Iron Cupcake Challenge – Maple Syrup

This Saturday was sweet! Sean and I met my friend Karen for breakfast at The Toddle Inn. If you have never been to this little cafe, you have to make a breakfast date and get there. It is located on Richmond near Pall Mall and it has been there forever. The Toddle Inn is a London landmark – steeped in history and full of great breakfast and lunch,  make sure to try the homemade spiked marmalade. By chance, an old friend of mine (Brad) sat beside us and a new friend (Mel). Mel is an up-and-coming Food TV celebrity chef (she told me to say that), but she really could be! Karen and I had plans to go the Western Fair Market for the Iron Cupcake Challenge and told Brad and Mel about it and they were in! The Iron Cupcake challenge is held monthly upstairs at the Western Fair Farmers Market. Each month they pick an ingredient superstar and each month people from London and surrounding area can enter into the baking challenge – or if that is not your forté, you can just show up and shove a lot of cupcakes in your mouth, all in the name of charity. Of course, we chose the latter. At this particular cupcake challenge there were seven contestants and the money raised went to The Heart and Stroke Foundation. The maple syrup for the event was sponsored by The Kinsmen Fanshawe Sugar Bush. All the cupcakes were sweet – every single one of them. For a few short minutes I thought I may not be able to make it through all seven of my mini cupcakes, but then I remembered who I am, shook off that nonsensical thinking and plowed on through. The cupcakes and the displays are amazing. All of the bakers put a lot of energy, creativity and heart into these bake-offs and you can see and taste it! The donation is only $5, which is a really sweet deal, because trust me – you will have a huge sugar rush to last you throughout the day or at least until you wander through the market and pick up some fresh vegetables and baked goods. There is a wonderful coffee shop called The Fire Roasted Coffee Company that deals in Fair Trade, ethically produced coffee and chocolate right upstairs beside the Iron Cupcake Challenge. I wonder what March”s secret ingredient will be – any guesses? I am thinking rhubarb! Iron Cupcake Challenge for February.  Read More

Lavender Fairy Cakes

Lavender Fairy Cakes | Photo: Kelly Hunt It”s true. These lovely little cakes are called Fairy Cakes. Do you believe in fairies? It”s okay, you can admit it, I am Irish, so it is part of my heritage to believe in leprechauns, Tír na nÓg, unicorns and fairies, so I certainly won”t be judging. I have a load of lavender growing in my front garden this year and it is now starting to bloom. I have a potluck for my book club this evening, so I decided to harvest some of the lavender and make these very traditional lavender fairy cakes. They are very flowery and the texture is very different from a cupcake, try them out and let me know what you think. I really should create a whole post one day on edible flowers, it is a subject unto itself. Lavendar Fairy Cakes For Cake 1/2 cup super fine sugar (I used regular sugar) 1/2 cup butter unsalted butter, softened (Gay Lea is local) 2 local eggs 1 tablespoon of cream 1/2 teapoon of vanilla (maple syrup is an excellent local substitution for vanilla) 1 and 1/4 cup of Arva Flour Mills All Purpose Four 1 and 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt one teaspoon Finely Chopped local lavender For Icing 1 and 1/2 cups of icing sugar water Decoration Sprinkle of fresh lavender buds Silver balls (dragees) DIRECTIONS Preheat oven to 400Ëš In a big bowl beat together the butter and the sugar until fluffy. Add in a egg (one at a time), beating for about a minute for each egg. Add in vanilla and cream and beat for another minute. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, salt and baking powder. Fold this mixture into the wet ingredients, just until combined, don”t over mix. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners. Put an equal dollop of mixture into each liner, pop into oven and bake for about 18 – 22 minutes. Start looking at 18 minutes. The cake should act like a sponge when you push on it, it should push back at you. Once they are slightly golden they are done. Move to a wire rack to cool. Just before the cakes are done baking, mix together your icing sugar and enough water (not much) to make a thick white icing. Drop a glob onto each still wam cake and let it drip around the edges, it will harden – but before it does, sprinkle with lavender and any other little decorations you like.  Read More

