Valentines Day...

I like to think of myself as a romantic. Not an over the top soppy cheesy romantic, well maybe sometimes, but I think romance in all it’s forms has a place now and again! Valentines day is easily seen as a pointless over commercialised ‘holiday’ but I like to see it as simply an excuse to show a little bit more love. Whether that be to your partner, your friends, your family or simply a kind smile to a stranger you pass. Let’s face it, nowadays any reason or excuse for there to be a little bit more love in the world, can’t possibly be a bad thing!

This year I have had lots of fun creating some super cute Valentine's bakes. I love baking around a theme, so will happily go all out for an occasion!! This year has been all about hearts, fluffy pink buttercream and super cute sprinkles. Fully embracing the cheesy, corny side of the day! And on that note, I am off to cosy up on the sofa with a box of chocolates to watch Valentines Day on Netflix! (If you have never watched the film, please do! It’s super cute cheesy fun and stars pretty much everyone, even Taylor Swift!) I’ll leave you with a sample of my lovey dovey bakes and I hope you are having the loveliest day, however you are celebrating! Enjoy…

The Lake District...

I have been lucky enough to have been brought up going on holiday to the Lake District every single year with my family. It has become my second home and a place very close to my heart. I am definitely more of a country girl than a city girl. A long walk in the countryside is my ideal way to spend a day, other than in my kitchen, of course! Getting away from it all, spending some quality time with my family, breathing in all the fresh air and of course, enjoying some delicious food!

Hours spent out amongst nature also allows me to indulge in one of my favourite hobbies, photography. I won’t bombard you with too many, just enough to show you the beauty of the place, if you have yet to be lucky enough to visit.

Perhaps I feel a certain affinity with the Lake District for it is the birth place of my very favourite of all the desserts, Sticky Toffee Pudding! Our trips up to the lakes always include trips out to local cafes to sample some of their delicious treats. After all, a long walk is made all the sweeter when there is a sweet treat awaiting you at the end! One of our favourite places to go is just a short, but beautiful walk away from where we stay in Elterwater, called Chester’s By The River. The rest of the family usually go for one of their delicious salads, but I can never say no to the cakes! This trip I went for a blackberry scone and it did not disappoint! We also stopped in for breakfast before our sad journey home and I managed to be swayed away from cake for breakfast for one of their peanut butter, banana and nutella toasties. Need I say any more? I also managed to indulge my pancake cravings after a long walk over to Grasmere at Heidi’s Grasmere Lodge. The nutella smothered pancakes were just what I needed to refuel for the walk home!

Whilst on the subject of food, I just have to mention The Grasmere Gingerbread Shop! With every visit to the Lakes, there is a visit to the world famous Grasmere Gingerbread for a pack of the best Gingerbread in the world. It may be a bold claim but I believe it to be wholeheartedly true!

This was a slightly different blog post for me but I wanted to share a bit more of me with you all, I hope you enjoyed! Please let me know in the comments what you want to see from this blog! More posts like this? More recipe posts? More monthly roundups? Or something completely new? I would love to hear your thoughts…

2019...

Howdy Strangers! Apologies that is has been a little while! I have been tucked up in a winter cocoon, covered in many blankets, fuelled by perhaps a slightly excessive amount of Christmas chocolates. But I have emerged, finally, with some very exciting news to start off the year of 2019!

  I have finally, after 5 years lacking the self belief needed, decided to dive in at the deep end and put my heart and soul fully into Louise's Cakes! I am now officially a full time independent business owner, making Louise's Cakes my sole job, income and focus! 

  I'm not sure when the exact moment of change came, when I decided I was ready to take the plunge. Perhaps it was not just a moment, but more of a general realisation that no one was going to make this dream come true for me, nobody but me! So I am more than ready to put my all in to my baking, into constantly improving and trying new techniques and ideas and also then sharing all of this with you all! 

