Forget Rocky Road this is more like Death Valley
I love rocky road, who doesn’t, it’s a childhood party favourite but adults love it too and we’ve tried all kinds of recipes but always felt it needed something a bit…more? So, we’ve taken it to a whole new lethal level of indulgence adding all our favourite treats.
The best part about this recipe is that it requires no skill and only takes about 20 minutes to prepare, if that, but it does need about 2 hours in the fridge, sorry! Of course the ingredients can be played with and substituted to suit your taste and dietary requirements.
Death Valley Rocky Road bars
Equipment
Brownie pan 11×7 inches (we use this one)
Large Sauce Pan
Chopping Board
Bowl
Knife
Spoon
Parchment Paper and Foil
Ingredients
200g good quality milk chocolate
400g good quality plain/dark chocolate
80g golden syrup
100g unsalted butter
100g salted butter
100g mini marshmallows plus extra for the top
30g cornflakes (pop in a bag and smash up a bit)
10 Oreos
100g maltesers
1 Snickers Duo
1 Twix Xtra
Small handful of sultanas
5 chopped maraschino cherries
20g chopped nuts of your choice (we like almonds and pecans)
Method
- Line your pan with parchment paper, leaving enough excess to hold onto and put it to one side ready to fill.
- Measure and put the chocolate, butter and golden syrup in a large pan on a low heat and gently melt stirring occasionally.
- While they are melting on the hob chop up snickers, oreos, twix, cherries and nuts and put in a bowl. Add the cornflakes, sultanas, marshmallows and maltesers and mix thoroughly.
- Take the pan off the heat and wait for 6 minutes to allow it to cool slightly. Then add your ingredients to the molten chocolate mixture, stir to combine ingredients making sure everything is covered in the chocolate and pour into your prepared brownie pan.
- Sprinkle a few marshmallows on top to decorate, cover with foil being sure to avoid touching the mixture and place in the fridge to chill (at least 2 hours).
- Once chilled use the excess parchment paper to lift it out of the pan and chop into bars. Store in an airtight container for up to a week, if it lasts that long!!
We’ll be serving these at every opportunity. What are your childhood favourite treats?
Bake Off and Biscuits!
The Great British Bake Off started this week and with that ovens and mixers up and down the country were no doubt switched on and kitchens filled with the warming smell of freshly baked treats.
I’m sure we will all choose our favourite bakers as the weeks pass by (there’s always someone who bugs you right?!) but in many ways that’s why the first week is so interesting. Each baker is new and brings with them new baking tricks and secrets. I thought Nancy truly deserved Star Baker this week, a baker with a guillotine is a serious baker for sure. It was a shame to see Claire go, she seemed fun and I know from experience how tricky those mini cakes can be.
Next week is biscuit week and with rain on the horizen I felt inspired to whip up some Italian cantuccini biscuits. They are wonderful with a strong coffee any time of day, my favourite recipe includes grated orange and lemon rind but I also added chocolate this time. I’ve posted a video of the process on my Instagram account, @teatimetreatery and a similar recipe by the lovely Gino D’Acampo can be found here.
Sneak Peek: Street Feast London
We recently swung by Dalston Yard to get a sneak peek into Street Feast London and find out how street food is rocking the London foodie scene. It’s running every Friday and Saturday evenings 5pm-Midnight right through to 27th September. We’ve heard great things and from the looks of it, this is a street food arena as it should be. They are offering a rotating variety of street food stalls alongside regulars including Pizza Pilgrims and B.O.B’s Lobster. For more information and this weeks line up click here. For now we hope you enjoy our behind the scenes sneak peek!
Pinch Punch – July/August 2014
Photo credit to Echlonie
Pinch
Wow, July has been a long hot month and I’ve had so much fun, especially sweating it out with my fellow Blogcadettes at Blogcademy a couple of weeks ago. July’s pinch comes all the way from Huntsville Texas and was taken by echlonie on Instagram! We love the American vintage feel so we had to check it out and it’s totally authentic as The Homestead is the oldest surviving home in Hunstville and dates back to 1834. Now where is my rocking chair and mint julep, get me on that porch!
