Cornbread

Mmm... we love cornbread!  I grew up eating this southern favourite.  Ours was a homemade version --no packet mixes for Mom!-- and it is absolutely delicious.  This is my mother's basic recipe.  You can add grated cheese for savoury cornbread, or eat it with honey or maple syrup for a sweet treat.

Preheat the oven to 400F/200C/gas mark 6. Lightly whisk together in a large bowl:

• 1 cup coarse cornmeal 
• 1 cup plain flour [I generally use wholemeal spelt]
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 TBS brown sugar or maple syrup

In a separate bowl, beat:

• 1 cup plain yoghurt [coconut milk or rice milk both work fine too; it will just be a bit crumblier]
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1/4 cup melted butter [or coconut oil if you want to keep this cornbread dairy free]

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients.  Stir in the liquid mixture; beat gently but well.  

For a thinner cornbread, use two 8" baking tins.  For more cake-like cornbread, use one 8" tin.  Butter tins well and line the bases with circles of baking paper.  Bake in hot oven for 20-25 minutes.

Turn out onto a wire rack to cool and eat right away, or store in a tin when cold to use later.  Believe me, if you love cornbread as much as we do, it won't last that long!

Happy American Independence Day [+ a raw food recipe]

It's been thirteen years now since I've spent my Fourth of July in the United States.  The traditional festivities blur in my memory, so it helps to see the photos posted by friends on social networking sites: of parades, cook-outs, face-painting, and fireworks.

Dan and I are back to eating raw for the month of July, so we weren't able to take part in the apple pie and ice cream feast that the kids inhaled to celebrate their half-American genetics.  And boy, did they enjoy it!  Between the four of them they polished off an entire pie today.

Eating raw doesn't mean subsisting on a few green leaves at every meal.  We eat those too, but along with plenty of other yummy raw foods. Tonight, we enjoyed this sprouted lentil and beetroot concoction.

SPROUTED LENTIL SALAD WITH BEETROOT

[serves 2]

1 cup sprouted lentils
Four small carrots, topped, tailed, and grated
Two medium beetroot, peeled and grated
One small onion, sliced thinly
Two large handfuls fresh parsley, chopped

Mix together.  Add dressing and stir well: juice of one lemon, two teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, salt and ground black pepper, two teaspoons maple syrup.

Healthier Rolled Sugar Cookies

These cookies are similar to their traditional counterpart, but personally I think the taste is even better!  Wholemeal spelt flour enhances the flavour, while brown rice flour and coconut palm sugar gives them extra crunch. Someday I'd like to be able to perfect this recipe using raw honey, but as that's not affordably available to me at the moment, I'll stick with butterscotch-flavoured coconut palm sugar for now!

ROLLED SUGAR COOKIES

• 1 1/4 cups wholemeal spelt flour
• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1/4 tsp salt 

Stir flours and salt together. Set aside.

• 1 cup coconut palm sugar
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1-2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1-2 tsp almond extract

Beat butter with sugar; add egg and flavour extracts and beat well.  Stir in flour mixture until dough is well-mixed.  Roll into a large ball and wrap in baking paper; leave the wrapped dough in the fridge for an hour before rolling out.

When the dough is firm, roll out between two pieces of baking paper to a quarter-of-an-inch thickness.  Cut out with shaped cutters and use a palette knife to place the cookie shapes onto baking paper-lined cookie trays.  

Bake 350F/180C/gas mark 4 for ten minutes.  Remove carefully from baking trays and allow to fully cool on a wire rack.  Store in air-tight tins to stay fresh.  These cookies freeze well!

A Hobbitty Cake

When the kids realised Christmas was over and we had forgotten to make our traditional gingerbread house, Mr J suggested we make a gingerbread hobbit hole for Easter, instead.

His idea morphed into the cake I created yesterday. As you might already know, hobbit holes are curved, comfy dwellings etched into hillsides. Angled, straight-lined gingerbread is not very conducive to curvy comfort, but soft cake most definitely is!

I whipped up the super easy spice cake recipe detailed below and divided it between two containers for baking: an eight-inch round cake tin, and a similarly-sized stainless steel bowl.  When the cakes were cool, I sandwiched them together with an icing glaze, after cutting off a few centimetres at the front to create the indentation for the door.  These extra slices of cake provided a doorstep, and some height above the door of the hobbit hole.  

