Taste of London Winter 2014, Tobacco Dock

IMG_8874Last weekend, the pair of us made our way to Tobacco Dock in Greenwich for the Taste of London Winter festival.

IMG_8841

We’d visited the summer festival in Regent’s Park earlier this year and had had such a brilliant time we knew we’d be making it a regular thing! Getting to try dishes from some of London’s hottest restaurants all in one day? Casually bumping into celebrity chefs like Raymond Blanc and Michel Roux? Yes, twice a year please. This time we’d managed to convince some of our friends and family to come down too, though to be honest it didn’t take much convincing!

We arrived at Tobacco Dock bright and early, ready to eat everything in sight and immediately we were blown away with the venue – 2 floors of exposed brick vaults, open air walkways, a pirate ship (I kid you not!), and an abundance of Christmas trees and pretty lights… you couldn’t help but feel festive!Continue reading “Taste of London Winter 2014, Tobacco Dock”

Red Wine Poached Pear and Amaretto Frangipane Tart

IMG_7327Yup, I am the queen of procrastination. I had every intention of posting this recipe on Monday, but I guess life happened. And when I say ‘life’ what I really mean is coming home from work and reading Buzzfeed articles all evening happened. Girl obsessed.

But yeah, I finally got round to writing it! Snaps for Ang. Though let me just say, it is AGONISING having to write about and edit photos of a dessert you’ve made when there is no more left in the house. Absolute torture. Never again! (Till next time.)

Anyways, last weekend I decided to bake a pear and frangipane tart using pears poached in a spiced red wine and an amaretto-spiked frangipane filling. With my 13 year old cousin.

Yeah I know, such a role model. (Y)

Though, it’s pretty much the first rule of pears right? Eat with amaretto. It’s the ultimate pear-ing! Ha! Geddit? Pearing… pairing. So punny. But yeah, it just makes for the perfect combination of sweet and fruity and nutty and YUM! All day everyday please.

The second rule of pears? Poach in red wine. It’s just the shiz. Red wine poached pears is that dessert that makes you feel like a high class grown up when you eat them. #sophisticatedmofo. Plus anything that makes the whole house smell like Christmas can’t be wrong, right? Even if it is only November. Mulled wine is mulled wine people!

So a combination of poached pears and amaretto in a tart? Bliss. On. Pastry.

IMG_7251

I started by prepping the poached pears. I peeled the pears completely and sat them in a large saucepan. I then drowned them in a whole bottle of red wine, some more water (so they were fully submerged), sugar and the spices.
IMG_7261I left this to bubble on a low heat for 30 minutes with a piece of aluminium foil on the surface of the liquid. This was to ensure the pears were fully submerged and didn’t float to the top. After 30 minutes I turned off the heat but left the pears in the mulled wine to cool and darken.

Pumpkin Spice Latte Muffins with Pecan Streusel and Salted Caramel

IMG_7186Ohai! Right, so i’m gonna start with a little confession…

I’m that girl who Instagram’s her Starbucks.

IMG_6838It’s shameful, I know. (Though, if you’re into that sorta thing you might as well go follow my Insta account. Just saying.)

I’m also that girl who, come October, gets obnoxiously passionate about Pumpkin Spice Latte’s. Can’t help it.

I mean, it’s Autumn in a cup… and Autumn in general is pretty awesome. Crunchy leaves just waiting to be jumped on, toffee apples, the beginning of ‘wooly jumper/scarf’ weather, cinnamon, a reason to dress up as the undead (love Halloween!), and obviously… PUMPKIN SPICE EVERYTHING!

So naturally, I thought i’d include these things in a super autumnal cake. The pumpkin, the cinnamon, the crunchy pecan topping to represent crunchy leaves, the salted caramel for the toffee apples…

Ok, not including the undead.

IMG_7189The pumpkin cake recipe was actually adapted from Cookie + Kate’s gorgeous Honey Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread recipe, and produced such moist yet crumbly muffins which I was super chuffed with! Highly recommend her blog!!

The salted caramel recipe was taken from Top With Cinnamon’s stunning cookbook… and again, I highly recommend checking this out too!Continue reading “Pumpkin Spice Latte Muffins with Pecan Streusel and Salted Caramel”