Plum Cake

This is possibly one of the simplest cakes but gorgeous and moreish.

Ingredients

150g Caster Sugar + 1tbs to sprinkle at end
150g Self Raising Flour
150g Butter
3 Eggs
1tsp Vanilla Extract
6 Plums halved and stone removed

Heat oven to 200C/180ºC fan/gas 6

1. Grease a 8" cake pan
2. Mix everything together except the plums until well combined
3. Turn mixture into pan and level out
4. Dot plums throughout the mixture and sprinkle with remaining sugar
5. Bake for 20-25 mins
6. Can be served warm or cold but don't forget the custard!

Custard Tart

Our family love custard, so while our hens or laying so prolifically I thought I would use the opportunity to make our favourite treat. Don't be put off by Great British Bake Off, it's not as hard as it looks. Shortcrust pastry is easy to make too but let's leave that for another day ;)

Ingredients

500g pack shortcrust pastry
1 whole nutmeg, for grating
4 large eggs
140g golden caster sugar
300ml double cream
300ml whole milk
1tsp vanilla extract 

Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. 

1. Roll the pastry out to about 1cm thick, then grate over a dusting of nutmeg using a fine grater. 
2. Fold the dough in half, then roll out again, to the thickness of 2 x £1 coins and large enough to line a 20cm loose-bottomed sandwich tin with some overhang. 
3. Press the pastry into the tin (leaving the excess draped over the sides), put onto a baking sheet and chill for 10 mins. 
4. Line the pastry with baking parchment and fill with baking beans. Bake for 20 mins, then remove beans and paper. 
5. Bake for another 15 mins until golden and sandy all over. 
6. Trim the edges of the tart with a sharp serrated knife. 
7. Turn oven down to 150C/130C fan/ gas 2. 
8. Whisk together the eggs and sugar in a large bowl. 
9. Put the cream, milk, vanilla extract and eggs into a jug and microwave in 30 second bursts whisking in-between. Overheating will cause scrambled eggs, be warned! You want this to come to just below boiling point.
10. Put the baking sheet onto the pulled-out oven rack, then pour in the custard, right to the top. You may not need every last drop. 
11. Grate over a nice layer of nutmeg, then slide gently back into the oven and bake for 1 hour.
12. When it’s ready, the tart should be set and pale golden on the top, and have just the merest tremor in the centre when you jiggle the tray. 
13. Cool completely, then serve in slices.

Sunday Pudding

In our house Sunday lunch is a big deal. It's a time we all make sure that we eat together and indulge a little. Every week we choose something super scrummy (and usually heavily calorie laden) to enjoy for pudding. I do always post pictures of this on Facebook but thought you may like to have the recipes to go with them so here's my commitment to you... as long as the pudding is made by us (i.e. we aren't with friends or family) we will endeavour to post it here complete with pictures. So here we go!

Pancake Cake with Damson Cream

This is actually incredibly easy but does take a little time

Ingredients

Pancakes
1tsp sunflower oil
3 cups of self raising flour
3 cups of milk
3 eggs

Filling
1/2 cup Jam - I used damson
1 cup of whipping cream
1tbs caster sugar
1 handful of raspberries

The first thing you need to do is make the pancakes. For this mix all the ingredients together until a smooth batter is achieved. Then heat the oil in a frying pan. When the pan is hot, pour in a ladle of the batter and cook for a couple of minutes each side. Leave to cool. Continue until all the batter is used.

Next you need to make up the filling. Mix all the ingredients except the raspberries until the cream has begun to stiffen. Fold in the raspberries.

Now all you need to do is layer is up. I smoothed the cream down the sides too so that it was more of a surprise.

Play around with different fillings, this really does lend itself to whatever you like so just go for it!

Earl Grey Blue Lady Cake

Here's our cake of the week. It's made with an amazing tea, Earl Grey Blue Lady that has beautiful little cornflowers in it. The smell is absolutely gorgeous... in fact we thought good enough to eat! So we steeped some fruit in it and made a light fruit cake topped with a butter cream. Fancy a slice? Well it's this week's "Surprise Me" but better still you can come into our shop where you can buy the tea too!

Thats right... We're Opening!

Fruit!

With such an abundance of fruit this year, I decided to make some cordial. It's easy and tastes lovely. Personally I find shop bought cordial a little too sweet.

Here's my recipe

500g soft fruit (red currant, black currants, etc)
275g sugar
250ml water

1. simmer it all for 5 minutes
2. give it a mash
3. simmer for 2 more minutes
4. strain through a sieve
5. dilute to taste
6. Enjoy!

Win Tickets to the Bakewell Baking Festival!

Next month it is the first ever Bakewell Baking Festival, celebrating and devoted to the wonderful world of baking at the home of the Bakewell Pudding. We met the organisers at the Cake and Bake Show recently and were wowed by what they had arranged. We are going along with our kids as it looks like an amazing day out for all.

What's On:-

• Star Bakers, including Edd Kimber and Stacie Stewart
• Baking Demonstrations 
• Competitions 
• Raw Baking 
• Mad Hatter's Tea Party 
• Children's Zone 
• Artisan Bread Making 
• Healthy Baking with Edwina Currie 
• Fanny & Jonny Craddock 
• Tea Appreciation 
• Vintage Market 
• Vintage Bus Rides 
• Mr Darcy Custard Pie Fight and lots more all included in the ticket price!

Better still if you hop over to our Facebook page you will see we have a competition to win two adult tickets for the day! Best be quick though it closes on 25th May 2013.