You don't have to be the Queen to have a garden party!

A couple of months ago we got thinking; we've got a garden, we've got friends, we like food and drink, June might have good weather. Hmm...how could be combine all of these things into a cunning plan? A garden party of course! Plans were laid, invites were sent and it mostly went out of our minds. Then suddenly it was the week before, N was projecting the possibility of forty people arriving and I began what I do best: making lists. The responses to the invite clearly demonstrated the difference between our male and female friends. The men replied asking if they could bring anything for the BBQ, the women if they should wear dresses and bring cucumber sandwiches. When men see "garden party" they think BBQ, when women see "garden party" they think garden party!

Since we actually don't have a BBQ - okay, there is one out there, but it's an old gas thing that during the winter months was aptly nick-named "snail city". We weren't going to go there - we stuck to the garden party plan and I began planning and plotting the cakes, breads and salads that would satisfy a potential group of 40 of our friends.

Sounds stressful and hard work, but truth is I loved it. I love having to be that organized; making lists, choosing foods, planning recipes, and most of all I love spending an entire day (or in this case a day and a half) pottering in the kitchen producing things to share with other people.

With a lot of consulting with N our ideas looked like this:

Pecan and cranberry loaf
fig and orange loaf
walnut and apricot soda bread
focaccia
ciabatta
parmesan biscuits
veggie sausage rolls
roasted tomatoes
roasted beetroot and feta salad
mango and bulgar wheat salad

scones with homemade strawberry jam and cream
white chocolate and raspberry tarts
mixed berry tarts
Victoria sponges (two vegan, one normal)
vegan French lemon cake
vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream
lemon cupcakes with lemon buttercream
chocolate cupcakes with rum buttercream
Mini-chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream (child safe just in case)

Not bad eh? I spent all of Friday creaming, whisking, baking and icing cakes, kneading, resting, proving and baking bread and then most of Saturday morning (the party kicked off at 3pm) rolling puff pastry, mixing, rolling and cutting scones, cutting and roasting tomatoes and beetroot and generally have a good ole time in my summer frock with N and K (who arrived early and was the best kitchen assistant ever). It was wonderful, and it produced this:



There are so many recipes to share that I won't do it now, instead I'm going to follow this round up with a series of posts about the delicious things we tucked into all afternoon (and evening, and the following morning, and evening and stocked the freezer with and gave to people in goody bags!).

It was a roaring success, the food went down well, the cocktails went down very well and everyone mingled and had a good time and to top it off we got great weather!

The real star of the show though was Sniff. He hasn't been allowed in the garden yet, so the poor chap had to be put in the study so he didn't escape. We also weren't sure how he'd be with other people. He was brilliant. He didn't complain, but lounged on his hug chair and was very compliant with all the people who wanted to visit him. Most importantly he clearly loved K, which is brilliant as she's our on-hand cat-sitter. I think their combined love of cake, cream and sleeping on the sofa helped! When we finally all came into the house and shut the French doors Sniff's door was opened. We were worried he'd just hide in the study and be afraid of all the people (there were still at least 10 of us at this point). How wrong we were! He was slightly timid at first, but was soon out and showing off his goal-keeping skills with a ping-pong ball.

What a little star. That was a cat that definitely got some cream.

Nuffin' beats a muffin

Sitting around worrying about Sniff has meant that not only have I been driving N up the wall, but I have failed to update the blog with food-related posts, despite actually having been rather busy in the kitchen over the last few days.

We had friends over for dinner on Friday and whereas deciding what to have as the starter and main course was a no-brainer (homemade bread, salad, pasta) figuring out the dessert, as usual, proved difficult. I never really know what to do for desserts, I didn't want anything too elaborate or heavy or complicated, but equally, wanted something tasty and homey. I finally opted for the easiest option: ask N. He pondered for a while and then suggested raspberry and white chocolate muffins. Apparently he'd been thinking about how much he enjoyed them when I used to make them quite a lot for his breakfast while we were in Surrey. Not quite as dessert-y as I expected, but light, summery and comforting. Plus it not only involved baking, but would allow me to try the mini-muffin pan I bought a few weeks ago.

