SPICED POUND CAKE.

This recipe is from the Hummingbird Bakery, a book that I've had for a little while now and always a good one to reach for when I fancy baking something sweet. I skipped out the ginger (not a big fan) and the lemon essence (not something I usually have in my cupboards!) but I didn't really miss them. This cake in particular is not too overpowering or anything impressive but tasty all the same.

I'm spending this weekends with all of my sisters which hasn't happened in way too long and next week in Cornwall with some friends, hope your next week is looking like a good one for you too! x

THE BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE.

As a big fan of chocolate chip cookies, I'm always keen to try different recipes and find the perfect one. When I discovered this recipe a few years back I thought I had better try it, especially as it was recommended by more than one blogger, but for some reason this is the first time I actually attempted to make it! I wonder if part of the reason for this is that it involves leaving the dough for at least 24hours before baking which seems like a long time to wait for cookies if you ask me...

Anyway, this past week I went for it and baked them.

Phase one involved a lot of elbow grease and far too many chocolate chips despite the fact that I bought less than the recipe asked for.

YES, THOSE ARE MY LEGS AND YES I'M WEARING PJS. CAN'T BEAT A BIT OF BEDTIME BAKING.

READY TO CREAM TOGETHER.

SO MANY CHOCOLATE CHIPS!!! THIS BOWL IS NOT SMALL EITHER.

Phase two, about 36hours later and I finally got some cookies.  Some of them turned out slightly squished and misshapen but they all taste pretty good!

It made 20 decent sized cookies with some dough still left over, now frozen for future cravings because 20 is more than enough to be getting on with even though I have a suspicion that these won't last very long. 

I can't say yet whether I would call them the best ever chocolate chip cookies but I would make them again for sure and I'm happy to keep on hunting for the perfect ones. 

READY FOR THE OVEN.

I RAN OUT OF ROOM ON MY COOLING RACK SO HAD TO START STACKING.

IN ALL THEIR GLORY...THE PERFECTLY ROUND AND NOT SO MUCH.

Have a lovely weekend, here's hoping it involves something delicious!

xx

HOMEMADE APPLE PIE.

I thought I'd revisit one of the first posts I ever did on the blog with this recipe.

This is pretty easy with no blind baking involved so the only waiting around is for the pastry to chill. I didn't manage to get a photo of the finished result as it disappear super quickly but it was very tasty, I can assure you! I love how the apple is still in slices when it's baked rather than just a mush and it holds it's shape so well. I'm looking forward to eating the mini pies I made with the leftovers for breakfast (apple pie seems an acceptable breakfast food for sure).

 TOOK THIS OPPORTUNITY TO USE MY BEAUTIFUL NEW MIXING BOWL.

DOING THE CRIMPING AROUND THE EDGE ALWAYS REMINDS ME OF SNOW WHITE, I USED TO MAKE PRETEND PIES THIS WAY WHEN I WAS YOUNGER TOO!

Hope you're having a wonderful week 

xx

CARROT AND DATE BREAKFAST MUFFINS.

I've had a (slight) make-over of 'today' (basically just a shuffle around and font colour change) and it feels good to refresh. I get a bit restless and like to mix things up a little every now and then so I hope you like it. 
Anyway...

I've been baking again! I had a flick through my trusty cook books and found this recipe from 'the sprouted kitchen' which was perfect as I had a lot of carrots and dates that needed using up. I didn't quite have all the ingredients so improvised a bit.... They still turned out pretty great but with the right kinds of flour and more of a rise, I'm sure they would be even better next time.  
This post feels very old-school as some of my first posts were back when I was baking a pie-a-month.
xx

INGREDIENTS ASSEMBLED.

READY TO MIX.

 JUST OUT OF THE OVEN.

THE FINISHED PRODUCT! 

THESE HAVE BEEN SUPER HANDY ON THE DARK COLD MORNINGS BEFORE WORK.

GRAPEFRUIT OLIVE OIL POUND CAKE.

