Last week was one of those weeks where everything electronic I touched seemed to go wrong. My camera broke, I lost the battery for my spare camera (even though I had it in my hand at the beginning of the week - I put it somewhere safe and now can't find it!!!), my computer didn't work for the cookery demonstration I gave on Wednesday (thanks so much to the lovely Kathy Brown for rescuing me at the last minute and lending me (and setting up) her laptop about 15 mins before I was due to start). Yesterday the trains weren't working and the website just said "no unplanned engineering work" not very helpful - so I had to drive Sacha all the way to Kings Cross to catch the Eurostar - not quite the afternoon I had been planning but luckily we just made it in time. All in all a little bit rubbish! My camera is now at the menders and, as they said it was going to take a month to repair, I have treated myself to a new cheap camera as a standby so that I can actually take some photos for the blog and for my holiday on Friday. I feel as if life has resumed to normal this week - lets hope so. My good news is that yesterday I finished the final edit of the manuscript for my book Whoopie Pies. It is just being proof read by my friend Jess and will then go to the publishers in the next few days. My favourite recipes in the book are the lime jelly pies which literally wobbly, the croquembouche tower (48 whoopies high in beautiful rainbow colours and ribbons - how I wish I could show you a picture but can't just yet) and Oyster shell pies with sugar pearls. So in lieu of the whoopie photos - here are a few inspirational cupcakes from a wonderful tea room in Bath - such vibrant colours and I loved the little sugar bows made from ready rolled icing - so simple to make and yet they look very 1950 vintage. Is it wrong to want one of these spiral staircases for displaying my cakes on!!!

Peach Melba Cake

At the weekend I watched James and the Giant Peach. I was in bed with a bad back and it came on to a channel I had been watching. I ended up watching the film to the end! Roald Dahl is one of my favourite author's, even as an adult. I grew up on his books! Watching the film left me with an overwhelming desire for peaches (not quite in season but the supermarket had some anyway!) So here is my recipe for Peach Melba cake - I am sure Dame Nellie Melba would have approved (her being the inspiration for the famous peach melba dessert). The amaretti biscuits give the cake a lovely almondy crunch.

Peach Melba Cake

Serves 6 - 8

115g butter

115g caster sugar

2 large eggs

115g self raising flour

2 tsp almond essence

40g amaretti biscuits, finely crushed

2 tbsp peach jam

3 tbsp double cream

1 ripe peach

100g fresh raspberries

juice of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/180C/350F and grease and line a loaf tin. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and creamy, then beat in the eggs. Sift the flour and add to the bowl, together with the almond essence, amaretti biscuits, 1 tbsp of peach jam and the cream. Fold in gentle until everything is incorporated. Spoon half the mixture into the tin and then sprinkle over the raspberries. Spoon in the remainder of the cake batter. Cut the peach into thin slices and layer over the top of the cake. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until the cake is cooked and a knife comes out clean when inserted into the middle. When the cake is cooked, heat the remaining peach jam with the lemon juice for a few minutes, then brush over the top of the cake to glaze using a pastry brush. This cake is nice warm or cold and all the better for a dollup of cream!

Happy May Day Weekend to you all. I am up early finishing my cook book and suprise suprise it is raining heavily here! Why does it always rain on a bank holiday??? This is the May Day Dawn (6am!) Celebration at Ampthill Park in Bedfordshire yesterday. Sadly I was in Germany so missed it this year, but my Mum and Mike thought you might like to see their photos of the traditional English Morris Dancing on May morning! The event always ends with cooked breakfast in a nearby pub - a perfect start to the day and a reward for the VERY early start!

