Peaches & Cream

Yes, this was a long time coming, I know. Ahhhhh gateau...need I say anymore? As much a nice Victoria sponge is ideal with an afternoon cuppa, or cheesecake is perfect for that stolen midnight couch treat, I find there's nothing quite like a fresh cream cake (except maybe a cupcake!) to top off an already indulgent meal - palatable and thankfully, light enough to be stomachable. 

Now, in light of just HOW much was consumed during the preceding celebratory lunch, I wouldn't be surprised if you were disgusted that we still managed to chomp through cake for afters. BUT. You've gotta trust me here, because really, gateaux are more cream than cake, more air bubbles than butter blobs. And yet it really does quench that craving for something sweet. So. Give it a go. If you don't like peaches, try passion fruit. Or raspberries. Both delectable in combination with white chocolate. Just an aside for you though, while we're at it. Don't blame me if once you start, you just can't stop. It's so remarkably light, you'll never feel you've had 'enough'. Honest.  

To have yourself a peachy time, you will need -  

- 175g unsalted butter, softened

- 2tbsp grated orange rind

- 175g caster sugar

- 3 medium eggs

- 100g white choc, melted but then cooled

- 225g self-raising flour

- 300ml double cream

- 40g icing sugar

- 125g almonds, blanched then skinned & chopped

For the peach filling - 

- 1 can of peaches, chopped

- 300ml double cream

-50g icing sugar

What to do - 

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C & lightly oil & line a 9 inch round cake tin. Cream the butter, orange rind and sugar together until light and fluffy.

2. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one and then add in the cooled white chocolate. 

3. Add the flour and 175ml of cold water in 2 separate batches. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin & bake in the preheated oven for an hour and a quarter, or until firm. 

4. Leave to cool for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a wiring rack. To make the filling, whip together the cream and icing sugar until soft peaks form, and then fold in the peaches (reserve a few for topping, if you like). 

5. Split the now (hopefully!) cooled cake into two layers. Place one layer on your serving plate and spread with the peach filling. If you're lucky and somehow end up with too much, feel OBLIGED to eat it. 

6. Top with the other half of the cake and now, whip the other 300ml of cream with the icing sugar until, again, soft peaks form (deja vu, I know). Spread over the top and sides of the cake.

7. And finally, press the almonds into the side of the cake. You can sprinkle some on top too should you wish, of you can top with more peaches, like I did. 

8. If you can help yourself, refrigerate. If you can't... well, not my problem ;) 

Enjoy!

sl x

Celebrating a 60th

As someone who's always had her birthday on a Bank Holiday (thankfully the date we celebrate Christmas doesn't vary year on year!), I've never really known what it is to spend a birthday in the flow of day to day routine. I've only ever had to work once on the 25th in my whole, entire life (unfortunately the big 21) but I know I've always thought myself lucky to be with friends and family and mark it as a day different from any other. 

And so it was a great deal of both relief and excitement that we brought in a very special birthday this Easter Weekend (no, not mine, I'm not that old yet), with plenty of time, food and fortunately sunshine to celebrate it with. As birthdays go in our family, we're all about chilled out rather than charged up, pyjama parties over ostentatious affairs - here's how we indulged Papa Bear on his special day.

1. Presents + balloons (you're never too old for balloons).

2. Birthday Brunch (also Easter Brunch No 3) - Spicy Red Pepper Frittata.

3. ...a very brief cessation before sitting down to a home-cooked full Indian thali.

4. There's got to be birthday cake. I know what you're thinking... how on EARTH did we have room? We can always accommodate ;) White chocolate & Peach Gateaux - recipe to follow.

5. Following a sloth fuelled seven star snooze, some games and a round of bowling (proud to admit I lost just one game).

6. And finally, early evening drinks at The Grove Mansion Lounges.

Ahhh, why do birthdays go by quickly? 

I'll be back with recipes and some reviews so stay tuned - 'til then, good luck beating those Tuesday Blues.

x

a Contained Cupcake

Cupcakes, cakepops - they're all the rage right now aren't they? You only need to look around at the cupcakeries popping up here, there & everywhere to work that out. Now, that I am a cupcake fiend (well, just a cake fiend really) has been discussed and documented here with full transparency. Look, here. Here. And here. So you can imagine my utter delight when the flatmate brought home something even more quaint, even more cute than a stand alone cupcake. Yup, a cupcake in jar. Who'd have thought. 

Somebody tell me why oh why these aren't more common? 

xx

g desserts - cupcakes in a jar. 

To Eat, To Try, To See

Have you ever had one of those near-perfect days, a day that you wish never had to end? When everything goes right, the weather's good and your worries sort of melt away? It's been a string of those, very much needed following a hellish week. The boyfriend's on holiday and we've been all but gallivanting up and down the country. And so the plan remains for the rest of the week, what with his birthday on Friday and this unreasonably good spell of weather (though I think I might have spoken to soon - it looks kind of grey outside). So here is this week's 'To Eat, To Try (slightly different, I know!), To See':

To Eat: If you read here regularly, you might have realised that both the boyfriend and I are total Italian food fiends. Whilst I'm quite adventurous with my food I confess, hands down, that a good cannelloni is the best money I can spend. Cheesy, creamy, bubbling… oooooh what's not to like? Coupled with the fact that we resolved to reduce our 'eating out' expenditure, when we do go out, you'll be hard pushed to find us eating anything other than Italian. And so we figured it's time to venture out… and try some different Italian joints (what else?!). With Zaza, Strada and Jamie's Italian at the top of our list, we've gotten as far as Zaza so far; dessert aside (yummy warm pecan pie served with vanilla ice-cream), I can't say I was mighty impressed. That pie however….

To Try: If you've ever wandered around any Indian 'hotspots' in London (Wembley, Kingsbury, Southall) you won't be a stranger to the concept of eggless cakes. Speaking as a completely non-discriminatory cake addict (I love cake in every shape and form), I have a VERY weak spot for the eggless cream cakes you find around these ares; the sponge is so light and airy (as compared to the dense richness of say, a chocolate fudge cake) the cream fluffy and the fruit fresh. This one was like heaven in a box.

To See: Camden lock. Sheesha lounge. Hot donuts. Huge market. Enough said. Unfortunately for us, we'd already stuffed our faces full at Pizza Hut so didn't savour anything from the wonderful food stalls. Ah well, any reason to go back.

I'm off for another day's hard gallivanting (and some study too, I hope), so until tomorrow, it's a wrap from me. Have a terrific Tuesday.

xxx