Here in the UK we have been enjoying a bit of a heatwave for the past few days. It is lovely to have some sun at last, but I am struggling a bit in the heat; it has made me incredibly unproductive! I’ve been eating lots of ice cream and smoothies to keep me cool and also because I really haven’t felt like cooking as it is so hot. I am planning on making a batch of these crispy shrimp tacos with chipotle red cabbage slaw tomorrow as there is minimal cooking involved – just a few minutes of frying the prawns. And they are exactly the kind of thing that you want to eat al fresco on a hot Summer evening accompanied by a cold beer (or a margarita!)….
summer
Peach, Pistachio & Rose Tarts
I have been away from the blog for a little while – visiting my parents and cat-sitting in London; and have struggled to find the time (and motivation – the weather has been so warm I have just wanted to be outside) to do any blogging, so apologies to those of you who have commented and I haven’t yet replied to, service shall resume as normal as of now! I did not stop baking however; so I do have a few delicious things to share with you, the first of which is these gorgeous peach, pistachio and rose tarts….
Strawberry, Elderflower & Almond Layer Cake
I think this may be one of the prettiest cakes i have ever made…it is certainly a good deal more attractive than my last post! It is the perfect cake for spring, delicately flavoured with fragrant elderflower and sweet strawberries. I love elderflower, I remember when I was little helping my parents pick elderflowers to make wine; we had an elderflower tree in our garden and the scent was glorious; unfortunately now, living in inner Birmingham, elderflower trees are rather more difficult to find, and despite much searching while out dog walking I haven’t come across any….
Lime Ice Cream
I had a load of limes left over from making mini lime yoghurt loaf cakes – I had needed lots of the zest but not the juice; so seeing as the weather has been quite warm and sunny recently I decided to put them to good use in some ice cream. I’ve also been given a new (secondhand, slightly battered…) ice cream maker – one of the ones where you don’t need to pre-freeze the bowl, so now I can have ice cream on a whim, without having to remember to put the bowl in the freezer the day beforehand!…
Chocolate Strawberry Tart
We were visiting some friends over the weekend and I was charged with bringing dessert (what a surprise!); despite the fact that I was already taking the remnants of two cakes with us (carrot and cookie dough brownie), I couldn’t resist making something else to take…(I’m good at overkill…). I figured that two cakes was probably enough cake (just…!) so for my third dessert I went with a tart. …