The Womens Room

We love: All things Scandi

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I have had a crush on all things Scandinavian for some time now, particularly Scandi food. It started with a visit to Copenhagen some time ago, where I was very taken with the amazing outdoor lifestyle, beautiful people and delicious food.

I love the Hel-looks and Copenhagen Streetstyle blogs for an inspiring take on bohemian/indie Scandi street style and thought Hel Yes was one of the most interesting pop up restaurant concepts of last year. And of course over the winter, we have all been dreaming of visiting the best restaurant in the world Noma, reading Stig Larson books, watching The Killing and wearing snowflake jumpers - what do you mean you don't like them - that is not the point!

Recently there seem to be more and more Scandi style cafes and bakeries popping up all over London and some lovely new cook books focusing on the seasonal, locally sourced produce and traditional recipes of the region.

The Scandavian Kitchen and The Nordic Bakery are two of my favourite cafes and I am loving the recipes in The Nordic Bakery cookbook.

I recently heard Norweigain food writer and anthropologist Signe Johansen read from her new book The Secrets of Scandinavian Cooking at the Stoke Newington Literary Festival and was compelled to buy it. The book contains 'eighty fuss-free and accessible Scandinavian recipes for the home cook and those with a keen interest in all things Nordic'! That'll be me then!
Oh and check out these fantastic Nordic Ware bundt tins, Signe Tweeted about recently!

Now if I could only achieve that cool, blonde, laid back, pared down yet feminine look that Scandi girls do so well, I'd be sorted. Cinnamon bun anyone?

Simple pleasure: Beet cake

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The internet is changing the way we do almost everything, including cooking. It's so easy to Google a recipe, one wonders about the future of the cook book. I recently bought an iPad and find it indispensable in the kitchen and just the right size to view a recipe, although I'm still a huge fan of cookery books

I came across this lovely recipe and video on the Tiger In A Jar Blog recently and was transfixed by the beautiful colours and atmospheric filming. Despite the fact I really don't like beetroots, I'm very tempted to make this cake.

In the same way clever fashion companies are using film to showcase their brands, perhaps this is the way forward for food writing.

Something else for next weekend: Maltby Street market

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One of the annoying things about living in London is just when you think you have found something new and exciting, everyone else seems to discover it too, and before you know it the lovely little speak easy/junk shop/tapas bar is packed with lots of other people keen to share their secret find with their friends and family!

Therefore I write this post with great trepidation, as I really don't want to turn up to Maltby Street market in a few months time to find it so full, it's almost impossible to get into any of the shops or stalls. Not that there are that many of them - yet. But this as yet undiscovered little row of railway arches in Bermondsey, is being hailed as the new alternative to the horribly heaving Borough Market by London's foodies and those in the know!

Anyone who has tried to browse the many stalls in Borough Market on a Saturday will know how frustrating it can be, mainly due to the sheer volume of visitors. I usually try to visit on a Friday when there are less tourists and stalls and it's actually possible to wander and browse.

Visiting Maltby Street for the first time you would be forgiven for thinking there is actually nothing much there, but you have to have patience and be prepared to hunt down the best produce. Monmouth Coffee brew their coffee here and it is home to the St John Bakery, who make the most amazing vanilla doughnuts! There is also a Neals Yard, Swiss cheese supplier Kase Swiss, Topolski, who sell seasonal Polish produce, and Kappacasein, who reportedly make the best toasted cheese sandwich (we didn't have time to try one) and if you have any space left, you could finish off with a beer brewed by The Kernal Brewery.

It is definitely worth a visit before it inevitably grows into something much bigger, but if you do decide to go, whatever you do -  please don't tell everyone!

Maltby Street Market, SE1, Saturdays 9am - 2pm

Story Deli is back

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We were devastated when the wonderful Story Deli closed suddenly with out any warning, as it was one of favourite places to go for inspiration and pizza when hanging out in Brick lane. It turns out their rather unscrupulous landlords turfed them out with only 10 days notice, which was devastating for them and disappointing for their many loyal customers. 

