Cake Judging at the Great British Food Festival

My cakes usually look like this - tasty, but not exactly pretty...

Anyway, while we promoting the CCC on twitter (@staffscakeclub) Charlotte & I got asked to do some cake judging by the fine folks that run Great British Food Festival as it arrive in Stafford. Never one to turn down free cake made by other people we said yes...

So, dressed in our finest cake judging garb (we decided floral dresses and cardigans were the order of the day) and over two days tasted slice from 10 different vanilla sponges and 12 chocolate cakes of varying styles.

What was really interesting was how easy it was to judge the cakes - well actually to pick a winner. In both categories there was one cake that we'd have gone back to for another slice, even after trying 11 other slices, in a hot tent, having run for 2 miles to get there on time. What was quite sweet was the winner of the chocolate cake round (an unassuming 7th one from the bottom) which I think is from this recipe - was totally bowled over by winning and asked us if we'd got our numbers right.. (The judges decision only made up 50%, the other 50% was from a public vote)

We had a lovely time judging, and it was lovely to be able to get out there and talk about the CCC, and we had a lovely time eating so many lovely cakes. Thanks to the peeps as GBFF for inviting us...

The Fish Graveyard

I suppose I should update you on the fish - we've currently got 3 Isambard*, Nietzsche , Vince - they seem fine. The extreme cold did a few in and they probably need some proper TLC. Anyway - Pete and I were trying to recall other fish we'd had over the years so I started scanning the blog for fish related posts and I came across the fish graveyard from an old bit of my website that still floating around the tubes of the internet... So here it is - in memory of of the valiant pets of old. And for the ones that don't have little grave markers (or dates) Darnell Bertrand Pushkin Heisenburg I should possibly make a marker for the tomb of the unknown goldfish because I'm sure we've forgotten one... .. time for some more fish? Any ideas for names?? *We were slightly uncertain for a while if it was Heisenburg or Isambard that had survived

Tofu Recipe Round Up

More for my own benefit then anything else I'm going to round up my favourite go-to weeknight tofu recipes. This is different from my pinterest board which is full of things I haven't necessarily tried yet but look yummy. Vegan Tofu Taco Crumbles Vietnamese Fried Tofu w/ Tomato Sauce – Dau Sot Ca Chua (I airfry the tofu for this one) I also like to slather it in BBQ sauce and bake it for about 40 mins with peppers and onions before adding it to wraps with some salad. I've also found it's a great substitute for paneer in things - it's not quite there but it's close oh, and if I do need to press it, and I haven't got time (which is almost always) I used the microwave method from this chirpy little video

Great British Bake Off 2012 - Episode 3

Dammit, I saw a Gbbo spoiler on twitter, so I know who was booted out... But anyway, catching up.. Contestants Victoria is a little odd, I bet she's a member of the local WI, or maybe she thinks she's above them, I don't know, I'm sure she's lovely, but. Can't warm to her. I love the vicars wife, sarah jane, and her lucky Pastry knife. I'm finding Kathyrn a bit odd, I've seen people like that camping, and that shot of her in a gilet explains a lot. The lads are lovely, especially last weeks Star baker, maybe... Ok, here's my crib sheet for the identikit blokes: PE Teacher - Stuart Scottish one - James. the other one, umm, Peter... Challenges Signature - tart tatin, I've had hit and misses with these, I love the idea of a savoury one, never though of that, especially taken with the pear and blue cheese one. I have however made plenty of rough puff pastry - miles better then the frozen stuff, although that has its uses. There's a interesting m...

Worm's World

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