The challenge for this week’s Short and Tweet was to make meringues. Like the previous week’s pies, meringues seem to have fallen from favour in many households; I guess because they are seen as unhealthy and a bit passé. However, as I have discovered over the past few days, there is a good reason why … Continue reading »
Last weekend, myself and my OH decided to dust off the biltong maker and have a go at producing South Africa’s national, and much beloved, snack. For anyone who is not familiar with biltong, it is a cured, dried meat typically made from beef or game. I have seen all sorts of biltong for sale … Continue reading »
This week I decided to take one for the team and make all five pie recipes for this week’s Short and Tweet challenge (purely in the interests of research, of course). Despite having made quite a bit of pastry in my time, I have only baked a pie once or twice in my life so … Continue reading »
Last Friday @danlepard tweeted a link to this article on doughnuts which left me salivating for the rest of the afternoon. Can there truly be anything more enjoyable than a fresh jam doughnut with its crisp, sugary exterior and oozy, jammy interior? It seems that doughnuts may be this year’s cupcakes and are rather in … Continue reading »
As I had lots of blackberries left over from making my brioche pizza, I decided to use them up by creating that most underrated of desserts, a trifle. For some reason, trifle only makes an appearance on British dinner tables at Christmas when, often heavily laced with sherry and tinned fruit, it is not exactly … Continue reading »
Rachel de Thample’s recipe for ‘Forager’s Tarts’ has been on my to do list since it was published in BBC Good Food Magazine last September. I love the idea of using blackberries in a savoury tart and the hue they lend the caramelised onion filling is just so pretty. I guess from the name I … Continue reading »
For this week’s Short and Tweet challenge, we arrived at the “batters” chapter of Dan Lepard’s Short and Sweet and the eclectic selection of recipes up for the testing were beer batter for fish, Betsy’s Scotch pancakes and Crêpes Suzette Tour d’Argent. As the three recipes looked fairly simple, I attempted to have a crack at … Continue reading »
There is mutiny in the Under the Blue Gum Tree house. After a couple of weeks of eating pasties, tarts, cookies and ice-cream, my OH uttered the immortal words I never thought I would hear; “Can’t we eat something healthy for once?” he wailed as I served up yet more delicious, but decidedly unhealthy, baked … Continue reading »
