love those cupcakes

Better late than never giveaway

Out and about with the Gorgeous Girlie for a bit of shopping (cushions and books) in Helmsley yesterday, I spotted this.

There are plenty of recipes inside to tempt, like this one,

and this one,

with a  larger scale baking project if you're feeling particularly ambitious.  Or patriotic.

So I bought it.  Not for me, as I was lucky enough to be given two cupcake books earlier in the week.  For you.  Well, one of you.  As a belated thank you (I'd intended to have a giveaway in August when this blog had its birthday) for your visits and comments over the last four years.

If you'd like the book (I know cupcakes aren't everyone's cup of tea though it does include other recipes), just leave a comment on this post and I'll do the name out of the hat thingy on Sunday 9th October.

 

Better late than never

Last week was National Cupcake Week and, to celebrate, the good people at New Holland Publishers very kindly sent me a couple of their excellent cupcake books.

There are lots of recipes I want to try from both (some are available on the publisher's website along with the books themselves), and this one immediately took my fancy as we're all fans of both peanut butter and chocolate here.

I didn't have any chocolate coated peanuts for decoration but I did have half a bag of salted peanuts and most of a bar of G&B's 70% chocolate (who's been nibbling?), which I chopped and sprinkled on the finished cakes.

So, a week late but extremely yummy nonetheless. Moist chocolate sponge topped with a swirl of not too sweet icing made with cream cheese, smooth peanut butter, butter and icing sugar .

I'm thinking banana and salt caramel ones next.

Or maybe pistachio, rosewater and grenadine.

Suffolk, September

It started with a dog welcoming cottage, perfectly situated on the edge of the estate of a long lost country house, with farmland and forest all around, onion scented breezes and a view of a distant castle.   Shingle beaches, so different from those at home, were a short drive away and made for satisfyingly crunchy walks with the Boo.  Chocolate box pretty pink thatched cottages lined the narrow lanes we explored.  Hedgerows provided the richest of pickings and my first (yes, really) encounter with sloes.  Grapes were admired, wines were tasted and our stocks replenished during a vineyard visit.   A nearby farm provided honey and jam and the best apple juice ever tasted.  Most days included a walk to the village to buy fresh baked seeded bread, Suffolk Gold cheese and crisp locally grown apples.  Daily treats of giant cappuccinos, sitting in the sun at the outdoor tables of the little cafe, served with generous slices of Victoria sandwich and battenburg, and an eagerly welcomed handful of dog biscuits.  Relishing the food, wine and live music at a vegetarian eatery.  A final evening walk, through row upon row of sunflowers just about ripe for harvesting. A blissful week. Well, apart from the afternoon Boo decided to chase an in flight gamebird.  Barking at full volume.  Running at full pelt.  Until he was a rust coloured blob in the distance. (He did come back.  Eventually).

 

 

Signing off

I read about a cruise around the Baltic.  (The sea, that is, not the art centre up in Gateshead).

"We should do this" I said to the mister.  (The itinerary included various sight seeing stops, several being places on my to visit list. I envisaged multiple ticks).

He agreed.

So, tomorrow we're off on our travels for a week.

To a cottage in deepest Suffolk.

Three of us.

Seems it's not that easy to find a holiday home for a cocker spaniel here.

 

End of summer

“September.  It was the most beautiful of words, he'd always felt,

evoking orange flowers, swallows and regret.”  

(from Darconville's Cat by Alexander Theroux)

 

There are no orange flowers or swallows here, just the second flush of pink roses 

and the occasional flutter of orange.

Regrets?  Plenty, of the "things I meant to do this summer but didn't" kind, which means only one tick on the to do list.

Hang on a minute.

 

Make that two ticks on the list.