I have in my ‘possession’ a 3 year old vegetable rejecter. Lawrence is not a fan of anything green, unless it’s a lollipop. Then he will just about tolerate it, but would much prefer the red or range lolly variety. READ MORE
Is it tiffin? Is it chocolate fridge cake? Is it chocolate biscuit cake? Oh who knows! All I know is that this is beyond delicious. I ate some for breakfast this morning and then I ate some for lunch. I am planning on a lot of veggies for my dinner to make up for this behaviour. I don’t promise this is sugar free. In fact I don’t promise anything nutritionally from this recipe. All I will say is that if you are making it in the gargantuan quantities I do then do share the tiffin love. READ MORE
I thought you’d like this recipe for my salted caramel millionaires shortbread before Christmas. It’s an easy one, obviously, for no-one needs added stress at this time of year. And it’s delicious too. I am looking forward to Christmas this year very much, and I am absolutely committed to not adding extra stress, as I am prone to doing. READ MORE
Nothing but nothing is prepared and it’s almost (gasp) December. This has never happened before. At least, if it has, I have blanked it out. I have a few stocking fillers. I have a list of possible gifts to buy. I have a box of Christmas cards and some silver bells to attach to the presents I haven’t bought yet. But that’s it. What’s wrong with me? READ MORE
Consider for a moment, if you will, The Great British Bake Off.
It’s about as British as it comes; it has bunting, it has melodic jaunty music, it has seaside double entendre puns, it has a marquee, it has lots of people competing in a terribly nice, friendly fashion… In short, it’s about as British as a cup of tea. Which is probably why we love it so much. 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
Look, I know Christmas is coming and all that, but just for a day, maybe even a few days (depends how long these last) I think we should stop and appreciate something that isn’t overly spiked with cinnamon, ginger, cloves or nutmeg. I know that might seem controversial what with stir up Sunday just having passed, but hey, let’s try and eat something that tastes of sunshine and summer. If you just can’t do it then have a crack at my Father Christmas’ Cheesecake recipe instead.
More recipes like this in my book, Recipes from a Normal Mum, out now… on Amazon, at Waterstones, WHSmith, The Book Depository and many smaller outlets.
One year ago: Chocolate hazelnut truffles and a Delicious microwave Christmas pud
Two years ago: Mini Yorkshire pudding canapes and Christmas pudding fizz and Brandy butter icing and Lemon drizzle secrets
Three years ago: Lime meringue pie with chocolate pastry and Christmas scones and Ginger cake with gingerbread Christmas cottage and Bonfire night treacle toffee and My festive take on cheesecake
Four years ago: Moonuts (forget cronuts… these are fab and much easier), Cheese biscuits and Parsnip soup and a Steamed cherry and pecan pudding
Ingredients:
Grease and line 20 x 20cm tin, preheat the oven to 160c/gas 3. Crush the biscuits (in a bag with a rolling pin or in a food processor) and mix with the melted butter. Press into the tin. Whisk together the cream cheese, Greek yoghurt, sour cream, castor sugar, cornflour, zest and eggs until really smooth, using either a handheld whisk or a handheld mixer/whisk attachment in stand mixer. Pour over the biscuit base. Bake for about 35 mins until the sides are puffed up and risen but there’s still a wobble in the centre. Cool in the tin and then chill in the fridge. Please note that if you use a smaller or larger tin the bake time will vary. The larger the tin the shorter the bake as cheesecake topping thinner.
P.S. To sign up for my free monthly newsletter just click here. It has a baking SOS, recommendations on bits of kit I can’t live without, my kitchen catastrophe of the month, a sneak preview of a recipe coming up on this blog and a letter from me telling you what I’ve been up to. Remember to check your inbox for a confirmation email and also to add my email recipesfromanormalmum@gmail.com to your contacts. Otherwise I could go to spam.
So as you all know by now, I make a lot of treats and baked goods. Of course I don’t eat ALL of it. I wish I were one of those people who could eat whatever they like and remain whippet like. I haven’t resembled a whippet since 1995. However, every so often I make something that really gets under my skin. I then tend to give it teenage music treatment – you know, where you play a record to death upon buying it? These are one of those bakes that I can’t stop making. They are good… I can only apologise.
More recipes like this in my book, Recipes from a Normal Mum, out now… on Amazon, at Waterstones, WHSmith, The Book Depository and many smaller outlets.
I made a lovely video with the Scoff folks to show off how to make this traybake. You can see the vid on my YouTube channel and also the Scoff one. You can watch it below too.
