Viennese Fingers

I found this recipe in Jo Wheatley's fabulous book and made them for my friends as I was hosting book club (The art of fielding - subject matter baseball, only Sally L liked the book and Tamsin only liked it when one of the main characters died. not a favourite). I made them a bit long and thin and some of them broke so I would recommend a shorter fatter biscuit which is frankly what you will look like of you eat too many of these tasty bics.

I went to my sisters this afternoon and she had also made some (different recipe and not quite as melt in the mouth as Jo's), neither of us have ever made them before so the esp was working overtime! Ria (my sister) had sprinkled some mini smarties on the ends of hers, you could also dip the ends in hundreds and thousands whilst the chocolate is still slightly soft.

Sausage Pin Wheel Rolls

My children love these pin wheels, you can use ham and cheese instead of the sausage meat and if you want a quick fix then use a ready rolled puff pastry sheet.

Makes 12

For the Puff Pastry

225g/8oz plain flour

pinch of salt

30g/1oz lard

150ml/5fl oz cold water

150g/5oz butter

For the filling

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

450grams sausage meat

1 egg beaten

Method

 

1. Sift together the flour and the salt and rub in the lard. Stir in enough of the water to make a soft dough, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 20 minutes.
2. Put the butter between 2 pieces of greaseproof paper and flatten out with a rolling pin until it is a rectangle 10 x 7.5cm/4 x 3in.
3. Roll out the dough to another rectangle that measures 12.5 x 25cm/5 x 10in.
4. Take the butter out of the paper and put on the dough rectangle. Bring the corners of the dough together to make an envelope. Chill for 10 minutes.
5. Roll out the envelope on a floured surface to make a rectangle that is 3 times longer than it is wide. Fold one third into the middle and then the other third on top. Seal the edges lightly with a rolling pin and turn the pastry 90 degrees.
6. Repeat stage 5 and chill for 30 minutes.
7. Repeat this rolling and folding twice more and then chill for another 30 minutes and then do two more - the pastry will have been rolled and folded six times altogether.
8. Now roll out and use as required.
9. It is important that the pastry is well chilled otherwise the pastry will become greasy and tough when baked. Also the butter might come through the surface, if this happens, dab on a little flour.
10. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface until it is aproximately 2cm thick.
11. Leaving a 5cm gap along the long side of the pastry spread the sausage meat evenly and thinly to cover the rest of the pastry sheet. Brush the 5cm strip with beaten egg.
12. Beginning with the longer side that does not have gap, roll the pastry into a tight pin wheel, the egg wash should help to secure the last roll.
13. Wrap the sausage roll tightly in foil and allow getting cold in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
14. Preheat the oven to 220°C (gas mark 7)
15. When completely cold unwrap the roll and cut into 12 slices. Arrange on a non-stick baking tray, brush with the remaining beaten egg and bake in the oven for 15 -20 minutes when they should be golden brown andcooked through. Serve immediately.

Golden Wedding Anniversary

I made a tower of cup cakes for my husbands Great Aunt and Uncle's Golden Wedding Anniversary. The cakes were vanilla sponge covered in disks of White regal ice and topped with hand made flowers which were cut out from Mexican modelling paste.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Winter draws on and what could be cosier than a big dollop of STP

Serves 6

75g  unsalted butter

200g caster sugar

3 free range eggs

200g self raising flour

275ml water

200g pitted dates

1.5 teaspoons baking powder

For the sauce

75g soft dark brown sugar

300ml double cream

50g unsalted butter

1. For the sponge, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs and fold in the flour. Bring the water to the boil in a small pan, add the chopped dates and simmer for 4 minutes.
2. Remove from the heat and add the baking powder to the pan (it will froth up a little). Mix the date mixture into the batter and pour into a 23cm deep sided square tin lined with baking paper. Bake at 200c, gas 6 for about 30 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
3. Stir all of the sauce ingredients together in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Pour half of the sauce onto the cooked sponge and put it back in the oven for 2 minutes to soak in. Cut into squares and serve with the remaining sauce.

Morrison's Mums in the Echo!

Me, Sandie, Steph, Caroline and Ange

Me and some of my Funky Little Choir friends in a Morrisons Advert!

Sandie the Musical director of The Funky Little Choir was approached by a production company to see if she had a group of 5 choir members who were Mum's and would be happy to appear in a Morrisons advert. I of course jumped at the opportunity to see what it would be like working with a production crew and as I suspected it was a fantastic adventure.

It was a little later that we found out that they didn't want us to sing but to design and build a car which ran on something other then fuel. Being Mum's we of course rose to the challenge and did a fantastic job with the help of the totally brilliant Colin Furze our mentor and newly found friend (look him up on you tube  http://www.youtube.com/user/colinfurze he is as mad as a box of frogs).

The filming for the advert took place in a studio in Shoreditch, a very media focused area which had the 5 of us sticking out like sore thumbs in our bright stripes and White Stuff prints. We had about 30 people behind camera including the agency and the client which initially added a bit of  pressure but once we got into putting our car together we completely forgot they were there.

I made 60 pieces of millionares shortbread to take with me and at about 4pm everyone got stuck in, we had been on set since 6.30am so we needed the sugar hit. One of the sound guys came up to me and said "that was the nicest thing any of our contributiors have ever done for us". Never under estimate the gift of baking!
We had a fabulous time making this advert and loved working with the young enthusiastic team at Connected Pictures.

An 80th birthday cake for a very special chap

Bournemouth Echo

3:00pm Wednesday 12th September 2012 in Christchurch By Katie Clark

Meet Jack, the 80-year-old classroom helper

 

 

BIRTHDAY: Staff and pupils of Mudeford Infants School celebrate the 80th birthday of Jack Kynaston

A classroom volunteer is still helping out at school - at the age of 80.
Jack Kynaston has been volunteering at Mudeford Infants in Queens Road, Christchurch, for the past 15 years, helping youngsters with their reading as well as starting a dominoes club. To mark his 80th birthday, he was presented with a special cake by headteacher Duncan Churchill.
A former local policeman, Jack started helping out five mornings a week when he began bringing his granddaughter into school.
And as well as building impressive backdrops for school performances and wooden cars for the pupils to paint, he also keeps the staff entertained with his jokes and quips.

In honour of his special birthday, school governor Sarah Wood baked a masterpiece of a cake complete with edible dominoes for Jack to share with his year one class.
He said: “It’s a lovely surprise. I genuinely love everything I do here. It’s a pleasure to watch the youngsters grow up during the year and see them go on their way.
“I’ll keep coming as long as my wife lets me. Some of the things they come out with are brilliant. Every day is different here.”
Head teacher, Duncan Churchill said: “Jack is so well-known in the area. He started volunteering and he has been here ever since.

“Jack has seen two head teachers come and go. He is truly high-valued here and at the beginning of every year, there is a competition for who will get Jack in their class. He is very popular.
“The children love him. They can have a different relationship with him than they can with us, and for some he is a lovely grandfatherly figure for them. We are so lucky to have him