty. Pear chutney is planned but in the meantime I came across a recipe for this cake. Well you know me and cakes, so hear goes.

Ingredients

• 125g butter, soft
• 125g light brown sugar
• 2 eggs free range, lightly beaten
• 250g Self raising flour, sifted
• 1 tsp ground cardamon
• 4 tbsp milk
• 500g pears, peeled, cored and finely chopped
• 125g sultanas

Method

Beat the butter and sugar together in a food mixer until pale and fluffy, Continue beating in slowly the eggs, add a little of the flour if it looks like it will curdle. Stop the mixer and add the rest of the flour, cardamon and milk, quickly blend and then add the pears and sultanas to give a chunky cake mix. 

Spoon the mixture in a greased and lined 2lb loaf tin, bake in a preheated oven @ 160c for approximately 1 1/2 hours until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool initially in the tin and then turn out to cool fully on wire rack.

Store in an airtight tin if it lasts that long. The result is a deliciously moist softly fruity cake. 

Random Bakes Of Kindness

Vanessa Kimbell, has created a quiet revolution across the internet with her #RBOKindness , the idea being to bake a little more of whatever you are baking and gift it to someone who you think deserves it as a gift.

What a lovely idea, I am all for sharing the love and if it makes someone smile even better. Personally I shared my last bake "Agave Cookies" with my lovely elderly neighbour "Jenny", despite being in her late 80's she still gardens and does her own cooking. I love popping in for a chat, sharing recipes and local gossip, correspondingly she is always willing to take in parcels when we are out and keep an eye on things when we are not there.

Check out Vanessa's blog for more details if you are interested in taking part.

Agave nectar baking - cookies

I have an interest in more unusual ingredients (you may have noticed) and also slightly more healthy recipes ( I know how can cake be healthy !), so I thought I would give Agave nectar a go. This a natural sweetner extract from the mexican wild agave cactus. You need to adapt your standard recipes but there are plenty on the internet for you to try.

Ingredients

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup spelt, whole wheat flour
• 1 cup ground almonds
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ cup raisins
• ¼ cup dried cranberries
• ½ cup agave nectar
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ½ tsp. vanilla paste

Method

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, preheat oven to 180c, place small balls on dough on a oiled baking sheet, press down well, bake for approx 10-15 minutes, cool slightly and then transfer to a wire cooling rack until fully cool.

Star Anise Biscuits

As there is a distinctly autumnal feel in the air and despite it being August, thoughts turn towards spicy baking which warms the soul. This recipe is based on a James Martin Recipe from BBC Good food. Aniseed flavours take me back to my childhood and the dark hard aniseed balls which you used to suck on for hours until they yielded a small anise seed in the middle. This biscuit has all the flavours of those sweets. It would also be ideal to serve with poached seasonal fruit ( apples, plums, blackberries) and cream, ice cream or custard.

Ingredients

• 50g farmhouse butter
• 2 tbsp demerara sugar
• 1 tbsp treacle
• 1 tbsp golden syrup
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground star anise
• 140g plain flour
• 1/2tsp bicarb
• some oil for the baking tray

Method

Preheat oven to 180c, then melt the butter, syrup, treacle and syrup in a pan until all the sugar is dissolved. Mix this with the sieved dry ingredients, this will result in a sticky paste, remove from bowl and wrap in cling film and chill for 30 mins or more.

Gently roll out using a little extra flour until fairly thin, cut in to required shape and place on lightly oiled baking tray, place in oven and bake for approx 5 minutes until lightly golden. Allow to cool slightly on tray and then transfer to wire rack to cool fully. Store in an airtight tin.

Lancashire Pasty Company

What do you get when with classic flavour combinations are encased in pastry, = "The Lancashire Pasty Company".

The company established by Barry Woods specialises in using local quality ingreduients to create a classic pastie with a twist. I have been fortunate enough to sample the Caramelised onion and Black Pudding Pastie, a delicious combination which could have been heavy and fatty, but it wasn't, amazingly tasty, juicy and with a hint of mustard.

The "fish, chips and mushy peas" is a revelation, just like a classic chippy tea even with the vinegar. And for those of you with a sweet tooth apple, sasparilla and custard". Again a classic, the best that old parish Lancashire has to offer wrapped in pastry.

