Pies you like

What do you think of when summer comes around? Is it pies? It probably not pies.
OK so maybe it's not pies, but you might be thinking of shortcrust pastry. Who isn't?

I've recently been getting into making my own shortcrust and applying that to my cooking. 
The biggest push towards making pies was simply that I wanted to eat a pie. This was back around Easter. I had some friends over for lunch, and I thought, well why not bake a couple of mini-pies. 
It went down like a peach. Is that a saying? Why not. Let's make it a saying.

Obsessing about cheese

Earlier I admitted to not having much of a sweet tooth. That's still true, but the other week I was obsessed with making cheesecake. It wasn't just any cheesecake. I wanted to make a particularly light, chocolaty, gooey cheesecake.

At work, at home, on the bus, on my bike, I wanted to make a chocolate and caramel cheesecake. I couldn't remember how long it had been since I had made a cheesecake. I hate having to buy a cheesecake. They are always so dense and devoid of anything other than sugar. The base is terrible and mealy. Why commit such crimes against cheesecake? Who would do that? 

Birthday cappuccino

It was my sister's birthday the other day and I thought mark the occasion with a freshly baked cake. 

Personally I'm not much of a fan for the traditional cream-filled cakes, and as I was going to be making breakfast too, what would make a better accompaniment to the morning celebrations than a sweet scenting cappuccino cake. 

After some hunting around I settled on Mary Berry's recipe. The beauty of Mary's recipes are that they are so simple to follow. Whack them in a bowl, mix them up and there you have it. Even a first year student can follow one of her concoctions. 

As I do not bake with eggs I used the Orgran No Egg substitute and added a half a teaspoon of Bicarb and Baking powder. Try not to overdo either of those as you will get an odd tasting cake. 

After you've put together the cake mix don't forget to put both tins on the same shelf. If The Great British Bake Off has taught us anything it's that a shelf makes all the difference. You'll want both cakes to bake at the same time and the same rate. 

As is the way with most eggless cakes mine didn't quite rise as much as it needed to. The original plan was to slice each cake in half to have four layers of cake with cappuccino frosting in between. If your cakes do rise to the appropriate level I'd suggest making double the frosting. The amount in the original recipe will not be anywhere enough if you like to be generous. 

Unfortunately I'm not allowed to show you a photo of my sister with her slice of cake, but I can show you the finished article. Even if you don't have a birthday going on this is a real treat to have for afternoon tea. And if you can be bothered to do it in the morning, your home is filled with that beautiful scent of coffee. 

Have a crack at it and let me know how it goes. Try it with freshly ground coffee rather than instant and you'll taste the difference. 

Drunk mangoes

Unfortunately the Indian/Pakistan mango season is coming to an end and all those weeks of eating mango after mango is over. 

This year like every other year I've enjoyed going to Wembley to pick up boxes of Honey, Kesar and Alphonso mangoes. If you've not been I suggest you take a walk down Ealing road and take in the sights and smells. 

Quite bananas

The summer has really hit us, here in the UK, and that means BBQing almost every day. Not only have I been hitting the grill most evenings I've also been invited to a few over the last couple of weekends. 

A couple of weeks ago my uncle held one at quite short-notice, and unfortunately I didn't bring anything. Huge faux pas I admit, but there really wasn't any time. 

Chock full of cherries

Over the last few weeks my local market and grocer have been drowned in all sorts of cherries, which to me means it's time gorge. 

Every evening I've been delighting in a bowl full of cherries. This season has been particularly lovely. I've not had one bad cherry, which it something of a joy.