I finally got myself down to Foxcroft and Ginger on Berwick Street. Having just eaten an amazing brunch I forced myself to resist the delicious looking sandwiches, which they have piled up on the counter. On our 2nd round of (really good) flat whites made with Monmouth cofee, we could resist no longer and shared a piece of banana bread. I would go as far as saying…maybe the best banana bread I’ve ever had. So deliciously light and moist, served warm and sprinkled with cinnamon and icing sugar. Next time I visit I’ll go with an empty stomach!
Tag Archives: cafe
20/03/2011 · 11:40 am
On Sunday I stumbled upon a gorgeous little cafe in Crouch End called Coffee Circus. I ordered a white americano and settled myself onto a red velvet chaise longue with a good view of the counter so that I could lust after their La Marzocco coffee machine! My coffee was great, they obviously know their stuff and the atmosphere was very welcoming. I loved the shabby chic painted wooden floorboards, open fireplace and book shelves full of nick nacks, which made it feel like I was just relaxing in my own (dream)living room. It’s only been open for just over a month but already seems pretty popular. I for one am more than happy to become a regular visitor!
09/01/2011 · 6:20 pm
ooooo Betty!
My love of autumn has been revived by a gorgeous weekend in York…bright blue skies, fluffy white clouds, amazing autumn leaves…
and afternoon tea at a real northern institution…Bettys…
Bettys is ever so popular and there’s always a queue of eager sweet toothed tourists awaiting their turn to sample the delicacies…
With this in mind I’d booked a table upstairs in the ‘Belmont Room’…
what it lacked in busy buzzy cafe atmosphere it made up for with its elegant cruise liner inspired art deco features. The waitresses were dressed in period clothes and a live pianist serenaded us…all very sophisticated!
But let me get back to the main event…
A pot of Bettys tea room blend tea…
and a tower of delicate goodies…
dainty but well filled, crustless roast ham and smoked salmon sandwiches (with real butter of course)…
a sultana scone, which had a very pleasant lemon zing to it served with strawberry jam and clotted cream…
and to top it off a minature chocolate eclair, a fresh fruit tart and a lemon financier…
The financier was so very moist and had a crunchy lemon drizzle topping (definitely on the ‘must bake’ list) but for me the raspberry tart really stole the show…extremely light pastry, a sweet, creamy custard filling to die for, topped with tart but succulent raspberries. It definitely deserves a picture of its own…
Despite having filled myself up with a huge breakfast at the hotel I managed to polish the whole.lot.off…
On the way out I had a recce of the shop, which was chock full of Bettys goodies…
It may have become a Mecca for tourists but the experience of a trip back in time to this wonderful afternoon tea emporium remains a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
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The trauma of competitive baking…
A few weeks ago in a moment of spotaneous madness I entered myself into a Great Brownie Bake Off being organised by Louise from the Chocolate Consulltancy. I’d recently made a successful batch of brownie’s as blogged here and was feeling confident. I took the competition very seriously and spent Friday night diligently baking what I hoped would be my winning brownie’s (wishful thinking maybe). On Saturday morning I transported them to Look Mum No Hands in time for the 1pm deadline.
The place was packed and at this point my nerves really kicked in. But luckily Louise had lined up a whole day of chocolate based baking demonstrations, which took my mind off the competition. I watched Fred Ponnavoy, Head Chef at GU…
whip up an amazing banoffee style chocolate desert…
and then a GU Pear Belle Helene, which was made up of pear poached in vanilla, layered with mascarpone cream with green cardamom, GU chocolate ganache and topped with caramelised puffed rice mmm…
At this point there was a break in demonstrations whilst the judging commenced. There were 25 brownie entrants and 11 judges…
It was all very official and the judges took it very seriously. I was intrigued by the whole process so got closer to get a better look. I made the mistake of watching the panel taste my entry…
I’d taken a bit of a risk by submitting a brownie containing pear and brazil nuts and hoped that the judges wouldn’t be brownie purists. It was a totally nerve wracking experience watching the judges cogitate and deliberate over my humble brownie and if I’m honest I don’t think my gamble paid off.
