Category Archives: Cake

Indian Summer

06 Oct, 2011

Unexpected pleasures are so sweet, don’t you find? The glorious sunshine and unusual warmth of the past days have brought delight – just as we started to get entrenched in the routine of Autumn. And the garden of our new home boasts trees laden with an extraordinary crop of apples and the hedges are richly dotted with blackberries. These must be celebrated!

So, directly home from school, books and bags are cast aside and we make right for a lovely spot in the garden for a cool drink and a rest.

But little boys don’t really rest for long, do they? Our boy is lucky as he has quite a few little friends who live in the village. So after school, the garden is often buzzing with several little boys running around, building dens, climbing…. And feeling hungry – always hungry!

I’ve been reading a charming little book. It’s called ON A Stick! and it’s written by Matt Armendariz. Matt is the creator of the wonderful blog Matt Bites – do you know it? Well the book is just about what you would expect from the title – a series of quirky, delicious recipes and ideas – all of food on a stick.

Now I have yet to find a child who doesn’t adore food on sticks! Even healthy skewers of fruit and veggies. As long as you can trust little boys with sharp sticks (you can’t!) So with vigilance, I presented a garden snack inspired by Matt’s book. This isn’t actually his recipe, in fact it isn’t really a recipe at all. I simply assembled some berries and apple slices (from the garden), along with some little pieces of cake on wooden bamboo sticks.

The cake is a buttermilk and almond cake but I haven’t perfected the recipe yet. When I do, I’ll be happy to share it if you would like. Just let me know.

A quick chat, then back to running around!

A change of weather is forecast – back to the typical offerings of the season. Despite a little sadness to say goodbye to the bright warm days, I feel quite excited about the prospect of Autumn. It’s such a beautiful time of year – the splendid colours, the brisk walks, and of course, the delicious warming foods that nourish body and soul. More soon.

in Apples, Autumn, Baking, Cake, Family, Growing Food, Picnics, School, berries, garden, sunshine | Comments (13) Read more...

Home from school and Mummy’s chocolate cake

28 Sep, 2010

Home time is lovely isn’t it? No matter how much you like school, it’s great to get home. And if there’s a bit of time to linger, chat with pals, search for conkers, be outdoors…well that’s all the better. Our household is settled into the new school year – routines now familiar, friendships established. And homework. Good thing there is sometimes a chocolate cake made by Mummy!

At seven years old, what’s better than having a friend around to play and some yummy chocolate cake? But how about some beetroot? I’m sure lots of children love it but my little boy isn’t one of them. My challenge is constantly getting more vegetables into him, so a secret beetroot ingredient is brilliant. I’ve read about chocolate beetroot cakes decided to give it a try. I looked at a few recipes, including a lovely one on Scandilicious. However I cannot help but tweak a new version of my own. I added a few big spoons of velvety mascarpone cheese to the mix to lend a lighter, smoother texture. And I made it very chocolatey. The beetroot is miraculous – it gives the cake a gorgeous fudgey crumb and delicate sweetness. I love it.