Sticky Butterscotch Stem Ginger Cake

Nothing evokes the feeling of a cosy Autumnal evening quite like a slice of sticky ginger cake. The thought of its dark luring crumb and spiced ginger aroma wafting through the house is enough to make me crave it. Sticky toffee pudding is I think, one of the best baking inventions possibly ever. So I thought I would combine the two for a perfect warming treat.

This cake stays fresh and moist for a couple of days, making it an even more rewarding bake. It’s my favourite way to end a long day. A bowl of warm sticky ginger cake doused in indulgent dark toffee sauce nestled under a blanket with the cold autumnal evening outside.

Late Summer Greengage, Marmalade + Almond Tart

Its taken me a while to get this recipe up. As the world slowly went back to a new kind of normal, a lot of the free time I’ve had over the last few months has all but evaporated. However, I did manage to make time to squeeze in a bake using some of these gorgeous Greengages.

For me, late summer and early autumn is a time for seasonal fruits. A glut of ripe ingredients ready to snap up. Blink and they’ll be gone before winter sets in. Figs, Greengages, Damsons and Mirabelle’s are among my favourites this time of year. A great time to pickle, jam and preserve them before they’re gone. Also perfectly delightful to eat alone.

Gingerbread Pancakes with Almonds and Maple Roasted Pear

I had big plans for this post. I was going to blab about my recent trip to Iceland and post this finger licking recipe with it. However, after having a quick hour long peek gaze through my photos, I’ve realised how many photos I want to share and that it’s completely incomprehensible to put it all into one post. You’d probably fall asleep on your keyboard by the end. All the while thinking, where the f is this recipe?!

So to save those of you who’re here for the recipe, I’ll save my romantic Iceland babble about how I want to repeatedly travel there forever and ever and ever, for another post.

I’m sure a lot of you are pretty ecstatic that November has finally arrived. I adore Autumn. The coziness, the hot drinks, the shameless eating begins. I swear that my body just needs an extra layer of fat every year. This is why it craved a biscuit tin of 40 Bourbon biscuits… (you probably think I’m joking but the tin of biscuits next to me right now says otherwise.)

I’m having to show real restraint with christmas decorations this month. I can’t stop going into Oxford Street every week and staring at the same christmas decorations, revisiting the same shops I went into the week before. I desperately wanted to haul them up this week but my co-workers have repeatedly chimed that its way too early. I’ll wait one more week.

As the cold weather approaches, so do the spices, chutney, cheese, nuts and old music. There aren’t many breakfasts I can think of that scream autumn to me, but this one certainly does.

Whenever I go home to see my Mum, she makes me fluffy American blueberry pancakes. She uses a Jamie Oliver recipe and I love them so much I decided to tweak them a little to taste like gingerbread. Queue black treacle and ginger. Sprinkling flaked almonds on one side of the pancake adds a lovely note of nutty flavour and texture. A warm, sticky, sweet roasted pear permeated with maple syrup couldn’t be a better accompaniment to this gorgeous breakfast treat.

Blackberry, Orange and Chocolate Bread Pudding for one

One thing that really bothers me about living on my own, is buying food for one. I hate leftovers and, more than anything, I hate wasting food. I admit that some leftover meals are crazy delicious, like christmas leftover sandwiches or bubble and squeak, and they do have their place when it comes to time-saving. But eating a three-day old soggy lasagne just doesn’t do it for me.

One of my favourite things to buy is a crusty fresh loaf of bread from a local shop. I can’t think of many things more satisfying than the smell of a freshly baked loaf. Accompany some pungent ripe cheese with that and I’m yours. However, 9 times out of 10, I won’t eat all of it before it becomes stale beyond any saving. And this is with me eating it at every opportunity, trying to avoid this. Life seems to get in the way and this happens with a fair amount of food in my house.

I honestly think someone should create a supermarket for singles. Everything should come in single sized portions. I really don’t like eating the same meal over and over again, so buying a pack of six sausages means I have to eat sausages for three days in a row. All of the dishes I bake in on a day-to-day basis are single sized or two portion maximum, for this reason exactly.

So here I am, saving all you fellow single gals and guys out there from leftovers and throwing away old food; because you really can’t face the thought of another lacklustre pasta dish hanging around your fridge for days again.

Bread pudding uses up leftover milk, berries, croissants and anything else you feel like throwing in there. Make this what you want. It’s all about taking out what I’ve put in and changing it for what tickles your fancy. Nothing screams Autumn like a steaming dish of hot, creamy bread pudding just for you.