Spelt and Ale Loaf.

Well I have had a rather busy weekend - swimming with the boys, housework, an 80s girls' night out, a 5K run, more swimming - so was wondering how on earth I was going to get round to baking this bread in time for the Short and Tweet deadline.  Cue a rather splendidly domesticated husband stepping in and making it for me (as well as making THREE batches of peanut butter cookies which I will blog about next!).

This loaf is a variation on the wholemeal loaf I did for Short and Tweet in December. I found this one to be denser and more bitter than the plain wholemeal one which I really loved.  Of course, this one is still miles better than a flaccid sliced loaf from a plastic bag.  It will be rather great with homemade soup.  I couldn't really say I noticed the ale taste apart from the extra bitterness.

I obviously can't really comment on how it was to make this bread but Steve reports that it was straightforward but took a bit longer to rise than his usual breads.

You can get Dan Lepard's recipe in his book, Short and Sweet or on the Guardian website here.

Mum's Birthday Cake.

I did an 'Introduction To Cake Decorating' course with Grace from Cakes By Grace in Montrose. 

I made the cake above for my Mum's birthday and was really pleased with it.  

All the cakes I have decorated so far, I have just tried to copy ideas from google images and have done with trial and error.  

I loved Grace's course.  First of all she is lovely and chatty and very generous with her advice and tips.  She is also very organised - each station had everything we needed, her timings were obviously well thought out and the course ran so smoothly.

I actually learned heaps even though I have been decorating cakes on my own for a few years now.  There are certain techniques I have been doing in my own individual way and, seeing the proper way to do it, has made me say on several occasions, "oh that is so much easier!".

I  got to play around with all the tools available and see Grace's systems for storing and carrying things and it means you really get to see what things would be useful to you without having to spend money on them beforehand. 

It was just a fantastic day and Grace is a very inspiring lady. I'd love to go to one of her cupcake courses but I'll just need to save my pennies first.  Can't wait, though. 

Bruschetta - The First Recipe In Real Fast Food.

Plenty of time to join in May's Random Recipe Challenge which can be found at Belleau Kitchen.

This month we have to randomly choose a book and then make either the first or last recipe in that book.

I used random.org to choose my book and landed on one of my favourites.  It is Real Fast Food by Nigel Slater.  One of his early books and chock full of quick, simple recipes.  This book is especially brilliant if I happen to be cooking something quick and easy just for myself.  Some of the recipes are really little more than one or two line ideas but that is what it is so great about the book - it is heaving with inspiration for a quick meal or snack.

One of the first things I ever made from the book was the Hot Chicken with Cream and Garlic Sandwich and it is now something I do fairly regularly.  I will just suddenly have a craving for this recipe and nothing else will do.  It takes less than 10 minutes to make.

Anyway the first recipe in the book is bruschetta and the last recipe is Hot Red Fruits - a syrup of tart fruits and an abundance of ideas for using this for desserts or breakfast. Mmmmm.

I went with the bruschetta, though, and even though Mr Slater gives 5 variations, I chose the simple and basic one as it is the first in the book.

And who doesn't love a simple bruschetta?  I used wholemeal bread as I prefer it and scattered on a few basil leaves to gild the lily.  I'd say this recipe neatly sums up the book - really quick and simple food but it really hits the spot. 

You can't really improve on this recipe, can you?

1. Griddle some slices of a nice crusty loaf to toast them.

2. Arrange some sliced or chopped beautifully ripe and fragrant tomatoes on top.

3. Drizzle with good extra virgin olive oil.

4. Add some sea salt, black pepper and basil leaves if you wish.

5. Enjoy. 

And, yes, we had this for a family dinner.  No time cooking and a happy and well fed family. Perfect.

Random Pistachio Cake.

This month's Random Recipe is Number 15 and celebrates Belleau Kitchen's 2nd Birthday.

Well, Dom, I have enjoyed a slice of this with a mug of tea and have raised my mug to you.  So many of my newly favourite recipes have been found by taking part in Random Recipes and this is yet another.  

