Gingerbread loaf with salted caramel glaze

A few weeks ago I attended the newly revamped Sneinton Urban Food Market and FINALLY got to meet (and sample) some of the lovely sauces from The Sauce Shop!

The Sauce Shop is a business run by the 'food passionate' Pam and James who make natural sauces from their home in Nottingham. A true local food business if I ever saw one! Pam is working hard to rejuvenate the Urban Food market scene in Nottingham and as The Phat Doughnut Co were also there, how could I resist attending?!

I managed to bag a couple of jars of their Salted Caramel and Peanut Butter Sauce and I have to say - I'm smitten. I've already used half a jar of the Salted Caramel Sauce and it won't be long before I need to stock up again...

3 things you're gonna love!

I love searching out new and interesting things. Since moving to Nottingham 14yrs ago, I've become a real City gal and luckily for me we have so many fab things to see and do locally that I never need to venture far away from home!

Living near the big city also means I can search out products relatively easily rather than having to resort to buying online so I've decided to start a little series to share with you a few things that I just know you're gonna love!


First up is Coconut Oil. You may have noticed that this stuff is everywhere nowadays - and for good reason! I discovered Coconut Oil at Holland and Barrett and was hooked immediately. It comes in a hard form in a jar but softens relatively quickly in the palm of your hands. I use mine for cooking, as a hair mask, for removing makeup, as a lip balm...the list is endless and Pinterest is a great source of inspiration for even more uses. I now use Lucy Bee Coconut Oil and I've never looked back.

Dairy Free Chocolate Easter Cake

Leading a dairy free lifestyle is sometimes trickier than it seems, I mean it's pretty easy to spot 'milk' as an allergy on most ingredients lists/menus but sometimes I get complacent and things I ASSUME would be dairy free, often lead me into the most trouble!

This past weekend I have been working away in London. This generally means eating food from a standard pub style eatery and I'm pretty good at navigating a menu; steak and chips = GOOD, pasta carbonara = BAD.

But the first night of my stay I had a hotdog which was free from dairy, and it was delicious! On the 3rd night, I decided to finish off my stay with the same yummy meal only to end up in agony hours later. The onions were cooked on the 2nd meal (thay were chopped up raw 1st time around) so I can only assume they were fried in some butter or margerine. 2 days after that meal I'm still nursing a very sensitive digestive system but after spending 3 days at a cake show, all I can dream of is sugar!

Pink buttercream filled mini egg cookies!

There isn't much in life that can't be improved with pink buttercream. Even now I'm making it with Vitalite (as a dairy free alternative to butter) it still has the ability to cheer me up whilst I scoff down a spoonful between meals.

These cookies don't really variate from my standard cookie recipe except they include MINI EGGS! 

Yes, 'tis the season of egg shaped chocolate and now Hotel Chocolat have launched a milk free milk chocolate egg - I too can look forward to a creamy milk chocolate filled Easter.

Dairy Intolerance and me

2015 hasn't brought me quite the future it promised (hoverboards anyone?) but nevertheless, it's been action packed so far so I'm not complaining!

Last month, I had high hopes of posting lots of yummy Christmas recipes and sharing all my seasonal filled bakes with you, but then things changed and I find myself in the midst of a food crisis. You see, I've recently found out I'm Dairy Intolerant. For anyone with an allergy or intolerance, this can be troublesome. But for a butter loving baker, I'm taking it pretty hard.

Too early to feel festive?

I'm not entirely sure what's happened this year but everyone I know seems to be getting into the Christmas spirit really early. I blame all the amazing festive advertising campaigns (which all make me cry btw).

I ADORE Christmas. It was my Mum's favourite holiday and unfortunately she passed away a few weeks before Christmas in 2004, so the season remained full of heartache for me until a few years back when I decided that I no longer wanted to wallow but I'd rather instill that festive spirit in my boys!

Times are a changing...

Summer seems to have disappeared in a flash but I adore the autumnal days that are started to creep in. It's no secret that this is my favourite time of year and I can't wait to whip up some pumpkin spice to add to just about EVERYTHING I'm baking!

But baking has taken a bit of a back seat recently as life has been so hectic of late, so all of my baking has been firmly reserved for the bakery as my wedding cake season extended into September and October this year.

Delicious roasted vegetable soup

Do not adjust your screens. I'm about to post a savoury food recipe with VEGETABLES IN IT AND EVERYTHING.

The last few weeks in my household have mostly consisted of picnic style food, desserts and wine (well, wine on my part anyway). The recent heatwave we had in the UK might seem like a distant memory, but couple that with my week away in glorious Hunstanton and August makes has made for a very 'weighty' month...