Crumbs to Crunch

I love the outdoors and watching natural history documentaries yet I had never heard of Gilbert White who is often dubbed as the father of ecology. I recently visited his house-turned-museum, in the idyllic village of Selborne in Hampshire where I learnt about this fascinating man. Gilbert White was a man with many hats - a curate, naturalist and author. His most famous work , The Natural History of Selborne, was published in 1789 and was the first English language book of its kind. In fact, it has never been out of print since. Gilbert White observed animals in the wild which was highly unusual at the time as most scientists dissected specimens in the comfort of their own study.  Through Gilbert's observations, he identified that what was thought of as one species of bird, was actually three separate species. Nowadays, you can visit the garden where Gilbert made all his important discoveries. The grounds were ever so tranquil and full of colour. They are so lovely t...

While baking is fun, it can sometimes be an expensive hobby. This was particularly a problem when I was a student so I came up with some nifty ways of saving my pennies. Shop smart Supermarket own brands of ingredients are often so much cheaper than the branded versions. I always use value flour which is always under £1 for 1.5kg and works just as well. You can also grab some bargains in budget supermarkets such as Lidl who have expanded their baking range in recent years. I even found some usually expensive ingredients like ground almonds in the pound shop. It does pay to shop around! Find cheaper ingredients You can often find ingredients at a reduced price if you look outside of the baking aisle. For example, chocolate and cocoa powder is usually cheaper if you pick them up in the confectionary or hot drinks aisle. Instead of chocolate chips, I like to buy an inexpensive bar of chocolate and chop it into chunks. It tastes better and is a fra...

I have spent many hours drooling over Cupcake Jemma's imaginative recipe videos on YouTube. My icing skills are not a patch on hers so I went to see how the professionals do it at her bakery, Crumbs & Doilies in London. Space unicorn cupcake I was not disappointed! Two bright cakes caught my eye, the space unicorn cake and the rainbow cake . Often multicoloured cakes are more style than substance but these enticing creations were delicious. The space unicorn had a wacky swirly icing with a melt-in-the-mouth chocolate sponge with chocoalte chips. The rainbow cake also had an excellent flavour. My favourite was the less visually stunning yet tasty Biscoff rocky road. This was a fun update on a normal rocky road by using white chocolate, marshmallow, Biscoff biscuit spread and biscuit chunks. The contrast between the silky smooth mixture with the crunchy biscuit was a dream. Rainbow cake Crumbs & Doilies is located in the quaint Kingly Court in Soho. The bake...

I have to confess that I don't like art much. Frankly, staring at paintings in galleries bores me. However, art suddenly became a lot more interesting when I found myself sporting a green hard hat and matching high vis to ascend 60 feet's worth of scaffolding to get a closer look at Britain's largest painted ceiling. This huge piece of art is at the Painted Hall in the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, London where Admiral Lord Nelson's body was laid in state in this grand hall after he died in the Battle of Trafalgar. The Painted Hall dates from the 18th century and is currently undergoing a huge conservation project. In order to raise funds, for a mere £10, I got to see the ceiling up close and learn about its fascinating history and the conservation process from an incredibly knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide. Wearing my hard hat, I felt like a modern day Indiana Jones, discovering tiny details that have never been ...

Several months ago, I watched the film, I, Daniel Blake and was horrified when one of the characters, a single mother, was skipping meals to ensure her children were fed. The family were referred to a foodbank  where they received emergency food but the mother was unable to access feminine hygiene products. This story really hit me because in a developed country like Great Britain, it is shocking that some women have to choose between eating and managing their period. Nobody should ever have to make that choice. This story reawakened my interest in foodbanks. I have been aware of their existence for several years, largely due to the excellent micro-play Britain Isn't Eating which I urge you to watch. Poverty doesn't just exist in distant lands shown on the news , it exists in my home country. In fact, thirteen million Britons live below the poverty line according to The Trussell Trust , the UK's network of foodbanks. People can find themselves in need of a food...

Why is it whenever someone opens a box of Jaffa Cakes, we have to have the old biscuit/cake debate? I assume this is just a fun British quirk that perplexes foreigners. However, I have discovered a Jaffa Cake in distinctive cake form at the wonderful Chapter One Books in Manchester's Northern Quarter. Chapter One is paradise as it combines my two loves, books and cake.  My Jaffa Cake was a wonder, a slice of delicate orange sponge with an orange curd centre and smothered in dark chocolate. There was also a lovely loose leaf tea collection. Unlike many bookshop cafés, the books and food are not separated but are blended seamlessly together. There are books all over the walls, bookcases dotted around and books even take pride of place on a picnic bench by an indoor fountain! One of my favourite parts of this space is a corner dedicated to typewriters in various states of repair, perhaps to inspire budding writers. The jumble of books and curiosity items provides lots of...

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of World Book Day today, I am going to share my trusty baking cookbooks. Linda Collister's Baking Bible This was my first ever baking book and it is the one I use the most often. It truly is my baking bible! This book is a great all-rounder as it has recipes for every type of bake - biscuits, cakes, pies, tarts, desserts, bread, the list goes on! With so many types of baking in one book, I have learnt so many different baking techniques and is a great go-to book if I am looking for inspiration. The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook by Tarek Malouf This book is based on the cakes from the Hummingbird bakeries in London so you can recreate them at home. Hummingbird specialises in great cupcake flavours that are so easy to make so I tend to use this book if I need to bake something en masse, such as for a cake sale. However, they don't just do cupcakes but also American-style pies, brownies and cookies. The carrot cake recipe is...