The door itself was a large round cookie, an adapted healthier version of traditional rolled sugar cookie dough.  I kneaded green colouring into white fondant icing and rolled it out to fit the door, using a toothpick and cocoa powder to create the detail.  The door handle was a tiny piece of white fondant, rolled in cocoa powder.  The two round windows were also bits of white fondant, covered in gold sparkle and detailed with a toothpick. I iced the entire hobbit hole with cinnamon-spiced buttercream, and sprinkled it with green coconut grass.  

Mmmm.... delicious!

SPICE CAKE

• 1 1/2 cups wholemeal spelt flour
• 1/2 cup brown rice flour
• 1 1/2 cups raw caster sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp mixed spice [or allspice]
• 1 cup coconut milk, melted with:
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 eggs

Whisk together flours, sugar, baking powder, bicarb, and spices. Separately, beat eggs and vanilla into cooled melted butter/coconut milk mixture.  Whisk two mixtures together well and pour batter into oiled/floured/lined baking tins of your choice: either the bowl and the cake tin if you're making your own hobbit house, or alternatively two dozen cupcake/two eight-inch cake tins.

Bake for about 45-50 minutes in a pre-heated 350F/180C/gas mark 4 oven.

When cool, ice with buttercream of your choice.  Ours was this:

CINNAMON BUTTERCREAM ICING

• 1 cup softened butter
• 1 TBS vanilla extract
• 2 TBS cinnamon
• enough icing sugar to create a creamy consistency: about 2-3 cups

Beat together butter, vanilla, and cinnamon until well mixed.  Add in icing sugar, a cup at a time, until the right consistency is reached.  Cover cakes or cupcakes with icing and top with coconut.

For homemade, greener alternatives follow the link to Beth's blog and find more bloggers' household tips, recipe ideas, and creative stuff!

English Snickerdoodles

I know... why Anglicise the name of these American favourites? But I added mixed spice, which is just too much of a flavour change not to receive mention. If you're making these elsewhere in the world, see the note at the end of the recipe for mixed spice ingredients so you can make a suitable substitution.

Beat together:

• 1/2 cup (4 oz) melted butter
• 1 cup raw caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract.

Stir in mixed dry ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups plain white flour
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar 
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Refrigerate dough for an hour or so.  

Mix together: 2 TBS raw caster sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 TBS mixed spice.

Shape cold dough into 1" balls and roll in spicy sugar.  

Place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet covered in baking paper.  Bake 375 or gas mark 5 for 8-10 minutes or so.  Less for chewy; longer for crunchy.

Warm cookie dipped in hot coffee... Amazing!!

NOTE:  A typical mixed spice combination consists of these ground spices: cinnamon, coriander, caraway, nutmeg, ginger, cloves.

Andrea's Pumpkin Pie

Andrea's blog was one of the first I read regularly, quite a few years ago now. We had similar ideas about family time, homeschooling, and food. She's no longer blogging, but fortunately I wrote down some of her recipes and over time, they're now numbered among our favourites.

This is her pumpkin pie recipe; it is definitely the best pumpkin pie I've ever eaten.  Believe me, I've eaten a few! My first taste of solid food was pumpkin pie. Mmmm... I love anything made with pumpkin, but pumpkin pie is my favourite just like autumn is my favourite season.  With its lovely warm rich colour, fragrantly spicy scent, and creamy smooth texture, it makes the perfect pudding but also the best cold breakfast the day after Thanksgiving.

2 cups thick pumpkin puree [you can use either tinned or puree your own stewed/baked pumpkin; just make sure it's not too thin --you want a non-watery consistency similar to whipped cream]

1/2-2/3 cup maple syrup 

1 cup milk [any nut-based milk or rice milk usually works well]

3 large eggs

2 TBS ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

3-4 tsp ground mixed spice

1/4 tsp ground cloves

Beat eggs well; add maple syrup, pumpkin puree, and milk.  Stir in spices.  

Bake in an unbaked pie crust for about 75-80 minutes on gas mark4/350F/180C.  The centre should no longer wobble when the pie is ready --similar to a custard pie.  

Cool slightly and serve with vanilla ice cream while warm, or cool completely and serve with whipped cream!  Pumpkin pie is also nice on its own, chilled from the fridge, a day after making --or when spooned from the pie dish as crumpled leftovers.  I have to confess that in our house, I normally claim the last piece of pumpkin pie, unless, of course, I make it for a friend's birthday.  