I decided to make six regular size muffins for dessert and twelve mini-muffins for snacking. I also wanted to try something I'd had in the US, which was a struesel topping. Basically like having a bit of crumble on top. I thought it would work well with the fruit and chocolate combination. I used a topping recipe from the Delia Smith Vegetarian collection that would have topped a spiced apple muffin cake, cutting it down to half and topping all the large muffins and half the smaller ones. It worked really well. It was nice to have a bit of crunch to top the moist raspberry goodness of the cakey muffin.


I used frozen raspberries, that I put straight into the batter without thawing so they'd hold their shape whilst cooking, and retain as much moisture as possible. I used Green and Blacks white chocolate that has vanilla in it. Since white chocolate is sweeter than other chocolates I also reduced the amount of sugar in the recipe and didn't add any additional vanilla extract since the flavour in the chocolate is quite enough. The chocolate melted slightly into the mixture, so while there were the usual chunks of chocolate to bite into the flavour was carried all through the cake. All in all I was really pleased.

Recipe: Adapted from a magazine article that my Nanna sent me once.

Makes 12 large, or 6 large and 12 mini.

60g unsalted butter, melted
200g raspberries (frozen, not thawed)
300g plain flour
1tbsp baking powder
100g golden caster sugar
pinch mixed spice
2 eggs
250ml milk (i used unsweetened soy milk)
100g white chocolate
1tsp vanilla essence (if the chocolate doesn't have added vanilla)

Preheat the oven to 200C and line or grease however many pans of either size you plan to use.

Combine all the dry ingredients (except the raspberries) in a large mixing bowl. Whisk the wet ingredients in a jug until well combined, then add to the dry ingredients and fold together. DO NOT OVER MIX, lumps make for better muffins. once all the dry ingredients are worked in together, but the batter is still lumpy slowly fold in the frozen raspberries. Spoon the batter into the cases or pans and then bake until golden and risen. Aprox 20mins.

I added the following struesel topping, adapted from Delia Smith's vegetarian collection. This meant that they took longer to cook and I just had to do it by testing with a toothpick.

25g chopped pecans
1.5 oz plain flour
1.5 oz cold unsalted butter
large pinch mixed spice
1tsp water (or more depending on texture)

combine the flour and mixed spice and then add the butter crumbling it together until the fat is combined with the flour and spice. Then add the pecans, mix and then add enough water to make a clumpy crumble mixture. Top the muffins and bake.

"Have a ba-cookie!"

Bill Bailey has a lot to answer for in this house. N can't eat a banana without one or both of us launching into the "cockney leitmotif" of 'have a banana!" Now, it's seeping in to other things as well...

This afternoon we had my PhD supervisor over for drinks and a general catch-up and de-brief of the LA trip. (okay, okay, I know I still haven't posted much about it.) It was a wonderful afternoon with the wine and conversation flowing very freely indeed. I'd made a batch of fig and white chocolate cookies to keep the hunger away for us all, and soak up some of the wine. I'd bough a packed of very moist dark delicious looking figs before going away and hadn't found the appropriate recipe for them. When we got back I suddenly found myself craving figs. Which is odd considering that I very very rarely have figs in things, have never cooked/baked with them, and, I shall admit somewhat shame-faced, have never had a fresh one! So why I would crave them is anybodies guess. But I did, and there was a packet of them in the cupboard teasing me every time I reached in for the condiments.

Although I planned to make fig and orange bread like the stuff I adore from Mildred's, and was fully planning on cutting down my baking tendencies once we got back (to save our waistlines and curb what is fast becoming a total obsession), I did want to have a little something as nibbles on the table to go with the wine if people wanted it. I decided that in order to cut through the dryness of the wine a sweet small sized cookies would be more suitable than bread. I also knew that if I made nice bread we'd gobble up the whole loaf and none of us would want any dinner!

As an aside; I do fully intend on trying fig and orange bread later this week, so watch this space!

So I adapted a recipe, dug some white chocolate out of the cupboard, opened the sumptuous packet of figs and off I went.


