Alphabakes Roundup April 2016 - T

    We didn’t have many entries for this month’s Alphabakes, but I’m certainly not complaining as wedding planning hasn’t left me much time! I have been baking a bit this month though as several people have had birthdays (myself included!). The letter we were using this month was T.   I took part in a chocolate truffle-making workshop with Farfetch a few weeks ago which was good fun (and the cocktails they made us were to die for),...

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Waitrose 1 launch - new premium food range

Waitrose already provides posh food for the masses and has now gone one step further with the launch of its own premium range, Waitrose 1.      I was invited to the launch event which was a great opportunity to try the foods and speak to some of the product developers and specialists.     Held on the second floor of London’s Oxo tower with amazing views as the sun set over the Thames, my expectations were high. I’d...

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Sugar-Free Coconut Milk Pancakes

My last-ditch attempt to lose weight before my wedding involves cutting out as much sugar as possible. A friend who has done this, and seen great results, recommended a book called I Quit Sugar by Sarah Wilson.  Sarah cut sugar out of her diet and says she has seen improvements in her weight, energy, skin and so on, and has published a book that is part explanation, part cookbook. I liked the sound of these 'coconut fluff' coconut milk...

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Review: Afternoon tea at Claridge's

   I was very lucky recently to be treated to afternoon tea at Claridge’s as a pre-wedding family get-together: along with the Ritz, perhaps the most quintessential London hotel afternoon tea. It was a surprise organised by my future mother-in-law: I knew we were going for afternoon tea, but not where. My parents were staying over the Easter weekend so my mum came while my fiancé entertained my dad; my sister came up by train for the...

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Meal Planning Monday Week 18 2016

            Monday - day off as we have a meeting at our wedding venue (a few hours from home) Lunch: pub lunch near wedding venue Dinner: not sure what time we will be back and will depend what we had for lunch!   Tuesday Dinner: probably working late so will have to grab something on the way home   Wednesday Dinner: pasta with broccoli pesto for me (using spiralized vegetables instead of pasta) and...

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Restaurant review: Peanut Butter Burger at Hache, Shoreditch

If someone offers you peanut butter on a burger…. Just say no. Peanut butter on its own I can take or leave. Peanut butter with chocolate is one of the best pairings since the two Ronnies (RIP Corbett). But peanut butter on a burger is just a bit wrong. Strong words indeed from someone who has put bacon on cupcakes, made pizza from sweet potato and stuck a can of ginger ale up a chicken’s nether regions (a dead one, of course). It was my fiance’s...

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Bacon and Cheddar Scrolls

I've started doing my shopping in Sainsbury's a lot more - there's a large store only a few minutes' drive from my house, but as I'm still a relative novice when it comes to driving, I only go first thing or I struggle to get into the spaces in their car park! I recently picked up a copy of Sainsbury's magazine at the till and found lots of recipes inside that I wanted to make. As my fiancé loves bacon and would eat a bacon sandwich for lunch every...

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Coconut Dacquoise with Chocolate Ganache Filling

I attempted to make my own mayonnaise recently and it was a disaster - I tried once before and both times I haven't been able to get the mixture to thicken. Does anyone have any advice? Since I'd used egg yolks for this recipe - three, as the recipe said two and it wouldn't thicken so I added another, which helped a little but not enough - I also had three egg whites to use up. I thought about making meringue but didn't want anything that...

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