More utility china!

I couldn't help myself, I had to go back Monday morning to buy the rest of that green tea set and more sideplates. The woman recognised me straight away, I obviously had that mad, crockery obsessed glint in my eyes. I bought more of the frilly edged Grindley sideplates plus some plainer Johnson Bros ones. Like Gem says, what would happen if I held a tea party for 25 guests when I only owned 22 sideplates? Well, now I own enough sideplates (and various tea cups) to hold a massive tea party or possibly run a cafe. I've often joked about the latter.

I also purchased two jugs (the big jug was only 50p!!) and two sugar bowls, a slightly bigger plate and a little oval dish. The plain Johnson Bros sideplates are also in the photo.

I was sitting in the kitchen admiring my sudden massive sideplates/utility china collection when I thought "where the hell am I going to put all of this?!" as my bookcrockery case in my bedroom is full. Since my crockery looks oh so pretty in Mum's green kitchen she has donated part (most!) of the lower shelf in her "special crockery/nice things" cupboard.

I hope when I move out that I only move once because my crockery collection is somewhat large. I still have two large Tesco bags, mostly filled with mugs/bowls, in the attic from uni. I'm such a hoarder, I would love to be a bit more minimal but ultimately can't do it.

Anybody else got a ridiculous crockery obsession?



Utility china and lemon tart

Here they are, my new sideplates all washed and pretty on the draining board :)

Firstly, a big thank-you is in order to my sister-in-law, Fiona who stumbled across a clearout of a store for an old local shop in town and told me there was a massive stash of lovely crockery. It turns out it was the best type of crockery, Utility China! With a pile of plates in my hand I asked the lady if she had any more in that range and she took me to one of the back rooms and holy moly I have never seen so many stacks of sideplates in my life!!! Perfect because I didn't really have an sideplates in my general crockery collection. I got 22 sideplates and two cups and saucers for £5. If it's open tomorrow morning I'm going back to buy more of the green teacups and saucers (I told myself I had enough teacups and saucers at home and that two extra was enough, but it really isn't! 22 sideplates may not be enough either...) I'm also going to see if there are any dinner plates. There was just so much in the store that it was hard to think!

A gorgeous mix of Alfred Meakin, Johnson Bros, Peach Petal Grindley, Rose Leaf Grindley, Myrtle Leaf Grindley and Petal Ware Grindley.

It was necessary to celebrate the arrival of the new sideplates with triangle sadwiches and a lemon tart (nothing to do with the fact I had watch the pastry episode of Great British Bake Off earlier this week...) Plus I thought the lemon flavour would match the pastel colours. I'm even secretly delighted that the ham in the sandwiches match the pink cakestand.

Enjoying afternoon tea with Dad. I like how Mum's Denby Juice teapot, milk jug and sugar bowl match the utility china.

The filling of the tart was excellent, similar to a Bakewell Tart but with lemon curd instead of raspberry jam. It's also the first time I've made lemon curd, yummy and surprisingly easy. I found the pastry a little bit too dry and crumbly, probably because I'm pants at pastry and most likely over worked it. It also didn't need an egg, which I thought was a bit strange, but I'm no pastry expert and it certainly didn't spoil the over all flavour of the tart.

Lancaster Lemon Tart

Recipe from Traditional Teatime Recipes by the National Trust (Nice book, each recipe has a story of its origins and/or recommends a tea to compliment the flavours!)

Shortcrust pastry

450g (1lb) plain flour, sifted

a pinch of salt

100g (4oz) butter, softened

100g (4oz) lard, softened

3-4 tbsp cold water

Filling

150g-175g (5-6oz) lemon curd. *I made mine following a Delia recipe which I'll write at the bottom of the post.*

100g (4oz) butter, softened

100g (4oz) caster sugar

2 eggs, beaten

3 tsp lemon juice

75g (3oz) self-raising flour, sifted

25g (1oz) ground almonds

To make the pastry, mix together the flour and salt then rub in the fats until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Gradually add water, mixing with a fork, to give a stiff but pliable dough (I don't think I added enough!) Knead lightly for a few minutes until smooth then wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180C, 350F, gas mark 4 and grease a 20cm (8inch) loose bottomed round flan tin. On a floured surface, roll out the pastry and use to line the tin (I had quite a bit of excess). *The recipe didn't mention blind baking but I did. Stuck it in at gas mark 6 for around 15 minutes* Spread the lemon curd over the base. Beat together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs and lemon juice beat well. Add the flour and almonds and fold in with a metal spoon. Spread the mixture over the curd and smooth out. Bake for 35 minutes or until the sponge springs back when lightly pressed. Remove from oven, dredge with icing sugar and leave to cool in the tin.

