Raspberry Loaf with Lime Drizzle

There's something oddly comforting about a loaf cake, every scrumptious mouthful just reminds me of a warm and secure hug from my dear mother.  Strangely enough, I only ever seem to bake loaf cakes when faced with the grey and miserable weather that has become some synonymous with my fair city.  It must be something about overcast skies that leave me craving for something homely.

Sure it's hot in Newcastle at the moment, well not so much hot as muggy, clammy, oppressive...you see where I'm going.  But with the heat has came rain, in bucket loads.  Never before has living by the river been so scary.  My phone is constantly buzzing with complaints from friends about the horrid weather, how fed up everyone is of being stuck in doors and how they wish they were sunning themselves on a beach in the Caribbean.  I'm almost ashamed to admit that I love it, almost.  Warm rain is my very favorite kind of weather, closely followed by cold rain.  I just love the rain, especially when its beating my windows, lulling me to sleep.  Ahhhhh.

This sudden onslaught of Autumnal weather has left me wanting, and the thing I want is loaf cake.  In an almost hypnotic trance I began collecting ingredients from the fridge and laying them out upon my kitchen counter.  I was faced with a punnet of raspberries, a handful of strawberries a little past their best and 4 limes, probably left over from a gin and tonic binge a few nights previous.  I decided the strawberries would be better used in a breakfast smoothie so banished them to the freezer and set about making a raspberry and lime drizzle loaf cake.  Why not.

Man oh man was this delicious.  The tangy bite from the fruit was perfectly reminiscent of the summer we are supposed to be experiencing but the dense, crumbly crumb was just perfect for what we're actually getting.  This really is the ultimate rainy summers day recipe.  Give it a go!

Raspberry Loaf Cake with Lime Drizzle
(adapted from Sainsbury's Magazine)

225g unsalted butter, softened
200g caster sugar
4 large eggs
zest of 2 limes
225g plain flour
2tsp baking powder
125g raspberries

Juice of 2 limes
50g caster sugar

Preheat oven to 180C.  Line a 2lb none stick loaf tin with nonstick baking paper.

Put all of the ingredients, except the raspberries, into a large bowl and beat together with an electric hand whisk or mixer, until smooth and combined.  Stir in raspberries by hand.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top.  Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the loaf.

While the loaf is cooling mix together the lime juice and caster sugar.  Poke deep holes into the loaf using a baking skewer and spoon the mixture over the top of the cake.  Leave to cool in the tin before turning out.

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Walnut Brownies, an ode to nuts

You know what really grinds my gears.  People not liking the idea of something rather than not liking the actuality of it.  Brownies with nuts fall right into this category.  I'm sure you've all experienced this scenario before:

Mr Hungry: Ohhh, are those brownies?
You: Sure are!
Mr Hungry: Oh, but are those nuts?
You: Uh-huh....
Mr Hungry: Urgh, I'll pass.
*Mr Hungry walks away shaking head*

Now, if you've tried nuts in your brownies and just can't get away with them, that's fine. Each to their own and all that jazz.  But, if you just assume you don't like nuts to roll with the majority, you're no friend of mine!

Come on guys, lets unite, lets be friends even.  Just give nuts a chance.  For me.

Thanks to Tiffany of A Spoonful & A Heap for these delightfully nutty beasts! You're slowly helping me convince my boy that nuts are tasty too :)

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Cinnamon Buns, just for you!

I've recently developed a new addiction, no it's not food, it's not even reading about food.  Watching food shows? You got it!  But, this is no ordinary food show, this is Man v Food!  Since discovering this show on the Good Food channel I've been mesmorised by giant versions of real American cuisine, especially the giant cinnamon buns from Lulu's Bakery in San Antonio!  As I don't have a giant oven, giant rolling pin and access to the worlds biggest food mixer I decided to try my hand at the regular sized versions. 

Is there anything better than a cinnamon bun fresh from the oven? If there is, I've yet to experience it.

Cinnamon Buns
(from delicious magazine)

• 500ml milk
• 150g butter, cut into pieces, plus extra for greasing
• 800g strong plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast
• 100g golden caster sugar
• 1 egg
• Handful of sugar cubes, lightly crushed
• For the filling
• 75g butter
• 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 75g golden caster sugar

Measure the milk into a glass or plastic jug and add the butter. Microwave on high for 2 minutes until warm. (Alternatively, put the milk and butter into a saucepan and put over a medium heat until the butter is melted and the mixture is warm.) Set aside.


Put the flour into a large bowl and add the salt, yeast and caster sugar. Pour the warm milk and butter into the flour mixture. Start mixing with a wooden spoon, then use your hands to mix the dough until it gradually forms a ball and leaves the sides of the bowl clean.


Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour and tip the dough out onto it. Stretch and pull the dough for 10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. Cover the dough with a greased piece of cling film and set aside.


Make the filling. Weigh out 25g butter, put it in a small plastic or glass dish and microwave on high for 30 seconds to melt. (Or melt in a pan over a medium heat.) Put the rest of the butter in a bowl with the cinnamon, caster sugar and melted butter, and mix with a wooden spoon until smooth.

Take a large sheet of baking paper and put it onto a clean work surface. Sprinkle with flour, then take a rolling pin and lightly sprinkle it with flour. Uncover the dough and roll out on the baking paper to a large rectangle (about 30cm x 40cm).

