Sweet Recipes
Bliss Balls
This time of year I find half-bags of dried fruit in the kitchen cupboard left over from various Christmas baking projects... and I am also looking forward to school lunches and hoping I can do a better job of putting healthy stuff in the box... bliss balls are the...
One day – two cakes
It’s nice to have a few great cakes recipes up your sleeve, isn’t it? And although a classic Victoria sponge remains one of my favourites (with tart plum jam in the middle and a sprinkle of caster sugar on top), I am also keen to find new favourites. Inspired by...
Tree-ripened fruit
My husband just gently pushed half a tree-ripened apricot into my mouth… If you have never eaten tree-ripened fruit then you need to know you are seriously missing out. The taste is incomparible to what you will buy in the supermarket. The apricot tasted almost as...
The essence of summer
When we were down in Christchurch the other day, it was so hot that we had the windows of the car down. Wafts of warm air kept coming into the car with a subtle floral scent… elderflowers! What a beautiful smell… the epitomy of summer. We pulled up on the side of the...
Children’s birthday cakes – rise to the challenge
Children’s birthdays in general can be a bit of a minefield... expectations are so high on behalf of both the child and the parents and one of the biggest challenges is how to make a birthday cake that will compare favourably with those that have come before… We go...
Is it time to leave courgettes on people’s doorsteps (and run away before they can say ‘no’)?
I swear I only took my eye off the courgette plant for a couple of days! Now, I have huge courgette beasts lumbering into my kitchen... how do I turn them into food? I looked online and found a great article by one of my favourite food writers, Nigel Slater. Here is...