Earle by Simon Rimmer, Hale

It's rare that we have a non-food related event planned, but when we do it is invariably turned around to involve some sort of culinary delight. On Saturday we were going to a shooting range in Cheshire for the boys (no animals were harmed in the making of this post, with the exception of a metal crow). It ended up being a dual focused trip, and we nipped into Earle by Simon Rimmer en route.

In a cruel twist of fate, we were caught in the most heinous hail storm on our trek from the car. This could only happen in a place called Hale. We were boarder line frost bitten when we got there, and a tad melodramatic.

Simon Rimmer

Earle has been on our 'to do' list for about five years, but we never quite got round to it. I'd had a look at the lunch menu beforehand, and to be honest I wasn't overly excited. I feel a right drongo now. I suppose what I'm saying is don't make the same mistake!

Earle is smaller than I expected but has a nice feel about the place. The staff were welcoming and did a cracking job of 'selling' the food with their descriptions. Our waitress explained that the à la Carte menu wasn't really available at lunch, but if there was anything we wanted she could ask the chef.

For starters, Wayne, Paddy and I had the leek and potato soup (as recommended by our waitress) and Vicki ordered the whitebait. The soup was a wonderful vivid green with a lovely peppery warmth, and came served with crusty bread. The whitebait came in a paper cone with mayo in the side. Vicki reported this to be tasty, crisp and very filling indeed. Smiles all round!

Paddy had the fish and chips, Wayne picked fish pie, and true to form Vicki and I had the burger with cheese and bacon. I wasn't expecting the food to be quite so homely. It was nicely presented but had all the comfort of a countryside pub with a roaring fire. The boys both polished their mains pretty sharpish whilst Vicki and I struggled with the size of our amazing burgers. The bacon was more like a thick chunk of slow cooked ham and the cheese was grilled onto the burger. It also came with home cooked chips, salsa and coleslaw. Lovely and pink on the inside and charred on the outside. Perfect.

Then we had a bit of a situation. Out of the four of us, there is only ever one person who is looking at the dessert menu before we've even ordered our starters. Yours truly. I can be dying of over indulgence but still lust after the sweet stuff. It's all about balance you see. Problem... we only had twenty minutes until we had to set off to the shooting range. Like a well oiled machine the staff were mobilised into a pudding sourcing super power! Within five minutes it was ordered and on our table. Impressive folks! We had a tart au citron and the sticky toffee pudding. Both were pudding perfection.

We were planning our next trip before we even left. A pretty little venue with friendly staff and great tasting food. I was expecting Earle to be nice. Just nice. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved it.


My interview with Simon Rimmer for Love Your Local Market.

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Home Baking by Jo Wheatley

I've loved Jo ever since she first graced our screens on the Great British Bake Off. She's a humble home baker who writes about the food she makes for her family and friends. Her first book, A Passion for Baking is packed full of tasty bakes that anyone could have a bash at. This week I received a copy of her new book, Home Baking. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better... There are bundts in there!

This book is another absolute corker. My mouth was genuinely watering whilst flicking through! It contains the type of recipes that you want to have a bash at on a drizzly Sunday afternoon. Proper comfort food.

The book is split into

• Biscuits, Bars and Cookies
• Bread and Scones
• Cakes
• Baking with Children
• Crumbles, Tarts and Pithiviers
• Quiches, Pasties, Pies and Savoury Puddings
• Quick and Simple
• Special Occasions
• Supper Bakes
• Teatime Treats

My first reaction was to ask Jo whether I could move in with her. I'd also need a good surgeon as there is no way my metabolism could tolerate such gluttony. I think part of the appeal is the styling of the photography that accompanies the recipes. Everything looks hearty and home made. There's nothing more daunting than perfect pastry and evenly browned biscuits. Granted, we all want them to look like that but I'm put off recipes where things are too perfect. They scream 'test kitchen', not my kitchen.

Some of my favourite recipes from the book include the ground cinnamon buns, cheesy tear and share bread (above), Christmas cake (in a holiday bundt tin!) and the Portuguese tarts. I adore reading Jo's work and listening to her talking about her baking. She's such a lovely lady. You can just tell that this is a labour of love because it's what she's done for years. She's making cakes for her grand children that come from her own nan's recipes. She even has a section called Baking with Children to encourage readers to show their own families how to bake. My grandma taught me so I fully understand the desire to pass it on.