I backed off, left them to it and watched some more demonstrations including one by Edd Kimber, winner of the Great British Bake Off who made Chocolate and Banana Whoopie Pies…
I also drank copious amounts of coffee and Suki Tea…
At 5.45pm the winner was announced…Louise M’s brownie’s were apparently the best by far! It was a real shame that she wasn’t there to collect her prize, she’d gone home early, convinced that her brownie’s were underbaked! Unfortunately, I wasn’t lucky enough to have tasted the winning entry.
In my quest to constantly improve my baking skills I was interested to find out the feedback that my brownie’s had received from the judges so I collected my score cards and read their comments. I kind of wish I hadn’t…’cloying’, ‘too loose’, ‘textures didn’t quite work together’, ‘dominant vanilla note’ but…I’m clinging to the fact that the most common observation was along the lines that it was ‘a nice cake but not a brownie’ so I guess it’s not all bad. It was a fun day but I left feeling a little deflated and now have a renewed respect for all the entrants in my Birthday Cake Bake Off…competitive baking is a pretty traumatic experience!
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Tea at Bea’s
Bea’s of Bloomsbury has been on my list of ‘must visit’ café’s for ages so when my friend’s Japanese girlfriend mentioned that she’d love to experience a traditional English afternoon tea I knew exactly where to take her. I gathered together a motley, cake eating crew and we headed on down to Bloomsbury to the cake haven that is Bea’s…
The shop front is quite understated and if I hadn’t been purposefully going there I think I would have walked straight past completely oblivious to the amazing cake-like goodies awaiting me inside…
We had to wait a few minutes for our table to be vacated and relaid, which wasn’t a problem as I had the cake display to keep me occupied…
The staff were really friendly and very accommodating when 2 extra friends came along as late entries to join our table.
Once settled, we were asked to choose from the tea menu…
I went for the vanilla black, which was delicious and fragrant and the perfect accompaniment to the afternoon tea, which consisted of a scone with jam and clotted cream, a cupcake, a mini valrhona brownie, a mini belgian blondie, a mini meringue and a home made marshmallow…
The scones were my favourite part, they were so moist, light and mouthwatering-ly delicious (even more so when piled high with strawberry jam and lashings of clotted cream)…
There were a few varieties of cupcakes on our stand, the choice was tough but in the end I opted for this one…
I didn’t sample them all but I was reliably informed by my friends that they were all delicious. Both the sponge and the frosting were extremely light and I loved the fact that although sweet they weren’t too sickly, plus they were beautiful…
We made a valiant effort to do as we were instructed on the cake stand…
but in the end we were beaten by cake (I never thought I would see the day) and had to leave a few lonely morsels amongst out afternoon tea aftermath…
Our Bea’s experience was lovely…totally unpretentious, delicious and such a bargain at only £9.90!
I was very excited to read on my way out that a second Bea’s is due to open at the end of October in St Pauls…
Right around the corner from where I work…danger danger!
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J+A Cafe
I’ve been working in Clerkenwell for over 2 years now and am ashamed to admit that I don’t know the area at all. But recently I’ve been on a journey of discovery. On a recent reconnaissance mission I found myself drawn down a little alleyway just off Great Sutton Street and happened upon J+A cafe. Unfortunately at the time I was on the way to meet a friend so couldn’t linger but I stored it away in my memory banks for another day. That day came around yesterday, when I met a friend for lunch in the sunny courtyard of J+A…
The menu sounded amazing with loads of fresh, home made salads, sandwiches, tarts, quiches and cakes. I had real difficulty choosing what to have but finally settled on a roast chicken open sandwich on Irish soda bread with wholegrain mustard mayonnaise…
The bread, baked on site, was delicious and the chicken was succulent and plentiful. The whole meal was to die for!
