The new 'Rebecca's Riot' tea from the Pembrokeshire Tea Company has inspired us to make a similarly elegant cake to accompany it. The tea soaked sultanas keep the cake moist and tea makes the icing the colour of vintage oyster satin. Dried cornflower petals add interest (but not a lot of flavour)
So far it has been a pretty good summer, with our customers being able to enjoy the fantastic views from our quayside setting. Pembrokeshire Fish Week gave us the opportunity to try out some new dishes including a delicious seafood cawl with cockles, scallops and Welsh bacon, plus old favourites like our smoked mackerel pate, oak roast salmon with cucumber pickle & homemade soda bread and crab tart.
With Pembroke Festival and Seafair Haven at the weekend we have had the added spectacle of numerous boats sailing into the Castle Pond. There is a rich history of maritime trading in Pembroke and the Cornstore is an important part of that heritage. Beams from old sailing vessels were used in the construction of the building and remain highly visible.
Sometimes I make something that looks so good I don't want to sell it! Lovely crisp pastry shells filled with crème patisserie and topped with strawberries. Warmed redcurrant jelly gives a shiny finish and makes them look like something you might see in a smart Parisian bakery. They tasted pretty good too!
A seriously gorgeous cake, which is just as well considering the effort involved in extracting ONE coconut from it's husky exterior. If any of our customers were puzzled by the sight of me bashing a carrier bag with a rubber mallet on the steps outside, all is revealed! Once I'd pierced it, drained the milk out, cracked it, took the hard shell off, removed the brown skin and finally grated it - I was so exhausted I made the cake the day after! But I did have a lovely pile of moist fragrant coconut, a million miles away from the desiccated stuff.
We used this recipe from Delia Smith. The only alterations I made were to double the quantity of mascarpone in the frosting and omit the fromage frais, and I used more coconut to cover the cake than she suggests. Now where can I buy a ready prepared coconut.....?!
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Laura made these easter egg biscuits from the Popina Book of Baking and as you can see they are very close to the photo in the book. And that never happens! Dark chocolate biscuits, topped with white chocolate and jewel-like nuts and cranberries.
