Classic Caggs

This is a super-simple loaf to make when you don't want to wait hours for it to prove. I love the pink-hue you get from adding beetroot to this loaf. It is a good loaf to make to use up the dregs of bags of flour.  Beetroot soda bread Makes 1 loaf 300g beetroot (I used vacuum packed) 1 tsp fennel seeds 100ml plain full-fat yogurt 400g flour (I used 300g plain white and 100g wholemeal flour) 1 tsp sea salt 2 tsp baking powder 50g seeds (I used sesame) Preheat the oven to 220C. Puree the beetroot with the fennel and yogurt in a food processor until smooth. Mix the flour with the sea salt, baking powder and seeds. Fold the liquid beetroot mixture through this. As it comes together you can form into a ball with your hands but do not work too much or the finished loaf will be tough. Scatter some flour on a baking tray and place your ball of dough on top. You can add some more seeds to the top. Dust with flour and cut a deep cross into the top of...

Since having our sourdough starter (Dough Exotic) we have had to be creative about how we use the discard. This recipe is based on The Boy Who Bakes banana and chocolate recipe; we didn't have any over-ripe bananas so used an extra egg.  Sourdough discard blueberry and chocolate cupcakes Makes 20 cupcakes 200g sourdough discard 1 tsp vanilla extract 3 eggs 150g softened unsalted butter 185g granulated sugar 150g plain flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp table salt 125g blueberries 125g dark chocolate, roughly chopped into chunks Preheat the oven to 180C and l ine muffin tin with cake cases. Stir the sourdough discard, vanilla extract and eggs.  In a separate bowl whisk the softened butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add this to the sourdough bowl. Fold in the flour, baking powder and salt.  Stir through the blueberries and dark chocolate. Spoon into the cupcake cases and bake in the preheated over for 22 minutes.

Those of you that don't follow me on Instagram ( @caggyp if you're interested) won't have been subjected to the constant barrage of photos of sunny Australia. I've just returned from 2 months Down Under and the food there was a big feature of my Instagram feed , so I thought I would share my breakfast/brunch favourites from Melbourne, where I spent the majority of my time, on here (i.e. impose my photos on you via all mediums I can think of) Tivoli Road Bakery (South Yarra, Melbourne) This Danish Pastry, if my memory serves me correctly, is a fig, almond and custard concoction, but whether I've got that correct or not it was abso-freaking-lutely delicious. I also enjoyed a slice of the Tivoli Road fruit loaf (jam-packed with apricots and figs) the mornings when I didn't indulge in their buttery pastries. The owner of the bakery is also originally from Cornwall, which I'm sure goes some way to explaining why I loved the bakery quite so much.  ...

I feel as if Instagram and Pinterest are awash with photos of breakfast bowls containing ingredients I just can't get my hands on in Wales (mail order acai berries anyone?) I did want to jump on the trend bandwagon however and so have been enjoying frozen yogurt breakfast bowls instead (sprinkled with some  homemade granola of course - this batch has cashews rather than ginger in though).  I make this in my smoothie maker - anything with the ability to blitz frozen fruit will do. I can thoroughly recommend this as a breakfast to get you kick-started in spring! To make 1 portion of frozen yogurt breakfast bowl you will need: A handful of frozen berries - the major supermarkets do this really well 1 banana 1 tablespoon of greek yogurt A splash of milk From experience of multiple attempts at this, you need to order the ingredients in the blender so that the banana and yogurt are nearest the blade (to create a kind of paste) with the frozen berries ...

Today is my housemate and friend of six years Aimee's birthday. Her favourite food in the whole world is mango, so it felt only right to make her some cupcakes with a very definite mango influence to them. Aimee hates coconut so I went with mango and lime instead.  The recipe will make 24 cupcakes and enough lime buttercream icing to cover them all (lucky as it's her 24th). To make a batch of tropical mango and lime cupcakes you will need: 1 cup of plain flour 1 tsp baking powder 1/4 cup soft salted butter 1/3 cup granulated sugar 2 eggs 1/3 cup milk Grated rind of 1 lime 1/2 cup finely chopped mango (I used tinned mango as unfortunately mangos in January in the UK are few and far between and not very nice if you do buy a fresh one!) 1/2 cup soft salted butter 4 cups icing sugar Juice of 1 lime A little lime zest A little chopped mango  Begin by preheating the oven to 180C (fan, 170C) and lining the baking tray with paper cases.  ...

My standard breakfast most of the time involves oats in some way, be it porridge or granola. Recently I've really got into coconut oil and so this granola recipe uses it with ginger to make for a really tasty but quite subtly flavoured granola. I enjoy mine with yogurt and fruit but it would work well with milk too! The quantities are enough to fill a large Kilner jar and tend to last me a fortnight. This granola doesn't hold quite as well as the shop bought type as there is less sugar; it is more like baked oats. The ginger syrup is the substitute for the sugar added to usual granola recipes and I think it is a lot more tasty. To make a large batch of coconut and ginger granola you will need: 3 cups oats  1 cup nuts/seeds (I use a variety of different ones including pine nuts and sunflower seeds) 2 tbsp coconut oil 1 tbsp ginger syrup from a jar of stem ginger (you could even add some finely sliced stem ginger if you wanted!) Preheat ...

