Southerden Pastry Store, Peckham

Peckham's 'gentrification' continues, with the Bellenden Road area becoming more and more upmarket. Estate agents like to call it Bellenden Village to really drive those house prices up, but then most estate agents are, well, what the word 'Bellenden' is made up of. Artusi opened recently, to acclaim and for a while now The Begging Bowl has been quietly working away, serving some of my favourite Thai food. General Store, a few doors down is a gorgeous little shop; herbs and vegetables from farms in Kent are sold here, as well as top quality cheese, bread and cured meats. It is not the Peckham of yesteryear, though Rye Lane still bustles with Halal butcher shops, fishmongers and beauty salons; noisy, smelly and wonderfully hectic.

Just off Rye Lane is Southerden, a 'pastry store' that is an oasis of calm. The first time we came we grabbed a couple of cakes to take away. Various cakes, breads and doughnuts are displayed by the window, with a brilliant glass dome contraption where by a thick rope is pulled on and hooked, lifting all three covers simultaneously.

Photo from @sharmilasub 

The Choumert bun (named, presumably, after the road the shop is on) was a joy to eat; crisp pastry on the outside, and filled with a creme patissiere filling that actually tasted of fresh raspberries. A lemon meringue tart the size of my palm was beautiful; a crisp pastry crust, a properly lemony filling, and billowing puffs of blow-torched meringue on top. Owner Mel is seemingly there 7 days a week, making everything from scratch out back daily. The lady has talent.

We visited again today and chose to sit in, nursing cups of tea. Inside, everything is brilliant white; the one large table in the centre of the room strewn with magazines and local newspapers, the cushioned bench, the chairs. A counter at the back displays more cakes, meringues and truffles, separated from the world by a glass sheet which I excitedly and inadvertently jabbed. Unfortunately my housemate was far too impatient to wait for me to take a proper picture, but the cake we shared was a beauty. Filled with stewed rhubarb in a buttery, flaky pastry case, the top is made of sponge cake, topped with some sort of red crumb, a curl of white chocolate and a quenelle of vanilla ice cream. It was really very special. The girls sitting opposite us exclaimed that it was the best cake they'd ever had.

Once we started, it was pretty difficult to stop and the homemade marshmallows kept catching my gaze. Toasted coconut, mango and lime, strawberry and basil, raspberry and champagne and blackberry and mint were on offer. Our raspberry cube was intensely flavoured with the fruit, with just a hint of the fizz. Foamy but not squishy and not over-sweet, it restored my faith in marshmallows, as I was previously a bit of a skeptic.

Lemon and poppyseed and raspberry macarons (and maybe a vanilla and cinnamon truffle...) ended our sugar binge. The lemon was my favourite, the sunshine yellow curd fragrant and sweet. For all this plus two teas, we paid £14 - great value for what is an incredibly intricate skill.

Next time, I'm totally going for these chocolate sticks - they are stirred into hot milk, creating a hot chocolate as they melt. They also sell breakfast boxes filled with croissants and cold-brewed coffee, as well as flour, butter and various pastries to take home and bake with. 

Southerden

46 Choumert Road
London SE15 4SE

Lemon & Earl Grey Friands

I've never been much of a baker, nor really had a sweet tooth so I was slightly taken aback after I'd pressed the 'confirm' button on Ebay, having bought a silicone friand mould. Australian in origin, I've had them before at the excellent Kaffeine, and the fancy just took me. 

Light and airy with the background flavour of almond, these are perhaps one of the easiest cakes I've made and the most tricky thing is buying the mould itself. With this as a base recipe, I'm looking forward to trying out variations of flavours. Most commonly, these seem to be topped with an icing of some sort or studded with summer berries but being rather out of season at the moment, I opted instead for a simple lemon and Earl Grey flavouring; the bergamot of the tea complemented the lemon well. They're pretty much the perfect size to snack on with a cup of coffee, while a dollop of creme fraiche, mascarpone or served warm with vanilla ice cream turns them into a more substantial dessert. 