This is another beautiful book full of little gems from the lady who won our hearts by being a normal mum who bakes for her family. Here's to book number three.

Home Baking is available exclusively to Sainsburys.

A Passion for Baking by Jo Wheatley
Publisher: Constable & Robinson Ltd, 2013
Hardback, £16.99 but is currently on offer at Sainsbury's for £8!
Watch Jo talk about her new book on BBC Breakfast

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Rate My Cake App and Cake Decorating Magazine Giveaway

I was recently approached by the makers of a new app for bakers called Rate My Cake. It's made by the same people who produce Cake Decorating Magazine, so I decided to have a little look. I knew there were no similar apps already on the market so I was curious how it would get bakers interacting with each other.

It's absolutely free to download and is already attracting quite a few creative folk who have been busily adding photos since I joined a few days ago. As well as sharing photos, you can follow other bakers, look at their pictures for inspiration, customise them with effects and frames, share recipes, and chat with other bakers.

You can even post to Twitter and Facebook at the same time. It's like Instagram for cake lovers! It'll get even better as more people join (hint - join...)
Giveaway
To say thank you for having a look at their new app, De Agostini have given me a great prize to giveaway to one lucky reader!

The winner will receive a twelve month subscription to Cake Decorating Magazine!

Cake Decorating is a weekly magazine with illustrated instructions which walk you through creating some amazing projects. Each section has an essential recipe, shows you the basics of decorating as well as giving expert tips for creating your own masterpiece. It regularly includes goodies as well, so you'll build your decorating tools as you collect the issues.

How to Enter

• Simply follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget below.
• To be in with a chance of winning you must complete ALL the mandatory fields, and then can move onto the additional entries if you want to increase your chances of winning.
• All entries will be checked and verified before a winner is announced.
• You can increase your chances of winning by Tweeting on a daily basis.
• Rafflecopter will pick a random winner.
• The competition runs from 30th April 2013 to 30th May 2013.
• Please see the Terms and Conditions on the Rafflecopter widget for the rules and more information.

Please feel free to share this giveaway!

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The Oast House, Manchester

Imagine the scene. I hadn't had a day off in two weeks because of the IT project of doooooom. Yes, doooooom. I was due to finish work at 12pm on Sunday, and everything was meant to be 'routine'. My husband was meeting me in town and we were joining Wayne and Vicki on the train. The plan was to trot into Manchester for a spot of lunch at the Oast House. Lovely.

Then boom. At 11:55am it all went west. We were up that brown creek with another brown item as a paddle. I had to instruct my husband and friends go to Manchester without me, and I planned to join them later. Well, it was much later in the end! I arrived at pushing three o'clock looking like I'd been dragged through a hedge. Smooth as you like. They had been forced into having emergency fries in Common and I was on the verge of eating my own hand.

By the time we finally got to the Oast House, I was tired, hungry and had unacceptably frizzy hair. Within minutes I was relaxed, warm and coveting others' food. There was a musician playing 90s indie in the corner and I could smell the barbecue. Balance restored.

The menu is simple yet effective. Boards with meat and cheese, hearty salads and barbecued meat. Wayne and Vicki both had the hanging kebabs, which are 'sopped' with sweet chilli and ginger and came with 'properly seasoned' fries which are then drenched in garlic butter. The kebabs come served vertically with the fries underneath... The garlic butter is then poured into a little basin at the top of the skewer which allows it to drip over the kebab and then onto the fries. Genius. Hungry yet? They had one chicken and one beef, but both looked equally amazing.
Paddy had half a chicken from the rotisserie with cheesy fries. I had my eye on said chickens from the moment we walked in because the rotisserie is visible from the door. They are unbelievably juicy with a nice crisp skin. The seasoned fries are fantastic - add cheese and they are quite possibly the 'best fries in Manchester' (to quote Wayne).

I had been craving a burger since I was cooped up in the office hours earlier, so was thrilled when mine arrived. It looked stunning. Big and bountiful with cheese fries. I'd also added cheese and bacon to my burger. And I quote... 'you want cheese on your burger and your fries?!' YES. It had been that kind of day. The burger was tasty and well seasoned and I've gone on about those chips quite enough for one post. It was ever so slightly overdone, but it tasted so good it didn't matter one jot. All memories of IT hell were gone.

