The Victoria Sandwich is the work horse of the cake world, but quite apart from that it’s a pleasurable cake both to make and eat. Each stage is basic, with opportunities for a clandestine nibble of the mixture, icing or topping, or finished cake.
Read MoreChocolate Fudge
Just the most amazing chocolate fudge recipe ever. Scribbled on the back of an old calendar for Wednesday, December 30th. But haven’t a clue which year. It’s quick to make and the results are fabulous.
Read MoreLob Scouse
There’s a lot of debate about the origin of this dish. It’s part of the cooks armoury here in North Wales – good solid everyday fare for farmers and quarry workers. The first mention of the term dates back to 1706 when it turned up in a dictionary. Some say it was brought to Liverpool by Baltic sailors – in Latvian ‘Labs Kauss’ means ‘a good ladle-ful!.’
Read MoreWelsh Cakes
Like Bara Brith, there are probably as many versions of Welsh Cakes as there are sheep on the mountain – and that’s a lot! Of course we think this is the best. Certainly they don’t hang around once they’ve been made. Remember to make enough to share! Once you have mastered this recipe you’ll never eat a factory made Welsh Cake again.
Ingredients:
1lb Self Raising Flour
8 oz Butter (unsalted)
5 oz Sugar
2 Eggs
3 Oz Currants
A little water if needed
Method:
Cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl for three to four minutes. Add the egg and currants and mix well. Slowly add the flour until the mix feels like a soft paste. Cut the mix in half – flour a board – and roll very thinly. Cut with a scone cutter. Then do the same with the second half. You should get about 25 thin slices from the mix. Ideally, use a griddle, but you can bake the cakes in a non stick frying pan. Cook for thirty seconds each side. That’s enough time, the mixture continues to cook after removed from the heat so it’s really easy to overcook them. Leave on a baking tray to cool down afterwards for about half an hour.
Only do two or three at a time. As you lay the third cake, the first will need to be turned, cooking each side for thirty seconds.Do not eat hot from the pan as they will crumble in your hands.The batch should keep up to 2 to 3 weeks.
Serve with what you fancy – try jam and cream as we do in the Café.
Gyros in Corfu
There’s a pleasing regularity to my days in Corfu. Rise with the sun as it peeps over the mountains of Albania. Go for a run by the sea. Light breakfast of bread and Greek honey. Write my required word count. Walk - eat Gyros - beer - walk. Back for the sunset. Glass of rough Greek wine while listening to the cicadas in the olive strees, the dogs barking, and random confused birds.
Read MoreAlways Almost Albania
Albania is high on the list of places that I want to go to. But it never quite happens. From my balcony in Astrakeri on Corfu, the high mountains of Albania form an impressive panorama. It’s like it’s taunting me.
Read MoreThe Art of Towel Folding
Swans from towels, appreciated for seconds.
Read MoreBeijing - The end of days
Little moments that stick in the memory in my final days in Beijing. Walking north towards the subway late on a Tuesday evening, after a day wandering around central Beijing.
Read MoreTop of the Mops
Mops outside the canteen at China Radio International
Read MoreLost and Found in Beijing
Mindfulness comes in handy when you are lost in a foreign city, at 2am in the morning, having left your phone and wallet in a bar - somewhere. By rights I should have been arrested, and that would have helped, but no one seemed the slightest bit interested.
Read MoreKnights of the Round Table
Knights of the Round Table? Or Charlie’s Angels? Striking a pose before broadcast of Round Table on China Radio International - today’s team - myself, Niu Honglin and Ryan Price.
Read MoreAlien Nation
Jinyu Hutong, Beijing - Seeing two ghostly figures mock fighting in the street
Read MoreSkating Beijing
Skaters in the Beijing World Trade Centre shopping mall
Read MoreBeijing: The Red Planet
Billboard for ‘The Martian’ in Xidan, Beijing.
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