I am avid Twihard Fan ....I saw the last Twilight film three times in the weekend it released at the cinema (and queued for two hours to get in!!!)....I have read all the books over and over...I even have a Trollbead twilight bracelet....I am officially a VERY sad case! I was recently asked to make a Twilight Cake for a friend of a friend. It was rather short notice and I was really busy at the time, but this is what I managed to come up with - I thought the ribbon was very Culham Family crest like, I sprayed the cake with gold edible lustre spray for a vampire "twinkling skin" effect (lustre spray being my decoration of choice at present - I can't seem to get enough of it!) and topped it with an edible picture of Jacob, Bella and Edward. Edible pictures are always a good way of creating a quick cake on a theme. At some point when I have more time, I will do a proper Twilight cake - I quite like the idea of making the meadow scene complete with sugar wolves - perhaps for the release of Eclispe in July! Well see!

I am not doing particularly well at keeping this blog up to date at the moment! I had a busy, but lovely weekend, with my friend Maren who was over visiting from Germany and have also been trying to finish writing my book (almost there now - just a big push this weekend I should hopefully be done - I have written up a third of the recipes already which is a good way through). Today I am flying to Munich for a meeting tomorrow - what a jet set life eh (although sadly I don't think visiting a compost plant will ever class as being jet set!)

Maren and I spent the weekend antique shop hunting. I found a lovely oil lamp for the hut and Maren bought this very patriotic boat for her dinning room (if you didn't know she was German, you would think Maren was English). She sent me this photo when she got back of the boat in position in her flat and I think it looks great! I can't wait to see it in person when I am next in Hamburg (NB - Notice the Laura Ashley curtains - see what I mean about being English!!!!)

It is high time that I posted a recipe on this blog so here are some pistachio crips I made this morning.

Pistachio Crisps

Makes 16

Preparation time 10 minutes, baking 10 - 15 minutes

2 large egg whites

200g caster sugar

180g ground pistachios, plus 20g for decoration

50g hard amaretti biscuits, finely crushed

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tbsp frangelico liqeuer or amaretto

80g plain chocolate, melted

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/180F/350C and grease and line two baking trays (or line with silicon mats - I use them all the time and they were a very wise investment, particularly for merigues). Whisk the egg whites to very stiff peaks then gradually add the caster sugar a spoonful at a time until you have a glossy meringue. Add the ground pistachios, amaretti crumbs, vanilla and liqeuer to the bowl and fold in gently with a spatula. Place the mixture into a piping back and pipe 1 inch circles onto the trays leaving a gap between each as the cookies will spread during cooking. If you do not have a piping bag, use a spoon to make mounds of the cookie mixture. Bake in the oven for 10 - 15 minutes until crisp and golden, then leave to cool. Melt the dark chocolate and drizzle over the cookies with a fork, then sprinkle with the reserved chopped pistachios for decoration.

My brother has sent me the link to this cake pan from the USA. Is this not the coolest cake pan you have ever seen! It is right up there with the Baker's Edge Brownie pan which revolutionized my brownie making a few years ago. I just love the idea of a "cakewich" - you could make the largest peanut butter and jelly sandwich ever! Imagine taking a giant sandwich out of your hamper on a picnic - I am sure it would make your friends smile!

By the looks of the large scale potato planting operation that my Mum and Mike did on Monday at their allotment, we are going to have a LOT of potatoes this year! They planted 84 rows with 60 potato plants in each row - enough potatoes to probably feed the whole village. I am not knocking it - I love free home grown food and everything that comes from their allotment is delicious - but I do think when you are using a tractor this size you can't really call it an allotment any more, more a small farm!!

I am pleased to report that after two weeks of intense baking, I only have two recipes left to do for my Whoopie Pie book and should finish in the next few days. I have made over 350 whoopie pies - an average of 25 a day which has got to be some sort of record. Sadly I am not able to share any pictures with you just yet but I am very pleased with some of the pies - all very kitsch and OTT! Everyone has been playing their part - my brother has sent whoopie pie pans from America; my friends Lucy and David very kindly went on a research trip to Harrods to get pies from their Whoopie Pie counter, with Lucy grilling the man behind the counter about all things whoopie (I tried the Harrod's Pies with some trepidation but the overwhelming verdit from all who compared then was that mine were better - a relief I can tell you!) and the whole village has been tasting pies, although with so many pies on offer for the last two weeks, I can hear a collective groan of "No More Pies" as I go up into the village with trays of freshly baked pies!

