Family Picnic!

Today we had a family picnic! It was so nice to get everyone together and enjoy the lovely weather we have been having, even if it was a little cooler today (thank goodness!)
I made potato salad, red cabbage coleslaw, broccoli and tomato mini 'quiche', corn on the cob, olive bread, watermellon slices, double chocolate brownies, cinnamon whirls, fruit juice lollies, and raspberry yoghurt lollies with added strawberry goodness and a lime and mint cooler to drink.
I hope you all had a great sunday! X

My Week According To my Camera

1) Busy few days with a birthday party cake order!
2) Vanilla Soft Fruits Cake with fruit from the farm we visited and my garden.
3) Lemon and Pine Nut Cake with the most beautiful lemons from the farm.
4) Vanilla and Choc Marble Birthday Cake with Strawberries from the farm.
5) GF Ginger, Pecan and Chocolate Cake.
6) Chocolate Orange Cake with Hand Picked Borage Flowers.
7) Tiramisu Marble Cake.
8) Aggi cooling down with a natural fruit juice lollie in the 30c heat we have been having in Norwich!
9) Red Velvet Cake at Dandy Horse Cafe.
10) Aggi being cute!
11) GF Iggle Piggle Cake.
12) My niece Vada is 14! She asked for a 'Big Bang Theory' birthday cake.

Strawberry Picking!

Some of my best childhood memories are going strawberry picking with my late dad and my Grandad. In the hot sunshine, cramming my mouth with sweet jammy strawberries until I had a belly ache and my dad would tell me to put some in the punnet box or I would get told off by the farmer who weighed them in the shop! Also broad beans are one of my favourite summer legumes. As you can see from the old photo I have put up at the end of this post, my mum got me involved with food from an early age. I am the little blond child in the photo, helping my sister to harvest the shiny beans from their downy pods.

So today my sister said she had found a lovely little vegetable 'pick your own' farm not to far from the centre of Norwich and I jumped at the chance to go with her! We took my niece and nephew too, passing on the strawberry picking tradition and memories. Showing my 3 year old nephew where fruit and veg comes from, seeing his amazement at finding the biggest strawberries and watching the sticky juice dribble down his chin as he tried them. It was such a lovely day! 

If you would like to go pick your own, we went to White House Farm . It currently has strawberries, cherries, potatoes, and broad beans ready to pick and a heavily stocked farm shop with lemons, sweet potatoes, onions, tomatoes and apples. 

Norwich Veggie Fayre 2013!

Had such a great time at the Norwich Veggie Fayre today! It's the 3rd year we have had a stall at the fayre and it is amazing how it just gets better and better every year! Awesome stalls, food, charities and people! I only managed to get a few photos as our little stall was pretty busy, I am sure there will be more up soon on the Norwich Veggie Fayre fb page soon though! It was so nice to see all our regular customers and friends and it was also so great to finally meet Melissa ( Ms. Cupcake !) and have a good natter!!! Big thanks to Glen, Miranda and Nikki for putting on another great veggie Fayre! Here's to next year!! XXX

Coming up this weekend!

Lots of cakes ready for tomorrows Norwich Veggie Fayre! 11am-4pm at Quaker Meeting House Norwich NR2 1EU! Including, Peanut Butter Bombe Cake, Cookies and Kream Cake, Rosemary and Choc Whoopie Pies, Green Tea and Pistachio Whoopie Pies, Choc and Hibiscus Whoopie Pies, Vanilla and Rosewater Whoopie Pies, Chocolate Caramel and Almond Tarts, Orange and Almond Biscotti and Apple Rose Tarts! Phew it's been a busy day! PLUS if you can't make it to the veggie Fair we will also be delivering a Cookies and Kream cake to Dandy Horse Coffee House and a Rose and Pistachio Cake to Biddy's Tea Room!!!

Millionaires Shortbread

Everyone loves Millionaire's Shortbread right? It was one of my favourites as a child when we used to visit a bakery. Although I was never overly keen on the waxy cheap chocolate on top that bakeries seemed to use! Well here is my decadent version, full of caramel yummyness and light and 'buttery' shortbread. It is heaven! 

Shortbread base:
1 cup of Plain Flour
2/3 cup of Margarine
1/4 cup of Icing Sugar
1 tbsp of Soya Milk (Only if the mix is a little dry, so may not be needed)
1/2 tsp of Bourbon Vanilla Extract

Caramel middle:
1 Carton of Coconut Cream (Blue Dragon)
1/4 Cup of Organic Unrefined Sugar
Pinch of Salt

Chocolate top:
1 and 1/4 cup of Chocolate Chips


In a bowl, cream the margarine and icing sugar together till light and fluffy. Then add the vanilla. Then add the flour. It should all come together easily and be quite a moist but firm dough (if it is crumbly add the tbsp of soya milk). Grease and line with baking paper a 9 X 6 baking tin. Spread the shortbread out with your hands into the bottom of the tin.
Pop into the oven for 15 to 20 mins at 180c until golden and firm. Take out of the oven and allow to cool. 

In a sauce pan bring to the boil the carton of coconut cream, sugar and salt. Once at the boil reduce to a medium heat and stir. Keep stirring until it turns opaque and thick and will not easily run off your spoon, it takes a good 10-15 minutes to reach this point. Once it is thick and has a rich golden colour, pour over the shortbread base. Allow to cool. 

In a bowl place the chocolate chips and place the bowl over a sauce pan containing a couple of inches of water (bain-marie) making sure the water does not touch the bottom of the chocolate bowl as this will burn your choc chips! 

Bring the water to the boil and allow the heat to gently melt the chocolate. Pour the chocolate over the caramel layer and allow to set. Allow to completely cool for at least 2-3 hours. Then release the millionaires shortbread by gently pulling it out of the tin by the baking paper edges. Place on a chopping board and cut into slices!  

My Week According To My Camera

1) Bakewell Tart now available at Biddy's Tea Room
2) Summer is finally here! My garden is full of Butterflies, Strawberries and Poppies!
3) Lots of birthday cakes being made this week!
4) Our new eco push lawn mower is brilliant!
5) Whole by T Colin Campbell is my latest book to review on my blog. Am really enjoying it so far!
6) I got to make my favourite Chocolate, Raspberry and Balsamic Syrup cake this week. Yum!