{Salad Days} Over On Heart Home ...

You probably won't know it from looking at this blog, but after cakes, salads are one of my favourite meals to create and eat. Sometimes I follow a recipe and other times I will just freewheel it using what I have to hand and it rarely goes wrong. Note to self: I really ought to share more salads on this blog, if only to show I don't just gorge on cake all the time.

Salad is my topic of choice for my latest Heart Home blog feature. I've teamed up some beautiful salad bowls with some of my favourite salad recipes. Perfect for summer food. To read the full feature just click here.

A Blueberry Cake {and some new napkins}

I made this Blueberry Cake for the little local cafe that I supply on an adhoc basis. They requested
something summery and fruity, which is exactly what this cake is. You could easily replace the blueberries with other berries of your choice; raspberries would be a nice alternative.

You see those napkins in I used in the shot? Well, they were the result of a sewing challenge I recently undertook for Ikea. They sent me a sewing machine with all the basic kit and challenged me to produce a set of napkins using one of their new (free) in-store craft patterns. Once I'd selected my fabric (also Ikea), I set to work and just under 90 minutes later I had a brand spanking new set of six napkins. You can follow my challenge and read more about Ikea's free craft patterns over at Heart Home.

Blueberry Cake

175g soft butter

175g golden caster sugar

3 large eggs

225g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla extract

142ml carton soured cream

3 x 125g punnet of blueberries

200g tub Philadelphia cheese

100g icing sugar 

Preheat the oven to fan160C/ conventional 180C/GM 4 and butter and line the base of a loose-based 22cm round cake tin with non-stick baking paper.

Put the butter, sugar, eggs,flour, baking powder and vanilla in a bowl. Beat with a wooden spoon for 2-3 minutes, or with a hand electric beater for 1-2 minutes, until lighter in colour and well mixed. Beat in 4 tbsp soured cream, then stir in half the blueberries with a large spoon.

Tip the mixture into the tin and spread it level. Bake for 50 minutes until it is risen, feels firm to the touch and springs back when lightly pressed. Cool for 10 minutes, then take out of the tin and peel off the paper or lining. Leave to finish cooling on a wire rack.

To make the frosting, beat the soft cheese with the icing sugar and the remaining soured cream in a bowl until smooth and creamy. Spread over the top of the cooled cake (don’t be impatient as the frosting will melt if the cake is too warm) and scatter with the remaining blueberries or a mix of blueberries and other seasonal berries. Tip: If you want the icing a little thicker, let the frosting in the fridge for a while.

Beetroot Burgers

I'm over in the Heart Home kitchen this week sharing one of my favourite mid-week recipes for Beetroot Burgers. I can take no credit for the actual recipe - it comes from the beautiful Green Kitchen Stories blog. These crimson little patties are quick and easy to make and so very good for you. If your thoughts of beetroot turn to the crinkled variety in jars of vinegar, then your preconceptions of beetroot will be changed for ever once you've tried these burgers. They taste fresh, earthy, natural and incredibly satisfying. 

The rain was hammering down on the window when I took these photographs, but my mind did fast-forward for a moment to those summer barbeques and I know already what I'll be taking to put on the grill.

You can see the recipe over at Heart Home.

Recipe: Green Kitchen Stories

Photography: Buttercup Days

I Have A Little Annoucement ...

 Image: pinmarklet

Today, 1pm to be precise, I will be making my debut on the great British interior design blog Heart Home as their weekly food writer. 

I am flattered that they invited me to write regular food-related posts for them. They have some great writers who work for them, people who are experts in their fields, so it feels a little funny for 'little old me' to be amongst them with my random food-related musings that have a tendancy to witter on. It should be fun though. 

Through my Heart Home writing I may well get some new readers to Buttercup Days. If you're one of them 'hello', it is lovely to have you pop by. X

I Wish This Was My Proper Job

Have you seen this yet? I'm actually quite excited about it. The lovely people at the online magazine Heart Home invited me to come up with a recipe for their new spring issue. After much consideration, I opted for an Orange and Pistachio Cake which is just perfect for Easter. Baking the cake was more than enjoyable, but what I really loved was the planning; from deciding on the recipe  and writing the copy too sourcing and selecting the props for the photos. The real moment of magic however was the morning that photographer Emma Lucy came over and took these beautiful pictures. Aren't they just lovely?

If you fancy having a go at making the cake, the recipe is on page 107 in the latest issue of Heart Home.