Arlington Bluebell Walk

Here's one of my latest commissions - a "thankyou" cake in recognition of the owners of Arlington Bluebell Walk from one of the charities they have supported for several years.

A foodish day in Brighton (well Hove, Actually)

Kitty has been on the receiving end of Mummy-Lite for the last few weeks due to rather a lot of cake related business. So I decided to take her over to Brighton for the day, to do a park/playground crawl and check out some food spots on my "must visit" list on the way. 

First on the list was breakfast at the wonderful veggie/vegan cafeteria in the North Laine called Iydea. It's had rave reviews on tripadvisor and a whole fistful of awards. So it was with eagerness tempered by expectations-of-disappointment that we arrived. It was great - really delicious, inexpensive and innovative food, genuinely friendly staff and a great atmosphere. It's the first time I've eaten a vegan breakfast and wanted more !

     

We then hopped on the 81B bus up to St Anns Wells Garden where they were holding a Spring Fair. My Mum, who comes from Hove told me later that she and my Aunty used to walk along to the Gardens in their lunchbreak from school in Wilbury Road. We particularly enjoyed the rather odd man to the rear of the photograph on the left - who was engrossed in "conducting" the brass band ! I also enjoyed taking in the eclectic mix of architecture on the way - including the beautiful Art Deco Furze Croft apartment block. 

Next point of call for Food Mecca was the inimitable Audrey's Chocolates in Holland Road. All their chocolates are hand made on the premises - and when I say handmade I mean that they actually make their own chocolate from actual cocoa beans. My parents have been buying chocolates from Audreys for as long as I can remember and in my opinion they are the best chocolates in the UK. One of my favourite children's books "Hetty", written by Brightonian Barbara Willard, features a scene in a Hove chocolate shop with its inspiration firmly in Audrey's. I'd take one small box of Audrey's champagne truffles over 200 boxes of Thorntons any day. They were training a new shop assistant in the finer points of customer service while I was there - down to how to tie a perfect bow in harmonising colours to the chocolates inside. 

The final flourish, as a reward for spending two hours in a magnificent seafront playground by the twisted remains of poor old West Pier, was a gelato in boho gelato. Well, I had Pier Doughnut and Pink Lemonade, Kitty had Chocolate and all I can say is...

Yum, yum and more yum !!

In which we make Debby's Jumbles

"Then Katy could wait no longer but crept out of bed, crossed the floor on tip-toe, and

raising the lid a little, put in her hand. Something crumbly and sugary met it, and when

she drew it out, there, fitting on her finger like a ring, was a round cake with a hole

in the middle of it. "Oh ! It's one of Debby's jumbles !" she exclaimed.

**

Thanks to my lovely new Kindle I've been reacquainting myself with the What Katy Did stories and What Katy Did at School in particular. I just love the scene where Katy and Clover open their Christmas box and find myself transported into their little bedroom, full of plum pudding, jumbles, knitted gifts and gorgeous ruby red blooms. I've always been intrigued by Debby's Jumbles and decided to spend our rainy Sunday afternoon baking with my baby. She is always a very willing sous-chef ! Her ecstasy when I let her break the egg into the mixture was quite something to behold !

.

.

.

.

My happy little sous chef in action. She absolutely loves cooking, proving that the apple does not fall far from the tree.

And she doesn't answer back (yet) !

.

.

.

I'm not sure that they quite matched up to the crumbly sugariness described but they were still pretty good. I had a bag of brandy soaked fruit kicking around in the cupboard as well so, in the interest of marital harmony, I also made David's favourites - Chelsea Buns. They were the epitome of sticky, cinnamony goodness and didn't last very long !