*Lemon curd, from Delia's Complete Illustrated Cookery Course (completely forgot I owned this. It makes the perfect amount of curd for the tart, plus a little excess to spread on a bit of toast!)

grated rind and juice of 1 large, juicy lemon 

75g (3oz) caster sugar

2 large eggs

50g (2oz) unsalted butter

Place the grated lemon rind and sugar in a heatproof bowl. In another bowl whisk together the lemon juice and eggs then pour this mixture over the sugar. Add the butter cut into small pieces and place the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir frequently until thickened (about 20 minutes) and leave to cool before spreading onto tart base.

Shopping in Edinburgh

First port of call was Lakeland. Damn I love that shop.

I thought I'd buy some cute, pastel cake cases and the get-a-grip piping bags as they appear to have great reviews. I've also been meaning to buy a Mary Berry book for ages, but got completely sidetracked by the Hummingbird Bakery books, and it seemed rude to leave it lying on the shelf. The lady at the checkout asked if I watched the Great British Bake Off (which I do of course) and we had a great conversation about battenberg cake. I can't wait to try something from the book. It's full of classic, British homebaking and I really like how the chapters have been laid out.

I also bought this cardigan from New Look as some of my cardigans are starting to look a bit scabby. It's an unusual colour, somewhere between dusky pink/orange/brick, not a colour featured in my wardrobe. It's a really flattering shape and I love covered buttons.

I also bought little earrings from Accessorize, which I now realise aren't particularly visible in this picture, and two pairs of socks from BHS (a change from Topshop!) with Volkswagen Campervans on them. Yeah, they're amazing! I actually didn't buy the tights in Edinburgh, I ordered them online a couple of weeks ago but they're so nice they had to be included in the photo. They're by Gudrun Sjoden, a Swedish clothing/textile designer. Admittedly her clothes and accessories are fairly expensive, but  she uses lovely colours and prints and the tights are really great quality.

I also got this red, corduroy skirt from New Look. I love everything about it, especially when worn with new stripey tights.

I also made some VERY exciting second hand purchases after work today, but I want to display them properly so will blog about it tomorrow. I'll leave you with two words:

Utility China

Cafe adventures in Edinburgh

I was in Edinburgh for a quick visit this week and pretty much spent a whole day going in and out various cafes with friends. I started the day by having elevenses with my two childhood homies Alice and Sarah at Eteaket on Frederic Street.

I took all my photographs with my phone so they're not up to their usual standard.

Alice goes to Eteaket a lot with friends and I practically begged her to take me there. It's a tea boutique and cakey cafe which is right up my street. Can't believe I lived in Edinburgh for four years without going there!

It has a cute window display of bunting and chintzy crockery which is contrasted with a sleeker interior of hot pink and turquoise walls and seating.  

Everything is served on mismatching crockery which I loved. Sarah went for a cappuccino and lemon tart (as she's such a bitter woman!), Alice had a pear and honey(?) tart with a breakfast tea and I went for a raspberry and almond tart with Royal Earl Grey tea.

In the words of Craig Revel Horwood, it was AH-MAY-ZING! I am definitely going back there when I'm next in Edinburgh.

We then did a spot of shopping, as girls do, and Sarah tried on these MASSIVE Banana Man style platforms.

MASSIVE SARAH!
And unimpressed, short Alice.

After trying on various shoes and clothes we had lunch at Costa in Princes Mall.

After lunch I met a couple of uni friends at Cafe Nero on Lothian Road with Sarah. By then I had moved onto hot chocolate.

Before we knew it, it was dinner time so Sarah and I finished our day with baked tatties (potatoes for the non Scottish) at Cafe Luciano on George IV Bridge.

 

Did I buy anything else in Edinburgh other than food and drink? Of course I did! I shall put my exciting purchases in a separate post within the next day or two so stay tuned!

Millionaire's shortbread

Oh my, these have got to be the sweetest, stickiest, piggiest things known to mankind. They are heart attack inducing and one single piece may cause you to go up two dress sizes.

It is worth it though.

Sweet things on my sweet cake stand.

Millionaire's shortbread

This is apparently a Mary Berry recipe, which is appropriate since The Great British Bake Off is back on TV. However I can't remember which blog I found it on, sorry!

Base:

225g plain flour

100g caster sugar

225g butter

100g semolina

Topping:

175g butter

175g caster sugar

4 tbsp golden syrup

1 x 397g can condensed milk (yum!)

200g milk chocolate (or dark if you prefer)

Set the oven to 160C/Gas mark 2. Lightly grease/line a 20 x 33cm oblong tin. Mix the base ingredients until they form a smooth dough (I mixed by hand). Press into the tin and prick all over with a fork. Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden and firm, then leave to cool. Next put all the topping ingredients (except the chocolate) in a saucepan and stir over a low heat until the butter and sugar has melted. Bubble the mixture gently for 5-8 minutes, stirring constantly, until it is thick and fudgy and darker in colour. Pour into the tin evenly. Once that has set melt the chocolate and pour into the tin as well and spread evenly. Leave to set, (or mostly set if you're like me and desperately want a piece) then cut into squares and pig out!

Cakestands make me feel happy

Today was a completely pants day at work. There were some grumpy, down right rude customers and it was stupidly busy in the afternoon which made us incredibly late closing up.

