Monday, 2 September 2013

Apple and Blackberry Pie and Thick Vanilla Custard!


We have had an absolute bumper crop of apple and blackberries in the Deerly Beloved garden this year! I have been cutting them up and freezing them and making apple butter all week but one of my favourite things to make is a good old fashioned apple pie! So continuing my pastry theme I thought I would share my apple pie recipe along with my thick vanilla custard recipe too!


Ingredients:

Pastry:
4 Cups of White Flour
1 1/2 Cups of Icing Sugar
1 1/2 Cups of Margarine
1/4 Cup of cold Water

Filling:
6 Apples cored and chopped into bite sized pieces
2 Cups of Blackberries
1/2 Cup of Sugar
1/2 tsp of Cinnamon
1/2 tsp of Ginger

Custard:
2 tbsp of Margarine
2 tbsp of white Flour
3 Cups of Soya milk
1/4 Cup of Golden Sugar
1 tbsp of Vanilla Bean Paste
Pinch of Turmeric

In a large pan add the apples, blackberries, sugar and spices. Place on the stove and bring to the boil. As soon as they start heating they will let out all their juice so there is no need to add water, however if you are a bit worried about them catching you can add a couple of tbsp of water to get them going! Cook for 15-20 mins until the apples are just soft but still holding their shape.
In the mean time make your pastry. Place the flour and sugar in a bowl and rub in the margarine with your fingers and thumbs to form a bread crumbs. Then add the water bring together to form a dough that cleans the side of your bowl. Cling wrap and allow to cool in the fridge for 10 mins.
Remove the dough from the cling film and on a floured surface, roll out to cover a 10'' pie dish.
Lay the pastry in the dish and trim the edges with a knife. Add the fruit on top of the lined pie dish. Then roll out the remaining pastry and cover the fruit to form a lid. Trim excess pastry off the sides. Then gently crimp the edges or use a fork to seal the edges of the pie together.
Place in an oven at 200c for 25 mins.


While the pie is cooking make your custard! In a sauce pan heat the margarine then add the flour. Stir quickly and then slowly add the milk a bit at a time until you have made a thick white sauce. Then add the sugar and vanilla and stir. Then add the pinch of Turmeric. You won't taste this spice but it will give the custard it's traditional yellow hue! Pour into a serving jug.
Now remove your pie from the oven and serve with the custard! X

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Sunday, 1 September 2013

Vegan MoFo 2013!




Vegan MoFo is back and I am so proud to be part of this amazing global blogathon for the 3rd year running! While trying to decide on a theme (hmmmm ice cream? Preserving? Back to school meals?) I decided to have a loose theme on pastry, french pastries, pastries from round the world and savoury pastries! Although I have my heart set on making an awesome cheese cake and several non pastry recipes too! I will also be blogging about the day to day comings and goings of my bakery with my usual 'My Week According to my Camera' and any pretty cakes and bakes I make while it's MoFo time!
I also have a fab competition coming up half way through the month which I will tell you more about closer to the time! But just to say it involves a certain queen of the MoFo'ers Isa Chandra Moskowitz and her beautiful new cook book! So stay tuned!

I hope you enjoy my posts and recipes this vegan MoFo and please comment! I love to hear from you guys and hope to make lots more blogging and non blogging friends as I did last year!

So here we go let's start MoFoing! XXX

You can follow vegan mofo here:
http://www.veganmofo.com/
https://twitter.com/VeganMofo
http://www.veganmofo.com/2013-categories/
The wonderful Mofo'ers are also working on the usual bundle that you can download to view all the blogs as they post! So stay tuned! XXX

If you have enjoyed my blog please follow us!
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Thanks! X




Tuesday, 27 August 2013

My Week According to My Camera










1) Croque Madam's Recipe coming soon!
2) Kyle's birthday and a yummy Carrot Cake!
3) Our take on the classic Bear Claws or as we like to call them Bear Hugs!
4) Mango and Coconut Cake available at Waterstones Cafe W
5) Aggi hugs after a long baking day!
6) 30 Cupcakes for a 21st birthday party
7) Chocolate Bejewelled Soft Fruits Cake
8) Bank Holiday at the beach
9) My lovely customer and friend Terri's mum's 70th birthday cake!

Wednesday, 14 August 2013

Hebden Bridge Holiday.


Kyle and I have just been of on our summer holiday/honeymoon. Our cottage was amazing and Hebden Bridge was just wonderful! It is so vegan friendly and although we didn't get to eat in the main 2 veggie restaurants (we couldn't leave Aggi Pup alone at the cottage) there were lots of cafes and shops that allowed her in and did great vegan fair! It was also lovely to see Sam and Martin who we don't get to see enough, and have a good catch up with them! We got back to Norwich on sunday and now the bakery is back in full swing! I thought I would post a few snaps and mention some of the little gems we found while we were away!







 This peppermint brownie from Saker Bakery was amazing! As was the whole bakery! We ate cakes and pasties from there every day and their range of breads was fantastic! So reasonably priced too!




We went to a wonderful little shop called Pennine Provisions  which was a fab wholefoods and deli selling lots of redwood faux meats, cheese and cakes. It also had these wonderful Inspiral kale chips that were soooo moreish and I basically ate the whole tub in one go! oppps! The Om Bar was yummy, something I wanted to try for ages in Norwich, but was always put off the price. Although it was nice, at £2.50 for a small bar you are definitely paying for the fact that it is raw and organic.




 I tried Kombucha for the first time and it was so yummy! Kinda tastes alcoholic (well it is a fermented drink) and it was full of fruity flavour and made me feel more energetic for all the walking we did later that afternoon!

 We found a lovely little cafe called Mooch. Their vegan adaptable chickpea burger with cous cous and salad was really good. We were really excited to try their vegan cooked breakfast but we were pretty disappointed. It consisted of beans, half a cooked tomato, 3 pieces of brown toast, fried mushrooms (though  those were the good points) then 2 slices of unseasoned lightly fried tofu that were pretty greasy and 'raw' not all crispy like you would expect, and a pale hashbrown that was again greasy and undercooked. On the upside their soya Chai Latte was AMAZING and we had one every day of our trip!


 More goodies from Saker Organic Bakery!
 Olives from the Sunday Market. There is also a big market on a thursday with fresh fruit and vegetables.
 There are no Tescos or Sainsburys, yayyy! Only one small Co-op which had everything we needed! There are also no coffee chains or sandwich chains which is so lovely and refreshing!
 This shop Valley Organics we found as soon as we arrived and we then knew we were going to love our trip! We stocked up on Jolly Yum ice cream which is soooo good and very reasonably priced and good quality ingredients too!




Sunday, 28 July 2013

My Week According To My Camera!







1, 2 &3) Abney and Teal Cake. Chocolate sponge and 'buttercream' with handmade sugarpaste models.
4) Coconut and Chocolate Girl Scout Cookies! Available tomorrow at Biddy's Tea Room!
5) I received a preview of Isa Chandra Moskowitz new cook book to review for it's october release. I have an exciting competition coming up too!
6) Lemon and Pine Nut cake available at Waterstones Cafe W!