I’m Still Here

Yes, I am still here... both virtually in this little online space and physically in our house still waiting to move. 

I enjoy writing this blog and if there are a few of you out there enjoying it too then it makes it worthwhile. Especially if I can read and comment on your blogs too, should you happen to write one. The interaction with others makes it feel like a conversation. But it has become increasingly more difficult to leave comments on some of my favourite blogs. There have been times when I have typed out a comment three or four times but each time I hit the publish button, the comment disappears... which is so frustrating! And I know others are having the same problem so it does feel like being in an isolated bubble. So just saying I am reading, I'm still here ... and I would comment if I could!

We're still here waiting to move too. It was meant to be this Friday but contracts haven't been exchanged and so it looks like completion date will be pushed back once again to next week... or later possibly... possibly not. After what feels like months of clearing out we have got rid of furniture and possessions so we are now living with empty rooms and boxes, which is very unsettling.

But we are trying to carry on as normal as best as we can. I'm doing lots of reading but I'm finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate and stay focused when I read, although to be fair those late night ten minutes before nodding off are probably not the ideal time for retaining information. I frequently have to reread what I've already read!

The were a couple of books for our reading group lately that I didn't really enjoy. Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwen is a spy story set in 1972. The female voice of the narrator, Serena just never rang true for me, which actually made sense by the end of the book so may have been a very cleverly written ploy. (Trying not to give a spoiler here) But there seemed little point revealing something clever at the end if it didn't resonate all the way through. Our latest Reading group book was Everything Under by Daisy Johnson, a retelling of the Oedipus story which I just found too weird and complicated. I didn't even get the Oedipus connection! It did lead to a really good discussion though  and the group were strongly divided in our opinions.

I picked up The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul in our phone box lending library. I thought it would be a light easy read, which I suppose it was but it felt like it had pretensions to be something more. It tackled heavy subjects such as the Taliban and the role of women in Afghanistan but I felt the story was too lightweight to carry them off. And then I picked up the first Rebus story by Ian Rankin... surely Ian Rankin could take me away from my busy head but I didn't particularly enjoy that either. Rebus is a bit too morose and dour for me, although I'm willing to give him another chance, which is just as well as I think I may have packed another half dozen or so Rebus novels.  I was despairing of picking up a book that I would enjoy, ever again... until I found this. Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney. I found the writing intelligent and concise as it builds the story of Frances and Bobbi, students who have been friends since school. It's about flawed characters and complicated relationships and I found it refreshingly different to what I had been reading.

I actually bought this in a bookshop, rather than on-line or picking it up in the phone box and had a pleasant surprise. Inside someone had tucked a little folded homemade book. With a bit of research I found it was the work of some Anglia Ruskin students who claim to be "celebrating the ordinary" by posting these little newspapers around Cambridge.

 

A fun thing to do that brought a smile to my face!

There are more books piled up at the side of my bed. I'd like to think we will have moved before I get through these but at the rate we're going it seems unlikely.

Meanwhile we are trying to carry on as normally as possible and on the plus side every nook and cranny of this house is getting sorted out and cleared... nothing is safe! That includes the food cupboards too. Baking has involved using up store cupboard ingredients... goodness knows how long the tin of pineapple had been there but as it was just about in date it got put into these tropical fruit muffins along with a packet of coconut.

The six egg whites I found in the freezer were used to make blueberry friands. I have no idea what the yolks were used for but the freezer is now empty and the cupboards are bare so I hope we move soon!

Wishing you a happy bank holiday weekend here in the UK. I hope by the next time I write something it won't be from here but will be from somewhere else... but I'm not holding my breath! I'm now going to read some blogs... and apologise now for not leaving a comment!

The Cake Slice Bakers - March

I’m two days late... assuming I finish writing this on Friday, but I have been baking once again with The Cake Slice Bakers. Exchange of contracts is imminent and despite weeks of sorting out, the house looks as though we have barely started clearing so the last thing I should be doing is baking cakes and writing about it... but I never was one for getting my priorities right, especially when there’s cake involved!

 

We are baking this year from The European Cake Cookbook by Tatyana Nesteruk and the choices this month were

1. Creme Brulee cheesecake

2. Triple-Citrus Mousse Cake

3. Austrian Pound Cake

4. Toscakaka Torte

As ever it was hard to choose and the cheesecake was very tempting given that if ever we eat desserts out, which isn't often, Stewart will always choose cheesecake and I will have Creme Brulee. However I wanted to make this for dinner guests and didn't want to risk something completely new so I chose the Toscakaka cake, a Swedish caramel almond torte. I own up, I have made this before from a different book with a slightly different recipe where it was just called a Tosca cake, so I knew I would be on to a winner. The combination of light caramel soaked sponge with a topping of caramel and crunchy almonds is delicious.