Genius !

Parsnip , apple and syrup cake

As you have probably noticed I have a thing about vegetable based cake recipes, this weekend's bake uses parsnip as its base. My recipe is based on one I found on bbcgoodfood.com, "Catherine Berwick's parsnip & maple syrup cake". However for economy reasons I swapped the majority of the maple syrup for golden syrup and also used a buttercream filling.

Ingredients

• 175g butter or butter/ quality vegetable margarine
• 250g demerara sugar
• 100ml maple syrup or golden syrup
• 3 eggs - free range
• 250g self raising flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp mixed spice
• 250g parsnip, peeled and grated
• 1 medium eating apple, grated, no pips or core
• zest and juice of an orange
• icing sugar for finishing

Method

Preheat the oven to 180c. Grease and base line 2 sandwich tins. Melt the butter, sugar and syrup in a pan gently, until all melted. Allow to cool slightly, then beat in the eggs, stir in the flour, baking powder and spice. Now add the parsnip, apple and orange. Pour into your prepared tins. Bake for 25-30 mins until cooked when tested with a skewer.

Cool on a wire rack, once cooled slightly take the cakes out of the tins and allow to cool fully.

You could fill with cream, buttercream, soft cheese or mascapone. I mixed up a vanilla buttercream and filled the cake with this.

This is a very light tasty cake, the spicy note is lovely and slightly autumnal.

Delicious !!!

Sticky Gingerbread cake

I normally bake at weekend and was inspired by a friend on facebook who was making Ginger cake so I decided to give a new recipe a try. The recipe proved very easy to make and produced 2 loaves of gingerbread.

Ingredients

• 225g self raising flour
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 1tsp bicarb
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 115g butter
• 115g treacle
• 115g syrup
• 115g dark brown sugar
• 275ml milk
• 1 egg - beaten

Grease and line 2 x 2lb loaf tins

Method

Preheat the oven to 180c . Start by sifting the flour, bicarb and spices into a bowl. Add the cubed butter and rub in like you are making pastry, you could use a food processor. Warm the treacle and sugar in a pan or in the microwave, do not boil. Melt the sugar in the milk by gently warming. Allow to cool until lukewarm.

Quickly mix the milk mixture and then the syrup mixture with the flour, then add the egg, mix well and then pour into the prepared tins.

Bake for approx 45 mins until when tested with a skewer and is fully cooked.

Turn out of tin when fully cooled, wrap and leave to go sticky for at least a day if you can resist that long .

Blackberry Crumble cheesecake

Currently we have loads of blackberries ready in the garden, we grow the thornless variety "loch ness" and its great, very reliable. We had friends from Spain visiting so I made this for dessert for our "tea". It was enjoyed by all, left overs went to work the next day and disappeared very quickly.

Ingredients

• 250g digestive biscuits
• 125g butter melted plus a little more to grease the cake tin
• 175g caster sugar
• 300g full fat soft cheese
• 2 eggs separated
• 250ml double cream
• 100g blackberries , halved
• vanilla paste
• Topping
• 100g plain flour
• 50g butter cold
• 50g demerara sugar
• 100g blackberries halved

You will need a deep springform cake tin

Method

Firstly pre heat the oven to 160c. Crush your digestive biscuits to a fine crum, I use a food processor and then add the melted butter, I use the microwave, pulse to mix and the form the base in your cake tin, press it down firmly. Now grease the rest of the tin with the reserved butter. Chill whilst you make the filling.

Whisk half of the caster sugar with the soft cheese, then add the vanilla paste and the egg yolk. Once well mixed add the double cream.

Now whisk the egg whites until at the stiff peak stage, now add your rest of your sugar in 2 stage, whisks well, until shiny and well peaked.. Now mix the meringue mixture to the cheese mixture, don't worry too much about loosing air in the mixture

Now spoon a layer of the cheese mixture on to your base and top with some blackberries, add more cheese mixture and more blackberries until you run out of mixture. Now place this in the oven to bake for approx 20 mins whilst you make the crumble topping.

To make the topping, rub the butter into the flour, once it resembles crumbs add the sugar and the blackberries. After the 20 mins have passed carefully top the cheesecake with the topping and bake for another 40 mins , don't be alarmed if it rises then sinks this is normal. Once golden on top remove to cool fully before springing the cake tin. Keep refrigerated.

