{ a delightfully delicious Dundee cake }

I have always thought that fruit cakes get a bit of a raw deal. They're not the prettiest of cakes, have a reputation for being dry, and heavy, not to mention full of candied peel - have you ever met anyone who likes candied peel? - and usually only get thought about at Christmas time. And lets face it, even then they're likely to be overlooked in favour of the mince pies and yule log. Admittedly they wouldn't be my first choice out in a tea room or coffee shop. Not that I have seen many, if any, in tea rooms and coffee shops, forgotten about amongst the more fashionable layer cakes, brownies and banana loaves.

And yet I have quite fond memories of them. There would always be freshly baked cake at home when I was younger, and a simple fruit cake took it's turn with the equally classic Victoria Sandwich, chocolate or coffee sponge cakes, or lemon drizzle. Never ever made with candied peel (yay, thank you mum) but full of currants, raisins and sultanas, it's a comfort blanket of a cake. Perfect with a cup of tea, and one of those cakes it almost feels ok to enjoy a slice of everyday.

It's also the cake I remember us taking on picnics. Individual slices wrapped in foil, to be enjoyed after the, slightly soggy, salmon sandwiches. And so it was a fruit cake that I turned to when looking for a treat to bake to take with us on our journey to Scotland last year. The Dundee cake has it's origins in Scotland, produced by the marmalade company Keiller's, and is said to be a favourite of the Queen's. Baking a Dundee cake to take to Scotland may seem like taking coals to Newcastle, but I had a feeling that it wouldn't be something we'd see on offer there, and if it's good enough for the Queen, it's good enough for us.

Now there are so many different Dundee cake recipes out there, and the original is no doubt lost somewhere in the sands of time. I'm not sure how I stumbled upon it, but the recipe I chose was Dan Lepard's, whose recipe featured in The Guardian. No whiskey, which I'm not averse to, but didn't have any, and didn't want to buy especially for this, and more importantly, no candied peel (yay, thank you Dan).

This is such a lovely cake to make. I made two smaller cakes, and if my memory serves me correctly I soaked the fruit overnight in the juice and zest from the orange. This makes the fruit lovely and plump, and will eradicate any memory of dry and mealy fruit cakes of the past.

Do try and make this cake a little ahead of when you're planning on eating it. Like most fruit cakes it tastes even better a few days after baking it. Just wrap it up tightly in parchment, pop it away in the pantry, and forget about it for a little while.

{ recipe credit . Dan Lepard }

I remember now why this is a perfect picnic cake. It travels well, no worrying about messy frosting, or curdling cream, just unwrap, cut a slice, and settle back with a cup of tea and watch the world go by. Ah, happy memories. And a reminder that perhaps I need to plan a little train journey, just for the excuse of baking this again.

{ have a happy day }

{ edible blooms }

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5

I'm doing my best to ignore the rain falling outside and instead surrounding myself with as much flora and fauna as I can.  Vases of flowers sit in front of me as I type, and I'm drinking a wonderful fruity infusion, brewed with elderflower and hibiscus.  I wish I could also say that I had spent the day baking elderflower and honey cake, and crystallising petals to adorn rose scented shortbread, but sadly, that isn't the case.  But the next best thing, or so I am telling myself, to actually baking said floral cake, is compiling a lovely mood board of floral bakes to inspire you all.

And there's no shortage of inspiration out there.  I've found the prettiest guides to which florals are safely edible, here and here, and everything from the simplest floral ice cubes, to the prettiest floral popsicles, recipes for homemade elderflower cordial, and a very pretty in pink rose and earl grey latte, but I couldn't resist sharing the gorgeous baking recipes I'd found.  Almost too pretty to eat, but thankfully also far too yummy too resist.

For lots more edible floral inspiration, take a look at my Pinterest board { edible . flowers }.

