Fold in the Flour ...

January is always a grey month. The glow of Christmas and New Year celebrations rapidly fades and gives way to the gloom of a season that at this point in the year seems endless. There are times when I get in from the school run and just want to curl up under a soft, snuggly blanket with Sam, feet entwined as we watch some of his favourite tv while gossiping about our days and what he got up to at school. There'll be a whirlwind of activity a bit later, when the others arrive home from their respective days. Early enough so that we'll catch the last fading of the sun before we hunker down for another night. A necessary part of this is our evening cuppa. Hot, sweet and steaming, and best accompanied by a little something to soak it up. This is a cake for that time. Reminiscent of carrot cake, the veg helps it feel virtuously right for the New Year. It's not overly sweet and there's a little warmth from the ginger and spice. A hit of citrus in the cream che...

Our little man / devil  turned six this week. Six.  EEK!! Apart from us now having an increasingly precocious six-going-on-sixteen year old, it also means this blog is very nearly six too. I just feel like I really don't know where that time has gone, y'know? It only feels like yesterday that I was on maternity leave with Sam, overwhelmed and overtired and trying to find a creative outlet to keep myself sane.  So much has happened since then. And I think there's definite truth in the saying that time speeds up the older you get. Now I'm at the point of knocking on the door of 50, birthdays seem to fly by. Anyway, enough of that. It's also a universal truth that whatever the birthday, anniversary or occasion, you can't really go far wrong with a chocolate cake. Especially when it's as rich, fudgey and, well, chocolatey as this one. This is my all time, favourite chocolate incarnation, hacked from David Liebovitz...

  A coffee shop without some sort of coffee cake on offer seems wrong, to me at least. Since starting our own place, I've tried out a few. It's my go-to order when indulging in checking out the competition. And I have to say that good coffee cake can be hard to find. Sometimes, the coffee flavour is too overwhelming.  Sometimes, especially if walnuts are involved, I find the nuts too bitter alongside the coffee - which can be bitter as well. And I'm not a fan of overly sweet icing. As with most things, I like to be caressed. Personal quibbles, I know, but my tastebuds thank me.  I guess it's all a question of balance.  When I'm baking for Sweet, I like to vary recipes and change things up regularly. Coffee cakes on offer have included Mocha Meringue , a Chocca Mocca Layer, and sometimes, Cappucino Cupcakes. But by far a favourite in the shop, and one which usually features on a weekly basis at least, is Coffee and Pecan Cake. I...

Hmmm. So, it's been nearly a year?  My resolutions and good intentions don't seem to count for much, do they? All I can say is that stuff happened. And look marginally shame-faced, at least.  Anyway, if there is anyone left to read this, I thought I'd pop by, wish you a Happy New 2017, and show a few highlights of our 2016.  It's been a busy - and complex - year. Our coffee shop is still there, nestled in the heart of Whitchurch in Cardiff. We still specialise in artisan cakes and sweet treats (yeah - get me - I think I've started to value my 'talent' sufficiently to call it artisan).  We do other things though, such as paninis and home made soup, and aim to use local Welsh food producers where we can. Our bread is from Brutons - one of the oldest bakeries in Cardiff - and our meat comes from a farm in the Vale of Glamorgan sold at our local butcher. I use Bacheldre Mill flour for baking. Welsh and proud.  All good, all good. Birthda...

Oh my goodness! Where has time gone? Is it really January? 2016? I'm so sorry - I'm clearly guilty of neglecting this blog, mainly due to being incredibly tired and/or busy. 12 months' of sleep deprivation got in the way. Anyway, as a few of you were kind enough to enquire how things are going (waving to you Gem and Denise), I thought I'd post an update on our foray into small business. Firstly, the purchase of the shop took much longer than we'd anticipated. It's really not that clear to us why, other than solicitors and surveyors etc seem to operate in an entirely different time zone of their own. Sometimes gobsmackingly so. To give an example, our solicitor had the nerve to say to us in early December: "Oh well, as we won't complete before Christmas now, I suppose there's no rush ...".  No, it's only that this deal has been dragging on for six months now, and Mike and I need to get on, get with it and hopefully s...