Lemon & Earl Grey Friands

Makes 6

3 Earl Grey teabags - I like Bellevue Tea most.
4 tbsp boiling water
Zest of 1 lemon
25gr plain flour
100gr ground almonds
100gr icing sugar, plus enough to dust
3 egg whites
Zest of 1 lemon
100gr melted butter, plus enough to grease your moulds

Soak the teabags in the water for 30 minutes, and then squeeze out, reserving the liquid. 

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Grease your moulds with butter and dust lightly with flour. 

Sift the flour and icing sugar into a large bowl. Add the ground almonds and mix together. Make a well and then add the lemon zest, Earl Grey liquid and the butter. Mix briefly. Whisk the egg whites until frothy and floppy - not stiff. Fold the egg whites in, and then spoon the cake mix into the friand moulds. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes - a skewer should come out clean. Leave to cool for 5 minutes, then carefully turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar when they have cooled. 

Salted Caramel Cheesecake

Salty caramel cheesecake. Just those words strike fear in any dieters heart, but joy in mine. There's no greater contrast than the sticky sweetness of the caramel, with savoury undertones making it deeply addictive. Crushed amaretti biscuits form the base of the cheesecake, lending its almond flavour to the otherwise plain cheesecake filling. 

It's not the kind of cheesecake you can plough through in one sitting with a spoon. This stuff is rich. Decadence doesn't even come near it. Thin slices are the way forward, unless you want to lie beached on your couch like I currently am. 

I used a pie dish as I seem to have lost my cake tin, so if you have one I'd recommend using a springform cake tin to make it easier to remove. 


Salted Caramel Cheesecake


Serves 8? It's big.


1 x 200gr packet of Amaretti biscuits crushed with a rolling pin
60gr butter
1 tbsp sugar


Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Melt the butter and toss with the Amaretti biscuits and the sugar. Press into and up the sides of a greased pie dish / springform cake tin measuring 9" across the base. Bake for 15 minutes, until browned (I left mine in a little too long so keep an eye on it). Remove and leave to cool.


2 x 200gr cream cheese
100gr caster sugar
120ml double cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs


In a mixer, attach the paddle attachment and mix the cream cheese and the caster sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and beat well, then add each egg, beating well in between. Add the cream and mix well. 


Turn the oven down to 160 degrees C. Spoon into the cooled biscuit base and bake for 60 mins. By then it should have puffed up and have lost some of the wobble. Remove and leave to cool. Meanwhile, make the salted caramel sauce. 


150gr soft brown sugar
80gr butter
100ml double cream
A hefty pinch of sea salt flakes

In a large saucepan (don't be tempted to use a small one, you want some good whisking space) heat the sugar up until it has all melted, stirring occasionally so that it melts evenly. Add the butter in and whisk well until incorporated. It may look lumpy and a bit gross at this point. Whisk in the cream, poured in a steady stream. Cook gently while whisking until smooth and silky - this may take a few minutes. Add the salt and then taste - carefully, it'll be molten - and add more if you think it needs it. I like my caramel quite salty. Leave to cool.


Spoon the caramel onto the cooled cheesecake and put it in the fridge for at least an hour. When serving, sprinkle the top with sea salt flakes. 

Blueberry Crumble Squares

I'm a big fan of blueberries. My 'signature' cake is a blueberry with soured cream frosting and it's so because it's the one I always make. It's easy and delicious and Christ it's got FRUIT in it so it must be healthy, right? Blueberries are so expensive in the supermarkets though so when I saw this lot at Lewisham Market for £1 I rubbed my bargain-hunting hands with glee.


There are only so many handfuls of blueberries you can scoff by the handful before you feel a burning desire to mix them with butter and sugar. I decided to break tradition and try a new recipe. The ever trusty Smitten Kitchen popped up instantaneously and my mind was made up.

