Cakes ...

This month I'm taking part in #commonthreadedstitcher on Instagram ... a month of daily postings about various things but mainly my stitching. You don't often see my crafts on here as I have a separate blog  - Aimetu's Stitching. 

Anyway yesterday's post was about our favourite recipe, mine is cake ... I love baking especially for others. 

Mine is for a simple sponge. My grandmother taught me this when I was very young and I proudly passed it on to our daughter. Many people I know use this basic recipe, it works every time. It's a recipe that can be easily scaled to any size, works well as a large cake or as cupcakes and can be made in any flavour 😋

My Sponge Recipe

2oz/50g butter

2oz/50g sugar

1 egg

2oz/50g self raising flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Beat together the butter and sugar until creamy, beat in egg, sift in flour and baking powder. Fold everything together.

Increase these amounts depending on how many eggs you want. A 2lb loaf tin takes a 3 egg mix.

Bake at 180C or 160C fan - for a 3 egg I allow about 45/50 mins but in reality if I can smell the cake it's cooked.

Don't open the oven door if the cake still looks wet in the middle or it will sink. If you think it's done check with a skewer which should come out clean .... yum yum

I have hosted, and donated to, many fundraising cake days. I usually make a large cake, here's a collage of my favourites, some were for birthdays or occasions, they are not all sponge cakes.

Top: Chocolate Guinness 

Middle: Victoria Sponge, Creme Egg Cheesecake, Simnel

Bottom: Blackforest Gateaux, Gugelhupf, Coffee and Walnut

I also love making small cakes, especially on a theme. I have made many different cakes for the stitching meet ups with my friends. The raspberry cakes were mini red wine cakes made for a Hen Party: Boo cakes for Halloween: mini Carrot Cakes and Movie themed cupcakes. 

I have made a birthday cake every year for our childrens' birthday, although now they are 30 and 27 I no longer have a late night decorating a train or castle. I did however make a specially decorated cake for when I completed Clare's Challenge 50 - walking the route of the London Marathon in eight stages. 

Combining my stitching hobby and my love of baking we have a snowman Christmas Cake every year. A rich fruit cake decorated with my hand stitched cake band and a set of snowmen candles that I don't think will ever be actually lit. 

My favourite recent decorating was for the Jubilee in 2012. I made a crown cake to take to our friends party. With it being another Jubilee next year I might make another one as I did enjoy the challenge. 

I haven't been baking as much over the last eighteen months, looking at my photos I think I need to get back to it. There's a big Macmillan Coffee morning at the end of September so maybe I'll start by baking a few things for then. 

Morgon and Ventoux

It sounds like a solicitors or estate agents doesn't it - hee hee. In fact it was out latest online tasting with friends. 

Both wines were from Lidl as part of their French Wine Tour. Our first wine was a Ventoux, an area and wine Hubby and I know well however this was a new experience as it was Ventoux Blanc. 

We have tried and enjoyed many white Cotes du Rhone wines and as expected this was a lovely pale honey colour in the glass. It was hard to pinpoint the exact grapes used in this blend but white Grenache was present with its appley pear notes, maybe a touch of Clairette giving a white peach flavour and possibly Rousanne's delicacy. 

I really enjoyed this wine, it wasn't as dry as a Sauvignon Blanc yet had a lovely crispness. It had tropical notes but not overpowering, all in all a very enjoyable wine with a good body and medium length to its finish. 

It did make me think of our trip up Mont Ventoux, in the car, but I have evidence to show we did reach the Summit! 

Our second wine was Morgon, made from Gamay and not to everyone's taste. It is the grape used to make Beaujolais. We tried a little experiment with this wine trying it chilled and at room temperature. Many people chill their reds especially in hot weather and in hot climate countries as no-one wants to drink warm wine.

However I have found through tasting chilled and decanted wines that often the reduction of temperature also reduces the flavours and tannins ... the latter I'm quite happy to be softened. 

And so we decanted some of our Morgon and popped it in the fridge whilst leaving the remaining bottle at room temperature. 

I will say 24 was slightly high but it did drop to around 20 as evening fell. Hubby and I had a glass of each at the same time, we both found the chilled wine had less nose and less fruit, a bit thin in taste. The room temperature wine had much more fruit and slight tannins with a weightier and longer finish. It was interesting to see our glasses with the room temperature wine were emptied first.

However, and here's the thing, neither of us are particularly keen on Gamay. We don't dislike it, there are other grapes that we certainly do dislike, but it isn't a wine we would often select from the shelf. 

We have however enjoyed a very good Gamay, Duc de Belmont available at Majestic, one we would add to our order when it's available as it is not often on the shelf. 

We had a great tasting night, another hopefully soon, maybe next time from Aldi. I'm thinking a New World wine especially if there's a good selection of new vintages but we'll see what the shelves hold. 