Our little hut in place and furnished (well almost furnished - I am still trying to pursuade Sacha that bunting is needed!) As you will see, the hens have already staked their claim!

Never have six men talked for so long about where to position a shed!!!

The day has finally arrived - our shepherd's hut came about half an hour ago on a crane lorry! As I type it is being hoisted into the garden - I am holding my breath in case it falls! Will post more pics later!

I will be talking to Hannah Murray on her radio show today at Talk Radio Europe at about 12.10 UK time to discuss all things ice cream and my new book. You can listen in on their website - link here. Wish me luck!

I thought I would introduce you to the "almost" new member of our family - Grasshopper the Rooster (so named because he has a habit of standing on one leg as if in a Jackie Chan movie ready to leap in some wild karate move). I popped into a garden centre to buy a sandwich on my way back from a work meeting and clearly I wasn't thinking straight as I left with no sandwich and this tiny little rooster in a cardboard box. He was just such a dear little tame thing, with really funny long legs and needed a home. I was sold! Sadly my enormous grey hens decided otherwise and quickly showed him the door - I now completely understand the term "hen pecked", poor little rooster. Luckily my neighbours were looking for a rooster for their two hens (theirs having sadly been snaffled by the fox) and so he has happily moved in to the farm next door. This weekend he came to visit and sat on our fence crowing away - the garden centre said they had never heard him crow so he must be settled in. Almost as good as owning him and at least now he is living with two hens who dote on him and follow him round (rather than my grumpy old hens). Being so small, his crow is more of a "Cock a dooooodle" with no "Do" at the end - imagine standing on a dog toy and the squeeky noise you get when lift you foot off it and you would be about there!

Sometimes it is just knowing the tricks of the trade that produces the best cakes. I have always been amazed by the skill in posh wedding cakes encased in tall chocolate curls until I discovered recently that you can buy the curls ready made and just have to stick them onto icing! At the same time I discovered these dear pink chocolate curls. To make these little cakes I simply baked muffins (these were cherry and sour cream but any flavour will do). When cooled, remove the cake wrapper and carefully slice off a thin layer at the top of the cupcake so that it will sit flat when you turn it upside down. Cover the inverted cake in vanilla buttercream, then roll in the pink chocolate curls and top with sugar flowers for very pretty spring time cakes! The curls are available at Make a Wish Cake Shop (click here) and come in white and caramel too - needless to say I bought every flavour they had!

As part of my Easter afternoon tea, I served little fruit pots - in an attempt to counter the sugar content of all the cakes and at least give some semblance of heathly eating on the table! Finely chopped strawberries, kiwi and blueberries filled one topped with passion fruit and the second pots contained mango and strawberry, a drizzle of violet syrup and low fat creme fraiche. They went down very well and were so simple and quick to prepare. They would also make a lovely pre dessert as part of a dinner party to cleanse the palete!

Wishing you all a very Happy Easter. This is the little Easter tree I stitched for my Mum as an Easter present - so much beading and I only just finished it in time (yesterday!). Beading on an aeroplane on my way back from Germany was never going to be a good idea - I dropped my beads all over the floor of the plane!!!! Not very impressive when I was sitting next to my boss. Anyway luckily the end result is nice even if there are a few beads missing!!!

I hope that you all have a lovely Easter Day and get to spend some quality time with friends and family. I will be in Buxton in the Peak District with my Mum and Aunt - Bakewell tarts here we come!

Apricot and Coconut Simnel Cake

Happy Easter everyone! I hope that you are all having a nice few days off work. Yesterday my Dad and Liz (and my step sister Sarah and her boyfriend Mark) came for an Easter afternoon tea. A great excuse to do lots of baking! This was my take in Simnel cake - not quite traditional with the addition of Malibu and Apricots - but tasty all the same!

