If anything was going to bring me back to writing, it was going to be a baked peach. Ever since the days of reading Jane Grigson in the greengrocers at my Saturday job, bundled up in knitwear and watching the clock on the wall tick laboriously by, I’ve dreamt of baked peaches. In the summer,Continue reading “Baked peaches”
Category Archives: Sweet things
The sweets of Venice (frittelle, biscotti and Carnevale)
When I remember my first time au pairing, I think mostly of doughnuts. They were called bombe, and I was obsessed. For two months I ate one every single day. I’d wait impatiently for their delivery to the beach bar, then savour them while they were still warm and oozing sweet creme patisserie. After finding myself strandedContinue reading “The sweets of Venice (frittelle, biscotti and Carnevale)”
Crêpes
We used to have pancakes once a year at home, on Shrove Tuesday, when the squeezy Jif would appear at the table and my mum would stand at the stove, grumbling about what a fuss they were to cook. English pancakes were never a breakfast thing. I only remember them with the backdrop of aContinue reading “Crêpes”
Banana Bread
It was in a cold greengrocers that Jane Grigson first taught me about fruit. Every Saturday morning I would take her book down from a shelf and learn about the the history of the quince or how best to cook medlars. Jane helped me fall in love with ingredients. She also made working in anContinue reading “Banana Bread”
Carrot Cake
We’re veering dangerously close to March and I’m not at all happy about it. I don’t want to write my dissertation (on conceptions of sufferance in the 12th century – What fun!), whilst also juggling a couple of essays and keeping half an eye on my ever looming exams. I don’t really want to shuffle fromContinue reading “Carrot Cake”
Mint cream chocolate biscuits
Bloody hell, it really is Christmas. I have a repeated nightmare that’s based around Christmas. The big day suddenly comes into being without any prior warning. Everybody has shopped and planned without me and I sit down to lunch, faced with boiled carrots because I wasn’t there to patronise everybody on the fact that roasted carrotsContinue reading “Mint cream chocolate biscuits”
No churn coconut ice cream
“One more minute, oh no oh no, I JUST DON”T KNOW” The young man behind the counter tutted and gestured to the queue winding out of the shop and down the street. “Okay, okay, okay…strawberry” This is one of a few wildly regrettable decisions I’ve made in my life. Strawberry gelato…I had the choice ofContinue reading “No churn coconut ice cream”
Marble cake
Some cakes are pure decadence: a Victoria Sponge that is bound together by a butter corset, or a carefully regimented army of macaroon clones. These creations are fabulous, but baking perfection requires the patience of a saint or the skilled hand of a patisserie. I have neither, so perfection has to be something else thanContinue reading “Marble cake”
Vegan chocolate coconut tart
This time last week I was on a coach on my way back to London. When I saw London in the distance, skyscrapers clustered together, grey faced and glowing with the artificial light of office windows, I wanted to go back to Norfolk. The sky was a choked sort of grey – the dank purpleContinue reading “Vegan chocolate coconut tart”
Lemon and blueberry swirl cake (and Highgate cemetery)
It’s bloody cold here. It’s so cold that when you’re on a tour of Highgate cemetery, you huddle next to a hard tomb to soften the icy wind that scrapes across the marble. You dance on top of graves to reawaken any inklings of feeling in your toes, and apologise as you do so. EvenContinue reading “Lemon and blueberry swirl cake (and Highgate cemetery)”
To The Table 