Walking The Bay

A few weeks ago Hubby and I visited our daughter in Cardiff Bay. It's a superb area with such a variety of bars, restaurants and attractions. It's quite a distance for me as it's a good 6 mile walk but I was up for the challenge so off we set to 'walk the Bay'.

We have walked it before a few years earlier but walked anticlockwise from the Pierhead so this time we set off along Clarence Road crossing the River Taff. To walk in the opposite direction. The Cardiff Bay Trail then follows the Taff out to the Bay giving great views of the magnificent road bridge carrying the A4232 out of the city.

The trail path passes by Cardiff Rowing Centre and through Ferry Court apartments. Cardiff International White Water is worth a pause to be amazed at the canoeists and kayakers racing down the fast flowing water.

Further along and we meet another river. The River Ely brings boats, lots and lots of superb boats. It's an amazing sight seeing all the tall masts against the background of tall apartment buildings.

Time for a break, coffee and toasted teacake at Coffi Co. We've been to many places around the world but this has to be one of the best places to sit with a coffee and enjoy the view. 

The footpath crosses the River Ely via a swing bridge to allow the tall yacht to pass through. Upstream is the massive road bridge, more apartments and plenty of yachts, downstream is the Bay. It is amazing how it opens out, stunning views. 

This part of our walk brings back memories as when she first moved to South Wales our daughter lived in Penarth Marina. So many beautiful boats, lovely apartments and houses all along the waterfront. Penarth itself is high on the cliffs to the left, I remember it being a steep walk up but worth it for more magnificent views across to the city.

The highlight of the Cardiff Bay Trail must be the Barrage, locks that allow the boats and yachts out to sea. There is a swing bridge here too lifting the road (pedestrian and emergency traffic) as the locks are in operation. We stood and watched the rise and fall of the water inside the locks bringing boats in and out. It's also a great place to stand and see how far we have walked ... and how far we have to go! 

There is a breakwater at the Barrage stretching out to sea. From the very end we could just see the Severn Bridges in the distance. The English coast was also visable looking past Steep Holm and Flat Holm.

Leaving the Baraage behind we set off on the leg leg of our walk, along the embankment past the Aqua Park. Tempting though it was we hadn't brought our swimmies so we couldn't have a go! 

Instead we took breather on one of the many benches and watched a large container ship sail into Cardiff Docks. This is the sea side of the Bay and there is a separate lock for these large vessels to enter the docks. It was huge passing by us, amazing how they float!

Nearly back we passed by the Norwegian church and the sailors statue. The church is now a community hub with a cafe, it was originally built for the Norwegian seafarers and settlers.

The views around the Bay are amazing, whichever point of the trail you are on you can see for miles. One of my favourite views is the Pierhead and The Senedd (Welsh Goverment) as you approach the bustling bar and restaurant area. There is so much history here, it's very different to when it was all dockland. 

Having now walked the Bay in both directions I think this walk was my favourite. It is, as I said, around 6 miles, very do-able with so many places to stop and enjoy a coffee, drink and/or a bite to eat.

Our final stop was The Mount Stuart, our go to pub when in Cardiff Bay. It's a Wetherspoons so we know what to expect regarding food and drinks with the most spectacular views. Our pint and glass of wine was very much deserved and enjoyed looking across to the Norwegian church.

Hopefully we'll be back in Cardiff again soon to enjoy another 'walk the Bay' and of course see our lovely daughter. 

Bond Street Distillery

 

Last Saturday we entered the 'Gin-dom of Heaven', locally known as Bond Street Distillery. What an amazing location; dating back to the late 1800s the building has seen many occupants before becoming home to Bond Street Distillery (BSD). 

It began in 2018 when Sally Faulkner, founder and head distiller, purchased the building and began renovating it to become the distillery, bar, Gin-school and function bar it is today. On all three floors you can see carefully restored elements of the original hosiery building: old beams, sand blasted brick and original feature window all create a high class environment. 

Our visit began with Afternoon Tea served on a three tier copper stand in keeping with the copper surroundings relating to the gin still. A delicious selection of sandwiches with slices of quiche, vine tomatoes and pepper rings filled the top tier. The second tier served traditional scones, clotted cream and raspberry gin infused jam, whilst the lower tier held a selection of desserts. 

From top to bottom our Afternoon Tea was delicious, accompanied by tea, coffee or gin with mixer. My first gin choice was Bond Street Raspberry served over ice with Fever Tree Lemonade garnished with raspberry and mint. 

My husband opted for Bond Street Blood Orange served with Fever Tree Mediterranean Tonic and orange garnish. We both chose BSD Signature for our second gin; a 40% ABV with hints of orange blossom and high notes of pink peppercorn complimenting the pine and citrus of a traditional London dry. Our Signature Gins were served with Fever Tree Indian Tonic and garnished with orange and pink peppercorn.

