Fold in the Flour ...

I hate to say it but over the last couple of weeks, I really lost interest in baking. And blogging. And doing anything that even remotely involved removing myself from the sofa. I've just had one of those months. It's been full of downs with very few ups (apart from Cardiff City FC finally reaching the Premier League as Champions, and my first Clandestine Cake Club meet). We are still dealing with the aftermath of bereavement, and it is amazing how much there is to do when you least feel like it. Plus I've been ill this week. Scarily ill, in that what appeared to be a minor illness deteriorated rapidly and knocked me for six to the point where my GP began talking about hospital. (That never happens to me so it was a shock but, thankfully, I've improved almost as quickly).  So on Thursday, when my copy of the newly published 'John Whaite Bakes' arrived at my door, I was, like, 'meh'. Interestingly, it's tagged as 'Recipes fo...

What with the 'Merry Christmas' ribbon, I'm a little late with these, I know. I made them on Christmas Eve as a last minute bake. I thought they would be perfect as a little home-made gift for some friends. And as it happens, they taste really good. So ignore the ribbon. They are perfect at any time of year. The cranberries meld beautifully with the pistachios and white chocolate. I suppose, with their red, white and green vibe, they could be the perfect Welsh cookie for St David's Day. So maybe I'm in fact early? Cranberry, Pistachio and White Chocolate Cookies Ingredients (makes 16) 75g softened unsalted butter 75g golden caster sugar 75g soft light brown sugar 1 medium egg 1 tspn vanilla extract 175g plain flour 1/2 tspn baking powder 60g dried cranberries 60g pistachios, chopped 60g white chocolate chips Preheat the oven to 160 Fan / 180 Conventional / 350 F / Gas 4. Line a couple of baking trays with baking parchment (or ju...

   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 ...

This was a recipe I found flicking through one of my baking books 'Taste. Whoopie Pies, Cookies and Macaroons' and adapted slightly. Given that I still have the glut of cranberries which led to Cranberry and Pistachio Biscotti I have been on the look out for something that would be a new addition to the cranberry using repetoire. These fit the bill perfectly. As Valentine's is coming up, I made them heart shaped (they are stars in the original recipe) and added some decoration by way of white chocolate and red glimmer sugar. They are really good, and the cranberry is a great contrast to the sweetness of the chocolate. Here's the recipe. Ingredients (makes 15-20) 325g plain flour, sifted 200g unsalted butter 125g caster sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 large egg yolks 110g dried cranberries To decorate: 100g white chocolate, chopped (or use buttons) red glimmer sugar (I got mine from Asda) Rub in the butter to the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. ...

I've been playing around with some baking ideas for Valentine's Day for some weeks now, and this was my first attempt at making some of them a reality. It also gave me the opportunity to try out some cute heart shaped foil baking cups I found in my local kitchenware store. These cupcakes are made using the Amaretto Cupcake and Frosting recipes from the Primrose Bakery Book. I've made a few of their recipes before, so was fairly confident the sponge would work (while delicious, the sponge was a bit dense for me), but the buttercream turned out a bit runny, so if making again, I would adapt the recipe to not include as much liquid. The little chocolate love hearts were made using one of my new toys - a silicone chocolate mold from Lakeland in the shape of little 'love hearts'. This was the first time I had melted chocolate to make decorations (I love doing this blog - it's making me try so many new things!). The one thing I learnt from this is the importa...