Easter Baking

Last month we asked Jane Rawson who was one of our former chefs at Gloucester Avenue, when we first opened, to come back into our kitchen and bake some Simnel cakes for Easter. With a hop skip and a jump she bounced back in and started to bake these wonderful cakes. I ran about to find ribbon and decorations, Mr James was in charge of packing and wrapping and hey presto we had ourselves a mini production line. Jane has an effortless style around baking and we are thrilled with the results.

Simnel cake is a light fruit cake, similar to a Christmas cake, covered in marzipan, then toasted on top, and eaten during the Easter period. A layer of marzipan or almond paste is also baked into the middle of the cake. On the top of the cake, around the edge, are eleven marzipan balls to represent the true disciples of Jesus; Judas is omitted. Simnel cakes have been known since medieval times, and were originally a Mothering Sunday tradition, when young girls in service would make one to be taken home to their mothers on their day off. The word simnel probably derived from the Latin word simila, meaning fine, wheaten flour with which the cakes were made.

They are in the shops now and retail at £9.95 for a small 600g cake or £19.95 for a 1.3 kilo large cake.

Keep Your Chin Up.

I have never been to Australia before but I understand that there is a brand of iced coffee there called Farmers Union that everybody drinks and even swoons over. My mate Jimmy Cregan visited there a few years back and got hooked and has been on a trail to create something similar here in the UK ever since. He has spent many months testing and perfecting his recipe to find the correct balance  of his ethically sourced Honduran coffee, demerara sugar and West country English milk to create the perfect iced coffee. He heralds from the same part of Dorset as me and has teamed up with his lovely sister Susie to win over the Northern Hemisphere with this delicious drink. We have all had a little tipple at the shop and love it – especially when the sun is shining. It’s going to be a hit – we can feel it.

So it’s with great pleasure that we will be launching it this weekend 16th April between 10am and midday at our shop in Gloucester Avenue when we will be one of the first shops in London to sell it.

Jimmy’s Iced Coffee comes in 500ml for £2.50. Keep your eyes peeled for a SKINNY LOVE made with skimmed milk and a whole lot of love. “Keep your chin up” as it says on the side of the carton.

Spice up your larder.

Our General Manager, Josh and our Hampstead Manager, Sarah have been busy listening to some customer feedback. It seems that some of you love to cook – almost as much as we do! So we have been hunting down some new ingredients to use as part of your store cupboard essentials . Our first new supplier to this aim is Steenbergs Organics from North Yorkshire. They are a husband and wife team supplying the very best award-winning Fairtrade spices and they are also committed to being environmentally friendly . We met Sophie and Alex Steenberg at a food fair a few years back, so we are very pleased to be working with them.

Spices have been the catalysts of some of the greatest adventures in human history, from Christopher Columbus to Vasco da Gama, as well as being the driving force for the British East India Company and the British Empire, whose merchants turned London into the greatest spice market in the world for 200 years. Vast fortunes were made and squandered, powerful rulers seduced, ailments cured, and nations discovered – all in the name of spice. Spices have always cast a spell on our imaginations. They flatter our senses: our sight with their vibrant colours, our smell with their enticing fragrances, and our taste with their distinct flavours.

So if you would like to spice up your Easter baking this month, take a look at the Vanilla pods from Madagascar or maybe try something more exotic with a heady Lebanese blend of Za’atar, that’s a perfect match with grilled chicken, pop in to the stores and have a look at our new spice collection. For a special gift try the organic mini spice rack for £19.95 for a starter set of 16 organic spices – a must for budding cooks.