A distillery tour followed, a step into the hub of the building to meet Claire, the gin still, standing tall and striking with her copper gleaming brightly. Sally gave an extensive insight into how ethanol is turned into gin using the distilling process. Separating the 'heads' 'heart' and 'tails' of the distilled liquid is such a precise moment in distilling, getting this wrong can easily result in a bitter taste to the finished gin, distilling is certainly a fine art.

Following our tour it was time to make our own gin, something we have not experienced before. Bond Street Distillery have a dedicated room on the first floor for their Gin-school in which there was extensive array of botanicals to choose from. We thought this would be an overwhelming task but soon found botanicals we both preferred. With careful measuring we blended them together until we had an aroma we both liked and which would, fingers crossed, produce an enjoyable gin. 

Within the Gin-school are eight mini stills, they looked amazing all shining in a row. Each still has it's own name; two that caught my eye were Sweet Caroline and The Engineer however our Gin was distilled on Baby Gary.

The whole experience felt very very special; beautiful surroundings with the copper stills and equipment. Our starter alcohol liquid, water and botanical blends were all added to Baby Gary and heated until evaporation occurred. The gas was then passed through copper pipes which were cooled with continuously flowing cold water to turn it back to liquid. It was amazing to watch especially when our gin began to drip out.

After a while we had to carefully check our liquid to ensure we did not get any of the bitter tails. Neither of us had any real idea of how it would taste compared to the fragrance of our mixed botanicals but to our delight it tasted really good and we could taste the various flavours we had chosen. 

Once the distilling was complete Sally checked the alcohol content and adjusted it by adding water to around 40%ABV. It was now time to bottle our unique 'Hearnden Dry'. It was amazing to not only learn about distilling but to make our own gin which we can now enjoy at home. The recipe is stored at Bond Street so another bottle can alway be distilled again in the future.

Bond Street Distillery is certainly a venue to visit if you like gin, however I would recommend a visit to anyone. The high finish venue is the perfect place to enjoy one of their cocktails, try the enomatic wine machine or enjoy a draught beer. Their Gin-school experience makes a perfect gift and is certainly a day to remember with your very own Gin!

Bond Street Distillery, 127 Upper Bond Street, Hinckley LE10 1RT 

A six week round up

Over the last six weeks life has begun to seem like my life again, a life Hubby and I are choosing instead of a life ruled by uncontrollable events. The turning point was our holiday to Berwick-upon-Tweed; a change of scene with the reassurance and confidence of better times to follow. 

On our way home we detoured inland to visit Chesters Roman Fort  the largest Roman settlement along Hadrian's Wall. What an amazing site, it was incredible to see the Romans' clever architectural layout of buildings with underfloor heating and running water. A great first visit with our new English Heritage membership. 

Whilst in Berwick I began to increase my walking, made easier with my walking boots. Once home I had hoped to keep up the walking but a slight ankle strain and the hot weather has restricted me. However we did manage a long walk across local fields, along the canal and back into town passing the famous telegraph pole that has no lines! 

In May we visited our daughter who lives in South Wales. We hadn't seen her since Christmas with all the various restrictions in both countries. On our way down we had a great visit to White Castle Vineyard where we have an adopted vine. 

We also visited Goodrich Castle; a few years ago we stayed nearby but didn't get the chance to visit. It isn't far from our route on the motorway and we were amazed how big it was, although ruins there were still some rooms intacted. 

It was so nice to be able to be out and about in Cardiff. We enjoyed breakfast at quiet restaurants, had a lovely meal in the city centre and visited Tiny Rebel brewery. They have a great outdoor terrace with covers and large tables, there were quite a few families with dogs. It was so nice to sit together to enjoy a pulled beer instead of beer from cans or bottles. 

Over the last year we have enjoyed wine and beer at home. My drinks were mainly non alcoholic so it's great to be able to start to enjoy beer and wine again. After we'd been home a few days we received a lovely surprised, Cellier des Dauphins sent us a bottle of their red and white wine. They are our favourite French wine producers, we have met many times in the UK and in France. The wine was a gift for their Art of Sharing and as their letter said we hope to be able to share a glass together in person sometime soon, thank you Cellier des  Dauphins. 

One thing I have really missed is having friends round for dinner; I love the planning, the cooking and the company. As restrictions lifted we invited our friends round for a meal, just the four of us. We had some lovely wines including one from Sicily that I have wanted to open for a while (before it is too old). It was lovely to lay the table and I really enjoyed making the Lemoncello Tiramisus. 

We've had a lovely few weeks doing many things we did before. There are still some restrictions, we all have to play our part regarding Covid and I think I will be cautious for a while yet but we have days out and holidays booked so I'll have plenty more to blog about soon.