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
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celebratory cheesecake!

wow guys - i owe you all such a massive thank you as this blog has now surpassed 500 views! and from all around the world - absolutely crazy! so thank you thank you thank you!

as a little treat here is a baked raspberry cheesecake i made the other day. recipe from bbc good food (check out their website - they have so many good recipes!) baked raspberry cheesecake recipe

it's a really simple recipe to make and reasonably inexpensive (you can cut down on costs by using frozen raspberries rather than fresh, also good if you're making it out of season)

you begin by making the buttery biscuit base! (for those who haven't seen the video, especially for any masterchef fans, check this out - buttery biscuit base!)

a really easy way to do this without making extra washing up is to put the biscuits in a food bag then bash away with your rolling pin! although don't get too carried away as the bag could tear. this gets baked in the oven to make it set. then it's on to the cheesecake itself. this is simple but does require quite a lot of elbow grease! unfortunately quite of a few of my photos are refusing to upload ("server returned invalid response") - which is annoying but i'll go with what i have and try and put the rest up later!

the cheesecake as it comes out of the oven



making the raspberry sauce topping.

i am a massive fan of raspberries so i always use a lot more than the recipe calls for! both in the cheesecake itself and on top - this sauce is so sweet!

i put the sauce on before removing the tin to minimise the amount that went on the worktop!

nom nom nom!

unfortunately one of the photos that is refusing to upload shows that i wrote '500' on the cheesecake in raspberries - aah the joys of technology!

but i hoped you've enjoyed this - it is one of my favourite recipes. and thanks again for the views!

love,

nen

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brownies & brilliant news!

first and foremost - apologies for the silence, it has been a crazy few days! as this title suggests i've got some really good news, but let us begin with the brownies. tuesday afternoon i got on the train back home and attended a job registration wednesday (fingers crossed for that!). following the interview i went to sainsburys and raided the chocolate and baking departments in order to bake some of my famous brownies. (to the extent that one message in my birthday card this year simply read, "bake more brownies"!). unfortunately because i was on a tight time schedule i had to take them back on the train whilst they were still warm so they did end up a bit crumbled, however they still tasted as good as usual. although i hate to give away the secret for my primary form of bribery in life, here is the recipe i use: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1223/bestever-brownies. i think the trick is being really gentle when folding the ingredients together, which is very therapeutic but not good if you are in a hurry! but i did have time to take a few photos along the way (left my camera at uni so they are phone quality, sorry).

these two show the chocolate and butter being melted together over a saucepan of hot water (known as a bain-marie). i love how indulgent this looks!

this shows the brownie mixture after it has all been folded together - it is some of the best raw cake mix ever!

so now onto the main purpose of these brownies: bribery! as i mentioned a new society is being started at university - BakeSoc! the elections were friday and i used these as leverage to get my friends to come along and vote (thanks again guys!). it seemed to pay off as i won! so i am now events co-ordinator for BakeSoc - i am so excited and we're just starting to throw around ideas for freshers week. i cannot wait to see this thing to take off! i passed around the brownies to the other people attending the election and they seemed to enjoy them to. the leftovers i took to saturday's great british pre-lash (we're such a classy group of students!). they are pictured below on the table (ahem, ironing board) with some of the other nibbles. i received great (and slightly drunken) reviews for them - it is so great to hear people appreciate your baking! and they were all gone by the end of the night so i can't ask for better than that!

 well i think that brings you up to date, i'm off to fill in countless more job forms (yay).

love,
nen
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