Want to get involved? Each month we will pick our favourite cake or vintage inspired Instagram snap from the previous month, all you need to do is add #pinchpunch to your photo and @teatimetreatery so we can see it, see you on Instagram!
Punch
The Big Feastival
I’m punching all the way to the end of August with The Big Feastival, 29-31st August, it’s coming into its 4th year and is hosted by Jamie Oliver and Alex James. I would love to go and I genuinely don’t know where to start since it is packed to the rafters with music, food and activities and best of all it’s a festival for all the family.
For all my foodie readers rest assured the chef line up is top notch and includes Gizzi Erskine, the beautiful Chiappa sisters and of course Jamie Oliver. If you missed out on Fever Tree’s pop up in London you’ll be pleased to know they’ll be on site alongside a huge list of ‘Bar Stars’. Gah, there is just so much going on, a fun fair, a boutique market, a food market, and you can learn how to grow and pick your own veg down on the Potato Patch. Did I mention the cheese?! Alex James’ entire range of artisan cheeses will be available to try and buy…heaven! Finally, the music line up includes Fatboy Slim, Kelis, Jamie Cullum and Bjorn Again so you know you’ll be getting down to some tunes.
I’ve honestly just scratched the surface here so for more information and to buy tickets visit, The Big Feastival. Unfortunately the camping and supper club tickets look to be sold out but you can still get your hands on day and weekend tickets.
Until next month…
Look at all those happy faces!
Please note the Pinch photos and subjects for Punch have all been chosen by myself.
Fried Chicken and Waffles!
@Teatimetreatery
I recently found myself hungry and grumpy in London – argh! The only thing that made this worse is that London offers an abundance of eateries and making decisions is not something Stacey (my deranged hungry alter ego, as named by my husband, no offence to all the Stacey’s out there) is good at doing.
Fortunately the added grump required a dash of fine fried food and I was keen to try Stax Diner, the dream child of Bea Vo. Yep, you read correctly, Bea Vo, mastermind behind Bea’s of Bloomsbury’s delicious cakes, afternoon teas and lunches is now also offering up some fine Southern cooking in Kingly Court!
My Dad being American and most of that side of our family living in the South I have been lucky to have grown up with some of the great American flavours. Whether it’s been the family visits, Thanksgiving dinners, road trips or Saturday morning pancakes, I have a passion and a deep rooted hunger for Southern food. My Mum spent a year living in Texas so I guess that’s where my love for all things fried comes from! Ok I’m waffling back to the waffles…
The diner was busy when we arrived but they managed to get us in by a window which opened out into Kingly Court, my favourite part of Carnaby Street and a short walk from Oxford Circus. The menus look like fans on sticks, it looked like children could draw on the tables with chalks, the atmosphere is buzzing and the staff are super friendly.
Stax serves up brunch (I will be back for those pancakes!) through to dinner with a focus on the details and getting it to you fast. I was thrilled that fried green tomatoes made in on the menu, did you just say tow-may-toes too? We opted for the fried chicken and waffles, the Big Stax burger, coleslaw, fries, a peanut butter milkshake and a raspberry ice tea. I have always wanted to try chicken and waffles, for some reason the opportunity has escaped me whenever I’m Stateside. It was better than a dream come true because I have always been suspicious of them, could two of my great loves, fried chicken and maple syrup, really be combined?! YES, yes they can people and I urge you to go and try it for yourself now…don’t even bother reading the rest of this, get ye down to Stax!!
Oh, not convinced hey, ok well let me tell you the peanut butter milkshake was devilishly good and as my husband says about a good beer, ‘I wanted to take all my clothes off and dive right in’, unfortunately I had to force myself to stick to having one, ok two, sips and drinking my delicious but not quite so decadent iced tea. Finally, the burger was a triumph too, oh man whoever came up with maple glazed beef bacon is a genius! From the perfectly cooked Sussex beef to the brioche bun, and a bit of all of the above, I found I was now…happy!
