My first wedding cake finished! Hooray!!!

Top tier

Bottom tier

Phew! My first ever wedding cake is finally done and dusted - gave myself wrist cramp piping all the lacy bits so now i've finished i'm celebrating by lying around all day eating maltesers, before I get started on the next cake i've got to make this weekend.

Jam Tarts

Being extremely skint and not having anything sweet in the house, I decided to make the easiest and most jammily satisfying thing in the world, jam tarts! Luckily I had some really nice locally made blackcurrant jam and a cheapy old jar of raspberry in the cupboard, so I got a nice mix of quite sharp and very sweet ones. I made some mini ones too, as then I can eat three times as many and not feel guilty! Hooray!!

Plane Cake

Here is a cake I made last weekend for an ex-pilot's 80th birthday party. I got a bit stressed out making it because it didn't look as much like the picture as I wanted, but the client was very pleased so it was all fine in the end. Also left it til the last minute so was icing, decorating and swearing like a trooper into the early hours of friday night, which may account for all the stress. Foolish!

Baked Amaretti Plums with Greek Yoghurt

Cor!!! I've only just finished eating these and looking at the picture makes me want it all over again... Luckily i have another 4 plums in the kitchen but will try to abstain until tomorrow as part of my half-arsed attempt at a more healthy diet. Good lord they are tasty, and I love the dark ruby syrup that oozes from the fruit and mingles with the white yoghurt so prettily...

Lovely old spanakopita...

I could eat this pie every day I think. Although it takes a while to wilt down the mountains of spinach it is well worth it for the finished result.

Sunday Lunch, not a roast in sight...

Had people over for lunch today so dragged myself out of bed early to start cooking, complete with shocking hangover caused by only 3 pints of cider! What has happened to my booze tolerance?? Anyway, managed to get going and just about got it all done in time!

Feta and parsley cigars - I could eat these all day but managed to restrain myself and wait until serving them... also have lots of leftover filo pastry so can make them again this week! Hoorah!



Thank you Diana Henry - Georgian Aubergine salad - griddled aubergine with coriander, greek yoghurt, pomegranate seeds, walnuts and enough garlic to destroy your social life for a week!

And potato salad with dill, red onion and gherkins.



We finished with Lemon Posset, which I will also be eating all week as I made enough for about 20 people! Hooray again! Bang goes the diet for another week - some things are much more important than being slim, lemon posset being a fine example...

Phew!

Hooray! Sally and Rob were happy with the style of cake which i'm really pleased about as I was worried it wasn't lacy enough. Managed to steal a slice as well when they were tasting it and am really pleased with it expecially as it was several days old by that time and still tasted fresh! I'm dead relieved as i've had problems with rolled fondant before and wanted to get it as smooth as possible which I think I managed pretty well.

My first wedding cake!

This is a sample tier I've made for my first wedding cake clients Sally and Rob. They wanted a lacy pattern but not sure if this is exactly how they'll want the finished result, but I wanted to make a tier now to test it out anyway. It weighs a ton because of all the fondant but is a lovely lemon sponge and buttercream under all that icing!

Peanut Butter Frozen Cheesecake!

Words are not necessary...

Granola aplenty!

I don't normally eat breakfast which is very bad for me as by mid morning I am ready to eat lunch, so decided last week to force myself to eat something before I leave the house. So the time seemed right to try out this granola recipe i've had my eye on for a while, courtesy of Nigella Lawson's Feast. The recipe makes a huge amount of it which is great as I now have enough for the next few weeks of breakfasts! Have got into the habit now of having a bowl before work and I can't get enough of it's crunchy, munchy, nutty goodness, and the added benefit of feeling all pure and healthy and slightly smug for making my own brekkie cereal!

Salmon, Leek & Tarragon Papillote

The finished result - we ate it so fast I didn't have time to take a picture! Here is the empty bag as evidence of the feasting... I thought this was a gorgeous meal, really simple but the paper packages make it seem fancy somehow, like some effort has gone into it and even my fish-hating fella liked it a lot. Will make this again, definately.

Never made these before so not sure how they're going to turn out! Had some salmon and creme fraiche left over and managed to find this recipe on the BBC website so giving it a bash. Salmon, leek, petite pois, creme fraiche and tarragon all wrapped up together in a tasty little package. I've topped each fillet with about a ton creme fraiche coz I love it, so have pretty much destroyed the healthy eating part of this dish, but who cares? I love the look of them even before cooking, so I really hope they taste as good cooked... will update after dinner. Here is the recipe if you want to have a go - http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1575/leeky-salmon-in-a-parcel

Butternut Squash Soup from Come Dine With Me!

Stole this recipe from Paul Ross' Come Dine With Me menu, and am a bit in love with it. It's the healthiest thing i've made in a long time and tastes really thick and creamy even though it's made up of nothing but chopped veg and stock! Forgot to take a pic of the blended soup so you'll have to make it yourselves to see how it turns out - http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes/occasions/dinner-parties/come-dine-with-me/series-5/spicy-butternut-squash-soup-recipe_p_1.html

Double Chocolate Pecan Cookies Overload!

Had the day off today and had one hell of a sugar craving this afternoon so decided to throw these together - even though they were really easy and quick I still almost gnawed my own arm off while waiting for them to bake - what is wrong with me?? They are really nubbly (?) with big lumps of white and milk choc and plenty of luvverly pecans too. Have been eating them all afternoon and think I should probably give it a rest now before I blow up.

Poppy Seed Challah

I haven't made challah for years but I felt the urge to do so today. I love this bread, and i'm very grateful to my nan for introducing me to it as otherwise I might not have tried it! It isn't the easiest bread to find in Twickenham, and i've only ever seen it sold in Waitrose. I'm sure there are millions of places to get it up in London but I haven't got a clue if there are any Jewish foodstores near me, so i'll carry on making it myself! I love the sweetness the honey gives it, and I especially like it spread with cold butter and apricot jam...