Delicious !!!!!

CCC No 1 - Chocolate Beetroot Cake

In honour of the inaugural South Lancashire Clandestine Cake Club, i need a reliable but showy recipe. This cake has already been featured on BBC Radio Lancashire and on BBC North West Tonight, so I thought it fitted the bill.

Ingredients

• 180ml sunflower oil
• 190g self raising flour
• 60g cocoa powder ( i use Green & Blacks)
• 1tsp bicarb
• 250g caster sugar
• 250g cooked beetroot
• 3 eggs
• 1tsp vanilla extract or 1/4tsp vanilla paste

Method

Preheat the oven to 180c

Oil and line a round cake tin, approx 23cm in diameter, I use a spring clip one, its easier.

In a large bowl sift the flour, cocoa and bicarb, stir in the sugar.

Puree the beetroot in a processor , until well pureed. Add the dry ingredients, then add the eggs and vanilla and then the oil. Mix well and then pour into your prepared tin.

Bake in the oven for approx 45 - 50 mins, or cooked when tested with a skewer. Remove and cool on a wire tray.

To ice mix 250g icing sugar with a little water and red or pink colouring to make a thick icing, pour over the icing and allow to set. Now you let your artistic side reign free and melt white and dark chocolate separately in the microwave, about 25g of each type and then drizzle all over the cake.

The cake went down very well with the South Lancs Clandestine cake club members.

If you are interested in joining the South Lancs Clandestine cake club check out the link.

Coppers Tea Room Leyland

A group of ladies that lunch, i.e myself and number of colleagues from work visited this newly opened tea room in Leyland on a busy Friday lunchtime. We were all intrigued to visit the old Police station and view the cells. Coppers is a family concern and the focus is on a traditional tea room experience. The old Police station has been refurbished in a traditional Victorian style complete with chandeliers, traditional farmhouse kitchen paraphernalia abounds and lots of eclectic china welcomes you in. The other room is more lounge style with comfy chairs and low tables.

The menu is very much focused on a traditional experience, sandwiches, soup, jacket potates and lots of cake. You can even order a full afternoon tea served on a cake stand. Taylors teas and coffee are the order of the day and old school soft drinks such as Iron Brew, saspirilla and dandelion and burdock are available.

The menu is reasonably priced and only one of the party had a slight criticism, the soup despite being very tasty was a little cool, otherwise we were all very satisfied. A couple of us even had room for cake which was very nice. You also get a proper pot of tea, a china cup and a jug of real milk.

Call in soon, it was very busy on the day we visited we didn't see the ghost but the cells were very interesting.

Sugarless Sultana Cake

Keeping with the theme of healthy eating, the ultimate recipe is healthy cake. I first discovered this recipe about 15 years ago when my Father in law was diagnosed with Diabetes. Despite containing no added sugar, wholemeal flour and low fat spread it is surprisingly good.

Ingredients

• 8oz sultanas
• 1/2pt orange juice
• 30z low fat margarine
• 8oz wholemeal self raising flour
• 1tsp mixed spice
• 2 eggs - free range

Method

Oven @ 180C

Using a 6 inch square cake tin, grease and line. Soak the sultanas in orange juice overnight. Rub the margarine into the flour and spice mix and then mix in the eggs and the orange juice and sultanas. Mix thoroughly and turn into the prepared tin, levelling the top. Bake for approximately 1 and a half hours, testing with a skewer to see if ready. You may need to cover the cake with foil if browning too quickly. Cool on a rack, the cake stores well and improves after a couple of days.

Favourite Healthy Recipes

In the last week or so I have been trying to eat more healthy, trying to beat the genetics I have been born with, I have both heart disease and diabetes in my family, so I thought it was about time that I started working with recipes that are that little less decadent and more about health and vitality. One of my major inspirations around this is "Sally Bee", she has published a couple of fab recipe books which focus on heart friendly recipes. Sally's story is inspirational after surviving major health problems, her positive attitude is inspirational. Read her story on her website.

One of the best of her recipes is her Chicken risotto parcels, this is awesome, it's so easy and so so very tasty and its low fat, low salt and according to friends very child friendly. It is also easily scaleable. I often get the parcels ready before going to work, I put them in the fridge until I get home and then just pop them in the oven.

