Goodness, the summer holidays really do feel like a distant memory. Anyone else finding it really hard to get back in to the routine of school, nursery and after school activities? And the school run…I had forgotten how long it takes to get four children fed, cleaned, dressed and out the door (well one can do most of that himself, but don’t underestimate the amount of shouting it takes to get it done –who said kids are easier as they grow up?!). The last week of the holidays was spent finding, buying, washing and labelling uniform, shoes and all the other bits of kit – and now we pretty much need to re-mortgage the house to pay for it all. Anyway final bits of sorting done, coats located and dusted down, shoes lined up in the hall and umbrellas at the ready. So time for the packed lunches….

They may seem similar, but packed lunches are a whole different ball game to a summer picnic – children are eating them every day so they need to be healthy, nutritious and they need to provide some variety to stop the little ones getting fed up with them. Cocktail sausages and cake just aren’t going to cut it on a daily basis. Away from my normal role of cake provider and connoisseur of all things sweet and sugary, I thought I better put my sensible Mum hat on and have a think about how to give my children a decent packed lunch with a yummy but healthy treat in it. For inspiration I’ve had a peek around the internet, chatted to friends and put together the following ideas. I’ve also given the lovely Nigella’s breakfast bar recipe a go… it’s delicious and full of seeds and fruit…a great alternative to chocolate and crisps for a lunchbox…recipe and photos below.

My lunchbox tips:

• Bread sandwiches can get a bit boring, and some kids won’t eat an ordinary sandwich, try using pitta bread or wraps for a change.
• Get a cracker selection box and let your kids pick two each day.
• Try and go for wholemeal bread products where you can.
• Include cut up peppers, carrots and cucumber – vary how you cut them up (sticks, circles etc)
• Instead of a sandwich include pasta. Eating pasta for dinner? Save a portion for the lunchboxes the following day. Chicken and pesto works well.
• Give them a treat every now and again – maybe on a Friday – pretzels or similar are a good low sugar alternative to crisps.
• Cut the sandwiches using different shaped pastry cutters to keep it interesting. If sandwiches are just not going down well, no reason why you can’t put bread and butter in the lunch box and some cooked chicken or chunks of cheese.
• Include a piece of fruit but don’t just stick to an apple – try chunks of pineapple, slices of melon or quartered oranges. Make is fairly easy for them to eat. If you have time make a fruit salad – squeeze a little lemon juice over it to help prevent it spoiling before lunch time.
• Include some nuts, seeds or dried fruit in a small paper bag or sandwich bag…my children’s preference is for walnuts, try different things, there is probably something they like.

And as for Nigella’s recipe…she describes it as ‘milk and cereal in a bar form’, so go for it…you could enjoy one with a cuppa whilst you wish you were back on summer holidays (or not!).

Ingredients

• 397 grams condensed milk
• 250 grams rolled oats
• 75 grams desiccated coconut
• 100 grams dried cranberries
• 125g mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame)
• 125g natural, unsalted peanuts

Preheat the oven to 130c/gas mark ½ and oil a 22x33x4cm baking tin.

Warm the condensed milk in a large pan.

Mix together all the other ingredients and then add the warmed condensed milk, using a rubber or wooden spatula to fold and distribute.

Spread the mixture into the tin and press down with the spatula or your hands.

Bake for 1 hour, then remove from the oven and, after about 15 minutes, cut into four across and four down to make 16 chunky bars. Let cool completely.

For an even healthier version replace the condensed milk with soy milk and a little brown sugar. Use any dried fruit and seeds you like.

Roll on October half term…

Originally published on www.4manchesterwomen.co.uk

Thought I would share these photos with you…taken before guests tucked in to this delicious afternoon tea at a 50th birthday party earlier today. Happy Birthday Sam!

‘Lemon Drops’ – light sponge cake, filled with fresh homemade lemon curd and cream, topped with a little more cream and a raspberry, perfect on a hot summers day – delicious!

