Wahaca, Manchester

My homie Lee is one of my blogging partners in crime; a total warrior with stripes earned in her specialist fields of kitchen wizardry, cocktails, afternoon tea, tapas, and pretty much anything I have asked her to turn her hand to. Recently she's been writing guest posts for me, which I just love. Wahaca is one of our joint favourites, so it made sense for this giddy little kipper to do the review. Enjoy... 

The Corn Exchange in Manchester has long needed a revival, and the new restaurants and bars are perfect for bringing life back to this beautiful and very central point. The Wahaca site in Manchester is just as cool and relaxed as those I have visited in London; we sat downstairs but there is also a large upstairs dining area too. May I also point out that a visit to the ladies is a must (not if you're a gent obvs, although I suspect they are nice too). I don't think I have ever exclaimed at facilities before!

Last year Rachel, my sister and I spent a fun few days in London, eating and Harry Pottering. We visited various restaurants but the one that really stayed with me was Wahaca. We visited the Soho branch which I loved so much I took another friend to the South Bank branch the following month. So imagine my excitement when we heard that there was to be a Manchester venue, and that we were invited for dinner on the day that I returned from a heavenly week in Egypt when I would surely need cheering up!

We arrived to be greeted by a very cheerful waitress (name not noted, apologies, but she was fantastic) and her equally friendly trainee. We started to look through the menu, assisted by a very yummy Margarita cocktail. We were undecided and overexcited so we deferred our choices to said waitress, she did not let us down. After expressing our general dislike of fish and my love of veggie options she served us up a treat.

Tortilla chips with guacamole - freshly made every day with Hass avocados and freshly squeezed lime juice: We started with the freshly made guacamole with tortilla chips, light and tasty this was perfect to get us in the mood.

Sweet potato and feta taquitos wrapped in blue corn - Roasted sweet potato, feta and caramelised red onion with crema, salsa fresca and chipotle mayo: These were my favourite and I genuinely could eat them everyday (good job I don't work near the Corn Exchange really).

Pork pibil tacos - Slow cooked pork in special Yucatecan marinade with fiery pickled onions: The slow cooked pork was gorgeous and I am not a fan of pork at all. 

Quesadillas; super tasty with just enough of a spicy kick.

Chorizo and squash quesadillas - British chorizo, with diced butternut squash

Chilli quesadillas - Sautéed onions with jalapeno and habanero chillies, tempered by creamy feta

To ensure we got our five a day we also had brocolli cooked to perfection and sprinkled with yummy pumpkin seeds; and grilled corn with lime, feta and chipotle mayo.

Broccoli with green goddess dressing -Charred tenderstem broccoli with a green goddess dressing & toasted pumpkin seeds:  

Grilled corn on the cob - Grilled British corn with mojo de ajo, chipotle mayo, lime and feta

We made a good effort but have to admit that we took a box of leftovers home to my very hungry and happy other half. We finished the meal with delicious hot and crispy churros served with both chocolate and caramel sauce. 

Churros y chocolate - Mexican doughnuts with rich chocolate and caramel sauces

Of course we washed these down with a couple of tequilas, we love a good tequila but are still very much in the learning stage of our relationship with it so apologies if this isn't the correct way to identify them but we had an Calle Anejo, and a Herradura Resposado; delicious and eye watering, just how we like our tequila.

A gorgeous evening of amazing food, perfect service and a surprise stop and chat from Thomasina herself... we'll see you again very soon Wahaca. 

Disclaimer: We were invited to sample the menu at Wahaca Manchester, however we would have been there like a shot anyway. The lovely things Lee said are a true reflection of a girl so giddy she couldn't resist a visit despite only landing at 3am...

Spiced Whisky Bundt Cake

My grandad loves whisky. He has a Bell's every night, and he's pretty fit for an 84 year old! I like to make him a cake for his birthday, and try to do something different every time. So I sat and had a think; what does Bob like...? It had to be a whisky bundt. The texture lends itself so well to something warming and spicy, so I ran with that.

