Notes on Buttercream:

Beat 250g softened, unsalted butter for 2 minutes. Sieve in 500g icing sugar and pulse briefly. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and beat on full speed until very light and fluffy.

Orange: add the grated zest of 2 oranges and 4 tablespoon of juice.

Lemon Curd: stir 275g of lemon curd in to 750g of buttercream. (Try orange curd too). This is a good alternative to fresh cream for filling a vanilla cake which is to be covered in chocolate or marzipan/icing.

Expresso: pour 2ooml freshly boiled water on to 100g of fresh ground coffee and allow to steep for 5 mins. Strain and leave to cool slightly. Stir into a quantity of buttercream to taste.

Chocolate ganache: heat 125g fresh double cream to the boil and pour over 175g dark chocolate, broken into pieces. Stir with a wooden spoon until chocolate is melted to a glossy puddle. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before beating into 750g buttercream. Will keep for 2 weeks in the fridge.

It is such a luxury (not in price, but opportunity) to bake with fresh-laid, local and personalised eggs. Thank you Fluffy, Bobby ..


The average cupcake is a disappointing morsel; with a dry crumb and unappealing blandness they are rarely edible except for the sweet icing (what do i know? .. i can't even eat them, but my nose tells me they are only worth eating when very, very fresh and even then they are just a bland mouthful of flour and air).

My preferred version is one i found from Mary Berry, an old-fashioned cake queen (in the nicest possible sense). I bought one of her cake books for 10p when my little one was first born and we were living out of suitcases for a few months, and had no vast cook book selection to trawl through. It was a bargain, full of classic baking gems from my childhood.

Her recipe for Queen Cakes uses an extra egg, which makes all the difference - richer-tasting, and they last better. Time to bake the day before and ice for a party the next day, still moist and fresh.

100g soft butter (or margarine)
100g caster sugar (use vanilla sugar if you have it - makes a world of difference)
100g self-raising flour
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon of baking powder

Beat all the ingredients together vigorously.

Divide into 12 paper cases (in a bun tin) and bake for 15 minutes at 200ºC until puffed and golden. Lift out and cool on a wire rack.




While i will often use margarine in the cakes, butter icing deserves the real thing:

175g soft butter
350g icing sugar

Blitz in a food processor, adding a few drops of hot water to get an easy piping consistency. Spoon into a plastic food bag and snip a tiny piece out of one corner to squeeze out relaxed ribbons of sweetness.

A touch of Leaf Green colouring and a few drops of peppermint essence,

with milk chocolate buttons for cool contrast.

Marigold colouring and sugared gems for bright sunflower cakes.

These are beautiful cookies; not only in the intense chocolate bite, the soft, chewy texture and the bounty of added dried fruit and yet more chocolate but their tops crackle like interesting pottery, glossy with a fragile carapace that tempts to be broken further.

Thank you to Joy the Baker for the recipe and suggestions. I have rewritten the recipe here with UK imperial measurements as converted from the original US version.

Simplicity itself: melt 8oz good chocolate and 1.5 oz butter, carefully (i use a microwave).



In a big bowl beat together 3 large eggs and 8oz caster sugar, then add the melted and slightly cooled chocolate and butter mix followed by 1 teaspoon expresso coffee powder, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 4oz plain flour, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder and a pinch of salt.





Stir in some additional goodies, for example: white chocolate chunks (i used about 100g) the same of dark chocolate chunks and a cup of cranberries.





Using 2 rounded teaspoons, drop small balls of the rich truffle dough onto a baking sheet. Allow room to spread. Bake at 170ºC for 10-11 minutes. I used a timer, and was careful not to over bake - as soon as the tops crackle then they are ready. Allow to cool slightly and transfer to a cooling rack. Enjoy.
.

Half a ripe cantaloupe melon, cubed, half a cup of iced water, a large pinch of ground coriander:

blend, drink.

Browsing in my local bookshop in the few minutes before it shut tonight i found a Tamasin Day-Lewis cook book that i didn't already have on my bookshelf. Her cooking style suits me; sophisticated enough to be a challenge but never fiddly, it is the sort of food i would like to put on my table every day.

I particularly like Tamasin's use of more unorthodox vegetables. I am not silly enough to try the curried cream of artichoke soup (well, maybe), but the spicy celeriac and coconut milk soup is high on my list to try, along with celeriac, thyme and potato gratin, once the winter vegetables start appearing in my veg box.

