Firstly I apologise PROFUSELY for the terrible photo here. I took this quick snap with my mobile phone and it’s just as well I did because the entire loaf was gone within a few hours! Fruit loaf or cake is not something I make with great regularity because I have it in my head that Bob doesn’t like it but he tells me that Mr Kipling’s Country Slice is his favourite so clearly I just don’t know my husband’s likes and dislikes well enough!

This was super quick to throw together and is a lovely, moist cake. I’m actually surprised how moist it is because of how little milk goes into it – I’m so used to chipping cold solidified weetabix from my plates/table/windows/cats that I expected this to need a lot more liquid when in fact it was spot on.

You will need:
Two weetabix (or own-brand variations. I actually used Sainsbury’s cheapy version)
150g sugar (granulated will be fine if you have no caster, brown sugar will give depth to the flavour)
150g raisins
200g self raising flour
250ml milk

Preheat your oven to 180C/Gas 4 then grease & line a loaf tin (I used a 2lb tin). Crush the weetabix between your hands to make crumbs then add in the sieved flour, sugar and raisins. Give it a little stir to mix it together then add the milk and mix well until it’s all combined and there’s no dry flour around the bowl. Spoon it into your tin and bake for an hour until the top is golden brown.

Let it cool for ten minutes after removing from the oven then turn out to a wire rack.

Posted under baking

I used to love English and Drama at school and I remember my teacher telling me that background actors in TV shows are mouthing the word, “rhubarb” over and over again. Isn’t it funny the things your brain suddenly kicks in with when your mind is wandering?!

ANYWAY! As I showed everyone in my attempted self-sufficiency blog post the rhubarb I’m growing in my garden might feed a couple of gnomes, but it’s not really up to feeding a family of six! Luckily, my wee Nana has an abundance of rhubarb in her garden which she actively encourages me to half-inch as she doesn’t use it.

I’d collected some when I was last over to visit but hadn’t used it yet. For me, rhubarb is one of those ingredients that I could use every day. I was raised on rhubarb crumble, rhubarb sponge, rhubarb jam etc and I love it. In fact, I think rhubarb was the first thing I ever cooked on my own with my Nana when she taught me how to stew it! Problem is, I haven’t been terribly adventurous when cooking with it and this batch was going to end up in the bin if I didn’t use it.

So! I had read this entry on Laura’s blog where she’d used rhubarb in cupcakes. Sounded excellent, but I’ve “sampled” so many cupcakes over this last week between Bob and I’s bake swap practice runs that I couldn’t face anything too sweet. This was my compromise.

Now I’ll be the first to admit that these don’t look like much, but they really hit the spot. Not achingly sweet but enough to curb a craving. I was quite surprised when both Bob and Findlay ate these too and declared them delicious – definitely a recipe I’ll use again.

You will need:
300g rhubarb
3tbsp caster sugar
1tsp vanilla extract

300g plain flour
1tbsp baking powder
1tsp cinnamon
3 eggs
200ml milk
100g butter, melted
Brown sugar

Preheat your oven to 180C/Gas 4. Chop your rhubarb up into reasonably thin slices (I’d say no more than 0.5cm thick) and place in a baking tin (I used a 20cm square tin but any tin will do). Sprinkle your rhubarb with the caster sugar and vanilla and pop the tin into the oven.

Sieve the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl then add the sugar. In a jug whisk together the milk, butter and eggs. This will hopefully have taken you around ten minutes by which time your rhubarb should be nicely softened. Scoop the rhubarb into the dry ingredients bowl, trying to hold back the liquid if you can as you don’t want your mixture to be too wet. Pour the jug contents into the bowl too then stir until just combined – with muffins, you want the mixture to stay a bit lumpy.

Split the mixture between 12 muffin cases, sprinkle with the brown sugar and pop into the oven for roughly half an hour (mine took around 35 minutes and my cooking times are notoriously dodgy so just keep an eye on them raising and looking golden brown). These are amazing warm and I can imagine them being glorious with some warm custard.

Let me know if you try them!