I do so love a fairly simple cake and especially if it is not chocolate (I'm bored of chocolate cakes).  A good cake recipe is one like this which is simple but has an extra little something.  Here, you get the yielding bite and the distinctive taste of the pistachios which just jazzes up the beautiful, freshly baked vanilla loaf cake. 

I stacked up all my books dedicated exclusively to baking and used random.org to choose the book and then the page number.  The book was Cake Days from The Hummingbird Bakery.  I have previously blogged about the honey and pear layer cake and the grasshopper pie from this book and I think Steve has also made their whoopie pies.  Other than that, though, I have seriously underused this book which has many tempting recipes in it like lemon and thyme loaf; rose cupcakes; pea, ham and feta cheese muffins; walnut and honey loaf; butterscotch marshmallow bars - so watch this space for more!

Spelt Rough Puff Pastry.

It has been a beautiful day here today.  We got a huge amount done in the garden and it's looking great for the new season.  We also had our tea out in the garden for the first time this year.

And I had a cracker of a recipe for the meal.

For Short and Tweet, I made Dan Lepard's spelt rough puff pastry and I made it into chorizo and tomato tarts.  Dan gives a few ideas for really stunning sounding tarts in his book.  I will try to make more of them especially as the pastry was such a success.

How lovely to have a bit of extra flavour and goodness from the spelt flour.  I really wasn't expecting to be able to make a successful puff pastry so easily.  There is a bit of rolling and folding but I just let the pastry rest in the fridge each time and got on with whatever else I was doing so, in the end, it really felt I had done virtually nothing.  The pastry puffed up brilliantly.  Just as good as the ready-made stuff.  The taste, however, was far better.

The recipes for both the pastry and the tart are in Short and Sweet by Dan Lepard.  I can't find this recipe on the Guardian website but if others from Short and Tweet find it and link to it, I'll let you know.  Otherwise, buy the book.  

Individual Warm Chocolate Puddings.

Sorry, I'm one day late with posting this month's Cake Slice Bakers entry.  I had made my choc pudds well in advance - I mean, how could anyone resist? - but was too busy to post yesterday.

These are a flourless pudding served warm with the gooey middle flooding out onto the plate.  Unfortunately I slightly overdid my ones so not so much a flow of molten chocolate but the middles were still lovely and gooey.  

The recipe is from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle.  Have a look at Katie's blog to see her beautiful molten ones and the recipe. 

The best thing about this recipe?  Licking the bowl after filling the ramekins!  Am actually tempted to make this and not bother baking it next time - that chocolate mousse is amazing.

RR 14 - Oatmeal And Garlic Bread.

Dom's Random Recipe Challenge enters its second year and we were randomly asked to select our 17th cookbook on our shelves.

My 17th book is The Claire MacDonald Cookbook.  It is signed inside, "To Louise, With best wishes from Claire MacDonald of MacDonald March 2004".

Steve and I spent an amazing three days on Skye staying at Kinloch Lodge with the very charming MacDonalds and we spent one of our mornings watching her give a cookery demonstration.

I have wonderful memories of that trip.  The food in the hotel was wonderful and we spent the days walking on the beautiful and empty beaches of Skye with our dog at the time, Che, looking forward to our dinners.  

I see they have a Michelin star now.  I think that must be recent, don't think they had it when we stayed although I couldn't have faulted the food or service.

Have a look at the link above for Kinloch Lodge - the scenery is out of this world.  We really did have all the stunning, rugged beaches completely to ourselves.

Anyway, back to the bread.  I completely forgot to take any decent photos.  I served the first loaf with a bacon and avocado salad as recommended by Lady MacDonald and they went together beautifully.  The bread has the great rustic texture provided by the oatmeal and a lovely subtle taste of garlic.  I froze one of the loaves and I am convinced that when defrosted and used, the garlic taste was more pronounced.

My 5 year old bemoaned the fact I gave him non-home-made bread with his soup yesterday.  These kids must be spoiled!  I agree, though, the bought bread is nowhere near as interesting as home-made.  I love wholesome breads and I love quirky variations like this one.  Another successful random recipe.