Portobello and The Beach House

This week, Colm and I decided to plan a trip to Portobello on our day off. It's always nice to have a change of scenery, and even nicer to be by the sea. Luckily the bus goes from right outside our house so we hopped on, and 40 minutes later we were at the beach. The first thing I did was take my shoes off to walk down to the water. Colm refused to paddle, but I ventured into the icy water for a few minutes until my feet started to hurt: it really was that cold! However, it was a beautiful sunny day so we were very lucky.

After we wandered along the beach we headed to The Beach House, which I had heard lots of good things about. I was not disappointed. Unfortunately it was too cold to sit outside, but inside was warm and inviting and we managed to nab the only free table. We both ordered the yellow split pea soup which was served with three slices of delicious fresh bread. It was perfect, warming and wholesome, and reminded me of my mums homemade soup. Then we managed to find room for tea and cake. I had the wonderful lemon cake that you see above and Colm had the chocolate fudge cake. The lemon cake was perfection. The sponge was delicate, moist and lightly flavoured while the filling was just incredible, like the best lemon curd you could ever dream of made into frosting. The service was brilliant too, and we will definitely be going back.

After our lunch we headed to Portobello Swim Centre which is located in what used to be Victorian baths right beside the beach. The interior is beautiful and we enjoyed the Turkish baths feature as well as going for a swim. All in all it was a lovely day out!
 

Some Eating Of The Healthy Nature

We had discusssed it in early December, but after my being sick for three weeks and still shaking off the remnants of my cough, we decided that now was the time to do some healthy eating for a few weeks. By healthy eating, I mean no caffeine or alcohol, very little wheat or dairy (sourdough bread and feta cheese are good: anything else is out) and no processed foods. We had a lovely first day and spoiled ourselves with the following:

Scrambed eggs with feta, mushrooms and spring onion piled on top of sourdough bread

A stir fry rice dish with prawns and peppers, broccoli, cashews, mushrooms, tomatos and sesame oil

And copious amounts of herbal tea and water (often with lemon and mint)

And we've been snacking on apples and dried mango (which I had forgotten how much I love!). It's so nice to treat my body well for a while: even though I don't think I could ever eat this healthily long term unless I absolutely had to, I think it's good to do it every now and again. It's nice to have someone to do it with too, although I think my boyfriend may struggle more than I will!

 

So, do any of you have any delicious, fresh, healthy meal, snack or drink suggestions? I always love new ideas!

Syrup And Waffles And Cream, Oh My!

 

Toasted waffles drizzled (ok, more like poured over) with Golden Syrup and topped with a teaspoon of clotted cream... What could be better? It's hot and cold and melty and sweet and delicious, and oh so easy to make. And it can definitely be eaten for breakfast or dessert. Or a late night snack.

 

I've been looking at other tempting breakfast type recipes over the last few days too:

 

Cinnamon Bread from The Pioneer Woman

Brown Sugar Bacon Waffles from Joy the Baker

Chai Waffles from Ezra Pound Cake (If I ever get a waffle iron that is!)
Breakfast for Dessert from A Beautiful Mess (Doughnuts and Ice Cream!)
Boozy Baked French Toast from Smitten Kitchen

It's Brunch Time!

My friend Rebecca came over from Belfast yesterday for an interview and stayed the night, and this morning she treated me to an early birthday brunch at Henri in Stockbridge. It was delicious: I had a decaf cappuccino (which had real chocolate flakes sprinkled on top - yum!) and a brie and ham baguette, and Rebecca had a latté and a smoked salmon and cream cheese baguette. And we got brownies to go, of course!

 

Malted Chocolate Cupcakes

I made these delicious Malted Chocolate Cupcakes yesterday. The recipe is from The Hummingbird Bakery's wonderful cookbook, Cake Days. If you are in London, be sure to visit one of their shops (which are located in Soho, South Kensington, Notting Hill, Spitalfields and Islington). The Spitalfields branch is my favourite. The daily specials are changed quite regularly, and the seven current flavours (running from Monday to Friday) are Tiramisu, Apple Streusel, Panettone, Crème Brûlée, Key Lime, Eton Mess, and Grasshopper. Now that I can't visit their shops, I am forced to make my own! And I was very happy with how this recipe turned out. The frosting alone would be delicious spread over a basic chocolate sponge. Although the recipe has quite a few ingredients, it is actually very easy to make: it mostly consists of beating different ingredients together! And I found that most the ingredients I either had, or could buy quite cheaply. I would strongly recommend it.

