Orange & Almond Cake {again}

Yesterday evening I baked a couple of Orange & Almond cakes for The Hive, and taking advantage of the early morning light, I took a few pre-breakfast shots before delivering the cakes. I can almost make this cake with my eyes shut, I've made it so often. I actually featured it here on the blog three years ago (three years!!!). With a new image and the fact that this recipe really has withstood the test of time, I am cheekily (or lazingly) repeating it for those who it may have bypassed the first time around.

Orange & Almond Cake.

Makes 12 slices

6 medium free-range eggs

300g golden caster sugar

200g ground almonds 

1 large orange

2 tbs water

Grease and line a 25cm loose-bottomed cake tin. Preheat the oven to 160C/Gas2.

Separate 3 of the eggs, putting the whites aside in a mixing bowl. Beat the egg yolks with the remaining whole eggs in a large bowl.

Add 200g of the caster sugar and all of the ground almonds and mix thoroughly. Grate the zest of the orange and add this too, keeping the rest of the orange for later.

Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Using a slotted metal spoon, fold the egg whites into the thick cake mix, a spoonful at a time. Be careful not to knock the air out of the whites.

Now pour this foamy cake mix into the lined tin and place in the oven for 35 - 60 minutes. The cake is ready when an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Keep your eye on it and if it starts to brown to much, cover the top with foil.

Leave the cake to cool in the tin and make the syrup. Put the remaining 100g of sugar in small saucepan and add the juice from the orange and a few tablespoons of water. Place this on a really low heat in order to dissolve the sugar and slightly reduce the syrup. Using a toothpick, plant holes all over the cake and pour over the syrup. Allow the cake to cool and absorb the syrup before removing it from the tin.

Delicious served with a dollop of Crème fraîche and eaten in the sunshine.

Cakes & Cherries

 

Just a post to share some photographs I took earlier this week when the sun came out and I managed to carve out some time for just me and my camera. To make the most of this window of me-time I bought in some food, rather than prepare it myself. The props were kindly loaned to me by Keep It Vintage, a gem of a shop up the road from me in sunny Hove.

More About That Photography Workshop

As regular readers will know, I recently undertook some mentoring from Brighton-based photographer Emma Gutteridge of Emma Lucy Photography. For amateur photographers like myself who want to learn either some camera basics or hone in on more specific photography skills, Emma offers bespoke mentoring sessions. I can't recommend her enough. On her blog, Emma has written a short post on our food photography session - check it out here and while you're there be sure to have a look at her stunning wedding photography which is jaw-droppingly beautiful.

All images on this post by Emma Gutteridge, Emma Lucy Photography. Food by Buttercup days. Props by Keep It Vintage.

If You Go Down To The Woods Today ...

...well, last week actually. I had a busy week last week, so only just getting this post up now. I took Lily and Arthur to Woodland Bugs: an outdoor playgroup in the woods. It took place at  Three Corner Copse in Hove, the existence of which I had been completely unaware of until now. The group, which is run by a qualified teacher, consisted of a small group of mum's and their young children. It was great to see the kids having proper old-fashioned outdoor fun.

First off we all built a den from branches and sticks found in the wood, then there was a bug treasure hunt plus a story and singing session followed by various woodland craft activities. 

Lily soon got to work using foraged pieces of wood, bark and leaves to make her 'bug hotel'. The coloured decorative features are those foam packaging pieces that stick with water. She proudly bought the hotel home with her and it now sits in our courtyard and is home to Honey, Bernie, Tigger and Violet the family of woodlice that she has decided to adopt this last week. 

A Lesson In How Unplanned Days Are Often The Best

We're at the end of the first week of the school summer holidays. Not that I'm counting. The first week off is always my favourite. Lily's school broke up a week earlier than most schools meaning we can pretty much get the parks and a good stretch of beach all to ourselves. That all changes next week when all the other schools break up.

But with the weather being at best changeable, we've had to make things up as we've gone along this week; ducking the rain showers and finding stuff to do indoors.  But today the rain gave us a break, so we headed to the beach. There's a bit of beach, the nearest bit to us, that has a small wooden jetty running down the shingle to the sea. This is my bit of beach; my garden. It's peaceful and the jetty acts as a low windbreak, cum table, cum bench. It's a good place to be.

