This is stupidly easy but the end result is so gorgeously wicked. With just a few steps, you end up with a generous slab of chocolate studded with whatever treats you like. I loved the jewel like appearance and chewiness of the dried fruit with some crunch from sunflower seeds (well basically I used what I had[read more…]
These are so easy to whip up. I love how the chocolate chunks were all melty warm from the oven. I used a friand tin to make them a bit fancier but a normal muffin tin will do.
So I whipped up an autumn inspired luscious squidgy pudding full of caramel, apples, cream and brioche. So good with thick cream!
I don’t bake with poppy seeds enough so thought I’d throw some in a citrus loaf cake I baked a while back. Poppy seeds give a tiny little satisfying crunch in this zesty loaf in which I replaced some of the flour with almond meal; almond meal adds a soft texture I love in cakes. Initially I planned[read more…]
I spotted an easy, tasty looking lentil salad some time back by David Lebovitz via Ann’s blog. This is simple, healthy, full of flavour and easy to whip up for for work lunches, particularly if you already have the cooked lentils in the freezer, as I did.
I’m really into home-made teriyaki sauce lately, particularly since it’s easy to whip up and so incredibly sweet, salty and spicy. It’s also delicious in this simple dish with broccoli and noodles which rivals any take-away you could order and involves only a few ingredients. This is brilliant for a quick and flavoursome lunch, plus I sort of needed something[read more…]
I spotted a magical cake recently and for fun, really wanted to recreate my own; I then became sucked into a vortex of cuteness on Etsy and before I knew it, I’d purchased a few woodland animal figurines for Christmas decorations. You’ll probably be seeing them perched randomly on top of cakes and things down[read more…]
I couldn’t let fig season go by without a couple more photos of the prettiest fruit around. And in case you’re wondering – the below is rolled oats, figs, raspberries, Greek yoghurt, salted pistachios & honey (although delicious, I genuinely felt bad about digging into this, it’s a natural work of art).
I’ve always thought that stroganoff didn’t really need the beef (it’s all about the mushies and sauce after all) so wondered what this classic dish would taste like with just hearty brown mushrooms. Well we had this one weekend recently and it was delicious! Mushrooms are a sort of beefy vegetable anyway, and so long as[read more…]
I made this impromptu rice dish one night to go with chilli con carne and now it’s a keeper! A bit crunchy around the sides and creamy and cheesy underneath, it has just a hint of chilli and goes with so many things.
Blimey these are strong (they’re way more than a standard drink so be warned) though I felt so Mad Men and glamorous drinking one of these prohibition era cocktails – I don’t know how Don drinks them on the regular though, no wonder he’s drunk all the time! And I’m the only one I know who loves those glace cherries[read more…]
This is actually one of my favourite pancake combos surprisingly, given that I mainly use fruit in/on my pancakes. I love to order pancakes with a side of bacon and a sea of maple syrup poured over when I’m out for breakfast and the first time I had them I couldn’t believe how good the combo was, just like salty/sweet[read more…]
I was watching the Little Paris Kitchen one recent weekend and spotted Rachel’s Croque Madame Muffins which looked so easy I immediately jumped up to make them for lunch. I didn’t have any ham so used up some herbs and added heaps of cheese. This recipe was also serendipitous because my organic fruit & veg people sent[read more…]
Golden syrup is my favourite syrup out of all the syrups. I mean I love maple syrup, treacle and honey and I know they’re probably way healthier (I don’t even really know how golden syrup is made!) but golden syrup is so thick and luscious with a sweet flavour which is difficult to explain, it actually tastes[read more…]
Are we sick of salty caramel things yet? I hope this particular trend isn’t over because this slice is pretty epic; a dialled up version of old fashioned caramel slice to which I added some salted peanuts and a bit of maple. This is a great recipe for Christmas because you can take it to work[read more…]
Sometimes I prefer fried onion rings to chips, sacrilege I know! I’ve never made them though because the take-away ones are pretty good. With our milk delivery the other day though, we received the quarterly magazine which had a recipe for onion rings in it so I spontaneously thought I’d give it a go and they were surprisingly easy,[read more…]