I’m still dreaming about the chicken and waffles…what’s your guilty delight? I’d love to know!
Fried Chicken and Waffles!
@Teatimetreatery
I recently found myself hungry and grumpy in London – argh! The only thing that made this worse is that London offers an abundance of eateries and making decisions is not something Stacey (my deranged hungry alter ego, as named by my husband, no offence to all the Stacey’s out there) is good at doing.
Fortunately the added grump required a dash of fine fried food and I was keen to try Stax Diner, the dream child of Bea Vo. Yep, you read correctly, Bea Vo, mastermind behind Bea’s of Bloomsbury’s delicious cakes, afternoon teas and lunches is now also offering up some fine Southern cooking in Kingly Court!
My Dad being American and most of that side of our family living in the South I have been lucky to have grown up with some of the great American flavours. Whether it’s been the family visits, Thanksgiving dinners, road trips or Saturday morning pancakes, I have a passion and a deep rooted hunger for Southern food. My Mum spent a year living in Texas so I guess that’s where my love for all things fried comes from! Ok I’m waffling back to the waffles…
The diner was busy when we arrived but they managed to get us in by a window which opened out into Kingly Court, my favourite part of Carnaby Street and a short walk from Oxford Circus. The menus look like fans on sticks, it looked like children could draw on the tables with chalks, the atmosphere is buzzing and the staff are super friendly.
Stax serves up brunch (I will be back for those pancakes!) through to dinner with a focus on the details and getting it to you fast. I was thrilled that fried green tomatoes made in on the menu, did you just say tow-may-toes too? We opted for the fried chicken and waffles, the Big Stax burger, coleslaw, fries, a peanut butter milkshake and a raspberry ice tea. I have always wanted to try chicken and waffles, for some reason the opportunity has escaped me whenever I’m Stateside. It was better than a dream come true because I have always been suspicious of them, could two of my great loves, fried chicken and maple syrup, really be combined?! YES, yes they can people and I urge you to go and try it for yourself now…don’t even bother reading the rest of this, get ye down to Stax!!
Oh, not convinced hey, ok well let me tell you the peanut butter milkshake was devilishly good and as my husband says about a good beer, ‘I wanted to take all my clothes off and dive right in’, unfortunately I had to force myself to stick to having one, ok two, sips and drinking my delicious but not quite so decadent iced tea. Finally, the burger was a triumph too, oh man whoever came up with maple glazed beef bacon is a genius! From the perfectly cooked Sussex beef to the brioche bun, and a bit of all of the above, I found I was now…happy!
I’m still dreaming about the chicken and waffles…what’s your guilty delight? I’d love to know!
A Pinch and a Punch – June/July 2014
Welcome to our brand spanking new monthly feature! On the first of the month we will be offering up a pinch of the previous month in the form of an Instagram snap, look out you can get involved in this, and a punch into the next month in the form of, well it could take any form!
PINCH
This month’s pinch, above, is a snap we took at a beautiful wedding where we provided the linen, china and afternoon tea. It was a gorgeous sunny day, the bride and groom looked sensational together and we loved every minute of it. The wedding was held at the quintessentially English, Garden Barn, near Haverhill and is well worth a peek for parties and weddings.
So, how can you get involved? Each month we will pick our favourite cake or vintage inspired Instagram snap from the previous month, all you need to do is add #pinchpunch to your photo and @teatimetreatery so we can see it, see you on Instagram!