Simnel Cake

Serves 10 - 12

500g mixed fruit

100g chopped dried apricots

200g glace cherries

200g soft shredded coconut or dessicated coconut

400ml malibu

225g butter

225g caster sugar

4 large eggs

250g self raising flour

450g marzipan

Place the fruit, apricots, cherries and coconut in a bowl together with the malibu and leave to soak for 1 - 2 hours. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 3/160C/325F and grease and line an 8 inch round spring form tin. Cream together the butter and sugar then add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each egg is added. Sift in the flour and fold in gently to incorporate. Fold in the fuit mixture and soaking liquor. Scrape half the mixture into the tin, then take 1/3 of the marzipan and roll out into a circle the same size as the tin. Use a little icing sugar to dust the surface you are rolling the marzipan out on. Place the maripan into the tin and top with the remaining cake batter. Bake in the oven for 1 1/2 - 2 hours until the cake is firm and a knife comes out clean when inserted into the middle. Allow the cake to cool and turn out upside down. Roll out the remaining marzipan into a circle the size of the cake, keeping the trimmings to make the balls for decoration. The underside of the cake should be sticky enough to secure the marzipan when you place it on top. If it is not, brush the cake with a little warmed apricot jam. Roll the trimmings into 11 balls to represent the 11 apostles, then place the cake under a grill for 2 - 5 minutes until the marzipan balls are golden brown, turning the cake half way through to ensure even colouring. Decorate with ribbon and Easter chicks.

I have some exciting news that I am now able to share with you. My next book to be published by Ryland Peters and Small will be Whoopie Pies - coming out next Spring! Needless to say I have a busy few weeks ahead creating and testing the recipes but I am so looking forward to working on this project. For those of you who are yet to discover the delights of the Whoopie pie, these are dreamy light and dainty cakes sandwiched together with very wicked fillings. It is such a me project and I am so excited to be working on it! Will keep you all posted on the writing/testing/photo process!

Buckwheat Cherry Cake

I am always on the hunt for delicious Gluten Free cakes and Maren kindly gave me her Mum's recipe for this Beechnut and Cherry cake. It was so delicious and I have never cooked with Buckwheat Flour before. It has a really nutty and distinctive flavour from the beechnuts it is made of. So next time you need a gluten free cake why not give this a try - five of us ate almost the whole cake within 15 minutes which is quite an achievement and it says a lot for Maren's delicious recipe.

Buckwheat and Cherry Cake
Serves 8 - 10

6 large eggs, separated
200g/7oz caster sugar
100g/3 1/2 oz buck wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 large jar of preserved sour cherries, drained
600ml double cream, whipped to soft peak
3 tbsp grated chocolate for decoration

Preheat the oven to Gas mark 175C and grease and line a 9inch spring form tin. Whisk together the egg yolks and caster sugar until thick and creamy. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks and then fold into the egg yolk mixture. Mix together the flour and baking powder and then sprinkle over the egg mixture and fold through gently. Gently pour into the baking tin and bake for 30 - 40 minutes until the cake is firm (it will feel quite foam like rather than cake like - almost like a marshmallow). Allow the cake to cool completely then cut into three layers and fill each layer with cream and cherries. Top with grated chocolate and serve immediately. Store any uneaten cake in the fridge due to the fresh cream.

Greetings from Hamburg. I am away visiting my dear friend Maren before heading to Berlin for a few day for work. We have had a lovely few days, eating delicious food and sight seeing and this evening have been to a lovely organ concert for Palm Sunday. This is the cutest Quark Easter Hare that I had for breakfast - almost too good to eat, but too delicious not to!