I was really pleased with how they turned out. Crunchy around the edges, soft in the middle with the gooeyness of the figs and the sweet slightly harder chunks of chocolate. Unfortunately I made them nice and small which meant that polishing off three or four in a sitting seemed perfectly reasonable. It certainly satisfied my fig craving, meant I got to do some (at least vaguely justified) baking and definitely helped soak up some of the wine. I think the only difference I would make next time it to chop the chocolate into finer pieces and perhaps even add more figs.

Since we'd had cookies in the afternoon we decided to be good and have a smaller dinner, using up a vegetable lasagna from the freezer. Unfortunately, this righteousness just meant that at midnight N decided that a cup of tea and a snack was in order. There, sitting temptingly in the cupboard were the final few cookies of the batch. We tried to resist, we really did, but what is more tempting than a midnight snack of tea and cookies.

N, trying to be at least slightly good (I had written that off altogether) reached into the fruit bowl and plucked out a banana. We were both already giggling as we burst into song; "have a banana!" He offered me a bite, (knowing I wouldn't want one, but being chivalrous all the same) and as I shook my head he held out the box with the cookies in and instead said "have a ba-cookie!" We both fell about laughing and it has, of course, already become something of an in-joke.

There is no way I will be able to make any form of cookie now without it being a "ba-cookie." Oh dear.

And so, without further ado, here is the recipe for fig and white chocolate "ba-cookies"

Makes between 10 and 20 depending on how big you want them.

1.1 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
50 g white chocolate, finely chopped
50 g dried figs, chopped
112 g butter, at room temperature
1/3c sugar
1/3c brown sugar
1 egg
1tsp vanilla extract

Mix flour, baking soda and salt. Add the chocolate and the figs, and mix well.

Beat butter with both types of sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, and beat well. Add the vanilla.

Gently fold in the dry ingredients, and mix carefully. Cool the finished batter for at least two hours. If it's not cold enough, the finished cookies won't be as soft.

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Roll walnut-sized balls and place with plenty of room in between on a lined cookie sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes.

Call me the allergy-friendly baking queen

It feels slightly wrong to post the above picture and following recipe as technically it is not my handy work. I shall explain. I have a friend who has recently been told she shouldn't be eating gluten. I was horrified at the news as there are so many foods I love, and would love to share with her, that are just full of the stuff. So many things have gluten in them, basically anything that uses flour, as well as lots of other random things that you wouldn't even think of.

As you'll have realised from the previous post about egg-free desserts I am always up for a challange, especially a baking one. I love it when my vegan friend visits, not only because she is one of my favourite people in the whole world, but because it gives me a chance to experiment with all sorts of fun things.

Saying "I'm giving up gluten" just sounds like a challenge to me. So in return for her showing me the amazing delights of Columbia Road flower market, and not only humouring my decision to buy a lemon tree, but helping me back with it, I promised her a gluten free baking session. We relocated to my North London Kitchen (which is considerably larger than hers) thanks to a lift from the musician boyfriends (who couldn't help mocking the lemon tree, swearing the fruit on it was glued on and the lemon scent just kitchen cleaner that had been sprayed over it), and donning our wonderful girly aprons we set to work.

She wanted something chocolate and cute so I suggested cupcakes and she jumped at the idea. An hour and a half later, and one curry and pizza delivery later (the poor musicians hadn't had lunch and were starving and we'd monopolised the kitchen with mixing bowls and chocolate wrappers) we had gluten free cupcakes. All the mixing and decorating are down to her, I just helped cream the butterceam icing and fill some of the cake cases.

We used roughly this recipe adapted from 500 Cupcakes and Muffins by Fergal Connolly. It made 12 regular cupcakes and 4 muffin sized ones.

300g gluten-free plain flour
175g caster sugar
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
2 beaten eggs
4 tbsp melted butter
300ml milk (I used soya milk)
1 tsp vanilla
210 g chopped chocolate (we mixed white and dark)
3tbsp cocoa

Preheat oven to 200C

In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugar and baking powder. In a large bowl beat the eggs, then add the butter milk and vanilla and mix until combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until combined, then add the chocolate. Spoon the mixture into the cases until they're about 2/3 full. Bake cupcake sized ones for 20 minutes, muffin sized for 25 mins. leave to cool before decorating.

