Crumbs to Crunch

Guest post by Read_and_dream In France there is a tradition come Epiphany to eat a galette des roi s, a "king cake", in which to commemorate the visit of the magi. Nowadays this is a lot more commercial than religious, just like Christmas presents and Easter eggs, and for the whole month of January, and well into February, the delicious almondy cakes are proudly displayed in every boulangerie , with a fève hidden inside.  Fève literally means "broad bean", but nowadays constitutes a little porcelain figurine, often a character from a recent film, or occasionally a religious figure.  The tradition goes that the youngest person present for the eating of the cake has to sit under the table and decide in which order the slices are distributed, in order to avoid cheating. The person who ends up with the fève becomes king or queen, gets to wear a paper crown, and supposedly order everyone around for the rest of the day. The galette is surprisingly easy to make (i...

One of the Crumbs to Crunch sisters was born in New Zealand, so we've always been quite proud of our connection to 'the motherland'. We love pretty much everything that the kiwis do. And so you can imagine our delight when we discovered Strawberry Fare in Wellington.  Strawberry Fare is a restaurant that specialises in desserts. Pages and pages of their menu are given over to desserts, so that the mains feel just like a starter before you get on to the real thing. When we went, we didn't even bother with savory. We had come to taste the sugary delights, so I jumped straight in there with the great New Zealand Pavlova. Invented in NZ, this dessert is quintessentially kiwi. However, Strawberry Fare decided to take the national pride up a notch by covering the whole thing with lots of fresh kiwis. The result was magnificent.   It was a challenge to finish it, but I loved every moment. Strawberry Fare is onto a winner- a great concept with great food. I just ...

At Crumbs to Crunch we often turn to baked goods when the weather is bad . So it was a stroke of luck that in the midst of freezing rain and hail we suddenly found ourselves in the cosy interior of the Swedish Church Café . Situated near Edgware Road, the Swedish Church is a bit of a hidden gem. Sure, there is the largest Swedish flag that I have ever seen hanging outside, but we had to buzz to get into the building, and the café itself is tucked away down some stairs and round a corner.  Once you're there, it really feels like you've been transported to Stockholm. The lovely café is filled with Swedish magazines, all the signs are in Swedish and all the staff speak Swedish. In fact, we were the only non-swedes there. It seems like the perfect place to hang out for the home-sick Swede (or just those who love Sweden! I've watched enough episodes of The Bridge to make me a big fan of Scandanavia. Even if there do seem to be a lot of murders there.....

It's very easy to get stuck in a tea rut - 2 cups of English Breakfast a day and perhaps a mug of Earl Grey if you're feeling fancy. However if your taste buds are craving adventure, get down to Chaiholics now! Chaiholics spacialise in Chai Latte and no they're not like the sickly sweet concoctions found in chains. As soon as I entered the café, I was struck by the exotic aroma as well as the fun Indian train station themed décor. I was immediately greeted by the friendly staff who were eager to help Chai novices such as myself. They have the whole range of Chai on display so customers can have a good old sniff to help them decide which Chai to choose. If this is not enough, there is also a guide on the wall stating the properties and health benefits of each flavour. As it was my first Chai,  I opted for a traditional Masala Chai which is Assam tea with cardamom, ginger, black pepper and cinnamon. I also chose Cardamom Chai which is supposed to help with ind...

As I was strolling through the cobbled streets of Quimper, I chanced upon the quaint  Les Macarons de Philomène . Never have I ever seen so many macaroons in my life. They were displayed beautifully and looked so inviting. As Oscar Wilde once said "I can resist anything except temptation", the same goes for me so I went straight in there! It was a difficult task picking which flavours to try. In the end I chose caramel, coffee, chocolate, raspberry and strawberry macaroons. I particularly enjoyed the the fruity flavours as they actually tasted like fruit instead of artificial flavourings. All the macaroons just melted in my mouth and I was in paradise! If you want to make your own Macaroons, don't forget to check out our  handy hints.

Who doesn't love Rocky Road? I came up with a chestnut version completely by accident. I couldn't find condensed milk in the supermarket so used chestnut spread (cr è me de marrons) instead. Thus a wonderful wintery Rocky Road was born.  Ingredients 200g milk chocolate 25g butter 5 tbsp chestnut spread (I've seen it in Waitrose but you can probably find it in other big supermarkets) 6 digestive biscuits 100g mini marshmallows or normal marshmallows cut into quarters icing sugar/salted caramel to decorate Method Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave at 20 second intervals so the chocolate does not burn. Mix the chestnut spread and melted chocolate together.  Break up the Digestives and add to the mixture. Stir in the marshmallows. Line a rectangular tin with baking parchment.  Spoon the rocky road mixture into the tin and leave to set in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight.  Once set, cut into squares and dust with ic...