There’s still time to grab some Christmas gifts and I’m going to recommend two – a yummy cake and a useful cookbook.

Let’s talk edible gifts first. Rum cake or Black cake as it’s more commonly known in the Caribbean, is an essential part of Christmas but plenty people don’t have time or the skills to make their own.

And it’s not that they need a big cake, they just need enough to satisfy that ‘taste of home’.
Enter Paradise Estates Caribbean Rum Cake from the folks at Sunrise Bakery in Birmingham. When they contacted me to ask if I’d do an honest review of their cake I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was impressed by the cake they sent me.
The rum cake has enough booze in to set your juices flowing, it’s moist, fruity and quite light.

I think it’ll be a perfect gift for the seasoned Caribbean cake lovers and an ideal intro for the folks who’ve never tried Caribbean rum cake.

At £5.99 for a 4-inch diameter cake, it’s good value and attractive gift option. For more details about the Paradise Estates Caribbean Rum Cake, head to the website: www.paradise-estates.co.uk.

 

Short and Sweet 

 

If you’re looking for a gift for the person who’s may want to bake their cakes, then Short and Sweet by Dan Lepard is a great gift.

Dan is no stranger to this blog as I’ve been a fan for several years. In fact, one of the recipes we cooked together; Lentil stuffed flatbreads; made it into Short and Sweet, but that’s not why I’m recommending the book.

It’s perfect for the novice baker who will find forthright statements like ‘Supermarket own-label strong white flour is very good, and spending more doesn’t always mean you’ll get better flour. To be honest, I go cheap when I buy strong white flour, then spend a bit more on the other sorts like rye and wholemeal.”

Dan is aware that not everyone has loads of money to spend and so his recipes don’t call for a heap of exotic and expensive ingredients.

Plus, his easy, conversational style makes it seem like he’s in the kitchen guiding you along. I particularly like how the book is organised. He starts with bread, runs the spectrum of sweet stuff from cakes to sweeties and ends with Supper which has a great range of savoury pastry recipes.
Short and Sweet is the gift that will keep giving. This is a cookbook that will become a staple in many kitchens, because it is just so versatile.

 

 

 

This entry was posted on Friday, December 16th, 2011 at 10:00 and is filed under Food Matters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.