I know you all watch Great British Bake Off, that goes without saying at this point. Well a couple of seasons ago they made this very recipe, and ever since then I was like “damn, I gotta try that”. It is, however, not a particularly short recipe, and it needs some good amount of space to undertake. The build up to Christmas, however, felt like the perfect time to finally give Povitica a go. Po-what-what-now I hear you cry. Imagine a cinnamon roll log looped around into a loaf tin, and without any cinnamon, but chocolate and walnuts instead. Yeah, that sounds great doesn’t it? Warning, I got stressed. Read more
I know it’s a couple of weeks late, but my American workmate hosted a Thanksgiving party, and here’s the recipe I said I’d make. Things have been so busy, and I’m now without internet until I don’t know when, so things may become even more intermittent, apologies in advance. Anyway, I said I’d bring a pie and considered a re-bake of my Nutella & Pumpkin Pie but decided it was finally time to make a Pecan Pie. I’ve meant to for ages, but the cost of Pecans and (before this year anyway) I felt my pastry skills weren’t up to scratch. I’ve been practising with pastry a lot this year, I’ve made a number of pies, and a pecan pie felt like the next logical step, especially at this time of year. Read more
It’s dark outside, and cold. I’ve not been getting enough fresh air at all. So a chance to get away for a weekend to the outdoors was just too good to pass up. We’d been looking around for somewhere to stay and needed something that was manageable from London in the time we had and we’d been looking at too many things on both Tumblr and Pinterest that meant we didn’t just want your standard “room” or “cottage”. Our criteria were along the lines of “cute”, “rustic” etc and we wanted a cabin in the woods. After trawling through various sites and a whole heap of “glamping” type places that offered accommodation that was alright, I guess, but next door to about 20 of the same thing with them all about 2 metres apart, we eventually found a “shepherds hut” at a little place in Wales. The hut in question was in the grounds of the Kingstone Brewery in Tintern, Wales. We were in luck, it was just a couple of hours drive away and the hut itself (especially at this time of year) was private. It had its own cabin next door with a lounge area, kitchen, bathroom etc and the hut itself had a bed.
What the hell is it with Blondies and Brownies just makes me unable to photograph them well? I mean, nights are setting in so I cracked my lighting kit out for the first time this “Autumn” which didn’t help as I was only starting to get used to it before so now months without practise haven’t been good. I baked this back when Autumn was first starting up. There’d been a chill in the air for about a week or so, with a few cold days on top of the crisp mornings. I welcomed it. Summer is overrated. To quote Brand New (who I was seeing on that Friday)); The time has come for colds, and overcoats. Which is why I’ve made my first vaguely autumnal recipe of the year; Pecan & Caramel Blondies. (Since this I’ve done a ton more and they’ll be coming up over the next few weeks).
IT IS CHRISTMAS NEXT WEEK. GET EXCITED. Stick on your favourite Christmas song, get the wine mulling and tuck in to some form of festive sandwich from your local convenience store. Better yet, make one a Cranberry and Orange Loaf. I love this recipe and make it every year, several times, yet somehow I managed to not write it up last year. I think it was because it’s something I usually make to gift to people or to take places. Which means I never get a chance to actually photograph it.
Speaking of gifts. This is actually the prize from my Mystery Cake Box giveaway I ran in November. So congratulations to the winners and I hope you enjoy the cakes. I may well be sending a few of these in the direction of some friends if I’ve got time this week so keep an eye on the postie.
It contains nuts, usually walnuts but I’ve made it with pine nuts for a nut allergy fearing mother before now. The crunch that gets added from the nuts and the extra flavour is a great addition. I have tried a recipe that replaces the Orange with Orange Juice and I have to say, it was much too orangey for me and a bit too sharp. This is a much preferred method and I thought I’d lost the recipe a couple of years ago but managed to dig it back up. It’s one of the few that I have on a scrap of paper that has somehow survived a few years.
It’s something I usually bake in batches of 2-3 as well. Which you will see below as this recipe makes 2 loaves. The only really time consuming bit is halving all of the Cranberries.
Preheat the oven to 175°C (155°C fan assisted) and grease/line two loaf tins.
Sift the dry ingredients into the bowl of your mixer, add the zest.
In a measuring jug combine the butter, juice and eggs. Add enough water to the jug to make it about 350ml.
Pour into the dry and mix at a medium to low speed until just combined.
Add in the cranberries and walnuts and mix again.
It makes a very thick gloopy batter. Divide this up evenly between the two prepared tins and place on the middle shelf of the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf will come out clean.
Remove from the oven and allow to set in the tin for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool
