Do you remember how holidays used to be? READ MORE
Chocolate sandwich biscuits
Do you remember how holidays used to be? READ MORE
I made these to be sold at the school sports day. We’re raising money. Well, we’re always raising money aren’t we? It’s what Mums do. READ MORE
I wish I were one of those women who stopped eating when under stress. You know the type – those who eat like a bird, pick at a few carrots. They have snake hips and a slightly worried expression all the time. They talk about their ‘nerves’ a lot.
I am not that woman. READ MORE
Did you know it’s National Picnic Week? Now let’s not be all British and moan about the weather. I personally don’t give two hoots about how sunny it is when it comes to eating al fresco; I have been known to pack up warm soupy picnics for snowy sledging trips after all.
If the kids are crying that it really is too rainy then a carpet picnic is a perfect British alternative. Here are my ‘rules’ for a successful indoor picnic:
Sometimes crimping can be a step too far. All that pinching and pulling and pushing of the pastry. It sure is pretty, but it isn’t quick unless you’ve been making Cornish pasties for nigh on 60 years. Or maybe if you’re a master baker. I am neither. Sometimes I just don’t fancy preening pastry. But I often fancy pie. Enter the galette; a lazy person’s pie.
So I overhauled the blog. Did you notice? Do you like it? I am still getting used to it. I may even write a whole blog post just on the reasons why. Like a kind of blog therapy. I do LOVE it, don’t get me wrong. I think it seems a bit whizzy and cool for me. Like when I bought a racing green, soft top car at the age of 27 and kept expecting someone to laugh in my face as I pulled up at the traffic lights. I got pregnant about 6 months later and swapped it for a Skoda so all was well in the world again.
So we’re moving. Yep, almost a year after we saw the house we fell in love with at first sight, the move date it set. I am in full denial mode at the moment. Boxes are mounting up from all our generous and helpful friends, but they remain unfilled. I want to have a huge life laundry style clear out, but it’s oh so hard with little ones. They just need (and want) so much stuff. Mostly plastic. And puzzles. We have a lot of jigsaw puzzles.
As a displacement activity for all this packing (or rather not packing) and blog makeover anxiety I’ve suggested I bake scones for the children’s sports day at school. Three days before we move. How stupid is that? I might make some of these too. They’re summery, no?
Someone asked me for a variant on my refined sugar free banana flapjacks. Well I have always been one to respond to polite enquiries, so here they are. Apple and pear flapjacks no less. As they’re (refined) sugar free, baby Lawrence, 11 months, has been chowing down on them with aplomb. At first he wasn’t so keen. I think he was missing the banana flavour, but now he’s all about the apple & pear variety. He bangs his high chair when he sees one about to be unleashed.
Oreos and milk; how American can you get?
Of course as a maker and baker of a lot of kid’s cakes I do love Oreos for their ability to immitate soil once whizzed up in a food processor.
I’ve long hankered after making one of those impressive ombre cakes, but if I’m honest the thought of making there different coloured icings and then piping them onto a cake made me feel all tired and in need of a sit down. I’m not a ‘fancy’ baker. I like to think this is a choice, that I could make these amazing creations worthy of patisserie school, but frankly, I’m kidding myself. It’s not my style. I like rustic (aka a bit messy) so this cake is a departure for me. It’s about as un-messy as I get. I hope you like it. I especially hope you like the nifty ruler trick for smoothing the icing.
Summer is coming so it’s time for a lemon and coconut cake. If coconut isn’t your thing then make a simple buttercream filling instead. I’ve kept the coconut away from the main cake as I know some folks aren’t keen on it. I however am a coconut fiend.
This recipe first appeared on ITV’s This Morning. You can find a video of the recipe being made here as well as the full recipe.
Holly Bell 