great british bake off!

so this post is a little overdue but here it finally is - and wow! this series of great british bake off is already turning out to be amazing. i just wish it was on every night! the perfect mix of jealousy, wonder, amusement, tension and hair-grabbing mistakes!

the first week was astounding with the interior decoration challenge. the union jack cake was so so good! (definitely never attempting anything like that as there is no way it would turn out the same!) and the upside down cakes at the beginning were pretty good too - i want to try and make one for myself now!

 the second week was even better, especially as you get to know the contestants more - i love the two younger guys (do they really exist and where can i find one?!). this week was bread week (which i haven't made myself since food technology lessons in year nine - the supermarket is just too convenient!) but these guys were seriously impressive. and talking of impressive - those eight strand plaited loaves! i really want to try one for myself now but dealing with all those dough tentacles seems a little intimidating! and SPOILER ALERT this week's star baker was john - who is just so adorable!

i already cannot wait for next week's offering and i'm far too tempted to indulge in buying the show book (who needs to eat next year anyway?!). so check back next week for more GBBO thoughts!

love,
nen
x

the vintage cake house.

as i discovered to my delight (and perhaps marginal, irrational disappointment) someone has beaten me to opening a cake shop in farnham! this summer saw the opening of the vintage cake house on downing street (it has a beautiful pink striped facade so you cannot miss it!). having been driving past it for several weeks now i finally got around to paying a visit.

so at four yesterday afternoon myself and my friend louise entered the shop. it is hard to know where to look first, the decor and furnishings are beautiful - all very shabby chic - but then there is the cakes on display which quickly steal your attention.

we seated ourselves in the middle so we could get a good view of the shop! our drinks order was taken, i had a refreshing pomegranate and raspberry drink whilst louise decided to be daring and order a more exotic tea (which perhaps turned out to be a mistake as it was smoked and so rather pungent! you live and learn!)

the beautifully served tea!

after this was the tricky business of choosing which cake to have! there was probably about ten different treats on display and we were certainly spoilt for choice! perhaps the only note to be made was that it would have been helpful if the cakes were labelled. but in the end we went for a slice of lemon cake and a victoria sponge and shared them.

the cake is served on gorgeous china and with proper cake forks!

the cake was really scrummy. the victoria sponge was moist with a lovely jam and buttercream filling. the lemon cake wasn't quite lemony enough for me - but i like mine quite strong! but louise certainly enjoyed it...

smiles all round!

all in all this is a fantastic addition to farnham! we already have two more visits planned - one for afternoon tea (a must!) and another to see what happens during 'victorian week' (only in farnham!) i would highly recommend a visit to anyone - it cost us £5 each for a drink and slice of cake which seemed very reasonable to me! so pop in if you have the chance! (check them out on facebook or at www.thevintagecakehouse.co.uk)

love,

nen

x







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

x

like mother, like daughter!

like so many things in my life, mumma bru was the one who first got me into baking! from an early age i'd be stood on a stool in the kitchen helping her to make cakes (and licking the spoon afterwards!) i would even make my own attempts - once she found me in the kitchen with all the pots and pans out breaking eggs into them! what can i say?!

my mum has fridays off and they were the best days as we would often come home from school to a house filled with the smell of baking and a warm slice of cake waiting! she still carries on baking and puts her skills to good use for her charity Farnham ASSIST (which works with the over-60s). she often spends a whole day mass baking and icing cupcakes to sell at events. the last time she did this i managed to get a few snaps before they were whisked off to be sold at the local 'music in the meadow' event.

so many cakes!

i especially like the cut out chocolate hearts! (all decorations from sainsburys)

i'm getting very hungry just looking at these so i think i may go and whip something up! more posts still to come but for now talk later!

love,
nen
x



guess who's back, back again?

PLEASE ACCEPT MY EXTREMELY GROVELLING APOLOGY FOR MY LACK OF POSTING.

i've been on holiday (on the gorgeous north coast of cornwall) and before that i was in a bit of a slump - so i'm so sorry guys! but this means i have lots of things to share with you so expect many posts!

so the first thing is about this super cute bakery we discovered in Bath the other day. (we being myself and my history girls as we went on a shopping trip around the city!) on a slight high after a good ten minutes or so in lush (damn that shop smells!) a corner shop bakery caught my eye.

