Vanilla and Chocolate Easter Egg Cake

This is quite a silly post about a very silly recipe. This cake is not big and it is not clever. So much so that  I very nearly did not write this post. But it turned out to be really quite joyful, and a perfect… Read More

In Praise of Cheating

I’m going to make some wild assertions on love and romance, and then I’m going to tell you to cheat. And I’m going to finish it all off with a chocolate and caramel tart that would make the angels weep. Happy Valentine’s Day.

Do Your Best Scotch Pancakes

  January has been hard this year. January is always hard, I suppose. But this year felt more brutal, more raw than previous ones. Perhaps that is always the case. But now January is over. And I am celebrating with scotch pancakes.

Cranachan shortbread sandwich

It may seem churlish to find a problem with cranachan; as if I’m trawling perfecty acceptable British classics, and picking holes in them. But I promise you this isn’t change for change’s sake.

Leftovers Pie for Boxing Day

I’m going to keep this short, because if you have flung yourself into the festivities, or simply survived them, and are now sizing up piles of leftovers wearily and warily, the last thing you want to do is read a blog post. If that’s not… Read More

Fudging It: Last Minute Christmas Ginger and Cherry Fudge

I wish I were someone who was organised and neat, someone who excelled at making organised and neat lists, and then methodically ticking off each item on completion. But that will never be me.

Christmas Anxiety Brownies

For the last week I have had acute Christmas anxiety. So I made brownies. Christmas brownies. The best brownies, possibly, that you will ever taste.

Nutella Snowflake Bread

The bits of Christmas I like most are the stolen quiet moments. And in those quiet moments, I make Nutella Snowflake Bread.

Sticky Gingerbread Bundt Wreath Cake

We never really did festive baking in my house. Mince pies were Marks & Spencer. Yule logs never crossed the threshold. Stollen was an unknown, and Pannetone hadn’t made it to South Shields in 1994. The exception was the Christmas cake.

Glorious lemon coconut cake for drizzly days

I spend a lot of time evangelising about stews and soups and curries and their particular value during the colder months. And they are important. They swaddle you in warmth, they comfort you with their stodge or depth or nursery-like qualities: they feed you up,… Read More