From Cake Days:

Malted Chocolate Cupcakes

Makes 12 to 16 cupcakes

For the sponge

150ml sunflower oil
75ml whole milk
75ml buttermilk
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
240g plain flour
25g cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
330g caster sugar
150ml boiling water

For the frosting

200g dark chocolate chips
240ml double cream
115g malted milk powder (I used Horlicks)
50g full fat cream cheese (I used Philadelphia)
35g caster sugar
Malteasers, to decorate

Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F), Gas Mark 5 and fill a muffin tin with muffin cases.

I love my cupcake cases: my mum bought them for me in John Lewis

Using an electric whisk, beat together the oil with the buttermilk, egg and vanilla essence on low speed until well blended. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt, then stir in the sugar. Add a third of these dry ingredients to the oil and milk mixture and beat in slowly until evenly incorporated.

Beat in a third of the boiling water, followed by another third of the dry ingredients, then repeat with the remaining ingredients, mixing together until they are are all combined. Remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition, to ensure a well-mixed batter.

Finished sponge batter

Divide the mixture between the paper cases, filling each by two thirds. (I tried doing this with a spoon to begin with...so messy. So I used a jug to pour the mixture in which was much easier!) Any remaining batter can be used to fill one to four more cases in seperate tin. Place in the oven and bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until springy to touch. Allow to cool a little before removing from the tin, then transfer to a wire rack to cool down completely before adding the frosting.

Springy to touch!

To make the frosting, place the chocolate chips in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and allow to melt, then remove from the heat to set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, using the electric whisk, whip the cream with the malted milk powder until it forms soft peaks. In a seperate bowl, beat the cream cheese with the caster sugar until combined, then add the cooled chocolate and mix again.

Carefully fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture, adding half of the whipped cream at a time. Divide the frosting between the cupcakes, smoothing and swirling with a palette knife (which I don't have: maybe that's why mine are not that smooth!), then decorate each cupcake with 3 Malteasers.

Frosting, which should probably come with a health warning it's so good!

Halfway there!

Easy Banana Bread

I love banana bread, and this one is so easy to make. I made one this evening, and just had a warm slice with a cup of tea...yum.

First slice!

Banana Bread

(From The Complete Farmhouse Kitchen Cook Book with slight adjustments)

2 ripe bananas
50g margarine
150g soft brown sugar
2 eggs
225g self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
Half a teaspoon cinnamon
Some grated nutmeg

Mash bananas.
Cream together the margarine and sugar.
Beat in eggs.
Add flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and banana and mix well.
Put in a greased and floured one and a half or two pound loaf tin.
Bake in the middle of the oven at 190 degrees (in a fan assisted oven) for about 50 minutes, or until loaf is golden brown, springy to touch, and shrinking slightly from the side of the tin.
Turn on to wire rack to cool.

Ready to be mixed

Mix it up!

Perfectly baked

Simple Pleasures: Baked Apples

Baked apples. Hot from the oven, filled with raisins and swimming in a sea of honey. Scraping out every last bit of the soft apple-y goodness with a spoon. One of the most simple yet satisfying desserts possible, baked apples taste far more luxurious than they sound. Perfect after a long or stressful day, I think they are best eaten while snuggled up in bed, watching something funny on TV.

Ingredients:

2 baking apples
I tbsp honey
Raisins
2 knobs of butter
1 tsp cinnamon

Pre-heat the oven to 160 centigrade. Wash and core the apples. Run a knife around the apples just above the middle to prevent splitting.

Mix the honey, cinnamon and raisins together in a bowl. The above measurements are just a rough guide.  I like to drown the raisins in honey and cinnamon; you may be more reserved.

Place in a shallow dish and fill with the honey, cinnamon and raisin mix.

Place a knob of butter on top of the filling on both apples. Pour some cold water into the bottom of the dish around the apples, and bake for 1 hour, until soft.

Serve with a sprinkling of brown sugar and cream. Or custard. Or clotted cream. Or ice cream for that matter.

