Apples are one of my favorite things to bake with, probably because it pairs really well with cinnamon and cinnamon is my favorite spice.
As the apples on our apple tree started to ripen I was looking for ways to use up the abundance of apples it gave us this year. So, instead of just looking myself I was lazy and set up this linky so the apple recipes could come to me!
There are as many varieties of apples as there is recipes to use them in and here are some amazing ones....
I hope you enjoyed reading and discovering all these apple recipes as much as I did! Let us know if you tried one out for yourself by leaving a comment below and/or on the blogger's page! Perhaps I will do another link up next year!
notes: not all the pictures are my own, the majority of them are taken from the linked blog, they are being used with the understanding that when linked up they would be used for this round-up
When I visit London food is always a part of the plan. It’s essential that it’s somewhere good! But no matter how much I troll the internet I feel a bit overwhelmed by the shear volume of places to go and end up winging it with varying results. That or I end up at a chain that I recognise and am comfortable with. Which goes against my adventurous foodie nature! This book fills a need I wasn't aware I had until the day I started reading it. It categorises restaurants into various chapters, I will go into more depth in a second, which allows you to choose the chapter to which suit what you're looking for.
There is of course an address for the restaurant along with locations of branches and sibling restaurants, those owned/run by the same people and therefore worth a look! At the end of the chapters there is a list titled "see also" which means they could have fit in that chapter, but fit better elsewhere. The index is broken down into London districts so if you know you're going to Soho it's got a list of places in Soho. Tania Ballantine even includes lists for vegatarians and last-minute places where you might have to wait, but a reservation isn't necessary. There is even a map in the back! It's a very well thought out and well organised.
Chapter Breakdown:
Cult Classics are the places that were once a hot new restaurant everyone had to try, but after the hype died down they stayed strong!
Small & Buzzy are exactly that small little places that are rarely empty! These are the sort of restaurants you can visit on your own and not have to feel alone.
Perfect Pitstops are for your full day of running around London either working or playing and you just need to grab something to go! Bone Daddies and Dosa N Chutney are two places I have tagged to try next time I'm wondering around London! This chapter also mentions popular market places.
Late Night gives you the tips on the places that serve full meals into all hours of the night. There is always a place for late night meals!
Special Occasions is self explanatory, these are the places you go to celebrate something big or small! This could be anywhere from a group birthday or special date night!
Something for the Weekend suggests places that serve the best breakfast or brunch! Along with places to get a great roast dinner! Everyone loves their Sunday roast, but not everyone wants to cook it!
Sensational Settings are where the ambience is just as important as the food. With it sub-divided into rooms with a view, alfresco, and rooms to remember you won't be short of choice when looking for the wow factor!
You don't need to travel the world to find great tapas or sushi when you live in London, the Around the World chapter gives lots to consider when looking for something different! I have noted all the sushi places because I love sushi and am looking for the "one."
Like dessert served at the end of the meal a short list of Sweet Stuff is listed in the chapter of the same title. This could have had a few more places, in my opinion, but perhaps that's the author's second book: Where Londoner's Go for High Tea or something like that? This is just of course a personal preference and she does list some amazing places like Paul A. Young for chocolates it's a definite must! Short list of restaurants I will plan on visiting next time I am in London, well not all in the next visit, but in the next several visits!
Burger & Lobster
Spuntino
Bone Daddies
Dosa n Chutney
Herman Ze German
Dirty Bones
Sushisamba
Dozo
Phoenix Palace
Konditor & Cook
Ottolenghi
This is a great little book, literally, it's just 15.9 x 1.9 x 16.2 cm and would be perfect for any traveler visiting London as it fits easily into the oversized bags that are popular at the moment. I would even suggest it to Londoner's as they can read it and agree or disagree with the suggestions - everyone loves a bit of debate! That or they might discover somewhere new and exciting!
notes:Eat Like a Londoner by Tania Ballantine (SRP-UK £9.99 US $14.99 Canada $17.99 - not currently available as an ebook) was given to me to review by the publishers Frances Lincoln - Quatro, no other compensation was given - all opinions are my own, for more information please see my contact/policy page above.