I've been wanting to bake again for awhile now but haven't managed to find the time until this week. I made this loaf which is very similar to a lemon drizzle cake but a little bit sweeter and subtler. It's in the smitten kitchen cookbook and the recipe can be found here (but without the icing for some reason). It is delicious and so nice to make something new. 
I don't have a squeezer so squeezed the grapefruits by hand which left tiny pink flecks in the juice and the icing, making it all the prettier in my eyes. 
Hope you have a lovely weekend!
x

BLUEBERRY POLENTA BUTTER CAKE.

When I first moved into my current house the oven was pretty bad. With no way of knowing what temperature it was set at, anything I attempted to cook ended up slightly burnt on the outside and not quite done on the inside. This meant that baking took a back seat. Thankfully, I hit the landlord jackpot and within two hours of visit to check how we were settling in, a brand new shiny spotless oven was fitted in the kitchen....so I made a cake to celebrate.

This recipe is from the Smitten Kitchen cookbook which I've been working my way through recently. This particular cake was perfect because I already had almost all the ingredients in my cupboard and it made a nice change from my usual vanilla or chocolate sponge. New recipes don't always work perfectly first time and yes all my blueberries sank to the bottom, yes I underestimated how much it would rise and had more cake than space in the tin (and half-cooked batter on the bottom of my new oven) but it turned out deliciously in the end, even if it wasn't half as pretty as in the book. 

Fruit, not-too-sweet cake and a crunchy top layer worked so well together and have made snack time (and breakfasts) a lot brighter this past week!

 THIS WOULD BE THE OVERFLOWING CAKE BATTER..

LIFE THIS NOVEMBER.

The months seems to be flying, how is this year practically done? I have plans written into my diary all the way past Christmas which feels partly like everything has already happened! 

I wanted to try and take a photo everyday in November but that very quickly failed. Instead I tried to capture little things that have happened over the last month to share with you. These are not very exciting things but have just made up life recently.

Enjoy!

SIMPLE SHADES OF WHITE.

THE DAY SO MUCH POST ARRIVED, A LOT OF LOVE COMING THROUGH MY DOOR.

AUTUMN SKY.

AUTUMN LIGHT.

AN INVITATION I COULDN'T REFUSE.

SETTING UP HOUSE.

 MY ONLY GLIMPSE OF FIREWORKS THIS YEAR.

NEARLY TOO PRETTY TO DRINK.

A NEW VIEW.

BAKING AGAIN.

HOMEMADE.

ANOTHER COFFEE. ANOTHER CROISSANT.

LONDON STREETS.

SO MANY DRESSES.

GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE...AGAIN. SISTER SISTER.

GOOD MORNING LEEDS.

POPCORN EXPERIEMENTS.

APPLE CINNAMON CAKE.

1. Earlier this week I got up early to do some baking. We had some apples that needed using up and this recipe is something that I've never made before. I've eaten a similar cake made by a friend and it was delicious so I decided to give this a go. 
   
   
   It was pretty straightforward to make but ended up taking waaaayyy longer to bake than specified because I made a loaf rather than the round cake recommended. None the less it tasted good and was worth the wait. Such a nice alternative to crumble or pie when there are apples involved.
   
   
   
   

Recipe from BBC Food can be found here.

Have a lovely weekend! 
x

THE FINAL PIE.

I did it. Twelve pies. Twelve months. A whole lot of pastry.Yes it has sometimes been difficult to squeeze in time to bake especially when chilling pastry, blind baking and other essential "pie-stages" take their time BUT I have really enjoyed giving myself a little project and trying something different. It has been fun. Cooking from scratch is something that seems normal to me. My mum always has and I have such happy memories from throughout my childhood of helping her out in the kitchen. I still enjoying helping her out whenever I'm home. I love that baking reminds me of her and it's really fun even if it doesn't always go perfectly. Which is never really has. Getting to eat pie at the end has always made it worth it.

I snapped a few photos of the process this time.

YUM. 

Project pie is officially complete.

Find the recipe here.
Check out the other pies I have made over the past year.