Our friends arrived yesterday for our annual 'Fakemas' and after a delicious meal at the Fish Inn in Ringwood, we all headed back to the flat for pudding . . .
This is a recipe I've been itching to try out for a while and thought it would be a healthy-ish alternative to the Swiss roll, despite the marzipan that it has inside. The jam topping didn't go quite to plan; I couldn't get any fresh cranberries so had to use dried ones, and consequently went quite hard and chewy once the sugar had dissolved. However the loaf looked and tasted good nonetheless.
Jason has been wanting to make a Swiss roll or a roulade for quite some time after watching the Great British Bake off, and decided on a new take on a traditional chocolate Swiss roll, spreading Nutella on the sponge base and then applying whipped cream on top. Next time around we need to be a little more generous with the filling, it was somewhat lacking in this department!
You Might Also Like
I had to have another round of Christmas pudding making, after discovering that the one's I'd made previously had gone mouldy, grrrr! This time I made sure to let the puddings leave to cool completely before wrapping them in copious amounts of baking paper and cling film, and then putting them in an air tight container for safe keeping until Tuesday, fingers crossed they make it otherwise I'm going to have to dig out the emergency puddings i bought from the supermarket, plus a little embarrassing in front of Jason's whole family!
You Might Also Like
We had a festive bake off at work, and our team took an innovative approach and made mincemeat muffins and then decorated them in the style of mini Christmas puddings, unfortunately we didn't win (we came a respectable joint third) but they tasted really good, one to definitely experiment with further . . .
You Might Also Like
Winchester market has been at the top of my list to visit for quite some time, and leapt at the chance to go recently, however was left a little disappointed. There were not as many stalls as I was expecting, and a lot of the beautifully crafted items I found to be a tad on the expensive side. The cathedral was the perfect setting for the market, with the grounds and courtyards housing each stall.
There were some gorgeous Christmas decorations that were very tempting, and I would of invested in a few pieces, had I not made a solemn promise to myself to not buy anymore (I don't think our Christmas tree can take any more) unfortunately I didn't manage to get many good photos as by the time I'd finished skating may way around the resident ice rink it had gotten quite dark, hopefully if I get the chance to go again next year I'll get some better snaps . . .
You Might Also Like
The finishing touches have been made to my Mum's Xmas tree, just in time too, I left to come back to Bournemouth the next day!
You Might Also Like
Today we ventured out into the Suffolk countryside in search of the family Christmas tree. The farm was plonked in the middle of nowhere (Stanningfield to be exact) but it was well worth the expedition. The barn was brimming with the smell of Christmas, there were some lovely decorations and wreaths on display, as well as mince pies, shortbread, teas, coffees and hot chocolate to keep the energy levels up whilst searching for the perfect tree. This years search was significantly quicker than lasts years, which might of had something to do with the freezing cold temperature! Eventually we settled on a 6ft traditional tree, fingers crossed it will last until the big day without dropping too many of it's needles!
There were also some animals housed in the barn to keep the children occupied (and myself) whilst the grown-ups browsed. I ended up spending more time petting the animals rather than helping my Mum look for the tree . . .
You Might Also Like
We had a lovely craft market at work today, with everyone with crafty talent put had a stall selling their wares, I bought this beautiful piece from Sea-Saw designs by Caroline Harris, an early Christmas present to myself!
You Might Also Like
These are so simple and inexpensive to make -
What you'll need -
Cardboard luggage tags - a size that will fit your chosen stamp on comfortably
Festive coloured Ink pad - I've gone for a Christmassy red, but you can use any colour that you like that corresponds with your wrapping paper.
Stamp - I picked up this 'Merry Christmas' stamp from Paperchase, a snip at just under £3, however ebay and Etsy are great places to start looking, shop around as they vary greatly in price.