People are always either Magimix or Kitchenaid people. I am definitely a Kitchenaid girl (I so wish I was on commission but sadly am not). I use it for everything, pasta, cakes, bread. Two months ago my kitchenaid broke and I have been lost without it. To be fair I have owned it for about 10 years and use it almost every day so I guess it was only time before it gave up the ghost in protest. In the interim two months I have managed to blow up a cheap electric hand mixer through over use and am now on my second one. I am bereft without a heavy duty mixer. In the meantime, a parcel of car parts arrived at out house four weeks ago (there is a relevance to this and my mixer as you will see below). We knew it was car parts because it said so on the box but my husband said it had been sent in error and that we had to send them back. Needless to say, both of us being busy, the box sat in the kitchen getting in the way until last week when my husband told me to take it to the post office. Now the box was very heavy and I huffed and puffed all the way to the post office and then huffed a lot more at having to pay the princly sum of £19 to send the car parts away but at least they were out of the kitchen! This morning I received a very strange call from the car parts company to say that they couldn't understand why I had posted them an old mixer - the car parts box was the one we had reused to pack my mixer in when it was collected by Kitchenaid two months ago. So my mixer had sat in the kitchen for a whole four weeks without me knowing and now I have to pay £9 to get it sent back again!!!! (Just to clarify it didn't say anywhere on the box that it was from Kitchenaid and they had taken my postage label off!) Luckily, I managed to see the funny side (I can just imagine the look on the car part man's face when he opened the box) and can't wait to be reunited with my mixer tomorrow! Lets just hope it works. Lesson to be learned - always open parcels before sending them back....

Mocha Pretzel Cookies

This is one of my recipes features in the latest Country Kitchen magazine - click here for a link to the magazine. Pretzels and crisps in a biscuits may sound odd, but trust me - the salt and chocolate work REALLY well!!!

Preparation time 15 minutes, Baking time 10 – 15 minutes
Makes 15 - 18

1tbsp instant coffee granules
1 tbsp boiling water
125g/4oz butter, softened
115g/3½oz caster sugar
200g/7oz plain flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
60g/2oz plain salted pretzels
30g/1oz ready salted crisps
100g/3½oz white chocolate chips
200g/7oz plain chocolate, chopped into chunks
60g/2oz shelled pistachios

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/180°C/350°F and grease and line two large baking trays. Dissolve the coffee in the boiling water and set aside to cool. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and caster sugar with an electric hand mixer or whisk. Add the flour and baking powder, cooled coffee mixture, egg and vanilla and whisk again to form a soft dough. Add the pretzels, crisps, white and plain chocolate and pistachios and whisk again so that everything is incorporated. The pretzels and crisps will break up as you mix. Place tablespoonfuls of the cookie mixture onto the trays about 3cm/1 inch apart as they will spread a little during cooking and bake for 10 – 15 minutes until golden brown on top but still slightly soft in the middle. Allow to cool on the trays for a few minutes then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

I just wanted to belatedly mention my lovely Mum and our Mother's Day Celebrations - here she is with her Mother's Day posy! Mum came to lunch on Sunday and for once the Aga didn't break down (as is did on Mother's Day last year and at Christmas!!!) so I managed to make my Mummy a nice lunch of smoked salmon, asparagus and potato cakes with a tarragon sauce, rack of lamb with wild mushrooms and port sauce with leek puree, cumin scented kale, potato and parsnip dauphinoise and for pudding a sultana sticky toffee pudding with clotted cream - very naughty but nice. We then went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D - we loved it and I definitely recommend it! Happy Mother's Day Mum xxxx

Carrot and Carriander Salsa

Sometimes a simple salad can be so refreshing. This is lovely served with grilled meat or fish.

Preparation time 10 minutes, serves 4 as a side salad

1 large carrot, grated

3 tomatoes

1 large bunch fresh corriander, finely chopped (about 3 heaped tbsp)

1 tbsp seasame seeds

For the dressing

2 tbsp olive oil

Juice of 1 large lemon

2 tbsp maple syrup

salt and pepper to season

Cut the tomatoes in half and scoop out all the seeds with a spoon (if you prefer you can keep the seeds but they make the salsa more watery) and finely chop the tomato flesh. Mix the carrot, chopped tomato, corriander and seasame seeds in a bowl gently so that everything is combined. Place all the dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk to emulsify, then stir gently through the salsa and serve immediately.