Today I decided to take some art supplies with us: paper, coloured pencils, paints and oil pastels. I've never taken such things before. It wasn't planned; just a whim. The kids had a great time, holding their paper down from the breeze with pebbles and washing out their paint brushes in a jar of sea water. It was two-and-a-half hours of non-squabbling sibling time, with each of them totally immersed in what they were doing, only stopping to eat the sausage sandwiches we bought with us from home for lunch.

I, in turn, did nothing but savour a flask of tea, relax with a bit of cross-stitch (I kid you not), and intermittently dashed into the sea to change the water in the paint brush jar. I'm not very good at doing nothing, so it was a good way for me to end the week. I don't have that frazzled end-of-the-week feeling that Friday often brings and maybe that was due to that time out on the beach.

I eventually called time when the wind whipped up and dark grey clouds started to hang above us. Once home they both the Lily and Arthur immediately got their drawing pads out again eager to finish off their pictures.

I've a feeling we will have days such as these again. 

And The Snow Fell (But Not Down Our Street)

The weathermen had been warning us that snow was coming our way and it has been bitterly cold enough to expect it. Today was to be the day the country would wake up to snow. So when I woke this morning and drew back the curtains ready to be greeted by a thick white blanket that would cover our street, I was momentarily disappointed. Nothing. 

Well, not to worry; snow has a habit of hanging around and causing nothing but problems anyway. So we decided to head out in the car to do a bit of retail research for our forthcoming building / decorating project. 

Just a few blocks down the road we began to see cars carrying thick snow on their bonnets. Must be snow nearby somewhere then. By the time we had driven just four minutes from our home we saw it. Snow covering the ground. A further four minutes on and the parks and gardens were all white. How on earth had the snow missed our street? We abandoned our trip and drove home to change into suitable snow garments and headed back out to Stanmer Park in Brighton, barely a 15 minute drive from home. There the kids threw snowballs and made a snowman. We had a bit of 'winter' and then drove home to the street with no snow for bread and soup.

Robots

We're lucky enough to have Hove Museum & Art Gallery just a few minutes walk from our house. Every time I visit, I say I must go more often. The other week Arthur and I had the most lovely morning there. The museum hadn't long been open for the day when we arrived so it was quite empty. Empty museums are great when you're with a toddler. 

Our first stop was the tearoom for toasted teacakes with butter. You can't not. Then we wandered around the galleries. The current exhibition that we saw was just perfect. It was all about robots. If I'm honest, I can take or leave a robot: not really my thing. But this exhibition was just lovely. I saw it through a little boys eyes and now I think robots are fantastic! A vast range of robots and space toys from the collection of Sussex artist and illustrator Chris MacEwan make up this exhibition. There is a definite retro feel about many of the designs and on mass they just look something really special. Arthur really enjoyed it, and the morning didn't cost me a penny (other than the teacakes). The exhibition is on until February, so if you find yourself in this neck of the woods with time on your hands it's worth taking a look at, even if you think robots aren't your thing.

An Autumn Weekend

It looks like autumn is well and truly here. Only the weekend before the one just gone we were sitting on a sunny beach; just over a week on and it's coats, scarves and a craving for porridge in the mornings. I love autumn; crisp days, the scent of bonfires in the air, a new wave of seasonal foods from soups and stews to proper puddings with custard, winter clothes (so much more forgiving to wear), log fires, Sunday roasts and the excitement that Christmas is not so far away.

This weekend we firmly marked autumn's arrival by 'putting the central heating on'. It's a big thing in our house, flicking that switch. House rules state that the central heating can be turned on no earlier than October 1st and must be off by April 1st. Modern climate change has yet to be taken into account with this rule. This is David's rule, of course not mine. Growing up, my dad had a similar one; must be some kind of 'man' thing about not wanting to 'give in too early' to the heating.

The first thing David said to me in my slumber on Friday wasn't 'good morning my love, did you sleep soundly / can I get you a cuppa?', no it was 'the central heating has come on!' His voice had an element of panic to it. If the house gets cold enough, below a certain temperature, the central heating will automatically click on. Good old central heating. I stuck my leg out from under the duvet and touched the radiator with my toes; it was only tepid, but on all the same which made me smile. I love central heating you see. I was in for further delight when I took my morning shower. The towel on the radiator was warm and toasty. Simple stuff but it made me happy. So without too much reluctance it was officially turned on at the weekend. Toasty days are ahead.
 

