Custardgate

"Where's my custard? Oh, no..."

My plaintive cry from the Bake Off tent is still echoing. Who would have thought that the contents of a humble trifle could cause so much interest?  National press, trending on Twitter, Custardgate became one of the biggest talking points of this week's Great British Bake Off. On the show, I lost my custard and my trifle lost any semblance of layers.  It's been a crazy week but I still wish I'd managed to hold on to my custard and produce the Caramel Apple and Macadamia trifle I'd intended.

Cracking breadsticks

My Moroccan flavoured breadsticks failed to 'snap to it' on last night's Great British Bake Off, but this batch did everything a cracking breadstick should.  Baking in that tent of dreams is very unpredictable! 

Rising to two bread challenges

Is it possible to do bread-based bakes that are both gluten free and dairy free?  I love rising to a challenge! Working with the slightly spongy quality that you get from gluten free bread flour, I made a savoury tomato and chive focaccia and a sweet cherry and almond galette. Both are now in the recipes section.

The little Bake Off bear

My little silver grey chocolate bear has certainly been popular this week!  Since making his debut on the new series of the Great British Bake Off he's been featured all over the press.  You can see my original designs for the Black Forest Revisited cake in the sketch book section of my website.

Cake off the Bake Off

I celebrated the launch of the Great British Bake Off yesterday by 'replicating' the gluten free passion fruit and coconut cake I made on the show. Thankfully, this one was made without any thumb injuries and I even had time to add an extra flourish with a border of the coconut and lime buttercream and slivers of fresh coconut.  And then my mum accidentally stuck her finger in this artistic border, hence the little dribble at the front. Is this cake destined to be all fingers and thumbs?  You can try it yourself in the recipes section!

Lime and blackberry cheesecake with soft fruit coulis

My sister fancied a bit of cheesecake yesterday so I obliged with this.  Creamy and zesty and studded with large blackberries before baking, I let it cool and then chilled it for an hour in the freezer.  The coulis was literally made with soft fruit - some peaches on the verge of destruction.  I added more blackberries and a handful of blueberries fresh from the garden.  My sister doesn't usually like a baked cheesecake but she finished off the leftovers for breakfast.

Waiting for a mirabelle

Mirabelles are small sweet yellow plums grown mainly in France.  Last year we pushed the limits of our baggage allowance with these little fruit.  That was in late August, but our trip this year was sadly fruitless.  Laden with little green pebbles the trees need a few more weeks before they yield fruit fit for a tarte aux mirabelles.  I'm keeping an eye out for imports.

Herbes de Languedoc

Back from a week in France where we saw the amazing gardens of Christine Kuntzer. Christine has cultivated odd patches of land in one of the region's tiniest villages to create beautiful plots that feed the imagination. She is a truly inspirational person in so many ways and seeing plants like angelica, wormwood and Good King Henry should inspire some new creations in the kitchen too. 

Goldenberry and sesame loaf

Although the goldenberry sounds like a marketing euphemism, it's actually another name for physalis peruviana.  These little golden balls of fruit retain their modesty in a natural papery sheath.  You're bound to have seen them adding a touch of ersatz class to dessert tables since the 1980s.  However,  their dried counterparts are new to the scene.  Slightly sour, like cranberries, I tried them in a fruit bread which should go well with cheese.  I used a mix of white and rye flours and added sesame seeds and honey. It was good but there is still some way to go. The fruit on the inside of the loaf was juicy and tangy but those poor souls on the crust puffed up like bitter burnt clown's noses.  An interesting experiment but very much work in progress.

Goat's cheese and garlic focaccia

A good focaccia should have lots of holes - the sign of a wet dough.  Many bakers use an electric mixer for wet doughs but I still prefer a bit of hand action.  This focaccia is studded with squished cloves of caramelised garlic and scattered with goat's cheese and fresh thyme.  I used two types of goat's cheese - hard cubes that stay fairly intact when baked and smears of soft cheese that blister into a golden crust.

Squiffy banana muffins

Show dried banana slices a good time by soaking them in coffee liqueur.  You can then include them in the mix of these banana and coffee muffins and use some for decoration too. 

Thai coconut cake

Mum suggested I bake a coconut cake for my dad.  He also likes ginger so that set me thinking about other eastern flavours. I adapted my gluten free coconut cake recipe again!  Rice flour gives it a light yielding texture.  This one has the zest of three limes in it, then I drizzled it with a syrup of fresh lemongrass, sugar and a little water and topped it with slices of preserved stem ginger.  Anyone for Thai tea?