6 Reasons why I should be fatter

Forgive me blogspot, for I have sinned. It's definitely been a fatty week - that's for sure. Let's have a closer look at my sins...



 

Chocolate devil's food cupcakes

Like the link from confession to the devil?! Ahem, anyway. These were LOVELY and very CHOCOLATEY. Great sponge and the icing was basically a chocolate ganache - altogether very nice, I was sad not to be able to 'pipe' on the icing as I really enjoy that now :p From the 'Eat me' book by the cookie girl (Xanthe Milton). I've read she does cake decorating classes and I may sign up for them! :)







Cherry pies

 Altogether now - "she's my cherry pie!" As thats what I had in my head the whole time I was making these little beauties. Thanks and big up to my work friend Fishwick for picking his cherries for me. Doesn't that sound rude? :p Aren't they lovely -I'm used to the dark red cherries we buy in supermarkets but these were peachy/pink and sweet as anything. The pies were delicate and sweet served with custard. More please Fishwick before the season ends!









Chocolate fudge biscuit brownies

'Mmmm - where were these brownies made - heaven? No, Brighton.' (That's a little joke for any Apprentice fans out there :p) These have the best texture a brownie could ask for. If a brownie could talk. Not goey which i hate, (knowing how many eggs/egg yolks go into brownies) and not a cake texture (otherwise you could just make chocolate cake?) Lovely - this recipe is from Lorraine Pascal's latest book where she used Oreo's. I have tried this recipe with them but Oreo's are too expensive to buy for non-special occasions so I opted for the good ole english classic - bourbon biscuits which are A LOT cheaper. And I think these work just as well. My work friend Helen's hubby said that these, and i quote were  'the best brownies he has ever tasted' - an accolade indeed!




Coffee cupcakes

Ok a little bit of cheating here - this isn't a new recipe - its Nigella's cappuccino cupcakes with her coffee icing from her 'coffee ad walnut cake' both tried and tested here on my blog. But they looked, smelt and tasted wonderful. Lovely at Kat's girlie gathering.




















Strawberry scones

 After our visit to the PYO Roundstone farm i couldn't resist making scones with the fresh and fragrant strawberries. I just melted a bit of strawberry jam and stirred the sliced strawberries into it. Whipped some double cream with vanilla pods and voilà - the perfect scone. ~Drools~














 Lemon drizzle cupcakes for Helen

Helen's bday is coming up and I asked what her favourite cake is - Lemon drizzle apparently! Why should I have to wait for her actual birthday though - so I'm making them now for her, as a treat. I followed my aunt Heather's recipe she used for my wedding cakes! (Heather - you were right about the icing, I put a few drops of food colouring and it messed with the consistency - oh well next time). But I did make the lemon syrup and poured that over the cakes when first out of the oven for the 'drizzle' affect. They were summery and refreshing. Decorations were lemon peel cut out in hearts and yellow sugar (made not bought).

The Soup Off! Blue Pumpkin VS Roasted Butternut Squash

 

Tanya's thoughts:

I like pumpkin soup, I like butternut squash soup - but which is better? :p Actually this is incredibly easy as we didn't like the pumpkin soup :( I followed Tana Ramsey's recipe for pumpkin soup where you fry then boil the chunks of pumpkin with garlic and rosemary - once it was cooked, blended etc - it only tasted of rosemary :( Very disappointing as it looked exciting (although it wasn't blue inside - obviously that would have made it more exciting!) and the texture was lovely and silky.

I've made this butternut squash soup recipe a few times before - again by Tana Ramsey (didn't even click that both recipes were hers until writing this). And it's lovely. Roasting the squash first just really brings out the sweetness of the vegetable. It's a time consuming soup - well over an hour to make it. But the real winner in all of this was the cheese scones I made as an accompaniment for this soup. I found a recipe online: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8877/cheese-scones and it uses vegetable oil rather than butter to make it healthier. Anyway who cares - they tasted lovely and rose really nicely.

James's thoughts (Well I'll write on his behalf)
He said that the pumpkin soup smelled like weed :/ And he obviously liked the squash soup and scones as took leftovers with him to work. :)