Kitty's 1st birthday cake

Fireman Sam Birthday Cake

This cake was made for a colleague's nephew who is obsessed with Fireman Sam. I was really very pleased with it, the cake is a chocolate sponge finished with chocolate buttercream 

Tres Cath Kidston

My wedding order a couple of weeks ago was for a very rustic Victoria Sponge filled with jam, whipped cream and berries - complete with a layer of lemon drizzle. I was so paranoid that there wouldn't be enough cake that I made an absolute Goliath, necessitating emptying out my entire fridge to store it. The bottom tier is my tried and trusted adaptation of Nigella's recipe from Domestic Goddess, filled with a limoncello buttercream (yes, it was as delicious as it sounds). The top two and the cutting tier were finished off with blueberries, strawberries and blackberries from my allotment. The golden raspberries were foraged from our local Waitrose ;D

So, having loaded 4 enormous tiers of cake, a huge cakestand and all my paraphernalia into the car, I was expecting to find a cake table ready for me to set up on. What I wasn't expecting was to find that the reception venue was essentially a barn, some bales of hay and some Cath Kidston-esque decor ! And that I would end up having to construct the cake in the boot of my car, parked in the middle of a field !!!!

The Great British Bake Off

I'm just glued to The Great British Bakeoff. Mary Berry is one of my very favourite cookery writers and my Mum and I have been using her recipes for donkeys' years. Last year the programme sent me into a Victoria Sandwich Overdrive, and when I saw the Battenberg technical challenge on week one of this series, the metaphorical gauntlet was thrown. I found Mary's Coffee and Walnut version online and set about recreating it. 

 I have one of those cake tins that you can divide in about a million different ways but set it up to do two 2 x 12 inch rectangles that I could cut in half. I had an enormous bag of pecans so substituted these for the walnuts. I have to say that I felt they improved the taste. The coffee sponge, as you can see, was very dark and flavoured with a very strong espresso. The cakes are sandwiched together with espresso buttercream. The marzipan is Regalmarz, I find this rolls out so much more smoothly and evenly than the own-brand stuff you buy in the supermarket for very little extra cost. The cake is finished off with crimpers and a marzipan rose. All in all I am very pleased with how the cake turned out, apart from a slight mishap with one of the coffee sponges where a bit came off the side when removing it from the tin. 

You can find Mary's recipe here. Warning ! Once you have one slice, you won't be able to stop !!! 

Worker's Reward

My reward for 8 hard hours' slog down the plot on Monday !!!

A List Sort of a Day

I thought that I would share my planting list with you today - although this is probably more for my use next year !

Permanent fixtures

Rhubarb

Greenhouse grape - Muscat of Alexandria

Gooseberries - Hinnomaki Yellow, Invicta and Hinnomaki Red

Red and blackcurrants

Jostaberry (Gooseberry x blackcurrant)

Raspberries

Strawberries & alpine strawberries

Boysen, Tay, Logan and Blackberries

Blueberry

Fig

2 apple trees, one unknown varietal and one Cox

1 Victoria plum

1 pear - doyenne de comice

1 cherry - summer sun

.

Herbs

Thyme

Mint

Basil - greek and italian

Oregano & marjoram

Lemon balm

Coriander

Rosemary

Lovage

Borage

Anise Hyssop

Sage

Sweet Woodruff (a german herb delicious in ice-cream, bought especially for my Mum)

Chervil

Tarragon

Dill

Coriander

Summer Savoury

Chives

Parsley - flat and curly leafed

.

In the Greenhouse

Okra

Physalis

Strawberries

Padron Peppers

Galia Melon

Cucumbers - Telegraph (large) and Beth Alpha (mini cues)

Aubergine - Moneymaker

Tomatoes - 4 "strawberry" cherry toms, one beef tomato, 1 roma plum and two unknowns

.

Bed One

Runner beans

Dwarf french beans - Purple Queen and a green variety I've forgotten

Asparagus Peas

Peas - Swift

Sugar Snap Peas

Broad Beans

Nasturtiums

.

Bed Two

Parsnips

Scorzonera

Kohlrabi - Purple Vienna

Beetroot - Detroit

Turnips - Tokyo Cross

Swede

Carrots - Nantes Early and a white variety

Radishes

marigolds

Leeks

.