Ingredients

( this makes 1 parcel, but scale up as necessary)

• 1 skinless chicken breast
• 4 mushrooms - sliced
• 4 cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 onion, finely sliced or a couple of spring onions chopped
• drizzle of olive oil
• 1/2 cup rice ( easy cook or long grain work well)
• Roughly 1/3 cup of chicken stock or wine
• Good squirt of tomato puree, about a tablespoon
• Dash of Worcestershire sauce
• sprinkle of chopped herbs, fresh or dried (mixed herbs is fine)
• finely chopped clove of garlic
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method

Take a large piece of foil, do double thickness for strength, place all the ingredients in the parcel, folding up to make a tight parcel so nothing leaks. Place on a baking sheet and put into a preheated oven @ 200C and cook for 45 minutes to an hour. All the stock should be absorbed when ready.

You can easily substitute other vegetables such as peppers or courgettes, what ever you have available.

I can't encourage you to try this enough, its awesome, everyone I know who tries it makes it time and time again.

Hana Adams Mediterranean Cypriot Foods

On visiting Grimsargh farmers market recently, I met Hana Adams an euthiastic local food producer specialising in cypriot food. Hana thinks there is a gap in the market for this type of food. Hana is very knowledgeable about her product and we both chatted about our experiences on recently appearing on BBC Radio Lancashire.You can purchase her products via her website http://hanaadams.co.uk/

Hana's range includes sauces, salads and sweet biscuits. She is planning to retail these initially through farmers markets in the area.

Tomato and bell pepper sauce

A chunky tomato and bell pepper sauce, rich with vegetables this is a very well flavoured sauce, delicious served hot or cold. If serving cold this would be ideal with crudites or corn chips, the flavours are fresh with a slight citrussy twist , the sauce has a slight background heat. Warm for a couple of minutes in a pan or in the microwave the sauce works well with pasta, rice or sausages even. The sauce is fresh chilled so should last in the fridge for about 5 days.

Pastry fingers

Delicious , light delicate pastry fingers, not filo, not flaky , not shortcrust, sort of a mixture of all of them,which is sweet, crumbly and very moreish. They are great with coffee, but would also be ideal served with creamy puddings, yoghurt or ice cream. They disappeared very quickly.

Creamy spicy white onion sauce

I decided to serve this with a poached salmon fillet, warmed through in a pan for few minutes and poured over the salmon. Delicious,a warm spicy background to the sauce, yet creamy at the same time. A good alternative for fish instead of the usual hollandaise.The sauce could also be served over vegetables such as broccoli or even steak. The sauce comes in a plastic which is easily stored in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Bulgar wheat salad

Bulgar wheat and onion salad, gently swelled grains flavoured with a herby stock and veegtables. Very adaptable as it can be served hot or cold, the pot was microwaveable. The salad is light with a grain size larger than cous cous, fresh tasting and flavoursome. The ideal side dish to anything.

Chick pea salad

Soft earthy chickpeas,bite sized potato chunks, peppers, garlic, onion and herbs make up this tasty salad, warm with coriander and peppers this is ideal to serve alongside grilled fish , meat and salads. Hana sells this is generous pots which store easily in the fridge.

Banana Crumb Muffins

Another recipe for using up over ripe bananas. This one is lovely and easily adapted for lactose free by using margarine instead of butter. The cinnamon and sugar streusel topping elevates these muffins to another level.

Ingredients

• 1 & 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda / bicarb
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup butter / marg melted.

Method

Sift the flour, bicarb salt and baking powder into a bowl. Melt the butter and allow to cool a little, mash the banana in a separate bowl, add the butter, egg and sugar, mix thoroughly and then add to flour bowl. Mix quickly and pour into cases, makes about 10 large muffins.

For the streusel topping, 1/3 cup soft brown sugar, 1/2tsp cinnamon, 2tbsp flour, 1tbsp butter, mix until you have a fine crumb, then top the muffins before baking in a oven @ 190c for approx 15-20 mins.

Yummy !

Oyster & Otter

Today we visited the Oyster and Otter seafood restaurant in Feniscowles near Blackburn, on the way back from picking up some of foody prizes from Blackburn market. The restaurant is a former pub site that has been extensively refurbished into a chalet style building, interestingly as well as the restaurant, there is a fish and chip shop on site for take aways.

