Friday 24 April 2015

Cake Talk: Jamie Oliver's Savoury Roulade

In February I attended a meeting of the Edinburgh branch of the Clandestine Cake Club at the lovely Patisserie Florentin in Stockbridge. 

I can't even remember the theme of the evening...it might have been spring is in the air or something like that...the cakes were lovely and I managed to have a small taste of each one.  

I decided to go a bit wacky this time and make something savoury.  I don't know what possessed me to, and trying to find a savoury cake recipe was actually pretty difficult (even Pinterest struggled).  It finally dawned on me that I could make a savoury roulade, since a sweet roulade is a totally acceptable cake...a savoury one must fit the "cake only" Clandestine Cake Club rule.  

I settled on this recipe from the Jamie Oliver website.  It is a lovely roasted squash roulade with a spinach, ricotta and goats cheese filling.  The original recipe is made with gluten free flour and is actually intended as a vegetarian main corse for a Christmas Lunch.  I used plain all purpose flour instead so it wasn't gluten free in the end. 


I made all the components of the cake the evening before and assembled it about an hour before the event started. I left the cake, wrapped, on the counter over night and it was totally fine the next day (although it did crack slightly). 


While nothing spectacular to look at (compared to the other cakes at the meeting) it tasted absolutely divine. The goats cheese added a slight tang to the filling and the cake itself actually tasted like squash and parmesan. 

This was a seriously delicious SAVOURY CAKE.  



Wednesday 22 April 2015

Recipe: Banana Peanut Butter Oaty Bites


Lyra loves to help in the kitchen, especially if it involves making HER SNACKS. At 20 months she likes to help measure out ingredients, mix everything up and be responsible for the QUALITY CONTROL. Because she likes to get her little hands into everything ans then straight into her mouth I've been trying very hard to find recipes that are egg free. 


A few weeks ago we got busy in the kitchen and made a large batch of peanut butter banana cookies.  Lyra helped to mash the bananas, measure in the ingredients and lick the peanut butter spoon! 


These cookies are super easy to mix up, they take very little time to bake and freeze well too! 



Banana Peanut Butter Oaty Bites
Adapted from www.engine2diet.com

Makes about 24

Ingredients 
3 ripe bananas
3/4 cup smooth peanutbutter 
3 TBSP honey (or maple syrup if making for a child under 1yr) 
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup all purpose flour 
1tsp baking powder

Method
PREHEAT oven to 180C
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl 
Place large TBSPs of dough onto lined baking sheets ( about 1 inch apart)
Bake 10-15 until golden brown 
Cool on wire rack 




Tuesday 21 April 2015

Eating Out in Edinburgh: Apiary

Instead of cooking a big Easter Lunch this year we decided to treat ourselves (and Nonna and Grandad) to lunch out at Apiary Restaurant in Newington. We had not visited before, but had heard good things from some friends who had attended a meeting of Edinburgh's Scran Salon there a few months ago. We often walk by and I kept on meaning to try to find a reason to check it out...so Nonna and Grandad's visit was just the ticket! 

children's mac and cheese

We went along for a VERY late lunch/WAY TOO EARLY dinner (either way you look at it, it was 3pm).  It wasn't busy, but there were a couple of other larger parties in...and it was Easter Sunday anyway. Regardless, the restaurant is lovely and bright and we had a nice table right in the centre with plenty of room for SOMEONE's high chair and in prime view of all the comings and goings from the kitchen (perfect for us nosey lot). 

ham hock hash and egg 
The lunch menu is nice. Not extensive, but a really nice selection of meat, fish and vegetarian...all with a little added spice.  There is also a brunch menu, and a fabulous desert menu and the best part is that it is 2 COURSES for £9.50...seriously. The portions aren't HUGE. I'd say they are just right...like I was able to walk away feeling satisfied without needing to secretly unbutton my jeans. 

children's ice cream
The children's menu is simple...2 courses for £5 with a choice of soup to start (Heinz Tomato) and then bangers and mash or mac n cheese and then 2 scoops of ice cream with sprinkles for dessert.  There are some who would bang on about offering kids smaller portions of adult food and sometimes I do cringe when all I see is fried food and chips on offer...but for Lyra the mac n cheese and ice cream was JUST RIGHT. 

ice cream slider 
All in all we were very happy with the service and the food at Apiary and have already made plans to return when Grandma Cherry comes to visit next month.  The food is delicious, and totally reasonably priced (there is a pre theatre dinner deal too).  If you are in the area and haven't had a chance to visit Apiary yet...DO! 


Apiary Restaurant 

33 Newington Road 
Edinburgh 
EH9 1QR

@apiaryedinburgh