{ have a happy day }

{ an intriguingly boozy bake . cucumber & lime gin fizz cake }

When we decided on the theme of Intriguing Ingredients for our latest Clandestine Cake Club event, I'll admit that my selection process was based on choosing the most obscure thing I could find.  In the world of cake making there are some strange and wonderful ingredients that have found their way into cake recipes;  Lemon Drizzle Cakes have been made with mashed potato, Chocolate Cakes have been made with avocado, cauliflower, mayonnaise, and even tomato soup, which also lends itself well to a spiced cake, reminiscent of carrot cake.  There is a fascinating article on theKitchn, The Enduring Allure of Tomato Soup, should you be curious as to the origins of this most obscure cake ingredient.

Even though all these choices were fairly intriguing, they didn't feel quite obscure enough.  For a while the Chocolate Cauliflower Cake was a strong contender, but it was whilst browsing through all the other baking delights on Veggie Desserts that I came across her recipe for Lemon and Cucumber Cake with Gin Icing.  Kate's cake was the prettiest pale green hue, three layers of lemon loveliness, and oh, yes, it was baked with cucumber.  On the one hand I can relate to how well the ingredients compliment one another, the botanical flavours of the gin marrying well with the lemon and the cucumber.  But still, this was a cake baked with cucumber.  I'll be honest and admit that I was sure with this cake I'd probably win the prize for most intriguing ingredient.  I wasn't convinced however, that I'd win the prize for most enjoyable cake of the evening.

I made a couple of small changes to Kate's original recipe.  I worried about the cucumber being too wet, so I grated mine and squeezed a little of the excess water out before pureeing.  And whilst Kate uses just lemon juice in hers, I wanted to make a lime curd to sandwich in between the layers, so I used a combination of lemon and lime in the cake, and just lime in that lovely gin frosting.  Apart from that, complete credit for this recipe sits firmly with Veggie Desserts.

Lime curd is available to buy, but I made my own using this recipe from Waitrose, though I used four limes and two lemons to give it more of a lime bias.

Cake // Frosting // Curd // Repeat

doesn't this make you forget this cake contains cucumber?

TaDaah

So I know that you're all dying to know.  What did it taste like?

Well, it was greeted with a polite but hesitant response, and an, ok, lets start with this one, get it out the way, and then we can enjoy the nice cakes! Slices were cut, and shared around.  The cake was such a pretty colour, mine a little more mottled than Kate's, the cucumber not pureed quite as much.  It smelt lovely, fresh citrus and juniper, and yes, undeniably, it smelt of cucumber.  We tasted with a little trepidation, me more so than others, and then with a little surprise we all found that we actually quite liked it.  No, make that more than quite liked it, even my little sister, who has never eaten cucumber in her entire life.

{ recipe credit // Veggie Desserts }

This is possibly the messiest cut slice in the whole of baking blogging world, but it was the only slice left at the end of cake club.  I think only once before have I come away with so little cake.  Seconds were enjoyed by some on the night, and slices were taken away to be enjoyed the next day.

It truly is a lovely cake.  It is light, and refreshing, the cucumber doesn't overwhelm the other flavours, but neither do they mask it to the extent that you question why it's there.  This cake would be perfect on a Summer's day, alongside a jug of Pimm's or a ( large ) G&T, and despite my scepticism, and my choosing it on the basis of it being the most obscure thing I could find, I will definitely be making it again.

By good luck, this cake also fits perfectly into Bumpkin Betty's baking club theme for March.  After welcoming her gorgeous daughter Evie on the 27th February, it was only fitting that the theme for March be Boozy Bakes.  So with a good measure of gin in the frosting on this cake, I think it fits the brief somewhat.  If you would like to join up then pop over to the Baking Club's Facebook page.

{ have a happy day }

{ my february }

One more day of February to go.  A month of wonderful contradictions;  snow showers, spring flowers, gloomy days, rainbow days, happy days, not so happy days.  If January felt a quiet month, then the silence of February has been truly deadening, and at times I've felt, almost, hermit like in my contentment to stay home.  I'm sure this will change once Spring starts to show her face, if only to entice me out into the garden, to tidy away the Winter weeds and to make plans of flowers, fruit and vegetables to grow.  

But, that will not be for a little while yet, so back to the sweetly short month of February.

