Iced buns - a Tea Time Treat this weekend?

I don't normally hold with reposting, but Karen from Lavender and Lovage mentioned the Tea Time Treats challenge on Twitter, and although I'm going to make some eccles cakes tomorrow I think of these iced buns as the ultimate tea time treat - in a real regresssion to my childhood. They're also ideal as a weekend project if you want to stay in the warm, and busy yourself in this post Christmas lull.

Making the buns was straightforward, as regular readers know, I like breadmaking - I find the kneading and proving a soothing, restful process (I never said I was normal) and despite these being a fairly vigourous knead, I spent a happy afternoon pottering in the kitchen.

I love that the icing is water icing (I think the adults amongst you call it glace icing, but I call it water icing with the Brownies and so that's what we're calling it here) as it just reinforces, what a lovely, family bake these are. Kids could easily help with kneading, shaping the dough and icing the buns. It's only when you start to want to pipe the cream and jam that this becomes properly technical.

As I may have mentioned on twitter I was blown away by the evenness of my bake, and how lovely the buns looked when they came out of the oven. It was quite a pull to leave them to cool.

I used home made jam from earlier in the summer, and because I like things jammy, refrained from piping this on, instead spreading the cut inside of the bun with the warmed, fruity jam.

Because 12 buns is simply too many to have in my house at any one time, I gave 8 of these away as a Random Bake of Kindness, to my upstairs neighbours. I've saved 4 for Mark and I though. 

The recipe I used was adapted from Paul Hollywood's Iced buns - please see my updated post for my own full method. 

Meal Planning Monday: A truncated week take 2?

Well last week was, what I think is called in the industry, a complete and utter unmitigated disaster! Those of you who follow me on Twitter will be aware that on Tuesday night I came down with a migraine, and pretty much as soon as I took my sumatriptan had a seizure, and then another one whilst still post ictal. This meant an admission to hospital and poor Mark had to take the lead on cooking.

So we're going to try and do better this week at Pantry HQ, I have rested all weekend, and apart from baking and some pottering, done very very little in a bid to boost my energy and general wellbeing.  I don't know if it's going to work, but I'm exercising, eating healthily and resting - what else can I do?! Answers on a postcard please.

Right, where was I? Oh yes, meal planning

Monday: Chicken and spinach curry (still to be blogged)

Tuesday: Well, Tuesday is my slightly belated birthday present (my fault, I just couldn't get organised - there's irony in there somewhere) so we're off for Afternoon tea at the Ritz, I suspect we won't need or want dinner.

Wednesday & Thursday - I re-embrace the joy that is a Beefeater.

Friday: I think I'm going to do my Fusion Taste Team challenge of Tom Yum rice that was ousted by an Indian takeaway that I nearly fell asleep in this week.

Saturday: We're out with friends

Sunday: We're at my Mum's so I'm hoping for her roast beef

I'm sticking with lots of raw foods, so salads and fruit at lunchtime, and yoghurt, fruit, grape nuts and raw honey for breakfast.

Oh and lots of satsuma and cardamom drizzle cake, and Iced buns to eat too! Oops...

Over the Rainbow: a round up of food and drink on Skye

Mark and I had a lovely holiday recently - a week on Skye, where we ate, drank, walked and generally pottered in the sunshine (I know, I was shocked too).

I thought I'd do a bit of a round up as we ate so well, we had chosen to self cater so breakfasts, packed lunches and a couple of suppers were down to me (bacon and eggs, sandwiches or salad, courgetti spaghetti and chilli since you ask). Outside of that we picked where to eat purely on the basis of somehwere that looked nice, or that caught our eyes as we passed.

Our first stop for morning coffee was at the Glencoe visitor centre, this is a very family friendly venue, offerring 'Explorer backpacks' with quizzes, binoculars and magnifying glasses to entertain their smaller visitors. To say I was disappointed that 5 foot 4 doesn't count as a smaller visitor is an understatement. Us big people made do with tea and coffee. My first hint I was going to love Scotland? Proper milk, none of this UHT stuff that everywhere seems obsessed with that makes tea taste foul. The visitor centre is tucked away, and we made the most of the weather, sitting outside and watching the birds flit, and fleetly fly around our heads. Treats here included a new discovery for me - one which was going to be repeated a few times during our trip. Homemade versions of shop biscuits! I know! So pick something you like, but (like me) don't eat because of the transfats, general rubbish within, then imagine it made out of shortbread, filled with homemade jam and a list of 4 ingredients. Butter, sugar, flour, jam. That's it. God they were good. Here I had a Vienese Whirl.