Pssst ... it's that time of year I've been avoiding mentioning, but as it will be here sooner then later I might as well say that this would make a great gift for foodies and travel lovers alike! And just a head's up I have some other great foodie books to review and giveaway! Visit again soon to find out more!
This time of year there is one flavor that is popular year after year and that is the Pumpkin Spice Latte. There is a genius working somewhere high up in Starbucks for sure. Last year I made Pumpkin Spice Meringues and this year I wanted to try making them a latte version.
So, I did.
These make slightly less meringues then the other recipe, but sometimes you need less to help with self control. Chewy in the middle with a hint of coffee and those amazing fall spices that make up pumpkin spice.
They would work great as cupcake toppings or made as a pavlova topped with cinnamon cream and caramel drizzle or crushed up on top of salted caramel ice cream! On top of the pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, meringues are pretty versatile!
Funny thing is I will probably end up just eating these as is. I mean they are great combined with other stuff, but sometimes some things are just good on their own with no dressing up.
Pumpkin Spice Latte Meringues
4 large egg whites
1 tsp pumpkin spice
1 tsp instant espresso
1 tsp water
250g caster sugar
Heat the oven to 170C fan or 190C conventual oven. On one side of the grease proof paper, measured to your baking tray, draw 12 circles and flip it over. Pencil will come off on the meringue (I know from experience) so be sure to turn it over.
Then in a very clean mixing bowl, free standing or big bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. In a small bowl mix the pumpkin spice and espresso with the water and add to the egg whites and beat again until smooth. Once smooth add the sugar one dessert spoon at a time until meringues are looking smooth and glossy.
Fill a piping bag and pipe the meringue into the circles you created earlier or spoon it! Place in the preheated oven and then turn the oven down to 150C fan or 170C conventual and bake for 40 minutes. When the time is up turn off the oven and leave the meringues in the cooling oven for an hour. Take out and eat right away! You have waited long enough!
Ignoring the fact that there is sugar in these they are basically egg whites and egg whites are pretty good for you. Want to know more about how eggs are good for you or you are just curious about eggs, like egg safety or how many calories are in an egg, then the British Lion Egg website has lots of information. They are the people who give eggs stamps of approval!
notes: in association with British Lion Eggs - vouchers were provided for eggs to use in my baking adventures! Watch out for the symbol! I'm sure you've seen it before, it's stamped right on the egg!
remember: Egg whites will not beat properly if there is even a tiny little bit of yolk in it, it’s best to crack your eggs into two separate bowls and add the egg whites to your mixing bowl one at a time. It only takes the fourth egg yolk to break and you’ll have to start again! Also saying that make sure the mixing bowl is super clean and dry!
I purchased Pumpkin Spice last year when I was visiting my parents, but if you want to make your own it’s easy using spices in your cupboard! How To Make Pumpkin Spice: Mix together 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons ground ginge, 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice, and 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
Halloween is almost upon us! Tis the season of ghosts and goblins and candy! This was the inspiration for this month’s Clandestine Cake Club. Having recently taken over the organisation of the Reading group I was happy that a few old faces showed up! Just because I love Halloween doesn't mean everyone else does so I made the theme Halloween/Bonfire Night/Autumn.
I stuck with Halloween, because as I mentioned I love it. A red velvet cake seemed approiate. The only question was how to decorate it? After the debate vampire or ghost I went with a mummy. Not a mother mummy, but an ancient Egyptian dead one.
Also the reason I went with a mummy as it was going to be super easy. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again I’m no cake decorator so keeping it easy is how I roll. Took out my piping bag and had a look through my nozzles took the one that looked most flat like and used it to pipe bandages across the cake in all different directions.
Please don’t ask me which nozzle I used because I couldn’t tell you! I can tell you that I used a tried and tested over and over again red velvet cupcake recipe. Straight from the original the hummingbird bakery cookbook. It’s one of those books that’s super reliable and would recommend to anyone.
