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 |
Alison Debenham |
Dear Nicey and other fellow cake bakers
I can't wait to try your lovely cake recipe, but in the meantime, can I save you some time and effort? My cake baking has been revolutionised by these wonderful cake tin liners - they take away the annoying time-wasting greasing and lining part of the procedure; and they also make the cakes look very professional and save on washing up! (there are other shapes available, such as for tea loaves and muffins/small cakes)
I'm sure you already know about Lakeland, but they're an excellent source of all things home-baking, preserving, tea-making, etc.
Best of luck with the cycle ride; I hope the weather's kind (we don't want the wind and/or rain extinguishing the flame from your stove mid-tea preparation, do we?) I look forward to your report of the expotition (as a certain small, rotund Bear who liked hunny used to call it)
Best wishes
Alison |
Nicey replies: Yes I have pondered over those on the odd occasion we find ourselves in the Lakeland in town.
As for the weather, the stove will be fine, I too will also be fine as I have invested in a lovely big yellow cycling cape as worn by the Dutch, and I am led to believe by Wifey, disowned husbands. |
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Mike Amberry |
Hello Nicey,
You must have seen it already, but just in case you haven't there's a new advert out where a team of bakers build a replica Skoda out of cake. It's a work of genius and, of course, it's **already on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwswkJZEdS4**
Might be worth a mention on the site?
Wassail,
MIKE. |
Nicey replies: Yes we enjoyed it too, I liked the bonnet, engine, lights and the most of the rest of it. For a moment I had to remind myself that this was not one of my fanciful daydreams but really was on the the telly. |
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Steve Worrall
Jam Sandwich Creams Review |
Without wanting to re-ignite the Jaffa Cake/Buscuit debate, I was grazing through my confection cupboard the other day and randomly selected three items to nibble on with a nice cup of tea.
I switched on the telly, had a quick slurp of tea and proceeded to pick up one of my nibbles.
It was with much amusement that I realised that all three items I had selected, whilst being entirely different products, were all based on the same basic fillings, to wit, raspberry jam and butter cream.
The items i had chosen were (in no particular order),
Fox's Jammy Dodger
Mr Kiplings Viennese Whirl
Morrisons Brand Butterfly Cake
This set me thinking. The Jammy Dodger is definately a buscuit and the Butterfly Cake is certainly a cake, but there seems to be a grey area, a sort of transition zone, in which the Viennese Whirl sits, being a sort of hybrid Buscuit come Cake.
After a period of reflection I related this to my wife, Tracy, who informed me that the Viennese Whirl was neither cake nor buscuit but a pastry and that I was stupid.
Does anyone have any comments on the above?
Steve Worrall |
Nicey replies: Right a great deal to get through here. First off that's a Jam Cream Sandwich which Fox's are building there, a Jammie Dodger is not only different not having cream, but is a built solely by Burtons. Its a bit like calling your Dyson Vacuum cleaner a Hoover. Sorry for the pedantic bit there but I would be remiss if I didn't wade in.
Any how the Mr Kipling Viennese whirl is avery undervalued thing, and in a great many European countries would get away with calling itself what ever it fancied. Cake or biscuit they wouldn't really care. However in the UK it would have to be a cake, and not just beacuse as we all know, Mr Kipling makes exceedingly good ones, and he made these, but also because I don't think it can be classed as a pastry as it has raising in it. If it was a pastry I would probably just join a circle straight to cakes in the mighty NCOTAASD Venn Diagram of such things which is always open for a bit of a fiddling with. |
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Keith O'Kane |
Dear Nicey and the Wife,
Further to my recent e-mail on the subject of Tifin, I have made further enquiries and found the definition on Wikipedia to be much more helpful than my own dictionary,giving a full account of all of the various uses of the word.
Regarding Tiffin the cake (and I use the classification loosely), my colleagues and I decided to embark on a quest to find the finest example of the breed. Samples from Waitrose, Tesco, Bon Viveur and a home made version were offered for comment and the general consensus seemed to be that the Waitrose version was slightly superior to the others.
The best comment came form Vicki who said, on the subject of classification, "It's trying to be a brownie, but someone's shoved a cherry up it". This sums up the whole Tiffin experience very nicely and has led me to conclude that cheries are an essential ingredient in distinguishing between Tiffin and "Chocolate Refrigerator Cake", the latter being the closest thing to Tiffin I could find at M&S.
Interest in the subject is running high in the office, so it was decided that we should have a Tiffin "bake-off" next week to find the best Tiffin recipe.
There wil be 6 entrants and a judging pannel consisting of the more noteable cake / biscuit eaters in the department.
The contest has been scheduled for 11:00 in an attempt to revive the fine old tradition of "elevenses".
I will endeavour to send you some pictures of the winning entry after the event.
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Nicey replies: Your cause is a noble and just one. |
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Steve Norris |
Hi Nicey and Wifey,
Long time drinker/muncher/dunker, first time typer.
Just thought I'd send this tremendous picture of the 'Welcome Tray' I received when visiting the Isle of Arran in 2005. Can't remember the name of the B&B where I experienced my tray of glittering delights, but I know it was up a steep road in the Whiting Bay area. Two nights B&B for £46, with everyone's granny as the proprietor, producing her own home made tea and biscuits, cake daily.
How I long for a return visit to the wild, inhospitable landscape again soon.
With all hearty wishes,
Steve Norris (no, not that one...)
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Nicey replies: Steve,
That's really terrific, almost good enough to take your mind off the clouds of blood sucking midges. |
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