  In terms of the blog, and this road to nigellahood we are in together, I now hope to have the time to invest more of myself and share my recipes, my musings and food ramblings with you all. 

  In the mean time, I shall leave you will a few of my cakes and bakes so far this year! Enjoy ... 

Pumpkin Spice Buns...

Sugar, spice and all things nice… Autumn is here! As a November baby, I am very much a child of Autumn. Woolly jumpers, big blankets, falling leaves, candles, bonfire night and of course, pumpkin spice! A season that not only represents all of the things I love, but is also synonymous with all of my favourite flavours! As the days and nights start to get chillier, I also love how an afternoon of baking, is the perfect excuse to have the oven on for hours, slowly warming up the home and filling it with delicious smells!

This was my first time making any kind of spiced bun but definitely not my first time eating any!! The sticky spicy sweetness with the soft doughyness, they are definitely one of my favourites! Goodness knows why it had taken me so long to make them myself! Perhaps I was put off by the thought of the excessive kneading and proving, like you may be yourself as you read this! But I assure you, as someone who is in no way a bread/dough expert, this is a pretty straight forward, easy to follow recipe and the result is more than worth it, enjoy...

Ingredients...

• 500g strong white flour

• 1x sachet yeast

• 300ml whole milk

• 40g salted butter

• 1 egg

• 1tsp vanilla extract

• 1tsp salt

• 150g pumpkin puree

• 2tsp pumpkin spice mix- a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, ground cloves & allspice

• 2 tbsp maple syrup

• 50g brown sugar

• 1tbsp apricot jam

• 50g icing sugar

Method...

1. Warm the milk in a saucepan on a low heat, add the vanilla and butter, until the butter has melted.

2. Mix the flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl, make a well in the centre and pour in the lukewarm milk and the beaten egg.

3. Stir until the mix comes together, then tip onto an oiled surface and knead for around 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth.

4. Pop the dough back into the lightly oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm, and leave to prove for around 1 hour.

5. As your dough is proving, mix together the pumpkin puree with the maple syrup and spice mix. Taste to check the balance.

6. Once your dough has roughly doubled in size it is ready, tip out onto a lightly floured surface and roll to a rectangle, around 30 by 20cm.

7. Spread the pumpkin mix evenly over the dough, then from the long side, start to roll tightly to the other side to create a Swiss roll.

8. Slice the roll into 9 thick rounds, roughly 4cm, and then place in a lightly greased square baking tin. Leave to prove for half an hour as your oven pre heats to 190/170 fan.

9. Pop into the oven for around 25 minutes, until starting to turn golden brown. Once out, brush the slightly warmed apricot jam over the top as a glaze.

10. Mix the icing sugar with a splash of vanilla and milk and drizzle over the top of the buns and then enjoy warm!

Tan Slice...

If you read my last post on New Zealand, then I can only presume you have been waiting impatiently all week for this recipe post, so you yourself can now make Tan Slice. And I can’t blame you,  it is such a simple but delicious treat that I’m sure will become a firm favourite. Tan slice comprises of a shortbread base with a thick caramel middle and topped with shortbread crumble. Pretty simple right? But oh so very delicious!! I have done this recipe with chocolate chips just to make it even more of a treat! It pairs oh so very beautifully with a big cup of tea, enjoy...

Ingredients…

• 200g butter  
• 100g caster sugar  
• 320g plain flour 
• 1tsp vanilla extract 
• 100g dark chocolate chips 
• 1x tin caramel (usually 397g!)  
• Pinch salt    

Method...

1.  Preheat your oven to 180/160 fan and grease and line a square cake tin/baking tray.
2. Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla until fluffy, then mix through the flour and the chocolate chips.
3. Put roughly 2/3 of the mix into your baking tray and press down evenly to form the base. 
4. Stir a pinch of salt through the caramel and then pour and spread on top of your shortbread base.
5. Crumble the remaining shortbread mix over the caramel, pressing together to form some larger lumps and some fine.
6. Pop into the oven for 20-25 minutes until starting to go golden. 
7. Leave to cool in the tin before setting in the fridge for 1hour+, lift from tin and chop into slices. 
8. Pour yourself a big mug of tea and enjoy...   

