berries

The 114th Bake: Summer Pudding Alaska

The last bake and this was one of the scariest looking bakes in the book. So after 13 months and 13 days I have finally baked all the recipes out of the Great British Bake Off Big Book of Baking as well as 30 of my own recipes. Exhausting, but fun, fun fun!!! 🙂 I have learnt so much about baking and time management too. And it just shows me that you can achieve whatever you set your mind to. I have loved all the baking, it’s been so much fun, though stressful at times, but well worth the effort. I’m really pleased I did it.

I had already done a Baked Alaska so I knew this was going to be a big bake, but this recipe which was Nancy’s Showstopper, involved making your own ice cream, not one, but three different ice creams!!! Eeeekkk

I needed a bit of time for this one, it took about 24 hours!! No kidding, because each time I made an ice-cream and placed it in the mould I had to leave it to set for 4 hours. It was fun making ice-cream, in fact each ice-cream used different ingredients and a different process. My challenge was that I didn’t have an ice-cream churner but I got away without one, I used my electric beater with the paddle attachment, hey improvisation is a great thing, saved me money and having to acquire another appliance for the kitchen. So I made the forest berry ice cream with frozen mixed berries, caster sugar and cream. Not having any creme de cassis in the house I used Pacharán made from blackthorn berries (close enough to blackcurrant in my book).

  • berries and sugar
  • cream
  • and pacharan! 🙂
  • combined
  • churning in the mixer!!

I whizzed the mixed berries with caster sugar, added cream and Pacharán liqueur, then put it into the mixer to churn until firm. (well, mine didn’t really go firm so to speak, but nothing that the freezer couldn’t fix). So I poured this into the mould and placed another smaller bowl on top to make the hole for the next ice cream. Fun, fun fun. ;/

  • berry ice cream into the bowl
  • making a dome

Time to go to bed and have another crack at the next layer in the morning! For the next ice cream, which was strawberry and mint, I needed an unusual ingredient which I had never bought, a can of

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By Denise, ago

The 99th Bake: Summer Four Berry Pie

You would think that a berry pie would entail some apples somewhere, Apple and blueberry, Apple and blackberry, but no, this pie is ALL BERRY and delicious to boot, all 750grams of them, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and raspberries. Now that’s a lot of antioxidants right there.

We know antioxidants are good for us but why? Because they fight free radicals. These chemicals cause oxidation that damages cells and their genetic material. Your body makes free radicals as it processes food, sunlight, and toxins. Antioxidants either stop free radicals before they form or break them down so they’re harmless. This pie then, has got to be good for you. And a great time of year for Berry pie!!! 🙂

  • berries, berries, zest and
  • more berries

The pastry of this pie was different too. It was made with flour, butter, sugar and egg yolk and cream cheese. This gave it a crisp texture when cooked as well as a luscious texture that rolled out easily.

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By Denise, ago

The 95th Bake: Ginger Tuile Sabayon Baskets


I had a count up yesterday and I have 20 recipes left to go!!! Woohoo. Actually, I thought I had less. I know the recipe book says 120 recipes and 95 + 20 doesn’t add up to 120!! but I’m assuming its because there have been chutneys and lemon curds etc along the way which probably all add up to 120 recipes. Maths is definitely not my strong point.

I have taken up a new Sport and am thinking about taking up a new hobbie. It’s such a fun time of year for planning and figuring out what you are going to achieve this year. Thank goodness for New Year, fresh starts, new things, as well as letting go of old stuff too. Change is good and worthwhile and welcome, sometimes. I am also planning a trip to Europe for the end of the year so I can do some research on my next novel. Have just managed to arrange two house swaps, for the south of France and Germany. So exciting.http://www.homeforexchange.com It’s such a a great way to travel, free with amazing locations and accommodation. I am so looking forward to going to Lyon where the large outdoor markets of La Croix Rousse and St Antoine offer a huge selection of traditional and gourmet food including dishes ready to eat. Can’t wait. Maybe I should make it a food trip too, now that wouldn’t be hard.

I didn’t know what a tuile basket was, had never made one and certainly didn’t know what sabayon was.

  • Tuile baskets 🙂
  • Sabayon whisking! 🙂

So this bake was interesting and educational. You come to the realization that all this fancy stuff is not actually hard to make, it’s just fiddly and time consuming. This dessert was light and yummy, but it would take a very special occasion to make it again!!

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By Denise, ago

Laissez Faire Cake (Banana, berry and chocolate cake)

I got concussed in the weekend, very random accident of an elbow shoved in the temple.  Anyway, on Monday morning, prediagnosis,  I decided to make a cake.   I threw everything into the kitchen wizz, starting with butter, oh dear, just a little left in the house, cooking oil then? None.  The only thing I could find to use was lemon infused olive oil so I added that to the left over softened butter, (about 2 tbspoons butter and 1/3 cup oil) I got a recipe book out but found all the measures in ounces so I decided to wing it, make up the recipe as I went. And here it is… (more…)

By Denise, ago

The 50th Bake: Summer Berry & Nut Cake

Its time to bake a cake and this berry delight struck me as delicious.  I had most of the ingredients, but I didn’t have marzipan for the walnut and brown sugar crumb topping which gave the cake a subtle almond taste. This cake had an inordinate amount of berries on top, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries… a whole 600grams!!  (more…)

By Denise, ago