I added some juicy sultanas, which I soaked in a mixture of hot water and my grandad's favourite tipple overnight. Because it's boozy, fruity and a bit spicy, this would make a lovely alternative to Christmas cake too.

The day after he brought be a slab to try. I asked if he liked it... 'Aye lass, it had whisky in it so it was belting!' My work here is done.

Ingredients:

Bob with his cake

• 225g butter
• 450g golden caster sugar
• 4 medium eggs
• 1/2 tsp lemon extract
• 350g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 250ml lemon yoghurt 
• 150g sultanas
• Zest of 1 small orange
• 100ml whisky 
• 500g icing sugar
• 4 tbsp runny honey

Method:

1. Overnight: Soak the sultanas in 50ml whisky topped up with hot water so it just covers the fruit. Cover in cling film.
2. Next morning: drain the sultanas.
3. Preheat the oven to gas 3/160 c
4. Prepare a regular sized bundt tin - 2.4l, 10 cup, 10 inch with melted butter and dust with flour.
5. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
6. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
7. Add the lemon extract and the orange zest.
8. In a separate bowl, measure out the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and spices.
9. Pour the yoghurt into a jug, and add 3 tbsp of the whisky.
10. Sift in a third of the flour mix followed by half the yoghurt. Repeat this until everything is combined. 
11. Give everything a quick mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds.
12. Stir in the sultanas.
13. Pour the mix into your prepared tin. 
14. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. 
15. Leave the cake to cool for ten minutes before removing from the tin.
16. When completely cool, mix the icing sugar with the remaining whisky and honey. Add a little water to make your icing of pouring consistency. 
17. Tip it over your cake.

Where to buy this stuff:
Cake Release
Nordic Ware Anniversary Tin
Bells Scotch Whisky Miniature

Bloggers: Please respect the fact I am sharing my own ideas and basic recipe. Blood, sweat and many tears have gone into getting this right, so you may enjoy a perfect bundt. If you wish to re-blog a recipe from these variations, please credit my blog and link to this original post rather than pasting the recipe on your own page.

Wedding Bundts

Imagine the scene. My friend Sarah announced on Christmas Day that she was getting hitched. The Bozos (collective term for my homies) sprang into action, and became a mean, lean planning machine. Between us we threw a fantastic hen party (Henfest), and assisted Sarah and Mark in planning their big day (Wedfest, naturally).

Sarah and Mark met over a mutual love of metal, therefore their big day was never going to be a bog standard white wedding with sugared almonds in net bags, and a tiered cake with lots of piped royal icing. Thank God for that!

That's when the question came. I'd been waiting for it, and was actually quite relieved when it finally occurred. Sarah and Mark asked me to make their wedding cake. They had something small in mind, perhaps one large bundt cake with a small one on top with pretty icing. Not a chance.

After looking through my bundt page, Sarah clapped eyes on the 3D skull I did last Halloween; she was smitten. Initially the two skulls were going to be it, until I decided that this was nowhere near enough cake for our Wedfest knees up! So in the end, we had two skulls (one apple and cinnamon and one lemon and ginger), chocolate covered Snickers, Iron Maiden Trooper beer and raspberry and white chocolate flavoured bundts too.

I'll say one thing, two glittery life-sized skulls wearing top hats definitely caught the guests' attention as they walked into the wedding breakfast. I think the fumes from two kilos of Haribo helped to keep folk alert too...

It was an absolute honour to make Sarah and Mark's wedding cakes, and I'm still pretty choked that they trusted me with such an important task. We had the most fantastic day, Sarah looked utterly stunning and everything went just perfectly. I can't see any wedding topping this one any time soon... 

Where to buy this stuff:
Cake Release

Nordic Ware 3D Skull Cake Tin

Nordic Ware Bavaria Bundt Tin

Nordic Ware Blossom Bundt Tin

Nordic Ware Heritage Bundt Tin

Haribo Hearts