Bittersweet

Well it's been a while since I've blogged anything but watching The Great British Bake off it's got me thinking about this again. For anyone that doesn't know I applied to be on the bake off this year. It was missing out on the programme which inspired me to go through Lorraines book. It's sometimes a bit bittersweet watching it and picking out the people who are only there to make sure they've got a spread of backgrounds. I'm not trying to say they don't deserve it but it slightly bugs me. Saying that I am very relieved not to be there, just watching the pastry episode terrifies me, when I was interviewed for the programme I was very honest about my ability to make pastry and I think that's where I lost it. Watching it, everyone seems really good and have been busy practising!! I will continue watching with interest.

Blueberry and Lime cake

Well it didn't take me long to get back into baking again. After promising myself a proper break I just couldn't do it. Anyway we happen to have blueberries and limes in the house, so it would have been a waste not to use them! This recipe was in a Sainsbury's magazine article about Lorraine. Despite cooking everything from the book this is definitely my favourite cake, it tastes absolutely amazing. A friend Niki commented that it was really refreshing, and even for a cake, yes it was. After making this cake I'm also a convert for the creaming method. Yes it does take a little longer but the cake does seem to come out much better. I've been going through a bit of a rough patch with cakes recently, they have all been sinking in the middle half way through cooking, even my old reliable recipe. So this was a huge relief that it worked. I put it down to the oven being too hot so I've cooled things down. I seem to be swamped with cakes at the moment for birthdays and a christening so they've got to come out right first time! It's quite a task feeding cakes, they are like little pets around the place making sure their happy and moist! I'm sure it'll all be worth it.

Jam Roly Poly to the end.

Well, this is it, the final recipe. There is a part of me that can't quite believe it's all over. A friend described it like a wedding, you spend so long planning it, carrying out jobs, getting married and then poof it's all finished and you don't quite know what to do with yourself. There is also a part of me which is completely relieved it's all done. My body has rejected all sweets since I made this on Thursday. As a pud it's pretty simple, although I used lard instead of suet which made a really soft dough, and the jam wasn't very good. Lorraine suggests serving it with shop bought custard, but I didn't quite get to one, so home made it is, and it was a thick as it looks, need to practise that one.

I am planning at some point to go through the book and find some stats, I'd be really interested myself too, the basics like flour, butter, sugar and eggs. Overall I'm really proud of myself. Mark didn't really understand why I wanted to do this or why I felt I had to do it within a certain timeframe. But I'm the type of person who needs a deadline, and then I will do anything I can to beat it to get things done early. Mark is the opposite of that, a deadline to him means he has until that point to work, where as I'm one of those annoying people that would rather do it today than leave it until tomorrow.

So, the actual recipes, my favourites. I was asked today my top three so I'll go with those. At the top of the list has to be the chocolate cookies. I have spent so long trying to find that perfect cookie recipe which is chewy and gooey, mmmmmm. My second is the sausage rolls, mainly because they are so easy and they taste really nice, as well as getting Zoe interested in cooking. The third is a difficult one, there are so many to choose from but probably the white chocolate cheesecake, but also the chocolate melting puds. Basically anything which involved chocolate.

Mark's biggest highlight of this was the Asian Ham, he loved this so much he actually made it himself again a week later. He also loved the macaroni cheese and the fruit cake or tea loaf. Looking through my notebook there are just so many fantastic things; breadsticks, mojito cake, ricotta cake, churros. There are so many that I can;t wait to make again.

This is just one page of the plan, it's taken quite a beating over the last couple of months. My copy of Lorraines book is in a terrible state with pages sticking together. I like to keep my cookbooks pretty tidy, but I like to think it's been well loved. So that's it, all done. I'd like to think that a few people have been inspired to try a few things and I would urge any chocolate fan to try the cookies. I think I'll be taking a bit of time off the baking, both I and Mark are hitting a strict diet when we get back from France. I'm definitely going to enjoy someone elses baking for the next week and where better to go to do it?

Parmesan Lollipops

I thought I'd made some really simple stuff from Lorraine's book, but these are definitely the easiest ever. Simply grate parmesan, add poppy and sesame seeds, place a lollipop stick and bake for about 5 minutes. If you want to make a nice circle shape then use a cookie cutter. These are really tasty, although the flavour is very strong. I took them along to crafty tots and I was really surprised that the children liked them and some of the other mums came up with other ideas for them, using different cheeses and herbs and different seeds. The best thing about these is the speed you can make them. We were running really late and wacked them in the oven for 5 minutes and they had cooled enough to handle within another 5, and in the box and off we went. You don't even need the lollipop sticks for these and they make a nice little snack.

Baked Alaska

This has to be the most ridiculous pudding ever invented. It has a madeira cake base, with strawberry puree and a dollop of ice cream. This is finished off with a meringue coating which crisps up in the oven. My biggest tip for this is use decent ice cream. The ice cream was so horrendous, it was seeping through the meringue and we basically ended up with vanilla milkshake. It tasted really nice, despite the leaking ice cream but I have to say I'm not in a rush to make it again. I thought I would be super prepared and make it and give it plenty of time for the ice ream to harden before baking it. Don't do this, because the ice cream melted I took it out of the oven, but very soon realised that I had completely frozen the cake and strawberries! So all in all a bit of a disaster!

Mojito Genoise

I had been wanting to make this cake for ages once I saw the picture in the book. I am so proud of the way in turned out, sadly I didn't take a picture of the inside but it looked amazing, both sponges rose really well and evenly. This cake is made in a different way to a usual sponge, you have to whisk the eggs and sugar together over hot water for about 15 minutes before adding the butter and flour so you need patience, and a strong arm! For the first time there wasn't enough buttercream, I would double the amounts in the recipe, there was just enough to fill and put a bit on the top never mind the sides. For the nutty coating around the sides you can safely halve the quantities I had so much left over. I love the fact that this cake looks stunning but is really simple. I had a slice with the lime piece and I squeezed it over the cake, yummy. I was a bit confused the with sugar syrup, I think you're meant to pour it onto the cake while its still hot and then again when you put the buttercream on, it isn't clear in the book. But that doesn't really matter because this cake tastes as good as it looks and I will definitely make it again, but will put the rum in it next time.

Pumpkin and Rosemary Muffins

It's taken a while to get round to these, not because I wasn't looking forward to them but the sweet stuff always seem to get there first. I made these for an alternative lunch for myself and the children. I'm always looking for something that is relatively easy to make and doesn't involve bread, and can be made in about ten minutes. Well these are definitely not quick but they did taste pretty nice. Well I thought so, sadly Zoe didn't agree, she had one mouthful and started crying, an unusual reaction but at least she gave them a try. The method is pretty straight forward except when you add the dry to the wet ingredients you're only meant to give them around 8 stirs of the spoon. I don't know how you're meant to get it all mixed in just 8 stirs, I had no chance, there was still loads of clumps of flour so I had to sacrifice the texture for a few more stirs, oh well. I don't think I'll make them again, maybe try a different flavour like cheese but I'm not in a rush, I'll just have to think of something else for lunch next time.