Rain, heavy rain, light showers, more rain. No surprise our little ones are getting a bit of cabin fever. Trips to the park are off the list, as is playing in the garden that now resembles a pond, and if I have to sufferthe indignity of trying to squeeze my Mummy body up and down through the soft play maze one more time I may be forced to emigrate. The summer holidays haven’t even begun and the children are getting fed up. Drawing, sticking, teddy bears tea parties and den building have served us well, but just aren’t cutting the mustard anymore. Time to mix it all up with a bit of kiddy baking….yes I know it’s messy, a little frustrating (they probably won’t do it like you would) and won’t necessarily result in something you would feed your mates, but they love it! Not only do they enjoy it, but it’s a great chance to teach them something new…weighing ingredients, counting out cupcake cases, learning new words…when else will they learn about ‘whisking’ and ‘sieving’?

There are lots of simple recipes that are great for baking with kids, some more suitable for slightly older kids, but there is something for everyone. For the older kids make cupcakes, cookies and flapjacks, with the little ones chocolate dipped strawberries, cupcake decorating (bake them yourself first), even icing and decorating plain biscuits goes down well. If they like picking the food colouring off the shelves try making your own playdoh in the colours they choose, they will love to watch as the gooey mixture turns to what they recognise as playdoh.

Last week I went for chocolate dipped strawberries, simple but fun and just about all I was brave enough to manage with 1-year old twins and a 3-year old. It worked well but I thought my 3-year old was up to a bit more of a challenge. So today (whilst Dad bathed the twins) we baked and decorated cupcakes. Read on to see how we got on and for the recipe we used…

Hand washing to get us started….

Counting out the cupcake cases…

Getting the mixture in to the cases…sticky fingers time…

Sophie’s selection of decorations…vast majority of the blue sparkle ended up decorating the floor…

Topping the cakes…actually tasted very good!

All in all a SUCCESS!! A bath was required and the kitchen needed a scrub down, but we were happy!

If you fancy giving it a try here is the recipe we used, a few ideas for variations and some thoughts to help you survive your afternoon baking.

Basic Cupcake Recipe

175g soft butter

175g caster sugar

175g self raising flour

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon whole milk

Preheat oven to 180c

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Lightly whisk the eggs just to break them up, then add in the vanilla extract. Slowly add the egg mixture to the creamed butter and sugar.

Sieve the flour on to the top of the mixture and pour on the milk. Gently mix together until fully incorporated.

Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases (cases should be about two-thirds full) and bake in the centre of the oven for 18-20 minutes.

Leave to cool completely and decorate with toppings of your choice.

Toppings and variations

• Buy ready-made fondant icing, roll out and use a cutter to make circles to place on top of the cakes, then decorate with little flowers or hearts and edible glitter.
• Make some vanilla butter icing and pipe in large swirls onto the cakes; decorate with smarties or anything you like.
• Cut out a little sponge from the top of the cake, fill with jam, replace the ‘lid’ and cover with icing.
• For a chocolate surprise filling push a square of chocolate into the centre of each cupcake just before you put them in the oven.

A few thoughts to help you survive:

• Start with a shopping trip – take your little ones to the baking aisle and let them choose some cake decorating bits and pieces – most supermarkets have a great selection of coloured icing, cupcake cases and decorations. Perhaps set a limit to how many items they can choose. Whilst you are there you can get a bit of your weekly shop done too.
• If your children are very young weigh the ingredients yourself and set them aside. Let them have a go at breaking an egg into a bowl, then press on with your ready prepared ingredients (perhaps even make them yourself first and just let them do the decorating).
• Try and stay relaxed – the kitchen will be a mess (probably a complete right off), the kids will lick the bowl and try to eat all the decorations before you get started – just enjoy the chaos – there will probably come a time when they won’t want to spend a minute with you near the oven.
• Decant some of the decorations into small cupcake cases – this will stop them going wild and will hopefully limit the mess.

Give it a go and send us your photos…if not of the kids, at least of the mess they create!

Alice xx

This post was originally written for 4Manchester Women www.4Manchesterwomen.co.uk

There is nothing like a vintage tea party for versatility: pretty vintage teacups and saucers, embroidered table linens and exquisite vintage cake stands are admired by all the ages (especially the ladies); gooey cakes, tasty finger sandwiches and scones served with plenty of clotted cream are popular with everyone (especially the men and children); and there are not many who don’t like a proper cuppa made with loose leaf tea and poured from a vintage teapot.

