One of the classics of British cuisine is to poach pears in red wine or syrup. As a variation on this, I sometimes create a sweet spicy syrup to poach the pears in, then reduce these to a thick, sweet sauce. Recently, however, I have been...
Read moreWe have always loved teabreads here at home like those made by Elizabeth Bothams of Whitby, but I reckoned that some of those homely, comforting cakes could not be too difficult to make. So this weekend I set out to make a traditional Fruit Teabread...
Read moreThis is another recipe that I have followed from Pierre Hermé's inspirational cookbook "Chocolate", which I have reinterpreted for a British audience. The only tweak I have made to it was in the use of edible gold as a garnish on top of the chocolat...
Read moreThis recipe began as one of those serendipitous events when on holiday this July in Scotland. We had one of those small kitchens that has no equipment and a very temperamental cooker, plus we had brought almost no ingredients with us. Then around a...
Read moreMy sister and her family came to visit at the weekend, so I was scrabbling around trying to come up with a summery pudding to create, while the rain was gushing down outside in torrents. I decided that roast chicken with all the trimmings, followed...
Read moreWith the summer fruit rolling in, Raspberry Jam is being made at A Slice of Cherry Pie, while at Cannelle et Vanille Aran is inspired by a simple bowl of frozen raspberries and bakes delicious Gluten Free Raspberry Scones and a fancy Heirloom Tomato,...
Read moreThis recipe began with a blog post from David Lebovitz, who wrote that his desert island food would be Almond Cake. So with great anticipation, I tried his recipe several weeks back, but while Sophie and I loved the marzipan-almond luxury and the ol...
Read moreAt Chocolate & Zucchini, there is a delicious sounding recipe for sablés from Yves Camdeborde's book Dimanche et Famille. Clotilde Dusolier's blog then sent me around various links on her site to several other biscuit recipes that sound fantasti...
Read moreEngland's football team were abject last Sunday, but the Chocolate And Nutella Tart recipe from the French patisserie chef, Pierre Hermé, was the perfect compensation - sweet, rich and complex in taste that left you just wanting more. In one of my p...
Read moreHaving been given a great sweet tart pastry recipe by Anthony Stern from Independent Foods, I have recently come across an even better Sweet Tart Dough in Pierre Hermé’s book “Chocolate Desserts”. I must admit to being given the heads up about the w...
Read moreThe other day my parents visited from Northumberland, and as it was a gorgeous sunny Thursday, I plucked up the courage to try one of David Lebovitz's recipes. It's always a matter of bravery as I am in awe at other people's ability to make seemingl...
Read morePink is one of those colours I have never really liked. However, getting married and then having a daughter have made me accept pink as a colour and slowly but surely start to like pink as long as it is subtle rather than Barbie coloured. Sophie ha...
Read moreRhubarb is one of the first signs of the fruitfulness of the new season, and I really love rhubarb - we have always had lovely rhubarb at home. There's a Steenberg family story that our sweet rhubarb came from the Russian Royal family, however I per...
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