Happy Birthday, Gran!

3 Steps to Heaven

In preparation for my move to London in about ten days, I have been doing the rounds of my chums, from childhood to recent years, to say my farewells. One such stop this week included a trip to Glasgow to meet up with one of my longest friends, Zoe, and our old neighbour and buddy, Andrew. What better way to catch up with old friends, and have a swansong, than over some cakes and tea? So, we stopped at 3 Steps to Heaven in Glasgow's Byres Road, where we gobbled and chatted to our hearts' content.

It's really an ice cream parlour where they specialise in cold stone creations, which involves mixing your chosen ice cram, toppings and sauce on a frozen marble slab, which, apparently, is a work of art. But cake is my thing, so Zoe and I opted for the Afternoon Tea for 2, which was good value at £15.99. It came with a selection of sandwich slices (cheese and pickle, tuna and cucumber, ham and mustard), an ample tray of cakes, a cup of tea each, and a scoop of ice cream to follow! The sandwiches, all on white bread with the crusts cut off, were nothing special but hit the spot, as did the tea which was from a bag. The cakes we had were a slice of deliciously moist chocolate cake, a mini vanilla iced cupcake with edible sparkles, and a cherry scone each. It was more than enough to fill us up and well worth the price, especially as it was less than a lot of other places and included the ice cream, which is not common for afternoon tea. I let Andrew have my ice cream  as I'm not a big fan of cold produce, and I'm reliably informed that his choice of frozen strawberry yoghurt went down a treat! However, he did notice before we left that they had Irn Bru ice cream which he would have preferred. Yum!

In total, I would say this place is the perfect stop for a slow afternoon of lounging in their comfy chairs, chatting with friends and people watching out of their large windows that look out onto the busy street. The prices were good, the atmosphere pleasant, and the food tasty - what more could you want? Well, actually, they do also sell a range of treats to take away such as children's sweets and bags of marshmallows. A lovely wee place!

Eteaket

This morning I drowned my sorrows in the wake of Chris's departure - with some lovely Darjeeling tea at Eteaket!! As a belated Father's Day gift for my Dad, who was in town to see his friend's show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, I took him for a spot of lunch and cream tea at Edinburgh's ever popular and delightful tea cafe in Fredrick Street. I had read mixed reviews about the service but I had never read anything to suggest that the tea and cakes were anything less than scrumptiously tasty and beautifully presented.

We went at 11.45am on Saturday because I'd heard it can get very busy in the afternoon and thought we should try and beat the crowds. It was a good idea as the traditional, with a modern twist, tea room was almost full apart from one or two tables and some rain sodden outdoor seats. The very friendly, slightly flustered, waitress immediately greeted us and seated us at a table for two near the counter. The sit in menu (they also have take away options) has four pages of black, green, fruit and herbal teas to choose from as well as coffees, juices, sandwiches, cakes and afternoon and cream teas. I choose the cream tea with Darjeeling and my Dad had a roast chicken ciabatta and Darjeeling too. The cream tea came with a plain scone and a fruit scone, both of which were very fresh and light, with some strawberry jam and delicious clotted cream. My Dad also enjoyed his sandwich which came with some dressed salad and some kettle chips. The staff were very friendly and attentive and seemed to take a genuine interest in us by asking what we had planned for the rest of the day, etc.

Tables in the cafe never remained vacant for more than a couple of minutes as a constant flow of bedraggled shoppers, curious tourists and hungry locals passed through the doorway. A constant chatter of voices added to the atmosphere of the pleasant surroundings, decorated with displays of tea leaves and vintage crockery and cake stands for sale. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone who enjoys cake and a refreshing cup of tea and I will definitely try and pay another visit myself before I head to London. Excellent!

Yee ha, Cowboy!

Today, Chris left Edinburgh's cozy surrounds for the bright lights of London. But all pioneers and fortune seekers need some tasty morsels to accompany them on their travels, so we baked up some Cowboy Cookies from our current favourite cookbook, All Cakes Considered. The quantities given in the recipe turned into around 35 cookies in all, so I had to do the decent thing and eat some of them myself before he took a batch for the car. One tip for next time would be to add more chocolate chips as there didn't seem to be enough to spread through the whole mixture. But they were deliciously soft and nutty flavoured regardless. Two days on, there is 1 left!

Ingredients (baking conversion tables)


2 cups golden caster sugar

1 cup vegetable fat for baking (shortening/ Stork)
2 large eggs, beaten
2 cups of plain flour
1tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 and a half cups of almonds and chocolate chips mixed together - or any combination of nuts, chocolate, cherries etc that you like.

1. preheat the oven to 180 degrees (350F). Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
2. Combine the sugar and vegetable fat until well blended. Add eggs and beat until blended. Add vanilla extract and beat briefly.
3. In a separate bowl dry whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the creamed mixture and beat slowly until blended.
4. Add the oats, beating until they are mixed into the dough.
5. Add the nuts and chocolate and mix well.
6. Drop the cookies by the tablespoon onto the baking sheets (about 6 per sheet)
7. Bake each sheet for around 10-12 minutes. You may need to repeat this for several batches but you can reuse the same parchment paper until it browns at the edges. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before moving the cookies onto a plate. 
8. Savour them with a cup of coffee, a glass of cold milk or some root beer. Yum!

Rocky Road!

Well, this past weekend was Chris's last in Edinburgh before he makes the move to London. He and his flatmates organised an end of year BBQ for a last get together of all the flatmates and to say goodbye etc. So, what better way to add to the party atmosphere than to bake up some delicious Rocky Road with the help of his glamorous assistant (that's me!). It was really easy to make (no baking required) and so yummy. It's a good thing I wasn't going to the BBQ as I could definitely have gobbled more than my fair share of this. It is rich and sweet and deliciously good with a cup of tea or coffee. I got to take 3 pieces home - needless to say I ate them all within 24 hours. Mmmmm!

Ingredients (from BBC/ Nigella Lawson)

• 125g/4½oz soft unsalted butter
• 300g/10½oz dark chocolate, broken into pieces
• 3 tbsp golden syrup
• 200g/7¼oz rich tea biscuits
• 100g/3½oz mini marshmallows
• 2 tsp icing sugar to dust
  
  

  Preparation method

  1. Heat the butter, chocolate and golden syrup in a heavy-based saucepan over a gentle heat. Remove from the heat, scoop out about 125ml/4½fl oz of the melted mixture and set aside in a bowl.
  2. Place the biscuits into a plastic freezer bag and crush them with a rolling pin until some have turned to crumbs but there are still pieces of biscuit remaining.
  3. Fold the biscuit pieces and crumbs into the melted chocolate mixture in the saucepan, then add the marshmallows.
  4. Tip the mixture into a 24cm/9in square baking tin and smooth the top with a wet spatula.
  5. Pour over the reserved 125ml/4½fl oz of the melted chocolate mixture and smooth the top with a wet spatula.
  6. Refrigerate for about two hours or overnight.
  7. To serve, cut into 24 fingers and dust with icing sugar.