Border Biscuits - Final 6!

by Kirsty @ Bake Good Posted on August 19, 2013

About a month ago I entered a competition to create a new biscuit for Border Biscuits, a UK company based in Lanark. After some deliberation I went for these chocolate, fudge and peanut cookies, which I made a while back for a friends birthday. These cookies were a bit of an achievement, I was pretty proud of the flavour combination I’d put together, they really did taste good, but I didn’t expect anything from entering.

Two weeks ago I received an email from Border Biscuits telling me that I was one of the top six entries and would go forward to be judged by their expert panel! How exciting!!

The prize is that Border Biscuits will bake your recipe which will then be sold is Tesco throughout the next year, plus a place on a baking course and £2000 (which I’ve not-so-secretly made plans for already, over excited much?)!

Next week they are holding a photoshoot for the final six at their factory, which I’m really looking forward to, fingers crossed for some free samples of the chocolate gingers - my favourite biscuit ever!

As I mentioned the winner is going to be decided by a panel of judges, a Tesco representative, the Border team and James Morton, my favourite from the Great British Bake Off last year, but you can vote for my entry on their Facebook page if you would like to you show some much appreciated support.

All the other biscuits looks really good, so I know I’m up against tough competition but I can still hope. Fingers crossed everyone!!

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Honey Oat Cookies with Coffee Buttercream & Chain Bridge Honey Farm

by Kirsty @ Bake Good Posted on August 17, 2013

Bees are quite amazing, aren’t they? They’re just buzzing around, collecting pollen and turning it in to honey like it’s nothing, but it’s really something. Honey is one of my favourite toast accompaniments, my favourite being set honey - I love the slight grainy texture and softer flavour.

Last weekend I went to visit a friend who has just moved to Berwick-upon-Tweed. As she’s new to the area we did a little exploring in the beautiful nearby countryside and came across the Chain Bridge Honey Farm, complete with shop, visitors centre and a cafe on a double decker.

The farm sits on the River Tweed which marks the border between Scotland and England, a short walk away is the Union Chain Bridge, named because it connects the two nations and was built, in 1820, using Welsh steel. It’s a really pretty spot and you can have some fun being in Scotland with one step and England the next!


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Mid-week Moment

by Kirsty @ Bake Good Posted on August 14, 2013

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1. I was about 5 minutes in to my new favourite Food Network show ‘Recipes that Rock’ when I decided I was in love with co-host chef Matt Stone. Aussie, tattoo’s, lip-ring, cute hair and makes delicious food. Prefect man anyone?

2. Sunsets in Berwick-upon-Tweed. No filter/effects are on this picture.

3. Rafa! 25th Master 100 title. Unbelievable.

4. I adore Lea Michele. Her speech about Cory Monteith at the TCA’s must have taken a lot of guts and she delivered it with poise and grace.

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread

by Kirsty @ Bake Good Posted on August 13, 2013

Way back (well, not really that far back) at the start of July I put together the beginnings of a ‘Summer Bucket List’ and now that we’re heading towards the middle of August and the end of summer it occurred to me that I better check up on my progress as time is running out.

The results are in…

  1. Start using the skipping rope I bought on a whim about a month ago. Well, I did this once following the production of this list, so technically…
  2. Make gooseberry jam. Check! See it here.
  3. Have a barbecue at the beach. Yes! I even swam in the loch.
  4. Finish the band t-shirt patchwork quilt I started a year ago – probably more a winter task but it’s been sitting under my bed for so long I can’t take it any more, and there will be rainy summer days to fill. Seriously, who was I kidding??
  5. Bake rye bread. Done and done.
  6. Make some life decisions…y’know, nothing major. Although I have major work to do I’m checking this one off because I’m getting there.

Ok, so 5 out of 6, although I’m cheating a little on a couple. Not bad progress really.

There were also a few surprises, such as having an article in my home town newspaper and something else that happened today that I’m super excited about and can hopefully share soon!

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Peach Grapefruit Pancakes

by Kirsty @ Bake Good Posted on August 10, 2013

Happy weekend! I’m hoping everyone has lovely things planned this weekend and intends to have fun and eat well. For me, weekend food is all about breakfast, or brunch, because it’s the weekend and if you feel lazy about getting up and cooking that’s perfectly ok. Breakfast is without doubt my favourite meal. I would gladly eat breakfast fare morning, noon and night, savoury or sweet. Eggs, bacon, hash browns, French toast, maple syrup – it’s all good (although not necessarily all together!).

My go-to breakfast dish to make for friends is pancakes. Everybody likes them and you can easily adapt the flavours to suit what you have in your cupboards. There are a lot of variations of the basic recipe and I’m still trying to figure out which flour to use, what the perfect balance of wet to dry ingredients is or whether to use milk or buttermilk, but this recipe never fails me and produces tasty moist pancakes.

Mostly I stick to the classic combination of lemon and blueberry when making pancakes, but having just picked up some peaches I thought I would experiment with another fruit/citrus combination and paired it with grapefruit.

The peaches were super sweet so the bitter, scented flavour the grapefruit added was an excellent balance.

So go on and enjoy your weekend and bake pancakes for breakfast!
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