I had been lured to the Oast House by promise of Bakewell tart. However, when I had been ordering food at the bar, I spied a rather impressive lemon meringue pie. My husband came to my rescue by ordering the Bakewell so I could try both. Yes, I really am an impressive specimen of a greedy pig.

The lemon meringue was out of this world! A wonderful mix of crisp and gooey meringue with a tart filling in a pastry crust. All kinds of wonderful. The Bakewell was a little dry, but still tasted brilliant. I think the dryness was cased by it being warmed and left for a moment before serving.

We all loved the Oast House. I have recommended it to about five people since, and can't wait to go back. It was nice and chilled out despite being really busy, and we didn't have to battle for a table. We got the last one when we walked in, but there were people coming and going all the time. They were really fast with the food too, so it's perfect if you're a bit pushed for time. Those chips will be on my mind for some time to come...

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Red Letter Days - Experiences for Food Enthusiasts

I was recently approached by Red Letter Days who (after reading my food escapades) thought readers of DollyBakes may enjoy some of the packages on their site. So, I had a little nosy at what they had to offer. 

To be honest my only experience of them perviously was when my brother and I bought our dad a driving experience for his birthday. I had no idea that they did food related goodies! After losing about an hour looking at all the packages on their site, I picked three that I think would appeal to most of you. There is a huge 'Gourmet' section which includes breaks in London, butchery classes, brewery tours and even lunch with celebrity chefs! 

Here are my three picks for great gifts for the food fanatic in your life...

1. Afternoon Tea for Two in Mayfair

1. £66
2. 1 1/2 hours
3. Held at Park Lane Hotel in London's Mayfair 
4. Large range of loose traditional, herbal and oriental teas
5. Includes finger sandwiches, scones and pastries.

 2. Cupcake Decorating for Two at Cake Boy

1. £100
2. 3 hours
3. Taught by Eric Lanlard in his London cake boutique 
4. Plain cupcakes are provided
5. You'll be taught how to pipe buttercream, model with sugar paste and finish with a flourish of toppings
6. Refreshments are provided 
7. You take home 12 cupcakes that you have decorated

3. Chocolate Making Workshop

1. £50
2. 2 1/2 hours
3. 10 locations around the UK
4. Run by a master chocolatier
5. Sample the chocolate fountain
6. Make your own truffle fillings, dip into chocolate and decorate
7. Take at least 20 of your creations home to sample

Check out the Red Letter Days Facebook page for more gift ideas and competitions to win some great days out.

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Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. I was not told what to write and picked things from the website which I would genuinely enjoy.

Nordic Ware Cake Pops Pan

Last week my friend Emma mentioned that she had seen a video on how to make cake pops, and she fancied having a go with 'the kid'. I had one of the Nordic Ware cake pops pans at home, so I let her give it a go with the boy wonder. 

They loved it! The chocolate fudge recipe that came with the pack was easy to follow and the instructions worked like a dream. The result was a reliable bake which was easy to remove from the tin, was fun to decorate and tasted amazing!

Here's how they got on...

This would be the perfect activity for the Bank Holiday weekends which are looming, especially if we don't get amazing weather. Best get ordering...

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New Specials at Solita, Manchester

After an abhorrent week, my friend Emma and I booked half a day off work and landed in Manchester, hungry like the wolf. We decided a trip to Solita was long overdue, mainly due to the fact that I had seen pictures of the Juicy Lucy burger and craved it like a creature. Little did we know that there was another exciting special making an appearance... the Parmo.

This isn't another review of Solita, rather a reminder of how chuffing brilliant it is. They have a rather inventive little team there who are constantly coming up with specials that continually blow our socks right off. Therefore this is more a series of pictures that will make you hungry. Maybe even angry that you're having chicken for tea.

Giddy as kippers we ordered a colossal amount of food! We started with the deep fried mac and cheese and the sweetcorn hushpuppies. The red pepper jam that comes with the puppies is one of my favourite condiments ever. Ever ever.

And then they came. Internal fanfare playing, the Juicy Lucy and the Parmo were set down on our table. This burger looks quite standard until you cut or bite into it... then booooom! Cheese everywhere. I can only describe this as an absolute delight.

The Parmo is a butterflied chicken breast covered in béchamel sauce, melted cheddar, meatballs, marinara sauce, parmesan and breadcrumbs. Genius. We had half burger, half Parmo each and nearly died.