Goodness, now I'm wracking my brains... our second stop was for an afternoon tea (are you seeing a pattern here?) Not on the same day I might add. We stopped at the Blue Shed Cafe on our way back from Ergol. Slightly sunburned, and squeeish with delight having seen a multitude of seals as well as enjoyed a lovely walk and clamber around the loch, we were definitely in need of refreshment. The blue shed, is just that - a blue shed. Inside, an eclectic mix of tables and chairs, artwork, postcards, and homemade cakes were to be found. Two pots of tea, an enormous slice of Victoria sandwich (you know when you can tell it's homemade. Yep, that good) and some rocky road. Also blatantly homemade, no vegetable oily mouths here. Again, proper milk, tea in a pot and tasty coffee.

Other places we stopped for snacks and coffee were Jan's Cakes in Dunvegan. This tiny shop come tea room (that also sold chocolates, of which I sadly did not partake) was amazing. The confections were truly breathtaking and truth be told a little overwhelming. There is no denying the artistry that had gone into the making of them. I'm afraid to say that it being elevenses, we opted for a simpler accompaniment to our tea, lavender and heather honey shortbread. These seemingly simple biscuits were a revelation, honey, instead of sugar used to sweeten was a beautiful floral flavour, in the short crumbly biscuit, with a more, earthy undertone from the lavender. It illustrates my ignorance that I had expected these to be the other way around. I had a really personal interest in this as I made lavender sugar a while back for my sister's birthday present to go with her copy of Vanessa Kimbell's Prepped (I don't think she reads this blog so hopefully the surprise isn't spoiled).

We were staying close to Armdale and in our eternal quest to find an otter we went on the otterly delightful (see what I did there!) woodland trail that takes you up through the woods and to the hide by the seashore. Sadly once again we saw no otters, but did manage to get another delightful cup of tea and some cake at The Shed - possibly the tiniest cafe I have ever eaten in. Oh and from the gift shop nearby, an owl suncatcher for me! It's a guiding thing - you become a Snowy Owl and all of a sudden owls are amazing, plus I could hear them at night from our bedroom. Once again, good tea, and coffee, but the highlight has to be the slice of peanut butter and chocolate cake I had. Best described as a light sponge, topped with a peanut butter and chocolate fudge. The combination of sweet and salty is one I am pretty much gaga for at the moment, and it seriously worked here. Much like my peanut butter and jam bars I made for the Cherry working day and Guide camp in May actually. I am thinking of recreating this with a digestive biscuit cheesecake type base, but am still looking for a decent fudge recipe. Recomendations welcome.

 One of our happy accidents was to go to Columba 1400 - I had read about it, and being the misplaced youth worker I am at heart was keen to go. I had however completely forgotten about this until we were passing, when I demanded we "Stop! In the name of goodness..." Mark totally doesn't get my Wicked references, but they do make me happy. Once again, tea, coffee and homemade shortbread were the order of the day and owing to a chaotic attempt at ordering as part of a tourist group (that we weren't a part of) we were so thoughtfully given an amazing slice of an apple and cinammon cake that I have to say, albeit sadly - was better than mine. Organisations like Columba 1400 do amazing work within communities and I think their cafe and enterprise are an amazing example of what youth integration and engagement can do when there is access to external support.

Well that's my rundown on places to go for tea, coffee and cake on Skye, still to come in parts two and three of Over the Rainbow... are Red Skye (the only place we went back to) and ice cream at Minchella's in South Shields.

Make of our lives one life

Photo credit for all shots to Katherine Read.

Well, before that (if you're not in a musical) you have a hen party. And at the end of last summer my little sister had hers. She had asked for a vintage afternoon tea in the garden of my Mum's house, and so lots of preparation had gone into getting the house and garden ready for the influx of friends and family wanting to celebrate Mandy's forthcoming marriage.

I can't remember whether I offered to cater the party, or whether Mandy asked me to, but in the end I set aside 2 days to make cakes, scones, sandwiches, tarts and eclairs until the table was truly groaning with treats.

Having no experience with catering for lots of people I made lists, lots of lists, and enlisted the help of a good friend Kat, and my Mum both of whom made things much much easier, and a lot more full of laughter.

Mum and I had planned the menu in detail beforehand (she's also good with the lists) and decided on the following:

Sandwiches
Smoked salmon & cream cheese
Egg mayonaisse and cress
Poached salmon and cucumber

Feta and spinach tart

But as everyone knows, an afternoon tea is all about the cake so here's the best bits:

Mini chocolate eclairs
strawberry tarts
Vanilla cupcakes
Victoria sandwich (my trusty recipe)
Chocolate fudge cake
Cloud cake
Scones

It was certainly an undertaking, but I donned my pinny and off I went. First steps were to make the 'big' cakes. As regular readers will know I can make the Victoria sandwich in my sleep so I did so, and then I made a start on the chocolate fudge cake. The recipe I use is a Nigella one, and I'm not sure if I've talked about it on the blog before.

