Nothing gets you more excited about breakfast than eating a work of art!

Its true we eat with our eyes first so if the food in front of us looks amazing we are more likely to dig in with enjoyment.

These Acai bowls seem to be trending at the moment, my crew get them on occasion!

Todays Blueberry Acai Bowl was after a Bootcamp workout we had done, so we all enjoyed our  breakfast a little bit more having to work so hard for it!

 

You can decorate the tops or change up the fruit whichever way you wish, its all up to you!

 

These ones are super easy to make, I kinda just threw a few things in the blender! and hoped for the best!

 

1 Banana

1 cup frozen blueberries

2 tbsp Acai powder

1/2 cup almond milk

1 Tbsp Greek yogurt

1 tbsp chia seeds

 

Blend all of the above together, place in your bowl and top with fruit nuts and seeds of your choice.

enjoy!

Breakfast is served.

 

Cupcake. x

 

 

This recipe I was given by a very good  friend of mine.

I get asked over and over again for this cake as its just delicious!

Make sure that you soak the dates ahead of time.

I can highly recommend eating a slice of this while its still warm with a good cuppa!

 

enjoy.

Cupcake. xx

 

Lumberjack Cake Recipe – no idea where its originally from!

185grm dates pitted.

1tsp baking soda

125 grm butter

250grm castor sugar

1 egg lightly beaten

225grm (1 1\2 cup) plain flour

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 apples peeled and cored and finely diced.

 

Combine the dates baking soda and 1 cup of boiling water in a small bowl and leave to soak for 1 hr minimum.

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

gradually beat in the  egg, sift the flour with a pinch of salt and fold into mix with vanilla.

Mix in the date mix including the soaking water along with the apple and just fold until just mixed.

Spoon the mix into a 20cm lined springform tin, bake at 180’c for 40 mins then mix up the topping and lightly place on top, return to the oven and bake for a further 20mins.

 

Topping.

2/3 cup brown sugar

60grm butter

1 cup desiccated coconut

3 1/2 tsp milk

combine all these in a small pot and heat mixing until butter is melted and you have a paste like consistency.

the top will become golden and crunchy, enjoy while still warm!! 

This slice takes me back to my childhood, my Nana used to make this and also a version of this with raisins in that I loved!!!

One piece was never enough.

I now make this slice randomly for my crew.

The recipe I have has some from the back of a box of  Cadbury Bournville  Cocoa Powder years ago.

once you have made it you will see that you too can add in some extra bits if you wish, just not too many as it will dry out and not set otherwise.

 

 

Hope that you enjoy this delicious slice as much as I do.

 

Cupcake. xx

These are all shots from a recent weekend in Palma.

Where I gained so much inspiration from a lovely Chef that I have spent a few days with in the past.

Its amazing to work with someone for a day and just cook food and plate it different ways, bounce ideas, what you’d do, what they would do, what works what doesn’t work etc.

It really helps me to think of new ideas and look at things from a different angle, sometimes in life and and working on yachts as a sole chef you can get quite caught up in your vision of whats right and that seems to be the only way, when in fact there are some many other options!!

I came away from the weekend with new ideas, new places to shop, so much energy and inspiration for the season ahead.

everyday is a school day,

theres always more than one way to skin a cat if you will!!

cupcake. xx

My all time Fav Coffee spot in Cannes!

a small little italian restaurant on Rue Hoche.

BEST coffee in town without a doubt, i’m such a local now i can ride up on my trusty bicycle pebbles, take a seat and my cafe cream will arrive at the table with nothing more than a “bonjour!”

This colourful and delicious salad is super easy and so tasty!

Here I used some of the beautiful purple yellow and orange carrots that I found at the local market.

You will need:

2 Granny Smith apples

5 Orange carrots

3 Purple carrots

3 Yellow carrots

handful of roughly chopped parsley

half a handful of pumpkin/sunflower seeds

can of lentils rinsed and drained.

take all the carrots and the apples and slice to the size of matchsticks either carefully on a mandolin or by hand, or you can spirilize them also if you wish!

Place in a large bowl with the lentils, toss and season with salt and pepper add in the parsley and the seeds.

I dress this salad with a simple avocado oil, you can add sesame seeds and dress with a little sesame oil if you wish.

you can also throw in some cranberries/raisins depending on your flavour preference.

So many options for a delicious salad.

 

Hope you enjoy.