Five of My Favourite Things: April

1. My new Topshop ballet flats in Apricot. I always love a pretty pair of flats, and these are as girlie as they get. Now I just need some warm, dry days in which to wear them!

2. Joy the Baker Cookbook. No explanation needed. I want to make everything! Especially the honey mustard roasted cashews. And the giant mint chocolate chip marshmallow cubes. And the baked chili cheese fries. What is not to love about this book?!!

3. My Ferrero Rocher easter egg. I didn't even know that these existed before last Sunday! Yum, yum, yum. In fact, I've surprised myself with my constraint. Why do I still have some of the egg left? This situation must be quickly remedied.

4. The Closed Circle by Jonathan Coe. I just finished The Rotter's Club, and wanted to read the sequel immediately. So far, so very good. The Rotter's Club is set in the 1970s, and The Closed Circle follows the same characters, now middle aged. I'm finding it hard to put down.

5. My new New Look dress, a lovely gift from my sister which arrived in the post this morning. It's got tiny shoulder pads and the gathered sections are very flattering.

Chewy Caramel Goodness for Cold Days

Today I made some delicious chocolate chip cookies that I found on the wonderful My Baking Addiction website. They contain a unusual twist: inside each cookie is a Rolo. Melted caramel sweets, chocolate chips, and pecans in cookie form equal perfection. Now cooled, they are chewy and gooey and I can't stop eating them!

You can find the recipe here.

They seemed the perfect remedy for the cold weather that's suddenly hit Scotland: yesterday we had hail and snow, and it's hard to believe that last Tuesday we were paddling at the beach!

Last Tuesday on the cliffs at the beach

These cookies would melt on the beach! They are definitely more suited for a night in next to the fire with a good book and a cup of tea.

A small selection: the batch made 40 cookies

A close up

Baking Therapy

I recently moved, from one country to another, and in the process most of my baking equipment had to be left behind. Although I've been settled now for a couple of months, I haven't had the money to build up my collection again until now, and it's incredible how much I have missed baking. I constantly cook lunches and dinners, but baking is what I turn to when I am feeling low. It takes my mind off my problems, and is the most comforting activity I can imagine.

The funny thing is, although I love the things I make as a general rule (brownies, cookies, cupcakes and other baked goods), I'm never actually all that keen to eat them once I've cooked them. I generally give them to friends, family or my other half; and it seems that for me, the baking of them is in itself enough to satisfy me. On that note however, I think I may just sit down and have one of the brownies I made yesterday with a cup of tea!

For my first foray back into baking, I decided to make the Rocky Road Brownies from Joy the Baker's wonderful website, and they are delicious. I even added some fudge to make the whole thing even more unhealthy! You can find the recipe here, and I would highly recommend them.

Above is the finished brownie: the toasted marhmallows on top really make it!

Perfect Fried Rice

I love rice. From as early as I can remember, rice was one of the most comforting foods that I could imagine. Served hot with curries or cold in a salad, it is as versatile as it is delicious. And while I do enjoy the fluffiness of boiled rice, my favourite way to cook rice is to fry it.

Perfect Fried Rice

Ingredients:

Basmati rice
Oil
1 onion
2 cardomoms
1 bay leaf
2 cloves
Small cinnamon stick
1 chicken stock cube
Hot water
Salt

Measure the quantity of rice needed. Quantities are dependent on personal preference: the amounts here can be played around with as much as you like. I find that this amount of onion and spices is perfect for 2 to 4 servings of fried rice. Rinse the rice in a sieve, using your fingers to rinse off the starch under a running cold tap.

Thinly chop an onion and fry with the cardomoms, bay leaf, cloves and cinnamon stick in some oil on a low heat in a medium saucepan.

When the onions start to brown, add the rice and fry for a few minutes, stirring to make sure that all of the grains are covered in oil.

Add more oil if you need to. Take off the heat and add hot water (one and a half times the amount of rice that you used) with the stock cube dissolved in the water.

I use chicken stock but you can use whichever kind of stock you prefer. Put the mixture back on the heat and bring to the boil, then turn down immediately to simmer.

Put the lid on the saucepan and leave to cook for 15 minutes.

Done! Make sure you take out the spices before serving.