When owner Lee told us they had re-opened in another location, we couldn't wait to check it out and went along last weekend.

The new space although much smaller than the Dray Walk shop, looks just as lovely. In fact in some ways the slightly more pared down, simpler approach is more relaxed and intimate. The ultra thin pizzas are still delicious (we had chorizo and rocket) and the cafe was full of old customers who were ecstatic to be able to eat them again.

Lee told us this is just a temporary space, lent to them by a friend, until they can find a more permament site. So we will keep you posted if they move again. Until then you can find them at 64 Sclater Street, just off Brick Lane.

Storydeli.com

Brilliant Blogs: Edible Geography

Photo from Ediblegeography.com

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Here at TWR we are getting excited about our imminent relaunch (yes, we know it's been a long time in the talking, we've been busy, right?) when we will be presenting a whole new look blog. Basically the same but prettier and a little bigger. 

When we do relaunch (ETA beginning of June) we will be revamping our 'blogs we love' list, making it easier to read and research from. On it will be the terrific Edible Geography blog by Nicola Twilley. I discovered this recently while researching for the day job and was blown away by the interesting subjects she covers on all things food related. Be warned, this is not a recipe blog, rather it's a thoughtful look at the world of agriculture, science, wine growing, food production and food design. And all sorts of other things food related. 

I lost an afternoon reading blog posts, in particular the amazingly whacky but charming Photosynthesis restaurant by artist Jonathon Keats (a restaurant of altered sunshine for plants), the frankly amazing story of Atomic Gardens, and how radiation is still playing a big part in producing mutant seeds for industry. After that it's worth looking at the Mutato Archive and worrying a little.....

Edible Geography

Britain's best tea cosies: as seen at White Stuff

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I've just read Jane's post on Tea Shops and have to show you my newest hand knitted tea cosy. I bought this while at the recent visual merchandising show in London, where I met concept designer Jacquie Marsh's team, Gorgeous, who do many of the windows for White Stuff. 

White Stuff Foundation, set up in 2010 does a lot of fund raising for the 67 charities it supports and for a recent set of windows, Jacquie bought over 700 hand knitted or hand crafted tea cosies on eBay ('pretty much each one was an individual purchase too'! she told me) and a similar amount of novelty tea pots, which went into all 74 of White Stuff's windows around the country.

The idea was to sell all tea cosies and tea pots from the window, when you bought one your pot/cosy got your name on it and you picked it up when the window came out. The money raised went to charity, and Jacquie told me the York store was sponsoring a para-olympian and I know my money (£5 for the tea cosy, which I thought was a bargain...don't you love the knickers?) went towards this.

Jacquie was selling off the ramainder of her tea cosies and tea pots at the show, there were all fabulous and it was difficult to select just one, but I am very pleased with my 'washing line' one. We tried to figure out a way of offering them to TWR readers, but it got too complicated as both she and I were off on hols, but maybe next time White Stuff do something similar we'll link up, as I reckon there are a lot of TWR readers who would love a novelty tea cosy like this one, particularly if they were raising money for a good cause. 

Oh, and Happy Easter all!

Something for Easter weekend: Britains best tearooms

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While Amanda is sunning herself somewhere tropically hot and impossibly glamorous, I am up North for the Easter weekend to visit friends and family. We are dividing our time between the Yorkshire moors and the coastal town of Whitby and will no doubt find time to visit some of the many great tea rooms in the area.

One of my favourites has to be Bettys, which has branches all over North Yorkshire, with two branches in the lovely market town of Harrogate. There really is nothing like their afternoon tea, which has to be timed just right (have a big breakfast and skip lunch) in order to enjoy every single mouthful. Their website also has a fabulous selection of delicious cakes for every occasion.

If you are having a staycation this Easter, you might want to check out the Visit Britain Superblog's guide to the top 10 best tea rooms in Britain. The British Tea Councils website also has a guide to Britains top tea places and a fascinating counter documenting the number of cups of tea drunk in the UK so far today. I wonder how on earth they work that out!

