A few drawings from Paris
I am a big fan of Paris and used to take students there each year. Now I have kind of made myself a promise that I will treat myself to a weekend there at least once a year and draw stuff. These are from my …
Month: March 2018
Comfort food inspired by Asia
Last week was a bit of a week for various reasons so this weekend I decided to play around in the kitchen and make something comforting with notes of my asian trip. I am a big fan of pancakes any day of the week or …
A little snowy interlude
I’m sure most of you know that the UK has experienced the most snow fall for years its been labelled ‘the beast from the east’! We had one lot and as we were all getting back to normal a second lot hit us. In all honesty I love it (not sure I could do six months of it like my Canadian friends though). When the snow is fresh it makes everything look so beautiful and clean.
I walk the dogs in a big park a mile away from where I live with open spaces and woodland we love going there and this place looked especially beautiful at the weekend. Although I think the girls had fun chasing each other and tumbling in the fresh powdery snow they were shivering when we got home and had icicles all over their legs and tummies which could only be fixed by a warm bath.
Out and about in Mandalay
Mandalay is much like any other big city for the most but there are a few gems to search out. One of those is Mandalay hill and the temples and pagoda which are situated on the way up. It also gives the best view around. …
A really long and really old bridge to explore.
The longest teakwood bridge in the world is the U Bein Bridge about half an hours drive away from Mandalay and is also thought to be the oldest to. It spans around three quarters of a mile across lake Taungthaman and has so far lasted …
Delicious orange and black sesame cake
Yesterday my housemate went off on an adventure to Iran (not at all jealous, much!) She cleared out the fridge of stuff that wouldn’t last which included an orange puree and some almond milk, these two things screamed ‘bake a cake’ to me so I did.
This cake was kind of an experiment so I didn’t take any progression photos as I wasn’t sure it would work but it is so good I had to share.
You will need:
1 large orange
6oz sugar
4oz rice flour
4oz self raising flour (gluten free)
1 teaspoon baking powder (gluten free)
2 teaspoons mixed spice
3 eggs
A splash of almond milk
A handful of black sesame seeds
Place the orange in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer for two hours until the orange is very soft. Leave to cool and blend the whole orange into a smooth puree. Add all the other ingredients (except the almond milk and sesame seeds) to the puree sifting the dry ingredients well. Mix into a batter. Add enough almond milk to loosen the batter so it easily drops of your spoon.
Turn the oven on to 180 c so it can be warming up while you prepare a six inch cake tin with baking parchment on the bottom and greased sides. Tip the mixture into the tin and tap the tin on the surface of your work space to settle the mixture. Take your handful of black sesame seeds and sprinkle liberally over the top. Cook for 40 to 50 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool a little and then turn out onto a cooling rack removing the paper from the bottom. Leave to properly cool. If you don’t leave it to cool enough it will be difficult to cut.
Enjoy! It goes perfectly with a good quality Ceylon tea.
A little something from my other life.
If you’ve been following me for a while you will know that I am a big fan of cyanotype prints to record objects from journeys or loved ones. This has kind of mushroomed over the years where other people get involved and give me things …