This cake is great for any Halloween celebration! Or a monster movie marathon!
Red Velvet Ancient Egyptian Mummy Cake
60g unsalted butter, at room temperature
150g caster sugar
1 egg
10g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp red food coloring gel
½ tsp vanilla extract
120ml buttermilk
150g plain flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1½ tsp cider vinegar
Heat the oven to 170°C before buttering a 7 inch round cake pan and leaving to the side. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until it’s fully mixed in. Add the cocoa powder, gel color, and vanilla extract and give it another good mix. First add half of the buttermilk, mix until just combined then add half the flour mixing, again until just combined. Repeat adding the remaining buttermilk, then mix. Add the last of the flour and mix. Add the salt, bicarb, and vinegar and beat until well mixed. Scrap down the sides of the bowl into the prepared cake pan and place in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes. Cake sound spring back when gently pressed and skewer test should come out clean. Leave to cool for a few minutes before removing from the tin and leaving to cool completely before icing.
Beat the icing sugar and butter together first before adding 1 tablespoon of milk and the vanilla extract. If it’s too thick then add the other tablespoon of milk, if it’s too soft add more icing sugar until you get the consistency you need to be able to pipe it. Fill the piping bag that has a flat like nozzle with the frosting and pipe a triangle in the middle of the cake wherever you want. Then continue to pipe “bandages” everywhere but inside the triangle. Add too googly eyes by adding a dot of frosting to the backs of each and stick on the cake left bare. Or you could pipe your eyes on. Whatever suits your skill level!
We had some other great cakes:
Toffee Apple Cake
Chocolate Orange Spider Cake
Spiced Apple Cake
Gingerbread Grave Cake
We met up at the amazing Alto Lounge in Caversham, just outside Reading town centre. It has a homey atmosphere that was perfect for out gathering and the staff were super friendly!
Alto Lounge: 32 Church Street, Caversham, Reading RG4 8AU, England
It’s that lovely time of year when the leaves start to change color and the skies are clear but you can’t leave home without a coat and everyone is cuddled up with blankets and a hot cuppa (a word I only started using recently). All this loveliness comes at a cost, because with the changing weather we get the dreaded, the most avoided and annoying thing ever!
The common cold.
Last Monday I went to work and it seemed like everyone had one. Tuesday my day off, I felt my throat start to tingle and itch and by Wednesday I knew I was starting to get a cold. So, I sent the hubby to the store for pineapple, oranges, and lemon so I could make the ultimate cold buster juice. Curtesy of The Juice Master himself Jason Vale. The other ingredient for this Buster Juice, as I call it, is Manuka honey.
I already had Manuka honey in my cupboard patiently waiting for me to make these Energy Bites originally called “My Tasty Energy Balls: Apricot, Ginger, & Cashew.” That title and this recipe comes from Jamie Oliver’s latest book Everyday Super Food. Having watched (most) of his shows and following his popular Food Tube YouTube channel I think he probably got a laugh out of calling them “My Tasty Energy Balls.” The 8 year-old in me laughed.
There isn’t a better time then when you have a cold to give yourself as much energy as possible. With the juice and these bites I think I’ve escaped the worst of the cold. I was still sneezy, had itchy ears, and sounded a bit rough, but I could still breath and didn’t have the pressure headaches. So, I would never say that these things cure the common cold, but they have helped me endure it a bit better!
