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By Anna, 2 July, 2010 11:13 am

Oooh I love the sharpness of lemon drizzle cake – the sharpness contrasting with the sweet tender crumb, the sticky syrup that drenches it and I’m helpless to resist crystallised rose petals and violets. This is a Nigella Lawson recipe and it works perfectly every time.

I haven’t got a picture of it sliced because I made it for Alex’s school Summer Fair ‘Guess the weight of the cake’ competition. I was about to start when it hit me. It’s a loaf cake made in a 450g tin. Oh dear. That would kind of give the weight away, non? So I got out my long tin (30x11cm), did 1½ quantity and all was well.

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By Anna, 18 June, 2010 3:39 pm

The problem is that I rave about pretty much each new recipe I make, so how to convey the deliciousness of peach pie? Hmm, that’s not such a toughie; it’s deliciously peachy.

The pastry is a recipe of Nigel Slater’s – he calls it Shortcake pastry and it certainly is. It’s more of a batter than a dough and is as delicious as the filling.
I didn’t want a run of the mill pastry because early peaches can be a bit tart and I don’t really care for unsweetened pastry with fruit. Equally, I didn’t want to go the whole hog and make the shortbread pastry – too much of a treat and flavoured in its own right. So this pastry is the perfect compromise. A slight crumbly quality to the edges and a melt in the mouth joy to the middle.

Peaches, well the scent of peaches is the most evocative of Summer smells. Impulse buys used to be handbag and shoe related, now they consist of punnets of peaches. My, how this woman has changed.

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By Anna, 26 May, 2010 10:20 am

Or should it be Muesola?
Yes that’s right – granola meets muesli.
Before now, I have made muesli and I have also made granola. Muesli is great, fine, but I’m not the biggest fan of dried fruits, so my options are limited. Granola is great, very nice in fact, but can be too hard or too chewy and I hate the thought of over-developed jaw muscles. So unseemly…
Wouldn’t it be nice, I pondered, to have the concept of Granola in a more muesli form…

So I tried and I liked it. Oh, yes, I liked it. Slightly sweetened with that toasted oat flapjack aroma; it’s nutritious and tasty. It’s versatile too – change the fruit, increase or omit the nuts, change the sweetness… whatever rings your bell.

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By Anna, 30 March, 2010 8:49 am

This Sticky Date cake is effectively a boiled fruit cake, but as it’s egg-free and uses a tin of condensed milk, I was intrigued. It’s a recipe from ‘The Hairy Bikers: Mums know best’ and was given to them by someone they met. When Mum looked at the recipe, she recognised it as one of Delia Smith’s, so if ever you needed evidence that recipes do the rounds, then here you have it.

I have to say, I’m not sure that ‘sticky’ is the perfect word. It is sticky, but more than that, it’s moist and flavourful. The condensed milk gives it a hint of caramel and richness. As I say so frequently that I bore even myself, it is easy to do. It’s fun to do too – not least because the unappetising gunk in the saucepan transforms into quite possibly the nicest fruitcake ever.

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By Anna, 6 December, 2009 11:17 am

Slightly adapted from ‘The Pastry Queen’, this recipe makes the ultimate cheese scone; served warm with gently melting salted butter, this is the most satisfying savoury tea.

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By Anna, 7 November, 2009 1:28 pm

This recipe is from ‘Delicious’ magazine’s Dec 2009 edition. It is very delicious. Very delicious indeed. Mum made it last week; it took just one bite for me to shove the magazine in my handbag and scurry home to make one for us as well.

Moist, moist, moist, plummy, fudgey with marzipan and some chopped nuts for an additional texture.
Not just that, this genuinely works as a cake. It isn’t a ‘best served warm’ cake, it is a proper cake. Likewise, if you serve it warm, it is a real pudding.
A really clever recipe that comes together without a lot of fuss. In addition to all this, it can be frozen. That is pretty marvellous at this time of year – you never know when you’re going to need a cake or pudding on standby.

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By Anna, 31 October, 2009 10:21 am

Wild Mushrooms? Wild?! They were livid! Actually, they weren’t wild because they came from the supermarket, but let’s not be pedantic.

So. Wild and livid?  There’s nothing to get worked up about when making this lovely soup. There’s no getting away from the mushroom flavour. This is mushroom soup that wears a big sign saying, ‘I am SO a Mushroom soup’. Super.

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By Anna, 29 October, 2009 7:24 pm

The original recipe from ‘Olive’ magazine uses Pedro Ximenez sherry; it’s an absolutely delicious Sherry with a very raisin-y taste, but I didn’t have any on hand; instead, my larder boasted a big bottle of Marsala and frankly, what is there to dislike about that?

A boozy cake, but boozy without being rasping or obnoxious.
This cake isn’t the lashed-up lout who pushes over your dustbin on a Saturday night and then vomits over your Winter pansies, no, no. It is the elderly Aunt who, on a Sunday lunchtime visit, has a revealing whiff of something floral and fortified about her, who wears unusual jewellery and asks you about boys you like.  Cool, elegant and engaging. Most excellent.

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By Anna, 22 October, 2009 6:58 pm

AKA American buttermilk pancakes with banana slices in them… drowned in maple syrup.  Oh, yes please!

My Mum and MIL dined on these in Hong Kong when I was a toddler, the memory remained and the recipe, whilst it has morphed with input from both Mum and me over the years (decades actually, eek!) is still as sigh-inducing as always. I often wonder what I was eating whilst they stuffed banana hotcakes down their throats. Probably best not to know, really. It would only be upsetting.

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By Anna, 20 October, 2009 4:10 pm

Liquid Autumn.

Warming, vaguely sweet, easy and delicious. My butternut squash cost me £1 and I have a saucepan full of soup that will freeze well, so I should have added economical to its list of attributes.

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