Pumpkin Cookies

When I was twelve, my brother and I travelled to California from the Midwest to visit my grandmother.  We spent two weeks with her; it was probably the most independent venture we'd had up until then. I remember standing in her Californian kitchen spooning persimmon cookie dough onto tins to bake.  Her recipe for these deliciously spicy cookies was one of the first of many of her recipes that I wrote down.  I've made them again and again over the years, but my favourite version contains pumpkin instead of persimmon.  They are little bites of soft, velvety cake that taste like autumn.

PUMPKIN COOKIES

makes about two dozen

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup melted butter, coconut oil, or olive oil or a blend of those three

1/2 cup honey or maple syrup or some of each

1 egg

Beat well.  Add one teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and beat again.

2 cups wholemeal spelt flour

2-4 tsp cinnamon, ground

1/2 tsp cloves, ground

1 tsp ginger, ground

1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

Stir both mixtures together with a wooden spoon.  Either leave as is or add one cup of chopped walnuts or pecans.

Drop by spoonfuls onto baking tins covered with baking paper -- twelve cookies on each tin.  

Bake 375F/200C/gas mark 5 for 12-15 minutes.

Optional Cinnamon Vanilla Icing

1 tsp natural vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp vanilla paste

1 TBS hot water

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Mix all together well, adding the water as needed.  Drizzle over cooled cookies and allow to set before storing in airtight tins.

Coffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm breaking the silence with [what else?!] a recipe!

I love coffee, but I don't think I've ever posted a coffee-related recipe. Well, these sugary treats definitely contain coffee!  The original can be found here, but I will share the ever so slightly different version that I made. These are definitely "treat" cookies --but I made a few changes that increased their nutritional value.

COFFEE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
makes about 32 large cookies

1 cup raw caster sugar

1 cup raw coconut palm sugar

1 cup organic butter

2 eggs

2 tsp natural vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1 1/2 cups plain wholemeal spelt flour

2 TBS fresh finely ground coffee beans [I used these]

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda [baking soda]

3/4 cup chopped pecans [walnuts would be great too]

200g chopped Green and Black's 70% dark chocolate [I used the 70% Espresso bars]

Beat the sugars and butter in a large mixing bowl until creamy and pale-coloured. Add eggs and vanilla, beating well. Stir in flours and bicarb, and finally mix in nuts and chocolate.

Dip 1/4 cup-sized spoonfuls onto trays covered with baking paper, six cookies on each tray. Bake 350F/180C/gas mark 4 for 12-15 minutes.  Cool two minutes on the trays before removing to wire racks.  Store in an airtight tin or in the freezer.

Optional Coffee Icing

Stir 2 TBS hot water into 2 tsp finely ground coffee beans and add one cup of icing sugar plus a teaspoon of natural vanilla extract.  Drizzle over cooled cookies and allow to set before storing.

Amazing Fruit Crumble

This recipe was given to me by my friend Sue a while ago, and it's my favourite crumble ever! We love it with Green and Black's vanilla ice cream, or plain natural yoghurt.  If you want to make it vegan, substitute the butter for coconut/olive oil and eat with a cold nut cream.

[makes four large servings --yes, I double it!]

Crumble Topping:

• 3 oz plain wholemeal spelt (or brown rice) flour
• 2 oz medium oatmeal
• 1 oz ground almonds - or chopped 
• 2 oz butter
• 2 oz raw demerara sugar (turbinado or rapadura)
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Mix well with a fork until butter is evenly distributed throughout.  


Fruit Filling:

• 3 peeled and chopped apples or peaches
• 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
• 2 TBS apple juice
• 1 TBS clear honey or maple syrup

Stir together well, put in a 6 1/2 x 9in deep baking dish. Sprinkle topping over fruit.  Bake gas mark 4/ 350F/ 180C for 45 minutes; not too long so as to retain the shape and texture of the fruit. Normally, I bake this only long enough to brown the topping; I prefer the almost-raw bite of apple and berries! 

Gingerbread Cake

Full of yummy spiciness, perfect with cream cheese icing, vanilla butter icing, vegan cashew-nut cream, whipped cream, or just plain!

• 2 1/3 cups flour [I use wholemeal spelt, often as a combination with ground almonds or brown rice flour]
• 2-5 tsp ground ginger, or 2 tsp of freshly grated ginger root
• 2-5 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2-5 tsp ground mixed spice
• 1 tsp baking soda [bicarbonate]

Stir together well. In another bowl, mix:

• 1/3 cup dark muscovado OR rapadura sugar
• 1 cup molasses or black treacle
• 3/4 cup hot water
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 large egg

Stir dry ingredients into liquid; mix well.