Everything, however, was forgotten when I came home to find my ebay parcel at the bottom of the stairs.

Isn't it pretty? It's Royal Winton Grimwades (of course!) and was fairly cheap for Royal Winton as it has a chip in the centre of the middle plate but it really isn't that noticable. Other than that it's in very good nick. I couldn't resist taking a photo of it with my other two Royal Winton possessions.

AWWWWWWWW!

Can't wait to bake something pretty to display on them.

Ladies who lunch

My friend Sarah was home for the weekend so on Friday we did what we do best, go out for a jaunt and eat cake!

 

This is Sarah (on the left), ma home gurl! (yeah, we're trendy and  gangster.) We've known each other since nursery, it's a  wonder she still puts up with me. She had a chocolate and coconut cake and cappuccino. I appear to look very serious, eating a Victoria sponge must be serious business. Tea is my preferred  beverage of course.

We had lunch too which was so amazing we forgot to take photos, but we remembered to photograph the cakes which is the most important thing. It was great to be served for a change, someone to make tea and lunch for ME! I made two little purchases on Friday as well:

I've always fancied having a cute coaster for my cuppa beside my bed as I sit there a lot when I'm using my laptop, usually watching Neighbours on five demand (Sad? Definitely, but I love Neighbours!) This most certainly fits the bill, it matches my bedding too. 

Dinosaur bun cases, because, well, who doesn't love dinosaurs! *Adds them in her ever growing collection of fancy bun cases*

Mmmmm chocolate cake

It was Uncle Johnny's birthday yesterday so being the lovely niece that I am, I made him a chocolate cake. This cake always gets compliments. One of my uni friends even said she would marry the cake if it was a man (a bit strange, but still a compliment!) It was the first cake to sell out at the bake sale when my year was raising money for our degree show catalogue. I came across the recipe on the Supercook website years ago. I had bought some bog standard white bun cases and on the packaging it said "why don't you visit our website for yummy recipes...." so I did. (I'll include the recipe at the bottom of the post.) Here is the cake in action.

Uncle Johnny cutting his cake.

Aunty Janice always puts on an impressive spread: homemade bread, lemon meringue pie, rock buns and a variety of other tasty buns.

And last but not least, the other ebay purchase I made not long after the Woods Ware haul. It's a Royal Winton Grimwades cake plate and matches my three tier cake stand which you can find in my custard cream cupcakes post. I am delighted with it. I'm hoping to have a proper post of it adorned with baked goods fairly soon. Royal Winton is the King of Crockery for me. Some girls lust after expensive Gucci handbags, I lust after Royal Winton Grimwades tea sets.

I've been a bit naughty and made another ebay purchase this week. Why is it I can go for months spending next to nothing other than diesel for the car and then suddenly buy loads of crockery and clothes? (That's another story.)

"Wicked chocolate fudge cake" from Supercook website. (No idea if it's still on there)

6oz self-raising flour

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda

5 oz sugar

2 medium size eggs

2 tbsp golden syrup

1/4 pint sunflower oil

1/4 pint milk

For the icing
6oz icing sugar
3oz softened butter
2 tbsp cocoa
enough milk to make the icing smooth and spreadable

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4. Sieve together the flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda. Add the sugar and mix thoroughly. Make a well in the centre of the mixture and add all the liquids. Mix together until smooth. Pour into two greased/lined cake tins and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for approx. 30 minutes or until they spring back to touch. Leave to cool on a wire rack. Once cool, sandwich together with the icing and decorate as desired. I went for the rustic hundreds and thousands effect and put a sneaky layer of raspberry jam in between the sponges.

The only extra thing I would note is that I'm fairly generous with my tablespoon measures. What can I say, I like a bit of cocoa and syrup!

Boston cream cupcakes and new crockery!

*DRUM ROLL*

Ta-da! Here are my new ebay purchases. This is the beginning of my Woods Ware (Utility) China collection for my future house.

I first came across Woods Ware after googling "1940s kitchen" some time last year (yeah, I look up kitchen porn occasionally) and came across this page. I pretty much decided it was going to be my main crockery in my future house as I love the shape and and mix and match colours. Then earlier this year I came across blogs such as Kitschen Pink, Little Gem's World  and A Thrifty Mrs who collect the crockery too. If you want to die of crockery excitement then check out the Utility China flickr page. After not finding the crockery the old fashioned charity shop way, I went to good old ebay to start me off. Next mission is to get some of the blue Woods Ware (iris).

On to the baking..... I'm steadily working my way through the Hummingbird Cake Days book (as is my sister in law. She has been a baking like a demon recently.) Last night I made the Boston cream cupcakes which are a little bit more fiddly than I would usually bother with because it involves making custard for the filling. This is the first time I have made home made custard (woohoo!) It went a tiny bit lumpy, not much, a little bit of sieving did the trick.

Do you like my rubber duck cake cases?

Mmmmmmm custardy centre.