Zesty lemon drizzle loaf

The lemon drizzle loaf is, to many, an elusive beast. We’ve all had it served up in cafes or at coffee mornings, but there are far too many lemon drizzle recipes out there that are too dry, too bland, just too blah. Fear not, dear reader – I have the solution. This is one lemon drizzle cake that I promise will never let you down.

In my quest for the perfect lemon drizzle, I adapted this BBC Good Food recipe and in the words of Ina Garten, turned up the volume. More juice, more zest, and a little bit more love led to a cake that my family (which, bear in mind, has just three members) devoured in a day.

Oven roasted cauliflower

You may have noticed that most of the posts on here are foods that are seriously decadent – cookies, brownies, popcorn smothered in life-changingly good caramel sauce. But there comes a time in every girl’s life when she needs a little detox, and only fruit and veggies will do.

Whilst plain old fruit and veggies are delicious enough in their own right, I’m always looking for ways to spice them up a bit and make them more exciting. This oven roasted cauliflower is just the ticket – it’s tasty, spicy, crunchy, and you can eat the whole bowlful for around 150 calories.

Homemade caramel popcorn

Recently, the weather’s been rubbish, money has been tight, and consequently I’ve spent a lot of my time wrapped up in a duvet binge watching Netflix. Whilst this is a pleasant activity in itself, I’ve also discovered that it can be significantly improved by the addition of snacks – and this homemade caramel popcorn (from What Charlotte Eats) is up there with the best of them.

One of the great things about this popcorn recipe is that you literally need five ingredients – oil, kernels, butter, sugar and syrup (hey, I said it was easy, not healthy!) – and it takes less than 15 minutes from start to finish. If it’s raining, cold, or generally miserable where you are, fire up your laptop, put your pan on the stove and get popping.

Easter bunny gingerbread

If there’s one thing my friends and family love about me (read: mock me mercilessly for) it’s my love of a good childhood craft project, and you can’t get much more delightfully childish than these utterly adorable Easter bunny biscuits. Cut from sweet, spicy gingerbread, topped with a generous layer of royal icing and studded with a selection of pick and mix favourites, they conjure up memories of smearing fondant over digestives and calling it cooking, and will make a fun, festive addition to any Easter table.

White chocolate brownies

I have a confession to make. As a food fan and somewhat professional binge eater, it’s a pretty surprising one. But here goes – I’m not a big fan of chocolate cake. I can’t exactly put my finger on why. I’m a mega chocolate fiend in every other sense, but I’ve had so many dry, dull and tasteless versions of it in cake form that it just doesn’t do it for me anymore. Offer me a slice of chocolate sponge or its vanilla equivalent, and I’ll take the vanilla every time. And until I adapted this recipe, that went for brownies too.

Now, I’ll probably get sued by M&S for saying this, but these are not just any brownies. They are decadent, chewy, sticky white chocolate brownies, and they taste totally different from any other version I’ve had before. This recipe is an experimental adaptation of this tried and tested BBC recipe, and trust me when I say that there’s no lifeless cocoa crumbs leftover from these bad boys. I may just be a brownie convert after all.

Veggie bean chilli

I WISH I could claim that I have some sort of Mexican heritage and my wise old grandmother taught me this recipe in her homey, wonderfully colourful kitchen, but the truth is this recipe was devised by my father and I in a generously sized semi-detached in not-so-sunny Swindon.

The ingredients are definitely not traditional (soy sauce, anyone?), and the method is super simple, but this is a great, easy midweek supper and I like to think that it packs a flavourful punch that even my imaginary Mexican grandma would be proud of.

Culinary disasters

We all have them. I’m willing to share mine with you. For all the things I can cook, I cannot, for love nor money, cook a decent pancake (much to the disappointment of myself and my housemates every time Shrove Tuesday rolls around). Last night’s effort was no exception.

(Lemon and sugar, in case you’re wondering).

I like to think of myself as a pretty proficient cook, so I was feeling pretty down about my lack of pancake prowess.

Until I found this.

Chewy bakery style cookies

Cookies come in all shapes and sizes, and believe me, I love them all. From crumbly, buttery, melt in the mouth bites, to big, doughy lumps of flour and cocoa, I’ve spent my life devouring as many of them as possible. However, for me, nothing beats those big, chewy bakery style cookies – the kind you get in bags from the supermarket, 5 for £1.

I’ve spent many moons searching for a recipe that allows me to make them at home, a low and behold, I’ve found it! I adapted the basic dough from this recipe and chucked whatever I had in the cupboard (six cookies and cream Kit Kats and two bags of chocolate buttons, in case you were wondering) but the beauty of the recipe is that you can literally add whatever you like. Chocolate, nuts, fruit, oats – the possibilities are endless and oh so delicious. Mix it up and let me know what works for you!

Banana and blueberry loaf cake

Sit down, keep calm, and hold on to your hats, because I’ve got a revelation for you. You no longer have to choose between healthy eating and cake (and not just dry old diet cake – proper sticky moist delicious cake).

This banana and blueberry loaf cake may look deceptively decadent, but it’s packed with fruit, reasonably low on sugar, and if you cut it into 12, it’s only around 150 calories a slice. Whether you’re dieting, indulging or simply looking for a sweet treat, I highly recommend that you put the kettle on and get baking.

10 foods to eat on a snow day

Brr! Baby, its cold outside, and I for one can barely leave the house without sliding to my doom on the slippery ice coated pavements. Here in the UK, we’re experiencing what we call ‘major snowfall’, which to most of the world I’m pretty sure is just ‘really cold rain’. Yes, I’ll openly admit that as a country, we’re pretty rubbish at dealing with snow, and will continue to complain about it until it thaws and we can carry on grumbling about the wind and rain again.

In true Brit tradition, I am hopeless at dealing with gusts of wind and ice, but what I can deal with is the comfort food that I’m entitled to eat when it arrives! Whether you’re still on the new year diet bandwagon or in the mood for some series snow day indulgence, here are my top 10 foods for eating on a snow day.