Is there anything funnier than making your own pastry and then baking a Poison Pie (like I did last year)? Yes—making skull and bone shaped scones!
Skulls and bones (or: scones and scones)
Mona de Pascua
This is a sweet cake that is produced around Easter time in the Valencian region, and it’s also one of my favourites!
In fact, I like it so much that I learned to make it, because it’s impossible to source it in London, and I was missing it lots each time I spent Easter in the UK.
One of the defining features of this bun is that it uses eggs both in the dough and in the decoration, which has many variations: you can brush the top with beaten egg, or whisk the egg white with sugar until it stiffens and use it to decorate the top the bun, or you can even place an egg on the bun before baking, which makes it look like an egg nesting on the bun (this is most typical of the smaller, individual pieces). Often, the eggshells are dyed with food colouring, so this makes for very colourful pieces that you’re sorry to eat.
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Tradition has it that you should take a mona with you on a country side walk on Easter Monday, to celebrate the arrival of Spring. Then, when you find a nice and calm spot, you sit down and eat your mona outdoors, while enjoying the early warm weather and the sight and scent of flowers (hopefully without too many insects!).
And if your mona includes eggs, it’s quite traditional to ‘crack’ them on the forehead of your family members or friends… preferably by surprise! 🤪
Coca de llanda
Last Sunday I was yearning for something sweet and comforting, but nothing I could buy looked enticing to me. I knew the answer could only be something I’d bake!
And so I made this classic Spanish sweet sponge: coca de llanda.
It’s quite easy and fast to make. Give it a go!
Continue reading “Coca de llanda”Nigellapocalypse
A few years ago, on the run up to Christmas, I spoke at a tech conference in Melbourne. It was beautifully warm and sunny, the people were lovely, the coffee was excellent, and I was just mildly confused by the Christmas decorations on the shops next to “Summer is coming!” signs. The organisers of the conference also gifted me with a really sturdy black canvas bag and a coffee mug with a similar design, which I both use often as I fondly think back about that visit.
Continue reading “Nigellapocalypse”Sourdough masterclass with Dan Lepard at Little Portland Street Cookery School
I attended a fabulous bread making class last Sunday, with none other than Dan Lepard.
Continue reading “Sourdough masterclass with Dan Lepard at Little Portland Street Cookery School”