Using a palette knife or flat-bladed knife (I found this part quite difficult so I got right in there with my mits and showed that dough some love), spread the cinnamon butter all over the dough, right up to the edges. Lift up the paper along the longest edge of the dough: as you lift, the dough should roll over. Keep lifting the paper until the cinnamon swirl is completely rolled, like a big Swiss roll.



Cut the cinnamon swirl into 2cm thick slices – you should make 18 slices. Ease a knife under each piece, then lie on its side in a muffin case so you can see the swirled effect. Transfer to lined, deep-hole muffin trays. (If you don't have any muffin cases, put the cinnamon swirls directly into a non-stick, deep muffin tray.)




Crack the egg into a bowl and mix with a fork. Brush over the cinnamon buns, then sprinkle with the crushed sugar cubes. Cover the whirls with a greased piece of cling film and leave to prove in a warm place for about 20 minutes.


Preheat the oven to 220°C/fan200°C/gas 7. Discard the cling film and bake the cinnamon swirls for 8 minutes, or until risen and golden brown. Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before eating.

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Sweet Melissa Sundays: Gingersnaps

Have I told you that I love ginger?  Well I do.  I love it in curry, I love it in crumbles and most of all I love it in biscuits!   Open my cupboard and you'll notice, among all of the random tins and jars ginger is the most stocked item. Stem, chopped, crystallized, ground, then open my fridge and there's a little knobbly finger of the stuff.  You see what I mean...

After my deceleration you'll be very surprised to hear that gingersnaps are my very favorite biscuit.  After seeing it on the SMS list I've been itching to get them baked and right in my cookie jar, but these biscuits just weren't gingery enough for my palate.  They needed something, they needed more!  I added chopped stem ginger and a teaspoon of ginger syrup.  Perfect.  The stem ginger added that extra bite and made a good biscuit into an excellent one!

Check out Gloria's aptly named blog The Gingersnap Girl for the recipe and don't forget to check out the rest of the SMS bakers for their yummy treats.

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Newcastle Eat Festival: The Pearly Diner

As I stated in my last post, the Newcastle Gateshead Eat Festival has been celebrating the finest food and drink the region has to offer for the last week and a half, and boy has it been a good one!  There has been some amazing events as well as some very weird and very wonderful delights for us to get our teeth into. One of which I was delighted to be a part of, The Pearly Diner.  The Pearly Diner is a world first event, a restaurant with no menu!  Your imagination is allowed to run wild and the sky is the limit, the only problem is deciding what you want to eat.  If you are among the select few chosen to dine at this other worldly event you were to chose the meal that best suits you. It could be your dream dinner, your favorite food or something that reminds you of a better time.  How exciting!

The Pearly Diner was a secret event organised by some of the North Easts finest chefs, places were allocated via a random lottery which sent the lucky few on a strange and fabulous journey.

I was over the moon when I received my allocation email but also a little confused.  I was told to go to a place called The Bridge Bar & Bistro for 7pm where I would receive a sign.  My first thought was how exciting, closely followed by the remembrance that The Bridge Bar & Bistro is a greasy spoon cafe on the Tyne Bridge, not only that but it had closed down after someone had found broken glass in their fry up.  Not the kind of place I'd have expected for such an amazing evening, but I put my doubts to the back of my mind and focused on getting ready. 

We arrived at the closed Bistro at dot on 7pm only to find the shutters down and other pearly diners milling around outside looking confused.  After about 10 minutes of standing around chatting to the ever increasing number of diners we decided to take matters into our own hands and explore.  We eventually found a sticker shaped like a fork pointing in the direction of the Tyne Bridge.  With nothing to lose we all decided to follow the cutlery.

After a five minute trek that felt like miles for myself and the other 5" heeled women, we found ourselves at the Hilton Hotel.  That's more like it! 

We were asked to enjoy wine on the balcony while we waited to 'check in'.  One by one we were lead into a little white shed which housed a very clinical experience.  A lady named Muriel gave us a name tag and asked us to fill our name and chosen meal into a large gilded book.  We were then let out of the shed and eventually gained entry into the Pearly Diner.

I was instantly taken aback by the beautiful room.  Everything was decked out in white fabric and glitter.  I especially liked the paper roses adorned with the meal choices of all the diners along with the salt and pepper pots filled with tiny pearls.

After our newly empty wine glasses were topped up our complimentary starter was served.  The Soup of Life!  We were never told what the soup actually was but it contained a great deal of milky foam, chicken and pasta.

For my main meal I chose a feta crusted rack of lamb with a tomato and olive sauce to be served with fondant potatoes.  I've always wanted to try a rack of lamb but never seem to see it on menus, so The Pearly Diner was the perfect opportunity.

Kris chose a pan fried duck breast with plum sauce and mashed potato.  The duck wasn't as pink as we would have hoped but never the less it was utterly delicious.

My desert was a caramelized apple tarte tatin.  What I wanted to know was what happened to the rest of it.... 

Kris had a chocolate fondant.  His reason, I've never been able to cook one properly.  I always over cook the pudding leaving the centre solid.  Unfortunately, the chef had succumb to the same problem as I.  The search for the perfect chocolate fondant continues.

I'm so, so glad I was able to take part in this delicious once in a life time opportunity!  I just hope the chefs know how impressed everyone was with all of their efforts.  Cooking 26 individually chosen meals ever night must be no easy feat. 

Thanks Newcastle Gateshead!

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