Cake Classics : Lemon Drizzle

Baking is my go to hobby whenever I'm feeling low. 

And this simple, sunny, succulent recipe for the classic lemon drizzle cake is super easy and ALWAYS delivers the perfect pick-me-up!

So lets get cracking!

Start by weighing out 115g self-raising flour, 115g sugar, 115g butter (told you it was an easy recipe!) and 1 tsp of baking powder.

Then comes the star player!

Add the zest of 1 lemon to your dry mix. 

And then crack in 2 eggs (as if it wasn't yellow enough in that mixing bowl already!).

And then get to mixing pronto!

Pour your zingy cake mix into a lined baking tin, and whack it in the oven for 35 mins at 180 degrees. 

Once you take the cake out, let it rest in the baking tin while you make the drizzle.

50g of sugar and the juice of one lemon ... that's it! Easy peasy right?!

And then go for it ... Drizzle away!

While your cake is still warm, let that sticky syrup run wild over that perfect golden crust and soak all the way through the sponge!

The idea, is that there's just a bit too much sugar for the liquid, so it doesn't all dissolve, and when you pour it over the cake, some of the sugar gets stuck on the top and you get that crunchy little sugary icing when you bite through it!

Then it gets even easier ... cut a slice (or two) and get stuck in!

Sweet. Sour. Sticky. ... aka Perfect!

I'm going to add some chopped mint to my drizzle next time so it tastes even more fresh and gives the cake a pop of colour! What are your variations on a classic cake? Let me know your suggestions.

Happy baking!

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Duck and Waffle

To escape the torrential downpour that seemed to hit London last night, we dashed inside the Heron Tower for a spot of dinner at Duck and Waffle. (Wearing rain appropriate footwear of course!)

But I am going to apologise now for the grainy iPhone pics - forgot the camera! Massive fail!

Glad to be dry and no longer splashing through puddles, the lift doors shut quickly behind us and off we went.

We flew through the skies! And hurtled all the way up to the 40th floor!

What a view of the city we had!

And then we were seated at one of the best tables in the house! With a stunning backdrop of our city all lit up!

So our wonderful waiter Alberto kick-started our evening with some (not on the menu) lip-smackingly delicious non-alcoholic passion fruit cocktails. 

He could clearly tell it was date night!

And I eagerly awaited all the calorific food we'd ordered!!

Although, we pretended to be healthy and ordered some olives to start ... as you do!

We shared those with a slice of violet artichoke and parmesan bread.

It was hot like it had come straight out of the oven and to our table. 

A wonderfully savoury entrée to the rest of the meal ahead!

To start, I had the coal charred aubergine with cumin, garlic and yoghurt. 

A deliciously toasty and smokey aubergine balanced with the freshness of cool yoghurt. So scrummy - I really tucked into that!

But Mr Zerodays' wild Cornish pollock meatballs with lobster cream and parmesan were only so-so.

Then came the eponymous Duck and Waffle for Mr Zerodays!

Each element I'm told was individually delicious, but he just couldn't make the sweet and savoury bits work together in his head! 

My Jerusalem artichoke ravioli with charred cauliflower, smoked butter and malt crumble was insane! It was rich, silly and utterly divine!

The charred cauliflower shavings in particular were incredible! I will be adding those to some dishes of my own!

And then we finished it off with a wonder of a desert! 

A shell of pistachio macaroon sandwiching a rich and heavenly dark chocolate mousse pearl!

This was a desert that made me go "mmmmmmm" at the table! 

Out loud!! (And I really didn't want to share it!)

Despite me being a tad selfish and indulgent when it came to desert, our evening was lovely!

Great venue, great view, great service and great food!

Couldn't have asked for more really!

I was quite sad taking the elevator all the way back down to earth! 

But we did meet the owner on our way down, and he let us know that this place is open all night!! I'll definitely be heading here for an early breakfast after the next big night out! I can only imagine what the sunrise must look like with this view!!

Let me know of any other restaurant recommendations you may have ... I'm always looking for somewhere new to try!

Happy eating!

Outfit:

Coat: Karen Millen (old but similar here and here)

Top: Cropped Jumper from Zara (old but similar here)

Skirt: Red Lace and Satin Mini from H&M (here)

Belt: Accessorize (old but similar here)

Boots: Dune (old but wishing for these and these!)

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Spooky Skeleton Cookies

Instead of the customary token bottle of alcohol that everyone always brings to a party, this year I decided to do something a little bit different!

My friends (who have just got married) were throwing a little Halloween bash at their lovely place in Pimlico, and seeing as it was their first party since their epic wedding and return from an even more epic month-long honeymoon (I mean how insanely lucky were they to swing that?!) I wanted to do something that required a little more thought and effort than a stroll to the local off-license.

So these spooky yet sweet skeleton cookies came to be!

So this is how you can re-create these at home:

Mix: 350g plain flour, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 inch grated fresh ginger, 100g butter, 100g dark brown muscavado sugar, 1 tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt. 

Then pour in a mix of 2 eggs and 4 tbsp golden syrup all beaten together.

Roll your sleeves up and just get stuck into this gooey mess and get mixing!

After using a little bit of muscle power, your dough will all come together nicely and firm up. 

Divide it into two halves so its easier to work with.

