Month: May 2019

Posted in books, garden

My Books to read for the month of June

Posted on by thestyleartisan

Subject Gardening

  1. Grow Your Own Vegetables in Pots and Containers: A practical guide to growing food in small spaces 
  2. Allotment Month By Month: Grow your Own Fruit and Vegetables, Know What to do When
  3. RHS Allotment Handbook & Planner: What to do when to get the most from your plot
  4. RHS How To Garden When You’re New To Gardening: The Basics For Absolute Beginners
  5. Veg in One Bed: How to Grow an Abundance of Food in One Raised Bed, Month by Month 
Posted in food

Hummingbird bakery Gingerbread Cake Recipe

Posted on by thestyleartisan

INGREDIENTS

  • 250g/ 8oz softened butter (or margarine for lactose-free)
  • 250g/ 8oz dark muscovado sugar
  • Half of a 225g tin black treacle
  • 375g/ 12oz plain flour
  • 5 tsp ground ginger
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 3 pieces stem ginger (crystallised/ from a jar) – optional
  • 300ml/ half pt milk (unsweetened soya milk if lactose-free)
  • 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

METHOD

  1. This mix makes enough to fill 2 x standard 7inch Victoria sandwitch tins or 1 x 10inch diameter tin. Grease and base line your tin(s) with baking paper; preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 3.
  2. Gently heat the margarine, sugar and treacle together in a pan, stirring until smooth. Allow to cool a little.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour and ground spices. Pour in the treacle mix and stir thoroughly to combine. Mince the stem ginger finely and stir with the eggs into the mix.
  4. Warm the milk gently in a saucepan, stirring gently to avoid it burning at the base of the pan. Add the bicarb of soda and let it foam a little. Stir into the gingerbread mixture until well blended.
  5. Pour into the prepared tin(s). Baking time: for 2x 7 inch cakes is 25-30mins (bake both together). For 1x 10inch cake bake for approx 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
  6. This cake keeps really well in an airtight tin, and actually improves over the first 2-3 days.Enjoy!