Posted under baking, recipes

I’m not sure what to call this post! The cake wot I made has so many different identites that I know – millionaire’s shortbread, caramel shortcake, caramel cake to name but a few – that you will probably all call this something different. Whatever you call it, I found an old recipe that my Mum used to use and decided that I’d try this out. I must admit that I’m not a big fan of caramel cake so I only had a little bit of this, but Bob and my Nana liked it so I must be doing something right!

Now, being the kind soul that I am I’m going to give you two alternative recipes for the caramel. I misread the recipe from the side of the condensed milk can and ended up with a treacley caramel which made more of an adult cake. My Mum’s is a lighter caramel.

You will need for the base:
100g butter
50g caster sugar
150g self raising flour

Preheat your oven to 200C/Gas 6. Cream together the butter & sugar then add the flour. Spread into a greased & lined 20cm square tin and bake for 20 mins. Allow to cool.

You will need for my Mum’s filling:
100g caster sugar
100g butter
1 tbsp golden syrup
400g tin condensed milk

Place all ingredients into a pan, bring to the boil stirring constantly. Boil for 4 minutes then spread over your cake base and leave to cool.

OR, you will need for the filling I used:
25g butter
150g dark brown soft sugar
400g can condensed milk

Place the butter and sugar in a pan and stir over a medium heat until the butter melts and the sugar has mostly dissolved. Add the condensed milk stirring continuously until the first bubbles appear on the surface. Remove from the heat and spread over the base.

Once your caramel has set, melt 200g chocolate (I used 100g milk and 100g dark) and spread over your caramel. Leave it for 15 minutes to cool and if your chocolate has semi set, lightly mark out the squares on the surface before leaving in the fridge to set properly.

Posted under baking, recipes

I have no idea where this recipe originated or why it’s named so but this for me is a true taste of my childhood. My Mum was a sporadic baker at best but any time she did bake, this is what she made. I have a feeling the recipe came from my Auntie Anne and now I am blessing the greater internet with it. This stuff is amazing.

You will need:
150g butter
75g brown sugar
100g desiccated coconut
150g self-raising flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder

100g chocolate (I used milk)

Preheat your oven to 350F/180C/Gas 4. Melt the butter and add the sugar, coconut, flour and cocoa powder. Mix well and place in a well greased & lined square tin. Bake for 15/20 minutes then leave to cool. When it’s cooled, melt the chocolate and spread evenly over the top. Leave until starting to set then quickly mark out the bars before leaving the set completely.

I also added a wee funsize smartie to the top of each bar because I think it looks cute and I’m daft like that

Let me know if you try it!

Posted under baking

Everyone who emailed me about the bake swap should have received an email detailing their swap partner. If you haven’t got yours, let me know

I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that my children (Nairn in particular) are obsessed with starbucks and in particular with their ooey gooey marshmallow twizzlers? Now I’m not a skinflint by any stretch of the imagination but £1.50 for three marshmallows and a bit of chocolate is extortion in my book and definitely comes under the veil of, “Things wot I could do myself for cheaper”. I should mention as Apryl reminded me that you can do this with bananas too, I usually skewer the banana and stick it in the freezer for about an hour so that it’s easier and more solid to work with.

So! Stick a few marshmallows on a skewer like so. Melt your 100g bar of chocolate in the microwave or in a double broiler, and dip the skewer into the melted chocolate, lift and tap the skewer on the side of the bowl to let any big drips fall off.

Holding your skewer over a bowl, shake some hundreds and thousands over your skewer. Dip the end into the bowl to make sure it’s coated.

Place your skewer into a glass and put in the fridge to let the chocolate set

Hand to 8 year old child for a verdict.

Posted under for the kids, swaps, with the kids

So, the third and final cake that was baked at the weekend for Fathers day! Loyal readers may remember the cream and jam-laden confection surprise that I made my Dad for his birthday. What you may not remember is that my Dad ate maybe half a slice before discreetly handing his plate over to one of my siblings because he’s really not a sweet tooth. And yet, I still made him a cake! My poor wee Dad is awfy awfy thin and I’m determined to fatten him up a little so he was given a Nigella Chocolate Guinness cake. Luckily he works on a building site so at the very least his workmen will have had a tasty treat with their tea!