On Wednesday it was my lovely friend Danny's birthday. I was invited to spend a long weekend with him and my favourite person, Emily, in Swansea. Danny's only request for his birthday cake was that it was "new flavours", which led to me and Emily baking Danny a chilli chocolate cake until 1am on Saturday morning.  Little duckling sheltering from the Welsh weather The cake was enjoyed on Saturday evening with everyone and it was super - the chilli isn't spicy at all but just gives a depth to the chocolate flavour that makes the cake taste extra special. The icing doesn't have any chilli in either so it just makes for a lovely celebration cake! It's important to use a good quality chocolate with a high cocoa content as it is so much more delicious than a cheap slab of chocolate; this cake deserves that sort of quality. The recipe is based upon one you bake in a  Le Creuset  but we instead baked it in a cake tin and it turned out perfectly. By al...

I have two friends coming over for supper this evening; I haven't seen them properly for a little while so I thought I'd pull out all the stops. For starter we'll be having this sweet potato hummus with some freshly baked, homemade bread that one of the boys is bringing over. I had a practice run with this hummus with my housemates yesterday and it went down well so I've got everything crossed the boys enjoy it as much as them! The hummus will keep for up to a week sealed in the fridge.  To make two medium-sized dishes of sweet potato hummus you will need: 1 tin of chickpeas 450g sweet potato 2 garlic cloves 1 lemon 2 tsp cumin 2-4 tbsp oil (dependent upon how thick you want your hummus) Peel and slice the sweet potato into thumb-sized chunks and add to boiling water for 10-15 minutes until nice and soft before draining. Throw all of the ingredients into a blender and combine.  HOWEVER  if you only have a little blender (like me!) and can't get al...

A friend sent me this recipe  after I'd arranged a few weeks ago to meet up with him to hear all about his life. The evening came and he definitely hadn't forgotten the brownie and salted caramel delights he had messaged me about.  Of course we made them, and of course they were everything we had hoped they would be (and more). Sure, one bite and you know any healthy eating you have ever done in your life EVER is ruined, but they are so flipping delicious who cares! They're rich and sweet as well so that you really can only eat one cookie sandwich at a time. Which I can assure you in these circumstances is a good thing. You'll get about 14 sandwiches (i.e. 28 brownie circles) out of this recipe, so if you don't fancy sandwiching them together (which is magic, so why wouldn't you) you do end up with a lovely big batch of soft and chocolatey brownies.  To make brownie and salted caramel cookie sandwiches you will need: 1/2 cup of salted butter...

This week was my Mum's birthday. I made her a gluten free birthday cake so that all of us (even those gluten intolerant in the family) could enjoy it. The cake is best enjoyed with a good dollop of mascarpone (or clotted cream, seeing as I'm are from the Westcountry) because it is so lemony! I used the BBC Good Food recipe, but adjusted the quantities of polenta and ground almonds.  Because you boil the lemons that go into the cake to make them blend-able, the cake takes a couple of hours to complete - just to forewarn you! To make a gluten free lemon polenta cake you will need: 2 lemons (you'll actually need a total of 3 as you also need one for the drizzle!) 140g soft butter 250g caster sugar 3 eggs 150g polenta 225g ground almonds 1 tsp baking powder 140g caster sugar The juice of 1 lemon Mascarpone or clotted cream to serve Begin by popping your 2 lemons in a saucepan, covering with boiling water and leaving to simmer with a lid over...

There were a load of bananas sat on the side in the kitchen that needed to be used up - a scenario that's happened before ! Banana bread by itself doesn't go down very well with my housemates, so I decided to make a chocolate version instead. And to rebrand it as a cake-bread. I discovered earlier this week that I own some measuring cups, so I was able to trial a Zoe Bakes recipe using them. I don't own a bread tin in my uni house however and so had to resort to using a 20cm cake tin. Zoe suggests that the nutella banana bread takes 45 minutes to bake in the two bread tins; in a cake tin it is closer to an hour. To make nutella banana bread you will need: 3 or 4 over-ripe bananas 2 tsp vanilla extract 2 large eggs 1/2 cup of milk 1/2 cup of melted butter 1 cup of packed brown sugar 3 cups of plain flour 3 tsp baking powder 1 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 cup of nutella Preheat the oven to 170C and grease and line the bread tins or the round cake tin. Mash the banan...

