When baking shortbread cookies, substitute half of your plain flour with cornflour. It gives them a really nice taste. Before icing a cake, sprinkle the top with some flour, this will stop the icing from running down over the edges of the cake. To make sure the essence you use adds flavour to the whole cake, mix it into the egg before adding the egg to the mixture. Don’t crowd the oven with Baking tins. The pans should never touch each other or the sides of the oven, or be placed over or under each other on the racks. Grease…
Author: Treeca
The Coffee Tea Club are are fans of coffee and tea and their aim of their blog is to inform and inspire people in the UK and worldwide to dive deep into their love for coffee and tea, and to embrace the joy of experiencing these two simple (yet seemingly indispensable) pleasures of life. They asked 12 tea experts,  “If you could only recommend 3 specialty teas to a Brit used to drink traditional English breakfast tea, what would those 3 be and why?” and there answers were : Tony Gebely – World of Tea I’d say that a great departure from traditional…
I just had to pop this picture from Penhaligons site of the ‘Guide to British Tea Drinking Etiquette’, as it really made me smile. Their site is just beautiful to browse through with stunning Fragrances, Bath and Body, Candles, old fashioned Gentlemen’s Grooming and Gifts to die for. Their Tea Collection of Candles include Earl Grey Luxury Candle, Neroli Luxury Candle and Assam Luxury Candle.
My little bit of braiding project started when I decided to recover my bedroom stool which was looking  a bit worse for wear, with some of my left over curtain fabric. I soon realized that I did did not quite have enough to completely cover the stool, so I popped out to buy some braiding to put around it. As you can see it worked perfectly. I then had another brainwave and took the sample I had left to see if it was the same colour as my lampshades in the conservatory. The lampshades are not old but the sun…
I found these amazing uses for ground coffee on Real Advice Gal’s Blog and just had to share them with you. 1. Mix ½ cup of used coffee grounds with 2 tablespoons of olive oil or coconut oil. Massage all over body while standing in the shower. Leave on for 10 minutes before showering. This mixture will exfoliate your skin and may also help to reduce the appearance of cellulite. 2. Pour used coffee grounds down the sink or bathtub drain, followed by 3 drops of dish soap and a pot of boiling water. This will clean and clear the…
Are you ready to make a living from your craft? If your answer is ‘yes’ then Kari Chapin’s book ‘Grow Your Handmade Business’, will help by applying her trademark you-can-do-it coaching style to the nuts and bolts of entrepreneurship and covering all the issues involved in turning your creative hobby into a successful business. Kari draws the reader up through successive layers of consciousness, moving steadily toward that crucial juncture where “what you do”and”how you think”are absolutely in harmony. It is right at this point where you can grow your business, just as if you were tending a garden. There’s…
Wheat flour is the most common in the UK but there are also many different types of those. You can find out some healthy facts about wheat flour from Healthy Eating website. The main difference between them is their protein content,– it’s this protein that when mixed with water will make gluten. Its the gluten that determines the elasticity and structure of the finished product. A typical example is that a high gluten flour would be used for bread and a low gluten flour for cakes. Real Foods are well known for their organic range of flours but most supermarkets carry…
I’m just loving this year’s ‘Great Interior Design Challenge’,  Tom Dyckhoff, architecture and design critic for The Times, presents this 12-part BBC Two series, which puts 24 of Britain’s keenest amateur interior designers to the test. Throughout the series, brave homeowners give over their bedrooms, kitchens, living rooms, dining rooms, hallways, and studies to put them all to the test. Each episode will follow the wannabe designer’s trials and tribulations as they source materials, select products and try to find everything they need to make their room look great while staying in budget. The series travels across the country, from…
Copper Cafe in Mapperley, Nottingham is one of three they own in the Nottinghamshire area. They also have one in West Bridgeford and one in Nottingham City Centre. From 12 Noon they serve a wide variety of food and drink including light bites, sandwiches, lunch options, cream teas, cakes and afternoon teas. So we decided we would give the afternoon tea a try. I can honestly say that I don’t think I have EVER seen such a large scone. It was so big I had to bring half home for hubby. The sandwiches were delicious and there was plenty to try.…
Not only do they have lots of articles on tea related things, but you can also buy a membership to the Tea Appreciation Society for yourself or a friend as a gift. Your ‘Personalised’ membership pack includes a certificate with individual membership number, exclusive members only badge, a sticker and two cups of tea. The Society was initially formed by just a small group of creative and ethically conscious friends in 2007. Now the Tea Appreciation Society has grown into a worldwide collective of  over 1600 tea lovers.
The Tea Council is a non-profit organisation which represents the interests of the major tea producing countries and the UK tea packers. The Tea Council acts as a spokesperson for the tea industry on a wide range of topics. They also promote the health benefits of tea drinking. The Tea Guild was founded in 1995, after an independent survey commissioned by the The Tea Council, found that out of the thousands of beverages available across the country, not many were serving tea to the standards desired by The Tea Council. It was set up to provide recognition to those outlets…
Wowcher have got an amazing offer for lovers of the Great British Bake Off. I don’t know about you but I am loving the celebrity one at the moment. The voucher on offer is for £19 instead of £65 for an inspiring two-hour baking workshop in a class of 12 at The Sherwood Cookery Workshop, in my neck of the woods, Nottinghamshire. The Sherwood Cookery Workshop is offering you the chance to join one of their fun Bake Off-inspired two-hour workshops, modeled on the technical round! Pitted against a maximum of 11 other bakers, you’ll be provided with a series of instructions…
The Village Kitchen Cafe in Edwinstowe opened it’s doors today at Church Farm. Proprietor Lucy Bartle is no newcomer to the cafe business after running a successful one in Mansfield (Lucy’s) for a number of years. This tiny cute shabby chic cafe is full of charm and homeliness with a menu to suit most. It’s set off a courtyard next to Edwinstowe Church where legend has it that Maid Marion and Robin Hood were married. With over 13 loose leaf teas to choose from you are sure to find one to your liking. My husband had the home made…
Ingredients 350g Self Raising Flour 2 tsp ginger 250g caster sugar 3 eggs 6 tbsp sunflour oil Rind of 1 ½ oranges (finely grated) Juice of 1 orange 250g courgettes (coarsely grated) 2 tsp baking powder Topping 14 oz icing sugar 3 tbsp orange juice Rind of ½ orange Method Preheat oven to Gas 4, 180C Grease or line a 9” cake tin Sift flour, baking powder and ginger into a large mixing bowl Stir in the sugar with a wood spoon Add the eggs, oil, orange rind and juice into a separate bowl and pour over the flour mixture…
Ingredients 350g/12.5oz dried mixed fruit 2 packets of Raspberry High Fruit Dried Buttons (or similar raspberry dried fruit) 1/2 pint/10floz of Whittard’s Very Berry Crush Fruit Flavoured Tea using 3 x tea bags (or alternative fruit teas) 125g/4.5oz Brown Sugar 300g/10.5oz Self Raising Flour 1 beaten egg 1 Tablespoon milk Method Soak the dried fruit overnight in the hot fruit tea Preheat oven 160C, 325F or Gas 3 Line loaf tin with liner of greaseproof paper Mix all ingredients together including the tea and place into a 2lb (800g) loaf tin Bake for 2 hours or until sqewer comes clean when…