Pour into a buttered and floured tin - I usually use a deep 8-inch round cake tin. You could also use twelve muffin cups or two medium-sized loaf tins, or two shallow 8"round cake tins.  Bake 45-55 minutes at 325F, 170C, gas mark 3.

Gingersnaps

These cookies taste like autumn: spicy, brown, and full of molasses flavour.  If you didn't know autumn tasted like that, well, now you do.  I'm not sure why I'm thinking about autumn food in July but it probably has something to do with our not-so-summery weather!

• 2 1/4 cups plain flour [wholemeal spelt]
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1-2 tsp ground ginger
• 2-3 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 2 tsp mixed spice

Stir together well.  In a separate bowl, beat together:

• 3/4 cup (6 oz) melted butter
• 1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
• 1 egg
• 1 cup dark muscovado or dark brown sugar

Stir both together well and refrigerate mixture for an hour or so until cold enough to roll into 1" balls, roll in raw sugar [optional], and place on a baking sheet covered in baking paper.  Bake 190C/375F/gas mark 5 for 8-12 minutes. 

I usually reduce the sugar in these to 3/4 cup.  Often I use a combination of half wholemeal spelt flour and half brown rice flour; these are crumblier but just as tasty.

As American As Apple Pie

I did actually make an apple pie for the fourth of July.  And a chocolate fudge cake with vanilla bean icing.  We were hosting a community meal and needed the extra puddings.

However, this is the pudding I made for Dan, myself, and the kids to eat after a simple tea of Greek pasta salad.

It's a raw pecan spice cake, and my first attempt at a raw cake. The recipe is from Amy at Fragrant Vanilla Cake.  I love her raw recipes!  I followed it closely, but did increase the recipe by a half.  For instance, instead of two cups of raw pecans, I used three, and so on.  I made the cake layers in two eight-inch tins instead of three four-inch ones.

It was deliciously crumbly with a definite coconut texture.  The brown taste of the pecans went well with the creamy coconut and both blended beautifully with the cashew-based icing, full of vanilla flavour.  Everyone enjoyed their helpings and we were all quite full afterwards! As it contains plenty of protein and fibre, this is one cake I certainly don't mind giving the kids for breakfast.  Even Mr J liked it.

Cinnamon Crunch Coffeecake

This is one of my favourite coffeecake recipes.  Usually containing no coffee, "coffeecake" instead describes a cake best consumed right after baking with a cup of freshly brewed strong coffee.

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted if necessary; or melted butter
• 3/4 cup honey, maple syrup, or raw caster sugar [slightly less if using honey or sugar]
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 pint natural plain yoghurt
• 1 cup whole spelt or wholemeal flour
• 1 cup brown rice flour (or 1/2 cup brown rice flour, 1/2 cup ground almonds)
• 1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp baking powder

Beat oils and honey.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  Stir in half the yoghurt, then half the dry ingredients, then the remaining yoghurt, and finally the rest of the dry stuff.  Grease and flour a bundt pan well, and put half the batter in the bottom of the pan.


Crunch mixture:

• 1/4 cup demerara sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds, walnuts, pecans, or a mix of all three
• 3 TBS cinnamon
• 1/4 cup freshly finely ground linseed [flaxseed] or ground almonds

Sprinkle this mixture over the batter in the pan , and spoon the remaining batter over that.  

Bake gas mark 4/350/180 for around 45 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.  Immediately after removing, carefully run a rubber spatula between the cake and the pan, set a plate over the top, and holding both the plate and the pan, quickly tip over. Allow to cool for ten minutes or so before sifting a bit of icing sugar over the top. Alternatively, pour over a glaze of icing containing: 1 cup icing [powdered] sugar, 2 TBS rice milk, 1 tsp extract of vanilla or almond.  Serve right away, with coffee.  Mmmm.

Diamond Jubilee Cheesecake

Inspired by the Union Jack, [yes, I know, not correct, but who calls it the Union Flag?] I made this cheesecake for our usual Sunday night open house evening.

Nigella's Chocolate Fudge Cake

This is the chocolate fudge cake recipe. I'm beginning to wish I'd counted the batches ever since the first cake left my oven in 2004, for Andy and Sue's English wedding reception.  Eight years, three more weddings, numerous birthdays, one christening, countless "treat days", over one hundred batches of this cake recipe later, we still love chocolate fudge cake.