My reminder list, for slightly cooler evenings:

• Sweet-sour roasted parsnips with sweet potatoes.
• Veal ragu
• Parsley and horseradish dumplings
• Beef Daube, flavoured with Rum

For some time, very soon:

• Summer Lemon and Raspberry cake
• Blondie (date brownies)
• A gluten-free almond and blood orange cake
• Lemon Devil's Food cake.

First of all i am set to try an alternative to my poached ham; a Baked Gammon with Parsley Sauce, for the boys' supper tomorrow.

I also browsed some unknown cook names, and spotted an idea i have to try: Rocky Road made with turkish delight and pistachios.


The Juiciest Meatballs



500g minced pork, a little finely chopped bacon, a crushed garlic clove, grated zest of a lemon and a handful of torn basil leaves; blend with your fingers and roll into walnut-sized balls. Flatten slightly as you cook them briskly in a pan with a little heated oil. Make sure they colour well to a crisp and caramelised finish - cook for 2 or 3 minutes on each side and check one to see they are juicy but not pink.

The original dish was a leg of lamb, studded with anchovies, rosemary and garlic, which i happened to cook on the hottest day of spring - far too hot for the 3 of us to make much of a dent in the juicy pink meat, so i sliced it off the bone and froze it for another day.

My Shepherd's Pie: finely chopped leftover roast lamb, with diced carrots and onion, a small spring cabbage, sliced, a bulb of fresh garlic, some fresh chicken stock and an indecent amount of brown sauce (to your taste). I added a couple of teaspoons of caraway seeds too, and left to bubble gently for 45 minutes. Peas would have been good, too.



A blanket of mashed potato, creamy with butter and a little milk, with grated cheddar on the top, under a hot grill for 10 minutes.

I have been a baking dervish this last week, exhorting the village hens to greater effort.

Things change, and i will eventually catch up.

I wonder how much i shall miss the era of preschool. I don't suppose i will regret the passing of the diabolical call "wipe my botty, mummy", usually heard at high pitch, at meal times.

Nigella Lawson's Marshmallow Crispy Squares

I have eaten these made with additional caramel sweets, melted into a toffee mess, but these are lighter, if no less sweet, and perhaps kinder on the teeth (but only slightly).





Melt 45g of butter in a heavy saucepan over a low heat. Add 300g of marshmallows and allow to dissolve completely while stirring gently.

Take off the heat and add 180g puffed rice (gluten-free by preference). The mix will be very sticky and stringy, like hot candy-floss.



Spoon into a lightly greased tin (i used a 22cm round cake pan). A silicone baking sheet (or greased grease-proof paper) placed over the top to press your hand against is the simplest way of flattening the sticky rice, either wise your hand and/or implement will be glued to the top of the cake.





When throughly flattened, add sprinkles or a little edible glitter. Allow to cool in the fridge and cut into shapes - either long, elegant triangles for indulgent solo eating, or small bite-sized chunks for party grazing.

This cake is particularly enjoyed by men, i find, despite the fairy pinkness.

Sometimes, the desire to cook with a single particular ingredient becomes overriding, and then google is my special friend. It is how i found this delightful recipe, to satisfy caramel cravings .. Buttery Golden Syrup Cake by The Caked Crusader.

The dark molasses sugar (barbados) is the key to the exceedingly moist and dense crumb, and the intense fudge flavour. I can't do justice to the perfection of the heady, sweet aroma of hot syrup that pervades the kitchen, and the plate.

In a mixer, blend a packet of soft unsalted butter (250g), and 220g of dark muscovado sugar until smooth and creamy. I find that muscovado sugar can be awkward to blend thoroughly, but break up the sugar before adding to the bowl, and any persistent lumps are easily crushed with a wooden spoon. The occasional unblended lump will merely sink to the bottom of the cake for an extra fudgy hit.



Add 2 eggs and a tablespoon of Tate & Lyle golden syrup, beat well. Gently add 225g of self-raising flour, pulsing until blended, and finally pour in 125ml milk and beat until just amalgamated.



Spoon the toffee batter into a 18" cake tin and bake for 50 minutes at 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4. Leave for 10 minutes and then remove to a wire tray to cool completely.



Next time i would add some lemon rind, and serve with clotted cream (and i will need guest testers).