Bed Three

Onions - Stuttgarter, silverskin and red

Garlic

Shallots - pink french bananas

Bed Four

Cauliflower - Romanesco

Cabbage - Filderkraut

Cavalo Nero

Purple Sprouting Broccoli - Rudolph Early

.

In various areas, containers and pots

Sweetcorn

Brussels Sprouts - a red variety

Potatoes - Red Duke of York, charlotte, pink fir apple, kidney, arran pilot & kestrel

Gherkin

Courgettes - Green Bush and Soleil Golden

Spring Onions

Butternut Squash

Chicory

.

Salads

Mache

Mixed salad leaves

Perilla (japanese leaf)

Pak choi

Lettuces

Purslane

Mibuna and Mizuna

Baby spinach

Growing for a new perennial bed next year:

Artichokes

Asparagus "Connovers Colossal"

Fiddlehead ferns

Wild garlic

Cardoon

Cutting Flowers

Asters

Carnations

gladioli

Freesias

California poppies

Large tall daisies

Irises

Sunflowers

Bush roses

Dahlias

Flowers for the baskets & containers

Lobelia

Allysum

Petunias

Violas

Pansies

First strawberry of the year

I've had an industrious week weeding. Not exactly the most glamorous of pastimes (as my filthy nails will attest) but very necessary to keep my little plants growing well. As a special treat I awarded myself the first strawberry of the year from our greenhouse plants after a particularly dirty evening grubbing out bindweed. It was mouthwateringly delicious. I've also harvested the first salad leaves of the year (see sandwich picture !)

I've finally transplanted the tomatoes and they are really growing well after a good feed with seaweed extract. The cucumbers, aubergine and melon are all in their growing positions now and seem happy. The experimental okra & physalis are both alive and kicking, we even have buds on the okra. I'm now going to put them in a plastic jacket to up the humidity and hopefully encourage some more bushy growth. I've fed my precious grape vine with some potash so hopefully that will encourage some good flavour and growth; the only problem with the grape vine is that there is just so much growth that I don't know where to start thinning. Our fruit trees have all successfully set their fruit so as long as we can keep up a steady supply of water it looks like it's going to be a good year. The gooseberries, currants, raspberries and hybrid berries are all doing really well, apart from the tayberry which seems to have gone on strike and refuses to put forth so much as a leaf.

.

The Red Duke of York potatoes are coming through the soil now; I really must get my maincrop spuds in before it's too late - we're growing Kidney, Kestrel and Pink Fir Apple. I have to say that the last time I grew PFA I was really disappointed so I hope this is a better year.

.

The first sowing of sunflowers have been chomped by mice; hopefully the second sowing will fare somewhat better. The other flower seedlings are doing ok despite being attacked by our cats (bad cats) and the marigolds are soon destined for the root veg bed. I'm also growing nasturtiums and lavender as companion plants for the allotment in the hope that I can attract the bees from the plot opposite. We've got asters, gladioli, dahlias and freesia for cutting although the freesias still need planting. The lobelia, allysum, petunias and violas for the summer baskets have all come up now and just require potting on when someone sends me a few spare minutes and a couple of bags of compost.....

The Old Towner Gallery

Eastbourne's New Towner Gallery is now famous as a Modern Art Gallery throughout the UK. Rumour has it that it is considered one of the best in England. The modernistic structure has been subject to lots of criticism from local residents and the contents of the building have been similarly received. While the upstart continues to go from strength to strength, the old gallery in Gildredge Park, one of the finest Georgian buildings in the South East, is falling into a sad state of disrepair. Ivy now chokes the hedges and the weeds have taken over the garden where I once watched an outdoor production of Hay Fever. The main gallery building, where the works of Eric Ravilious once hung, is now covered in scaffold, graffiti and tarpaulin. The state of the building is now so bad that it has been put on the At Risk register. What a sad end to a once vibrant community building

An estate agent's notice now seeks a builder to convert this beautiful building to flats. Flats, flats, more flats. Why can we not use it for something that we can all enjoy ?