I made some tweaks. I ALWAYS make some tweaks. Ironically, when I came to making this recipe I didn't have enough blueberries left. Turns out I had shovelled too many into my gob. I ramped up the fruit flavour by not only adding lemon, but orange. For a minute I worried that the orange would overshadow the blueberry flavour.

My fears were unfounded and it came out beautifully fragrant; a whiff of orange, the jammy blueberries popped and stained the cakey-like base purple. The crumble topping was gorgeously crisp - it doesn't stay like that after being refrigerated though, so scoff them all on the same day or get some sort of airtight container. I can't wait to make these again (so, after I visit Lewisham on Saturday...) and next time, there are definitely nuts going into that crumble topping.

Blueberry Crumble Squares

(Adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

600gr blueberries
220gr caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
450gr plain flour
225gr butter, chilled
A pinch of salt
1 egg
1 lemon, zested and juiced
Juice of 1 small orange
90gr brown sugar
6 tsp cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Grease a rectangular baking pan.

Mix together the blueberries with the orange juice, lemon juice and zest, brown sugar in a bowl. Stir well. Add the cornstarch and mix well.

Add the flour, baking powder, vanilla extract, salt and caster sugar to a large bowl. Add the egg, then add the butter cut into cubes. Mix and rub the butter into the flour quickly to create a crumbly dough. Pat half the dough into the bottom of the baking tin and pat down and into the corners. Spread the blueberries and the juice on top, then top lightly with the rest of the crumbly dough mix.

Bake for 45mins on the top shelf of the oven. The topping should be nicely browned, if not leave in for a bit longer. Remove, leave to cool in the tin completely and then cut into squares. Serve with ice cream or custard.

Orange & Hazelnut Stollen Squares

Mince pies are great and all - especially with a sliver of cheese under the lids of the pies, and baked till warm. Seriously. - but shop bought ones aren't great, and I just ran out of time to make mincemeat. I spied Dan Lepard's orange & pistachio stollen bars on The Guardian and they looked like the perfect Christmas treat to knock together. The master of baking, I knew Lepard's recipe would see me right. I made some substitutions and what emerged from the oven was festively spiced, nice and squidgy and perfect with a glass of mulled cider.

Orange & Hazelnut Stollen Squares

175gr caster sugar
75gr butter
125gr full fat cream cheese
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
2 tsp orange extract
1 tsp orange zest
1 tsp glycerine (I found this in the baking section of Sainsburys)
1 tsp mixed spice
3/4 tsp cardamom seeds, ground and husks discarded
100gr dried currants
100gr chopped hazelnuts
75gr ground almonds
250gr strong white flour
250gr marzipan
Melted butter and icing sugar

Beat together the cream cheese, butter, sugar, orange extract, zest, glycerine and spices. Add the egg and mix well, then add the baking powder, ground almonds and flour. Mix this well; it's quite a dry mixture.

Add to a foil-lined baking tin and use your fingers to press into an even rectangle into the corners. Bake at 180 degrees C for 30 minutes so that it is puffed and golden.

Remove, brush generously with butter. Once cooled, peel off the foil and dust heavily with icing sugar. Apparently this keeps for a fortnight but it didn't last more than an evening in my house.

Black Pudding & Apple Sossidge Rolls

I'm not sure why but I associate sossidge rolls most with Christmas. Perhaps it's the decadence of wrapping pork in buttery, fluffy pastry? Or that I mainly make them for parties, most of which occur around Christmas time. I usually try and put a twist on them; mixing the sausagemeat with raw chorizo works well, as did these beauties; black pudding and apple. The black pudding gives it a deeper porky flavour, with the chunks of the Bramley apple bringing out the flavour more and adding some sweetness. I've found that fruit works the best; chunks of soft apricot and apple with some hot smoked paprika also went down a storm.

