A few pics from a recent summer commercial photo-shoot, featuring a gorgeous iced lavender cake and an incredibly stunning country house garden. Late afternoon sunlight in mid summer is just so perfect!
Photos by me and styling by my talented Mum Sally Wilkinson.
If you find yourself overburdened with hot cross buns this Easter then let me tempt you with this recipe. My twist on bread and butter pudding but even easier to make because the fruit is already in the buns – oh it also has a little luxurious boozy twist. Well why not!
Mass slaughter, gushing blood and decapitated cherubs; those aren’t the usual images that spring to mind when I’m talking about cake, but that was exactly what I got on a recent shoot for Choccywoocydoodah.
I don’t normally post much of my commercial work here on the blog, but this recent shoot was too good not to share!
This post was inspired by a recent trip to Rye in East Sussex. The weather that day was absolutely bitter – they type of cold that really gets into your bones, so a hot mug of tea and a decent piece of cake are pretty much essential. I stopped in a lovely little cafe but I was in such a rush to get the train back that I didn’t pay much attention to the name – whoops!
Have I mentioned that I moved house recently? Well that’s why things have been a bit quiet on the blog recently. It’s well-known that moving house is one of the most stressful things you can do, and I can confirm this is very much the case.
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For me, the perfect chocolate brownie should be rich (but not sickly), dense (but not too heavy) and, without doubt, moist in the middle.
I’ve tried a fair few recipes over the years (all in the name of research!) and my favourite by far is this one by Nigel Slater – with my own little seasonal twist.
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Today is Bastille Day. I could tell you that’s why I decided to bake madeleines but it would be a big fib – it was actually pure coincidence.
I really fancied some fruit bread in the week, so I thought I’d adapt the regular soda bread I’d made previously here.
Soda bread really is my go-to bready saviour, and I tend to keep a little stock of ingredients at the ready in case I want to whip up a speedy loaf. In fact, I liked this bread so much I’m planning to make it again over the weekend!
In terms of the dried fruit, it’s all just down to personal taste. My fruit mix had cherries, pineapple and sultanas, but I think figs could be lovely.
You will need:
500g plain flour
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp fine sea salt
Approx 400ml buttermilk or live yogurt
A generous handful of mixed dried fruit
A little milk (if necessary)
1. Preheat the oven to 200oC/gas mark 6
2. Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda into a large mixing box and stir in the salt and dried fruit. Make a small well in the centre, pour in the yogurt or buttermilk and stir. The mixture should form a soft dough so if it’s a bit dry, add a dash of milk until all the ingredients combine and it becomes a bit sticky.
3. Lightly flour your worktop and tip out your dough. Knead your dough for roughly a minute and shape into a round.
4. Dust your baking tray with flour (this will prevent your bread from sticking), place your dough on the tray and then dust generously with flour.
5. Mark a deep cross in your loaf with a sharp bread knife and then place in the oven. Bake for 40-45 minutes. If you get a hollow sound when you tap the underneath then you know it’s done. Tip: If your loaf starts to brown too quickly, simply cover loosely with foil.
6. Place your bread on a wire rack to cool a little and then serve while still warm with butter.
All images ©Heather Wilkinson 2011-12
Filled with enthusiasm after my marmalade success, I decided to try my luck at making jam. I’m literally obsessed with Forced Rhubarb at the moment, and I really liked the idea of being able to still enjoy it after the season finishes.
I opted for Pam ‘The Jam’ Corbin’s (River Cottage) recipe. According to Pam, this is supposed to be a soft jam, but that seemed open to interpretation. I mean, how soft is soft? To me, that seemed like crucial information for a novice jam-maker.
I followed the recipe to the letter and soaked my rhubarb in layers of sugar and orange juice overnight. The following day, boiling the jam and setting it literally took less than 30 mins, although it might have been quicker if I hadn’t spent so much time fiddling about while trying to sterilise my jars.
My finished jam was indeed soft, but so not much that it slides off your bread. And the taste, my goodness this stuff is heavenly! Add a generous spoonful on top of your morning porridge for a scrumptious start to the day.
For the icing:
300g icing sugar, sifted
50g unsalted butter, at room temperature
125g cream cheese, cold
½ tsp orange blossom essence