So no wonder that so many people are hosting vintage tea parties for so many different occasions. Alice’s Vintage Pantry has been super busy this month, booking for a wide variety of occasions, they include: a 40th garden party, a little boys 3rd birthday, a leaving do, afternoon tea for a girly get together, a Ladybird Ball, another 40th, several weddings and a golden wedding anniversary – phew! Whatever gathering you are planning, consider tea, cakes and vintage china…

From picnics to sports day – how to bake the perfect sponge cake

Winning the Mum’s race at sports day just isn’t that cool is it…nor was coming last as I remember from my last encounter with such an event (oh my goodness, how on earth did I manage that?!). What is cool is donating a beautifully light and perfectly risen Victoria Sandwich to the refreshments stall. Rising above the tray bakes and cupcakes the perfect sponge will make you proud that you tied your apron strings rather than the laces on your trainers. Whilst others are in their lycra sweating (yes, some Mums actually do put themselves and their kids in training for sports day!), you can be in the kitchen sipping tea whilst you mix your buttercream. And baking your own is at least a zillion times better than shop bought sponge. Not only does it taste far better, it’s cheaper, you know what’s in it and it’s a creation you can be proud of. This is all sounding a bit like a Kirsty Allsop dream…the reality is that many of us don’t have much success in getting our sponge to rise…flat cake syndrome is all too common and puts many off baking their own sponge cakes…so what to do about it? Well, there are some basic rules to baking that whilst pretty straight forward really do make all the difference to turning out a cracking cake. Have a read below, give it a go and let us know how you get on….

• Weigh and measure all your ingredients before you get started, and do it accurately – it’s well worth investing in electronic scales. Baking is basically science, so you need to get the experiment spot on.
• Grease and line your cake tin before you begin to mix, if you leave your mixture sitting around whilst you get this job done air bubbles will start to rise to the top and limit your cakes ability to rise.
• Use the best quality ingredients that you can afford and make sure it is all at room temperature before you get started.
• Get some decent measuring spoons – if a recipe requires a ‘teaspoon’ it means 5mls – most ‘teaspoons’ measure less than this.
• Use really soft butter – make sure you get it out of the fridge well in advance of your bake-off. If it is still feeling a bit on the hard side when it’s time to get started either pop it in a warm place, microwave it for a few seconds, or grate it on to a plate.
• Most sponge cakes start with creaming together butter and sugar – take this process seriously. Creaming together doesn’t mean a quick mix, it means fully incorporating the ingredients and then continuing to mix for at least 5-10 minutes until really light and fluffy. This is pretty hard work if you are doing it by hand, so if you are planning on doing a bit more baking (or even just mixing pizza dough or bread mix), invest in an electronic mixer.
• When it comes to adding the eggs make sure you do it slowly. If you go too quickly the mixture may curdle and result in a heavier sponge. So just a little at a time with a good mix after each addition.
• Make sure the oven set to the correct temperature before you put your hard work in it. Modern ovens are generally pretty temperature accurate but they do vary slightly so get to know yours.
• Have your cooling wire at the ready, but leave your cake in the tin for two minutes before placing it on the wire.
• And last but definitely not least…whatever you do don’t open the oven door!!

Victoria Sandwich recipes seem to be everywhere I look – with jubilee celebrations and the picnic season well and truly upon us, every supermarket shelf and magazine is offering us their variation on the classic sponge recipe. At Alice’s Vintage Pantry we use a tried and tested recipe that turns out the most delicious Victoria Sandwich…needless to say I’m quite keen to keep that one close to my chest, so here is another created by the super talented and much loved Delia Smith.

• 110g butter
• 110g caster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• A few drops of vanilla essence
• 110g self-raising flour (sifted)
• Jam to fill, and sifted icing sugar to top

Preheat the oven to gas mark 3 / 170c. Grease and line two 18cm cake tins.

Cream butter and sugar together. In a separate bowl beat the eggs together thoroughly then slowly add to the butter and sugar. Stir in the vanilla essence. Sift the flour on to the mixture and slowly incorporate using a metal spoon. Divide the mixture equally between the two tins and bake for 25 minutes or until well risen and springy to the touch.

Feedback and photos please!

And if you don’t want to put your apron on don’t forget we can bake one for you – we deliver anywhere in Manchester, Cheshire and the surrounding areas.

This blog was originally posted on the 4Manchester Women website www.4manchesterwomen.co.uk