Black Pudding & Apple Sossidge Rolls

Makes shitloads

500gr sausagemeat
2 slices of black pudding
1 small Bramley apple
1 small onion
1 sheet of ready rolled puff pastry, or make your own rough puff
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Dice the apple and the onion. Mix with the sausagemeat. Chop the black pudding up finely and then add to the sausagemeat, mixing well again. Slice the sheet of pastry lengthways into three. Add the sausagemeat in a roll down the middle of each sheet and pinch the pastry closed around it.

Slice into bite sized pieces. You can freeze this on a sheet now and bag it later, or brush with egg and bake on a greased tray for 20 - 25 minutes, until golden brown.

Baked Strawberry Cheesecake

I don't bake often, as with just the two of us we'd have to get through an awful lot of cake to avoid waste but when a gathering is planned, it seems the perfect opportunity to try out a new recipe. This was based on a raspberry cheesecake recipe I'd seen, but as strawberries are just coming into season, I thought it would make a good and seasonal substitute.

The recipe needs a bit of tweaking; as delicious as it was, the base could have been crunchier and the filling a touch more set, so I've added what I think you should alter to achieve this in brackets. Nonetheless, it was devoured. The cooked strawberries are sweet and soft while the fresh fruit on top gives good bite and a touch of tartness.


Baked Strawberry Cheesecake

Serves around 8

600gr cream cheese
8 digestive biscuits (I'd suggest using 10 for a drier, crispier base)
50gr butter
142ml soured cream
2 tbsp plain flour
2 eggs + 1 yolk
175gr caster sugar + 1 tbsp
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
500gr strawberries

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Hull and halve the strawberries. Process the digestives into fine crumbs, and met the butter. Mix the two together well and press into a 20cm springform tin. Bake for 10 minutes, and then leave to cool.

Combine the eggs, cream cheese, soured cream, vanilla essence and flour in a bowl. Add the 175gr sugar and whisk until light and fluffy. Stir in half of the strawberries, and then spoon into your tin. Bake for 50 - 55 minutes. The middle should have a slight wobble when you remove it from the oven. Leave to cool in the tin.

Halve the remaining strawberries and put in a small saucepan with the 1tbsp sugar and a tablespoon of water. Heat gently until the strawberries are very soft. Squeeze through a sieve to get the juice. When serving, pile the fresh strawberries on top and drizzle with the strawberry sauce.

Chicken & Mushroom Filo Pie

I tend to over-cater. My reasoning is that it is always better to have too much than not enough and I've never knowingly sent anyone from my house hungry. Which is why roasting two enormous chickens and cooking a million (yes, a million) roast potatoes to feed 5 of us for a Sunday lunch seemed a good idea.

In the aftermath, we all ate ourselves into a stupor. There were people strewn across my living room floor, groaning in over-indulgence. We had a communal nap.

And yet there were still leftovers. A simple dinner of bubble and squeak made light work of the leftover vegetables. The carcasses of the chickens were stripped, flesh ripped off the bones and the stock bubbled in the oven overnight. I woke up the next day and staggered into the kitchen in my pyjamas, polishing off a cleansing bowl of broth for breakfast. When the time came, the stock was reduced by two thirds. Dark and rich, the resultant liquid coated the mouth with intense chicken flavour. There was only one thing for it; PIE.

Filo pastry is a total bitch to work with if, like me, you are cursed with clumsy oafishness. I gave up trying to line my dish with layers upon layers of delicate casing. Instead, the leaves of pastry were scrunched up to make a topping. Crisp shards crunched in the mouth giving way to a rich creamy filling. I did away with the typical mashed potatoes and instead opted simply for courgettes fried with garlic to accompany the pie.

