Choux Buns With Coffee Custard Filling

Indulgence Coffee is a book about nostalgia. Published in April, it’s part of a series by Murdoch Books which aims to celebrate vintage style and “a bygone era when dressing up, serving tea in fine china and writing personal thank you notes afterwards were regarded as simply good manners.” In that, it succeeds, full of ... Read more »

Quick Puff Pastry Tart

Having some leftover fresh mozarella balls and proscuitto slices in the fridge, not to mention a third of a home-grown yellow courgette, I sent Pete off to buy some ready-made puff pastry, fresh tomatoes and fresh basil for a quick and tasty evening meal. After scoring a border around the edges, I layered slices of ... Read more »

Serendipitea!

You know how sometimes, you experience those perfect moments of serendipity which lead to wonderful moments and new friendships? One of those moments came together for me on the first Friday of this month. Just a few weeks before I started my blog, Pei Wang started his. In his case, he took a far deeper ... Read more »

The Cookies Of Dreams: Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

The weekend before last, while Pete went to the Reading Beer Festival with friends, my sister and I had lunner (lunch-dinner) in China Town before sitting open-jawed infront of the spectacle of Oliver, on stage. The next day my sister and I made chocolate chip cookies for her boyfriend. My sister was particularly keen to ... Read more »

Charles Campion’s Banana Cake Recipe

This banana cake recipe is from Charles Campion’s Fifty Recipes To Stake Your Life On and makes a really, really gooey banana cake. Campion describes the recipe collection as “fifty, sure-fire, tried-and-tested recipes and fifty stories to go with them” and its a great starting point for those just getting into cooking and looking for ... Read more »

The Soda Bread Diaries

Having enjoyed the soda bread my friend made for a picnic in her garden recently, she sent me the recipe. It’s published in a book called The Baker’s Tale by Catherine Brown but is credited to James Burgess. The first time I made this soda bread (last Wednesday) I followed the recipe exactly and the ... Read more »