Eventhough we arrived just on noon, there were already a couple of cars on the car park, always a good sign. We were warmly greeted and quickly seated with menu's to peruse, lots of choice and plenty of seafood dishes obviously. We both plumped for the great value lunchtime menu of two courses for £15.95 including a drink. Thwaites "Wainwright" was one of the beer options which won hubby over immediately.

Twice baked Lancashire cheese souffle with a walnut and apple salad was my choice for starter, hubby ordered the Potted Goosnargh duck and mushroom country pate, toasted onion bread, shallot and mustard seed relish. The souffle was very light and a lovely contrast to the crisp fruity salad and very tasty. The pate was served on an attractive wooden platter, hubby's only criticism was the onion bread was a bit over crisp to spread the chunky pate on. Still very tasty though.

On to the mains, Malaysian seafood curry, coconut rice, lime pickle for me, beautifully presented with pea shoots, delicious with scallops, king prawns amongst other fish. The rice however was served cold, but I didn't really need it as the curry also had spring onions and butternut squash in it. Classic fish and chips with a twist for Mr B , black peas rather than the usual mushy, parched peas for those in the know. Fabulous fresh fish, yummy chip shop style chips, what more do you want.

Overall very nice restaurant, the decor is nice too all driftwood tones, very cosy. We will be visiting again.

NW Fine Food awards Hamper

Whey hey, Mr B won a hamper of foodie goodies , from NW Fine Foods. All he had to do was like a facebook page to enter ! "Lancashire Food" is a great supporter of everything food in the North West so the prize couldn't have come to a better place. It was delivered by the lovely Clare ( who has a blog as well ) - who is an ardent foodie like myself and hubby,she also wants chickens too !

The hamper contained goodies from many of this years prize winners of the "NW fine Food awards"

Agnes Rose - Damson Vinegar, Blackberry and Mint Vinegar

Hawkshead Relish - Damson Extra Jam

Bowland Brewery - Headless Peg, Cromwell Stout and Admiral of the Blues

Reedys - Blackberry Vinegar

Masons Gourmet Foods - Rich Genoa Fruit Cake

Vouchers for

Dales Butchers - Pork & Mr Vikkis Chill jam pies, Pork and Mr Vikkis Chilli jam sausages

Capra Products - Voucher for meat or cheese.

Fantasy Cupcakes - Voucher for 12 cupcakes

The Original Cheshire Cake Co - Voucher for Cheshire Cake

H Clewlows Butcher - voucher

Backford Belles - Jersey Ice cream voucher

Cheshire Farm Ice cream - voucher

Fabulous prize, couple of the vouchers present slight logistical problems however,so we will have to see what we can sort out.

Banana Tea Loaf

Every wondered what to do with slightly manky banana's, the very spotty soft ones. Not one to waste food I have a number of recipes that I use to make the best use of these sweet fragrant goodies. This one is called a tea loaf even though it doesn't contain any tea. Its also pretty healthy too !

Ingredients

• 200g self raising wholemeal flour
• Salt / baking powder pinch
• 1tsp cinnamon
• 75g soft brown sugar
• 3 mashed bananas
• 75g polyunsaturated margarine melted ( use microwave)
• 100g raisins or chopped dates or other dried fruit 2 Eggs- lightly beaten

Method

Place all ingredients except dried fruit in mixer or food processor, mix well until smooth and then add dried fruit. Pour into a lined and oiled 2lb loaf tin. Bake in a pre heated oven @ 160C for 1-1 1/4 hours, until cooked through when tested with a skewer. Cool on a wire rack

Delicious if left for a couple of days to mature in foil, could serve buttered or with cream cheese but that would not be as healthy !

Enjoy !

Daily Bread !

I love fresh artisan bread, I would dearly love to have enough time every day to make fresh bread. Instead I make do with buying good bread when I see it or making my own. At last weekend's Food show , I got chatting to a representative from Clitheroe Food Festival , she recommended the "Michel Roux" Sandwich bread loaf recipe as a quick and easy recipe. So hear goes.