Cupcake.xx

 

here is a easy and tasty quick salad for lunches or dinners on a hot summer night.

 

What you’ll need:

1 Broccoli head, cut and steamed to al dente- still crunchy!

pumpkin seeds 1/4 cup

preserved ginger 3 pieces – only small

1 block Halloumi cheese, sliced and grilled.

once you  have cut and cooked these items up toss them gently in a bowl together seasoning with some salt and pepper, drizzle over some balsamic vinegar reduction.

you can also add some cherry tomatoes, quinoa puffs, whatever your heart desires.

I hope you enjoy.

 

Cupcake.xx

I’ve been asked for recipes lately….so figured it was time I got onto this and gave the blog some love and you some ideas to work with.

This simple raw pad Thai salad was born out of ideas of what to make when you have no power as the boat was in the shipyard and we were welding so the galley was isolated of any power source!

Hopefully I get this write… I don’t write recipes that often!

RAW PAD THAI SALAD.

3 capsicum – 1 of each colour. (bell peppers) sliced thin, like matchsticks.

2 courgettes/zucchini use a spirilizer make noodle ribbons with them.

3 Carrots sliced into matchsticks – I do this carefully with a Mandoline.

handful of roughly chopped corriander

handful of roughly chopped parsely

cherry tomatoes cut into 1/4’s any colour you have – 1/2 cup

raw peanuts- unsalted-  1/4 cup.

mung bean sprouts – generous handful – if you like them!

prep and toss all the raw vegetable goodness into a large bowl, dont  mix lightly.

season with salt and pepper.

For the Peanut Dressing.

4TBSP peanut butter- the crunchy kind.

3TBSP low sodium soy sauce

3-4 TBSP water depending on how thick you want your dressing.

mix together in a small bowl until you get what your after then dress you salad, toss one last time, serve and ENJOY!

 

 

 

 

You know when you just have one of  those weekends that make your heart smile and you just never want them to end! well I just had one of those…. in Paris! the city of LOVE!

Amazing food and foodie shops! I spent hours trawling the streets and aisles of shops for new t0ols and toys to create some exciting new ideas! Bagel trays and chocolate moulds etc!!!

It was a cool crisp weekend with -5 being rather hard to deal with but the sunshine and blue skies made it all ok.

I sat in the park ate pastries and drank coffees, just taking it all in.

On Saturday night I went to a small little restaurant near my hotel that is run by 2 young guys who are not chefs, but they are doing simple food  and doing it so well! The food is delicious the vibe was amazing! and the wine and beer selection was great for such a small place, some yummy french red wine and light Belgium beers!!

Nights like this spent with complete strangers who by the end of the night seem like long lost friends you’ve finally found again make me truly appreciate the amazing life that I have chosen to live.

We laughed and we joked…… mostly in English,  I got some of the French bits amongst themselves! I watched as they varnished tables, listened to the tales of there life in Paris we swapped travel stories and menu ideas,  we  talked of dreams and what we plan to do with our lives.

They say its the nights that you don’t plan where  you will  have the best times, well in this case it was so  very true, I left Paris with a HUGE smile on my face so happy that I went and explored and made new friends along the way.

I think this quote sums it up quite nicely.

“Fill your life with adventures, not things. Have stories to tell not stuff to show”

cupcake x

 

 

So Long Weekends or even Friday to Sunday night adventures are so much fun!!

 

Living in the south of france means its super easy to pop over to London or Barcelona for weekend getaways that make you feel amazing!!

 

I adore London and the amazing food and the vibe that comes with it.

Every time I go I visit Peter Gordons restaurant The Providores and Tapa Room, I did a stage here for a week prior to the Olympic games, Loved the place, the food the energy and just everything about the place.

The last time I went i also explored some new exciting places like LIMA which was probably some of the best Octopus i’ve eaten in my life!!

Seriously AMAZING! its a peruvian style restaurant that does it right!

next was a  place called Pidgin, also amazing run by one of the Masterchef contestants.

smaller place but again delicious food done very well.

Pachamama was the last call before the flight back to france, I love the style, no advertising, they work on word of mouth, this I like, the food was made with love, tapas style plates and the staff very so helpful in choosing dishes to make sure i enjoyed the experience and got to see the best of what they do!

London as always I love you and cant wait to return for the next weekend of eating!!!

until next time.

cupcake xx