New Zealand

Apologies for my absence over the last month or so! Well in truth, I am not too sorry as I have spent an amazing 4 weeks in the most beautiful of places, New Zealand. For as long as I can remember the only place I have had on my travel dream list has been New Zealand and the trip was everything I could have possibly dreamed of and more!

As this is a food blog, I imagine you are here for the food and more specifically the sweet stuff! Well, I took it upon myself to investigate whilst I was out there and try as much of the local sweet treats as I possibly could… you’re welcome! Here I shall share with you some of my favourites and in the next few weeks, keep your eyes out, as I recreate some of them myself with recipes just for you!

It seems only right to start of with… Louise Cake! It seemed somewhat like fate that I would find my namesake cake in this amazing country that now has a very big slice of my heart! Luckily, said cake did not disappoint. Put simply the cake, or probably more technically, a slice, comprises of a shortbread base with a chunky layer of raspberry jam and topped with coconut meringue. As I would expect from a cake named after me, it pairs perfect with a big cup of tea!

Next up, Tan Slice! Or as I now refer to it- Happy Slice, as I feel it’s impossible not to bring a smile to any who eat it! Again this slice is shortbread based with a thick layer of gooey caramel, topped with a biscuit crumble, sounds good right?! Well lucky for you, my first New Zealand Bakes post will be this delectable treat! So check back next Friday and in the meantime try not to daydream about it too much!

One of our favourite food experiences was a banquet feast at Hobbiton, inside the Green Dragon itself! It was certainly a feast fit for hobbits with roast chicken, lamb shanks, beef stew, salmon, bread, roasted vegetables and countless other treats. Luckily I saved a fair bit of room for dessert which was beautiful fruit crumble, Bakewell tart and of course the Kiwi classic, Pavlova.

A foodie trip to New Zealand just would not be complete without a trip to Ferburger! Hailed as one of the best burgers in the whole world, the constant long queue was not going to put us off! I have to say with such a lot of hype around it had a lot to live up to. But it really really was the best burger I have ever had! I went for a classic Ferg Deluxe with NZ beef, bacon and cheese and pickles and relish and ailoi, sounds good right?! It was also massive which of course got extra points from me!

As well as Fergburger there in also a Fergbaker, where I may have spent a fair amount of my time (and money) whilst in Queenstown! Cookies, pastries, pies, croissants, breads, doughnuts, cakes… yep I had found my paradise. To put the cherry on top, next door was Mrs.Ferg, a gelateria! After pondering over and sampling many of the incredible flavours I had to of course go for pistachio and then a caramelised white chocolate and macadamia!

So there is a quick sum up of an amazing trip and a stunning country that will always be in my heart. If you have any questions about what else we got up to, any recommendations if you’re planning a trip yourself, or just some more food chat please leave a comment! I shall see you next week for a recipe blog!

Peanut Butter Jelly Flapjack...

Realised, as I begin to write this, that my recipe blogs of late have seemed to accidentally follow a theme... Nuts! I promise I shall attempt to branch into something different for the next one. But for now, it is time for a journey into peanut butter goodness! 

One of my favourite go to treats is flapjack and good flapjack really is hard to beat. One of the best things is its ease and simplicity to make, which is perhaps why my key memory of childhood baking centres around flapjack. My real love for baking did not seem to develop until my late teens, which still feels like a scarily long time ago! Childhood baking comprised mainly of flicking through a very old and worn copy of Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course, to find one of two recipes. Crumble topping or flapjack! Flapjack was the first recipe I made all by myself and the very first recipe committed to memory. Nowadays my head is swimming with all sorts of cake recipes and ingredient quantities that there is not much room for anything else!