However, about five minutes later (in true warrior style), we were suitably recovered from our cheese ordeal and found ourselves ordering deep fried coke and the sticky toffee waffle pudding with creme caramel sauce. Really. Not even jesting. What a pair of greedy pigs! 

Gee wizz. The deep fried coke is one of my favourite desserts ever. Little doughnuts covered in sugar, cinnamon and coke syrup. But hang on! These just got even better. They are now smaller but there are more of them, meaning more of the amazing crunchiness to enjoy. That sticky toffee pudding is going on the 'what could you just eat?' list. It was fantastic.

I'm not sure how much longer these specials are on for, so you better go sooner rather than later. The deep fried coke is on the menu all the time, as are the starters, but the rest are just making guest appearances. We're going back on Friday... and we're taking cake clubbers. Watch our Solita.

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Pineapple Bundt Cake

I've had this tin for ages, but never found the right occasion to use it. This month's cake club theme was 'The Empire Strikes Back'; a homage to products that came to Britain for the first time as our empire flourished. I decided to make a Bahamian Pineapple Bundt Cake, which also meant that I could use my pineapple tin! Cashback. 

I did quite a bit of experimenting with this one. I wanted the right balance between texture and taste; the batter had to be runny enough to pick up the tin's detail, but have enough substance to hold it's shape. I lifted the pineapple taste by using citrus and other tropical fruits. The result is a moist cake with a sweet, tangy flavour, which has that unmistakeable sugar crust.

Ingredients:

• 225g unsalted butter
• 450g golden caster sugar
• 4 medium eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp lemon extract
• 375g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 250ml tropical low fat yogurt (the type of stuff with chunks!)
• 150g crushed pineapple in juice (no need to drain)
• Zest of a ripe lime 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to gas 3/160 c
2. Grease and flour a regular sized bundt tin (2.4l, 10 cup, 10 inch)
3. Cream the butter for a little while until pale, then add the sugar gradually. Beat until pale.
4. On a slow speed add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
5. Mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts.
6. In a separate bowl, measure out the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
7. In another bowl mix together the yoghurt, pineapple and lime zest.
8. Back to the main bowl - sift in a third of the flour mix, followed by half of the yogurt mix. Repeat until all the flour and yogurt is used up.
9. Give a quick mix on a medium speed for about 10 seconds.
10. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean and it is shrinking from the tin slightly. 
11. Leave it to cool in the tin for ten minutes then turn out.
12. Allow to cool fully.
13. Dust with icing sugar.

Bloggers: Please respect the fact I am sharing my own ideas and recipe. Blood, sweat and many tears have gone into getting this right, so you may enjoy a perfect bundt. If you wish to re-blog a recipe from these variations, please credit my blog and link to this original post rather than pasting the recipe on your own page. 

Please see my Creative Commons Copyright information for more details. Thank you.

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Bolton Clandestine Cake Club - The Empire Strikes Back...

No... it's not a Star Wars theme... although I'm surprised we didn't get any R2D2 cakes...

This month's Bolton Clandestine Cake Club was kindly sponsored by Yorkshire Tea so running with the 'tea' theme I decided to look at other goods which were first imported in the heyday of the great British Empire. At it's height, the empire comprised of over a fifth of the world's population, a quarter of the earth's surface and free trade and industrialisation meant that its inhabitants were exposed to many new foods and manufactured products not available in their own countries. Tea didn't grow in Bolton you know...

We went back to Suzanna's in Blackrod, where I have never seen such excited chefs! They had sampled some our baked goodies back in July last year, and were eager to get in on the cakey action once again. The staff were fabulous, and even made us our Yorkshire tea in our branded cups.

As always, our members ran with the theme and came with a huge variety of different cakes. We had about eighteen, which included:

• Bahamian Pineapple Bundt Cake
• Guinness Cake
• Lime and Coconut Cake
• Almond and Cinnamon Cake
• Earl Grey Tea Cake
• Orange Cake
• Chocolate Green Tea Cake
• Spice Mocha Cake
• Spiced Banana, Rum and Pecan Cake
• Choca Moche Marble Cake
• Green Tea Cake
• Cardamom and Mango Yoghurt Cake
• Four Spice Chocolate Cake
• Almond Cake with Chocolate Orange Buttercream
• South African Mango Cake
• Spiced Chocolate Cake
• Spiced Choc Chip Cake with Rum Chocolate Ganache
• Sweet Chocolate Curry Cake

So far today I have eaten nothing but cake. I have the shakes, a raging headache and a gurgly belly. It's worth it...