Carrot & Cardamom Preserve

Carrot Cardamom Chutney I just wanted to say that this is simply, fantastic. I bought this in the spring from Stefanie at Bake*well. Let”s just say she is a little baking genius. I ate this on top of some stinky Quebec soft cheese, (which was in itself to die for) I added this on top and it sweetened up that stinky cheese just the right way. Sweet and savoury, savoury and sweet, love! I think I would even eat this preserve on its own, atop toast. You see, it possesses this marmalade-like citrus zing, which I think would be just perfect for sleepy weekend mornings. Stefanie can be found on Saturdays (and I think Thursdays) at The Covent Garden Farmers Market. She always has a variety of mouthwatering baked goods, quiches and she does some preserves as the seasons change. Go get some, tell her I say hi! Stefanie Bake*well Pastry & Preserves Covent Garden Market  Read More

Baked Goods Spotlight – Covent Garden Market

Rhubarb Tart Today was the opening day for The Covent Garden Market. As any of you know that made it out today, the weather was not the greatest . Even though very windy (so windy that the tents were threatening to jump their ropes!), the sun still managed to make a brief appearance and it was reasonably warm for a few minutes. That was time enough for me to make a decent dent in my grocery budget. I went for asparagus and rhubarb, but I left with 2 kinds of bread, green onions, mint, tarragon, rhubarb tarts, breakfast muffins, lemon tartlettes, a jar of carrot & cardamom preserve and a few other nibblies that we ate there. There are three vendors at the outdoor market that sell baked goods: International Bakery, Made From Scratch and Bake*Well. I purchased my very artisanal looking breads from International Bakery,I happened upon the rhubarb tarts and the breakfast muffins from Dee at Made From Scratch and Stefanie at Bake*Well provided me with the lemon tartlettes,carrot cake with cream cheese icing and the home made carrot & cardamom jam. I have not had the doughy pleasure of diving into the breads just yet, but how can I go wrong with a professional baker baking such rustic breads? They look and smell delicious, every time we got back in the car as we ran our Saturday errands it smelled like a bakery in there -Vundenbar! Moving on to the rhubarb tart and breakfast muffins – yes, I ate them both in one day! You see, Sean and I went in for a coffee at the Little Red Roaster where he ate what was left of his carrot cake – for the record, he did allow me a small nibble and it was delicious! Then there was my rhubarb tart – I need to take my time on this one… it was soooooooo good! First of all, it was flaky in all the right places. Secondly, I am guessing that there must have been two kinds of sugary goodness in there to combat that tarty playfulness of the wonderfully rouge rhubarb. Lastly, the pastry was light and crumbly, topped with oats and all the right spices, it was just devine! Dee tells me she is using Arva Flour Mill flour for most of her baking needs. She goes in and gets a 50lb bag of flour! She was giggling as she told me, I did too – I can just imagine this tiny woman hauling her 50lb bag out of the mill. Dee was lovely and I am glad to meet her. Later on in the day, Sean and I shared the breakfast muffin, we made it a lunch muffin – it was full of seeds, nuts and many other good things. It was slightly sweet, just the right amount, and it was full of complex flavours and it did not even contain sugar! Quite satisfying and although it felt like a treat, it also seemed like it was good for us. On to Stefanie at Bake*Well. … On her table there were assorted tarts, preserves and I think there was a quiche. I am not so sure, my memory is vague as I was distracted by Sean drooling all over a very large carrot cake before I even finished paying! I purchased a super intriguing looking preserve type thingee – it”s a jam, it”s a preserve.. it”s Carrot & Cardamom! I am very excited to try this at a later date, and I will be sure to post the results at that time. I chatted with Stefanie for a few minutes – people, you have to meet her – she”s adorable and she believes in supporting the local food movement. Almost everything on the table was made from mostly local ingredients. For instance, she also uses the Arva Flour Mill and takes advantage of seasonal ingredients like berries and nuts in her baked goods and preserves. So now you are saying okay, okay – but why are those lemon tartlettes on there? Yes, the other thing I purchased was two lemon tartlettes, and of course the lemon filling is not from a local lemon, but the crust and other ingredients are! I bought these for a special treat for me and my mum tomorrow for her special Mother”s Day lunch. Can”t wait to dive in! Thank you Stefanie and I am SURE I will be back. Once again, The Covent Garden Market surprises me with its various treats supplied by its local producers, it is such a great place to go on a Saturday morning and when I am there I feel that it has it”s own little vibe and this particular visitor just loves it!  Read More