This is the little cake I made for a friend's daughter's birthday last night. She is completely into princesses and fairies so I hope that she will like it. The cake itself is a toffee sour cream cake with white and milk chocolate chips and vanilla butter cream. I had to work late yesterday and then to the supermarket so didn't take the cakes out of the oven until 10pm! There was then a very rapid cooling on our doorstep (thank goodness for sub zero temperatures), a quick splash or two of icing and the cake was finished by 11.30pm. The star wands are made with white chocolate mikado sticks with jelly stars on top. Carefully poke a sharp knife into each jelly star and twist it 360C so that you make a pocket inside the star. Gently press a mikado stick into the hole (this took a bit of practice and I have to admit I broke a few sticks to start with!). You could do this with other jelly sweets and use as a simple decoration around the outside of a plain cake - jelly spiders on dark chocolate mikado sticks for a Halloween cake perhaps - the possibilities are endless!!!!

Since retiring from working as Head of Art at a school, my Dad has become an art examiner marking International A Level and GCSE Art. As part of this he gets to travel around the world visiting schools. I am sure he is busier now than when he was working full time - some retirement hey! On a recent trip to New Zealand he came across these wonderful corrugated iron buildings and took photos as he thought that I might like to share them with you on the blog. Hope you enjoy! It is enough to make me want to visit NZ to see them, despite the VERY long flight! Perhaps we could think about creating one in the garden although I am not sure what our neighbours would think!

This weekend I finished Gareth and Amy's wedding sampler - in just under 4 weeks this is not bad going and I am really pleased with it. Sentiments to live life by. In case any of you are wondering - Monkeytown is where they got married - a quirky venue for a quirky couple!
(ps - a few of you have asked about the chart - it is Lizzie Kate ABC and I just used the charted letters to write the last line myself. The chart comes as a kit with threads - lots of lovely colours like lettuce leaf, queen bee and secondhand rose - I am such a sucker for nice threads! Stichaholic...who me???)

I am pleased to announce that my lovely ice cream book has been released a little sooner than scheduled and is now available on Amazon (and in book shops too) I really hope you all like it!

Brazil Nut Maple Cookies

I have always had a thing for Brazil nuts - the poor man's macadamia. I am sure it stems from receiving boxes of "Just Brazils" from my Grandma every year for my birthday (as well as other lovely presents I hasten to add - wouldn't want you to think that that was the only thing she gave me!) I recently came across some Brazil Nut cookies in a well known supermarket and was really excited to try them but they were so disappointing and didn't satisfy my Brazil nut craving at all - they didn't even taste of Brazil nuts. So here is my own version - with maple, caramel and chocolate for that extra indulgent treat

Preparation time 15 minutes Cooking time 12 - 15 minutes
Makes 18 approx

350g/12oz plain flour, sifted
pinch of salt
200g/7oz light brown sugar
½tsp bicarbonate of soda
125g/4½oz butter, softened plus extra for greasing
2tbsp maple
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp caramel sauce (Waitrose Seriously Buttery Caramel Dipping Sauce is dreamy)
200g/7oz Brazil Nuts, chopped
200g/7oz Dark Chocolate, chopped

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/180°C/350°F. Grease and line two baking trays. Mix together the flour, salt, caster sugar and bicarbonate of soda in a mixing bowl. Heat the butter with the syrup until the butter has melted, cool slightly and then stir into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. Beat in the egg and caramel sauce and mix well. Add a little extra flour if the mixture is too sticky. Fold in the chopped chocolate and nuts. Divide the dough into 18 small pieces and place on the trays leaving a gap between each as the cookies will spread a little during cooking. Bake for about 12 - 15 minutes until the cookies are golden brown. Leave to cool on the trays for a few minutes then transfer to a rack with a spatula to cool.

My special friend Tina had her birthday party at the weekend. Tina loves everything Japanese, particularly the cherry blossom (she even works for a Japanese bank but I think this is just coincidental) so this is the Japanese themed cake I made for her birthday - complete with edible pictures of geisha, kimono ribbon and fresh orchids. I am glad to report that she was thrilled with the cake and said she would remember it for the rest of her life - praise indeed. To celebrate her birthday - Tina did an indoor skydive at Milton Keynes - I went along to watch (its definitely not on my list of things to try!!!!)