What Does Love Mean To You?

Did you see my Choco-Coconut Rum Banoffee pie in this year’s Great Bloggers’ Bake Off? We are waiting now to find out the results of the Bake Off.

But after all of the baking posts had been published last night, there was something amazing to round off the weekend – an enormous patchwork of collaborations from over a hundred people who were asked the question in the title of this post.

If you want to read one thing that is going to lift your heart today…read this post, published by Caramel:

https://crushedcaramel.wordpress.com/2021/08/23/the-great-bloggers-patchwork-of-love/

THE GREAT BLOGGERS’ PATCHWORK OF LOVE

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Ride Into The Danger Zone

I am loving the theme Jim has picked for today’s Song Lyric Sunday and the songs that have already been picked by other bloggers.

But I am going for an obvious choice. The first word in Jim’s theme is “danger”. It has to be Kenny Loggins “Highway To The Danger Zone”, a song I love.

On a serious note, we’ve been watching the news all morning, and literally, my gut is gripped with terror on behalf of people in Kabul. I don’t think this can possibly turn out to be a pretty situation. Right now, there is a lot of talk about a peaceful transition of power. Really?

Maybe it’s because of all the prophecies about religion, politics, a false cry of peace, a greater tribulation than has ever been seen before that the hairs are standing up on the back of my neck. I know that the end result will be an end to all the terrible things that happen in this world, and a new start for mankind and this earth – but I am terrified for people who are suffer because of the turbulence in this current state of affairs.

War, violence, you would have thought that by now mankind would have learnt their lesson. I can’t remember feeling this kind of fear inside for the sake of millions of people I have never even met before.

I’m gonna stop there, because it is stressing me out just thinking about it all. I’m so glad for my family and the good things in the world, the good people in the world.

Anyway…here is the song I picked…”Highway To The Danger Zone”.

Credits: Giorgio Moroder and Thomas Ross Whitlock

Revvin' up your engine
Listen to her howlin' roar
Metal under tension
Beggin' you to touch and go

Highway to the danger zone
Ride into the danger zone

Headin' into twilight
Spreadin' out her wings tonight
She got you jumpin' off the deck
And shovin' into overdrive

Highway to the danger zone
I'll take you
Right into the danger zone

They never say "Hello" to you
Until you get it on the red-line overload
You'll never know what you can do
Until you get it up as high as you can go

Out along the edge
Is always where I burn to be
The further on the edge
The hotter the intensity

Highway to the danger zone
I'm gonna take you
Right into the danger zone
Highway to the danger zone
Ride into the danger zone

Highway to the danger zone
I'm gonna take you
Right into the danger zone
Highway to the danger zone
Ride into the danger zone

Highway to the danger zone
I'm gonna take you
Right into the danger zone
Highway to the danger zone
Ride into the danger zone

Highway to the danger zone
I'm gonna take you
Right into the danger zone

Crème De La Crème

If you read my previous posts….

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BASE

IT’S WHAT’S ON THE INSUDE THAT COUNTS

…then you will know that this weekend was dominated by one event – the family team effort into creating a winning entry for The 2021 Great Bloggers’ Bake Off. It was an epic event, full of drama, but we came up with a champion submission.

Are you ready for Part Three of the saga? The part with all the drama!

The recipe – the recipe that almost floored us – is on the BBC website:

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chocolate-coconut-banoffee-pie

Our next task was to make the coconut cream. We put the tin of coconut milk into a little milk man and heated it to almost a simmer.

We then whisked together the egg yolks, caster sugar, the plain flour and the cornflour. Next we poured the hot coconut milk over while whisking continuously.

After the whisking, we tipped the mixture back into the pan and warmed it gently, until it had thickened and was smooth and glossy. The we turned off the heat and added the Malibu. We allowed the coconut and rum milk mix to cool with a sheet of cling film laid directly on the surface.

So, everything was going just fine up to this point. But then…..the next stage was a complete disaster:

When the coconut cream has gone cold, scrape into a bowl with the double cream and beat until just thick enough to hold a peak.

Now you tell me….how long does it take to beat cream until it is thick enough to hold a peak. Because my dear mum whisked that mix for almost an hour and it was still as runny as it started out.

It was only then that we started to read the comments that other people had left at the bottom of the recipe. My jaw dropped. Had we been hoodwinked? Totally hooked by the appealing photo at the top of the recipe, I had convinced my whole family to help me make this surely champion coco-choco banoffee pie for the BAKE OFF. But now….we were facing disaster.

So Mum told me to go to the local shops and buy some more double cream. I did exactly that. Mum whisked it up (and it was whipped up in less that a minute) along with the Malibu.

Then it was my honour to try to finish off by using a piping bag to create little splodges of cream on top (I think we could have just have spooned it on and spread it out, but I wanted to make the effort) and a dusting of cocoa power.

After the almost coconut cream disaster, we had come up with a solution – and it was worth it!! This was amazing. The best dessert we have had all year.

This is entry for The 2021 Great Bloggers’ Bake Off. If you would like to take part, send your baking photos to:

crushedcaramel@gmail.com

Click the image below to find out more from Caramel’s site:

It’s What’s On The Inside That Counts

If you read my previous post….

https://jakeinthecity.wordpress.com/2021/08/08/its-all-about-the-base/

…then you will know that this weekend was dominated by one event – the family team effort into creating a winning entry for The 2021 Great Bloggers’ Bake Off. It was an epic event, full of drama, but we came up with a champion submission.

Are you ready for Part Two of the saga?

