Brain food

Walnut skull choccies by Ruth and Sira Garcia Trigueros. What more could you want with a cuppa tea?

Buy them from here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/95544341/chocolate-skulls-gone-nuts

http://www.zeitgeistmagazine.com/#/chocolate-skulls-gone-nuts/4562537534

Rocky's waffles from the BERG

My mate Roxanne sent me these from Johannesburg...T.I.A. 

Rude boy waffles like these deserve a rude boi song, so appropriately called ASAP Rocky: Goldie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNKFCl_lc_I

Not too sure about the quality of the chocolate sauce though, don't quote me on this but it maybe from a bottle.

Happy Jubilee

Too much?

River Cafe classics made to perfection

 This photo does not quite do this broad bean minestrone justice. It was off the shizzle!

Pasta

 seafood risotto

 Josh's juicy veal chop.

This was a pressed chocolate cake with zabaione gelato. The chocolate used in this was incredible and it really shows what a significant difference this makes.

Lovely lemon tart.

http://www.rivercafe.co.uk/rc_page.php

Chocolate walnut cake

My grandmother, Bubi's signature cake.

something for my van perhaps?

Summer weekend with JayZ and Bocconotti

Not ice cream but it was my extravagant Sunday lunch. I am in love with JayZ and Kanye at the moment ever since I saw them last week. They are all I am listening to so this week might be a tribute to them. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH4vn-1UfMY

Followed by some cake...

Then by some more cake...

 I learnt how to do these at L'Anima, Liverpool Street. They are called Bocconotti and they are from Calabria. They are these delicious almond tartlets and I filled mine with some cooked rhubarb but I think you could fill them with pretty much anything.

Not bad with some homemade vanilla ice cream

Dulce de Leche

I first had this with some pancakes in Madrid in my favourite restaurant called Lateral.

http://www.cadenalateral.com/

Ingredients:
1 tin of condensed milk (approx. 400ml)
Method:

• Heat oven to 220 degrees and pour the condensed milk into a small baking tin and cover the top with tin foil. Then put this into larger baking tray and make a bain-marie by pouring in hot water till it reaches half way up the smaller condense milk filled tin. 
• Leave to bake for about 1hour and then check to see if the colour is a lovely caramel. Keep baking until to reaches this and then use it for whatever you want. Ice cream, pancakes, toast...

best chocy: FACT

VALRHONA 70% dark chocolate is a winner for anything. This is what I use to make chocolate sauce and chocolate ice cream. The depth of flavour here is off the chain. And yes you do need a 3kg bag, obviously.

http://www.valrhona.com/

poached peaches in prosecco and lavender

These are for my food photo shoot on Friday and add a spin on the classic Peach Melba.

Ingredients:

1 tin of good quality tinned peaches or 2 large ripe peaches

2 tsp of lavander

300ml prosecco

Method:

• Simmer your peeled peaches sliced into halves in a saucepan with the prosecco and lavender for about 15 minutes. Leave to cool and then in the fridge for a couple of hours.
• Cut into segments and eat with vanilla ice cream or they go perfectly with a Peach Melba.

Azealia Vs Madeleines

I remember getting these lil' cakes when I was lil' and there was something so cute about them. I was reminded of them again when I worked at Tom Atkins kitchen for a week and they made a rainbow of colours with them. They even made a pink one out of rhubarb juice. I've gone simple but you could put chocolate, raspberries, cinnamon, nuts....

I just heard this Azealia Banks song called Jumanji :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XezZmL8xQfk

Ingredients:
3 eggs
130 caster sugar
30ml honey (you could use a lavender or orange blossom)
50ml whole milk
100g butter
200g plain flour
10g baking powder
zest of 1 lemon
1 vanilla pod


Method

• In an electric mixer cream the eggs and sugar on a fast speed for about 10-15 mins
• Whilst this is mixing dissolve your honey, milk and butter and bring to about 40 degrees and then very slowly add to the eggy batter till all is mixed in.
• Next, slowly add the remaining four ingredients which you need to mix together before. When everything is combined leave in a bowl in the fridge for at least a couple of hours or overnight.
• Set your oven at 190 degrees and fill your madeleine mould with the cooled batter, making sure you fill them just under the brim. Bake for 5 minutes then turn off oven for 1 minute so that they get their signature bump. Turn the oven back on to 160 for a further 5 minutes and leave to cool.
• THEN EAT IMMEDIATELY.  

Sign up to my blog and win one of my delicious homemade cakes this FRIDAY

Just type in you email address on the feedburner link on the right and accept the email. The lucky winner will be announced this Friday morning. Good luck and who knows Christmas may come early to you.

I shall be making it to order so whatever your favourite cake I will endeavour to make it for you. Check out the rest of the blog to see if you like anything that I have already made.

The Nina van is on it's way to you very soon...

My ice cream and cake van is almost ready and is just having the finishing touches before it's launch party. In the meantime here is a ridiculous Monday morning song. These are some kick ass moves that you cannot teach, Mayer Hawthorne: a long time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4iIsE1PBhE&ob=av2e