The Ice Queens

What feels like an absolute age ago now, but was probably last month some time, my Sister purchased two vouchers through Living Social to attended a Bake180 workshop in Tamworth. We booked our places almost immediately and have been patiently waiting for the evening to arrive and finally put out of our misery yesterday.

Both me and Sue enjoy baking and turn our hand to a bit of cupcake icing but always wondered how people create this magnificent specimens of goodness. Thankfully the Bake180 workshop gave us a few of the trade secretes.

For two and a half hours we got to play with molds, cutters, glues, sparkles, luster, colourings and glitter shakers and just when you think the evening couldn't get any more girly a classic Dirty Dancing tune came on the radio, ahhh bliss!

Sue getting to grips with the sugarcraft molds

The biggest revelation of the evening were the sugarcraft molds, I didn't know these things existed but it means you can create elaborate and complicated designs like flip flops and butterflies with real ease. You can buy them for around £6 for the small ones but would soon get your money's worth from them.

The top tip of the evening was to use cornflour rather than icing sugar to help stop your icing from sticking then leave your items to dry before brushing off the excess with a small, soft paint brush.

Designs using molds and cutters

As well as the molds and cutters we were also shown how to create roses from scratch, I loved doing these and once you're shown how it's so easy and means you don't have to spend any money on molds.

My first sugarcraft rose

Once you're created an array of toppers you're handed 12 beautifully even cupcakes to decorate, along with with a big piping bag full of luscious butter cream.

Sue decorating her cakes

Sue's finished designs

The Tupperware Tub of Happiness - I aspire to own one of these one fine day

I was really chuffed with my designs, I picked up lots of things that I know I can use again and I also had a lot of fun at the workshop. I think I have finally created cupcakes worthy of the beautiful cake stand Lisa gave me for Christmas, so a little photo shoot was in order. Here are my finished creations....

Very proud of my rose cupcakes...

Mum's Birthday Treat

Last month my Mum, Sister and me were treated to a Birthday dinner by my Dad. The four of us enjoyed a three course lunch at Netherstowe House in Lichfield.

I've been here before and enjoyed Afternoon Tea with Jade and Cheese and Wine with Lisa and once again I wasn't disappointed.

It's a strange place, not in a bad way mind you, maybe magical is a better way to describe it. The Grade II Listed Boutique Hotel sits within a very unassuming housing estate in Lichfield, shielded from the modern world by trees and weathered brick walls I've spent years passing by not knowing of it's existence. When you arrive you feel like you're in an episode of Downtown abbey, greeted at the door by a smartly dressed man who invites you to in and leaves to relax in the sitting room.

The attention to detail is astonishing ever clock, cushion and candelabra is is perfectly suited to the surroundings and this attention is carried through in the service. You can't help be feel calm and relaxed when you're here, everything is taken care of and the real world seems to be in a parallel universe left at the entrance to the house.

The menu is very classic with obvious French influences which you'll see from the food we had below...

Mum's starter of  Smoked Duck Breast with a Hint of Jasmine served with Blue cheese and a Sherry & Coffee Jelly

Dad's starter of White Ragstone Stilton and Candied Walnut Parfait served with Pear and Celery Jelly and Wholegrain Croute

Sue's starter of Grilled Red Mullet served with Shallot Puree with Wild Mushroom Panache and Velouté de Champiñones

For my lunch I chose to start with the Velouté of Jerusalem Artichoke with White Truffle Oil, followed by Pan Roasted Chicken Breast with Wilted Baby Leaf Spinach and Boulanger Potato and finished off with the Deconstructed Ricotta Cheesecake with Poached Pears and Oat Biscuit Fine.

My Main of Pan Roasted Chicken Breast with Wilted Baby Leaf Spinach and Boulanger Potato

Everyone was delicious from the bread we were offered at the start of our meal along with the selection of butters - paprika, herby or plain to the amazing pudding a the end. I'm not one for anything described as 'deconstructed', but, well, it was deconstructed and it was amazing?!

So putting the gorgeous location, the interesting menu, tasty food and attentive service aside the main reason why I love this place is that although it has ever reason to be arrogant and stuffy it isn't, instead it feels like home which is why I keep going back and would highly recommend it to anyone.

Think next time I go I'll have to stay over night, just so I can review the breakfast of course!

Bar Kick

We had a team night out with work and spotted a deal on Groupon for two mains, two drinks and two games of football for £12 at Bar Kick in Shoreditch, so we got enough for the six of us and off we went for a beer filled night of bonding through our mutual feelings towards work.

The place is great fun, the top floor has four mini foozball tables, South American flags hanging from the ceiling, lots of beers by the bottle, the dinner specials written on chalk board and gingham tablecloths over formica furniture.

