Fold in the Flour ...

Is it really June already? Has May been and gone? Oh, God. I feel a bit like John Lennon when he told Yoko that he was only going out for a packet of fags. It seems that time is getting the better of me at the moment. There just seems to be too much to do and not enough time to do it. Anyway, I hope you've all been having a great time - especially as we seem to have had a bit of summer at last. So after my impromptu break, I managed to get back into the kitchen today and tried my hand at some new recipes. This one is a gorgeously moreish layer cake. It uses spelt flour and toasted, ground hazelnuts to give a lovely, nutty taste to the sponge which is lifted by the tang of lemon zest. I used a cream cheese frosting to balance out some of the sugar, and as you can see, the top is loaded with fresh, juicy blueberries.   I really loved the combination of flavours. Very nice with an afternoon cuppa. Hazelnut, Lemon and Blueberry Layer Cake ( adapted fro...

Apparently, it's cupcake month. Well, according to Food Network and a few others. (I must be a bit odd then as it seems every month is cupcake month in our house.) Anyway, I came across a new recipe the other day that I wanted to try, as it involved toffee and caramel. Two of my favourite flavours. But it was the salted caramel that really caught my attention. It's something I've always wanted to try making but have never got around to it. I had a bit of a nudge the other week though. Now, I suspect like anyone else that is interested in baking, I have been hooked to the latest series of Great British Bake Off , currently on BBC2 . It's hard not to sympathise with the contestants when they are put through their paces on one of the technical challenges, or are under the pressure of having to produce a showstopping bake against the clock in an unfamiliar oven. Last week's episode had them making cremé caramels for the technical challenge, and there was muc...

Tonight, the Games of the XXX Olympiad begin and the Olympic Cauldron will be lit over the city of London. For the next 17 days, it will burn brightly as a symbol of the Olympic movement and its ideals:    "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well." Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic movement. I've always loved the romanticism of the Olympics, and especially the flame. Who can forget the opening ceremony of the Barcelona Olympics, when an archer fired a flaming arrow over the cauldron, which then ignited? So, when Laura of Laura Loves Cakes and Rachel of Dolly Bakes announced that this month's Calendar Cakes challenge (hosted by Laura) was based on the Olympics, I didn't have to think too long about what I wanted to do. Inspired by the orange of the flame, I decided to do an orange flavoured and coloured frosting, with a cho...