Chicken & Mushroom Filo Pie

Serves 4

Leftover cooked chicken meat - about 300gr
300gr mini portabello mushrooms, chopped roughly
1 leek, chopped roughly
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 rasher of smoked bacon, chopped finely
3 fat cloves of garlic
3 sprigs of thyme
1 large handful of parsley
200ml (ish) strong chicken stock
50ml double cream
3 tbsp plain flour
50gr butter
A few sheets of filo pastry
A sprinkling of hot smoked paprika

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

Add some oil to a pan and fry the bacon for a few minutes. Add the leek and the celery and fry till softened. Crush the garlic and add to the pan, stirring well. Throw in the mushrooms with a hefty pinch of salt along with the thyme leaves. Fry for a few minutes, then add the stock and simmer for 15 minutes. Mix the flour with a bit of the sauce mixture in a small bowl until smooth ad whisk into the sauce. Add the chicken and the double cream, simmer until nicely thickened. Take off the heat and add the parsley, chopped finely. Taste for seasoning.

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Spoon the chicken mixture into a baking dish. Carefully brush each filo sheet with butter and scrunch lightly, laying it on top of the baking dish. Repeat until it is covered. Sprinkle with the hot paprika and place in the oven, cooking for 40 - 45 minutes.

Remove and leave to stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Pork Pies

It aint Christmas without a pork pie to tuck into for breakfast. The plate adorned with pickles, it is the breakfast you can scoff in your pyjamas, clutching a bloody mary, feeling ever so slightly dirty for consuming such large amounts of pork fat so early in the day. I highly recommend it.

I went a little over-board this year. Maybe I didn't need quite so much meat. I couldn't help myself. Besides which, is there ever such a thing as too much pie?

(The answer is yes. When I was a child I was sick in my sleep from eating too much pie. True story.)

Scale the quantities down if you like. Or give a pie away as a Christmas present. Or freeze it.

Pork Pie

Feeds an army

For the filling:

700gr pork shoulder
600gr belly pork
6 rashers of bacon
4 large sage leaves
1/2 nutmeg, grated
4 stalks of thyme
2 Bramley apples
1/2 tsp salt
Loads of black pepper
A large pinch of white pepper

For the pastry:

100gr lard
100gr butter
150mls water
550gr plain flour
1 tsp salt
1 egg + 1 egg for glazing

For the jelly:

2 pigs trotters
1 bay leaf
2 carrots
2 stalks of celery
Large pinch of salt
1 onion
15 peppercorns

First thing's first, over your trotter in water, whack in the aromatics and simmer it for 3 hours, topping up with water every now and again. Strain, season. You want to end up with about 300mls of jelly.

Chop all the meat by hand into small pieces. It's tedious and boring and there's a strong risk you'll chop parts of fingernails off at least once but it's worth the nice coarse texture of the pie innards. Dice the apple roughly, then mince the herbs finely. Add the spices and then the salt. Fry a little patty in some oil and leave to cool - taste test for seasoning. Make sure you eat it cold, as you'll be eating the pie cold.

For the pastry, melt the lard and the butter in a pan. Don't let it boil. Add the flour, salt, water and egg to a bowl and mix well - add the lard and butter and mix until combined. Form into a ball and whack it in the fridge for an hour. (If it's a bit sloppy wrap it in cling film, stick it in a bowl. It'll firm up.)

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C. Grease your pie tin (or in my case, Daddy Pyrex and Baby Pyrex bowls) well. Slice the dough in half, then slice a third off each half - these will be the lids. Roll out evenly and line your pyrex / pie tin. Pile in your meat, then top with the lid loosely and crimp it on. Cut out a hole to pour your jelly into. Glaze with the remaining egg wash and add some nice decorations - leaves, or something. Egg wash the decorations.

Bung in the oven for 30 mins, then turn it down to 150 degrees C and cook for another 40 mins. Remove and allow to cool completely. If your trotter stock has turned to jelly, warm in a pan to liquidise it. Using a funnel, pour it very slowly into your pie. Don't overfill it - you must be patient. Then bung in the fridge overnight.