The menu is basic but inspired by South America - lots of chorizo, bread and olives. I went for the steak and rocket sandwich with tortilla chips on the side served in a tin can. The meat was great, still quite rare but the sandwich and chips needed something to stop them being dry, the bottles of corona helped!

We then went to play foozball and it all got a bit competitive.

Pay Day Lunch: Abokado

Pay day means a nice treat for lunch day! The past few weeks I have been living on cheap lunches and leftovers so as soon as I get paid I am off to grab something yummy and usually different for lunch.

I have been craving sushi for a few weeks and thought I would try Abokado near work. They have a lovely food philosophy which involves lots of affordable fresh sushi and juices inspired by the owners trip to Australia where all this lovely stuff was readily available to the masses. Most things are healthy, they put a huge emphasis on freshness and quality and the staff were brilliant, one guy ran off to get me a tray as my arms was laden with goodies.

I went for the large 'River Run' Sushi box with Edamame beans, a bit pricey compared to a normal take away lunch at about £7 (but I really didn't need the beans I was just being greedy!) but it was worth every penny. The sushi was fresh and the rice not too sticky and the beans were covered in sea salt, which even though bad for me was delicious. I will definitely be returning as i like the look of all the other things on the menu from their signature Shwarps - a western filling in a sushi roll and the hot noodle soups.

Carnivores Only

Following on from the Battenberg cake for the boyfriend's birthday I also took him for a birthday dinner. He is a man who likes good hearty food with little pretence and it seemed like Buen Ayre, an Argentinean steak restaurant on Broadway Market, Hackney would fit the bill.

With amazing reviews and a celebrity cliental this tiny restaurant is always packed. Set up by Buenos Aires chef John Rattagan who had been in charge of the sacred asado (barbeque) within his family since he was 10 so by the time he left home at 18 he was regarded as an 'experto'. When he moved to London he continued to be involved in all things BBQ whilst studying photography and fine arts. He then became head grill chef at the Duke of Edinburgh pub in Brixton before opening the first authentic Argentine charcoal grill in the country.

The dinky restaurant is crammed full of striped wooden tables with the grill just at the side so you can see the meat being cooked. Our waiter was brilliant, he recommended an amazing red wine and one of the Parrilladas, a brazier meat platter to share.

When our platter arrived it was piled high with some lovely looking meat still sizzling on the hot plate. There looked like way too much for two people but we thought we would give it a go, we also went for a rocket and garlic side salad which was yummy and the raw garlic gave it a real kick.

The sirloin streak was cooked rare and just melted in the mouth, this was then followed with some ribs that had been grilled to perfection, the charcoal taste really coming through and the rib eye steak was slightly chewier but had hardly any fat on. The three cuts varied so differently to each other in texture and taste but we loved them all especially covered in a homemade chimichurri sauce. The platter also came with black pudding, which was ridiculously creamy in texture with a very deep flavour and the sweetbreads were well seasoned and moorish.

We managed to eat all of it, which was impressive considering the amount but not considering how tasty it was! It was all washed down with Gestos Malbec red wine, it is a combination of two Malbecs's with half the fruit coming from vineyards at 700m above sea level and the other half coming from 1100m creating a well balanced and flavour filled wine that is suprisingly light.

With the bill coming in at under £75 with tip, it seemed great value for money based on the wine, quality of food, staff and the lovely atmosphere. I would recommend it to any whole hearted carnivore!

The night ended with us grabbing a drink from a cute pub, The Cat and Mutton near London Fields park and sitting in the sun drinking a gin and ginger before heading home.

Square peg in a round Battenberg...

A couple of months ago when I was on a photo shoot with work, the very lovely food stylist mentioned how to make a round battenberg. In my head I couldn't quite figure out if it would work or not so when the boyfriend mentioned he loved battenberg I thought I would save the trick until his birthday and do it as a surprise.

His birthday is tomorrow but as we always have cake at work I made it late last night (and had a sugar high from eating the left over marzipan and couldn't sleep!) to bring in today to celebrate. The basic recipe was based on one by the Hairy Bikers but I added some ground almonds and then made it round instead of rectangular.

It was a big hit with everyone at work and kicked the shop brought cake's butt!

Round Battenburg Cake

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 175g softened butter, plus extra for greasing

• 175g golden caster sugar

• 3 free-range eggs

• 175g self-raising flour

• 50g ground almonds

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or use almond extract if you love almonds)

• red food colouring

• yellow food colouring

• 2-4 tbsp warm water

For the covering:

• 6 tbsp apricot jam

• 500g ready-made marzipan

• 2–3 tbsp icing sugar, for rolling.

Method

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.

Grease two 20cm/8in round tin with butter and line with baking parchment.

Put the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, ground almonds and vanilla in a food processor and pulse until well combined (you can use a hand mixer instead).