Garden twine - I've found that garden twine seems to work the best with these tags, and is relatively cheap in comparison to ribbons and threads, have a look in local garden centres, there are a range of festive colours available
How it's done -
1. Ink up your chosen stamp, making sure that all areas are covered.
2. Then simply centralise the stamp above the tag, once happy with the position, stamp the design on to the tag, making sure to press down quite hard.
3. Remove the stamp, and leave to dry for a couple of hours or preferably overnight.
4. Cut the string to the desired length andfold in half, thread the through the luggage tag hole. Pass both ends of the twine through the lop and pull tight.
6. Annnnnd, voila! you have your luggage tag!
You Might Also Like
It was a beautiful day along the south coast today, and we decided to take full advantage of the fact that this could well be the last decent weekend we have for the rest of the year and packed up a picnic, jumped on our bikes and went for a bike ride to Hengistbury head, we then walked down to the beach, and then back through the nature reserve back to the bikes.
It was such a clear day we could see right across to the Needles on the Isle of Wight.
You Might Also Like
This weekend Jason's parent came over to help with the new(er) car and to also help fix the lights, that have been on our 'to fix' list for nearly two years, I'm pleased to say the lights are now fixed, finally!
As a big thank you we decided to make a carrot cake, I've not made or eaten one in a long time, as I cannot stand cream cheese frosting, bleurgh! I used a recipe out of the very first Great British Bake Off book. Instead of making two sponges, we made one large one, obviously this nearly doubled the cooking time, and half way through I had to put some foil over the top to stop it from burning, but it was cooked to perfection!
It's one of the most moist cakes I think we've ever made, even after only a day, next time I'd like to leave it a few more before devouring it.
You Might Also Like
A tad late I know, but we couldn't find any pumpkins last weekend for love nor money, however, this week we managed to bag ourselves one.
I've never made anything with pumpkin before and never even really tried it, so I thought a simple loaf cake was as good a place as any to start. I cut the pumpkin in half, hollowed it out, removing all of the seeds and white stringy bits. I then put both halves on a baking tray lined with foil and popped it in the oven at 200ºC for 30-45 minutes (obviously this is dependent on the size of your pumpkin, ours was 1.5kg).
Then wait for it to cool and scoop out the orange flesh, making sure not to get any of the outer skin whilst doing this. Pop it in a blender and blitz into a puree, and voila! You have pumpkin puree for half the price you'd pay in the supermarket and nearly three times as much (we got about 700g from ours).
What you'll need -
* 200g Plain flour
* 1 1/4 tsps Bicarbonate of soda
* 1 tsp Salt
* 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
* 1/2 tsp Ground nutmeg
* 255g Pureed pumpkin (shop bought or home made)
* 200g Dark brown soft sugar
* 110ml Buttermilk
* 1 Egg
* 2 tbsps Margarine
How it's done -
1. Pre heat the oven to 180ºC. Lightly grease and flour a 23 x 23cm loaf tin, and set aside.
2. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg into a large bowl.
3. Mix in the pumpkin, brown sugar, buttermilk, egg and butter until well blended.
4. Pour into the loaf tin and smooth the top.
5. Bake for 1 hour or until a cocktail stick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Enjoy!
Next week we're attempting Chicken cobbler, stay tuned . . .
You Might Also Like
Inspired by the Great British Bake Off, Jason and I decided to make Mary Berry's treacle tart, one of the technical challenges in this years series. I think our pastry lattice on the top worked out quite well, although some team work was needed in maneuvering lattice on top of the treacle breadcrumb mix.
It's the first tart I've ever made where you don't blind bake the pastry case before adding the filling, but it worked, and there was no soggy bottom to be seen!
We had the tart with ice cream one night and custard the next, and custard won hands down, but that might of had something to do with the drop in temperature!
You Might Also Like
We've not been down to Bournemouth beach in such a long time, on Saturday we took full advantage of the glorious weather and went for a stroll towards Hengistbury Head (didn't quite make it) there were so many dogs enjoying the beach, although not many braving the icy cold water . . .