One year ago: Chocolate hazelnut truffles and a Delicious microwave Christmas pud
Two years ago: Mini Yorkshire pudding canapes and Christmas pudding fizz and Brandy butter icing and Lemon drizzle secrets
Three years ago: Lime meringue pie with chocolate pastry and Christmas scones and Ginger cake with gingerbread Christmas cottage and Bonfire night treacle toffee and My festive take on cheesecake
Four years ago: Moonuts (forget cronuts… these are fab and much easier), Cheese biscuits and Parsnip soup and a Steamed cherry and pecan pudding
Makes a minimum of 12 squares
Ingredients:
For the caramel:
Grease and line a 30cm x 20cm tray with non-stick parchment that reaches up the sides. Beat together the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add the flour and cocoa and beat again. Press into the prepared tin using clingfilm on the top and a tin to get an even base, then chill for 1 hour. Whilst the shortbread is chilling, toast the pecans in a frying pan over a low heat until lightly browned. Pour onto a plate to cool.
Next make the caramel… first, choose a method.
Microwave method: Make the caramel mix the butter, sugar and salt in a microwave proof bowl and microwave on high until the butter has melted – about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the condensed milk, stir and microwave for a further 3 minutes. Stop half way through to stir well. Add the double cream, stir well and microwave for 30 seconds. Leave to cool a little.
Hob method: Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Add the salt and sugar and stir. Add the condensed milk, stir well and turn the heat up until the mixture bubbles. Keep stirring on a medium heat like this for 3 minutes. Add the cream, stir well and return to the heat for 1 minute, stirring all the time. Remove from the heat.
Scatter the pecans over the shortbread along with the chopped chocolate, then pour over about 600g of the caramel sauce – enough to cover the nuts completely and bake in a preheated oven at 180C/gas mark 4 for 25 – 30 minutes. The top of the caramel will bubble up and crisp, the caramel underneath will remain soft. (Keep the remaining caramel in a jar in the fridge and pour over ice cream or crumble).
Allow to cool and then chill the traybake in the fridge for 4 hours before cutting.
P.S. To sign up for my free monthly newsletter just click here. It has a baking SOS, recommendations on bits of kit I can’t live without, my kitchen catastrophe of the month, a sneak preview of a recipe coming up on this blog and a letter from me telling you what I’ve been up to. Remember to check your inbox for a confirmation email and also to add my email recipesfromanormalmum@gmail.com to your contacts. Otherwise I could go to spam.
I am never happy. No, I don’t mean I’m a depressive. I think I was depressed for about 2 months back in 1999, but other than that have been lucky on that front. I’m just never happy with my lot. I have this constant suspicion I am missing out on things. I have to try everything once. It’s a recipe for disaster. Like poor impulse control in infants.
So I worked in advertising for a while. And that was okay. Except I did it for so long that I felt like I was missing out on all the other things in the world I might try my hand at. So I started to become obsessed with Life After Advertising and what I might reinvent myself as. So I have a whole folder dedicated to the frozen baby food business idea I had. I have had serious chats with myself about making wedding cakes for a living. I also have the branding and name of a cafe I want to open. One day I want to write a crime novel. Oh and I also want a little wedding dress shop, despite being utterly dyslexic with a needle and thread.
Because, let’s be honest, every wedding dress shop I have ever been to (except for Harrods but we can’t count that as we all know everyone just books an appointment there to drink champagne and try on ridiculous Downtown Abbey style dresses) has been run by Grand Dames who hate people with budgets under £1000 and wear a lot of orange make up. I was going to run a super friendly wedding dress shop that embraced brides who wanted an unconventional dress and gave away free flowing fizz with fittings, and made brides like their backsides and boobs rather than suggest they lose a few pounds before the big day. My wedding dress shop would of course be commercially unsuccessful from champagne losses, but I’d leave an awful lot of women with sky-high self-esteem in my wake. That would be my legacy.
Sometimes it’s good to try on your dreams for size. Maybe work experience in a wedding dress shop might cure me. Or a stint waitressing again to stop these mad cafe proprietor dreams. And making wedding cakes for a living? I briefly thought at some point my perfectionist streak might enjoy such a job. I ‘did’ my first wedding cake this weekend and found it all a bit stressful. The bride was of course wonderful. The type of woman who would laugh if I dropped the cake on the gravel drive 10 minutes before I Do. All the pressure was of my own making. I so wanted it to be perfect. And it was okay, well, as good as I was ever going to get it. I’ve dipped my toe into the wedding cake world and though fun, it’ll be my only foray. I’m thinking the future might be in cheesecakes… have I told you about my idea for a cheesecake shop…?
Lots more recipes like the one below in my book, Recipes from a Normal Mum, out now… on Amazon, at Waterstones, WHSmith, The Book Depository and many smaller outlets.