I have made this flapjack extra special and deliciously decadent, indulging both your sweet and savoury teeth! Peanut butter and jelly, or as we in the UK call it, jam, is a flavour combination incredibly close to my heart and stomach!! This flapjack is sweet, sticky, salty, crunchy, chewy and more... enjoy! 

Ingredients...

• 250g salted butter
• 60g crunchy peanut butter
• 140g caster sugar
• 140g golden syrup
• 400g porridge oats
• 80g raspberries, fresh or frozen
• 5tsp raspberry jam

Method...

1.  Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees or 160 fan.
2. Pop the butter, peanut butter, sugar and syrup in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until it has all melted together.
3. Stir through the oats and then pour into a lined brownie tin.
4. Spread the mixture out and flatten lightly before dolloping the jam on top in blobs. Press in the raspberries and for extra crunch you can add some salted peanuts as well!
5. Press everything down firmly and then pop into the oven for 20-25 minutes until bubbly with beautiful golden edges.
6. Leave to cool in the tin and chill before slicing into squares. Enjoy...

Pecan Pie...

During my current love affair with the pistachio, I have highly neglected my other favourite nut, the pecan! So what better thing to bake than a dessert based around the pecan itself, the humble Pecan Pie of course! It must have been years and years since I have even eaten any form of pecan pie and my only memory of ever baking it goes right back to childhood and a highly burnt outcome that neither looked nor tasted like anything resembling a pecan pie! Luckily since then my baking skills have somewhat improved! 

As well as the pecans themselves, for a pie, you of course need pastry. I have somewhat of a love hate relationship with pastry, in that I love nothing more than eating it, but making it always fills me with slight dread. Perhaps justly for the extra effort and mess involved. But also for the lack of cohesion in my pastry skills. Some days I am a pastry pro and can make a picture perfect pie. Other days I seem to opt for a rather more rustic style, with slightly crumbled uneven edges. However, as pie is the quintessential home baked treat, I feel the slight imperfections only add to its charm, and that is the story I shall be sticking with! 

One of my favourite food combinations is maple and pecan. They work together so beautifully and make any dessert irresistible. Pecan Pie as a dessert is so utterly homely and comforting, Deliciously sweet and squidgy and delectably naughty. The scent that will fill your home whilst this is in the oven is just perfection! Enjoy...

Ingredients...

• For the Pastry...
• 300g plain flour
• 150g salted butter
• 100g icing sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• For the Pie...
• 300g Pecan halves
• 75g salted butter
• 100g light brown sugar
• 200g golden syrup
• 150g maple syrup
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 3 eggs, beaten

Method...

1. Put your flour into a mixing bowl and using the largest holes, grate in the butter and then rub flour and butter together with your fingertips, until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. 
2. Rub in the icing sugar and then add the egg yolks. Mix to form the dough, adding a splash of cold water, if the pastry feels too dry. 
3. Bring the dough together in a ball, wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least an hour. 
4. Roll out the dough, on a floured surface, big enough to line roughly a 9inch loose bottomed tart tin. Prick the base lightly with a fork and pop back into the fridge for 30mins. 
5. Pre heat your oven to 180/160 fan.
6. Line your pastry case with baking paper and then fill with baking beans, if you don't have any, raw pasta will work just fine. Pop into the oven for 15 mins, carefully remove the baking paper and beans and return to the oven for 5 minutes or until lightly golden. 
7. Now, onto the filling, beat together the sugar and softened butter until light and fluffy, then beat in the syrups. Gradually add the beaten eggs and then vanilla, along with a pinch of salt until fully combined. Stir through the pecans and then pour  into the tin. 
8. Increase the oven to 200 or 190 fan. Pop the tart on the middle shelf and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 160 or 140 fan for 35-40 minutes, until the pie is golden brown with just a slight wobble. 
9. Leave the pie to cool and then chill in the fridge, preferably overnight, to fully firm up. 
10. Serve with ice cream, cream, bourbon, what ever your poison and enjoy...