This is the recipe... it's Nigella's - the chocolate cake goddess herself.  If it becomes your speciality, too, then we'll all be the better off for it. Because the chocolate fudge love deserves to be shared.  Enjoy!

CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE


Here are a few visuals of the many incarnations I've dreamt up for this fudge cake over the years...


The feathers on these twelve-inch beasts were not my idea, just in case you were wondering.

Going-away cake... Bittersweet.

Out of a twelve-inch, ten-inch, and eight-inch set of cakes below, only the smaller one remained.  A few days later, I used the remnants of these wedding cakes and cupcakes to create a chocolate cherry trifle.  Mmmm.

There was a child's fingerprint along the side of this cake, but it was carefully patched and smoothed with new icing.

One of my favourite ways to enjoy this recipe: vanilla buttercream icing on top, coffee buttercream in the centre, none on the sides, and piles of grated Green & Black's dark 85% on top.

Cupcakes with vanilla buttercream.

Lefty chose chocolate fudge cake for his third birthday...

...and his fifth birthday.

A Valentine's Day chocolate fudge cake, iced with chocolate fudge buttercream made with two hundred grams of melted Green & Black's dark chocolate.  This is the "standard" icing version, as depicted in Nigella's recipe.

Easy Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

EASY HOMEMADE CINNAMON ROLLS
with Coffee Icing

This is the most fail-safe recipe for cinnamon rolls that I've tried yet! I found it years ago on a cinnamon-roll-scented soy candle, and tried it out without knowing whether or not it was a "real" recipe.  It most definitely is!  Preparing these rolls is so easy and split into two stages: you can mix up the dough the night before, and make the cinnamon rolls the next morning.  

• 4 1/4 cups sifted plain flour [often I'll just use plain wholemeal spelt flour]
• 1/3 cup raw caster sugar
• 2 sachets of fast action yeast (slightly under 2 TBS)
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter or coconut oil
• 2 eggs

Combine 1 cup flour, 1/3 cup sugar, and undissolved yeast. Set aside.  

Heat milk, water, and 1/2 cup butter over low heat until it reaches 120/130F (lukewarm) on a food thermometer, then add to dry ingredients right away and beat for a few minutes.  

Add half a cup of flour and eggs. Beat well; then stir in remaining flour.  

Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours or up to two days. Turn onto a floured surface and roll out to a 3"x9"x12" (or thereabouts!) rectangle.  Brush with 3 TBS melted butter, and sprinkle over 1 cup sugar and cinnamon to taste.  Roll dough from the short end and seal seams.  Cut into one-inch slices with a sharp bread knife.  Place 9 slices in each 8" buttered round cake tin.  (Sprinkle chopped pecans or walnuts over the rolls at this point, if you like)  Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.  

Bake at 375F/190C/gas mark 5 for 20-25 minutes or until done.  Remove from pan, cool, and pour over icing (optional).  

For icing, whisk together about a cup of icing sugar with two tablespoons of fresh strong coffee, and a teaspoon of vanilla extract, and lace the hot rolls with this tooth-achingly sweet concoction.  If you don't like coffee, use milk.

Gingerbread Cookies

GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Sweet and spicy... these are perfect for decorating.  They freeze well too; I usually make them ahead of time and take them out of the freezer as I need them.

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1/2 cup light muscovado sugar
• 1/2 cup blackstrap molasses
• 1 egg
• 1 TBS vinegar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp mixed spice or 1/2 tsp cloves  (All spice measurements are approximate; I pour spices in... literally! The more the merrier.)

Beat sugar, butter, and molasses.  When creamy, stir in egg and spices.  Add vinegar and soda almost at once; then stir in flour and baking powder.  Mix well and wrap dough in baking paper.  Refrigerate overnight or at least for a few hours.  Roll out on a floured surface to one-eighth of an inch thick and cut, using traditional people cutters, or other shapes.  Place on a cookie tray covered in baking paper, at least an inch apart.  Bake 375F/gas mark 5/190C for 6-8 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Cool on cookie sheet for a minute or two before removing to cool completely on a wire rack. Decorate by piping on plain white icing, then add as many other embellishments as you can. Be creative!

New York Baked Cheesecake

 2006 birthday cheesecake... one of many [birthdays and cheesecakes!]

We moved to upstate New York when I was five, and my grandmother made this for my eighth birthday cake.  And for my ninth, tenth, eleventh... I love cheesecake, but not just any cheesecake.  This one.  I've endeavoured to introduce as many people as possible to this yummy cheesecake.  It's definitely calorific, but worth it for a special meal or birthday!

