Apple, parsnip & rosemary syrup cake

September 16, 2018October 17, 2018Leave a comment

I go mad for vegetables or herbs in cakes. It’s like, it shouldn’t work but it does…and it tastes better than any cake ever made before. This is why carrot cake reigns supreme. Rosemary is just my absolute hands down favourite herb in the history of herbs forever amen. I sprinkle it on as much as I can get away with and now I want to bake with it for eternity. I’m getting carried away? Ok. I took this cake into work, left it in the communal kitchen and it was gone within ten minutes.

I’ve had a few posts recently with chocolate in so I decided to try something different, otherwise I’d have been all over the salted caramel chocolate cake.

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Chocolate fudge cappuccino cake

September 14, 2018October 17, 2018Leave a comment

There are two great loves in my life (food wise anyway): chocolate and coffee. Given the choice between chocolate and any other food I would probably always choose chocolate. I love it. I can’t get enough of the stuff. Continue reading →

Lemon, cardamom and buckwheat polenta cake

September 6, 2018October 17, 2018Leave a comment

Yeah, that’s a mouthful I know but they are all crucial ingredients so I couldn’t really miss them out the title. I really loved the flavour and texture of the cake so I plan to experiment more with buckwheat. This recipe is based off Nigella’s lemon polenta cake but is very different from the original. It’s much more like a pound cake and has a wonderful texture. Continue reading →

Matcha custard doughnuts

September 4, 2018October 17, 2018Leave a comment

When I was 17 I developed my first real obsession – music…possibly to the detriment of my grades to be honest. I have a bit of an addictive personality so it tends to be all or nothing with some things. This was really before I was able to download very much – certainly legally anyway – so I bought CDs every week. I remember when The Strokes 12:51 single came out and I was so so desperate to hear it that I made my Dad call into HMV, pick up the CD and drop it off to me at school so I could listen to it on my Walkman. Continue reading →

Salted double chocolate and pistachio profiteroles

September 1, 2018October 17, 2018Leave a comment

I forgot how easy it is to make choux pastry actually. I think it can seem scary but it’s not, as long as your have everything set out ready because the main thing is that you need to work quickly. Continue reading →

Buttermilk chocolate cake with pretzel frosting

August 27, 2018October 17, 2018Leave a comment

When I stress bake I like to go big or go home. I really wanted pretzel butter to be a thing. I tried to make it by blending blending blending with milk and a little coconut oil and really all I ended up doing was recreating pretzel dough again. It’s a work in progress. Continue reading →

Tahini caramel millionaire shortbread

August 14, 2018October 17, 2018Leave a comment

Now, I should probably tell you abit more about these sweet sweet tahini flavoured babies. Last week Lindt sent me over some of their dark chocolate bars. In it was their new flavour dark chocolate with roasted sesame which was so good. It got me thinking and I thought why not mix tahini in with caramel? Why not make the best flavour millionaire shortbread ever? Continue reading →

Passionfruit and lime curd

June 28, 2018October 13, 2019

This stuff disintegrates on the tongue and has the silkiest feel, shortly followed by the strongest kick of citrus I’ve ever experienced. It thickens up pretty quick, and you wont want to browse through your phone whilst you whisk away because you might just be mesmerised by the most beautiful shades of yellow melding together in the pan. Continue reading →

Caramelised white chocolate and pecan cookies

June 14, 2018October 17, 2018Leave a comment

Sometimes I just absolutely have to bake cookies. There’s no negotiation. Luckily 9 times out of 10 I have all the ingredients in ready to whip of a bowl of dough. After reading Michelle’s post last week about slice and bake chocolate chip cookies I had to give them a go. So Friday afternoon Matilda and I played in the kitchen and made cookies. I didn’t freeze them but just left them in the fridge overnight. The recipe is from Tara O’Brady at Seven Spoon’s book and is my new favourite cookie recipe. So so easy and tastes amazing.

It’s been a while since I revisited caramelised white chocolate and I forgot that it’s actually a doddle to make. I had a couple of bars of Lindt white chocolate lying around from Christmas – how these didn’t get eaten I don’t know, White chocolate is like crack to me. I heated my oven to the lowest heat – 130 C/266 F – and spread chopped white chocolate over a clean oven tray. At ten minute intervals I stirred the chocolate around the tray with a spatula until it was smooth and golden. I transferred the melted chocolate to a small tray and let it re-set in the fridge before I chopped it into caramelised white chocolate chips. Just try not to eat them all before they go into the dough. It’s basically a homemade Caramac bar.

I had Matilda’s wonderful assistance the second time as well and whilst I was taking the photos she brazenly walked up and helped herself to a cookie. I said if she was going to pinch the cookies she could at least be cute and hold a plate of them as well >.<

These cookies are crisp and buttery on the edges and soft in the middle. The caramelised white chocolate works perfectly with the pecans and a hint of sea salt on top balances everything out. Just as in Michelle’s post you can of course freeze the dough in balls if you only want a few at a time. If you want to make a full batch then leave them in the fridge overnight. Letting the dough rest is like magic and the difference between baking straight away and waiting overnight is very noticeable. They are definitely worth the wait.