On Sunday we went with the kids for walk in Hove Park. It looked really stunning in all its autumn glory. I've attached some of the pictures I took to this post. Don't you think the trees look beautiful? All in all our first proper autumn weekend.

Make Hay While the Sun Shines

Well, another weekend is upon us. When school broke up and six long weeks lay ahead, I was slightly filled with fear, but I'm now amazed how quickly the weeks are flying by. Maybe I was still envisaging the summer holidays through a child's eyes when they lasted forever and Sunday's felt like a 48 hour day. But now the months and years seem to whizz by and they get all the faster with age.

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One morning earlier this week, we had nothing planned. The day was shaping up with the prospect of  a long list of household chores and a grocery shop. But it was such a hot and sunny morning, it seemed a shame to waste it. So all the mundane stuff was put on hold until the afternoon and I headed out with Lily and Arthur.

That morning we stayed local heading up the road to Brighton, but we did stuff we hadn't done before;  stuff on the tourist circuit. We started with a trip on the Volks Railway, (a first for us all) followed by a ride on the carousel at Brighton beach (a first for Arthur). Then we had chips on the beach before walking home along the front (well, we needed to work off those chips). Such a perfect morning; a grabbed opportunity. Now the summer is here, Brighton beach takes on a completely different guise. It's so busy, lively and in places rather brash. It's fun to dip your toe in when it is like that; play at being the tourist rather than a local. It's like taking a mini holiday for a few hours and reminding yourself that it actually is summer after all. Sometimes the mundane stuff just has step aside for a while.

If I Had A Cake Shop It Would Look Like This

We were doing a food shop this weekend when, whilst in the bakery section, Lily saw some fondant covered 'character themed' birthday cakes. She let out a shrill and dragged me over to them saying how much she'd like one for her birthday. My reply was 'Your birthday is not until March and I will NEVER 'buy' a cake, I will always make your birthday cakes'. What ever was she thinking.

But it's true, as a keen baker of cakes, I tend not to buy them. However that has recently changed since discovering a 'proper' cake eatery on my doorstep; Treacle & Co. It isn't somewhere I hang out regularly, it's a place for a treat every now and again. I've been a few times now and it never fails to disappoint.

The cakes are simply amazing. They look too perfect; too pretty to eat. The display of cakes that you are met with when entering the cafe can be difficult for those who find decisive thinking a challenge. Lavender victoria sponge with vanilla buttercream and fresh berries, a rich chocolate beetroot cake, banana & whisky loaf cake with pistachios and chocolate chips, treacle tart with clotted cream and raspberries, very gooey salt caramel tart; they all sound so tempting don't you think? I ought to add they they also do a breakfast and lunch menu too, but for me it's tea and cake every time.

I can't praise the food enough. But it's the decor that's completely and utterly spot on too.  Even the staff that work there look the part; like models out of the latest Cath Kidston brochure. I love the old 'Birds Eye' tiles they've used on the walls, the animal table lights and the pretty window displays that always catch my eye when I walk by. Cake's are served on pretty vintage plates with dainty cake forks and the menu's written on old blackboards. Piles of cookbooks line the shelves as do a number of specialist teas that you can buy to take home. Plus there is always a pile of daily newspapers to browse through and they have highchairs and the odd kid's picture book for any young diners.

On the occasions that I have been in, I have taken either Lily or Arthur and they have loved it. Lily is old enough to appreciate all the decorative touches too. She'll always end our time at the cafe with a trip to their WC. Really? you may be thinking. But this loo has been beautifully wallpapered with the black and white pages of a vintage animal encyclopedia and Lily loves to pick out her favourite animals. It's all part of the experience for her. 

This little cafe offers a bit of sugar-coated escapism. Maybe it is just me, but as I step into this cafe I feel like I am stepping into another world, Mr Benn style. It's vintage, it's retro, it's nostalgic, it's warm and cosying. It's done so well, it feels sincere, not at all staged. It really does prove that a treat of tea and cake once in a while is good for the soul. Very good indeed.