Ingredients

• 20g/1oz golden syrup
• 25g/1oz melted butter
• 350ml/14fl oz warm milk
• 10g/½oz yeast
• 250g/8oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 250g/8oz strong bread flour
• 10g/½oz sea salt

Method

Stir the golden syrup and melted butter into the warm milk until well combined. Stir the yeast into the warm milk , until dissolved.

Add the remaining ingredients and mix until a smooth dough forms. I used my mixer to knead the dough or you could do this manually until dough is smooth and elastic.

Return the dough to the bowl, cover with cling film and place into a warm place for 1 hour, or until the dough has nearly doubled in size

Meanwhile, grease and flour a 12cm x 20cm/5in x 8in bread tin.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface again and knock back a few times. Divide equally into two pieces and shape into balls. Place the dough balls side by side in the prepared bread tin, cover with cling film and set aside to rise again, until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 220C/410F/Gas 7.

Using a sharp knife, slash the dough a few times and place into the oven immediately. After 10 minutes, reduce the heat to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and bake for a further 30 minutes, or until the bread is golden-brown. To check if the bread is done, remove from the tin and tap the bottom with your knuckles – it should sound hollow.

Leave the loaf to cool on a wire rack.

Nigel Howarth's Fantastic Food Show

Just arrived back from "Nigel Howarth's fantastic food show, which has been held for the last two days @ Ewood Park, home of Blackburn Rovers Football club. This is the second year for this foodie event and its getting better year on year, still needs a bit of assistance on the organisation front, but the featured food needs no help at all, its wonderful already. The vast majority of the local food was great, fabulous cheeses and meats and loads of local producers.

Of special note are More Artisan bakery, who had a wonderful array of stone baked breads , sourdoughs, foccacia's and rye breads. The bread looks and taste's stunning, this is real bread with holes and a proper crust, not the pap that's normally sold around here.

I was also pleased to spot a locally produced Cider from Lancashire apples, Ribble Valley Gold is produced using locally grown apples by Dove Syke Cider company, naturally we had to sample some and very pleasant it was too.

Lots of samples of cheese's, sausages, wine, gingerbread and the like were on offer , plus we saw our Slow Food Friends too. A great day out was completed by a lunch of Pork and Black pudding pie from Dales Butchers.

Looking forward to Clitheroe Food Festival on 13th August 2011, see you there.

Lancashire Elderflower delight

I love this time of year when the Elder tree is in flower, from earlier blog posts you can see I have somewhat an obsession with the flowers and what you can do with them. So when I purchased River Cottage Handbook no 7 Hedgerows I was pleased to see another way to use them. Elderflower delight. I just had to have a go, especially as on my last visit to The Red Cat, my favorite restaurant, the team had prepared their own Turkish delight which was served with coffee.

Ingredients

• 20 Elderflower heads
• 20g leaf gelatine
• 700g granulated sugar
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 400ml water
• 130g cornflour
• 30g icing sugar

Method

Soak the gelatine in a shallow dish of water, meanwhile strip the elderflower heads of the flowers and place in a piece of muslin which you are going to make into a bag tied with string. Take the granulated sugar, lemon juice and 300ml of the water, put in a saucepan and heat gently until all the sugar is dissolved, leave this to cool.

In a bowl mix 100g of the cornflour with the remaining water until smooth, then mix into the cooled lemon sugar syrup. Put the saucepan back on a low heat, add the gelatine sheets, squeezed of any excess water and whisk until throughly dissolved.

Bring back to the boil slowly and simmer for 10 minutes stirring all the time. suspend the muslin bag in the mixture and simmer for a further 15 minutes, squeezing the bag to release the flavours. The mixture will become very sticky and gloopy, keep stirring, when ready cool for 10 mins.

Mix the remaining cornflour and icing sugar in a bowl to create the tossing powder, line a shallow baking tin with baking parchment and dust with a tablespoon of the tossing mixture. Poor in the warm delight, removing the bag. Leave to cool fully and then put in the fridge to firm up until rubbery. Cut up with a knife or scissors into cubes and toss in the tossing mixture.

Very impressive and very delicious. The ideal gift.

Easy Peasy Yoghurt Cake

Thought I would quickly share with you one of my all time favorite recipes, its so easy , it doesn't even involve weighing scales. All the measurements are based on the yoghurt pot that your yoghurt has come from. If you have bought your yoghurt in a large pot just use a tea cup / american cup or similar. It scales perfectly. You just might need more baking tins !