The cake itself is easy but the tricky part is making the caramel sauce which starts with boiled sugar. I let my first batch get too dark and it tasted burnt so I had to start again.

But second time around it worked and the resulting cake didn't disappoint. 

It went down well with our dinner guests as dessert but it made a good cake for afternoon tea too!

Ingredients for the cake

• 170g unsalted butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 118 ml dulce de leche (thick caramel sauce)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 118 ml full fat milk
• 188g plain flour, sifted
• 50g ground almonds
• 3 tsp baking powder

Ingredients for the topping

• 200g granulated sugar
• 60ml water
• 118ml double cream
• 60g unsalted butter
• 2 tsp vanilla essence
• 110g toasted flaked almonds                  
•  

1. Preheat the oven to 170 deg C (150 fan) and line a 23cm spring form tin with baking parchment

2. In a large bowl beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla and dulce de leche until light and fluffy Add the eggs one at a time with a spoonful of flour with each addition, beating until smooth. Combine the flour, almonds and baking powder and gently add in two additions alternating with the milk until everything is just combined.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes. The sides should be set but the centre just under baked.

4. While the cake is baking prepare the caramel sauce. Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and heat gently until the sugar melts. Bring to the boil and let it cook until it turns a golden amber colour (not dark brown like my first attempt!) Remove from the heat and whisk in the cram, butter and vanilla. Be careful as it will splutter. Continue to whisk until it is smooth and the butter has melted.

5. After the cake has baked for 35 minutes remove from the oven, pierce the top with a skewer and pour the caramel sauce over the top. Sprinkle with the toasted almonds and return the cake to the oven for a further 15 mins.

6. Remove from the oven and let it stand for 15 minutes before releasing the spring form. Eat warm or cold!

I served ours warm with a dollop of creme fraiche and a compote of honeyed figs.

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Sweet stuff!

So given my last post* was a bit deep and thoughtful, tonight I decided I would just bring you cake or dessert... which is much more my style. I don't often do deep and thoughtful! 

Remember I said I was exhausted? Well when this photo below was taken I was at peak exhaustion. I had done an eight hour shift at the cafe ( I may actually have had a five minute break that day.) When I got home I really just wanted to get into pyjamas and curl up on the sofa. But instead I had a bath, put on my favourite leopard skin print dress and headed out to my book club supper... that is the alternative book club where books are rarely mentioned but we do eat supper. I had brought dessert, a chocolate caramel cheesecake which fortunately had been prepared the previous evening. I think I may have actually been lying with my head on the table five seconds before the photo was taken I was so tired. Don't even ask about the koala!

Two days later we were celebrating a Burns supper with friends and again I had offered to bring a dessert. I made a pavlova, partially with brown sugar which gave a lovely caramel flavour. The topping was roasted spiced pineapple in a caramel sauce (adapted from an Ottolenghi cheesecake recipe from his book Sweet) with added pomegranate seeds... I do love pomegranate seeds glistening like little ruby jewels. I love them on salads and puddings.

My final cakey offering this week was a birthday cake for Free Cakes for Kids. It has been a while since I last baked a cake for this charity but I was reminded once again what a difference a birthday cake can make. It may not seem like much but they are always appreciated. I find it quite humbling to bring a cake to someone who for whatever reason might not be able to provide their own cake. Little Albie and his mum were all smiles and it made it so worthwhile.

There might be quite a bit more cake here in weeks to come because I have decided to join in with the Cake Slice Bakers again... so there will be a big reveal and a recipe here on 20th of the month if I manage to get my act together. Although I hope to be back before then!

*Thanks to everyone who left a comment on my last post. I think I managed to reply to most in the comments but I am struggling to leave comments on blogs lately, including my own.... sometimes I type out a long reply, hit publish and it disappears, over and over again. Other times it works. I certainly don't know why!

It's Starting to Feel a Lot Like...

Yes, Christmas. So now we are here in December I cannot help myself feeling a lit bit excited. Already I imagine I can make all the presents, cook everything from scratch, decorate the house with homemade garlands etc. etc. but it's not going to happen because the truth is I'm already exhausted! This week began with a long overdue trip into London to catch up with a friend. I went in early not wanting to waste the opportunity of being in town and I saw the Anni Albers exhibition at the Tate Modern. It was good, but if I'm honest weaving is not really my thing and so after the first few exhibits they all started to look the same. Coming out it was lovely to see the city lit up on a cold but sparkling evening, already looking very festive.