{ buying }

I can't resist the small bunches of tulips and daffodils on my local flower stall.  Not too expensive, they've become an affordable, weekly treat.  Buying the tightly budded daffodils and watching them bloom overnight, they never fail to make me smile as they greet me in my office each morning.  Their season may be short but sweet and I'll be making the most of it whilst it lasts.

{ baking }

Whilst there might be signs of Spring in those beautiful blooms, in reality the wind, rain, storms Doris & Ewan, are a reminder that it is still Winter.  And that has been reflected in this month's baking and cooking.  Soups are still my go-to lunch, particularly when there's a homemade loaf of bread in the pantry.  My favourite this month has been a Roasted Tomato Soup, Colm's Soup, from What Katie Ate.  Tomato's are roasted with slivers of garlic and a slight sheen of olive oil, for a couple of hours, filling the house with a wonderful aroma, and you will be tempted to skip the soup and just pile those tomato's on slices of toasted sourdough for a wonderfully simple bruschetta.  So, roast a few extra and enjoy that bruschetta whilst your soup slowly simmers for another hour or so, then enjoy your soup, topped, as Katie suggests, with { a few more } slices of sourdough, topped with slices of goat's cheese.  Comfort food, that also counts as a few of your five { or is it ten now ? } a day.

Speaking of comfort food, a surfeit of bread, left over from some meditative bread making, led me to make some mini bread & butter puddings for this month's Bumpkin Betty Baking Club.  Topped with a slice of blush orange, that caramelised wonderfully in the oven, they were then drowned in home made custard.  A proper pudding to make you feel all warm & fuzzy inside.  In balance to this mini indulgence, I'm still enjoying an equally comforting, and slightly healthier, bowl of porridge most mornings.  I think I will forever be grateful to whoever decided that porridge deserved to be pimped with a myriad of toppings.  Amongst my favourites this month, a seasonal baked pear, on top of cinnamon spiced oats, with a good dollop of greek yogurt and a scattering of chopped pistachios.

{ reading }

Continuing my reading of Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries, whose marmalade making partly inspired the addition of oranges to my mini bread puddings, and whose virtuous stew of mushrooms and spelt made me feel I could justify the said mini bread pudding.  I've several more February recipes bookmarked to try as soon as I can, particularly his recipe for Butter Beans with Mustard & Tomato, eager to see if this can better my current go-to baked bean recipe.

I finished "Tony and Susan", though after a good start, I felt it floundered in the middle, and for the first time I preferred the film over the book.  Happily, I'm now reading "The Green Road" by Anne Enright, one of those books that you carry everywhere, hoping to find a quiet few minutes to read a little more.  The story of an Irish family, a fractured family, their individual  and collective stories, as they are scattered around the world, then brought back together by the selling of their family home. 

{ visiting }

Despite my hermit tendencies this month, there have been a couple of notable outings, both involving cake.  I think I have proven my love of cake, with the battling through Storm Doris, to make a return visit to H&F Vintage Tearooms in Chesterfield.  Luckily this gem of a tearoom is a convenient half way point between a friend and I, and has now become our regular meeting spot.  The fact that it has the most amazing cake selection is a wonderful added bonus.  You can read my review of the tearoom over on The Clandestine Cake Club, along with a few more tempting pictures of cake, afternoon tea, and all other sorts of loveliness.

And speaking of The Clandestine Cake Club, this was my other outing of the month.  My first as host of the Birmingham group, and held at the Creative Coffee Hub.  As with every other cake club event I've been to, it was a lovely couple of hours of cake, coffee, and lots of chit chat, and a general sense of putting the world to rights.  A medley of sweet inspired cakes saw a table heaving with Lemon Sherbet, Rhubarb and Custard, Cadbury Caramel, Crunchie, Jelly Baby and Liquorice cakes.  A lovely afternoon, but I'm thinking perhaps my March outings should be to something a little healthier, or at least something that feeds my soul, rather than my tummy.

Make the most of the last days of February.  I will be curled up on the sofa finishing my book and plotting those, slightly more healthy and soulful, March outings.