Serve at room temperature with mustard and pickles.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Generally speaking, I prefer fruity desserts. I'm not a huge fan of chocolate and after a great whopping meal, something a little tart and fresh goes a long way to perking you up. I got the idea in my head that I wanted to make a lemon meringue pie and it wouldn't leave me. Finally, on a rainy Saturday afternoon I gave in and made it; a little sunshine was injected into the room when I had a bite.

Lemon Meringue Pie

For the pastry:

200gr plain flour
60gr butter, cold
3 tbsp water
1 tbsp icing sugar
A pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 200 degress C. Sift the flour, icing sugar and salt into a bowl and add the butter, cut into small cubes. Rub together until breadcrumb texture. Add the water and work into a ball. Don't knead it. Roll out so that it is enough to cover your 23 inch loose bottomed flan tin. Line with greaseproof paper, fill with baking beans and blind bake for 15 mins.

For the filling:

40gr cornflour
3 lemons
3 egg yolks
80gr butter
80gr sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
100ml water

Set up a bowl on top of a saucepan of simmering water. Zest and juice the lemons into this bowl. Add the water and the cornflour and whisk constantly until it is a thick paste. Take off the heat and whisk in the egg yolks, butter and sugar. Stir in the vanilla extract.

For the meringue:

80gr sugar
3 egg whites
1 tbsp rose water

Turn the oven down to 180 degrees C. Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff peaks. Fold in the rose water and add 40gr of the sugar. Whisk again until stiff and glossy. Using a metal spoon, fold in the remaining sugar, and give it another whisk.

To assemble, spoon in the lemon mixture and top with the meringue, making slight peaks. If you like you can sprinkle with a little extra sugar for a crunchy top. Bake for 20 minutes, leave to cool and turn out.

Aubergine & Tomato Galette

I always thought a galette was a pancake made out of buckwheat flour, but like many terms in food, it also means something else. Wikipedia says it's a general French term for any kind of flat, round or freeform cakes. This one is very freeform indeed.

I first saw the galette on this blog and knew I had to try it immediately, and of course with my favourite vegetable with the aubergine. The crust, made with sour cream was flaky, crumbly and light; the cream is definitely an inspired addition. Soft melting vegetables, fresh aniseedy flavours of basil and with a nice cheesy hit, a slice of this with a dressed green bean salad made a filling but summery dinner.

Aubergine and Tomato Galette

Feeds 4

1 large or two medium aubergines
6 large ripe tomatoes
A handful of basil leaves
1 tub of ricotta
1 ball of mozzerella
50gr Parmesan
2 cloves of garlic

200gr plain flour
115gr butter, very cold cut into a dice
4 tbsp water
4 tbsp sour cream
A large pinch of salt
A squeeze of lemon juice
1 egg yolk

Slice the aubergine to about a finger's thickness and fry in hot oil on both sides until browned. Set to one side. Slice the tomatoes to a similar thickness, drizzle with oil. Mince the two cloves of garlic and scatter on top, seasoning with salt and pepper. Place under a medium grill for about 15 minutes.

Drain the mozerella ball and place in a sieve with a plate on top, and a tin of beans on the plate to squeeze some water out. Add the flour and salt to a big bowl. Add the butter and rub into the flour, working quickly. In a separate bowl, mix the water, sour cream and lemon juice until it's all incorporated and add it to the flour. Mix with your hands until it forms a dough and then stop immediately. Wrap in clingfilm and put in the fridge for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Grease a large sheet of greaseproof paper and place on a baking tray. Roll the pastry out into a rectangle to a half inch thickness. Leaving about a 3 inch gap, spread the ricotta over the pastry. Place a row of tomato slices (these should be thick, messy and gloopy), then a row of aubergine slices, slightly overlapping until you get to the other side. Scatter the basil leaves on top, reserving about 3 or 4. Slice the mozerella ball roughly and place the slices evenly on top, then repeat with the tomato and aubergine. Grate the Parmesan on top.

