Tag: cake

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The coffee drinking experience at Druckers

Cakes

Out of the many cafés in Weston-super-Mare, I have visited Druckers more often recently.

It’s not that the coffee is the best, I’ve certainly had better. I often like the idea behind the cakes I see in the display cabinets, but often find them to be slightly disappointing. However the ice cream is usually very good, even if they no longer sell the blue banana ice cream that they use to. The chocolate is very nice indeed as is the mint ice cream. I do quite like the biscuits and toasted teacakes too.

Most of the time the service is quite efficient, helpful and speedy.

I think though the main attraction is that the place isn’t cramped unlike the Costa branch in the nearby Waterstones. The same can be said for the coffee shop in Marks and Spencers. Both of them are full of tables and somewhat cramped. As a result they always feel very busy and rushed even when they are empty! Druckers has a lot more room and as a result feels more relaxed.

For me the environment in which you drink the coffee is just as important as the coffee itself. That’s why I go out to drink coffee, it’s the whole experience, and not just the coffee.

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Marlborough Cake

I bought a Marlborough Cake from Waitrose.

Basically a bread based roll with dried fruit and topped with sugar. It was a little dry and stale for me, I suspect it would be much nicer just out of the oven.

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Double chocolate loaf cake

The recipe for this delicious chocolate cake is from the BBC Good Food magazine.

Ingredients

175g softened butter , plus extra for greasing

175g golden caster sugar

3 eggs

140g self-raising flour

85g ground almonds

½ tsp baking powder

100ml milk

4 tbsp cocoa powder

50g plain chocolate chips or chunks few extra chunks white, plain and milk chocolate , for decorating

Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease and line a 2lb/900g loaf tin with a long strip of baking parchment. To make the loaf cake batter, beat the butter and sugar with an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, flour, almonds, baking powder, milk and cocoa until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips, then scrape into the tin. Bake for 45-50 mins until golden, risen and a skewer poked in the centre comes out clean.

Cool in the tin, then lift out onto a wire rack over some kitchen paper. Melt the extra chocolate chunks separately in pans over barely simmering water, or in bowls in the microwave, then use a spoon to drizzle each in turn over the cake. Leave to set before slicing.

I found that I needed to cook it for longer than 45 mins. I also used less milk than 100ml.

I also used extra white chocolate as I had run out of plain chocolate.

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Tasty Cake

Today the Guardian published a very nice cake recipe as part of a week long baking frenzy,

All this week, as part of Guardian food month, we will be running exclusive baking recipes from some of Britain’s favourite food names. To begin, a treat – top cake-makers Konditor & Cook’s bestselling Curly Whirly chocolate sponge with vanilla-bean frosting 

Today it’s Konditor & Cook’s Curly Whirly cake.

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I know, but they taste so nice…

I am generally very much as fan of fresh produce, organic tasty home cooked food and a proponent of home baking.

So why do I enjoy Mr Kipling’s Bakewell Slices so much?

They taste so nice!

I know I could cook a “better” bakewell tart, one which contains a lot less sugars, additives and probably a lot more taste (and more natural almond taste).

There is something I guess nostalgic for me about these slices and it is that memory I am enjoying again through the slices rather than the actual taste.