Shopping with experts: Cybercandy

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Whenever I go abroad on a work trip, I have to bring back presents, however small for the kids. When they were tiny they used to be thrilled just to see me come back through the door, as they grew up and got more vocal, my three teenage sons made it very clear that their preferred present was chocolate or sweets. And not the rubbish you can find at the airport either (how many other homes have had the M&M tube top people littering their toy boxes?). No, they really wanted the weird and the wonderful stuff the locals eat, the more bizarre the better. 

My return from trips to Japan or the Far East are always greatly anticipated because some of the whackiest confectionery comes from there, and Japan always has the added bonus of everything being wrapped beautifully. Well now I have found a shop that sells the very best weird candy from around the world right under my nose. And it's been there for years. 

When I was chatting to the lovely Elinor Bashan, retail director of Change Retail (which runs The Shop At The Savoy) last week, she mentioned that she was putting together a bespoke 'Secret Covent Garden' shopping guide for one of her clients and she let slip that Cybercandy was one of the places she loved to take people to. I am ashamed to say I had never heard of it, even though it's been there for YEARS (there's one in Brighton, Birmingham and Islington too). I legged it round there and found all of my favourites stocked aplenty. 

It had Pockys in all flavours (including the oddest one Mens Flavour), Hi Chus (my sons' absolute favourite sweet bar none, particularly the apple flavour), the weird Kit Kats (avoid the Cola flavour but the green tea one is spectacularly good) and the marvellous Every Burger chocolate biscuits. The Japanese are obsessed with Hello Kitty so there are a multitude of pretty pastel offerings and cute tins in this range (they have nearly 60 varieties listed) which always make nice presents for girls.

The website lists sweets by country, and the Scandinavian section looks interesting, it might have been fun to suck a Saltlakrid whilst watching The Killing. Can anyone recommend favourites from other countries?

PS, sweets are about to become big news, did we all know Hamley's is soon to open a whole floor of sweets? 

These Pudding marshmallows (sadly not on the website) are my favourite.

We love: The House of Hackney

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If you are fan of minimal interiors, look away now, as this is about as over the top as it gets. The fabulous new luxury interior company, House of Hackney launched yesterday with a pop up shop in Dalston.

It's really more of a show room/installation than a shop, as you can't actually buy anything there. A bit like a museum (on acid) with everything laid out in room sets, the collection is explained by the charming staff and you then head home to buy online.

We think we will see more of this style of retailing in the future, as clever companies will create amazing interactive experiences, allowing you to view the product in a curated environment and then purchase later online.

The House of Hackney describe their collection as  "Conceived as the antethesis of disposable identikit furnishings and white wall fatigue, the home furnishings, wallpaper and textiles are characterized by prints and products that are steeped in tradition but are bold and non-conformist".

The whole experience reminded us of visiting Dennis Severs House in Spitalfields and the 40 Winks Hotel in Stepney. The stunning collections of wallpaper, fabrics, soft furnishings and furniture are named after local landmarks such as Hackney Empire and Dalston Rose, and we loved the maximalist mantelpieces, crammed with huge ornate ceramics, clocks, apothecary bottles and china dogs.

The pop up is in Ruby House, one of the amazing locations owned by Castle Gibson and it's worth a visit just to see this stunning Victorian townhouse.

In the basement cake specialists Lily Vanilli have set up a 'British Tea Room', where for £10, you can indulge in goodies such as mini apple champagne donuts and absinthe and mint chocolate chip ice-cream, accompanied by live acts including Marawa the Incredible and her Fruit Salad of Death and a Live Fortune Cookie Teller! 

If you live in north or east London, or fancy a trek to the increasingly fashionable Dalston (which is a little ironic, if like me, you have lived in the area for the last 20 years) it's really worth a visit and you could always make an appointment to visit LN-CC which is just around the corner.

House of Hackney Pop-up Shop
76 Stoke Newington Road,
N16 7XB
Until Sunday 3rd April
10am- 7pm

We love: Ms Marmitelover's new book

Ms Marmitelover and her stunning dishes at the Fire and Knives food event

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We featured the founder of the Secret supper club movement Ms Marmitelover - aka Kerstin Rodgers - in readers kitchens back in December 2009, as we loved the idea of running a restaurant from your living room. 