One year ago: Chocolate hazelnut truffles and a Delicious microwave Christmas pud
Two years ago: Mini Yorkshire pudding canapes and Christmas pudding fizz and Brandy butter icing and Lemon drizzle secrets
Three years ago: Lime meringue pie with chocolate pastry and Christmas scones and Ginger cake with gingerbread Christmas cottage and Bonfire night treacle toffee and My festive take on cheesecake
Four years ago: Moonuts (forget cronuts… these are fab and much easier), Cheese biscuits and Parsnip soup and a Steamed cherry and pecan pudding
Ingredients:
Grease and line a 20 x 20cm tin, preheat the oven to 160°c/gas mark . Crush the ginger nuts (in a bag with a rolling pin or in a food processor) and mix with the melted butter. Press into the tin. Whisk together the cream cheese, Greek yoghurt, sour cream, castor sugar, cornflour, ground ginger and eggs until really smooth, using either a handheld whisk or a handheld mixer/whisk attachment in a stand mixer.
Pour over the biscuit base and swirl 3 x 30g melted Caramac bars over top. (NB: The Caramac will set immediately). Bake for about 35 mins until the sides are puffed up and risen but there’s still a wobble in the centre. Cool in the tin and then chill in the fridge.
Please note that if you use a smaller or larger tin the bake time will vary. The larger the tin the shorter the bake as the cheesecake topping will be thinner.
P.S. To sign up for my free monthly newsletter just click here. It has a baking SOS, recommendations on bits of kit I can’t live without, my kitchen catastrophe of the month, a sneak preview of a recipe coming up on this blog and a letter from me telling you what I’ve been up to. Remember to check your inbox for a confirmation email and also to add my email recipesfromanormalmum@gmail.com to your contacts. Otherwise I could go to spam.
I got a little star struck at the weekend. I was at the BBC Bakes and Cakes Show and had access to the green room. This is the room where the folks doing the demos (some admittedly more celeb than others – from Mary Berry to Mich Turner to well, ahem, me).
Now in cake shows past I haven’t bothered going into this room. I’ve always felt like a pretender; a bit of a fool. I had this suspicion the security guards might sling me out by my ear or laugh when I produced my VIP pass.
This time I did it. I found the green room. I went in, I tried to look like I knew what I was doing. I made a coffee, took a handful of unsalted nuts and sat on a comfy sofa. I managed to say something friendly to the lady who does the signing for the live shows (she was VERY nice) and I smiled at Mich Turner though I don’t think she saw me. I struck up a conversation with the lovely Masterchef finalist Dr Tim Kinnaird who now very successfully makes macarons for a living. Eric Lanlard was smiley and friendly, my friend Jo Wheatley was there, popping in and out. John Whaite too and his entourage (okay his partner and pals from oop north, but he did look like he had a full staff). And Lisa Faulkner! We talked about having the same agent and how we really need a Christmas party for everyone to get drunk and gossip at. Mary Berry even came over and said ‘now then little Holly’ and shook my hand. Ah! I was doing so well.
Do you know what (or rather whom) got to me? Do you remember the ginger curly haired lady that Beth Jordache had her lesbian kiss with on Brookside many moons ago? Well she was there (Lisa F is her daughter’s God Mother), her name is Nicola and I was beyond star struck. I managed to mumble something about her daughter’s hair being beautiful and then went bright red. Well done me.
If you’re less of a reader and more of a watcher, there’s a video of this recipe on my youtube channel and also over at Scoff Food.
Lots more recipes like the one below in my book, Recipes from a Normal Mum, out now… on Amazon, atWaterstones, WHSmith, The Book Depository and many smaller outlets.
One year ago: Homemade pizza and Harvest mice crispie cakes and Pork & apple samosas
Two years ago: Christmas flapjacks and Cake pops and Walnut, bourbon and treacle tart
Three years ago: Bloodshot truffle eyes and Truffle icing chocolate cupcakes and Father Christmas’ Bakewell tart
Four years ago: Chocolate and cherry flapjacks and Roasted tomato soup and Smokey fish pie
Ingredients:
Ingredients:
Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4. Grease and line a 20 x 30cm tray. Beat together the butter, castor sugar, flour, almonds, baking powder, milk, zest of the lemon and eggs until light and creamy looking. This takes about 4 minutes with a mixer.
Pour the mixture into the tray and level with the back of a spoon. Scatter the blueberries over the top. Bake for 20 – 30 minutes until browned, risen and a toothpick comes out of the centre clean. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool on a wire rack.
Once cool mix the juice from the lemon with the icing sugar to make a thin glace icing – you may need more or less icing sugar depending on the size of the lemon and how much juice it yields. Drizzle over the cooled cake, leave to set and serve in slices.
P.S. To sign up for my free monthly newsletter just click here. It has a baking SOS, recommendations on bits of kit I can’t live without, my kitchen catastrophe of the month, a sneak preview of a recipe coming up on this blog and a letter from me telling you what I’ve been up to. Remember to check your inbox for a confirmation email and also to add my email recipesfromanormalmum@gmail.com to your contacts. Otherwise I could go to spam.
Holly Bell 