If the batter is a little stiff add a tbsp of warm water at time until you are happy with the consistency.

Divide the batter in half and put one half in a different clean bowl.

Add a few drops of red food colouring to one bowl and fold it into the batter until it is well blended.

Add a few drops of yellow food colouring to the other bowl and fold it into the batter until it is well blended.

Spoon the cake batters into each one of the prepared tins and smooth the surface with the back of a spoon.

Bake in the centre of the oven for about 25 minutes, or until the sponges have risen.

Cool in the tin for five minutes, then remove each sponge from the tin and turn them out onto a wire rack. If the sponges have risen unevenly, press the surface gently until level. Leave until completely cold.

To assemble the cake, take two pastry cutters, one smaller than the cake and the other smaller still. Cut out a circle from each cake using the larger cutter so you get a large doughnut shape and a smaller circle, on the smaller circle use the small cutter so you get a medium doughnut shape and small circle.

Warm the apricot jam in a saucepan then press through a fine sieve.

Now take the large pink doughnut and put the medium yellow doughnut in the middle, then put the pink small circle in the middle of that. Brush all over with apricot jam.

Place a third of the marzipan on a surface dusted with icing sugar and roll into a circle to fit the size of the cake. It should be about 5mm thick.

Place the marzipan circle on top of the first layer of the cake and brush with apricot jam.

Layer on the yellow pink doughnut and put the medium pink doughnut in the middle, then put the yellow small circle in the middle. Brush all over with apricot jam including down the sides of the entire cake.

Place a the rest of the marzipan on a surface dusted with icing sugar and roll into a circle to fit the over the cake. It should be about 5mm thick.

Using the rolling pin to gather up the rolled marzipan place it carefully over the top of the cake to create a smooth covering. Gently smooth the marzipan down the sides of the cake, pressing it gently onto the surface of the sponges.

Trim any marzipan overlapping the edges to create a neat edge.

Pizza Perfect

Sunday night in our house is often pizza night, but none of your Domino's here thank you very much, instead it's when Sean get's the have his 'Cocktail' moment but unlike Tom Cruise he's tossing pizza dough not bottles of Rum.

Last night's were the best so far, crispy base, gooey mozzarella and delicious homemade tomato sauce, the holy trinity of pizza...

Meat Feast Pizza - chicken, sausage and cheese.

Homemade pizza's, whether you make the bases or not, are a great way to use up leaf-overs that are languishing in the fridge.

Bostin Father's Day

Before crossing the boarder, marrying my Mum and raising two wonderful daughters my Dad was a proud resistant of the Black Country. So for Father's Day I decided to give him a taste of the 'good ode days' and buy him some bottles of Holden's beer.

Bottles wrapped up with individual tags.

I gave him a bottle of the Holden's Mild, described as  "a bold chestnut-red mild with nutty biscuit notes with a delicious hint of chocolate. Brewed using amber malt, caramalt, black malt and choicest fuggles it is an easy drinking traditional black country mild"...

and a bottle of the Holden's Golden "an impressive golden straw coloured medium bodied ale, brewed using the finest English Maris Otter malts and choicest Fuggles"...

Based in Dudley, Holden's Brewery has been in existence since 1810 and is still a independent family run business today, one of only 33 in the UK. Brewing a range of cask ales and bottled beers they have won awards from CAMERA and run a number of pubs in the area.

Goodbye grey sky, hello blue.

The British Summer was off to a roaring start until the grey clouds started to gather, after watching Rick Stein on the telly enjoying the sunshine in Corfu I decided to try and inject a bit of sunshine back into the day.

Rick Stein - image via www.dailymail.co.uk

The cuisine in Corfu has been influenced by the many countries that have colonised it leaving you with some interesting dishes, one of which is Pastitsio, a Greek alternative to Lasagna. The traditional pasta and minced beef is accompanied by aromatic bay leaves, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon, very delicious.

Corfu - image via

discovergreekislands.co.uk

After watching Rick Stein cook this I decided it was well within my skill base to recreate it. Like a good Lasagna it takes a bit of prep before hand but then once it's done you can bang it in the oven and then eat it when you're ready.

My effort, yum!

It looked pretty good and tasted great and momentarily brought a little bit a sunshine into my heart, so if you'd like to give it a go this is Rick Stein's recipe from the BBC Food website:

Ingredients

For the meat sauce

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
• 1kg/2¼lb lean minced beef
• 200ml/7fl oz red wine
• 400g/14oz can chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 10cm/4in piece cinnamon stick
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• 1 tbsp dried oregano, Greek if possible
• 2 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
• 3 fresh bay leaves
• 100ml/3½fl oz water
• 1½ tsp salt
• freshly ground black pepper

For the pasta

• 8 tsp salt
• 500g/1lb 2oz tubular pasta, such as rigatoni, tubetti or tortiglioni
• 2 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
• 50g/1¾oz Greek kefalotiri cheese or parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 10g/½oz fresh white breadcrumbs

For the white sauce

• 115g/4¼oz butter
• 115g/4¼oz plain flour
• 1.2 litres/2 pints whole milk, plus a little extra
• ½ tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preparation method

1. For the meat sauce, heat the olive oil in a medium-sized pan, add the onion, garlic and celery and fry until just beginning to brown. Add the minced beef and fry over a high heat for 3-4 minutes, breaking up any lumps with a wooden spoon as it browns.
   