Since then her Underground Restaurant has gone from strength to strength, hosting themed nights in her restaurant/living room, running two underground food markets in her flat, and most recently creating a delicious pop lunch for the Fire and Knives event.

A former NME photographer, Kerstin has an amazing eye for detail (as well as being a great cook) and her exclusively vegetarian (and some fish) food is beautifully presented. She also has a great blog, featuring her recipes, food stories and details of her events.

Her first book, Supper Club is out on March the 31st and features her delicious recipes, themed menus and tips on how to run your own supper club. She will also be running The Underground University, a conference on how to start your own supper club, on May the 21st. There will be tips on finance, PR and marketing, and advice from other supper club hosts. Tickets are £100 and include lunch and breakfast.

We love: Cocomaya's seed bread

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Writing about food, which I don't normally do, is very enjoyable because you get to eat! This week I popped into Cocomaya, the artisanal chocolate and bakery store, to chat to the delightful Walid Al Damirji, one of the co owners, about food display. A fashion boy through and through (I admired his bag and he admitted it was Marni...) he used to work for Joseph and still makes up-cycled clothes from vintage finds.

He claims there's a lot of cross over between fashion and food, saying 'Chefs are far worse than fashion designers, they are so queeny you can cut the atmosphere in the kitchen with all those knives...' We can quite believe it although everyone in the Cocomaya kitchen seemed very nice when I went round.

Walid sent me home with three of the most delicious loaves of fashionably dainty bread and cake I have ever eaten, a seeded loaf, densely packed with a multitude of seeds (surely that counts as healthy?) a spelt bread which was the most tasty (it disappeared first in our household) and the most scrumptious Russian Tea Cake that I ate almost entirely on my own due to not wanting to share it. All at £7.50 each, expensive but totally worth it for a treat. As is the entire experience visiting the Connaught Village site, it's a beautiful place to meet for tea or lunch, if it's sunny you can sit outside and watch the world go by then pop across to The Dresser and my new favourite antique store Clarke & Reilly. 

And now the ladies who lunch in Sloane Square have a Cocomaya they can visit too, as a new store and cafe has recently opened in Pavillion Road just off the Square (next to Ormonde Jayne's perfume shop). Seriously though, the seed bread's the one to go for.

Cocomaya

We are reading: Pia Jane Bijkerk

Pia Jane Bijkerk, from Enhance the Everyday

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It's all about lovely things to look at the moment...quite independently Jane and I have selected this week to write about nice books we've seen (there's a nice one coming tomorrow too)...I'm sure the fact that Mother's Day is coming up has NOTHING to do with it.

This week I've been busy researching a feature on food which has allowed me to amble through a whole host of wonderful foodie blogs and websites....I have hardly made it to lunchtime without diverting into the kitchen to eat or make something, how professional food writers survive without getting huge is beyond me.

Anyway, I found Pia Jane Bijkerk's startlingly beautiful blog Enhance The Everyday on my internet travels and think it's worth a mention. Pia is a stylist and photographer, specialising in food and interiors so some of our more in-the-know readers may already know her work. She scuttles between Paris, Amsterdam and Sydney and photographs and soundscapes all three cities regularly. Wouldn't that be lovely to live in three such gorgeous places? 

Her photos are lovely and the interior ones particularly inspiring, the blog features interesting things to do and see in all three locations (and more) and there are recipes from 'guest cooks' who feature things from their recipe books. But my favourite bit is the Soundscapes, recordings of places Pia has been, just simple stuff like a walk in the woods, opening a window on a sunny day or a trip through town while a brass band is playing, which is just a magical touch. Listening to them quite cheered up my day. 

She has already written a couple of nice sounding books, Paris Made by Hand, and Amsterdam, Made by Hand and there's one to come out very soon, which had me at its title, My Heart Wanders so they might be good to add to the list, or just look at the blog on a regular basis, certainly cheered me up.