PUNCH
First up we’re punching into July by diving head first into the most extensive list of Gin and Tonics we’ve ever seen! We stumbled across the Fever Tree pop up in Hoxton Square at weekend and were thrilled to find out it will be running through to 26th July. They are offering 160 different gins and a selection of their tonics or if the choice is too much they will offer advice or better yet grab the G&Tree flight for £15 where you get to try 4 different gins and £2 from each flight goes to Malaria No More UK. The venue is decked out in botanicals and gin bottles and you can admire the range of gins which sit behind the bar. We stayed longer than planned and are keen to get back there so we heartily recommend a visit to find your ultimate G&T!
Top Tip: I thoroughly enjoyed mixing the damson and raspberry gins with the elderflower tonic!
Food box: Hello Fresh
Deciding what to cook for dinner can be a joy and a chore, I want mac and cheese on pizza with ribs but I know I ought to have something balanced and healthy. I love food and I love cooking, in fact I’m passionate about cooking from scratch, but sometimes time is just not on my side. So, this week I decided to put the decision in the hands of Hello Fresh and just had to share the experience with you guys and if you like what you see we even have a discount code for you at the bottom of the post!
I was quick off the mark to try Graze boxes and then the beauty boxes came along bringing joy to my post box so Hello Fresh had to do be done. Hello Fresh send boxes of fresh ingredients and recipe cards direct to your door with the idea being it allows you to eat healthy, fresh food without the fret of grocery shopping and meal planning! They also give you the option of 3-5 meals, meat or veggie, for 2, 4 or a Family Box. I’m pretty sure you could make it work for 1 person too though.
I was thrilled when our box arrived, ok so most post excites me but postal food was a double bonus.
We had chosen The Classic trial box and were not disappointed when beef, chicken and tiger prawns arrived. The meat comes carefully packed with ice packs but it was the bag of miniature soy sauces, herb pots and spice pots that I really loved especially as everything was recyclable. So lets get to it, roll up meal 1.
First up we had Korean Beef Bulgogi with Ginger Stir Fried Tenderstem, this was fun for me as it was meal I had never tried. The only issue I had with this came about because I hadn’t read the recipe instructions in full prior to starting, it said ready in 30 minutes but actually within the instructions recommended marinating the meat for 1 hour which I forced myself to do. The veg, beef and rice were, I felt, great quality and the perfect amount for two. The recipe cards clearly show you in pictures what you needed and the Kcal per serving. The instructions also came with handy pictures making it easy for anyone to have a go. The fresh ginger smelt incredible!
Wednesday we had Citrus Chicken and Chunky Ratatouille. Now, they were not to know I had recently spent a week eating JUST ratatouille but actually I had most recently been eating croissants for a week and needed to get back on the health wagon. It’s probably worth noting that if you subscribe you do get to swap meals out. It was great to learn a new way to cook ratatouille and the chicken was fast and tasty, especially with the fresh grated lemon and lemon juice. One thing that did confuse me was that we got a pot of sugar for our Beef Bulgogi but for this recipe it was required but not included, no problem for me I have plenty of sugar at home and actually used Agave Nectar instead. The best bit about this was that both pieces of chicken were a good size, far too often I find myself growling at the supermarket chicken aisle because each box of chicken breast has one huge one and one tiny one so this made a welcome change!
Finally we had a very tasty and filling Tiger Prawn Linguine with Chilli and Sun-Dried Tomato.
Final Thoughts
I loved the fresh ingredients, I loved learning new recipes that I get to keep, I loved that there was no waste and that everything was recyclable. Overall I felt it was great value, a time saver, healthy and as a company they are clearly doing their utmost to be sustainable. I would definitely do this again, it’s especially handy to book a delivery for the week after your holiday so you can just relax knowing that healthy meals are on their way.
If you fancy giving Hello Fresh a go you can get £20 off your first box with our code, 6BHQDJ.
The trial box consists of 3 meals for 2 people and is £42 including delivery. The Classic Box for 2 people comes in at £39 for 3 meals or £49 for 5 meals including delivery.
Please note, I have not been commissioned to review the Hello Fresh box, I paid for my trial box myself and all opinions are genuine and my own.
