Great British Chefs is a really good website that we often use for inspiration when trying to think of new ideas. Often you can use websites like this to find new flavour combinations and techniques and use them in your own way. However when we came across this recipe for individual Black Forest Gateau which looked so complex and time consuming, we didn't think it needed tampering with at all. There are lots of techniques and components that we have never heard of before so it was a bit of a challenge. It was very time consuming, but the end product was really rich, chocolatey and very tasty.
This is our first post for a while, after a very busy Christmas! This post is probably a little late now as Stollen is usually something eaten at Christmas. But this recipe is good enough that you should give it a try anytime, not just at Christmas. It is a spicy, fruity, bready and sweet treat which is well worth the effort required to make it. The Germans were definitely on to a winner when they came up with this one!
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| Latvian Honey Cake |
This delightfully different cake recipe was given to me by a lady on my Bettys cookery course. She was Latvian and very forthcoming with her country's recipes and techniques, even bringing a finished cake for us all to sample and a handout. This additional 'bonus' recipe is actually one of the most interesting and delicious recipes to come out of the course and it proves that sometimes it is the unexpected sources which bring us inspiration. This cake is so easy to make and looks spectacular- a leaning tower of honey.
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| Apple and Pumpkin Cake |
This recipe is perfect for Halloween festivities as it uses two of the traditional robust Autumn flavours. I took it from a wonderful book bought for us by my dad and it is really great for finding comfort food inspiration. Tom Norrington's - Just Like Mother Used to Make.
Today at work we had a "cake bake" to raise money for a local charity. Staff brought in their best efforts and we all bought those sweet treats which tickled our fancies! I was a little daunted by this, mainly because Liz was not here to help me. I am not much of a baker, and it is usually Liz who rules the roost when it comes to cakes. I decided to give it a go though. I decided to stick to a simple cake recipe but spruce it up with an interesting flavour combination. I hoped that the flavour would then cover up any flaws in my baking technique! I started with the idea of using cardamom. This is mainly due to the amazing flavour it gave in Liz's blueberry tart. I then wanted to use a seasonal fruit and I chose plums for their combination of sweet and sour. To add a richness to the cake I then opted to add pistachio. So here it is, my "Plum, Pistachio and Cardamom Cake". (Just to let you know, this was the first cake to completely sell out at work.)