We love: Robert Clarke's A - Z of Dogs

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I am well aware I am in danger of becoming a dog bore. I will wax lyrical to anyone who will listen, about how wonderful it is to own a dog, and have even started a rather worrying collection of ceramic dogs!

I love how dogs faces perfectly sum up their personalities and often reflect their owners characteristics too.

The A -Z of Dogs at the Rebecca Hossak Gallery, opens on April 1st and features Robert Clarke's lovely paintings of dogs.  Not always a dog lover, he explains.....

"I had always been very frightened of dogs, when my girlfriend of the time suggested we get a Jack Russell. We did and in doing so, did interesting things like puppy club, where you get to pass round your puppy like pass the parcel. They ask you to put your hands in their mouths and touch their paws. So I went from crossing the road in fear to having a bull terrier called Nike (big bugger) and a comb eating Basset Hound called Trudy on my lap writhing and snarling.....a religious experience.....Then of course dog world happens. You take the dog to the park  and you meet all sorts of fabulous people you wouldn't come across everyday - I was hooked. I started to draw and then paint and really it's been a voyage of canine discovery ever since".

Clarke is also working on a book called The A -Z of Dogs, and is showing some paintings at The Modern Pantry pop up restaurant at Meza in Soho, which opens today. The restaurant incorporates furniture from Danish design house Fritz Hanson and food from renowned New Zealand chef, Anna Hansen. 

Check out Robert Clarkes dog loving blog too.

Robert Clarke: The A - Z of Dogs
1st April - 21 April
28 Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia,
London W1T 2NA

The Modern Pantry at Meza,
100 Wardour Street,
London, W1F 0TN
To book call: 020 7314 4002

We love: Sophie Grigson at The Body Shop

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We met Sophie Grigson at The Body Shop's Earth Lovers press day last week, she was there to help us all understand how to make our houses and gardens a bit more eco friendly, and to shift some shower gel. We took the opportunity to ask her what her favourite herbs are, since there was a lot of herb stuff going on, and this is what she said.

Sophie's top tips for growing herbs:

'Pick them! They like being picked, people think they'll will upset the plants if they pick too much, but actually it makes them happy."

'Don't buy supermarket herbs and expect them to do well when they've finished, because they have been hothoused and forced, use them and throw them. You might be lucky and get a bit more out of them, but it's hardly worth the effort'.

'Think where they originate and treat them accordingly.'

What are your favourite herbs, Sophie?

'Coriander and mint, I can't live without them. we don't use mint nearly enough in British cooking, it's such an uplifting herb, it's a 'life is good' herb. One of my favourite teas is fresh mint and fresh rosemary, in the morning it really helps your brain reassemble.Try mint on a tomato salad instead of basil, it's every bit as good.'

I gave teenagesons the 100% biodegradable shower gel (first of its kind according to The Body Shop although it's not on the website yet) and it passed their stringent quality tests (doesn't smell too girly and isn't a weird colour). it's pricy at £5.00 a bottle, but if you want to save the planet, it could be the one for you.

We love: Fire and Knives and food futurology

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We are huge fans of food magazines here at TWR and love hand drawn illustrations, so the alternative food publication, Fire and Knives, ticks all our boxes, as it's full of beautiful illustrations and interesting food features.

Launched as a forum to give established writers a place for work that would not be otherwise published, showcase new writers work and let experts in other fields write about their favourite subject, the first edition was launched in 2009.

None of the writers are paid and editor and freelance food writer Tim Hayward responds to critics by asking them to think of the magazine ' like a blog  that someone had the brains to put into print'. 

Not content with breaking boundaries in food writing, Tim staged an alternative food event in London this month. Fire and Knives Mixed Grill combined lectures and debate around food in the arts and literary world, food trends, insights into food buying and marketing, live performance and of course eating. Describing it as a live version of Fire and Knives, Tim said he had had designed the day to get 'odder as the day progressed'.

Highlights included ether cocktails specially created by Jellymongers Bompass and Parr, which were somewhat odd, but completely legal and contained champagne, ether and a strawberry, an aphrodisiac mole served by author of food and sex blog The 52 seductions, Betty Herbert, and Dr Morgaine Gaye a food futurologist & senior academic lecturer at Nottingham Trent University, who talked about “Food Trends for 2012″.

