Usually I love June. After all, my birthday falls in June. Roses are the flowers of June and pearls are its birthstone. I used to assume that the weather would be good on my birthday and that I was entitled to good weather on my birthday. How innocent I was! Last year we had lovely weather but all was not right with the world. This year there is more to be positive about.
I have baked some very good cakes and other items since the end of April. Exactly a month ago I baked a cranachan cheesecake, using a recipe from Paul Hollywood's book Pies and Puds. My mother-in-law had asked me to provide a dessert for a family lunch and I was happy to oblige.
A second recipe from the same book was a marmalade and almond cake. A couple of people said that
orange and almond shouldn't work and then they tasted the cake. Orange has been a surprisingly luxurious flavour or ingredient in anything I've ever baked.
Just two days after the cheesecake I made a lemon, olive oil and bay leaf cake using an Ottolenghi recipe published in The Guardian last March. It was very good and I'm thinking of baking it again for the local baking competition in July. Oops! There goes my secret weapon. I hope my nemesis isn't reading this!
A biscuit (or was it a cake) that caused a flurry of interest among my FB pals was a traybake known as "princess fingers". The recipe is from a book simply called Slices. No author is attributed. The recipes involve ingredients that mothers might have had in their cupboards years ago. In fact, one FB friend thanked me for posting a picture of the princess fingers because they reminded him of his mother and that she used to bake something similar for him.
There's a sweet pastry base, a layer of raspberry jam scattered with chopped glace cherries and walnuts, then topped with orange and coconut meringue. Another baking competition entry?
It's been more than two years since I declared that I wanted to overcome my fear of baking with yeast. And yesterday (my birthday) was the day. I made real cinnamon buns using Bronte Aurell's recipe in Fika and Hygge. There were several moments of panic: was the milk warm enough? Would I be able to grind the cardamom seeds quickly enough? Why wasn't the yeast bubbling? Had the dough doubled in size or not? Could I get the twists right? The resulting buns were a little scruffy but they tasted wonderful. If you want to see how they should look, click here. Be warned: Bronte folds the cinnamon paste-covered dough twice rather than once as stated in the book.
So, I am feeling very pleased with myself. Some things can be very scary but you take a deep breath and try anyway. Thanks, as always, to the spouse for encouraging me. And for the lovingly and painstakingly painted stone he gave me for my birthday.
That's all for now.
Minnie
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| Cranachan cheesecake with raspberry coulis |
I have baked some very good cakes and other items since the end of April. Exactly a month ago I baked a cranachan cheesecake, using a recipe from Paul Hollywood's book Pies and Puds. My mother-in-law had asked me to provide a dessert for a family lunch and I was happy to oblige.
 |
| Orange and marmalade cake |
A second recipe from the same book was a marmalade and almond cake. A couple of people said that
orange and almond shouldn't work and then they tasted the cake. Orange has been a surprisingly luxurious flavour or ingredient in anything I've ever baked.
Just two days after the cheesecake I made a lemon, olive oil and bay leaf cake using an Ottolenghi recipe published in The Guardian last March. It was very good and I'm thinking of baking it again for the local baking competition in July. Oops! There goes my secret weapon. I hope my nemesis isn't reading this!
 |
| Princess fingers |
A biscuit (or was it a cake) that caused a flurry of interest among my FB pals was a traybake known as "princess fingers". The recipe is from a book simply called Slices. No author is attributed. The recipes involve ingredients that mothers might have had in their cupboards years ago. In fact, one FB friend thanked me for posting a picture of the princess fingers because they reminded him of his mother and that she used to bake something similar for him.
There's a sweet pastry base, a layer of raspberry jam scattered with chopped glace cherries and walnuts, then topped with orange and coconut meringue. Another baking competition entry?
 |
| Cinnamon buns |
So, I am feeling very pleased with myself. Some things can be very scary but you take a deep breath and try anyway. Thanks, as always, to the spouse for encouraging me. And for the lovingly and painstakingly painted stone he gave me for my birthday.
That's all for now.
Minnie
💖
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