Fold in the Flour ...

Is it really June already? Has May been and gone? Oh, God. I feel a bit like John Lennon when he told Yoko that he was only going out for a packet of fags. It seems that time is getting the better of me at the moment. There just seems to be too much to do and not enough time to do it. Anyway, I hope you've all been having a great time - especially as we seem to have had a bit of summer at last. So after my impromptu break, I managed to get back into the kitchen today and tried my hand at some new recipes. This one is a gorgeously moreish layer cake. It uses spelt flour and toasted, ground hazelnuts to give a lovely, nutty taste to the sponge which is lifted by the tang of lemon zest. I used a cream cheese frosting to balance out some of the sugar, and as you can see, the top is loaded with fresh, juicy blueberries.   I really loved the combination of flavours. Very nice with an afternoon cuppa. Hazelnut, Lemon and Blueberry Layer Cake ( adapted from 

As much as I love typical Christmas fayre such as Turkey, Pudding and Mince Pies, pretty soon I reach saturation point. The richness of the usual festive treats seems to take its toll, and I feel sluggish. But there is still entertaining of family and friends to do. That won't really be over until after New Year's Eve. So there is still food to prepare and meals to organise. Although pudding wise, I may still want something warm and comforting, I feel the need for something simple. The sharpness of blueberries in this cake, combined with a simple, not too sweet cake batter, is just what I'm after. Warm from the oven, it's moist and soothing. With the barest drizzle of cream it's a perfect pudding. If you have last minute guests, it's also quick and easy to put together. If you have a bag of frozen blueberries stashed in the freezer, it's a no fuss dessert. With 40 minutes baking time, and a little prep time, it was on the table in less than

It seems as though I've been back at work much longer than the 8 weeks I have. Already maternity leave seems a dim and distant memory. But ... Yay, Mike and I have the next few weeks off work. Which means I have a bit more time to play with. So venturing into the kitchen yesterday led to these lovely Blueberry and Cornmeal Mini Bundts. The recipe is simple, but the inclusion of cornmeal gives a lovely texture to the cake and slightly crunchy exterior. The fresh blueberries give a lovely little pop of fruit that bursts on your tongue. Very, very delish! The original recipe, from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman, is an American one (and for one large bundt cake), so uses cup measurements - I've included what my 'cups' then weighed in grams as a guide, where this might be helpful. The mix made just enough to fill a Nordicware 6 mini bundt pan. The one I have (see a full picture here - unfortunately I couldn't find a UK example on the net) has some lo

Well, I guess it's confession time. As you may have twigged at some point, I happen to be Welsh. Now during the course of the average Welsh person's life, they will consume an amount of Welsh Cakes somewhat akin to the size of the bailout the Government had to put into Lloyds TSB. Particularly around St David's Day, on 1 March, when gazillions of them appear in all sorts of places (for example, if we host any sort of meeting at work, out they come). It's our patriotic duty don'tcha know? Even the currant averse usually aren't permitted to miss out. Now I do love a good Welsh Cake. There's a lovely little grocer shop by me which every now and again also sells these delicious little home made mini Welsh Cakes - soft and fluffy with just the right amount of caster sugar glistening on the outside. Cooked on a griddle so that there is a little crust on the outside. (And a well-used griddle is widely a family heirloom in Wales, lovingly handed down from one

With some incredibly summery weather here at last, I wanted to make something that would complement the weather, rather than fight it. A cool, fruity cheesecake sprang to mind, so I played around a bit and came up with a Mixed Berry Cheesecake - a vanilla cheesecake marbled with raspberry and blueberry purées. This gives a lovely creamy, fruity cheesecake that would be perfect as a summer dessert. Mixed Berry Cheesecake Ingredients 165g digestive biscuits 60g butter, melted 675g full fat cream cheese 225g caster sugar 1/2 tspn vanilla extract 2 large eggs For the fruit purées 100g raspberries 130g blueberries 2 tspns sugar splash water Preheat the oven to 140 Fan / 160 conventional / Gas 3. Lightly grease a 20cm (8 inch) springform or loose based tin. First make the fruit purées by placing each fruit into it's own saucepan, along with 1 tspn of the sugar and a small splash of water. On a medium heat, bring to a simmer, and soften the fruit - you'll ge

With the Queen's Diamond Jubilee fast approaching, I've wanted to try out some ideas for Jubilee-themed baking, and so these Jubilee Rose Berry Cupcakes are the first. They are a vanilla cupcake, full of juicy raspberries and blueberries to give some red, white and blue. There's no rose flavouring involved and the 'rose' comes from the coloured cream cheese buttercream piped in the shape of a rose. I think these are lovely and summery and would be perfect for a Jubilee themed party! The cupcake recipe is simple, and makes about 12 cupcakes. The striped effect in the buttercream is made by using a cocktail stick to paint the inside of your piping nozzle with stripes of colouring (I used Wilton's gel paste in Royal Blue and Red Red). I found that the colour on the first piped cupcake was a little strong, but after that you had a lovely subtle effect - although I did need to use two piping bags for the whole lot, as the colour faded to white totally half wa