The title "cauliflower pizza" doesn't sound enormously exciting; it's actually the base that is cauliflower which means it is delightfully gluten free! The method is super easy and quicker than making a dough pizza base that requires resting and kneading.  I topped the cauliflower pizza base with red onion, red pepper, cherry tomatoes and beetroot which made for a nice light supper. To make a cauliflower pizza base you will need: 1 cauliflower 1 egg A handful of grated cheese - either parmesan or cheddar 1 garlic clove, crushed Pinch of oregano Topping of your choice Preheat the oven to 180C and lie a piece of greaseproof paper in a pizza or baking tray Start by grating the cauliflower - ideally grate into a container than has a slight lip to it and is quite a bit bigger than the grater as it goes everywhere (as an example, I used a big baking tray). Pour the grated cauliflower into a container that can be microwaved and microwave on full power f...

Last week I arranged to have a friend over for tea and cake; she said that her favourite treat  would be a banoffee pie. I made a really easy version for her so that if she ever wanted to make one in her kitchen in uni accommodation then she would be able to. To make an ultra-easy banoffee pie you will need: 75g salted butter 200g digestive biscuits 1 tin of caramel sauce - you can get Carnation condensed milk versions that are perfect! 2 bananas 150ml double or whipping cream Chocolate sprinkles Melt the salted butter in a saucepan or the microwave. Crush the biscuits in a sealed sandwich bag and stir this into the melted butter. Press the buttery biscuit into a tin with a loose bottom (this means you are able to get the banoffee pie out once all the layers are finished!) Pop in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Pour the caramel sauce over the set base. Slice the banana and layer this over the caramel. Whisk the cream and smother over the b...

Tonight was my night to cook in our little rota. Cathy told me after I'd planned the meal that the one food she really dislikes in beetroot….oops.  I decided that rather than boiling the beetroots to soften them for the recipe I would bake them to make them a little sweeter and (hopefully) more palatable for a beetroot-hater. After clearing her plate she announced that she now liked beetroot. Phew.  The quantities feed five - adjust accordingly! To make roast beetroot risotto you will need: 3 uncooked beetroots Splash of oil 1 red onion (chopped) 1 garlic clove (crushed) 2 glasses of red wine 2 vegetable stock cubes A kettle of water (as much as is needed! Approx 1.5L) 450g risotto 1 tbsp butter Handful of grated parmesan Preheat the oven to 200C. Peel and slice the beetroot into half if little and quarters if large. Wrap in silver foil, drizzle with some oil and bake in the oven for 25 minutes. In the meantime,...

This week I made a supper I just had to tell you about. I visited the supermarket at the perfect time, just as all the reduced food for the day was being put out, and managed to grab a piece of cod for 80p. EIGHTY PENCE! My housemate had a lonely half of butternut squash that he gave to me; that paired with some sage from my garden at home and it was a match made in heaven! After a total of 30 minutes in the oven I had a lovely, healthy supper waiting for me.  I think this supper made me so happy just because it was cheap but delicious! Simple as that! Obviously this meal serves one, just increase it to the number of mouths you need to feed! To make baked cod with sage butternut squash you will need: A piece of cod (or any other white fish) Squeeze of half a lemon + a slice to bake in the foil Half a butternut squash A few sage leaves Drizzle of oil Preheat the oven to 180C. Lie the fish fillet onto some silver foil and squeeze the lemon over it. Place a...

We recreated the Secret Squirrel's honey popcorn slices  this weekend. They're deeply delicious without being too bad for you, the tahini adds a nuttiness to them which is perfectly balanced with the sweetness of the chocolate and coconut….basically they're super. Simple as that. Whilst you're waiting for them to cool in the fridge too the extra popcorn pieces are perfect dipping implements in the scraped out chocolate and tahini/honey mixing bowls (naughty). To make a tray of honey and tahini popcorn bites you will need:  4 cups of popcorn (cover the bottom of a medium saucepan with kernels and that'll give you just over 4 cups…just incase you have any accidents involving popcorn on the floor!) 1/4 cup tahini paste 2 tbsp honey 2 tbsp melted coconut oil (plus a bit more to cook the popcorn) 1/2 tbsp agave syrup (or maple) 2 tbsp cocoa powder Line a square tin with foil Melt the coconut oil in a medium saucepan and add to this the popcorn kern...

Overnight oats are so simple yet so satisfying to make - baking them in the morning turns them into a wonderful oatmeal (perfect for when autumn is setting in here in Wales!) I had a load of home-grown pears that my parents had packed me off with after I'd visited last week, Emily brought some stem ginger in syrup into the equation and so these overnight oats were born! The addition of a little of the ginger syrup is magical - we did refer to these as "divine oats", not to sing their praises too much... To make 4 portions of overnight pear and ginger baked oats you will need: 3 pears 1 and a 1/2 balls of stem ginger, chopped into medium sized pieces 1 and a 1/2 cups of oats - I recommend a chunky oat like Mornflake 1 cup of milk  1 and a 1/2 tbsp ginger syrup 1 tsp baking powder If you're baking the oats straight away, preheat the oven to 180C Chop the pears up and pop these and the sliced stem ginger in the bottom of your baking bowl. Put the...