Ingredients

• Carton of yoghurt, plain , can be 0% fat if you want
• 1 1/2 cartons of sugar (caster preferably)
• 1 carton vegetable oil (sunflower I use)
• 3 cartons self raising flour
• 2 eggs free range of course
• Vanilla extract / paste - a drop

Method

Mix all ingredients together until smooth and put in a greased and lined 2lb loaf tin, bake @ 350F, 180 c, Gas mark 4 for approx 1 hour until firm and cooked through, test with a cocktail stick. Leave to cool in tin for 10 minutes and then carefully turnout onto a cooling rack. Best kept for a couple of days wrapped in foil. Freezes beautifully.

A taste of the unexpected

I recently purchased a copy of this book after becoming aware that this was the same chap who did the majority of the food gardening for River Cottage. Mark Diacono of Otter Farm has developed what he calls a “climate change farm” , it run on loose permaculture principles, but more on the basis that he got bored with growing mediocre standard fruit and vegetables and thought he would try something different.

He was inspired by the “mulberry” initially, I agree with Mark, life is too short to be growing vegetables that you can buy cheaply locally , plus these are always the vegetables that are most susceptible to pests and disease because they are grown commercially.

It’s a beautiful book and Mark is very knowledgeable and his enthusiasm comes over well in the book. He also recently featured in the Radio 4 food programme and advocated hosta’s as a vegetable, this meant that myself and Mr B dashed to the garden to try our selection. He tweets and has a blog if you are interested in finding out more.

Inspired by his book we have planted a goji berry and a Japanese wineberry in the garden, so lets see how we go on. I would also like to try a blue honeysuckle as well.

Kitchenaid !

My beloved mixer, after coveting Kitchenaid mixers from a far for a number of years, in February of this year for valentines day my husband purchased a Kitchenaid Classic mixer for me. For the uninitiated the classic is exactly the same as the artisan mixer, other than the bowl supplied is slightly smaller , it only comes in white not the funky colours of the artisan and most importantly is about £100 cheaper !

The mixer is a classic, my favourite local chef (Chris Rawlinson) has a kitchen aid classic , so has Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa), so it comes well recommended. Its chunky , classic and will last you a lifetime, the design is fab as there are no awkward bits that you can’t clean and the different mixer heads are a breeze to swap over. Everything is metal, no plastic bits, I love love love it :-)

Must also say I bought mine via a family firm in Cumbria and they were fab, customer service wise as these mixers can be hard to get hold of.

Slow Food Wild food forage

Just returned from a "Wild Food Forage" organised by Slow Food Lancashire. What a great day we had , rambling around the beautiful countryside nibbling all sorts. We weren't lucky enough to find any edible funghi on this occasion, but we did find loads of edible greens. Hogweed shoots, cleavers juice, sweet cicely, pignut, ramsons and many others. The walk was led by Jesper, who was very knowledgeable and hosted by Andrew and his family from Corless Mill Farm.

After the rambles we enjoyed an alfresco snack of fresh bread, fabulous bacon from Andrew's pigs, shaggy ink caps (Jesper collected these earlier) and steamed hogweed shoots, all washed down with Andrew's homemade cider. Yum, local food at its best.

Bring on the autumn fungal foray !

Panna Cotta and honeyed Rhubarb compote

Inspired by a recent re-run on the TV of River Cottage Everyday , I decided to give a Pannacotta a try. Hugh was making this with his son Oscar. I love all Italian food but I had never attempted making this beautiful wobbly dessert, well executed there is nothing to beat a creamy gently trembling dessert.

As the Rhubarb plants in the garden where developing triffid like tendencies, a honeyed Rhubarb compote was in order to accompany this dessert. You can flavour your pannacotta with coffee, chocolate, elderflower and many other delights but I thought vanilla would be fitting for my first attempt.

Firstly to make your compote poach trimmed rhubarb in a little water with local honey added for flavour and sweetness. Once just soft, remove from heat and allow to cool.