Glaze the pastry with the egg yolk and place in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until it's all bubbly and lovely and the pastry is browned. Leave to stand for 10 minutes, then slice the remaining basil leaves into slivers and scatter on top before serving.

The Squidgiest Brownies You Ever Did Taste

Last weekend saw me helping my good friend Helen out with her Big Lunch. It was a completely mammoth task, pulled off brilliantly; we figured that we'd be cooking for around 30 people, and donations flooded in left right and centre from generous producers and lovely pub people. For a full list and a video of all the shenanigans, have a look at Helen's excellent post here.

The Beast and Gilberta, ready for action

A particular item we made garnered lots of compliments and many requests for the recipe, so I thought it best I post it here. These brownies are properly squidgy; oozy, gooey centres, crisp shiny tops and studded with nuts. I spied more than two people slathering Rodda's Clotted Cream on top of them which is seriously indulgent, and seriously wonderful.

I used to post on the BBC Messageboards, which is where I got this recipe from, specifically a user called Sue_L. She was amazing for all things baked, and though this is the only brownie recipe I've tried, it's so good I haven't bothered trying any others. There's just no need. I have, of course, made a couple of teeny weeny tweaks.

Squidgy Brownies

200gr butter
1 large pinch of salt (it works...)
600gr caster sugar (yes, really 600gr)
200gr chocolate - use at least 70% cocoa; we used Green & Blacks' 72%
250gr strong white flour (makes them chewier)
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp cocoa
1 handful each of hazelnuts and walnuts

Break up the chocolate and add to a bowl with the butter. Set over a bain marie, ensuring that no water gets into the bowl or you'll have a big seized mess.

Once melted, take the bowl off the heat and leave to cool for 10 mins. Add the sugar in and then the eggs, 1 at a time, beating them in well as you go. Add the vanilla extract and the sift in the flour. Sift in the cocoa and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. Chop the nuts and mix them in.

Pour the mixture into a lined deep square tin or roasting dish and bake at 180 degrees C. After 40 minutes, give it a skewering to check its doneness. It should still have a little chocolate stick to the pokey but not so it's sloppy. Remove and leave to cool in the tin, and then remove and cut into squares.

Serve with clotted cream if you dare.

Thanks to Helen for letting me use her photos.

Pear, Maple & Walnut Cake

I'm a bit of a picky one when it comes to cake. I love cakes made with fruit and yet I don't like fruitcake. Pears are a particular favourite of mine, so when I saw this recipe, it jumped straight to the top of the 'must make' list.

I made a few tweaks to the recipe to include Cognac (which always improves things) and maple. Finally, slowly but surely, that kilo of maple sugar is being put to good use. The pears ensure there is no dryness to the cake with the maple giving it an almost caramel flavour. Sweet, dense and with the occasional lump of walnut, this made an excellent accompaniment to the biggest mug of tea I could find.

Pear, Maple & Walnut Cake

350gr plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
175gr maple sugar (double this if you're using normal sugar as maple sugar is twice as sweet)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large pears (I used Comte)
160gr butter, softened
2 small handfuls of walnuts, chopped
1 tbsp icing sugar
A splash of Cognac or brandy

Preheat your oven to 175 degrees C. Grease a 9" springform cake tin.

Mix together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and bicarbonate of soda in a large mixing bowl. Add the chopped walnuts and then add the sugar, butter, Cognac, vanilla extract and eggs to the flour mixture.

Peel the pears and grate them. Mix thoroughly through the cake mixture so that it becomes batter and then pour into your greased cake tin and place in the oven. Bake for 1 hour - 1 hour 10 mins - it should be browned on top and a skewer inserted should come out clean.

Cool the cake in the pan for about 20 minutes. Then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Dust it with icing sugar.