2. Add the red wine, tomatoes, tomato purée, cinnamon stick, ground cloves, dried and fresh oregano, bay leaves, water, the 1½ teaspoons salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste, and simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring now and then, until the sauce has thickened but is still nicely moist.
   
3. Remove from the heat and discard the cinnamon stick and bay leaves.
   
4. For the pasta, bring 4.5 litres/8 pints water to the boil in a large saucepan with the eight teaspoons salt. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 13 minutes, but take care not to overcook as it will cook a little further in the oven. Drain well, transfer to a large bowl and leave to cool slightly.
   
5. For the white sauce, melt the butter in a medium-sized non-stick saucepan, add the flour and cook, stirring, over a medium heat, for one minute. Gradually beat in the milk, then bring to the boil, stirring. Lower the heat and leave to simmer for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
   
6. Season with the nutmeg and some salt and pepper to taste.
   
7. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Stir 250ml/9fl oz (about one-fifth) of the white sauce into the warm pasta with the beaten eggs and half the grated cheese. Keep the remaining sauce warm over a low heat, stirring now and then and adding more milk if it begins to get a little thick.
   
8. Use the melted butter to grease a large, shallow ovenproof dish that measures about 23cm x 33cm (9in x 13in) across and 7cm (2½in) deep. Spread one-third of the pasta over the base of the dish and cover with half the meat sauce.
   
9. Add another third of the pasta and then the rest of the meat sauce, then cover with a final layer of pasta. Spoon over the remaining white sauce.
   
10. Mix the remaining grated cheese with the breadcrumbs and sprinkle them over the top. Bake for 40 minutes until bubbling hot and golden brown.
    
11. Serve with a green salad, crusty bread and a gusty red wine.
    

Roll Up, Roll Up

As a treat for our friend who is getting married we thought we would have a mini hen night out. Trying to keep it classy but cool we went to Circus, a quirky London restaurant which featured on the latest series of The Apprentice.

The concept does what it says on the tin, a restaurant with a circus. The place is hidden behind an unassuming black door but when you enter the decor is faceted mirror walls, black gloss tables and see through chairs, less big top more wallpaper magazine. It was created by British designer Tom Dixon of Habitat fame.

The reason we choose this place is because it appealed to the designers in us as well as providing entertainment and yummy food. A peek at the website and you will understand, an understated colour palette, lots of white, geometric shapes and old fashioned illustrations, even the logo changes across the website. Designed by Mind Design.

When we were seated by "The Ringmaster" we were presented with a newspaper inspired menu, one side is curious facts and stories and the other listed the food. The quirky style does remind me a little of our favourite gin brand Hendricks.

Whilst were deciding on our food the first entertainment of the night came on. The lights dim, shutters (painted with giant eyes) roll down to cover the pass to the kitchen, the music begins and the act walks up on to the the focal point of the room - a giant long table with people seated at it. The first act was burlesque in style with lots of hula hoops, through the night we had fire dancers and acrobats. Each one only lasting a few minutes but made for great fun.

So on to the food....

We were starving so started with some bread and olive's. The giant green queen olives, served really cold were addictive.

We then went for the sharing platter which consisted of a selection of crispy fried squid, chicken satay skewers, beef and black bean empanadas and hoisin duck salad, all really moorish but I think my favourite would be squid as it had a great texture and perfectly seasoned.

After the five of us devoured the starters we eagerly awaiting our main. Four of us (including me) went for the Star Anise Duck Confit - an unusual but great combination of flavours on a red curry sauce with baby aubergine and steamed jasmine rice. Again everything was seasoned just right and cooked to perfection, and even though a little on the pricey side (£23 for the average main) it felt great value for money as the portions were huge and most importantly mouthwateringly tasty.

After all this we were stuffed so skipped dessert and moved tables (and given a free bottle of wine for our trouble - wahooo!) to continue playing 'Mr & Mrs' with the hen.

The icing on the cake was "The Ringmaster" calling a head to Milk and Honey, a private members bar to get us in. Once we finished up at circus we headed there for some exclusive and expertly made cocktails. I went for The Business, a mix of gin, honey and lime - the perfect end to a great (if drunken) evening.