Pastry, Baking Blind and a Nice Big Tart

I’m not a pastry maker. More of an eater, for sure, but making it and deploying it seems to be one of life’s mental blocks. Discovering you can make it in a food processor made the Making easier, but the deployment? I’m still pretty cack-handed. This is never going to be me. However, I have …

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Lemon and olive oil cakes

There are days when you just want cake. Saturday was just such a day, and it seemed that every TV show did its very best to mention cake, or have cakes in it. It was too hot to actually make any, but oh boy did I read about baking. Nigella’s Chocolate Hall of Fame in …

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Getting sticky with Paul Hollywood

Yes, that Paul Hollywood. The Silver Fox himself.I am aware that many people aren’t enamoured of him, but I’ve been watching him on TV for a lot of years, and he won me at ‘Cyprus’. He may be a rotter, or he may not, I have no idea, and am not bothered about his private …

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Fig Molasses & Orange Madeleines

It’s Thane Prince’s Cookbook Club this week, and the theme is Paris. I’ve only ever been to Paris once, and even then it was only the outskirts, and only for an overnight stay, so I didn’t get to explore the food shops. We were on our way to Chalon-sur-Saône, and had a long drive ahead …

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Bean cakes. Yes. Beans.

I have bought a lovely book by Tori Haschka. I bought it because I saw photos on her Instagram feed of Raspberry, White Bean and Rose Cake, and Chocolate, Black Bean, and Cherry Cake. I was hooked, there and then.CAKE. WITH BEANS. CAKE MADE OF BEANS.Of course I bought the book!Lowering your carb intake isn’t …

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Tahini & Rose Cookies

This was inspired by a recipe that Rebecca Bakes Cakes put up. I did have some nut butters, but I also had the end of a jar of tahini that I needed to use. Tahini, for me, goes hand in hand with cinnamon and rose, two of my favourite flavours, so I decided to go …

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Nigella’s Easy Almond Cake

It was Easter. I like Easter. It means that spring is here. Or might arrive soon anyway. Easter is an odd time for me, being half Cypriot, because the usual Greek things that happen usually involve family. LOTS of family. I don’t have that, so there’s not the impetus to do things that there used …

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Flapjacks

I’ve recently been watching a fabulous cookery show called A’Fuine, made by BBC Alba. A down to earth show about cooks up in the Hebrides, all cooking in their own kitchens, with no fancy camerawork, or hipster brown bags of ready weighed out goods. The equipment is well used, in many cases old and handed …

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Honey and Lemon Semolina Cake

Another flourless cake, though NOT gluten free as semolina is made from durum wheat. This is a bloody lovely cake. 125g softened butter1/2 cup sugar1 1/2 tbs finely grated orange or lemon rind*2 eggs2 tbs brandy (I used rum as that's what I had)1 cup fine semolina1 cup ground almonds1 tsp baking powerTopping2 packs shelled …

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Financiers

I’ve had a hankering to make small, almondy cakes for a while now. I remembered reading that Chloe had made Friands, and they looked so fabulous, that I think they’ve been in my brain ever since, so when I happened across a recipe for Financiers, I had to make them. That’s a very good site, …

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