I love Simnel cake. I love all things Eastery in flavour. And as the mother of hungry boys, flapjack has a special place in my heart. So, this Simnel Easter flapjack is everything and more that I’m looking for in an Easter treat. Simple, moreish, not too hard on the pocket and really rather Eastery indeed. READ MORE
I so wanted to copy the GBBO format and give you a floral themed (sorry, botanical) bake and well, I ended up kind of giving you something botanical. This is my classic lemon tart. I love this recipe so much. It uses my never fail pastry I often bang on about. I hope you like it. READ MORE
The boys are off for their annual holiday this week without us. I am both excited (yes, for them, but also at the prospect of having time to paint the stairs, sleep in and, well, drink Aperol spritz and the like) and worried about missing them. READ MORE
This is one of those recipes that ballooned. It was supposed to be a simple lemon sandwich cake. Then it turned into a quadruple lemon layer cake and then I pulled it back to a less exuberant lemon layer cake. I’m happy with it at three tiers high. Four tiers would have been showing off. READ MORE
This is a version of a frangipane tart or Bakewell tart for all those readers who are allergic to nuts. This uses coconut instead of almonds and I promise does not suffer for it whatsoever. You may find the coconut sponge cooks a little unevenly. I certainly found this the second time (out of three) I made it, but worry not, it’s still a winner. READ MORE
January is almost drawing to a close and it feels colder by the day to me. The heating is cranked up, Christmas is long gone, the winter woollies are well and truly on and gloves are de rigueur upon setting foot outside. It’s what my late grandmother would have called ‘bracing’. Weather to clear the cobwebs away, weather to demand wellingtons and of course, weather to demand roasted meats and veg. READ MORE
Merry back to normal! We’re here, we made it! December is done. The tree’s down, the cards recycled and the kitchen raided of all sprouts, stilton and stollen. I love Christmas; love, love, love it, but, I do like getting back to normal just as much. A little like swapping exotic cocktails for a cup of tea when home from a holiday, it’s just plain comforting to put something familiar into your body. READ MORE
So we’re back from an Italian mini break and we went and exhausted ourselves again. We never learn. We have three kids, both work hard, don’t have a cleaner or a lady who ‘does’; what I’m getting at is that we’re pretty stretched most of the time. Getting away together for two days is a big deal. It’s time to not look at the ironing pile, time to ignore the washing machine bleeping, time to not change a nappy or find a PE kit. READ MORE
It’s half term, by today (it being Wednesday) the kids are probably starting to itch for something parent-inspired to do. I say put that Prittstick away! Save that jigsaw for tomorrow and instead get them making their own (and your) dinner. These three recipes provide lots of short term concentration span activities. There’s breaking an egg, there’s crumbling feta cheese, there’s measuring out herbs, there’s scrunching and shaping koftas. No time to get bored, oh no.
Then in the 20 minutes they take to cook there’s shredding (with supervision) vegetables, mixing up coleslaw and blitzing hummus. If your kids are anything like mine they love the opportunity to press the buttons of grown up kitchen equipment. Obviously, watch them like hawks. I know I don’t need to say that but I feel duty bound, in a Mum like fashion.
You can watch the recipe being made on ITV’s This Morning by clicking here.
Holly Bell 