We used a white chocolate buttercream for the filling and decorating.

I think you could adapt this recipe and swap in dried fruit or nuts etc for the chocolate, leaving out the cocoa.

Cute fairy cakes were definitely the perfect way to end a fantastic day and a busy weekend.

What! No eggs?!

There was another reason why my preparations for dinner began on Thursday evening. We had sent out an email earlier in the week asking if anyone had food allergies, expecting the usual dismissals and witty retorts. As it happened one of our guests turned out to be allergic to egg. Now this wouldn't have usually been a problem (one of my closest friends is vegan so I am used to dairy free cooking and baking) except that N adores cheesecake. I had promised him a baked lemon cheesecake with raspberries for dessert and just wasn't sure it would be possible without the eggs. Baked cheesecakes rely on the eggs for their binding and setting, and I am not really a fan of non-baked cheesecakes, they just don't have that dense indulgent texture.

Fortunately I found a recipe for a vegan baked cheesecake using tofu and vegan cream cheese. I bought tofu, but wasn't sure if it would be the right sort and thus whether it would turn out alright. We came up with a contingency plan. I would try the suitable cheesecake recipe and in case it didn't work would also bake an eggless chocolate cake and then I could make a second baked cheesecake to satisfy N and another one of our guests who isn't a fan of chocolate.

So on Thursday night the cheesecake experiment began. I had to do everything in the blender because I don't have a food processor so it took a little more time, but the resulting mix looked great, it was really silky and you couldn't tell it was made with tofu. The final thing to worry about was how it would bake. Fortunately it came out great. I chilled it over night and then topped it with some raspberry puree. It went down a treat and no-one would have guessed that it was made with tofu.


Despite the success of the cheesecake I didn't feel I could let the chocolate lovers down and I knew N wouldn't be disappointed if I made a second cake. So on Friday I had a bash at an eggless chocolate gateau. It too turned out really well, and was so moist. I was really impressed. I had fun with the piping too. I am getting really into this decorating malarkey.



I think what pleased me most was seeing the face of our friend with the egg allergy as it lit up when I assured her both desserts were egg free. She was so pleased, and had a tiny piece of each to make sure she'd tried everything. That's definitely one of the best things about cooking and baking, making other people feel indulged and happy.

So, here are the recipes I used.

(Vegan) Lemon Cheesecake ( adapted from Baking Bites blog)

14 oz package firm silken tofu
8 oz vegan yoghurt
2/3 cup sugar
1⁄4 cup lemon juice
1⁄2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp cornstarch
9 inch base (I used 250g of crushed digestive biscuits with 25g melted butter mixed together and prebaked for 5 mins)

Preheat oven to 350F.
Place silken tofu and vegan yoghurt in the food processor. Process for 1 minute, then add sugar. Process until smooth and no sugar granules remain, 3-5 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine lemon juice and vanilla extract. Whisk in cornstarch. Pour mixture into the food processor and process until very smooth. Pour into prepared crust and bake for 45 minutes.
Allow to cool at room temperature for 2 hours, then refrigerate overnight.
Serves 10

I didn't really find this cheesecake to be very lemony, even though I also added the lemon zest. However, since I was topping it with a sharp raspberry puree it didn't really matter.


Egg-free Chocolate gateaux (serves 8) Adapted from “Vegan” by Tony Weston and Yvonne Bishop

I didn’t use vegan ingredients in this because it was for someone with just an egg allergy. However, just use vegan equivalents where they are needed. I have put them in brackets.

250g Self-raising flour
250g soft brown sugar
3 tablespoons of cocoa powder
125ml flavourless oil (I used groundnut)
150ml Soya milk
1 tablespoon natural yoghurt (vegan yoghurt, bean curd or coconut cream)
1 dessertspoon of cider vinegar
25g dark chocolate (use 70% vegan chocolate, which I did anyway as I prefer it)

Prepare two 8 inch cake tins and pre-heat the oven to 180C.