The recipe – the recipe that almost floored us – is on the BBC website:

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chocolate-coconut-banoffee-pie

So now that the base was chilled, we were working on the filling of what was going to become the pièce de résistance of banoffee pies. In honour of the lovely Caramel who invited us to take part in The Great Bloggers’ Bake Off, we gently melted caramel and dark chocolate into an amazing chocolate caramel. Look at that shine!

At this stage we pulled the chilled coconut cream and bourbon biscuit crumb base out of the fridge, and inside we carefully placed a layer of sliced bananas. We used four bananas as the recipe said.

Ten over the top of the bananas we poured the chocolate caramel. Can you see how good this already looks?

So now we had a base and a filling, it went back into the fridge to chill again. The final hurdle, the one that would almost be our undoing was the coconut cream topping.

I will share Part Three of the Nyamake family baking experience in another post – that’s where all the drama took place.

In just over ten days time, Caramel, Gary and Jeanne are hosting The Great Bloggers’ Bake Off. If you would like to take part, send your baking photos to:

crushedcaramel@gmail.com

Click the image below and it will take you over to Caramel’s website where you can read more about the event.

It’s All About The Base

This weekend was dominated by one event – the family team effort into creating a winning entry for The 2021 Great Bloggers’ Bake Off. It was an epic event, full of drama, but we came up with a champion submission.

Over the next three days, I am going to share with you the details of how trusting a bizarrely wrong recipe almost cost us a winning dessert, but how we overcame all odds to produce a work of genius.

The recipe – the recipe that almost floored us – is on the BBC website:

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chocolate-coconut-banoffee-pie

So as the recipe told us, we started to prepare the base. The first step was gently melting the 200g bar of Bart creamed coconut in a pan, stirring constantly until it is smooth and glossy. My little brother took on this task.

Meanwhile, I tried to load 400g of bourbon biscuits into the food processor and then realized that was not a good idea. So I took out half of them, blitzed the remainder, and then added the rest gradually.

The result was fine chocolate crumbs that we added to the now melty creamed coconut. We mixed it all up, and then spread it into a fluted pie tin.

I love how the recipe says this:

Press over the base and up the sides of a 22cm round loose-bottomed fluted tin. Chill.

It’s not just me who uses “chill” as a whole sentence. So chill we did….and at the same time we stuck the base into the fridge while we were having a brew.

If you look at the comments other people have left on the BBC webpage with the recipe we were following, you might notice some said that the base was too thick. My mum disagrees with that. She said having a thick base made it easy to transfer out of the tin onto a plate. So you can make it thin if you like, but good luck to you trying to get it onto your fancy cake stand!

So the base was now in the bag (or in the fridge) but there was more to come. Tomorrow I am going to tell you what happened next in the Nyamake family baking adventure.

In two weeks time, Caramel, Gary and Jeanne are hosting The 2021 Great Bloggers’ Bake Off Festival Of Love. Love is the theme. Do you have any baking photos you can send in to Caramel? Click the image below and it will take you to Caramel’s site where you can read more about the Bake Off:

Can You Guess?

After work yesterday, I went shopping to pick up some ingredients we need (I’m not gonna do this on my own!) so that at the weekend, the Nyamake family team can create the winning entry for The 2021 Great Bloggers’ Bake-Off.

That’s right – move over baking boffs – we are going for gold, the Star Baker title belongs on this blog.

So here are the ingredients that we are going to use. Can you guess what we are going to make?

It is going to be amazing!

If you want to try to give us some competition, then take a look at Caramel’s posts advertising The 2021 Great Bloggers’ Bake-Off. Click the picture below and it will take you to Caramel’s website:

THE 2021 GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE OFF

Caramel is inviting us to bake something on the them of love this year and then to send her our photos:

crushedcaramel@gmail.com

Click on the image and it will take you to Caramel’s site so you can learn more about THE 2021 GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE OFF.

Would You Let Me See Beneath Your Beautiful?

Jim has picked a beautiful theme this week, and that means beautiful songs too. I knew i had to pick a song that gives me goosebumps. It is so personal…pleading for someone to open up and share their imperfections, the real them. It’s a profound song. But it is set on fire by Labrinth and Emeli Sandé .

The song is called “Beneath Your Beautiful and was written by Mike Posner, Timothy McKenzie and Emeli Sandé.

You tell all the boys "No"
Makes you feel good, yeah
I know you're out of my league
But that won't scare me away, oh, no

You've carried on so long
You couldn't stop if you tried it
You've built your wall so high
That no one could climb it
But I'm gonna try

Would you let me see beneath your beautiful?
Would you let me see beneath your perfect?
Take it off now, girl, take it off now, girl
I wanna see inside
Would you let me see beneath your beautiful tonight?

You let all the girls go
Makes you feel good, don't it?
Behind your Broadway show
I heard a boy say, "Please, don't hurt me"

You've carried on so long
You couldn't stop if you tried it
You've built your wall so high
That no one could climb it
But I'm gonna try

Would you let me see beneath your beautiful?
Would you let me see beneath your perfect?
Take it off now, boy, take it off now, boy
I wanna see inside
Would you let me see beneath your beautiful tonight, oh, tonight?

See beneath, see beneath
I...
Tonight
I...

I'm gonna climb on top your ivory tower
I'll hold your hand and then we'll jump right out
We'll be falling, falling but that's OK
'Cause I'll be right here
I just wanna know

Would you let me see beneath your beautiful?
Would you let me see beneath your perfect?
Take it off now, girl, take it off now, girl (take it off now, boy, take it off now, boy)
'Cause I wanna see inside
Would you let me see beneath your beautiful tonight, oh, oh, oh, tonight?
See beneath your beautiful, oh, tonight
We ain't perfect, we ain't perfect, no
Would you let me see beneath your beautiful tonight?