Have you lost your loaf

Up North - Known as a Bread Cake

The weather was not scorching, but it was ideal for a BBQ, I wanted to demonstrate my baking skills.  I whipped the old Baking book out and looked at bread cakes.  The bread is a sweet bread but goes down well with a Sweet Chilli burger.

Coconut and Date Flapjack

Nutty time

Ok  had my cooking head on and was in a fruity mood.  So here is what I came with up with.

Some Like it hot - My Burgers

Home Made Burgers

I love burgers however they taste much better, when you know what is going into them.  I had a chat with my local butcher he said you should not really get much shrinkage when you grill your burgers (most of the time burgers are filled with rubbish).  I said to him I'll put your theory to the test and see if that's true

Meaty Burger with minimal fat, very lean beef.

Burgers left in fridge for 30 mins

 Please note I used my own little secret ingredients, only for your eyes.

 Ok now we are talking I did this burger on the George Foreman grill looking good.

 I made some Avacado Salsa, with Tomato, Red and Green peppers, herbs Olive oil garlic and Black pepper.

The spicy wedges were McCains, I didn't have time to make them myself due to time constraints.

 Up close and personal shot again.

 Here you get to see the wider shot, your probably thinking there's not much on the plate, and you are right, however after eating the burger; you be stuffed.

He's the money shot, mouth watering meaty burger, it went down well with my wife and daughter and that's all that matters.

My Siminel Cake

The Easter Cake in Summer

The original idea was to make this cake over Easter however my wife robbed my marzipan so I could not make the cake.  So I trotted off to the shop and got some more marzipan some months later..

 The balls was the hardest part you had to grill them under the grill to get that authentic brown look.

 When I cut into the cake it seemed OK, considering this was my first attempt.

 Seeing the golden balls from a different angle, I guess the perspective is still the same hmm.

 My first cut of the cake, I suppose it was that ritual you go through.

There's always something nice about getting up close and personal with your cake.  Can't quite put my finger on it, but the relationship between cake and camera is something special.

Those golden balls..!

Birthday and Desert - Have your cake and eat it.

Birthday Desert and Cake

I was out at the weekend celebrating my wifes birthday, we went to Browns for lunch, which was nice, they have a good service especially if you have children very fast.  My wife had three different  chocolate brownies on one plate with Ice Cream, it looked really nice too.

 

 

My wife  received a nice birthday present at the weekend, a cake made just for her and it was made on the same day too, shame we couldn't stick my candles in it.

I really indulged a little over the weekend, never had so much desert in one day..!

Work up a sweat

The Pizza that hits the spot

After a hard night of dancing, there is nothing more apertizing than coming home to a nice homemade fresh pizza waiting to be cooked with a nice fresh base made with nice topping (salami, tomato, mozzarella, fresh basil and black pepper.

This is further backed up with garlic bread homemade of course too and a little Greek salad would not go amiss either, oh the two pale balls are dough balls, just in case you were wondering.

Don't forget your fresh cool Apple juice to wash it down with.

Coffee Cake Flava - lick you fingers up and down it's sticky

Coffee Cake Flava

Ok, I have been a little busy with, however I'm still baking and cooking like a mad man when I get the opportunity.

I'm fan of Coffee Cake, however some of the ones I have tasted over time can be dry, I was fortunate to make a rather moist one..!  See my work of art below.

Making your own fresh Pizza is so much more fun.

 

 I made a basic Pizza base, much nicer than a commercial one, Passata with black pepper and basil on the base.  Half the Pizza was ham and tomato, the other half was Rocket tomato and Mozeralla cheese.
 

It needs about 15 minutes in the oven at 200 degrees once it's cooked slide it out onto a wood top and cut into slices, don't forget your salad.

One last thing be creative with your salad, add some olive oil, black pepper & basil.   If you want to add some spice, add a little chilli flakes this will give it a little kick...!

My version of Steak Calzone

I've been cooking but not updated my picture lately.  Well I did a Calzone some time ago but it didn't go according to plan.  So I thought I would do try my hand at it again see the evidence for yourself.

It's always about the curves, well at least I think so..!

Now that's what I call a lovely pair of pastry.

Looking tasty..!

Never leave out the salad.

Very nice.

I guess I'd better start a thinking about eating this.

Fruit does make it taste better.

Right enough of this..

Your all mine..mmmmm