bbc good food show round up

so yesterday i met up with two of my uni housemates for a food related jolly in kensington - the bbc good food show to be precise. this is my fourth visit to one of these shows (i like to defy the predominant middle age demographic). they are always a good day out; lots of food (and alcohol...) samples, celeb spotting and a generally fantastic atmosphere.

this year was no exception (possibly even better being the first time i was able to get on the alcohol samples, i think by 1pm i had sample gin, wine, vodka and irish cream - whoops!). i had never been to the olympia venue before, so it was also nice to see a different part of london - the big glass ceiling/windows are a really cool feature.

our day had a definite GBBO off theme - we had our tickets ready to see paul and mary's demonstration in the supertheatre. this was great fun, they are just as quick and witty in person! plus the cameraman was up to all sorts of mischief which got the audience going! there was a controversial moment when paul interacted with the audience: when asking if we had watched GBBO he was (obviously) greeted with a loud cheer. then he asked if we thought the right person had won - a far smaller cheer followed by a tense 'oooh' reverberating around the crowd! he did a cheer-o-meter poll which saw nancy get a small cheer, luis a much more sizeable one - but then the crowd (myself included) erupted for richard! although paul and mary did do a good job of justifying their decision, you could tell the public's choice was very clear.

 

 

we also got the chance to listen to mary berry being interviewed. i got a bit flustered that she was right in front of me - i mean, it's bezza! and i loved hearing that lemon bakes are among her favourite since lemon drizzle is mine - we're practically twins...

 

 loving tiny mary with her massive bodyguard! 

rocking a stylish ensemble as always,

our final GBBO encounter of the day (and by far the most embarrassing) was when i spotted 2014 finalist luis in the middle of the hall. at which point i hissed to my friends to stop. he walked past and i blurted out something mostly incoherent - how do you greet people who you feel you know from tv?! not the way i did, that's for sure! but he was very charming, asking us if we were enjoying our day and i managed to pull myself together enough to congratulate him on getting to the final. to say i get starstruck is an under statement...

but moving away from the celeb portion of the day, let's get to the really important part - the food! here are a few of my highlights from the day!

first up is the brownie bar - i will pretty much let the photos speak for themselves. LOOK AT ALL THE BROWNIES. this was such a stressful decision. eventually i went for chocolate and raspberry which was sooooo good and greatly improved my train journey home. having had a stalk of their website they are based in the north east (sad face) - but do also trade at events so have a look on their website to find out when they will be close to you. they are definitely worth making the effort for.

 

my chocolate and raspberry brownie - delish!

 

 next up - the meringue girls. my friend hannah had already heard of these guys and made a prompt beeline for their stall. it was absolutely stunning (serious food porn) - it was impossible to walk away without making a purchase. i got a passionfruit kiss (so cute) which was perfectly crisp with a slightly gooey-er centre, and a lovely exotic hint.

 

 

 

my last purchase was from olivier's bakery (who are usually located at the borough market in london). stalls of fresh, crispy bread like this are my kryptonite. i bought a lovely rosemary focaccia which i have just been enjoying for lunch.

 

i hope you've enjoying my highlights - if you ever get the chance to go to a good food show, i would highly recommend it. the tickets are very reasonably priced and you more than get your money's worth with everything going on! did any of you visit this weekend? share your pictures and favourite stalls!

love,
nen
x

white chocolate and raspberry cake

i made this cake two weeks ago now, but unfortunately i was struck down with flu last weekend which meant there has been an absence of activity (aside from battling through feverish delirium to try and get some sleep, flu is not the one). but it does mean that i get the chance to remember this cake all over again - because it was really delicious. raspberries have to be up there with my favourite fruits and they are just so good in bakes.

the recipe is also really simple, which is always good. you start with a basic sponge mix. i've been mixing my bakes by hand recently - something i used to avoid at all costs but i now find it quite satisfying (it also means i don't have to faff around getting the whisk out, laziness always wins out).

the recipe i used is from the clandestine cake club book - another book that i bought a while ago and had yet to use (beyond drooling over the pictures, naturally).

such a beautiful cover - i love the blue

 

  a moment's appreciation for how glossy this mixture is!

