Late at night, drunk, and i ran out of dark chocolate, so the latest log has a white chocolate buttercream. Lush.

My new Kenwood mixer makes the best buttercream, effortless beating butter to a light cloud of fluff. Mix with melted chocolate for a denser, richer cocoa hit. The sponge is almost a soft meringue, sweet and moist. I want to try this next with a thin layer of vanilla buttercream and the same of raspberry jam as the interior swirl for a fancy effect beneath the chocolate frosting.

Recipe here

Have you ever wondered what to do with lamb breast? They sit there on the shelf, so very very cheaply, little rolled blankets of fat and sweet meat (at least, i imagine lamb as always sweet), mysterious in their trusses and, well, cheapness.

Place rolled meat of a breast in an ovenproof dish (cut to fit, if necessary) with 2 sliced carrots, 2 sliced onions, a sprig of rosemary and a little dried thyme. Go for a snug fit. Pour over a glass of white wine and a glass of water. It is quite possible that i used a cup of chicken stock instead, depending on what i had in the fridge. Season, cover with lid or a close cap of foil and bake in a low oven (140ºC) for 3 hours, basting every 45 minutes, until meat is tender.





It smells very good at this point.

Leave to cool, removing any ribs still attached. Unroll and unfold the leaves of meat and press between two chopping boards, weighted by plates or tins. Don't be overly concerned by the fat in evidence - it will be cooked off again, under a hot grill. Leave overnight in the fridge.



To serve: slice the meat into double-finger width, single-finger length pieces. Brush with a little mustard (dijon or english), dip into beaten egg (you will need 2 eggs) and press firmly into a plate of dried breadcrumbs. This is messy, but relatively quick, and, as most of the work was done yesterday, it still seems like a very quick supper dish.

Arrange on a wire rack in a roasting pan, brush with melted butter if you wish for crispy brown crumb. I didn't bother with this adding-butter stage, feeling that there was quite enough fat in the dish already, so my fingers weren't evenly toasted, but i suspect just as delicious. Put dish in a moderate over for 15 minutes, (180ºC), then toast under a super hot grill until suitably blackened, to taste, turning once.

Serve with tartare sauce and mashed potato. And perhaps green beans.

"Com'on boys" i said, dragging them, whinging, from sacrosanct afternoon play time and persuading them to don shoes and coats for a trip to the supermarket.

"I need to buy a new iron" i explain, to the grumbles.

"I know" says the eldest, unable to resist showing off his ultimate knowledge. "The old iron probably broke when it fell of the table".

"Ahh" i say, with new understanding.



Buttery, lemon-scented Maderia Cake. It won't knock your socks off, but will melt your heart.

400g soft butter
400g caster sugar
7 eggs
450g self-raising flour
4 tablespoons lemon juice

1. Line a 23cm round tin (or 20 cm square tin) with greased, greaseproof paper - base and sides. Pre-heat oven to 160ºC.

2. Place all ingredients in a large bow and beat well until creamy.

3. Pour into the tin, level the surface.

4. Bake until firm to the touch and pulling away from the sides of the tin - about 1 3/4 - 2 hours. Cool in the tin for a short while and remove to a wire rack. Slaver with butter icing or fondant. Will keep well for a week or more, if iced.

The only cooking reference i have for these are some brief notes copied from a book read at a friend's kitchen table - i don't remember which book, or even the name of the cupcakes. I changed the principle flavour from orange to lemon, and swopped a flaked almond topping for a juicier icing.



2 eggs
90g caster sugar
grated zest of 1 lemon
80g gluten-free flour
80g ground almonds

Heat oven to 170ºC.

Whisk the eggs and sugar for 15 minutes (seriously), until thick and foamy.

Add the zest, ground almonds and flour and blend briefly.

Spoon into paper cases, and bake for 22 minutes precisely.

For the icing i added 2 heaped tablespoons of Very Ginger Curd to a batch of plain buttercream. The flavour is citrus with small delicate flashes of heat from stem ginger. The entire batch lasted about 20 minutes from oven to belly.

Red Velvet Cupcakes from The Hummingbird Cookbook, via Joythebaker

These have a good cocoa hit, but with a marvelous light moist texture from the buttermilk. Sweet, soft and subtle .. unlike the colour which can vary from crimson to terracotta. I like the contrast between earthy chocolate and so intense, so white icing.

i have rewritten the recipe with (my) english measurements, or follow the link to Joy's place for more details.