Lynne's Favourite Chicken

The following recipe is one of my Mum's best "cold lunch" offerings. It's is similar in theme to Coronation Chicken but it's much lighter and wetter and, in my opinion, much tastier. It's easy to make and apart from the chicken you can make it pretty much from the contents of your kitchen cupboards. It's very quick to make and gets eaten even quicker. Serve with a rice salad, some lettuce and fresh rolls.

What a Scorcher !

Did you enjoy some of the wonderful weather over the Easter weekend ? We had a lovely time at my in laws and Kitty certainly enjoyed the garden. She burrowed in the mud, attacked my mother-in-law's flowers and threw fallen camellia petals all over the garden ! Her Easter present was a push along lawnmower which she pushed round and round the garden. Apparently it's only suitable for over 3s..........

The allotment is taking shape well and our boysenberry is particularly bonny with lots of foliage and flowers. I finally managed to get the redcurrant and blackcurrant bushes planted in the fruit frame. You can imagine my surprise, when digging the hole for the redcurrant, to find that I had dug right into the middle of an ant nest. The currant seems to be suffering no ill effects as yet.

We have experimented with growing okra this year; as it's notoriously bad tempered I was worried when I transplanted the seedlings into the greenhouse. This worry appeared justified when I went down the following day to water them - they had all flopped. Fortunately they seem to have perked up now and are packing on some new growth. I also transplanted the physalis and padron pepper seedlings over the weekend and they are also looking happy in their new homes. Our grape vine resembles something out of Day of the Triffids and I am soon going to have to thin out the immature grape bunches.

The seeds I sowed last week (dill, borage, salad leaves, broad beans, snow & asparagus peas, brussels, leeks, courgette and gherkins) are a bit of a mixed bag. The beans and peas are resolutely refusing to budge an inch, the herbs are doing well and the courgette is already on it's 2nd set of leaves.

It all sounds great, doesn't it. Industrious.What you can't see is the two raised beds growing only weeds, the huge box of seeds still to be sown, the chitting potatoes that need planting out into an as-yet undetermined area, the tomato seedlings that desperately need transplanting and the myriad of other jobs on the Allotment To Do List. Oh well, maybe this year will be the one where I get my wish of an extra 2 hours in the day.....

Snack time with Kitty Part 1

I used to buy "energy balls" from our local health food shop for my daughter as a snack. She absolutely loved them but at £1.45 a pop they didn't feature on the menu too often ! Fortunately for the food budget I found a recipe in an old Good Food magazine which I have adapted to suit me. It's dead easy and only takes a few minutes to whizz together and even better, costs only about £7 for the whole recipe. All you need is a food processor.

100g blanched whole almonds

500g ready to eat whole dried figs

80g diced ready to eat apricots

2 tbsp mixed seeds - hemp, linseed, pumpkin, sesame etc

50g dried blueberries

1 tbsp honey

generous pouring of pollen grains (you can buy these in health food shops)

toasted coconut to coat

Process the almonds until roughly chopped and tip into a bowl. Whizz the figs in a processor until it forms a rather unpleasant looking paste. Tip the figgy squidge into the almonds with the other ingredients and get in amongst it with your hands to mix it all up. Form into small balls and roll in coconut. Makes about 20-24. Store in an airtight container. You can adapt the fruit/seeds/nuts to suit your tastes

"Yummy, Mummy !"

Butterfly cake

My most recent commission, a 60th birthday cake with four layers of coffee and walnut sponge finished with coffee mousseline. I had recently bought Peggy Porschen's "Romantic Cakes" and liked her 3D butterflies so my brief of "do what you like" was ideal to give it a whirl. I thought it would be nice to give a step by step in pictures.