Energy Bites
100g unsalted cashew nuts
20g sesame seeds
80g dried apricots
20g puffed brown rice
thumb size piece of ginger, about 4cm
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
2 tablespoons manuka honey
Blitz 40g of the cashews into a powder - set aside to cover the bites later. Place 60g of the cashew nuts along with the sesame seeds, apricots, and puffed rice into a food processor and blitz until it’s all chopped up. Then finely grate the ginger into the food processor bowl and add the mixed spice, give it a pulse or three before adding the honey. Mix it for a couple of minutes, scraping down the sides if and when needed. Once it’s ready roll into about 24 bites and coat in the cashew powder and store in an airtight container.
tip: You can toast the cashews and sesame seeds in a dry pan on a medium heat for added flavor as suggested by Jamie, but I didn’t. Also wet your hands before rolling the mixture into balls to avoid it being too sticky.
notes: Recipe adapted from Everyday Super Food Jamie Oliver. My husband bought me a copy because he knows I like Jamie Oliver and thought I’d enjoy this book as well. We are terrible gift givers on special occasion’s, but it’s because we do things like buy each other stuff when we see it and just give it to each other instead of saving it.
We have a gorgeous apple tree in our garden that my husband planted when he was younger. About two years ago we had apples everywhere! As I was handing them out to friends and family I kept getting asked what type of apples they were and I had no clue!
Well I was was on Twitter and saw a tweet promoting Winchester Mill’s Apple Day. When I looked into it further they said that if you brought in your apples they would identify them for you. So, of course I had to go! I was told that they were pretty sure they were Spartan apples. They looked at the skin, shape, and most importantly the seeds. If you cut them in half it’s how the star is shaped.
Well, last years apple hull was disappointing, as it usually is after a good year, so I didn’t go crazy with apples. However, this year we have had loads! So, I’ve got to baking and eating! Here are two things I have made so far.
The first being a simple apple pudding from Rachel Allen and the second an American favorite Apple Butter.
The Butterscotch Apple Pudding is a super easy and comforting dessert. Just before your comforting roast or stew or pie in the oven start preparing this dessert. It can bake in the oven while you eat and then will be warm and ready for a big spoon of ice cream!
Butterscotch Apple Pudding
2 large or 3 average apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
125g self-rising flour
1/4 tsp salt
200g brown sugar,
100g butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
200ml milk
2 tablespoons golden syrup
150ml boiling water, be sure to measure after the water is boiled
Heat the oven to 180C. Scatter the chopped apples evenly into the bottom of a 20x30cm ovenproof dish.
Put the flour, salt, and half the sugar (100g) into a bowl and gently whisk. In a jug measure out the milk and then add the melted butter, vanilla extract, and egg. Like when making muffins, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and whisk just until it’s mixed. Pour the mixture over the chopped apples.
To make the butterscotch put the golden syrup in a sauce pan with 150ml boiling water and the rest of the sugar (100g). Stir while the water is starting to boil and continue until the sugar has dissolved. It is a bit more liquidy then I thought it would have been, but don’t worry it all sorts out in the oven! Pour the sugar mixture over the batter as evenly as possible.
Pop it in the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes, the sponge should be a golden light color and spring back when prodded.
I served mine with salted caramel ice cream, but feel free to use cream or custard or any other flavor of ice cream!
Apple Butter:
The next thing I made with all the excess apples we have hanging around was Apple Butter. There isn’t actually any butter in it, incase you didn’t know! There are many recipes out there and most of them American, because it’s an American thing. Apple Butter that is!
When you make Apple Butter it is better then having any-old smelling “Apple Spice” candle in your house, it makes the whole house smell delicious with spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves how could it not?
My apple butter wasn’t as thick as I thought it should be, it’s possible because I didn’t do mine overnight, but through the day. So, when it was down to the 12th hour I was ready for bed! Perhaps I jumped the gun a little and blitzed it before it was ready. Oh well, it’s still tasty and a whole jar has already been used, with the majority of it being given to friends and family.
notes: The recipe was adapted from Rachel Allen’s Home Cooking, but can also be found online here. The Winchester City Mill Day was talked about in this post here! I am currently rounding up the Apple Linky I hosted from early September to October so be prepared for lots of apple recipes! Apples have had a really good season this year!
There isn’t a definitive moment when I decided to become a food blogger. If there was one I can’t recall it. It’s something that just evolved from being a book blogger and teaching myself to cook and bake. It wasn’t until 2 years in that I started connecting with other food bloggers via the wonderful world of Facebook and Twitter. It took even longer for me to discover that conferences that cater to food bloggers existed!
