palmiers

Had bookclub last week Thursday and wanted to make something savoury. I opted for the palmiers because they didn't look like too much work. In hindsight they weren't hugely successful. I used the recipe from the Canape's book by Eric Treuille (DK) - sundried tomato pesto. And although you make the pesto yourself, I felt it was too chunky (it is difficult to finely chop sundried tomatoes) and the garlic was overwhelming (my fault, I was heavy handed). They were demolished - not one left - but felt that they lacked a refinedness. Will try again sometime.

Hummingbird Banana loaf

Christa made banana loaf yesterday which was just scrummy - light and smooth with a good crumb. Not too stodgy. Really delish!

Nigella - chocolate guiness cake

Jackie's 40th called for Nigella's Chocolate Guiness Cake. The frosting is cream cheese, icing sugar and whipping cream - light and sweet and a perfect topping to this dense, moist chocolatey extravaganza.

Hummingbird Bakery: Strawberry Cupcakes

The coming together of two great institutions - Hummingbird Bakery and Park Side Farm in Enfield has meant that we were able to produce this fab creation. Granny & Grandpa are visiting so we went to do some PYO at our local, Parkside. We picked punnets and punnets of strawbs (honestly, you can't believe how much we came home with!) and I'd got the Hummingbird recipe off Charlotte. It took a day or two to get all the ingredients prepped and little people at the ready, but we now have a plate of 15 cupcakes with strawberries at the bottom, vanilla sponge on top of that, and then a cream cheese icing topping, finished with crumbled digestive biscuits. The combination of which is quite sublime.

ouma rusk recipe

I've been faithfully buying Ouma Rusks from one or another South African Shop for the past 12 years. They are terribly pricey for what you get, and I have a few recipes so could make them myself. On the off-chance I thought I'd hunt online and see what I could find under 'Ouma Rusk Recipe'. I have made a batch using a recipe by a South African blogger - they are buttermilk based without any extras. They're not quite as dry and crisp as my mum's (or Ouma's for that matter), but will suffice. It may be my fan-assisted oven, but after two "dryings" they still aren't bone dry, so I've decided to eat them as is.
Mum's recipe has All Bran flakes in it and sunflower seeds. I think this will be my next port of call.

logo for little cupcake home business

My friend, Keira, has her own baking business which makes cupcakes and birthday/occasional cakes. I've designed a logo for her, stickers and a flyer. It's been great fun:)

apple streusel cake

Hummingbird Bakery are fabulous.
The hype is entirely justified.

sponge base, covered in granny smith slices and topped with streusel

citrus cheesecake

The wonderful people that publish Australian Women's Weekly's cookery books, have produced a book on cakes, cookies and cheesecakes. We were having friends for dinner last week and I had two pots of Philadelphia cream cheese in the fridge. It was meant to be. I made citrus cheesecake topped with blue berries. Absolutely awesome first cheesecake attempt. ever.