Before icing:

After icing:

You will need:
250 ml Guinness
250 g unsalted butter
75 g cocoa
400 g caster sugar
142 ml sour cream
2 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
275 g plain flour
2 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the icing, I used a third of this icing recipe and it was plenty enough to cover the cake.

1) Preheat the oven to gas 4/180C, butter and line a 23 cm springform or loose-bottomed tin
2) Pour the Guinness into a large wide saucepan, add the butter gradually and heat until the butter has melted. At which time, whisk in the cocoa and sugar.
3) Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla and pour into the pan before whisking in the bicarb and flour.
4) Pour the cake batter into the greased, lined tin and bake for 45 minutes to an hour (actually, I had to leave it for nearer 1h 20m). Leave to cool completely in the tin on a cooling rack.
5) Ice the top of the black cake so that it resembles the frothy top of a pint, or like me smooth the icing across the sides and top of the cake. Devour with a good cuppa.

Posted under baking, recipes

Yet another offering from Fathers day for me – this time, the carrot cake I made for Bob’s Dad. David kindly shared his cake with us and although it was really tasty, for me it was a little too nutty. I’d make it again purely because it turned out so well!

You will need:
150g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
150g caster sugar
250g carrots, grated
100g shelled walnuts, finely chopped
150ml vegetable oil
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla essence

1) Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Grease and line an 18cm diameter round cake tin.
2) Sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and cinnamon powder into a mixing bowl. Stir in the caster sugar, carrots and walnuts.
3) Pour in the corn oil, and add the eggs and vanilla essence. Stir to mix and keep stirring for a minute to let the egg mixture pull everything together.
4) Pour the cake batter into the prepared tin and bake in the centre of an oven for about 30-35 minutes, or until risen and firm to the touch. Remove the cake from the oven, leave to cool for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Leave to cool completely.
5) To frost the cake, I used a third of the icing from this recipe. Using a spatula, smooth a thin layer of the frosting across the sides and top of your cake to catch any crumbs before icing the cake to your taste.

Posted under baking, recipes

I have such a backlog of things to blog that I think you’ll be inundated this week with posts!

Firstly, I wish all the Dads in your life a Happy Fathers day. I didn’t get to see my own Dad yesterday so I can’t blog what I made for him, hopefully I can remedy that tomorrow. Truth be told I don’t know what I’d do without my Dad, he’s an absolute superstar and a great Papa – I know that my kids and my niece absolutely adore him. I just wish he didn’t live almost an hour away!

Secondly I had to share this little photo of my niece. Bad Auntie Vonnie gave Bailey a marshmallow twizzler in Starbucks on Saturday while her Mummy was on the phone and therefore powerless to do anything about it. Isn’t she a cutie-pie?

Thirdly! I made these cookies a few weeks ago and the kids devoured them almost as soon as they were in the cookie jar so I figured I should pony up the recipe. This makes loads, although the recipe suggests it’ll make 14.

You will need:
100g/4oz butter, softened
100g/4oz light muscovado sugar
1 tbsp golden syrup
150g/6oz self-raising flour
85g/3oz (approx 3 tubes) smarties (I used the mini smarties)

1) Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until light and creamy, then beat in the syrup.
2) Work in half the flour. Stir in the smarties with the remaining flour and work the dough together with your fingers. Divide into 14 balls and place them well apart on baking sheets. Do not flatten them.
3) Bake for 12 minutes until pale golden at the edges. Cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container for up to four days (if the little horrors in your life let them last that long!)

Posted under baking, knitting, sewing, with the kids

Three posts in three days! You lot really are lucky!

So Sunday was my “get stuff done” day and this was the last thing that I made. I made a HUGE pot because at 35 weeks pregnant I want to have a stack of frozen meals ready to go after the baby arrives. I wouldn’t say we’re really arsey about what the kids eat, but in general every night time meal is prepared from scratch because I want to make sure that at least once a day they are getting a meal that I’m happy with. This meal makes me really happy because there’s loads of veg in it and the kids absolutely love it. The addition of root veg means that this curry casserole is nice and sweet and your choice of curry paste will determine how spicy it is. We used a balti curry paste which gave it nice flavour without blowing our heads off!

