The land of the long flat white

Flat White at Midnight Espresso

In the pursuit of great coffee I have searched far and wide and naturally that search should include New Zealand. The capital, Wellington, often referred to as the Capital of Cool was the first stop. It's widely reported that Wellington has more cafes per capita than New York and from what I found they are all excellent. Producing fine and fabulous Flat Whites, I was left buzzing for the whole stay. A truly Antipodean drink there is some dispute about which country actually invented the Flat White - was it Australia or New Zealand? My reading up on the subject could find no definitive answer, however, due to their virtual addiction of to the brew, lets settle on New Zealand for this post.

It is prepared by pouring microfoam  (steamed milk from the bottom of a pitcher) over a single or double shot of espresso. A quality cup is topped with a touch of barista art and comes in a small cup - so its not drowned by milk.

Midnight Espresso

If you want to sample the local Flat White in Wellington, head on down to Cuba Street a mix of pedestrianised shopping precinct and trendy cafes and a few bohemian shops. We were confidently recommended Midnight Espresso that's been around since 1989 and it didn't disappoint. It was strong, full bodied and bloody beautiful.

But it wasn't only Midnight Espresso that delivered the goods, every cafe we tried came up trumps. Fidel's Cafe (again on Cuba Street) was fab, Caffiend in Petone (up the road from Wellington) perked us up on a Sunday morning and the lovely Sugar Juice in Opunake (more to follow) was fab, we also loved Elixir in New Plymouth and indeed we never had a bad coffee in the week we were in the land of the long white cloud.

Breakfast at Kaffiend

If you google Flat White or New Zealand coffee there are lots of statistics to keep you occupied for an hour or so, the site I loved most was Kiwianarama - a sort of Kiwi Wikipedia - here's a link to check out: http://www.kiwianarama.co.nz/the-flat-white/

Ode to the ripped out recipe

Ripped out recipe - I love you so. But sadly can't remember where you came from. I adore this recipe for a Coffee Cake that is someone's Grandma's Coffee Cake. I can't attribute it as I have no idea where I ripped it out of. Even the magazine doesn't have a foot note or name on the bottom. It could be Woman and Home or Waitrose Magazine - but then again, I rip recipes out of all sorts of magazines, even when I'm not supposed to. So if anyone can recognise it. Here is is. It is truly spectacular and I highly recommend trying it. But I didn't want to retype or copy out as I have no idea where it came from.

Here is a picture of my version - authentically created and of course - DEVOURED. 

Converted

The advent of the internet is a wonderous thing. You can source recipes from around the world and are then faced with one conundrum - what does that ingredient, oven temperature or weight measurement convert to.

The most baffling I find are the older Australian Women's Weekly Recipe Books. For example - cook in a moderatley hot oven. Moderately hot according to who? Well it is actually translated in the back of the books - but why not simply say in the recipe? They have obviously responded and in the newer books they do state the actual oven temperature. For your information a moderately hot oven is 190-200 C - but then what does that covert to in a fan oven.?

It's a minefield!

So I found a fabulous link to save headaches and troubles. The BBC Good Food Covnersion chart and here's the link. http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/knowhow/conversion/

It will hopefully save a few minutes in the kitchen and a lot of confusion when baking.

Storm in a cupcake

Situated in the sweetest little shop that looks like it's out of a fairy tale or kids storybook is Storm in a Cupcake. Specialising in cupcakes (it's all in the name) it features themed and seasonal cupcakes to eat (what else would you do with them). I particularly like the Christmas cupcakes and the Candyman collection that sees vanilla cupcakes topped with fabulous retro sweets. X Factor, Paris Fashion Week and Universal Music are all said to be fans and I am sure you will be too. They offer a bespoke service or the ready to eat ranges. I like ready to eat - as they can be scoffed as soon as you see them - preferably in large quantities.


Storm in a Cupcake Bakery,
The Toll House, 42 Cremorne Rd,
Chelsea, London SW10 0PE

www.storminacupcake.com

Cake Boy strikes again

Master patissier Eric Lanlard, the star of Channel 4's Baking Mad, is bringing his Cake Boy boutique to GILT Cocktail Lounge at Jumeirah Carlton Tower from 14-15 December. GILT is a fabulous space on the ground floor of the hotel and suits this style of pop-up perfectly. The pop-up shop, open from 11am-4pm, will sell a range of treats including Christmas cupcakes, boxes of mini mince pies and Eric’s twist on the traditional Christmas cake. The celebrated pastry chef will be personally manning the Cake Boy pop-up on both days (so you get to meet him and he is lovely) and signing copies of his best-selling Home Bake and Tart It Up books. The “I Love Paris” afternoon tea (pictured here) costs £40 per person or £45 per person with a glass of champagne, excluding service charge. Bookings can be made via the Jumeirah Carlton Tower website.

www.cake-boy.com / @eric_lanlard
www.jumeirahcarltontower.com / @JumeirahCT

National Baking Week

Every week seems to be a national week for this and that. Most go by with a side ways glance - maybe a laugh or two. But National Baking Week - now that speaks volumes to me. And it is no accident that it's taking place in the week of all weeks - the final of the Great British Bake Off. I had Brendan down to be the winner. He was more technically consistent throughout the show, but the judges decision is final and who can argue with Mary and Paul.

So, National Baking Week - it runs 15th - 21st October and was established to encourage Britain to get baking. Now I don't think there is much trouble with that. Every where you look there's a new baking book, baking class or recipe in a magazine. But is it simply a case of food porn - you look but don't touch? What you really need to do is don the apron and get your hands in. I was working in an office the other day and most people claimed they were no good at baking. I was taken aback. Isn't everyone good at it? Perhaps they haven't tried lately. Or perhaps they haven't followed the recipe. That's all there is to it. It ain't hard - it just requires a little discipline. So in the spirit of National Baking Week. Get to it.