I’ve wanted to make a beery-chocolatey cake for ages as a result of seeing a bottle of Young’s Double Chocolate Stout and knowing it was destined for baking. Throw into that desire, the Chocolate Hearts I had sent to me and the deal was done. I saw Nigella’s recipe for a Guinness chocolate cake in ‘Feast’, but was worried it would sink dramatically in the middle and didn’t know whether my little heart could take a sinking cake again.
Then I saw one (that was pretty much the same) on Epicurious and saw the amount of reviews, which led me to Smitten Kitchen.
That was a long journey, but good recipes almost always involve this. Is it worth making? Would I make it again? Yes and yes. In fact, I made another batch the next day, so that should tell you all you need to know.
Continue reading 'Chocolate, Double-Chocolate Stout Cupcakes'»
Cheesecake! With raspberries from our garden no less! I was hoping this one I slightly fiddled with from Olive magazine would be a very dense cheesecake, but it wasn’t quite dense enough for my liking. Everyone else said it was perfectly dense thankyouverymuch and that the problem laid not with the cheesecake but with my insistence that it should be denser. It was very, very nice though. I inhaled more than one slice and even had a little weep when Alex ate the last sliver. I was so sure that he wouldn’t want it. If you can smell burning, that’s my martyrdom ablaze. No darling, really… you enjoy it.
I will tell you this though. I have a new favourite ever in the whole world alcoholic beverage. My heart truly belongs to Muscat de Beaumes de Venice, but there is a contender for the crown. A serious contender. Chambord. Black raspberry liqueur.
I can’t rave about this enough. It is the most intensely flavoured liqueur; it’s heady with fragrance and every single person I have forced to sniff the bottle has said ‘mmmmmmmmmmmm!’. I rarely let them taste it because it is so expensive, but a fingerdip usually has them reeling. I defy you not to run out and buy an orb-shaped, golden belted bottle should you be offered a sniff.
Anyway, I added a mere 1 tablespoon of Chambord to the cheesecake and it seriously propped up and enhanced the raspberry flavour; next time I might even add two. Scandalous.
No, what really is scandalous is that when I added the tablespoon to the cheesecake and flung the spoon to one side to be washed up, there was a microscopic film of it covering the spoon so I licked it clean. Better than necking it straight from the bottle, but barely.
Buy a bottle and rave about it with me would you? Please?
Continue reading 'Raspberry Baked Cheesecake'»
I had most of a pot of sour cream left over, so I had to make something with it, right? Luckily, I still have a little left over, so I can sense some fajitas in the not-so-distant future.
I wanted a really cinnamon flavoured cake, but I didn’t want to put any nuts in it, so this was the answer. Moist, tender crumbed, cinnamon-y enough to satisfy – more than a nice way to use up sour cream.
Continue reading 'Cinnamon Sour Cream Cake'»
Moist, sticky, sweet but fiery pieces of succulent chicken, nestling with languid red onion and red pepper, bathed in sour cream and wrapped in the warm blanket of a tortilla. The Fajitas. Surely one of the finest English recipes ever to take the Americas by storm.
Shakespeare and Dickens both make reference to this inventive dish. The tragedy is that no one recognises its true English origins*. Not until now, anyway.
So, fair maidens and Noblemen, this way for the receipt for Fajitas.
* None of this is true.
Continue reading 'Ye Olde English Fajitas'»
First of the offerings from our get together at the beach is a delicious chocolate fudge cake.
We had such a laugh; it was one of those days that leaves you smiling for ages afterwards, I keep giggling at the memory. Just perfect.
So, to the cake. This is very loosely ( hardly at all) adapted from a favourite book of mine – ‘Diner Desserts’ by Tish Boyle.
Continue reading 'Chocolate Fudge Cake'»
Comments (9) 