If you fancy joining us in the future, keep your eyes peeled on the Bolton Clandestine Cake Club page for regular updates.

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Giveaway - Clarks Maple and Abra-ca-Debora Dutch Pancakes Hamper worth over £50

I have a brilliant little giveaway for you all! My friends at Clark's Maple Syrup have donated this wonderful Abra-ca-Debora Dutch Pancakes Hamper worth over £50.

It's absolutely jam packed with goodies to make perfect pancakes! It includes ready made pancakes, a jar of chutney, a selection of Clark's maple syrups and honeys, chocolate, marmite and icing sugar. I reviewed some of Clark's syrup and honey a couple of weeks ago, and I can confirm they are fantastic! 

Just look how much is in it! I'm insanely jealous that I can't win this bad boy myself. Perhaps I could befriend the winner and persuade them to take me on a pancake picnic...? If not I hope whoever wins this fantastic prize makes a suitable pig of themselves.

'How do I enter?' I hear you cry!

• Simply follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget below. 
• To be in with a chance of winning you must complete ALL the mandatory fields, and then can move onto the additional entries if you want to increase your chances of winning. 
• All entries will be checked and verified before a winner is announced.
• You can increase your chances of winning by Tweeting on a daily basis.
• Rafflecopter will pick a random winner.
• The competition runs from 19th April to 17th May 2013.
• Please see the Terms and Conditions on the Rafflecopter widget for the rules and more information.

Thanks once again to Clarks, and of course to the lovely people at Abra-ca-Debora for this great prize. Please feel free to pop over to both their Facebook and Twitter pages to say hello!

Please feel free to share this giveaway!

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The winner was Emma Shellum! Well done!

Return to Sanmini's, Ramsbottom

We adore Sanmini's. The friendly family who run it, the small dining room, the home made South Indian cuisine... it's a place to go when you're in need of a little TLC. The last time we went was after an exhausting day of organising and running our Summer Fete, and it was just what the doctor ordered. Literally. The owners are both medically trained doctors!

My husband planned this trip to Sanmini's after I had been working all weekend on a particularly heinous IT project. And relax... We were soon seated in the five table dining room, and were munching our way through a pile of poppadoms with the most amazing dips. Our favourite, as always was the warm kidney bean one, closely followed by the tangy fruit chutney.

Our starters were absolutely stunning. My husband had the sauteed madras prawns, which came with a shredded mango and coriander side salad. This was very hot but had depth of flavour, and was cooled slightly by the mango. I was brave and picked a vegetable starter for the first time ever! Mine was a lentil bite made from spinach, cabbage, ginger, onions and green chillies and came served with tomato and vegetable and coconut dips. These were crispy on the outside yet soft on the inside with the odd crunchy vegetable. The dips were a perfect accompaniment.

For mains Paddy had the mutton kozambhu and I picked the virudhunangar kozhi kuruma. There are often mutton dishes on the menu at Sanmini's, which makes a nice change from lamb. It's generally got a much deeper flavour and is softer in texture. I think he picked it because the sauce was described as gravy... this was 'blow your socks off' good. A rich tomato based sauce was given a kick up the jacksie by lots of spices finished with fresh herbs. My dish was chicken in a creamy coconut based sauce. It was delicately sweet but still had that little kick. We also had the lemon rice and two chapatis.

We had already decided not to have dessert, but strangely found ourselves asking for the menu? Not sure how this happened. It was decided that the best course of action was to share one, which turned out to be for the best. The small, unassuming desert which arrived was probably enough to run a family of four plus a dog for an entire weekend! The Badam delight is a mix of almonds cooked with milk, saffron and cashew nuts to create a buttery dish which was similar to a very rich frangipan.

Please don't go to Sanmini's expecting a standard curry house. They are making authentic South Indian cuisine whose names you will not recognise, but you will adore all the same. The Sankar family do this as a hobby, and their hard work has seen them recognised in the Michelin and Good Food Guides in recent years. Go and enjoy the peace, the great hosts and the outstanding food.

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