Chopping Chocolate

I woke up this morning with a stye in my eye that was reminiscent of Mr Hook's Panda Gate incident. To avoid scaring the swathes of students in the library, I holed up at home with tea and a perfectly-timed (as ever) present of Green & Black's Maya Gold Chocolate from Mumma Hart, which she posted me along with my fineliners (yay!) and an article snipped from the Telegraph entitled 'How to dither no more'. Apparently we procrastinate for 3.63 hours every day. That bit's probably right for me, or maybe even an underestimate. How? TV, Internet, 'personal grooming', making tea and coffee... Also accurate. My chief procrastination method, however, is procrastibaking, loved by students across the country. There's this thing about cooking where it feels constructive because you achieve something, be it an exquisite soufflé or a so-so microwave mug cake. 

The number one piece of advice for us procrastinators is this: "The next time you procrastinate, ask yourself, 'What made me decide to do this in the first place?' If you don't know the answer, don't do it.' In the case of today's procrastibaking, the motivation was inspiration in the shape of chocolate from Mumma H, and the idea of arriving at tonight's dinner party with something to offer, and to make life a little sweeter for my newly-vegan-for-lent housemate. So going by that logic, I'm pretty sure this is a legit way to spend time and definitely not procrastination. 

The vegan brownie recipe comes from the Grand Old Duke Jamie Oliver. I'm learning quite a lot about vegan eating at the moment, and one gem of wisdom is that almost all plain/dark chocolate is dairy-free. Who knew. Also vegan-friendly are Oreos and Hobnobs, which I would suggest has made Amy's lent a helluva lot more enjoyable. This brownie mix seems really smooth at first and then the chocolate cools and it gets a bit thicker and more mousse-like. Not the most dainty of brownies but bloody good all the same. To be enjoyed with (dairy-free) ice cream.

p.s. for a good read on the sounds of cooking, try this!

p.p.s for more vegan recipes, go see Brogues!

Flat Breads

I'm trying to be a little more adventurous with my cooking, so for our latest dinner party I made a Moroccan tagine - lamb, dried fruit and goregously spiced sauce - and cous cous. The meal was topped off with the most exquisite Speculoos cheesecakes by Amy. For those of you who have not been lucky enough to spend an extended period of time in France, Speculoos is a spread made from what Amy refers to as 'hairdresser biscuits' or, in other words, Biscoff/Lotus cinnamon biscuits. 

Anyway, flat breads are super simple and impress people more than store-bought Naan. A pile of flour, a couple of tablespoons of oil (we have some fancy orange healthy stuff at the moment thanks to leftovers) and some milk, and a sprinkle of any spices you like. Mix it up, roll it out, and fry in a dry pan for a couple of minutes.

Soda Bread

My family friend Phelim has promised again and again to teach me to make soda bread. He is Irish, so knows how, and a wonderful man who hosts dinners in his lovely garden in summer complete with old records and Irish ditties. I have so far not taken him up on the offer (be assured, I will), but in the meantime I used a recipe from Pastry Affair to have a go myself. This rosemary concoction makes the house smell sublime. It's a little salty but would be a dream with some goats cheese and roasted cherry tomatoes, or dipped in oil and balsamic.

Soda bread and other non-rising loaves are so easy to make. I hopped out of bed, made the dough, whacked it in the oven and was back under the duvet twenty minutes later. Then a half-hour nap before warm bread for breakfast. The dream. 

Pears and Pancakes

Amid the excitement of Shrove Tuesday I took time to make a Pear and Streusel Cake for the girls, which went down particularly well with visiting parents. Alongside the traditional crepes with lemon and sugar (and Nutella for one!), this cake made for a warming start to Tuesday with steaming mugs of tea. The recipe is from The Broken Bread, where the lovely Kristan puts together beautiful photo stories with wholesome recipes. In this one, the pear chunks keep the cake moist, and the streusel adds crunch.

So many of the food bloggers I love are on the other side of the pond so I often have to 'translate' the measurements (apparently 1 stick of butter is 4oz/110g). I use a Tala Cook's Measure here at uni where I am bereft of my beloved old-fashioned scales and ounce weights; all the recipes I know from Mumma are in ounces, so a lot of conversion takes place! She gave me the Cook's Measure for this year and keeps posting up little bits and bobs to help out. I'm one lucky girly.

Struck by Cupid

Love it or hate it, Valentine's Day is an excuse for baking. This is also true of National Nutella Day (5th February - damn, missed it), National Banana Lovers Day (27th August), Waffle Day (debated - either 25th March or 24th August) and, of course, World Baking Day (17th May). Tenuous links to reality but great reasons to whack on an apron and whip up some batter.

This year's treats are for my dear friends, rather than (actually, as well as) the boyfriend. Good to share, no? The local cake shop in the indoor market was having a closing-down sale so I was obliged to buy some cake boxes. And then I was obliged to buy some lovely heart ribbon (not an indulgence at 55p a metre). Then I copied the lovely Oh Happy Day and made some Cupid's Arrow Cupcakes using heart-shaped Haribo (sourced at our local off licence, where they sort the different shapes into separate plastic bags), cocktail sticks and, bizarrely, the leftovers of a very cheap plastic tablecloth. Classy.

The recipe is the standard Hummingbird Bakery vanilla mix. I have both Hummingbird books at home and I love that their sponge is lighter than average, meaning that the butter cream doesn't feel so ridiculously rich. I did use to have a problem with the tops coming off though!

Lastly, the stamp is the most genius and thoughtful present from my housemate. Find one at notonthehighstreet.com.

 Delivering these beauties around town this afternoon!

Coconut (and sometimes raspberry) Muffins (that should be a loaf)

My housemates returned home from the almighty challenge of Tough Guy and I thought it might be time for an easy treat. I started off with a recipe for a coconut loaf from the lovely Smitten Kitchen, but then realised I didn't have a loaf tin (#firstworldproblems) so they became muffins. And then I found some raspberries in the freezer so half the muffins became raspberry muffins (not photographed - they go kind of blue and purple...). Overall, they taste good. Worth warming through and adding a dob of butter or honey.   

Oh, and don't worry about the loaf tin. Mumma's gonna give me one when I go home mid-term ;).