'the bertinet bakery'

i love the styling of the shop - the understated grey colour but mainly the font! super chic! unfortunately there was a rather long queue (and by this point we were grumbling for lunch) so i didn't go in - but one day!

the treats displayed in the window (in a nice rustic fashion which really showed them off and promoted the home-baked image) looked divine - and massive!

the window display (apologies for the reflections!)



some day i would love to go on a road trip finding bakeries and cake shops around england - i'm sure there are some real gems out there!

the simplicity continues in the other window - i love the handing tea cups and pots!





this has given me further inspiration for setting up my own bakery (which continues to be my 'dream job') - although i would be wanting to create more of a cake shop/tea room rather than a more traditional bakery. but there is definitely a lot to be taken from the display of the bertinet bakery!

i hope this goes someway to make up for the radio silence - sorry once again! and expect many more posts...!

love,

nen

x



flowerpot-cakes.

forget 'cup'cakes, following my visit to hampton court flower show i have been inspired by 'flowerpot'cakes! but before i get ahead of myself let's give a bit of background.

on friday i took my mum to hampton court flower show as her birthday present. as we got off the train i was greeted by a sight that immediately lit up my face - dozens of brightly decorated cupcakes! a cafe had set up a stall at the station and this included hand decorated cupcakes for only 99p - a complete bargain!

 so many cakes!

 all hand decorated in lovely colours and topped with flower decorations

 tower of cakes - some with wraps

my lovely mum bought me a cake so i chose a gorgeous pink one with a blue flower and a glitter finish. i polished it off after our fish and chips lunch and it was SO nice. i tend not to expect cupcakes that look good to actually taste good - often they are quite dry. but this was so moist and the icing was almost like mousse - so so scrummy!

 i love the glitter!

on the way back we just missed a train so we had a bit of a wait at the station so ended up back at the stall! i got one for myself (it's been an indulgent week!) and one for my sister. at this point they had started putting the plastic cases into little plastic flower pots which i thought was a really clever idea and very fitting for the whole event!

flowerpot-cake!

i love the simplicity of this one

 

for my sister i got a light blue one with two flowers and glitter (unfortunately it got slightly squashed on the way home!)

these cakes have really inspired me to try and master the art of icing with a piping bag!

love,

nen

x nen  nensnen's bakery bakery blog cake cupcakes

late lemon.

apologies for the recent lack of posting - it's been a busy few days! on saturday i went to watch the farnham carnival with my home friends which was really nice (especially the couple of cheeky cocktails afterwards!). then yesterday was my mum's birthday and we went to the harry potter studio tour which is absolutely AMAZING. words cannot describe! and today i started my temporary job of doing the admin for the charity which my mum is assistant coordinator of. so it was a day of lots of printing and editing documents. however i have now found a moment to return to my beloved blog! i have a lot to catch up on but let's start with a lemon cake.

a little memento from our harry potter day!

lemon drizzle cake is one of my absolute favourites and it is so easily to whip up! simple case of whisk all the ingredients together, bake and when it comes out of the over top with a mixture of sugar and lemon juice and zest. so easy but so delicious and it makes the house smell great! i made it a few days ago and it certainly did not last long! thankfully i managed to get some pictures before it all went!

like i said - just throw all the ingredients in and whisk!

i love the ripple effect you get when whisking!

this recipe was taken from 'Girl Talk: A Book of Cooking' - which according to the cover is a BBC publication. it's getting old now as it's (i think) my first cookbook! i also used to make flapjack using a recipe in it.

here is the finished product with the 'drizzle' soaking in. as it makes quite a lot i make a few slots in the cake with a teaspoon to let the mixture really seep into the sponge - this means certain slices have really juicy lemony bits!

the recipe doesn't say to line the loaf tine with baking paper but it makes removing the cake much easier. here the cake is minus my first slice - which was still warm - quite possibly heaven on earth!

well until next time, with more cake stands!

love,

nen

x nens nen's bakery bakery blog