{ have a happy day }

{ mini blush orange bread & butter puddings }

I've been on a bit of a bread making mission just lately.  I think it's the therapeutic nature of the time spent kneading the dough that I like, more than actually needing a new loaf of bread baked each day.  Consequently I find myself with more bread than I could possibly eat, and one particular sorry looking, slightly overdone, now going slightly stale loaf.  As I hate wasting things, particularly food, I started wondering what use I could find for this.  The more mundane thought of blitzing the whole lot for breadcrumbs for the freezer was pushed to one side, in favour of a more indulgent bread & butter pudding;  indulgent, but made mini sized, which just so happens to be this months theme for Bumpkin Betty's baking club { coincidence, I think not ! }.

To further aid my 'Love Food Hate Waste' mantra, I spotted a lonesome blush orange in the fruit bowl, and thought how lovely it would be to include this - think marmalade on toast, in pudding format!

This is the perfect way to use up odds and ends of many baked goods, as croissants & brioche also work beautifully in bread & butter puddings too.  These mini versions are baked in a cupcake tin, making perfect individual sized portions, perfect if you are still trying to maintain a little restraint after Xmas indulgences.

Please forgive the slightly less than gorgeous 'after' images.  I'd left it a little too late in the day to start & the best of the light had gone by the time they'd baked.  And I promise it had nothing to do with the fact I couldn't resist tasting one { or two } as soon as they came out of the oven.  No, absolutely nothing to do with that at all!

Is there anything better than a proper pudding on a grey & rainy day?  And the fact that it's mini sized makes me feel just a little bit better about drowning it in a proper homemade, creamy, vanilla flecked custard.

If you would like to take a look at this month's other mini bakes, pop on over to Bumpkin Betty's Facebook page, where you can also sign up & join in the baking { and eating } fun.

{ have a happy day }

{ apricot, blueberry & coconut baked oats }

I feel I should thank Bumpkin Betty for saving me from myself this month.  So far this year I've had one week of eating mince pies every day; the following week saw me develop a chocolate hob nob habit that was in danger of getting quite out of hand;  and last week was the week of chocolate everyday cake, which lived up to it's name and was indeed eaten every day.

But then I remembered that I hadn't yet baked anything for BBbakingClub yet this month, and hallelujah for a theme that asked us to bake something nutritious. 

Several things popped into mind;  this sugar-free carrot cake I'd spotted on BBCfood; this oh so pretty clementine and pomegranate cake by Henrietta Inman, and then whilst browsing all the other delights on her site I spotted this recipe for Baked Apricot, Almond & Honey Porridge.  

Porridge is my absolute go-to breakfast in these colder months, which given that I live in the Uk, is pretty much September through to June.  That's a lot of mornings and a lot of porridge, and I love mixing it up with lots of different variations, including baked porridge, which is so ridiculously easy, quick, and super super comforting.

This is the perfect recipe for using up whatever you happen to have in the fruit bowl & the pantry, choosing combinations which tickle your tastebuds that morning.  I prefer to soak my oats overnight, whether I'm baking them, or just making regular porridge.  It makes them so soft and easier to digest and I find my porridge is just that little bit more creamy.  I've used a combination of rolled & barley oats, but again, use whatever you have to hand;  rye would add a wonderful nuttiness, or you could switch in oatmeal for a finer texture.  Ditto with the milk;  almond, cashew, coconut, soy, or just old regular cows milk would work.  Oh, and my suggestion of adding maple syrup to taste really is down to your taste buds.  I tend not to add additional sweetener to my porridge as I find the nut milks & fruit make it sweet enough for me, but do add a drizzle or more in to suit you.

I pinched the idea of the apricots, but paired them with blueberries, for that burst of colour, and with fresh coconut which had been coarsely grated.  I love that coconuts have become so readily available, and have to say my tiled kitchen floor comes into it's own for breaking those tough nuts open;  drain the water from the nut, wrap in a tea towel, and slam it down onto a hard surface of your choosing.  This is incredibly therapeutic by the way, the perfect way for venting any frustrations of the day!

The perfect cosy, comforting breakfast { for all of us in the Northern Hemisphere }

{ and for those of you in the South } enjoy it cold, with greek yogurt and fresh fruit

You can take a look at all the other bakes for this months' baking club over on the facebook page, where you can also join up & join in.

{ have a happy day }