After my Dad died I was distraught, beside myself (almost literally at times) and really struggling to cope. Daddy and I were very close and he was my go to person in times of trouble, so to lose him had a huge impact on me. My mum is very pragmatic, a doer, one of lifes problem solvers. Faced with a slightly incoherent, midly hysterical daughter she decided to give me a focus, and asked me to bake. I baked - somewhat appropriately - Nigella's chocolate fudge cake for the broken hearted. I made one for us, and then my Aunty came over and I made another for her, and then a third for someone else. The attention to detail the cake required meant that I didn't have the energy or the space in my head to be a wailing mess, but instead focussed my energy into the cake. Anyway, it's an amazing cake - damp and without that bitter chocolatey-ness that posh chocolate cakes can sometimes have, it's so popular - the sort people look amazed at and then go on to demolish fairly swiftly! Oddly the recipe is from Nigella Bites which is the one of her books I don't have so I have no idea where I got this recipe from. Divine intervention perhaps. Or the internet. Working with my mother did mean that I was faced with the 70's take on cake icing - hence the retro peaks, but actually I really liked it.


Excuse the wonkiness, it occurred during an attempt to move it onto a doily. Lesson learnt. No doillies!

For the cake:
400g plain flour
250g golden caster sugar
100g light muscovado sugar
50g best quality cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt
3 eggs
142ml/small tub sour cream
1 tbsp vanilla extract
175g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
125ml corn oil
300ml chilled water

For the fudge icing:
175g dark chocolate, minimum 70% cocoa solids
250g unsalted butter, softened
275g icing sugar, sifted
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
Butter and line the bottom of two 20cm sandwich tins.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugars, cocoa, baking powder, bicarb and salt.
In another bowl or wide-necked measuring jug whisk together the eggs, sour cream and vanilla until blended.
Using a freestanding or handheld electric mixer, beat together the melted butter and corn oil until just blended (you’ll need another large bowl for this if using the hand whisk; the freestanding mixer comes with its own bowl), then beat in the water. Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix together on a slow speed.
Add the egg mixture, and mix again until everything is blended and then pour into the prepared tins.
Bake the cakes for 50-55 minutes, or until a cake-tester comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their tins on a wire rack for 15 minutes, and then turn the cakes out onto the rack to cool completely.
To make the icing, melt the chocolate in the microwave – 2-3 minutes on medium should do it – or in a bowl sitting over a pan of simmering water, and let cool slightly.
In another bowl, beat the butter until it's soft and creamy and then add the sieved icing sugar and beat again until everything's light and fluffy. Then gently add the vanilla and chocolate and mix together until everything is glossy and smooth. Sandwich the middle of the cake with about a quarter of the icing, and then ice the top and sides, too, spreading and smoothing with a rubber spatula.

The other 'big' cake I made was a new one. Really I openly mock people who try a new recipe on Come Dine with Me, and then I did the same but it was amazing! I think I've mentioned previously that Mum seems to be the only person who gets Sainsbury's Fresh magazine, and it does have brilliant recipes. One of those was this Cloud Cake which appeared in the summer. Theirs was topped with crystallised rose petals but quite frankly I just didn't have the time, so sprinkles it was. The cake is a bit of a faff to make, but when you cut into it the clean whiteness is just overwhelmingly beautiful. The icing again got peaked (I tend to tread the path of least resistance, but also my icing and cake decorating skills are negligible so this seems to hide them really well). I do want to do it again, but as cupcakes and add a spoonful of raspberry jam in the middle of each just as a variation.




Ingredients
8 Egg whites
1tsp cream of tartar
250g icing sugar, sifted
150g plain white flour, sifted
1tsp vanilla extract
sea salt
for the icing
2 egg whites
100g caster sugar
50ml cold water
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 170C, or 150C for fan assisted ovens. Using an electric whisk, whish the egg whites in a bowl with 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt and the cream of tartar until they form soft peaks. Whisk in the icing sugar a little at a time, whisking well after each addition.
2. In three batches, fold the flour into the egg white mixture then add the vanilla extract. Spoon the mixture into an unbuttered 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin, 7cm deep. Bake for 40 minutes until golden and springy to the touch. Invert the tin on to a board and leave the cake to cool upside down in the tin. Don’t do what I did and un-spring the tin whilst it’s still hot, and without edging your knife around the outside, or it will split in two.
3. To make the icing, blend the egg whites, water and cream of tartar together in a bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. You’ll need to be whisking for 4-7 minutes until stiff peaks form. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla extract. Continue to whisk, until you have a good spreading consistency.
4. Run a knife around the edge of the cake and turn out onto your serving board or plate. Spread the icing thickly over the top and sides of the cake using a palette knife. Leave to stand for a couple of hours before serving.
5. I decorated mine with sugared rose petals. Wash and dry your petals, brush with egg white and cover in caster sugar. Set in the fridge before using.

I think, I'll add the recipe for the eclairs, on another post as this is getting a bit War and Peace esque, and I have yet to add pictures. But the cakes went down a storm, and if asked I'd definitely give up another couple of days to cater an afternoon tea. I really couldn't have done it without my Mum and Kat though, so huge thanks, hugs and tea to both of them.