Two 11 Year Olds Play with the Hummingbird Cafe Cookbook

My 11 year old daughter and her friend wanted to make something from the Hummingbird Cafe Cookbook.  We had all the ingredients for the raspberry cheesecake brownies.  Including wonderful local, Devon raspberries from our local farm, Shute Fruit.  I was getting our house ready for some guests who were coming to stay, so just let them get on with it in the kitchen.  I was rather impressed when two hours later (including a bit of refrigeration time), they presented me with the finished product:

The recipe is fairly simple, but does involve three layers so I was impressed.  The chocolate brownie and vanilla cheesecake layers are baked together in the oven and then when cool, smothered with pink creamy muck muck.

I made it again today as a treat for my daughter as she started Secondary School today.  It's simple and very fattening, but delicious.  I recommend halving the quantities if you just want to feed 4-6 people.  The original version is enormous and serves 12.  Also, where the recipe says to beat the cream, sugar and raspberries together for the wonderful pink shaving foam topping, it's best to whip the cream lightly, then add the sugar and raspberries, otherwise the mixture won't thicken.

I've never been lucky enough to visit the actual Hummingbird Cafe in London, but we've made a couple of things from the cookbook - other notable favourites are: the vanilla cupcakes, and the double chocolate chip cookies

Contemporary Craft Fair, Bovey Tracey, June 2011

Today I spent the morning at Bovey Tracey Contemporary Craft Fair thanks to a generously donated free ticket from jeweller extraordinaire, Christine Kaltoft.  (Sorry, Christine, I didn't find you there today; I shall look for you on Saturday.)

General view of fair:

Here are some of the craft stands that particularly piqued my interest.  This was my first love-at-first-sight - wonderfully quirky jewellery by Helen Noakes - (great website too, Helen!)  mini plastic figures inside perspex with silver fixings.  Very tempted to get some mini swimmer cufflinks made for N, but probably won't be able to find £100 to do so!

I was struck by the beautiful and subtly different blue glazes created by Taja (based in Moretonhampstead).  What a nice man!  I would really like some of these tea mugs:

Anya Keeley won the 'Best Stall' prize for 2011 - beautiful trinkets and animals made from recycled materials, books, maps.

And I admire the pzazz of Alison from Dr Beans Bags (Isle of Wight) who bring along customised handmade bags just for the denizens of Bovey Tracey!  (Does she do this for every village?  Clever lady!)

I attended a printmaking workshop for two hours and discovered the instant and random joys of monotype printing with Brian Norman:

My 'Sunset over Manhattan' looked better on the perspex block than on the paper afterwards!

At lunchtime, the rain arrived (therefore no photo of my shared al fresco lunch with L and two charming men who held up an umbrella to shelter the poor shivering ladies-who-lunched!) but I feasted on a homemade crab quiche alongside a scrummy chocolate and vanilla cupcake from the Devon Guild Cafe stand.

The overall quality of the wares on offer is top notch.  A totally brilliant place to buy all the presents you need for all your female friends and rellies.  The workshop was great fun (and very cheap) and the food was excellent.  The fair is on this weekend, Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 June 2011.  Get yourself over to Bovey for an inspiring day out!

Click here to see more of my experiences from the fair in 2010.

A Child's Food Blog from Giggling Wombat

A food blog from a child's perspective.  What a great idea.

Giggling Wombat promises to provide honest opinions on food, drink and cafes and this week she provides details of her 'top five fave foods':

 http://gigglingwombat.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-top-five-fave-foods.html

I am slightly worried as I think someone's about to get their own back and start reviewing the food I serve for dinner....Quick, I'd better start thinking about wiping clean those sauce-splattered plates, adding garnishes, getting in some forgiving light sources, and making my food look a little less rustic-homemade i.e. thrown-on-the-plate than usual!