Pan fried tofu and veg stir fry

When I order tofu in restaurants, it's so great. But when I cook it myself, it seems to end up a funny texture. All this changed with this amazing tofu and veggie stir fry recipe!

I was looking for a way to get super crispy tofu, and came across this guide. If you don't have cornflour to coat the tofu, you can just use plain flour.

Pan fried tofu and veg stir fry - inspired by Budget Bytes

Super fruity banana bread

It's officially getting colder, darker and wetter, and I for one am feeling the autumnal blues. What better way to remedy this than by cooking (and eating) a massive loaf of banana bread? This recipe includes lots of yummy cherries, raisins and walnuts too, so it feels even healthier.

My recipe book says you should serve it buttered, but I find that idea a bit weird. Personally I enjoy a big slab of it with a cup of tea.

Super fruity banana bread - recipe from Katie Stewart's Times Cookery Book

Cherry and olive oil clafoutis

I must confess that I had no idea what a clafoutis was until my mum thrust this recipe in my hand. It's basically a pancake mixture poured on top of cherries, and was quite tasty when served with custard.

The recipe was part of a series of ideas for things to make on holiday, so doesn't require any particularly fancy ingredients. Why not give it a try and imagine you're still away in the sun?

Cherry and olive oil clafoutis - recipe from The Guardian

Date crunchie

Pretty much ever since I've known Bella, I feel like I've told her about this amazing creation. Despite this she's never actually tried it, so I decided to make it again this weekend.

It's basically a flapjack with dates in the middle, it's simple yet delicious. Serve it warm with custard for a filling dessert, or have cold with a cup of tea. The possibilities are endless!

This is an old family recipe so I've converted the measurements from ounces.

Date crunchie

Raspberry and almond muffins

Can't believe I'm actually posting a baking recipe that doesn't include chocolate... who am I?! (Though I can definitely find a way to incorporate chocolate into these!)

Raspberry and almond muffins

Frozen chocolate banana bites

I've been pretty busy over the past few weeks with trips to Bristol and Devon so there hasn't been much time for cooking... added to long days at work involving a lot of writing, sometimes the last thing I want to do is come home and write more! Anyway, I missed blogging and I'm back with the laziest "recipe" EVER.

This is not the neatest or most photogenic recipe but its quick and relatively healthy. I have a constant struggle with being addicted to chocolate and ice cream but wanting to be healthy, so I think this recipe is strikes a sort of balance.

Frozen chocolate banana bites:

When life gives you lemons... make lemon drizzle cake

If a bank holiday weekend doesn't give you enough of an excuse to bake, then when does? I was inspired to make a lemon drizzle cake after discovering 5 lonely lemons in the fridge. Perfect with a cup of tea, this is so ridiculously easy to make!

Brownies part 2 - Cheesecake brownies

To celebrate the return of our friend Martha (and also our return to this blog) we made these cheesecake brownies together. The cheesecake mixture was a bit watery so we couldn't expertly layer it, but overall they tasted good and went down a treat.

Chocolate avocado cookies

I could make you guess the secret ingredient... but I already wrote it in the title.

After a short absence (mainly due to me being busy/lazy in the evenings and weekends after writing all day, every day at work), I am back with another of my "pretend they're healthy because they have 1 healthy ingredient and that obviously cancels out all the unhealthy stuff" recipes.

Despite the sugar and chocolate in these, I guess they could be classed as relatively healthy as they contain an actual fruit(?) and no butter! As with many other bakes which involve a fruit or vegetable in an attempt to add some extra vitamins, this actually has the added benefit of making them super moist and soft.

The search for the best ever brownies - do they exist? Can we bake them? Part 1

I'm entitling this post 'Part 1' because I am 99% sure that Bella and I will return to brownies at some point on this blog. They are a food close to our hearts. I've made a lot of brownies in my time, while I was at uni I had a habit of vastly under cooking them so they tasted slightly eggy and frightened my housemate, but now I'm trying to be a more mature baker.

This is a foolproof recipe from our good friends at the BBC.

This was taken at work, nice change of scene for you.

Coffee and walnut cake

With the days feeling blissfully longer, I suddenly felt like I needed a hit of coffee and sugar so I baked this cake one evening after work. I apologise in advance for the poor selection of pictures, this was a quick bake, but I trust your baking prowess now. Once again, it's super easy and produces great results, hats off to the BBC.

Potentially not its best angle.

Double chocolate coffee cookies

This is a recipe I adapted from a basic cookie recipe. I wanted these to be the type of cookies that are super soft and melty. The coffee flavour is subtle and enhances the richness of the chocolate but not overpowering, so I think people who aren't coffee fans would still enjoy these.

Healthy orange drizzle bars

I came across this super simple recipe when browsing blogs to find something relatively healthy to bake. Usually when trying new recipes with ingredients I don't usually use they never come out as good as I was hoping, so I was really surprised at how well this recipe turned out. The ground almonds give the cake a great texture, and the chia seeds provide a bit more added nutrition (though if they're not something you usually have in the house I'm sure you could leave them out).

Chocolate chip banana bread

This is another of my go-to recipes. I made this a couple of weeks ago when we had a sprinkling of snow outside, and a couple of overly squishy bananas which needed using up.

Cheese and parsley scones

Having spent years preferring sweet to savoury, recently both Bella and I have developed stronger cravings for the latter. As a result I made these delicious cheese scones. They are probably not the best if you're trying to be healthy because they contain approximately a block of cheese, but they are really good.

Pro tip: use the strongest cheddar cheese you can afford, it makes the taste so much better.

Cheese and parsley scones - adapted from The Guardian

Sweet potato veggie sausage rolls

Part 2 of the veggie sausage roll-off. This is a recipe I created myself as it's so difficult to find a good veggie sausage roll recipe. It's mostly simple ingredients and you don't have to make any pastry. I make these every Christmas for when family come round, however they work well all year round and are really good for packed lunches.

Veggie sausage and apple rolls

For some people it's bacon or roast chicken, but for me one of the few things that I really miss from my meat eating days is sausage rolls. I first made these in December and they were so successful that my family asked me to make another batch.

They are simple to make, if a little frustrating at points (but that might be my fault because I am quite impatient).

Valentine's jam tarts

Whether or not you're sharing this Valentine's day with a significant other, there's always time to enjoy a good bake. I like the slightly tragic aspect of the finished product, I think it reflects the pressure and ultimate failure to conform on this commercial 'holiday' (is it even a holiday? I still had to go to work today.)

This is a foolproof family recipe, originally in ounces so have provided rough conversions too!

Bella's first bake: Chocolate chip oat cookies

This is one of my favourite go-to recipes, as you can probably tell from the grimy state of the recipe page.

I love these because you can basically pretend they are healthy as they have oats in. I often eat them for breakfast which is definitely not healthy but I just tell myself they're basically porridge, right?

Alice's first bake: Tea soaked fruit cake

After three years living in Paris, I thought it would only be fitting to attempt a French-themed bake for my first post on this blog. Unfortunately this plan altered when my mother thrust a National Trust recipe into my hand this morning. Oh well, I thought, France can wait another week. After all, we'll always have Paris. 


I present to you a 'tea soaked fruit cake' (for original recipe click here). Before baking, I was under the impression that any cake could become a tea cake when accompanied with said beverage, but it appears I was mistaken.

Ingredients. You can just spot the tea bags infusing the fruit.