It was an amazing revelation! I attended Food Blogger Connect last year and found it overwhelming in a good way. I walked away with so much to think about and met some amazing people! This year had a lot to live up too.
Just to start out here is a video I made of a selection of my many photos! It can also be found on my rarely used YouTube channel! If you visit it, please ignore the background photo, I'm working on getting a photo to fit it. If you have any helpful tips please let me know!
It started out great with my first lab: Food and Recipe Writing with Sophie Grigson! She was informative and funny! The best part was the hands on experience. She said a recipe can be written in five minutes and to prove it she told us all to write a recipe for Cheese on Toast. Then a handful of us read out our recipes, they were all different. Which is something I suppose we all knew, but I loved how it proves that recipe writing is a very individual thing.
Then she gave us the standards for recipe writing and told us to rewrite the same recipe using those standards and/or guidelines. Basically how cookbooks are written or should I say edited. Some people confuse long instructions to be difficult, but sometimes it’s just better instructed.
Last she read us a nonsense recipe written by Edward Lear circa 1870. It is a good laugh, basically he was making fun of cookery writers of the time. Following that she told us to throw those standards out of the window and right a ridiculous version of the previous Cheese on Toast recipe. I thought it was a fun learning exercise and so I am thinking of sharing my three versions in another post, we'll see!
The panel I enjoyed listening to the most was with Ben Ebbrell from Sorted Food (You Tube) and David Frenkiel from Green Kitchen Stories (blog). They talked about content, which is why their panel was titled “King of Content.”
Ben and the boys at Sorted tend to give their viewers what they want. They do this by always interacting with said viewers. Their latest video is of the best banana bread ever! They asked their viewers how they made banana bread and took their top tips to then create said banana bread. I love this way of creating content. It’s, as Ben said, how you would describe a friendship.
I related more to how David and his wife create content, basically doing whatever they want. It’s your blog and your space to create and talk about whatever you want. It’s how I tend to write my blog…with my stomach. If I want a peanut butter pie, then I will make a peanut butter pie and sooner or later you’ll hear about it.
I found them to very informative and their discussion/talk gave me a lot to think about. This was just on the first day!! The second day wasn’t as great. I found that the main panel that lasted more then one session was a bit over done. If we were taking shots every time one of the ladies mentioned herself we’d all of been sitting under the table. It just wasn’t as informative or professional as I would have liked or expected. That is my personal opinion.
The day was saved by Monica Shaw’s Awesome Analytics! It wasn’t actually a lab I was signed up for, I just snuck in as there were empty seats. As a blogger you need or should be signed up to Google Analytics, it’s a wealth of information that is invaluable. However, when you sign on it’s very unlikely you’ll even know what you’re looking at! I rarely got on mine as I didn’t! Monica basically took us on a tour of it and showed us how to read and where to find certain information. Which was very useful!
A small group of us escaped to visit Outsider Tart, a must visit if you’re ever in Chiswick!
The highlight of the last day was Content Planning and How to deal with Blogger Burnout run by Urvashi Roe from The Botanical Kitchen. I had met her last year and had a few conversations during the StrEat Parties and knew she had a lot to say about blogging and content, so I was curious to attend her lab this year. I am mentioning it here as it was like the rest of the stuff mentioned one of the highlights of the weekend.
She asked us why we blog, because without a why what’s the point? Then she shared with us a lot of different types of posts, not just a recipe post. The other great part was she had us talking, it was an interactive experience so to speak!
Then it was time to go! Which was sad as I had a great time with all the amazing blogger people I only “see” online. It’s always the people that make these conferences fun! Where you learn from the panels, labs, and the people who talk at you about blogging and/or food stuff we learn the most from each other. I love the foodie blogging community that we have here in England I think it’s great and we all tend to support each other.