 at this point you deviate from a normal sponge by stirring in the raspberries. as the recipe states, it's important to be gentle when folding them in - otherwise they will break up and you won't get a full burst of raspberry goodness.

 look at the incredible colour contrast

 

now comes the exciting part - covering the cake in chocolate!

i deviated fractionally from the recipe here, by using the full 150g bar of chocolate rather than the 125g the recipe called from (because, chocolate). however i do not think there is any way they used anywhere near that much, because the picture in the book had a tiny dribble of chocolate! but more chocolate is always better.

i learnt an important lesson in decorating this cake: allow chocolate to cool before piping it! i put the chocolate straight from the bain marie into the piping bag and picked it up. SUCH a mistake. my hand was throbbing for hours afterwards! and it also meant my piping was sloppier than usual as i was struggling to hold it. so there's an important lesson for us all there.

another baking tip: put your piping bag in a glass so it is supported while you fill it - especially useful when both hands are needed to hold a pyrex dish full of hot chocolate!

 

 

 who doesn't enjoy a good piping action shot? 

 here is the finished cake in all of it's smothered in chocolate glory; but of course the best bit is cutting it to reveal the raspberries...

this cake was really fun to make and another hit in the office (although very crumbly so the carpet was a bit worse off!). what are your favourite recipes featuring raspberries? i'd love to know!

as i'm writing this, i have a golden syrup cake in the oven - so look out for that making an appearance soon!

love,
nen
x

sister act: cupcakes and butterfly cakes

although there are four of us in this house, it's very rare that we are all in at the same time. we all have different work schedules and social commitments, so when i get to spend some time with my siblings it has become precious (especially as now we see each other less, there is less fighting!)

therefore it was really great to spend some time with my sister the other weekend and have a catch up (mostly moaning about being working girls).

we kept things simple with a basic sponge mix. this is such a good thing to have memorised - you want to work in 2oz measurements and for every 2oz of ingredients you need one egg. i think i made 8oz because i wanted two batches of cakes so it went something like this:

8oz of self raising flour
8oz caster sugar
8oz butter or baking spread (softened)
2 tsps baking powder
4 eggs
splash of vanilla essence

once you've grasped this basic recipe you can work wonders with it. for example if you are making it into a chocolate cake, sub out some of the flour for cocoa powder and add a little more baking powder.

it can be flavoured in different ways too, although vanilla provides a good base for staple sponge.

i always go all in one with this, literally throw it all in a bowl and whisk together! add a splash of milk if it's a little dry. it always comes out moist and spongy, a fail safe result!

 in it all goes, you're looking for the consistency below: nice and smooth, leaving the trails of the whisk

the other great thing about cup/fairy cakes is how quickly they cook (although not that great when you get distracted playing games on your phone and have to run to the oven...) so you can whip up a few batches in no time. the fun part is what you do after this

 pretty cases are a must for cupcakes, these are from tesco

so i had two things i wanted to try out here:

firstly was a beautiful piping set that my friend louise got me for my birthday and i hadn't actually got around to using. i forgot to take a photo so i will put one up when i remember! it's a really professional set and gave great results.

 my piping skills are definitely something i want to work on (as well as my photography, apologies for the out of focus images!) - in particular starting at the edge of the cake, rather than trying to backfill this in!

 

 so much concentration!

 

cheeky baking selfie!

and with that photo i introduce my sister, the widge to my nen (just roll with the weird nicknames). we paired up to make that british tea time classic - butterfly cakes.

instead of using a berry jam, i wanted to use the passionfruit curd i had bought at a national trust property (history nerd forever). this added a zing to the cakes that would have been missing otherwise, and contrasted well with the sweet buttercream. it was a simple yet effective way to update a classic combo.

i'm a sucker for that packaging too

 scooping out the insides to make the wings

 my glamorous assistant whipping up the buttercream

 production line assembled: i was in charge of cutting and wing placement, widge provided the fillings

 just look at the colour on that curd!

 

 and the finished result

these went down a treat in the office. everyone loved the zing from the passionfruit and they were a perfect little mid morning or afternoon pick me up!

i'd love to see what you guys do with your basic sponge recipes! share your pictures on facebook or twitter

love,

nen