Parsley & Anchovy Dumplings

The light and healthy eating could only last so long. Wind blowing around this corner of South East London turned my nose and ears red; snow wreaked havoc for the overland trains, rendering my journey to and from work to be an hour and a half each way to travel just over 5 miles. Sheet ice covered the pavements and I slid my way around. I kept crossing my fingers for a snow day, but alas, off to work I trudged. Hearty feeding was needed to lift the spirits and to warm you from inside out.

The first time I had dumplings with stew I was mildly repulsed. Having grown up with the notion that all dumplings were of the Chinese kind, I listened on in horror while my dad told me what suet was. I soon warmed to the idea of it as the doughy, puffy dumplings soaked up the meaty gravy in stodgy happiness.

I decided to add a twist to these dumplings. Usually when I make a beef stew I dissolve a couple of anchovies in the oil before adding anything else. This gives the stew an deeper, richer flavour with none of the fishiness. Instead, the anchovies went into the dumplings with parsley for some grassy freshness. It worked beautifully, just as I'd hoped - the anchovies had melted into the dumplings well. The tops were slightly crisp and they yielded softly under the fork. The shin of beef in red wine stew was complete.

Parsley & Anchovy Dumplings

Makes 6 - enough for 2

110gr self raising flour
50gr suet
4 anchovy fillets
A large handful of finely chopped parsley
1/2 tbsp mustard powder
Water
Pepper

Sift the flour into a large bowl with the mustard powder. Chop the anchovy fillets finely and add to the flour with the parsley and suet. Add black pepper to taste (the anchovies are salty enough to eschew salt) and a dribble of water. Work the water into the ingredients well, before adding a little more until the dough comes together and isn't too sticky. Roll into balls and place atop your finished stew, baking at 200 degrees uncovered for 20 minutes.

A Baked Egg Brunch

Brunch in my house rarely excludes eggs. Eggs are comforting, whether they're simply scrambled, softly boiled or delicately poached. A favourite brunch of mine is Eggs Florentine, especially with foaming Hollandaise but sometimes it can be too much effort, or too heart-stoppingly buttery.

I hadn't tried baking eggs before I made this. It worked well; simple flavourings, runny yolk and a toasted English muffin to scoop up the goodness. There's no set recipe as such as I'm sure you can really add whatever you like - bacon, slow-roasted tomatoes, cooked cubed potato - but here's what I did.

Baked Eggs with Spinach

Serves 1

2 handfuls of spinach
An inch of salami or chorizo, diced
A shallot
1 large free range egg
A dribble of cream or milk
A grating of cheese
Salt & pepper
Some sort of bread product for scooping
Butter

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C. In a frying pan, add the salami or chorizo and fry slowly to render the fat out. Add the shallot, sliced, and fry until soft and translucent. Add the spinach and fry on a high heat until just wilted. Drain off any water, and add to a ramekin. Make a well, crack the egg into it, top with the cream and cheese with a touch of salt and pepper and bake for 10 minutes, checking often - you want the egg whites to have just set.

Toast your bread product, butter it, scoop the egg up and eat - preferably with some yolk dribbling down your chin.

No Turkeys Here

We don't have turkey for Christmas; haven't done for years now. It's not a bird we enjoy eating, so we did away with it. In the past we had duck, goose and venison so this year we decided to do a classic; Beef Wellington.

I used the recipe on this blog, a Gordon Ramsey one which I tested for Olive. The mushroom mixture was studded with raw duck foie gras, for some festive cheer. Considering I cooked it alone with only gin for company, it worked out really well - perfectly rare and ridiculously rich. No dry turkey meat to struggle through in sight.

Making the rough puff pastry. It's a faff, but worth making your own

Mushroom mixture with duck foie gras

Herb crepes

Beef fillet, seared and brushed with mustard

Assembly - crepes, then Parma ham

Mushroom mixture added

Some skillful rolling

Out of the oven

Served with a rather scarily vibrant red wine sauce