Jubilee Weekend

This weekend is an extra long Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK to celebrate the Queens diamond jubilee..

Treated myself to this lovely hand hooked heart from WoollyLakes
made with all upcycled materials

There are Union Jack flags, bunting and red, white and blue everywhere.. its quite lovely actually.  LOTS of people arranged street parties and garden parties - and in light of our recent change in the weather (it had been BEAutiful for the past two week) it looked like it would be fine for them.. in true British weather style though it turned!  We have had rain and winds for the last couple of days.. 'sods law'!  

This is my 3rd jubilee.. I remember the silver jubilee when I was 3 years old.. wearing a red, white and blue dress and waving my little flag as the Queen passed by in her golden carriage, I thought she was just like a queen in a fairy tale :) I can remember being very excited.  For the golden jubilee we went to a BBQ at a friends house.. but what to do this time?  

We planned a modest celebration.. and indoors luckily!  Yesterday my lovely nan came for dinner; free range beef & Yorkshire pudding.. very traditional fare.  Followed by jubilee cake :)  So the day of preparation and cooking was pleasantly passed in between watching the pageantry on TV, the Queen and a flotilla of more than 1000 boats travelling down the Thames in procession. Followed by an absolutely lovely evening :)  Nan says she remembers the weather on coronation day being much the same.

She'll tell me off for posting a photo with a napkin tucked in her top :)

Today is a chill out day.. and tomorrow we have Gary's family coming for an Italian meal (with a choice of either tiramisu or Eaton Mess for pudding - got to have something Brit in a jubilee celebration!)

Orange drizzle cake with fresh cream, strawberries and blueberries

I got this recipe from Tesco's free magazine..

Ingredients:

Cake

175g baking fat

175g self raising flour

175g caster sugar

3 medium eggs (I think you could poss. get away with 2 eggs)

1 level tsp baking powder

2tbsp milk

zest of 2 citrus fruits (I just used 1 big orange)

Drizzle

115g caster sugar

Juice of citrus fruit you used

Topping

300ml double or whipping cream

fresh berries

prep time 30 min

cooking time 45 min

1. Mix together; cooking fat, flour, eggs, sugar, milk, zest and baking powder.

2. Grease and line a 20cm square baking tin - pour in mixture.

3. Bake in preheated oven at 180'C / gas mark 4 for 45 minutes until cooked.

4. For the syrup.  Dissolve sugar in juice over a low heat.

5. While cake is still warm, drizzle over the top.

6. When cooled, halve the cake and sandwich together with half the cream.

7. Decorate with remaining cream and fresh berries.

This was a not-too-sweet cake with a subtle orangey flavour (poss 'cos I only used one orange?!)  

For anybody here in the UK still to have a street party - hope it stays dry for you!

xoxo