This recipe fed the five of us plus I froze easily enough for us to have another two meals. I used the biggest soup pan that I own and it was practically full so you might want to adjust your quantities if you’re only making one meal, but this is fab if like me you like having a freezer full of healthy meals that are prepared in a few minutes.

You will need:
4tbsp olive oil
2 onions, sliced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1.5kg potatoes, cubed
8 good-sized carrots, cut into chunks
4 parsnips, cut into chunks
Half a swede, cut into chunks
One butternut squash, cut into chunks
4tbsp curry paste
250g red split lentils
3 litres stock (chicken or vegetable)

Put the oil in your pan, tip in the onion and garlic and cook over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes until softened. Tip in all your chopped veg, turn up the heat and cook for another few minutes until the vegetables are golden. Add in your curry paste, make sure your vegetables are well coated and keep stirring over the next few minutes while you make up your stock. Add in your stock, bring to the boil then reduce the heat. Add the lentils, cover your pan and simmer for 15-20 minutes until all the veg has softened and your sauce is nice and thick. Keep an eye on things because there’s so much veg in this that it could absorb all the stock and leave you sauceless! If it’s drying up, add more stock half a pint at a time with a tsp curry powder.

We served it up with wholegrain rice, naan bread and a dollop of natural yoghurt on the top. Absolutely gorgeous!

Posted under cooking

Well I have to tell you, friends, I have had a most productive weekend.

Yesterday I took a shower for the first time in I’m not admitting how many days. I don’t think I’d mentioned here but followers of my twitter feed will be aware that I hurt my neck badly at the start of the week and I’ve been pretty much confined to bed trying to ease it off since Wednesday. It’s still very sore and indeed I’m seeing both my GP and midwife tomorrow to discuss a plan of action from here but I’ve got a little more stability back today. I think the hot shower helped!

This of course has meant I’ve had most of the week to plot out things to make and do. I’ve managed to finish one little project, more or less finish the prototype of another little project AND spend some quality time with my cooker today! I’ll blog it out over the week so as not to deluge you with a mammoth post!

So today I’ll tell you about my cherry bakewell cake. Actually, I typed that and started salivating because this cake is good cake. Not “alright” cake, not “mmm that was nice” cake. This is “I want to have your babies” cake – well, it is if you like almonds. Otherwise not so much

My one error with this was that my icing wasn’t thick enough. My icing is never thick enough, I’m an icing sugar failure and should just accept it and move on. But looooooook! (Edit – whilst typing up the recipe I realised that it failed because I misread tsps as tbsps. What a diddy.)

Doesn’t that look good?!

To make it yourself, you will need:

200g butter, softened
150g light brown sugar
100g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
50g caster sugar
100g ground almonds
½ tsp almond essence
5 eggs

Filling and topping
½ a 340g jar cherry jam
175g icing sugar, sieved
5-6 tsp lemon juice
Flaked almonds

Preheat oven to 180C/Gas 4. Grease and line two 20cm sandwich tins.
Stick all of your cake ingredients into either your food processor bowl or a medium sized mixing bowl, then using your electric whisk or food processor beat together all the cake ingredients with a pinch of salt until smooth. Divide equally between the tins, smooth the tops and stick them in the oven for 30 mins or until you listen to your cake and you don’t hear tiny bubbles anymore. DO NOT open the oven before 25 minutes is up or your cakes will collapse. Ask me how I know this.

Once they’re done, give them a couple of minutes to cool slightly then tip them out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Get your half jar of cherry jam and loosen it up in a bowl with a fork then spread all over the top of one of your cakes before sandwiching it with the other. Mix your icing sugar with the lemon juice before smearing it over the top of your cake and garnishing with flaked almonds. Done!

This is honestly the easiest cake in the world and it’s SPECTACULAR. Go on – make it and see for yourself

Posted under baking, recipes