She thinks pet food will become more human grade and products like 'Pawrios' and 'Doghnuts' will become more and more popular. Insects will also become more commonplace as snacks and on pizzas. Ball shaped food such as pizzas on sticks and fondue are having a revival, and ice cream sandwiches are the new cup cake.

The speakers only had ten minutes to talk, so only managed to skim the surface of their specialist subject and we were left wanting to hear more.

Dr Gaye is speaking at the V&A on the 29th of March as part of The Experimantal Food Society. The talk is titled 'The Past and Future of Food and Experimentation' and other speakers incude Professor Roland Rotherham, a food historian and Simon Smith, master chef and butter sculptor.

The talk will take guests through the most pioneering and experimental movements in culinary history, demonstrating how they have shaped the present and offering a taste of what the future holds.  From early man’s exploration of foods and the ancient world’s earliest epicureans through to the unique ways in which we will experience and consume food in the future.

Tea time treat: A moment with Steve McCurry

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Grab a cup of tea and have a quiet cultural moment with us as we watch one of our favourite photographers, Steve McCurry, explain how he works.

His portraits are wondrous, powerful and a constant source of inspiration for colour and texture. So it was a surprise to find out, via this rather nice Phaidon video, that he's looks like quite an ordinary chap, quietly spoken and quite easy to miss (although if you squint, there's a vague-ish resemblance to the elder David Essex...)

We suppose that's how he manages to slip into the background when he's travelling to those out of the way places to take such great shots. We love how his gentle manner contrasts with those amazing photos...We are now inspired to have a 'blue moment' after seeing some of those shots.

The Phaidon website is terrific, BTW, in case it has slipped your notice, The food section is fab, it even has recipes....

 

We love: colour

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If you are a designer and have to match colours on a regular basis, you will be only too aware of the Pantone colour system. Established in 1963, Pantone have pretty much owned the world of colour since then.

Being a colour forecaster I spend a lot of time choosing and matching new colours and persuading sometimes reluctant buyers to try out new ones. You may imagine working in fashion means you are constantly surrounded by enthusiastic people desperate for the next new thing, but it isn't always the case. 

One day I will be done with fashion and let you in on all the trade secrets, in my novel ' Tears, Tantrums and Toiles' ©, which will be a hilarious (hopefully) insiders view of the British fashion industry. But until then you will have to be content with the fact that the heady world of high street fashion isn't always full of fabulously fashionable people, floating around, draping fabric onto mannequins, proclaiming 'I'm feeling pink'.

Despite all this I am still a huge love of colour and surround myself with it, through my clothes, in my house and the endless objects I collect. Nothing cheers me up more than looking at my collection of pots arranged in colour stories, or throwing on a jumble of bright colours and a slash of red lipstick. I am aspiring be one of those old ladies who make you think, either 'how fabulous is she', or 'Oh my God, she's slightly insane, should she be out'?

I was delighted when I came across these Pantone Cookies on one of our favourite blogs Design Sponge. Made by freelance designer and illustrator Kim Neill, who thought of the idea when she bought some Pantone chip tins and thought they would make the perfect gift, if they were they were filled with cookies. 

They are SO nice, we are logging onto Lakeland as we speak, to buy some new icing colours. I wonder if Pantone have thought of doing food dyes?

TWR hotel review: Hoshinoya, Kyoto, Japan

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I find that Japan is not a place many people head to for their holidays, so this hotel review might seem a touch random, but on the off chance that you are ever passing by the old Japanese capital of Kyoto then try and stay at Hoshinoya.

When MAD booked this on the recommendation of Conde Nast's Traveller magazine, we had no idea it was such a famous hotel in Japan. It is an updated version ( in a good way) of the traditional ryokan guest house with more modern architecture and comfy beds.

The hotel is in a small suburb of old Kyoto, Arashiyama, from where you take a boat up the jade green Oigawa river to land at the very discrete hotel perched on the river bank. It is surrounded by maple trees, all glowing red and amber in the autumn sunshine. The service is quite spectacular, this being the forte of the Japanese, I doubt we'll ever get such sincere attention in a hotel anywhere else in the world.

