176: Walnut and candied peel tartlets, p379

More pastry I didn't make and got out of a packet instead! :) Ah well, that's one thing I haven't mastered during this year...

I wasn't really looking forward to these too much, not being a fan of candied peel, but these were really rather yummy - like a nutty alternative to mince pies. The golden syrup and the candied peel melted together to make a chewy filling to the little tarts. Yum!

61: Treacle tart, p65

Yum. Yum. Yum.

What a weird concept for a pudding... and so easy! Breadcrumbs, mixed with syrup, baked in a pastry case. That's it! Wow! Scrummy. Especially with a good dollop of cream - even scrummier!

I cheated though. Bad me. I hope the shortcut taking is not becoming a habit... I didn't make the pastry case :( I used a bought one... Was in a bit of a hurry mid-week and I'm so bad at making pastry (warm paws, melts the butter and makes it greasy and crumbly and an all-round disaster), I decided not to risk it tonight. There's lots of pastry in The Kitchen Diaries, so plenty of other opportunities to practise!

We've had two long term visitors at work for the last month or so, one from Egypt and one from Indonesia, and they are both going back this weekend, and I'd promised them a 'proper English dinner' - so this was part of it! Roast chicken and all the trimmings, and treacle tart for pudding. And they did seem to like it! Must be odd staying in a country so different from home, and living in a B&B for weeks on end, but never really getting to try to food from that part of the world... Fine if you want to go to a restaurant serving Chinese, Indian, Italian, and any number of other countries' food, but where do you go (other than the Fish and Chip shop) for English food, other than someone's home?

Slightly complicated by the fact that both visitors are Muslim and so only eat halal meat - so I went to Hounslow specially to get a halal chicken. Odd cultural note about halal chickens: they look rather odd compared to our normal chickens for eating... they seem to have great big thighs and not much up top, if you know what I mean. Not very well endowed. Which makes them a rather different shape to regular ones...

Pudding also went down particularly well with my boss, whose little girl is coeliac, so he very happily overdoses on gluten when not at home (pastry filled with bread? Definitely a gluten overdose...).

9: Double ginger cake, p15

Got a cake craving last night. Must have been the pilates class and 'light' dinner...

Potential problem is that I don't actually much like ginger. Not in sweet foods, anyway... It's supposed to be really good for nausea but I tend to feel a bit nauseous after eating sweet gingery things... But, it's in the book, it's got to be done!

Curious batter this, very fluid... Recipe says 'mixture should be sloppy' and Maggie Don's blog says that the ginger/fruit sank to the bottom because the batter was so floppy, but still a bit worrying... and it took a good 10mins longer in the oven that the 40mins in the recipe (maybe Nigel does have a fan oven after all). Ho hum. It smells delicious and hopes are high... if only one didn't have to wait for it to cool down a bit before diving in!!

No gym class this evening, in-case you hadn't guessed...

Cake-related disaster! Got a little bit stuck in the tin and so sides look a bit... eroded...

It is a nice, light, moist texture, has risen really nicely, but unfortunately, as predicted, it's a bit too sweet and super super gingery (that'll be the double ginger) for me to really like.

EDIT: actually, on second tasting (and a proper piece instead of all the overcooked crumbly bits that fell off/were left in the tin), it's actually quite nice! The ginger bits and raisins did sink to the bottom, and aren't for me, but this leaves lots of nice lightly gingery cake on top, hurrah!