There were a few downsides to the weekend, like the venue. I didn’t remember reading that it would be held on the gardens of the Chiswick House and Gardens. If it had been in June like last year I might not have minded so much, but it was the end of September. It was cold and it was dark early. The last StrEat Party of the day was a bit of a bust because of those things. Which was sad because I really enjoyed it last year.
Last year I liked the definitive breaks where we got to talk to brands and drink cold brew coffee or tequila. This was sadly lacking this year. We could have done with better coffee and tequila considering it was a chilly weekend.
Over all it was a good weekend! I stayed at Hotel Ibis in Shepard’s Bush. I was there with a few others attending the conference, which was nice. It was really easy to travel back and forth from the event. Having it right next to the tube was a bonus. The staff were really friendly and helpful! The room was very modern and tidy. The bed was comfortable and with a hot shower what else do you need? I would recommend having the breakfast! There was a lot of variety and it was a great way to get the day started! Thank you Ibis for having me! If you're looking for a hotel in London check them out here!
Want to give a shout out to the awesome StrEat Food stalls I tried this year! Give them some love as I’ve linked to their twitter handles.
StrEat Food Stalls that I really enjoyed! (pictures in the video above!)
I forgot to mention the gift bag….. this post is already so long so I will get to the point! The Microplane (original) was the best thing ever to get and I was really excited about the flour from Merchant. Will probably pop up in future posts! I guess that's it! Until next year......
When I was growing up we always got to decide what we wanted for dinner and what sort of cake we wanted for our birthday’s. So, it’s what I do for my husband and daughters. Last week my husband celebrated his birthday so, the customary questions applied. “What cake do you want and what do you want me to make for dinner?”
He told me he didn’t have a preference of cake or his birthday dinner. How typical and extremely annoying.
When I was studying art at school they gave us a project. They said create an ad for this company (a company they made up) they gave us a brief and set us free. We were stuck before we got started. Without knowing what the company/brand wanted we didn’t know where to start. Was it a print ad? Do they have a logo or are we designing one? What sort of color schemes do they use or want? Who is the audience?
This is how I feel when given creative rein on a cake and even dinner when it’s not for myself. How do I know if he was actually feeling like a hamburger instead of the chicken quesadilla’s that I ended up making. What if was actually thinking of a chocolate dream cake?
I like knowing what people want so I can do my best to provide it. Perhaps it’s a good thing we’ve been together 10+ years and I managed to do things right with the Irn Bru Cake and chicken quesadilla’s. However, after 10 years I’m sure he’s smart enough not to tell me if I got it wrong.
Right. So, yes I decided to make him an Irn Bru Cake, due to the fact that he loves the stuff. Back in the beginning of my blog I attempted to make Irn Bru Cupcakes, but they didn't turn out as well as expected. So, even though I was a little weary of trying it as a cake I was curious to see if I could make it work.
It doesn’t have a strong Irn Bru flavor, but a very subtle, yet distinct taste that works. Before you get started I should warn you that it’s very sweet.
Heat the oven to 170C and line a 2lb loaf tin with baking paper. If the short sides are exposed instead of messing around with more baking paper just lightly grease it with some butter. Anything to keep things simple.
Beat the butter and sugar together until lighter in color and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time until just combined. Then beat in the flour and vanilla until just combined. Gently fold in the Irn Bru and a butter knife tip of peach gel food coloring with a spatula.
Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes. Use the skewer test to test if it’s done. Leave to cool in the tin a while you make the icing.
Icing:
approximately 125-150g of icing sugar
blue gel food coloring
1-2 tablespoons of Irn Bru
orange and yellow star sprinkles, to decorate (optional)
I tend to just throw icing sugar in a bowl and add liquid until I get the constancy that I want. Which is what I suggest you do, start with 125g of icing sugar and add a tablespoon of Irn Bru. Mix if you need more of one or the other adjust it until you get a smooth runny constancy. Add the food coloring gel and pour over the cake. Decorate with sprinkles of your choice, preferably orange/yellow colored!
notes: recipe was adapted from hummingbird bakery: Life is Sweet
