You can never have too many apple cake recipes. Apple cakes are tasty, healthier and will use up some of your stash if you had a large harvest, or have been given a bagful by a friend. This cake is… Read More ›
Desserts
Quince and Almond Cake
I’ve given them away, steeped them in brandy, turned them into jelly, baked them and stewed them. This year’s quince harvest has been a bumper one and it seemed a shame to waste it. They perfumed the kitchen for weeks… Read More ›
All-in-One Blackberry Cake
Every year I’m surprised when blackberries are ripe in August. Blackberries should be an autumn fruit, designed for jam making and comforting crumbles. And yet this year I was picking them in burning sunshine, wondering how soon I could get… Read More ›
Friends, Acquaintances and Boston Cream Pie
We all have friends we don’t keep in touch with properly but can pick up where we left off without any resentment or hard feelings. And we have other friends: people we spend time with because circumstances put us together…. Read More ›
Chocolate and Hazelnut Torte
If your Instagram feed is anything like mine it will be full of beautiful, quite stylised images. Cakes, flowers, amazing handcrafted items. Ceramics, ‘flat lays’ and scenery. Each image more beautiful than the last. It’s hugely inspiring and quite daunting… Read More ›
In the Austrian Mountains: Sachertorte and Skiing
Think of Austria and you probably think of ‘The Sound of Music’, mountains, Wienerschnitzel and Sachertorte. Or maybe that’s just me, but mountains and cake make a great basis for most things, and especially a skiing holiday. I have… Read More ›
The ‘Perfect’ Blueberry Crème Brûlée Cheesecake
‘Perfection’ is a word you hear a lot these days, and particularly in reference to baking. On the baking shows that are currently so popular the judges constantly remind us that they are looking for perfection, and, just in case… Read More ›
Pear Upside-Down Cake
It’s not easy to talk to someone in the UK without the weather making up part of the conversation, especially if you’re talking to someone you don’t know very well. And even if you do know them well, it’s likely… Read More ›
Chocolate Pistachio Cake and being kinder to yourself
It’s not a modern concept to use the New Year as an opportunity to review and reset. The month of January takes its name from Janus, the Roman god of gates and doorways and he is depicted with two faces,… Read More ›
Upside-down Cinnamon Apple Slices
Although I was given an apple tree a couple of years ago it hasn’t exactly burst into fruit-bearing life yet. It produced a solitary apple last year and this year was on strike. I’m still hopeful for next year… Read More ›