Best of... Pancake Recipes

As I've mentioned before, Pancake Day is the only food holiday I always celebrate. This year Shrove Tuesday falls on the 4th of March (a.k.a. tomorrow).

I'm not sure lemon and sugar can be beaten for Pancake Day but in case you fancy a change, I thought I'd round up all of my pancake/crêpe posts. The best place to find my basic pancake recipe is here - it's the one I'll be whisking together tomorrow.



2010 - Brown Butter Wholemeal Crêpes with Vanilla Ice Cream, White Nectarines & Maple Syrup



2011 - Dusky Caramel and Raspberry Crêpe Cake



2012 - Crêpes Suzette (a.k.a. fire, caramel, blood oranges and cinnamon ice cream)



2013 - Pancakes with Lemon Thyme Sugar or Maple-Butter Bananas and Cream



2014 - Nutella Crêpes with Toasted Hazelnuts

Best of 2013

Happy New Year!

Each year I pick five of my favourite recipes that have slipped under the radar slightly for a NYE roundup. Which one is your favourite?









You can also look at the:
Best of 2010
Best of 2011
Best of 2012

Best of 2012

Every year, on New Year's Eve, I write a letter to myself. I scrawl all of the most important moments, feelings and choices of the past year onto paper, without jumping back to edit or read. I add on my hopes and plans for the year to come. Then I seal it up and put it away, ready to be opened a year later. It's my way of concluding the year and turning towards the next.

My other tradition is to post about five recipes from the passing year that I think deserve the spotlight (but haven't featured on my sidebar or had much attention). This year I've added text to the images, so click on the photo to see the post.

Which is your favourite?

You can also look at the:
Best of 2010
Best of 2011

Best of... Strawberry Recipes

As the glorious days of summer and strawberry season approach, I thought we could look over some recipes from the archives.

First, I had to mention my Wild Strawberry Custards or 'une douce pour l'été'. They're still one of the most delicious things I've ever made. My little baked custards (a Crème Brûlée base) were topped with a strawberry syrup and foraged wild strawberries - but you could use normal strawberries on top or try another small fruit.

Eton Mess is a British classic for a reason. Softly whipped cream, chewy and crisp chunks of meringue and ripe summer fruit. Simple is so often the best.

Last year I had a Strawberry Cream Layer Cake for my birthday. The fluffy layers of sponge are soaked in vanilla syrup and strawberry puree before being layered with fresh slices of strawberry and whipped cream. It's then iced with a marscarpone & icing sugar & puree frosting (the version pictured had a bit of extra whipped cream in it, so it didn't hold up as well as my second test). It's a perfect summer cake.



I was really surprised to find that Strawberry Frozen Yogurt has a much stronger strawberry flavour than normal ice cream. Definitely worth a try.



Two other recipes you could try - the unusual Pink Peppercorn Strawberry Ice Cream or the simply delicious Strawberry Meringue Cake.

Or, of course, you could just eat them out of the punnet or drizzled lightly with cream...

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P.S. I'm sorry if this post appeared in your reader a few weeks ago then disappeared - I got confused and didn't schedule it for the right date.

Best of... Ginger Recipes

Ginger is one of my favourite ingredients to bake with. As well as the traditional powdered ginger, I love using the fresh root, infusing it into syrups and grating it into pies and jam. When you add stem and crystallized ginger to the mix, you've got a party.

One recipe that uses three types of ginger is the utterly divine Ginger Bourbon Pecan Pie. The multiple punches create a deeply nuanced pie.



I am addicted to ginger biscuits. The Gingernuts below, Ginger Oats or even Ginger, Orange & Chocolate Biscotti - I don't care. They're all amazing.

All I need now is someone to solve the mystery of why gingernuts increase in ginger-power when dipped in tea...



Though it started off as a random experiment, Ginger and Apple Jam has become a staple in our family. It's very easy to make and stores brilliantly. The apple flavour appears first, followed by the kick. It somehow feels clean and fresh. (I sound like a toothpaste advert. Error!)

Though the shock-factor ingredient in the Ginger Root Bundt Cake is the parsnip, the ginger (stem and ground) makes the cake. I used a lemon drizzle because the flavours work brilliantly together (see also the Lemon, Date and Ginger Cake). It tastes like dark, nutty gingerbread.

Finally, you could go back a few years to the Blueberry and Ginger Layer Cake I made for mum's birthday. I infused a simple soaking syrup with slices of fresh ginger then brushed it over rounds of plain sponge. The cake was then layered with a blueberry compote and covered with a ginger cream cheese icing and fresh blueberries.

Though I was worried that I could never improve upon chocolate as the flavour choice for her cakes, ginger proved me wrong.