Place all the ingredients, except the chocolate, in a bowl and beat together until combined. Coarsely grate the chocolate and add to the cake mixture. Divide between the tins evenly and level the tops. Bake for 25 mins.

I sandwiched the cake with a mix of mascarpone cheese and low fat cream cheese (I just did it to taste, I didn’t want just mascarpone as it’s too sweet for me) with a layer of raspberry puree on top. I then iced it with a whipped chocolate ganache icing (same as the Easter cupcakes, which is where you can find the recipe, I think).

So yeah, jam!

I have been a bit slack with the blog recently, mostly due to how busy things were here this weekend. We had people for dinner on Friday, friends over on Saturday, and then on Sunday I was out with a friend at Columbia Road market, and N was with her boyfriend jamming with their new band, all of which was topped off with a baking session. That's more socialising in one weekend then I would usually do in a whole month! No wonder we were both totally wiped out yesterday.

Anyway...it technically all started on Thursday. It was going to be eight of us on Friday night, more people than I have ever cooked for. We wanted something tasty but simple, nothing too showy. Basically something we would usually have ourselves, but multiplied. We decided to do bread and olives and hummus to start, pasta and spicy tomato sauce for main and cheesecake for dessert. Easy life. However, as the next series of posts will show, it was destined not to be quite as easy as I'd anticipate, but far more fun!

I started the preparations for the dinner the day before for a variety of reasons. I needed to make the starter for the ciabatta, and I wanted to try out something a bit new...

...Whilst flicking through my recipe books a while back I had spotted a recipe for "tomato and balsamic jam" which looked amazing. Since I love tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and jam it sounded perfect. I thought it would be just the thing to accompany ciabatta and focaccia. It was such a simple recipe it was almost laughable. Basically you just chuck everything in one pan, leave it and voila! Jam:

I wanted to leave it in the fridge overnight so the flavours would enhance, and fortunately I had this great kilner jar from my Mum (originally filled with her delicious homemade lemon curd - that didn't last long, hence the empty jar!). Useful and it looked rather smart on the table the following evening.

I was so pleased with the result, and it got rave reviews from everyone at dinner. I made double the amount the recipe suggested and it was almost all gone even though it was just an accompaniment to the bread, hummus and olives.

Monster weekend

This Saturday we had two friends and their 9 year old come and visit to try out a game of Dungeons and Dragons. Knowing how long it would take us to set up characters and then play at least some of a campaign (or quest as we've decided to call it) we decided that we'd better prepare a pretty decent amount of filling food suitable for hacking and slaying.

So, the pizza production line went into action!



We know thought that pizza wouldn't be enough. What we needed was a desert fitting for a group of hungry adventurers to snack on throughout their quest. What could be more fitting than "monster" cookies! I had seen the recipe for these on a blog a while back and had been looking for an excuse to make them for ages. Saturday's D&D session seemed perfect.

So N duitifully raided Woolworth's on Thursday and got supplies (M&MS, fudge etc) and on Saturday morning I threw all the lovely colourful ingredients into a bowl, gave it a stir and had a bash at making Monster cookies. I had cut down the recipe by two thirds and so wasn't sure quite whether it would turn out alright. However, within minutes a lovely peanut buttery, chocolately, fudgy, oaty smell began to fill the flat. Mmm...




They turned out wonderfully. Crunchy on the outside due to the oaks and melted fudge and then slightly chewy on the inside because of the peanut butter, with the nice crunch and chocolatey goodness of M&Ms throughout. A great combination of flavours and textures. Definitely something I'll be making again, perhaps even this weekend! (It's Easter after all and so must be filled with treats!).

Definitely just the thing that was needed to keep us going during a tough battle against a bunch of testy Orcs.

Monster Cookies: (Adapted from Bake or Break)

This is a third of the original recipe and makes about 12 medium sized cookies.

1 egg
1.3oz brown sugar
2.1oz caster sugar
1/3 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 teaspoon maple syrup
1/3 teaspoon baking powder
1.3 oz butter
2.6 oz peanut butter
4.5oz oats
0,.9oz plain flour
1.5oz chocolate chips
1.5oz fudge chips
1.5oz M&Ms
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease/spray/line baking sheets.

