Pictures from Tatton Park Foodies' Festival, Knutsford

On Sunday I was lucky enough to be asked to the Foodies' Festival at Tatton Park. It had been a week full of damp weather, so I was hoping for a bit of an improvement. I have a terrible track record with food festivals and rain...

We arrived at Tatton Park to find the sun peeping though the clouds and the grass bouncy, but not sodden. No wellies required...

The first thing we did was go to a presentation by beer expert Melissa Cole. She did a brilliant talk on how beer is made, how to taste it properly, and then she talked us through some of her favourites. My husband was particularly pleased with the tasting session! 

Starved, we headed to the food vendors. We both had a curry with mango lassi, but then Paddy decided he was still hungry so had a burger too! I followed the waft of cinnamon and ended up with churros dipped in chocolate.  

It was pretty busy, but there was still plenty of space to walk around. We even managed to get a seat whilst eating, which is a bit of a rarity at these events. Granted, I was the stealthiest curry-wielding visitor in the park...

Bring on Bolton Food Festival...

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Giveaway: An OXO 8 Cup French Press Coffee Maker

I have one of these beautiful OXO French Press coffee makers to give away! I've been road testing one this week, and can confirm it's just as great as the folk at OXO say. It's easy to assemble and an absolute dream to clean. The main reason we didn't use our last one very often was because cleaning it was a right pain in the backside. We've binned our old one...

How to use the French Press

Key features include

• Innovative stainless steel and silicone Groundskeeper™ ladle removes grounds in one easy step
• Sturdy stainless steel housing and glass carafe ensure optimal brewing and serving
• Soft, comfortable, non-slip grips on handle and top of filter plunger
• Convenient measurement markings on glass carafe
• Filter screws off plunger mechanism for separate cleaning
• 8 cup/2L Press is ideal for serving parties of two or more

How to Enter

• Simply follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget below...
• Once you have done that, there is a bonus entry too!
• The competition closes Monday 10th June 2013.

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Spiced Apple and Giant Sultana Bundt with Maple Glaze

This was the cake I made for our fruity themed 'Each Peach Pear Plum' cake club on Saturday. It's a recipe I have used before, but it was slightly modified to allow more fruit. I stumbled across giant sultanas whilst perusing 'diet food' in Marks and Spencers. The moist apples in this cake plump up the dried fruit to look more like apricots! 

You don't have to use the maple glaze I have added below, but it does mean that you get a beautifully crystallised crust. It's a big cake with big flavours. A big piece is required...

Cake Ingredients:

• 4 Bramley apples - coarsely grated
• 420g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 200g giant sultanas - these look like small apricots. If you can't find them, regular ones will do.
• 350g golden caster sugar
• 100g soft dark brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 250ml vegetable oil in a pouring jug
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze Ingredients:

• 75ml maple syrup
• 25g unsalted butter cut into cubes
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas 4/180 C
2. Grease and flour a 10 inch bundt tin. I would recommend a fairly plain one like the Anniversary tin because of protruding apples and sultanas! It's also a 'big' mix so it needs room to grow...
3. Mix the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and spices into a bowl.
4. Stir in the sultanas - this gives them a nice coating of flour.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, caster sugar and brown sugar for 3 mins on a medium speed.
6. Leave the mixer on and start to pour in the oil, whisking as you go! Mix for another 2 mins.
7. Add the grated apple and vanilla extract (if lots of juice has come out of the apples, leave that out - this depends on the apples!) 
8. Mix on a low speed until the apple is well distributed in the mix. 
9. Sieve in the flour mixture in two lots, then tip in the sultanas which will have been 'caught' by your sieve.
10. When it is nearly combined, give it a quick mix with the mixer for about 10 seconds on a low speed. 
11. Pour into your prepared bundt tin.It's quite liquid so it doesn't really need teasing into place.
12. Bake in the middle of the oven for about an hour and fifteen minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean and the cake is shrinking away from the sides of the tin slightly.
13. When the cake is out of the oven, make the glaze by warming the maple syrup and butter in a small pan until the butter is melted. 
14. At this point, turn up the heat slightly, and allow it to boil for about a minute.
15. Take off the heat and add the vanilla extract.
16. When the cake has cooled for 10 minutes, turn it out and brush with the glaze. The warm cake will just drink it up! You don't need to use all the glaze if you don't want to.

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