For the pannacotta you need

Ingredients

• 100ml milk ( I used skimmed)
• 250ml double cream
• 40g caster sugar
• Vanilla paste
• 2 gelatine leaves
• 150ml plain yoghurt
• 4 diarold molds / ramekins or similar

Method

Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for about 5 minutes until soft.Combine the milk, cream and sugar in a pan and bring just to the boil, do not let it bubble. Remove from heat. Add the gelatine leaves to the hot milk / cream mix, ensuring you squeeze out any excess water and stir until dissolved. Now leave the mixture to cool fully, stirring every now and then. Once fully cool add the yoghurt and vanilla paste and stir until combined and the mixture is flecked with vanilla seeds.

Pour / spoon in to your molds and leave to set fully in the fridge, takes at least 4 hours. When you are ready to eat briefly dip the mold in hot water and then invert on your serving plate, drizzle over the Rhubarb compote.

Yum, yum, delicious and with just the right amount of wobble. Some cheaty restaurants put too much gelatine in them and they end up rubbery.

Classic Victoria Sponge

Apologies for not blogging in a while, naughty facebook has been distracting me. Over the next few days I plan to do a number of back catalogue postings.

Victoria Sponge cake is one of my favourite cakes and not the easiest to do well. I love the light but decadent taste sensation that results. However since I was treated to a Kitchen-aid mixer by my lovely husband, I have found that I can whip a cake in minutes. Filled with homemade jam, there is no better cake. My current recipe is taken from the “The Great British Book of Baking”, one of my favourite cook books currently, with the slight tweak that I tend to use a good quality margarine and of course home laid eggs from my hens.The margarine seems to give a lighter result to butter, but if you prefer butter, use that.

The mixture makes 2 cakes for a round sponge sandwich approx 8 inches in diameter

Ingredients

• 175g softened butter or high quality margarine
• 175g caster sugar
• 3 eggs , free range
• Vanilla extract / paste – approx 1 tsp
• 175g Self raising flour - sifted
• 1 scant tbsp milk ( not always required)
• Jam for filling , whatever flavour your like or have to hand
• Icing sugar for dusting

Optionally you could fill with cream and / or fruit if you wish to elevate this to even greater heights.

Method

Firstly grease and bake line your cake tins, then pre heat your oven to 180 deg c / 350F / gas 4. Whisk the sugar and margarine / butter, until light and fluffy, this is much easier with a food mixer.Beat in the eggs and vanilla, if it looks like your mixture may split add a little flour to prevent this happening, then add the flour and gently combine. Some bakers recommend folding with a metal spoon, but I don’t seem to have any problems using the mixer to give the mixture its final mix. Add the milk if needed.

Place to mix into the tins, splitting the mixture evenly and spreading out across the tin, trying to leave a slight dimple towards the middle so the mixture will rise evenly.

Bake in your oven for approx 20-30 mins, it all depends on your oven, until golden, well risen and springs back when pressed. Cool in tin for a few mins before removing to a wire rack until cold. Fill your cake with jam and place other cake on top, dust with icing sugar and enjoy with a cup of tea.

Glut of Courgettes

I do this nearly every year, get too ambitious and plant too many courgette plants in the garden. Fine for the first couple of weeks but once in full production, I end up fighting a never ending battle trying to keep up with the mountain of produce from the garden. Rather than waste food , Mr B found a recipe for creamy courgette soup which sounded promising.

Ingredients

• 60ml/2fl oz extra virgin olive oil
• Handful basil leaves , chopped ( homegrown)
• Sea salt and ground white pepper, to taste
• 750ml/1¼ pint chicken stock
• 60ml/2fl oz double cream / creme fraiche
• 50g/2oz freshly grated parmesan, plus extra to serve
• 1kg/2¼lb green courgettes, cut lengthways into quarters then into 1cm/½in slices
• 1 tbsp chopped garlic , (homegrown in our case)

Method

Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan over a medium heat.

Cook the garlic, basil, salt and courgette slowly for 10 minutes, or until the courgettes are lightly browned and softened.

Add white pepper, to taste, then pour in the stock and simmer for 8 minutes, uncovered. Remove from the heat.

Put three-quarters of the soup mixture into a food processor and blend until smooth.

Return the mixture to the pan and stir in the cream, parsley and parmesan.

To serve, ladle the soup into a bowl and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Sprinkle over more parmesan, to taste.

Yummy, what a discovery a delicious recipe which uses loads of courgettes. Please try it.