The simple things

Back to reality with a bowl of muesli and a cup of the - amazing how good this everyday breakfast seems after all the waffles etc.

After I got home, after hanging my coat up and putting my bags down, the first thing I did was to go out in the garden to see if anything had happened. It has. The best thing at the moment is this early clematis, and I'm making sure to enjoy because I have decided to replace it with one that flowers later. Also, thousands of self seeded poppies have appeared, tiny seedlings that make a thin green covering of the bare soil. Look forward to finding out what colours they are later in the year. There are a few new shoots on the rose I planted and pruned, very pleased about that because I have been worrying that I was a little bit harsh. But I followed Monty Don's advice and of course he was right. There are lots of jobs to do in the garden right now, can't wait to put my wellies on and go outside at the weekend.

Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Waffles for breakfast, Tuna Salad for lunch and a Burger for dinner. It may not be the most sophisticated food in the world, but it tastes sooo good. Hits the spot.

What I always crave the most when I'm away from home is a proper cup of tea that doesn't taste like a perfume shop. Been back for a couple of hours and I have already had three. Really good to be home, I just wish the house wasn't empty...

Spaghetti with Meatballs in Spicy Tomato Sauce

At Pizza East they have Meatball Tuesdays - yum. The other week I decided to make my own version at home when I had some mince left over from the Noodle Salad with Melon and Cashew Nuts. My goodness, talk about comfort food! This is all about the spices, they make the meatballs interesting and gives the whole thing a grown up flavour. And the cheese on top and basil garnish are definitely essential so don't leave them out.

Minced Beef

Yellow Onion

Cumin

Coriander

Salt and Pepper

Tinned Tomatoes

Yellow Onion

Smoked Paprika

Dried Chillies

Oregano

Salt and Pepper

Mozzarella

Fresh Basil

Spaghetti

LA after the storm

So, 14 degrees and rain was not the weather I had in mind exactly, but the storm seems to have passed now and by tomorrow it should be sunny. Lovely to be here!

Packing

To go somewhere a bit warmer than here.

Just picked

Snake's head fritillary and a mixture of mine and my neighbour's early Clematis. Lovely.

Easter Egg Princess Cake

Of course the most important thing with food is that is tastes good, but occasionally it is fun to spend some time on the aesthetics too. This is a classic Swedish cream cake but with easter themed egg decoration. The icing is home made marzipan (first time I made it myself, turned out to be very easy!) and the fillings are raspberry jam, thick custard and cream.

A traditional Princess Cake has to be green with a pink marzipan rose, dusted with icing sugar. I decided to go for pastel coloured eggs instead. This involved dying the marzipan 5 different shades. The colours didn't come out how I had planned it in my head, but I think this is part of the fun of making new things - you never quite know how it will turn out. For the base colour, I was aiming for a duck egg blue, but ended up with a brighter Tiffany sort of shade. Nevermind. For the eggs, I left some marzipan undyed, then added various amounts of green and blue. The browny colour was a complete mistake - I wanted purple and thought: blue and red makes purple...apparently not with marzipan. I decided to use it anyway and think it stops the whole thing from looking to sweet and pastelly.

For the egg shapes, I made a cardboard template and cut around it with a scalpel to get precise edges. Then I dusted them with cocoa powder before arranging them onto the cake.

For once the result was 100% satisfactory, this tastes as good as it looks (and even better the next day, I know because I'm eating a leftover piece while writing this). 

Here is the recipe:

Sponge:

4 Eggs

180 gms Sugar

65 gms Plain Flour

65 gms Potato Starch

2 tsp Baking Powder

Marzipan:

200 gms Ground Almonds

200 gms Caster Sugar

1 Egg White

1 tbsp Cold Water

350 gms Icing Sugar

Food Colouring

Fillings:

Thick Custard

Raspberry Jam

Whipping Cream

Whisk the eggs and sugar until really fluffy. Mix the dry ingredients, then add them to the batter. Pour into a greased cake tin, 25 cm diameter, and bake for 40 minutes at 175 degrees. To make the marzipan, put the almonds and sugar in a mixer and blend well. Add the egg white and water and mix to a thick dough. Blend the icing sugar in bit by bit, and use a bit more water if it becomes too dry. Add food coloring of choice.

Once the cake has cooled, slice it horizontally into 3 layers. Put custard on one and jam on the other. Cover the whole thing, top and sides, with whipped cream. Roll the marzipan out thinly to make a lid, making sure it is large enough to cover the sides of the cake. Place the marzipan lid centrally on the cake and smooth down the sides, trimming the edges and tucking it under to avoid any creases. Decorate and tuck in!