There is little to do but admire the harmonious link between land, architecture and nature (we spot monkeys and tiny deer at the water's edge) and of course eat. The food is amazing, our Japanese style breakfast of salmon, local Kyoto vegetables (they're famous for quality) poached in miso broth and rice was the highlight of the holiday, despite how it sounds written down....

This is not a cheap place, but I bet it's one of the best hotel experiences you will ever have, and that from a girl who's travelled (5 star) quite a bit. Some pictures.....

The little walkway between the rooms (it's a very small place)....

...where even the maple leaves seem to fall in an artistic manner.

The view from our window, it was incredibly quiet too, nice after noisy Tokyo.

Arriving by boat.

The amazing colours of the trees

And breakfast, so much nicer than it sounds....

TWR Christmas cake 2010: cooking and decorating

Making the cake

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So, you have marinated your fruit in alcohol and chopped the nuts and chocolate and you have your lined cake tin all ready to go.....next, turn on the oven to gas mark 1, 140 c.

Cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy, add the flour (yes, you read that right) beat until smooth then add the eggs one at a time. Add 110gs of the ground almonds and mix in.

Add the zest of the lemon to the marinating fruit, then the honey and the jam. stir around. Now combine everything in a big bowl, so that's the chocolate and nuts, the fruit mix and the butter, flour and egg mix. Add in the remaining ground almonds and stir the whole lot together. 

Pour the mix into the prepared tin and pop in the oven for 2 hours, possibly more, mine took 2 and a half hours to firm up.

Cool in the tin and then turn out and think about decorating.

Well, actually before that, if you are keeping this until Christmas you will need to wrap it in baking parchment and then foil...feed with brandy/rum if you feel the need, although this is quite a moist cake anyway. And that was a lot of alcohol soaked up by the fruit.

Decorating....This year I feel the need to stay minimal with my decorating so have stuck some edible silver in layers across the middle. Very simple but nicely festive, I had some vintage silver ribbon I bought from Kempton Park earlier this year which I've tied around the middle. 

Traditional icing would work just as well, so you can pop your traditional santa and sleigh on top if you have one. Then enjoy! And Merry Christmas! (are we the first people to say this to you?)

 

TWR Christmas cake 2010: ingredients and pre-prep.

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This Christmas we are making a recipe that originally came from a 1997 Sainsbury's Magazine article by Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray from The River Cafe. It's called Dada's Christmas cake with chocolate.

It is partly in tribute to the talented Ms Gray, who sadly died earlier this year and partly because it is a stonkingly good cake that may appeal more to kids (via the chopped up chocolate in it) and those not keen on traditional Christmas cake. Those wanting a more traditional approach might prefer our delicious Christmas cake recipe here

Gather the ingredients and do the pre-prep soaking and chopping, then we'll give you the method on Sunday. This cake is best left for just a couple of weeks to mature, or you can eat it immediately.

PS we're also going for a more minimal approach to decorating this year....we've used edible silver and vintage ribbon.

Ingredients

300gs chopped up, good quality chocolate. I use a mix of dark and milk. 

50gs glace cherries

175gs mixed candied peel (good quality)

75gs raisins

175mls rum, vin santo or any other ends of bottles of spirit you need to clear out.

110gs whole hazelnuts

150gs whole almonds

75gs flaked almonds

125gs butter

50gs castor sugar

110gs plain flour

3 large eggs

175gs ground almonds

zest one lemon

295gs clear honey

25gs apricot jam (actually I used some of my peach and basil from my jam making glut..it was fine)

Before you cook....

Soak all the dried fruit in the alcohol for at least 24hrs, longer if you can.

Chop the whole nuts up into smallish chunks -or leave them larger if you like 'em like that, and chop the chocolate up into similar sized bits.

Gather/purchase all other ingredients

Get yourself a large cake tin, mine was  25 cms across and line it with parchment or those great Lakeland cake liners.

Method coming Sunday!