Fold in the Flour ...

   The scent of vanilla always evokes for me memories of my childhood; guzzling ice cream cornets on the beach at Barry Island. I seem to use vanilla so often though, these days, that it has become an essential part of my own kitchen. So when I was recently offered the opportunity by the folks at Quirk Books to review Shauna Sever's latest book, Pure Vanilla , I jumped at it. Shauna is a blogger-come-cookbook-writer, blogging at Piece Of Cake , whose first offering, Marshmallow Madness, was one I snapped up after reading some very delicious sounding blog posts about it. Pure Vanilla is her second book, and explores the beautiful and complex spice 'from orchid to extract'.   It's a fascinating insight into something I must admit, have grown complacent over, as it's fairly easy to obtain good quality vanilla extract on your supermarket shelves, even if the price can make you wince. But when you discover just how vanilla is produced, from the pollination ...

It's clearly turning into American month on Fold in the Flour, as this particular Bundt cake is again inspired by the US. I've recently blogged Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes for the Cupcake Book Club. They went down so well, I wanted to try another chocolate and peanut butter recipe. Flicking through some of my baking books, I came across this one, from a little book called 'Cake Keeper Cakes' , by Lauren Chattman. The idea being that the cakes in the book can be kept on your counter top for a few days, in one of those glorious covered cake plates (sadly I don't have one of those, so tupperware for me!). However, I love the idea of the genteel hospitality this evokes, with friends and family dropping around for a cup of tea, slice of cake and a chat. As a side issue, in case you're not aware of this, Cardiff has a fantastic shopping centre, particularly if you're a cookery enthusiast. Whether you love cookware gadgetry, ingredients or farmer...

If you have developed an interest in baking, it probably won't be long before you come across an American recipe that you want to try. I have a number of favourites, but remember when I first tackled one. There were a number of differences that I had to get used to. I thought it might help to post about them, particularly as I'll no doubt be blogging about recipes that I have tried! The first thing I want to mention is a fantastically useful little book, 'The Pocketbook Guide to American Cooking in England' by Dolores Jones, which cost me £3.99. I got my copy of it from Amazon some time ago, and the website is currently showing it as temporarily unavailable. I don't know if it's out of print, but if you can get your hands on one I'd recomend it. I know that you can probably find most of the information on the web, but I've found it realy handy to have a paper copy of the conversion charts, and other things it contains, alongside my cookbook ...