Did you know…Saffron Walden Market
Did you know Saffron Walden has a beautiful market on Tuesdays and Saturdays? If you didn’t know then here are 6 reasons you’ll be glad you do know now! I popped in yesterday and snapped away as I shopped.
1.The fruit and vegetable stall is worth a visit alone for all the colours and variety, excellent value too, I grabbed a bag of flat peaches while I was at it.
2. You won’t struggle to find the market, just sniff out the delicious smells coming from Giggly Pig, stop by for samples and you’ll probably leave with a bag full of sausages or a bite from the bbq!
3. Brown Bread are our go to stall for fantastic breads, they also have an irresistible selection of pastry and cakes.
4. Beautiful flowers can always be found at the market and will brighten your day.
5. Fresh olives, pesto, olive oil and more, you will find everything you need for a lazy afternoon picnic. There’s usually a fine cheese stall and fresh fish too!
6. For all the crafters out there you can find materials, buttons, and more.
It doesn’t even stop there, on Saturdays you will often find the sensational and refreshing Saffron Ice Cream Company and Planet of the Crepes! The King Kong’s Big Brother crepe (Cheese, Ham, Egg, Spinach, Mushroom, Asparagus) is superb but I have yet to take on the King Kong Crepe challenge (Cheese, Ham, Egg, Mushroom), eat three in a row and you get a free t-shirt – yep that’s right folks, Saffron Walden is home to a food challenge!
See you at the market! If you know of any other fab markets or local food challenges we’d love to hear about them.
Cream Tea Top Tips!
It’s here, cream tea season, Andy Murray has won his first match at Wimbledon and strawberries, scones and clotted cream are everywhere! So here are our Cream Tea Top Tips…
1. Go Fresh!
Fundamental, from the strawberries to the scones, you can’t beat fresh, local produce. For the strawberries why not get out there and pick your own, click here to find somewhere local to you. By the time you’re done picking you’ll have earned the treat but if that sounds too strenuous keep your eyes peeled for local strawberries in the super market or local markets. For the scones make your own, more on that, or find a local bakery or baker (ahem) and order them handmade fresh from the oven. Finally, nothing beats homemade jam but for convenience a good local jam will be just as delicious and far less tricky.
2. Loose and leafy tea!
Rule of thumb, if it’s mentioned in the title it’s vital! Tea is clearly a key ingredient to cream tea so make it count. This doesn’t necessarily mean trying some obscure tea you’ve never heard of before (don’t hold back if the mood takes you there) but a loose leaf tea/tea bag gives a taste worthy of an occasion like this. You get depth of flavour and colour and it really elevates the experience from the everyday to the treat it’s meant to be. Just drop us a line if you’d like some more advice on this, we stock a wonderful selection of loose leaf teas and tea bags and loved testing them all out.
3. Bake your own!
Baking scones is actually quite easy and something you can get the kids involved with too. We’d recommend finding a recipe that uses buttermilk or yoghurt for a real indulgence, here’s one from baking’s Queen, Mary Berry. Don’t forget to get those hands high when rubbing in the flour, you want the air in there to get a fluffy scone. Keep a pile of flour next to your lightly floured surface and twist your cutter through the flour before cutting into the dough, this will allow you to pull straight up in one swift motion. When brushing the tops with a glaze, go lightly this is a less is more situation for a beautiful finish. Finally, why not mix it up a bit, add a dash of cinnamon or really go for it and try our favourite savoury combo, jalapenos and mature cheddar!
4. Serve up an event!
It will come as no surprise that we love to break out the vintage china to serve our cream tea on, the glittering gold details and beautiful designs make us feel so special. If you’re after something a bit more disposable and easy to clear away then there are some fabulous paper and wooden party ware options, you can find lots of party ware at Jelly and Blancmange.
5. Oooh go on pop the bubbles!
Pretty straight forward, whether it’s Prosecco, Champagne or Schloer we love adding a bit of fizz to every occasion.