Guys, this is so good! It doesn’t even taste like there’s alcohol in it (haha, probably a bad thing I guess) and it’s so full of creamy, luscious coffee flavour, more like a fancy iced coffee. I used full fat ingredients but have an idea this would be just as good with lower fat. Happy[read more…]
When I told Ant I was going to make a cocktail with bourbon and Appletiser he wasn’t that keen …. “does Appletiser go with bourbon?” he asked sort of sceptically. I said, oh come on, you know you’re going to drink it (he loves my new cocktail Fridays thing because I experiment with the actual cocktails[read more…]
I’m not quite ready to give up sweet potato even though it’s already hot here and turning the oven on is a bit of an effort. This is a side dish but to be honest, I had a bowl of these for lunch on their own; sweet, caramelised, spicy and with a gorgeous, fragrant crunch[read more…]
These are exactly like cinnamon rolls except in soft, fluffy cake form. They really are decadent. And oh the cream! It makes for such a gorgeous cake. And aren’t saturated fats good for us now or something? Hah. They’re at their best warm out of the oven with the icing slightly soft and drizzly, however I froze the remainder[read more…]
A pasta bake’s always a welcome, comforting dish. I made a pumpkin pasta & walnut bake a few weeks ago, threw in some fresh herbs and roasted the vegies beforehand to give them that sweet, caramelised taste. The roast pumpkin slightly breaks down into the pasta and cream, making this dish super creamy and delicious[read more…]
While making my usual winter pumpkin soup recently, it occurred to me that with a few tweaks, it would make a lovely, healthy sauce for pasta, so I gave it a go. Adding nutmeg, sage and a decent amount of full fat coconut cream, this turned pumpkin soup into a lush, creamy and flavoursome sauce which goes[read more…]
I was reading a book in bed the other night and one of the characters made toasted cheese sarnies but in browned butter! Genius. It’s super tasty, even more so than a plain toasted cheese, which is one of my favourite things to eat in the whole world except for hot chips. So I got to[read more…]
I love a good burger! I don’t know if I’ve ever said on here (probably but then I have a tendency to repeat myself) but years ago, when I was in my late teens, I became a vegetarian for around 5 years. I really didn’t miss meat at all except for the odd bit of fish, but one[read more…]
I mean I like broccoli; green, crunchy, good for you but it’s not exactly the most exciting food on the planet to prepare or eat, so finding a way to dress up ye olde steamed broccoli is always good. The classic flavours of chilli, garlic and lemon go brilliantly with this rustic vegie and I’m[read more…]
I’ve wanted to make this black sticky rice pudding for ages but had trouble sourcing the black glutinous rice in an actual store. I originally tried making a similar dessert with black rice and although it tasted nice, it wasn’t the same, I really feel it needs the glutinous rice for that gloriously sticky texture.[read more…]
Whenever I throw together a casserole I always seem to under-estimate the ingredients – moral of the story, find your biggest cast iron casserole dish for this recipe, around 6 litres or so, or even halve the recipe if there’s only a couple of you (we were eating chicken casserole for days! Not a hardship but in retrospect[read more…]
Galettes are a super easy, delicious way to make pie, basically. A few years back I made a cherry and peach galette which turned out to be one of my favourites desserts. However. Ahem. This is what happens when you use too many raspberries. I had 400g of raspberries left over in the freezer and thought I’d just throw them[read more…]
I love scrambled eggs on their own but in a wrap they’re even more awesome, like these spicy, flavourful, Mediterranean inspired egg wraps; they’re perfect for a Sunday brunch when you have people over. And if you’re not keen on chorizo, you can always leave it out and add sliced vegetarian sausage with a few[read more…]
I suppose this would be called a coffee cake in the US; I love that name actually, coffee cake always brings to mind sunny, friendly mornings with friends. In this case, it’s a morning tea cake, rustic, plump and soft, perfect to freeze if you prefer, to take to work buttered for morning breaks or to have at home when you[read more…]