60g unsalted butter, soft
170g vanilla caster sugar
1 egg
2.5 tablespoons cocoa powder
red food colouring - at your own discretion
.5 teaspoon vanilla extract
135g plain four
.5 teaspoon salt

Beat together the butter and sugar, until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and beat rapidly to incorporate. I love how all my cake batters shout the strong bright yellow of my local lady hens.



In a small bowl, mix together the cocoa, vanilla and 3 tablespoons of water. Add a dollop of red colour paste and blend to make a rich mud.





Add the paste to the batter, mix well to distrubute the colour evenly.

Add half the buttermilk, beat at slow speed. The add half the flour and mix to combine. Repeat with the remaining buttermilk and flour, beating until smooth.

Add the baking soda and vinegar and beat for a couple of minutes.





Spoon into 12 cupcake cases, bake at 170ºC for 20-25 minutes until springy and pulled away from the edges of the paper. Allow to sit for 10 minutes, and remove to a cooling rack.



Ice at your leisure, eat quickly before someone else does.

45g soft butter
230g icing sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
150g cream cheese

Beat the butter until creamy, add icing sugar and beat, slowly at first, then at a high speed until well blended. Add the cinnamon and icing sugar and beat again, but only until just smooth.

These pictures are not the prettiest, but the result is superb. It is another make-in-a-pan (my favourite kind... i am fundamentally lazy about creaming butter with sugar) cake stuffed with sticky fruit and syrupy stem ginger, keeps well (at least a week) and needs no fancy filling or icing to look spectacular. Lighter than a traditional fruit cake but reeling with healthy fibre it makes an excellent alternative to a (boring but well-intentioned) sponge cake. For a birthday boy i covered this one in chocolate ganache, but a simple dusting of icing sugar would suffice.

Sticky Date Cake (from Fantastic Party Cakes by Mich Turner)

200g dates, stoned
200g unsalted butter
300g dark muscovado sugar
2 eggs
50g chopped stem ginger
grated zest of a lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
250g bramley apples, grated
200g self raising flour

Preheat oven to 160ºC. Lightly grease a Kugelhopf tin (ideally 20cm, although i only have a 22cm tin, which worked well)

Place the dates in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Melt the butter and sugar together in a saucepan and allow to cool slightly.



Beat the eggs, ginger, lemon zest and vanilla extract into the butter and sugar. Drain the dates and chop finely. Add to the saucepan and mix well.







Stir in the apple and flour, then spoon into the tin and bake in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes until well risen. A skewer inserted will come out clean-ish.

Leave to cool in the tin.



For the chocolate ganache:

175g dark chocolate, broken into pieces, in a clean dry bowl.
125g fresh double cream

Heat the cream to the boil and pour over the chocolate pieces, stirring until the ganache is smooth and glossy. Pour slowly over the cake, using a flat knife to spread the thick tide of chocolate into every corner.

250g ready-to-eat dried apricots
25g blanched almonds
1 tablespoon runny honey
2 large oranges
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Use a small sharp knife to make a slit in each apricot, push an almond inside as a replacement stone. Put the apricots in to a small pan with the honey and a few thin strips of orange peel, and the juice of the two oranges. Add a teaspoon of vanilla essence (i found a bottle with vanilla seeds, which adds a delicate speckle to the gold).

Allow to simmer very gently for 30 minutes, by which time the apricots will be fat, soft and very juicy. Allow to cool. Perfect served cold from the fridge, with cream.

The days are getting cooler, and my cooking is changing, along with the colour of the trees outside my bedroom window, and the pattern of my days. Less time, but perhaps better times.

I like one pot meals, particularly when the ingredient list is gloriously short. I used 2 shanks for me and the 2 children, but generally allow a shank per adult. Original recipe from Lindsey Bareham's Just One Pot.

2 (or 4) lamb shanks
garlic cloves, unpeeled (2 per shank)
3 tbsp olive oil
2 large onions
thyme
4 medium potatoes
3 carrots

Make a deep slash in the meaty part of a lamb shank with a thin-bladed knife, and stuff with a garlic clove. Repeat with remaining cloves. Heat the oil in a sturdy pan, and brown the shanks briskly on all surfaces.

Peel, halve and thinly slice the onions. Remove shanks from the pan to a plate and add onions to cook in the oil. Season with salt and pepper, stir briefly, cover and leave to colour for 5 minutes. Replace shanks and a good pinch of dried thyme (or fresh). Add 450ml of boiling water and bring to a boil.