From left to right - trimmed and coated cake ready to cover; royal icing butterfly outlines done with no2 nozzle; flooded butterflies drying under a 100 watt lamp to make the icing shiny

Drying butterflies with their bodies piped in and wings supported with kitchen roll; completed butterflies sunning their wings !

"Keep heart, you're still en route"

Michael Caines has held 2 stars at Gidleigh for as long as I have been interested in food yet despite several holidays in Devon in recent years I had never eaten there. In April we stayed in Ivybridge and made the torturous trek over the moors to Gidleigh in honour of my husbands 31st. And what a journey ! The driveway itself is narrow, long and winding; indeed it's so long that they have even erected a notice assuring you that you've not gone wrong. But once the valley opens out and you see the beautiful Arts and Crafts house complete with the rocky River Teign at its feet you forget the past 2 hours of driving hell.

Once inside it feels like you're in a du Maurier novel. Rich oak panelling is everywhere and the soft furnishings are chintzy without being twee. We settled into a couple of comfy wing chairs in the lounge and looked out over the gardens. Champagne was poured, the menu arrived and canapés, goats cheese mousse with caramelised walnut vinaigrette and chicken roulade with herb purée, were enjoyed.

The restaurant itself is split into 3 separate rooms, a nice arrangement which made the whole experience feel much more intimate. We shared our area with two other couples, one of which provided much entertainment (man to waitress "which part of Germany are you from ?" Waitress "I'm French"). Our table overlooked the lovely gardens and the sounds of the river babbling along made a pleasant change from the usual background muzak.

Bread is served with your own basket left on the table so you don't have to be ashamed of your greed in wanting to try one of each of the three breads (baguette, sundried tomato and burnt bran). The amuse on our visit was nettle and wild garlic soup - made with foraged ingredients from the gardens. Our starters, complete with standard "michelin-ey" presentation, were terrine of chicken with truffle and leek salad and seafood salad with lemon purée and chorizo foam. This came with some tender samphire spears which are always a delicious treat. Main courses were Cornish duckling with red cabbage, apple & spiced jus and Cornish cod with cauliflower, lemon thyme and cumin velouté. Both delicious. My cod came with an interesting looking leafy thing which was, apparently, wood sorrel, gathered from.... the garden. Obviously chef is heavily into foraging.

The cheeseboard here is fabulous, the best I think I've ever encountered, with an inspired selection of cheeses ranging from locals to Mimolette and a Corsican cheese that I had only encountered previously in books (Fleur de Maquis). The man that served the cheeses was extremely knowledgable which is unusual, even in restaurants of this calibre. The cheese was served with dried fruit, raisin bread and homemade membrillo jelly (a bit too solid for my taste, too much like pâte de fruits and rather lacking in the spreadability factor).

We followed our cheese with pistachio soufflé & pistachio ice cream. At this point the meal took a slight veer off it's "perfect meal" course; the soufflé was (as it should be) perfect but the ice cream was a bit disappointing. The pastry chef had been a bit heavy handed with the Sevarome and the ice cream tasted rather too artificial for my liking. Unctuous yes but not exciting. The second disappointment came in the petits fours. Call me old-fashioned but I like to see nougat, truffles, tuiles, fudge, marshmallow etc served with coffee; sadly the coffee accompaniments here are miniature desserts. They were delicious (pannacotta, beignet with crème anglaise and passionfruit tartlet) but they were what I would expect to be served as a pre-dessert, not a petit four. A small complaint I know but I was thoroughly looking forward to an exciting selection of candies :( So Restaurant Lallement in Reims retains the Petit Four trophy. I wonder if it will ever be beaten.

Petty pastry chef niggles aside we had a fantastic lunch in a delightful setting. It could never be described as a cheap lunch (especially as you need about a tank of petrol just to get up the driveway) but it certainly is great value at £45.

http://www.gidleigh.com/