New silicone mat

I am showing off my new silicone mat in bright pink.

It's from the Zeal brand and I love it! 

Chopped chicken salad

I'm off to Spain tomorrow for some Holiday time and had quite a bit of odds and ends in the fridge. Nick made me a salad that left my fridge bare. Clever boy... and it was yummy. 

Roast chicken - bacon - croutons - feta - spring onions - rocket - spinach - chorizo - tomatoes from the market mmmm - cucumber - herbs 

Scones - secret recipe

So I've decided to share my secret recipe for scones. This is because, for me, no cake beats a freshly baked scone and so I would like you to make and then invite me over for cream tea ;)
I used to use Nigella's recipe and they were fantastic, but every so often I could detect the salt of the bicarb and there's nothing worse than that. So I've come up with a way that you don't need the bicarb and these are beautiful and light and buttery (no trex!)

225g self raising flour sifted with 1 tsp of baking powder & a pinch of fine salt

30g golden caster sugar

60g/2oz cold, diced unsalted butter

1 egg- beaten, with 4 tablespoons of equal parts milk and Total 2% greek yogurt

1.Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl. Pour in wet mix and stir quickly into the dry mix with a knife in cutting motions. 

2.Once all parts have coming together, tip onto a floured surface and gather into a ball (be light and gentle) 

3.Sprinkle flour over the top and onto a rolling pin and then gently roll out so the top is flat but still 2.5c tall. 

4.Dust a cutter of your choice and press out scones, shake gently to get the scone out and then pop onto a baking sheet. I use silicone sheets and a baking non stick spray. 

TIP - If you put them all very close together it helps them to 'grow tall' :)

5.Brush the tops with a mix of egg and milk wash and put into a preheated oven of 220C for 10 mins and then cool. 

6.Once cooled, slice open and smother in clotted cream and strawberry jam. 

Pret-A-Portea at the Berkeley

I’m waiting in the hotel lobby for my friends to join me in the Caramel room at The Berkeley and I can hardly contain myself. I have been baking all morning, doing a tea for Louis Vuitton and resisted many a scone and sandwich for this moment. You see the Pret a Portea at The Berkeley is no ordinary tea. This is a tea menu that changes every 6 months to reflect the themes and colours of the fashion world. 

We are shown to our  table and order loose tea which comes in beautiful Paul Smith china. Eve is celebrating her Birthday, Jo is celebrating her engagement and I am celebrating calories. Hehe, no I am celebrating with them.

We are brought our individual plates of sandwiches and then a three tier cake stand is placed in the middle of our table by our lovely waiter who shows us the Spring/Summer catwalk trends and point out (with a nifty laser pen) which cake is inspired by which designer. If you go, do note that they replenish your plates as you wish so 1.no fighting over the one macaroon 2.It's well worth £35.00

(check out the Anya Hindmarch bag in the middle)

I’ve got to say, it was inspirational and I can’t wait to recreate! We were asked if we wanted to take any of our favourites home and we given these cute little card handbag boxes with our goodies. Like true ladies of leisure (for the day) we hopped into a cab to Cowshed on Carnaby Street and my sugar shakes were calmed by the most wonderful massage, then for a little shopping…

Jo, Eve, Me

Friands

I've now added Friands (easier to say than Financiers) to my afternoon tea menu. I've never been that keen on them to be honest until I had one at Gails in the Northcote Road and I was amazed at how moist they can be. I think I've got the recipe down now so will share with you as you must make and they last a few days.

I make raspberry and white chocolate and also blueberry and orange zest, I top them with flaked almonds but you don't need to. 

The first thing to do is brown the butter, this takes about 5 mins. You need to leave it alone and not stir, let the solids come to surface, then let it bubble and then let it foam a little until you can see it's brown underneath. This makes the butter richer and nutty. The last pic in this foursome is of the whole mix so don't let that confuse you!

Sift 70g of ground almonds with 160g of icing sugar. Mix in another bowl 70g of plain flour sifted with a teaspoon of baking powder. Mix with the icing sugar and almonds. 

Now pour in your butter and mix a little with a knife. 

Now add the yolks of 4 large eggs slightly whisked and 10g of runny honey.

Pop mix 3/4 of the way into sprayed moulds (pic of moulds I use below)and top with berries and almonds. 

220C for 10 minutes. Cool on rack and once cooled, dust with icing sugar. Voila. 

Borlotti Beans on Toast

I've had a breakthrough! It's dawned on me that if I'm baking all day or on a job I need to start the day fulfilled so I'm not picking and on a constant sugar high. Once you make your own baked beans you wont go back to Heinz. I used to make them with tomatoes and a bit of chorizo, and cannelini beans because they're softer. But borlotti beans have a great nutty taste and firmer texture, you can add anything to these beans once they're cooked.. garlic, onions, herbs, lemon juice and a grassy olive oil. 

Snakey Cakey

My baking buddy Hannah asked me if I had seen Jamie Oliver's recipe for Snakey Cakey that he created having visited Marrakesh. She showed me it in his book and I was drooling. So I gave it a go, it looked fun and it was! 
The only thing I changed was using less rose water. I love rose water but only wanted that subtle hint rather than hit so I used half. I jotted down ingredients and made the method up by memory so here goes..


1 Pack of Filo pastry

375g unsalted butter
375g icing sugar
4 eggs
375g ground almonds
50g crushed pistachios
4 tbsp rose water (I used 2)
zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
1 heaped tbsp of flour


Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
Overlap the filo to about 2m long on a clean countertop.
Spoon out mix in a long line and work quickly, rolling the filo up into a long sausage. (seal with melted butter brushed onto the filo)
Now roll up into a coil and pop into a buttered tin and cook for 45 mins or so on 180C


Jamie served this with a date and orange sauce, I reckon just vanilla icecream would be best, I only had double cream at home.