My friend had a club sandwich, a triple decker filled with chicken, bacon, avocado, salad, tomato and mayo…not for the dainty or sparrow stomached…
I loved the feel of the place, the atmosphere and their quirky details like their old fashioned bottles used refilled with tap water…
and the fact that they have planted flowers in old butler sinks…
Our bill including 2 coffee’s and a soft drink only came to about £17, generally more than I would pay for a normal ‘nip out of the office’ lunch but definitely good value for money considering the amazing quality and deliciousness of the food. I have just found out that they serve afternoon tea from 3-6pm…I’ll be revisiting J+A sometime very soon!
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Foodie adventures in the wild west (of Ireland)
It’s been at least a week since I’ve posted any baking photo’s or recipes but I’ve just returned from an amazing trip visiting a good friend in the Wild West of Ireland. So for the time being I hope a healthy dose of Irish food porn will suffice…
My mate Brig lives in a gorgeous little village called Kinvara in an area of West Ireland called the Burren in Co. Galway and runs The Burrenbeo Trust, a landscape charity dedicated to protecting the future sustainable management of the Burren region. As part of the charity they run Cafebeo, where I worked for two days and which I completely fell in love with.
Cafebeo is Ireland’s only conservation cafe, it serves only Burren produce and 100% of its proceeds go back into the work of the Burrenbeo Trust. They serve delicious homemade soups, Burren organic smoked salmon with local goats cream cheese on homemade brown bread and fresh salad and cakes and the most amazing scones baked by a local lady.
I didn’t realise how popular scones are in Ireland. They’re a whole different ball game to English scones…apparently the main difference is the addition of buttermilk. I’m intrigued by them so I’m going to source a recipe and attempt to make my own.
Brig is well aware, as are most people, of my passion for cafe’s, cakes and food in general and did a sterling job of taking me on a tour of all the culinary hot spots in the area. First stop was the Gallery Cafe in Gort…
where, amongst other things, we ate a yummy goats cheese and beetroot pizza. I forgot to take any photos as I was overcome by hunger after a long day working in the cafe 🙂
Every Friday Kinvara hosts a farmers market, my own little slice of heaven…
It had everything….live music…
cheese…
and the most amazing cake stall serving chocolate fudge cake…
carrot cake…
even the gluten free lemon cake looked amazing…
and a chocolate and guiness cake…not a traditional Irish recipe as you may imagine…apparently it’s one of Nigella’s – another to add to my ‘to bake’ list.
After much deliberation and drooling I decided to buy a slice of mango, banana and coconut cake…it was quite similar to a hummingbird cake that I made a while ago from the Hummingbird Cookery book but substituting pineapple for mango. It was one of the most moist, fruity cakes I have ever eaten…
That evening we popped into Galway and paid a visit to Bar No.8 on the docks. It didn’t look much from the outside but the food turned out to be a real hidden gem. The menu sounded so amazingly good that we decided to share a couple of things…
Parsnip, wild garlic and red cabbage fritters with beetroot yoghurt…
Potted crab with Jess’s Brown Bread. The crab was rich and creamy, mixed with celery and spring onion and was accompanied by a scrummy dressed salad. Simply perfect!
We couldn’t resist the chocolate brownie with wild berry biscuit ice cream for desert. It arrived looking like a true work of art, decorated with edible flowers (well at least we hoped they were edible because well…we ate them). They even cut the brownie in half for us so that we didn’t get into a fight about who had eaten most 🙂
We spent my last day on a mini road trip taking in the beautiful scenery of the west coast and despite not being in the least bit hungry, managed to fit in one last cafe trip to the Burren Perfumery…
for carrot cake…
and a chocolate cupcake…
After such a wonderful trip it was a real struggle making myself leave Kinvara and get on the plane back to London…I have no doubt that I’ll be back.