Peel and halve the potatoes, tuck in around the shanks. Allow to simmer, over a low heat, covered, for about an hour, longer if necessary, if the shanks are big and meaty. A half hour into the cooking i added 3 large, peeled and sliced carrots.

Just like Bakerella, my cooking-for-pleasure tends to be chocolate heavy but recently i have begun to indulge a lemon leaning. It is not enough that i have the easiest lemon maderia, or a perfect damp Lemon & Almond but my new ultimate has to be these Lemon Slices. Reminiscent of dense lemon curd under a sweet, fragile crust of sugar on a barely-there pastry they will satisfy any citrus craving, at least until you need another bite.

I am rewriting the recipe here with UK measurements, but the original recipe, additional notes and delicious photos can be found here.

225g cold unsalted butter
200g plain flour
130g icing sugar



Add the butter, cut into small chunks, to the flour, sifted with the icing sugar. Using the back of a fork, a pastry cutter or the tips of your fingers (cool under a cold tap first) rub butter into the dry ingredients until you have a soft gravel. Press into a greased and floured tin. I used 2 small ones, but, after the success of this batch, i went and bought a 9"x13" specifically for the next time (soon). I have also read a tip to add finely grated lemon zest to the crumb, for extra zing.



Bake at 180ºC for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Meanwhile:

345g caster sugar
30g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 slightly beaten eggs
1/2 cup of lemon juice



Put the dry ingredients to a large bowl and mix briefly. Add the beaten eggs and lemon juice and combine well. Easy. Pour into the just-baked pastry case and put back into the hot oven for 25 minutes until puffed and golden.



Leave to cool completely and refrigerate to store. Once cold, shower with a little extra icing sugar. Best eaten 10 minutes out of the fridge - still cold and exceeding unctuous.

Blueberry Muffins; buttery and moist with the added intrigue of cinnamon to the sweet berries.

Stir together 315g plain flour, 155g caster sugar (i used vanilla sugar), 2½ teaspoons of baking powder, ½ teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder.

In another bowl whisk 250ml milk, 125g melted, unsalted butter and 2 large eggs.



Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix with a large metal spoon until barely blended. Add a generous cup (125g) frozen blueberries and stir to distribute. Divide between 12 muffin cases and bake in a preheated oven at 200ºC for 20 minutes until risen and golden. Enjoy fresh.

I took my children to a spired city today, to seek fossils. They skipped through the end-of-day commuters with skinny skeins of arms waving in the ochre light, their ubiquitous plastic sandals telegraphing their displacement despite their urban camouflage of check shirts and flapping shorts.

Even a small, green city such as this seems alien to me now. I wonder whether i am burying us, living in this tiny village.

I first saw these cute litle gems on the delightful Bakerella blog and could not resist making a version. They are less about the baking, which is very simple, and all about the building. Start with lots of queen cakes (see previous post) and a couple of chocolate brownie tray bakes (seriously, use a decent packet mix, no-one will notice).

Make the brownies the day before, allow to cool. When ready to assemble, cut out circles using a cutter to match the diameter of your queen cakes.





Bake the queen cakes in paper cases (to keep the sides pale and bun-coloured), leave to cool and carefully peel of the paper wrappings.

I used a standard 12 bun tray with fairy cake cases but i should have used a muffin tray with large muffin cases which would allow for square-sided buns and a better profile. Next time.

I cut the narrow bottoms off my fairy cakes and used one cake for the bottom bun, one for top. With a less angular cake, cut them in half to make the top and bottom. However, as a bonus, i did end up with a big pile of delicious sponge circles, which i have frozen and will use for trifles.



The fun part: colour a batch of butter icing (or tinned frosting .. one tin of Betty Crocker frosting will be sufficient for 40 sauced burgers, with another tin for the yellow cheese) with a little poppy red food colouring and a tiny touch of purple colour to make a deep ketchup red. Scoop into a plastic food bag, snip off one corner and pipe a circle of red on the base bun. The weight of the brownie will spread the ketchup outwards in an authentic squidge.



The combination of dense chewy chocolate cake and light, sweet fluffy sponge is irresistable.



I used Marigold colour with another batch of frosting to make a subtle cheesy imitation, which i piped in a looser squiggle around the top of the burger pattie. Do you think it needs green lettuce? It has been done.





For the final touch, with a small brush dipped into water dampen the top of each bun. Scatter across a dusting of poppy seeds (or sesame for the non-allergic) - the seeds will stick attractively.