NEW YORK BAKED CHEESECAKE

PASTRY

For the pastry, you could use a biscuit [cookie] base.  I often do, as it's well-liked and easy.  However, I would recommend trying this real pastry base.  It is beautifully lemony and melt-in-the-mouth.

• 3/4 cup (6 oz) butter, softened
• grated peel from 1-2 lemons
• 1 1/4 cups plain white flour
• 1/4 cup golden caster sugar
• 1 egg yolk

Cream sugar and butter; add egg yolk and lemon peel.  Stir in flour and mix well.  Shape into a ball, wrap in greaseproof paper, and chill in fridge one hour.  Pre-heat oven to 400F/ 200C/gas mark 6.  Press 1/3 of pastry dough into the bottom of a 10" by 2 1/2" springform tin. Bake 8 minutes, then remove to cool. Afterwards, increase oven temperature to 475F/240C/gas mark 9.

FILLING

• Five 8 oz packages cream cheese (2 1/2 lbs)*
• 3 TBS flour
• 1 3/4 cups raw caster sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 5 eggs
• grated peel from 2-3 lemons
• 1/4 cup milk

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth.  Slowly beat in 1 3/4 cups sugar. Beat in 3 TBS flour and remaining ingredients. Beat five minutes; do not increase speed as the slow mixing incorporates air for a lighter cake.

Press remaining pastry around side of tin to within 1 inch of the top.  Pour cream cheese mixture in; then proceed to bake for 12 minutes at 475F/240C/gas mark 9. Turn oven temperature to 300F/150C/gas mark 2, and bake 35-40 minutes longer, without removing cake from oven.  Turn off oven; allow cheesecake to remain in oven for 30 minutes.

Remove; finish cooling on wire rack. Refrigerate until completely chilled before serving.  If the cake cracks across the top, don't panic; it's a sign of a well-made cheesecake!

*If using reduced fat cream cheese, do not add the 1/4 cup milk.  Increase the baking time for at least another 30-40 minutes.  Normally, I use a lower fat organic soft cheese for this recipe and usually bake it for an extra hour.  If you want to have an easy first-time experience making cheesecake, stick with regular old Philadelphia.

Blueberry Muffins

Makes one dozen; pre-heat oven to: 200c, 400f, or gas mark 6


In a large mixing bowl, beat together well:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup golden caster sugar
• 1/2 cup (4 oz) melted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond essence
• finely grated peel of one lemon

In another bowl, stir together:

• 2 cups plain flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp baking powder

Stir 1 cup (225ml) sour cream or creme fraiche into the egg mixture.  Stir flour mixture and egg mixture together, and finally fold in 1-2 cups blueberries.

Fill muffin cases almost full and bake 20-25 minutes, until brown on top. These muffins freeze well; double (or in my case, quadruple) the recipe if you want some for the freezer! Suitable for any occasion: from breakfasts to birthdays.

On the Arrival of April

The first week of this month has overflowed with people to see and things to do.  We've had the usual stream of people in and out of our house [particularly around tea-times!], and more than the usual: our buddy Hannah Stone visiting from Derby, a day spent with my friend and her twin boys, our monthly community meal finished off with ten shared tubs of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, our regular weekly trip to the library and Starbucks, and time at the local art gallery.  

One of the highlights of the week was musical, of course. Our friend James brought guests with him to lunch at ours on Sunday, and two of them, Tom and Hannah, treated us to their own loud and live version of The Civil Wars' song, "Barton Hollow". It was brilliantly sung and appreciated by all, even a passerby on the street, who stopped to listen as they sang their hearts out in our front room!

This afternoon, things are winding down just a tiny bit.  We are sharing lunch tomorrow with extended family, so even though I'm contributing to the meal, the main responsibility for a big Easter dinner isn't falling to me.  Our house cleaning has slowly and steadily been finished, though I have put off scrubbing the bathrooms until later tonight. Birthday cards and a few short letters have been written and are sealed and waiting for the next posting day -- Tuesday. Our chocolate Easter cake is iced with coconut buttercream, decorated and waiting for tomorrow's lunch. Though I had great ideas for naturally dyed Easter eggs, that hasn't happened.  Maybe next year!

I'm off now to work on cinnamon roll dough for tomorrow's breakfast... recipe here.

Thoughtful times.