Whisky cake with chestnut and chocolate ganache

Hip hip hooray! Today is T and Cake’s 2nd birthday! Wow, where have the last two years gone? So much has happened over that time and hopefully there are many more adventures to come. My new kitchen units have arrived (all 120 boxes) and hopefully I’ll soon be busy experimenting with new toys and fancy settings on the oven. I’ve also had the good fortune to get an allotment which will require rather a lot of heavy duty digging over winter but should provide some beautiful fresh ingredients come next summer. But what is a blog without people to read it? Here’s to you, kind readers. Thank you for stopping by, leaving comments and making this blog what it is. I’m sorry not to be able to share this birthday cake with you in person but we can celebrate in spirit. Cheers!

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Grapefruit and ginger-ade

Making fresh fruit drinks is one of the joys of summer; on a warm day nothing tastes quite as good as a cold glass of lemonade or, in this case, pink grapefruit-ade spiked with ginger syrup. Not only is it pretty and bang-on-trend coral pink but it has a delicate, refreshing flavour which is a lovely pick-me-up after a day spent outside in the sun. It’s also a fab alcohol-free drink to offer your designated-driver guests; it makes a refreshing (haha) change from Coke and J2O.

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Three citrus meringue pie

Every so often I find myself craving a particular food after reading a (non-cook) book. Joanne Harris’ Five Quarters of the Orange made me yearn for fruit tarts and cherry liqueur and Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson brought on a porridge fest. From a very early age I found recipe inspiration from literature; I remember asking my mum to let me make stone soup and trying my hardest to imagine what the Hot-Cold Goodies in Enid Blyton’s Magic Faraway Tree tasted like. I wonder how many foodies start off this way, obsessing about food before they even start school? I even used to get excited by pictures of food; I adored the idea of the Very Hungry Caterpillar munching his way through fruit, ice cream and cake.

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Portuguese orange cake

I know I’m very late to the party in buying David Leite’s wonderful book The New Portuguese Table but better late than never eh? Since treating myself last month I’ve been working my way through some Portuguese delights such as a lighter version of mayonnaise flavoured with ginger and corriander and an unusual but delicious milk liqueur. We’ve been through quite a number of eggs, a lot of chorizo and dozens of oranges and enjoyed every recipe. Unfortunately for the UK cook, the recipes all use cups – not a problem if you have a set but it does create more washing up. I’ve been converting to grams as I go so the following recipe is scale-friendly.

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Baked feta with chickpea, orange and beetroot salad

Nigel Slater is my cooking hero, he is a master of simple dishes that make the most of everyday ingredients. He values fresh, seasonal ingredients and seems to write recipes that encourage you to nip out into the garden or rummage through the fridge for a few choice ingredients that might otherwise go overlooked. This super little salad is a prime example, I had all the ingredients lurking in the kitchen but would never have though to put them together in one bowl. I really want to develop my cooking intuition and to be able to pair flavours as well as Mr Slater. It’s a long shot, but by making recipes like this, I am slowly learning to be more experimental in the kitchen.

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Orange and pistachio flapjack

It dawned on me that I only have three months to get myself ready for my first ever half marathon in aid of Diabetes UK and I’m starting to feel quite intimidated by the whole thing. I’ve got myself into a good routine of three runs a week, two slightly shorter and one long run at the weekend when I have a bit more free time. But as I’m increasing my distances I’m also increasingly suffering from ‘the hunger’. This Saturday gone I got home after an 8 mile cross-country run (in the snow!) and ended up diving into the biscuit tin which I’m sure is not the cleverest way to refuel. I felt hungry the rest of the day and ended up snacking on whatever I could get my mitts on. I realised that I need to have something on hand for just such an occasion that will satisfy my sweet cravings but will also have enough slow-release energy to keep me going until my next meal.

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Cranberry and orange scones with cinnamon buter

Have you decided what to have for breakfast on Christmas morning? (Or am I weird for planning this sort of thing in advance?) Let me make a suggestion; something special but not too heavy, freshly baked but easy and quick to make leaving you free to sip on Buck’s Fizz and open presents. This year we’ll be tucking into warm spiced scones, studded with juicy cranberries and orange zest spread with sweet cinnamon butter. Sounds like a lot of work? Not at all! Just sneak them out of the freezer into the oven and let them bake while you make coffee.

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Raspberry and orange brownies

Walking down the chocolate aisle at my local store (always a dangerous task!) I noticed how many bars there are that contain fruit. We’re way beyond the classic Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut with bars featuring lemon meringue, banana, strawberry, cranberries and dates. I’m not sure I’m really too convinced by some of the pairings, I tend to find chocolate and fruit don’t always go but some are rather fab. Montezumas make the most amazing orange and geranium dark chocolate bar and the brilliantly named Sea Dog bar with sea salt and lime. And I love Divine‘s  70% chocolate dotted with tart raspberries.

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Chocolate orange tart

The orange trees in Rome were covered in fruit, I was so tempted just to reach up and pick one. But having already attracted attention by taking pictures of a tree  I don’t think stealing oranges would have done me any favours! Fortunately I picked up some lovely oranges which were on offer at the greengrocer back home and used them to make this gorgeous twist on a custard tart.

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Marrow rum, phase two

I’ve decided that it is now time to proceed to phase two of the marrow rum project and, unlike the underpants gnomes*, I sort of know what I’m doing. I’ve been feeling up my marrows every few days and for the last week or so they’ve been making the spare room smell a little boozy. Once the marrows were very, very soft – to the point that I though the skins were going to give out at the slightest movement – I cut them out of the tights and pierced the bottoms to drain the liquid. Once I’d caught all the juice I mashed the softened flesh through a sieve and strained it through a jelly bag to remove any bits. I stirred in the juice of an orange, soft brown sugar and some more yeast  before decanting it all into my home-made demijohn.

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