The First Gooseberry

It seems, that this year, everything in the garden has been so slow to get started, no doubt due to to the hard winter followed by a reluctant and cold spring.
At last the weather is warming up and the sun is beginning to have some actual beneficial heat, I've even sat outside having my lunch as it's been so nice.
During one of my outdoor sandwiches I noticed that my gooseberry bush has started to bear fruit. Just a tiny little berry hanging off the very end of a spikey branch, but it's a start.
I have three gooseberry bushes in the garden and if they all do the same, I should be lucky enough to have plenty of fruit.

Just need to keep the saw fly larvae at bay, as they have a voracious appetite for goosberry leaves and are capable of de-nuding an entire plant in a matter of days – the little buggers!

Butterfly Cakes

It’s 1970-something and I’m standing at a large white formica-topped kitchen table, the sun is shining, it’s a hot summer’s day and birds are pecking at the bread crusts out on the lawn. The sound of wood pigeons is occasionally interrupted by the sound of an inter-city train on its journey towards Euston as it zooms through the cutting at the far end of the garden. I’m happy helping my Grandma with the baking for Sunday tea, before my parents take me back home, after a week’s stay with her and Grandad.

I learned quite a lot about baking from Grandma. The recipes were loosely based on ones from either the Good Housekeeping Cookbook, or the Be-Ro book and butterfly cakes were always fun to make. The results were sometimes a bit messy and maybe overdecorated once Grandma let me loose on the silver balls, sugar flowers and jelly diamonds, but they were no less delicious.

I stood at my Grandma’s side, us both wearing pinnys, and me mostly covered in flour and icing sugar. Grandma must have been awfully patient as I made a mess of her kitchen, being creative!
These are not your usual butterfly cakes as they have orange added – that was Grandma’s idea, much, I might add, to my Dad’s disapproval. He doesn’t like orange in cakes, but I think it’s rather nice.
I haven’t made these for years, probably not since I was a child, but I was suddenly inspired to honour my Grandma by making them once again, much to the delight of my husband. This time I have refrained from using ostentatious edible frippery and kept them simple.

Ingredients
For the cake mixture
4oz butter, softened
4oz caster sugar
2 medium eggs, beaten
4oz self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
grated zest of half an orange

For the butter icing
5oz butter, softened
10oz icing sugar
grated zest of half an orange
1 tblspn orange juice, freshly squeezed

Method
Preheat the oven to 220C / 400F / Gas 6.
Line a 12 hole cake pan with paper cases.

Place butter and sugar into a bowl and beat together until pale and creamy. Add the beaten eggs a little at a time and keep beating until they’re all combined, then thoroughly mix in the grated orange zest.

Sift together the self raising flour and baking powder and gently fold into the butter and egg mixture, a little at a time.

Spoon the mixture into the paper cases, just over half way is good.
Place in the oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
When the cakes are cooked, remove from the oven and transfer them to a wire rack to cool.

Meanwhile make the butter icing. Place the butter into a bowl and beat until creamy. Sift in the icing sugar and and mix until smooth, along with the orange juice and zest. Set aside.

When the cakes are completely cool, using a sharp knife, carefully slice off the top of each cake and set aside.

Spoon a good dollop of butter icing on the top of each cake.
Then take each cake top and cut in half and push the two halves into the icing of each cake to form butterfly wings.

Lastly, dust the cakes with icing sugar.

Bipin's Masala

Eating curry has become very popular in many British households over the years, but not many people make it from scratch. Preparing it using all the component spices can be time consuming, leading many people to resort to using ready-made sauces or pastes for ease and speed. I often make my own curries from raw ingredients, as so far I’ve been disappointed with the results from shop bought mixtures – this means that I only make them when I have more time.

When I was given the opportunity to try a spice mix from Bipin’s Masala, I was keen to give it a go, as the masala is made from entirely fresh ingredients.
Based in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, Bipin takes pride in creating authentic masalas, using a blend of Gujarati spices, that are tasty as well as healthy – there’s no need to add oil or salt. They are are gluten and dairy free and completely vegetarian, unless you add meat to your curry of course. Having no colourings, flavourings, additives or preservatives, they are completely fresh and natural and this very much appeals to me.

Five varieties are available; Surti, Jeera, Methi, Machi and Garam, I used the Surti Masala.
It certainly looked appetising in the pot, a deep red, flecked with green coriander leaves. As soon as I opened the lid a gorgeous aroma wafted out – it smelled as if it had been made just moments ago. My pot contained enough for a four person meal, it didn’t look like much, but the masala is so concentrated you don’t need a lot.

I used chicken and a little sautéed onion and mixed them together with the masala in a heavy casserole and put it in the oven. There’s absolutely no need to brown the meat and cooking it this way allows the beautiful flavours to infuse the meat fully. No water is required either, as during cooking, moisture is released from the meat giving the right amount of liquid.
Towards the end of cooking some cream or yogurt can be stirred through, I chose to use yogurt as I like its zingy flavour. Some roughly chopped coriander leaves are a nice addition too.

The end result was a revelation and the flavour definitely authentic. It was good and spicy with just the right level of chilli heat – not tongue-burningly so, but a pleasant lingering warmth. The other spices revealed themselves in layers of taste, so that each one was discernible and readily appreciated. A well balanced curry indeed that left me wanting more.

For more information visit Bipin’s website: www.curryfusion.net
Read Bipin’s blog for news and recipes: bipinscurrypot.blogspot.com

It's in the bag!

I've created myself the latest must-have food festival accessory – the Cheeky Spouse shopping bag. It's not for sale (not yet anyway).
So, to all you food producers at the shows, if you see the bag you'll know I'm on the look out for people to be "Tried and Tasted"... I wonder what'll end up in those bags?