Jude and I met at Comptoir Libanais, London Bridge which was a feast for the senses, a riot of colour and decorative detail. The fabulous Lebanese food was also a treat for the taste buds full of wonderful flavours. I had an Aubergine Fattet ( a sort of Moussaka) followed by an Orange blossom Mouhalabia ( a traditional milk pudding with a dried fruit compote). My Insta worthy photos of my half eaten food weren't really that good so I won't share them with you. Trust me... it was excellent!

Back at home there has been baking as I have made a start on the Christmas cakes... yes, that is cakes not cake as I have six to make this year. I'm not complaining as they are all orders and I enjoy making them. If we are lucky we might get to keep one of them too but I'm not that bothered. I can take it or leave it as I find I'm too full of everything else to want cake at this time of year.

There were also a batch of mini Christmas cakes too, made for the church market on Saturday. They usually sell like... well, hot cakes... but not this year. So if I don't get to keep a large cake for us there could well be several small ones instead.

The reindeer cookie pops however were a big hit and I sold out of those.

There was also a day this week looking after this little chap... it's hard to believe that he is almost two. He is on the move constantly and so busy and interested in everything. I think I must be getting old as I'm sure I never used to get this tired when my four were small! He's an absolute delight though. Maybe I wouldn't get so tired if I wasn't crawling around on all fours pretending to be a lion!

Stewart got a treat this week as I made him an advent calendar filled with twenty four different beers. Well I think they are all different but I did start to lose count of what I had already bought. It's a bit rickety and the doors don't quite fit but he was happy

This was me at the market yesterday, held in the local church. I have been doing this market for several years now and it feels like the start of Christmas for me. It's always a lovely morning catching up with lots of friends

Today I have been at work in the cafe, mostly in the kitchen where it has been non-stop all day. Back home I made another couple of Christmas cakes this evening, plus a pan of soup from all the veg lurking at the bottom of the fridge (it tastes much better than it sounds), a batch of granola for some quick breakfasts as well as tonight's dinner. Should keep us going for a few days I hope as I'm back in the cafe again at 8.45 tomorrow morning.

So bit of a boring post really as I catch up on this week. Plans of shorter more regular (and more entertaining) posts just don't seem to happen. Well they do in my head but as you can see there is too much else going on. At least I wasn't silly enough to attempt a daily post in December as in previous years! How are your Christmas plans going?

Wedding Cakes

Being a completely self taught baker and cake decorator I tend to shy away from doing wedding cakes. Whereas the odd imperfection can be overlooked on a birthday cake, it is a complete no no where weddings are concerned. Wedding cakes have to be perfect! The first wedding cake I ever made was far from perfect... but it was okay because it was my own! Back then I knew nothing about stacking cakes with boards and supports. I just made four different sized chocolate cakes and put one on top of another. I covered the whole lot with chocolate ganache and then slapped white chocolate shavings over the lot. It tasted fantastic but looked a mess! Even the little hand crafted couple on the top (Me and Stewart!) looked somewhat dishevelled! But we ate it with strawberries and cream for dessert at our wedding and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

So when a couple of years ago my friend Ann asked if I could make her wedding cake I was a little hesitant. She assured me that informal and simple was fine. So with some carefully placed flowers and piped dots to hide the cracks, I think I got away with it!

Gradually my confidence and skills increased so when my brother asked could I make his cake this year I was up for the challenge, although I didn't feel quite so confident when I found out what they wanted... Steam Punk meets Alice in Wonderland! There were many hours spent watching YouTube tutorials where I learned how to make cake lace...

And molded decorations like watches...

and roses!

And although I know it was far from perfect, they were happy with the end result.

So knowing perfection had still to be achieved, it was a bit of a risk when I agreed to make the cake for a friend's daughter's wedding. With a woodland theme, their request was for a reasonably simple cake topped with an ivy garland and accompanying cupcakes.

Last week I made 250 sugar paste ivy leaves in preparation and have spent the past two days making the three layer red velvet cake and 72 cupcakes. There were two attempts at getting the red velvet right (I now have a spare cake in my freezer) and I was on my feet baking for about eight hours yesterday. I've not slept well either  and have had recurring dreams of either not finishing it in time or of all the ivy leaves falling off.

Today it was all ready to deliver and set up... but what if I tripped up whilst carrying the boxes and dropped the cake! What if the ivy leaves really did fall off?

I can't tell you how relieved I was once it was all set up with no mishaps.

And was it perfect? Probably not, but it's the happiest I've felt with any cake I've made and I loved the finished display on the fabulous log slice cake board (made by the bride's Mum!)

So am I now ready to take on more wedding cakes? No I don't think so as I'm not sure I can handle the stress... not to mention the lack of sleep. Although I don't think I will get away saying no more wedding cakes with three family weddings next summer!