Your ViewsKeep your e-mails pouring in, it's good to know that there are lots of you out there with views and opinions. To help you work out what is what, are now little icons to help you see biscuit related themes. And now you can see at a glance which are the most contested subjects via this graph (requires Flash 6.0 plugin). Please keep your mails coming in to nicey@nicecupofteaandasitdown.com | If you like, you can use this search thingy to find stuff that matches with any of the icons you pick, or use the fantastic free text search, Yay! | Your e-Mails |
Mrs Ann Day |
Good afternoon Nicey,
Love the site. Anything that keeps me off of eBay is a good thing!
Where do you sit on the subject of date slice? Is it a biscuit or a cake or something else? I have made loads of these as they go well at a cricket tea along with the jam and cream scones, chocolate cake and strong tea. I always know when to start brewing the tea....it's when my husband goes in to bat.
As an addition to my extensive cake repetoire I have invented the bakewell slice and the mincemeat and marzipan slice. Basically the same constrution as the date slice but filled with marzipan and mincemeat/jam of your choice. I especially like making them as my husband hates marzipan and I get to eat them all ;-)
On the subject of tea I have been to India on a number of occasions and they can't make tea worth a damn. what with the hot milk and boiling everything up together in a saucepan. What is it with Lipton's Yellow label tea? It seems to be all you can get in hotels. I've travelled extensively and the only hotel where it wasn't on the breakfast table was in The Dominican Republic where they served proper Twinings Breakfast tea.
Best wishes
Ann |
Nicey replies: Ann,
We had a discussion on this very topic not so long ago and agreed that 'slice' should be a recognised term deserving of its own circle in our mighty Venn Diagram of the baked goods world. It has the significant advantage of neatly solving the 'Flapjack dilemma' that has plagued cake biscuit taxonomy theory for years.
Of course the only problem in all of this is that I had just got the diagram looking very nice for the book and I'll have to redo it. |
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Paul Coupe |
Hi Nicey,
I came across this article in the online version of the Oldham Chronicle My first thoughts were how smashing Eccles Cakes are, and wondering whether they would be appropriate for packing into soldier's ration packs, perhaps even replacing the oatmeal block. By the end of the story I was almost in tears though as the couple relived their darkest tea-deprived moments. One can only imagine the sheer pluck required to get through the ordeal.
Cheers,
Paul |
Nicey replies: What an inspiring tale of pensioners forced to eat Eccles cakes to survive. I hope they don't tend get them from Greggs bakers as it might not turn out so well next time, in view of their recent decision to withdraw Eccles cakes from sale. |
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A. Stevenson |
Biscuits or cakes?
I asked a friend when we were discussing the contentious issue of the jaffa cake and she said that she thought oatcakes could f*ck off. I felt that this was a little harsh and asked other friends what they thought. None were kind to the oatcake. One even said that they were a pariah forced traverse the shopping aisles in their oaty doom. Another said that oatcakes were flapjack zombies.
Does anyone else like oatcakes? Am I alone?
Cake or biscuit?
A. Stevenson
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Nicey replies: Yes that was a bit uncalled for. Still the Oatcake can be quite confusing as it looks like a biscuit and is called a cake, but clearly is really some form of cracker. There are sound historical reasons for all of this, mostly to do with living in Scotland a very long time ago. Still I like oatcakes but tend to munch them with some nice grapes and some tasty cheese and a nice glass of wine. Once again this is plainly not their original intended purpose.
So in summary, Cake or Biscuit?, no Cracker. |
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Alison Debenham
Caxton Pink'n'Whites Review |
Hello again Nicey and Staff
Yes, I saw the article about Eccles Cakes. Unfortunately, we have TWO of the said Greggs stores here in Sunny St Albans, on opposite sides of the main shopping street. They are the sort of cake/sandwich shop that my mother would have pronounced as "selling septic cakes" (she meant the sort filled with that rather nasty artificial cream). They are cheap and not very cheerful. They even sell something called "Tottenham cake", which as a Spurs family, interested us. I suppose it's to compete with Chelsea Buns, but since it's just a square of plain sponge with a lurid sickly pink icing, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the football club. When I asked a member of staff why they were so-called, they mumbled "dunno", so I'm none the wiser.
Maybe we should arrange a campaign to Save the Eccles Cake, starting right now!
Best wishes to all. Must go now, to put on the kettle for the Return Home from School Cup of Tea and Sit Down (with Caxtons Pink and White Wafers) of the younger daughter.
Alison |
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Rob Byatt |
Dear Nicey and Wifey,
We've just come back from a wet week in the lake district. One of the highlights of each day was popping into local establishments for teas or lunches. It was noted by us that on the menu in several of these places, as well as having a headed section for cakes, there were headed sections for tray-bakes which included such treats as tiffin, fruit flapjacks and caramel slices. Obviously this took on great significance to us, especially as we couldn't get out and about much due to the inclement weather and a particularly young new member of staff.
Maybe if the cult of the tray bake continues to rise, the old Venn diagram will have to be updated.
Keep up the good work,
Rob Byatt |
Nicey replies: Oh yes the old Venn diagram is very dated now. There is a splendid big new one in our book but I fear that its too late now to amend it with this new theory of slices. Still it proves that this is a vital and expanding field of knowledge. |
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