Combine eggs, both sugars, vanilla, maple syrup and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. Add melted butter. Next add peanut butter, oats, and flour and mix thoroughly. Stir in the chips and M&Ms. Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes to allow the oats to absorb the butter.

Drop the dough onto baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow to cool on the trays while the fudge hardens up again (about five/ten minutes) then transfer to a wire rack until they are ready to eat (ie: however long you can hold out against their lovely smell!)

Cappuccino mousse

The flurry of January activity continued when it came to cooking dinner for everyone (N, myself and his parents). Having produced the pretty cupcakes the day before I had stupidly set myself up for another challenge. I had made something pretty and impressive (well, at least I hoped so) on the first afternoon, and now I had to continue that trend for dinner. Eek!

To be honest, I like cooking for people, but I am not one who's all about minding your Ps and Qs over the dinner table, and certainly didn't want to set some comedy posh precedent. I wanted good, hearty, enjoyable but tasty food, if it looked good that would be a bonus, but really it's all about taste and indulgence (as it always should be). I also wanted to try something new that I hadn't attempted before. It might go wrong, but it would be more fun for me to make at least.

So I came up with the idea of combining the dark chocolate espresso mousse recipe I'd be wanting an excuse to try, with a white chocolate mousse recipe I'd found. I figured I would top the former with the latter and produce a "cappuccino mousse."

So off I went:



The dark chocolate espresso mousse went very well. It all combined together and smelt lovely, it also looked like it was going to set perfectly.

The white chocolate mousse on the other hand was having none of it. It just wouldn't set. I blame the Vega-gel I used instead of gelatin. I was trying to keep the recipe totally vegetarian, and while I don't actively avoid gelatin in my daily diet, I figured that where I personally made the choice it would be better to be totally vegetarian and avoid gelatin, since I could do it no problem. No problem, yeah, right. The Vega-gel just turned into a gelatinous mess and so didn't combine with the other ingredients meaning that eventually after seemingly hours of trying I had to give in, strain the mousse and accept that it wasn't going to set. Serious Failure number one for the North London Kitchen. I even tried the suggestion of the Domestic Goddess Help Hotline (Mum on her mobile) and added whisked egg whites. Nope, that white chocolate was in vendetta mode and just wasn't going to comply.

Fortunately it actually worked out for the best (at least I presented it that way!) I set the dark chocolate espresso mousse in the bottom of a cocktail glass, and then poured the white chocolate not-so-mousse over the top, giving it a foaming liquid look, more like an actual cappuccino. Voila!



So yes, I thought it all turned out rather well. I topped them with a marbled chocolate slice from a packet I found at the supermarket, served and we all enjoyed (at least I think we all did, I certainly did!) No pictures of the final served version I'm afraid as I was in a hurry to put them on the table and thought pausing to take a sneaky picture might just be a bit much, but you get the gist from above.

Finally, here's the recipe as I did promise people I would post them.

Cappuccino Mousse: (serves 4-6 depending on portion size, it’s rich so I made six medium ones)

First make the dark chocolate mousse so that it can be setting in the fridge while you prepare the white chocolate layer.

Dark Chocolate Espresso Mousse:

3/4 cups bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup espresso (extra strong from an espresso machine is best)
2 egg yolk
1 Tb sugar
1 cup heavy cream

Combine the chocolate, butter and espresso in a small saucepan over low heat until the chocolate melts and stir until combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolk and sugar until pale. Fold the chocolate into the egg mixture. Whip the cream to soft peaks and fold it into the chocolate base. Refrigerate one hour before using.

White Chocolate Mousse topping:

1.5 Tb. water
2.5 oz. white chocolate (Green and Blacks looks most like a cappuccino topping because of the vanilla)
1 cups single or pouring cream (18% fat)


Place the chocolate and cream in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir until smooth and the chocolate is fully incorporated. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the mixture into a bowl. Whisk for 3 minutes or until cooled. Refrigerate for a little while before topping the dark chocolate mousse with it to get the cappuccino effect.

Enjoy!