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The light at the end of the tunnel
It’s been a bleak old week in my world but the black cloud that has been stationed above my head, much like the volcanic ash cloud which is lurking over Britain, has finally started drifting away. I’m a simple soul and in most cases like this a good coffee, cake, yummy meal or in this particular case, a trip to a fantastic cafe is the answer!
Just over a month ago I was doing a recce of Kaffeine with a friend and we got chatting to a guy on the neighbouring table, who wondered why I was taking photos of my coffee. He enthused about a little cafe in Charlotte Place called Lantana and told me that the owner had started a blog about her experience of starting her cafe from scratch. As people who know me are probably all too aware, this subject is very close to my heart, I’m very happy to chew anyone/everyone I meet’s ear off about my own cafe dreams! So, as soon as I got home I googled Lantana and found the blog in question. I started from the very beginning and read every post until I was up to the present day – it had me hooked! This, along with inspiration from reading Gary Vaynerchuks book ‘Crush It’ was what made me start this very blog.
But anyway, I’m going off on a tangent…the point of this post is that I finally made it down to Charlotte Place on this most gorgeously sunny Saturday morning and here’s what I found…
I think I must have been looking a bit lost because I was trying to decide whether to sit outside in the sun or inside where I’d feel more of the atmosphere of the place. But I was soon approached by a lovely friendly waitress who sat me at a vast varnished plywood bench at the front of the very shop, where the window was wide open, looking out onto the street so I got the best of both worlds – perfect! To top it off I had a selection of every weekend magazine/newspaper available laid out right in front of me.
I ordered a flat white to tide me over while I perused the menu…
the coffee was nothing short of dreamy. It was smooth, creamy, not to mention a work of art. The menu was a nightmare though because I wanted EVERYTHING on it! I finally settled for a ‘grilled haloumi stack, mushrooms with herb pesto, corn fritter, sautéed spinach, and roast tomatoes served with wholemeal sourdough toast’ and was assured by the waitress that I’d made the right choice.
When it arrived I wasn’t in the least bit disappointed –
Every single element of the dish was delicious and the only criticism I have is that I had to add a bit of salt to the sweetcorn fritter, which wasn’t the end of the world!
After devouring my brunch and all of the weekend papers, I was toying with ordering another coffee but decided that that would be a little bit excessive and anyway the cafe was really busy, with people queueing for tables. I took pity on a lady who obviously had her eye on my window seat and eventually dragged myself away, stopping by on the way out to tell the owner how much I had enjoyed it! Great work Shelagh! There is no doubt in my mind that I’ll be back!
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Caravan (of love)
This morning I paid my second visit to Caravan on Exmouth Market. I work just around the corner and had been reading good things about it in timeout and on young and foodish so first thing on Tuesday morning I had headed down there only to be told that they were having ‘issues’ and didn’t have a working water supply and with water being a pretty vital component of coffee I had to leave empty handed. I didn’t write them off however, and this morning, for my Friday treat I wandered over to Caravan again. This time I was not at all disappointed and I can confirm that the wait was most definitely worth it!
I ordered an americano but then noticed the row of china coffee filters on the counter and realised that I wasn’t in danger of being served a filter coffee that had been brewed an hour or so earlier and had been stewing away in a jug…these guys knew their stuff. So I changed my order to a filter.
I was offered three varieties, which they roast in their basement. I was taken through the pro’s and con’s of each and decided on the Musasa as it was the strongest. The guy serving me was incredibly attentive and concentrated on giving me the coffee I had been dreaming of, checking that he was adding the right amount of sugar and milk to suit my taste. The cup was fairly small in comparison to some other cafe’s I frequent and was £2 but after my first sip I knew it was money well spent and realised that I may have started a dark and dirty liasion with the Caravan (of love)!
Only 7 weeks after opening apparently evenings are really busy and weekends are rammed so evidently their food must be something special too. I’ll keep you posted once the inevitable happens and I sample it.
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Afternoon Tease 