o frabjous day!

o frabjous day! books, recipes & other things

  • Zucchini and Carrot Slice

    I love quiche, but can rarely be bothered to make pastry to accompany it, so an egg slice is a nice easy compromise. This is the first recipe in here that I’ve invented myself, judging amounts roughly from the times I’ve made similar dishes from recipes. It worked out perfectly – extremely simple, incredibly fast…

    Read more: Zucchini and Carrot Slice

  • Coffee, Date and Chocolate Muffins (SHF #11)

    My first attempt at Sugar High Friday. This month’s theme was coffee, and as I don’t use a lot of coffee in baking, I had to do a bit of searching to find this recipe. It’s a Diana Linfoot recipe, as usual with muffins, and is from More Muffin Magic. She writes, “These muffins have…

    Read more: Coffee, Date and Chocolate Muffins (SHF #11)

  • Angela's Stolen Pork Spare Ribs

    This is another recipe from Angela (stolen from her ex-husband) which she said I had to try as it produced the most amazingly tender ribs. I don’t actually like pork much – I like ham and bacon, but don’t enjoy pork roast or chops at all. But I remember enjoying spare ribs when I was…

    Read more: Angela's Stolen Pork Spare Ribs

  • Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake

    This is a Nigella Lawson recipe from How To Be a Domestic Goddess, and I’ve been a little hesitant about trying it, because it looks so moist and sticky, and as Nigella and I have vastly different ovens, I worried about being able to tell if it was cooked. However, a craving for chocolate cake…

    Read more: Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake

  • Chocolate Fudge Cake

    This chocolate cake recipe is my basic, birthday cake recipe that I generally use. It’s simple and easy, and despite using cocoa powder rather than melted chocolate, it really is delicious fudgy. I made a chocolate ganache for the first time to go with it, and while it made the cake very darkly chocolatey, I…

    Read more: Chocolate Fudge Cake

  • Banana and Pecan Bread

    This is adapted from a Doris Brett recipe. Everyone who bakes has their perfect banana bread recipe, but I’m not quite sure that this is mine. It’s delicious, moist and uses plenty of bananas (which is an important element in making banana bread – usually it’s done to use up overripe bananas that have been…

    Read more: Banana and Pecan Bread

  • Mars Bar Biscuits

    I had a craving for a sweet chocolate biscuit one night, and came up with these. The pieces of Mars Bar make chewy chocolate caramel chunks within the dough. I cooked mine for too long, and they’re more crunchy than I’d like, although the chewiness of the Mars Bars do contrast well with a crunchier…

    Read more: Mars Bar Biscuits

  • Cream and Bacon Gnocchi

    This recipe is from the lovely and delightful Angela. I was a little unsure about it, especially when I plopped the gluggy from-a-packet gnocchi into the sauce, but I suppose a certain glugginess is in the nature of gnocchi, and it went well with the creaminess of the sauce. It’s a very simple and tasty recipe…

    Read more: Cream and Bacon Gnocchi

  • Pear and Honey Muffins

    These are very sweet and sticky muffins, and are quite dense and moist as well. The fresh and almost tart taste of the pear goes beautifully with the warmth of the honey and ginger. They’re adapated from a Diana Linfoot recipe in More Muffin Magic. There’s more than enough mixture for 12 normal muffins –…

    Read more: Pear and Honey Muffins

  • Broccoli Upside Down Cake

    This is one of Clotilde’s recipes, and very delicious it is too. I must say, when I look at the above picture, I don’t find it looks particularly appetising – I prefer my broccoli crisply steamed – but I assure you that it tastes beautiful. The polenta based cake is crisp on the bottom, and…

    Read more: Broccoli Upside Down Cake