You Might Also Like
Another weekend, another baking session . . . this time chicken and bacon pie, with a little help from Jason with the white sauce (something I've never been quite able to master!)
Before baking - we had some spare pastry leftover so Jason helped me decorate the pie, I left it up to him to decide what cutters to use, no surprises with the dinosaur one!
. . . and after - I usually brush the pastry with milk, but this time I opted for beaten egg which gave a much better glazed finish. I then used the leftover egg in a sponge pudding, 'waste not, want not' I say!
Next weekend . . . treacle tart, yum!
You Might Also Like
After the hectic-ness of this week we decided to head to the calm, relaxing and tranquil setting of Brockenhurst, getting some much needed exercise and fresh air on our 6 mile walk/adventure through the New Forest.
Everything started well, we actually managed to head off in the right direction! And then half way round we hit the cattle farm, where there was a river of deep mud and cow pat covering the alleged 'path', okay if you're wearing wellies but as we were in clean walking shoes it was somewhat of a challenge navigating our way through the 100 metres of poop covered track. However, it was made all the more entertaining by the group of elderly ramblers that we'd recently passed attempting the same mud assault course with varying degrees of success/failure, all whilst one of the owners stood by and watched in her wellies, and her other half whizzing off on a quad bike down the very same track with no offer of a lift!
Despite one minor detour, a very late lunch and being thoroughly exhausted by the time we completed the route, it was just what we needed and have vowed to go on more walks.
Brockenhurst is a beautiful place, complete with village butcher, green grocer, bakery, pub and tea shops a-plenty it's the quintessential village location. It's somewhere I would love to live, namely in this thatched cottage . . .
All of the houses in the New Forest either have cattle grids at the end of the drive or are gated to stop any roaming cows, pigs or ponies from wandering in and eating all of your garden, however they do still try . . .
Wild mushrooms growing in one of the many woodlands we walked through . . .
One of the many wild New Forest ponies, although it was happy to come and say hello whilst we figured out where we were on the map . . .
Beautiful Oak woodland at the end of the walk.
You Might Also Like
A Sunday afternoon spent taking a stroll along Poole Quay, beautiful weather . . .
You Might Also Like
Whenever I read about Renegade craft fairs I always want to pack up my suitcase, head off to the airport, and jump on the first plane heading for one of the five America based sunny locations. However, I've recently learned that the fair has come to the UK, London to be more precise.
Unfortunately I've missed this years fair, but have already penciled in a reminder in my diary for next years, I'm determined to make it!
You Might Also Like
It's been quite a while since I posted anything on here, and that has been due to the most horrendous stomach upset that I had all of last week and the beginning of this, so I've been curled up on the sofa and in bed, asleep and BORED!
And thus explains the absence of posts . . . however this week I took full advantage of feeling better, and did lots of baking. When I was ill all I kept craving was a slice of cake, so it was nice to finally quench my cakey thirst.
Jason made some tasty white Chocolate & Cranberry cookies as well as some Sultana & Oatmeal ones, which were devoured before I even had a chance to whip my camera out. We've planned to make them again as Christmas presents, so a few more trial runs may be needed before giving them as gifts, and hopefully next time I'll be able to take some pictures.
Next on our list was a Cinnamon & Raisin Loaf cake, I was a little sceptical to making this at first as I'm not a massive fan of raisins and there was also an awful lot of cinnamon in the recipe, but I was pleasantly surprised it tasted really good.
The loaf is made up of two batters, one with cinnamon and the other without. You put the plain mixture in the tin first, and then add the cinnamon one in on top and swirl them together to get the marbled pattern on the inside when you cut into it.
Next time I think we need to be a bit more adventurous in our swirling as it's not quite marbled as much as we'd hoped . . .
You Might Also Like
I received this lovely bouquet from work for my help at last weeks conference, such a lovely surprise . . .
You Might Also Like