Wrap one of the halves in clingfilm and pop it to chill out in the fridge.

Then get going with the first half. Dust your work surface with flour and roll out the dough into a thin even sheet.

Using a cookie-cutter, cut out the shapes you want (I used a standard gingerbread-man cutter), and lay them out onto a lined baking tray.

Keep going until you've used up all your dough, and then combine the leftovers and re-roll and cut again!

I got about 50 small gingerbread-men shapes out of my dough!

Then pop them into a pre-heated oven at 170 degrees, for about 12 minutes (adjust as per the size and thickness of your cookies).

But this is where you have to be careful!

Because of the dark brown sugar and all the spices, the dough is already a golden colour so its difficult to tell just by eye when they're ready! So use your first batch as your trial - if you lift them off the baking tray with a spatula, the base should be nice and firm when they're ready!

Then line up those golden beauties and let them cool on a wire rack.

Once they've cooled - get to decorating!

First make your icing (or cheat and buy some prepared Royal Icing for decorating!): mix together icing sugar, water and meringue powder to get a thick white paste for piping, and fill a piping bag. You want the nozzle with smallest circular hole.

Then hands steady, and let your imagination run wild!

They turned out to be so sweet with a delicate warm spice to them, and they had a lovely crunch too! They were too scrummy to be spooky at all and went down a treat at the party when everyone got the munchies!

The combination of ginger and cinnamon always reminds me of Christmas though, so I'll definitely be making these again but using more festive shapes - I'm thinking snowflakes and christmas trees - to have with some warm milk on Christmas Eve! Perhaps I'll leave these out for Santa too!

Let me know what shapes and designs you come up with!

Happy baking!

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Four At 126

I love finding new treasures when out shopping. And that's exactly what happened when I went out last weekend.

My cousin Rajvi and a few other upcoming luxury designers have banded together and are showcasing their beautiful pieces in a pop-up boutique, "Four at 126", on one of London's busiest streets- Upper Street in Islington.

The aim is simple- to deliver luxury items at affordable prices.

Kasturjewels - a luxury jewellery brand named after Rajvi's grandmother Kastur, is embodied with her elegance and grand style, whilst echoing her traditional Indian heritage.

With everything from simple studs to be worn everyday to stunning neck pieces that will simple steal the show, there is quite literally something for everyone to adorn themselves with here.

I'm personally a huge fan of the earrings. They're so regal, and with each piece involving semi-precious or precious gems, no two are the same! In the store they dangle like exotic blossoms from little trees, and they just bloom with rich colours when they hang from your ears!

There are rows of gold plated silver bangles and others studded with sapphires and rough cut diamonds to adorn your wrists with.

I was also pretty taken with luxury handbag range by Esin Akan, an ex-Burberry leather designer. Her range covers every possible scenario from work to play, and uses a range of leathers and exotic skins in every colour imaginable. And the best bit ... the clutches can be connected to the larger bags to make an extra compartments and design detail - AND they're all interchangeable! Huge style win. 

I mean just imagine strolling around carrying some of this arm candy!

There's also Peponita- a new shoe range, mixing new patterns and colours with classic styles. Perfect for work and for play. 

I would love a wall like this in my dream walk in wardrobe! It's like accessory heaven!

And of course there's clothes too, with Matilda & Quinn providing classic cuts in beautiful, ethical fabrics.

The perfect one-stop pop-up for top-to-toe luxury style!

Check it out at 126, Upper Street, London, N1 1QP (and they're open 7 days a week! - talk about committment to style).

Happy shopping!

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Bakewells Baked Well!

In the spirit of watching the Bake Off finale and feeling inspired by the amazing Nancy, out came the trusty Bake Off book and my kitchen scales!

This weekend's taste trial: Cherry Bakewell Cupcakes. (Recipe from the British Bake Off book)

For the cup cakes you need:

150g unsalted butter (very soft)

150g caster sugar

100g self raising flour

60g ground almonds

3 large eggs, beaten at room temperature

1 tablespoon of milk

4 tablespoons raspberry jam

For the icing you will need:

250g icing sugar

3 tablespoons lemon juice

Cherries

Start by preheating the oven to 190C/375F/gas 5.

Then beat the butter until its nice and soft.

Then add in the rest of the dry ingredients for the cupcakes until your mixture is light and creamy.



Once you've got a smooth, runny mixture, spoon it into your lined cupcake tray in even quantities, and bake for 15-20 minutes until they have a lovely golden top!

Leave them to cool on a wire rack, and in the meantime you can make your icing!

Mix the lemon juice and icing sugar together so you have a shiny, white icing that is thick enough not to fall off the edges but runny enough to pour on to the top of the cupcakes.

Once the cupcakes are cool, use an apple corer to scoop out the middle. Then fill it to the top with raspberry jam! (Watch and see the gleeful surprise when your friends bite into these!)

Pour on the icing, and place a cherry on top!

(Great tip from the book at this point: Rinse the cherries to wash off any excess syrup, and let them dry completely before you use them to decorate your cakes.)

These were unbelievably scrummy, but I'm wondering if a layer of frangipan below the icing would just add to it even more? I'll be trying that out next time!

Let me know about your bake off inspiration and recipe ideas. Happy baking!

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