If you have the time a visit Holkham on the north Norfolk coast it's well worth the outing. Pack a hearty picnic with some hot coffee in a flask and you can walk for hours over the vast dune systems which stretch for miles. With the windblown sands this is a living growing coastline unlike the coastline to the east which is eroding. Tall dune islands on the foreshore are a good vantage point but can change overnight after severe storms and is a reminder that the landscape is an ever changing environment where the sea and the sky do battle on a daily basis. A turmoil of wind and waves sweeps across the shore while visitors struggle to stand upright against a biting north sea breeze. If you get there at the right time you could even come face to face with the queen riding across the sands.
Store Cupboard Chocolate Orange Cake
A NIGELLA LAWSON CREATION
I love this recipe as I can always find all the ingredients in my larder. It's great eaten warm or cold and has been served many times at Camomile Cottage as a teatime treat for my guests.
I'm always being asked by guests for the recipe so here it is!
125g unsalted butter
100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
300g good, thin cut marmalade
150g caster sugar
pinch of salt
2 large eggs, beaten
150g self raising flour
You will also need:
20cm springform tin, buttered & floured
How to
1. Preheat the oven to 180c.
2. Put the butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan and put over a low heat to melt. When it’s nearly completely melted, stir in the chocolate. Leave for a moment to begin softening, then take the pan off the heat and stir with a wooden spoon until the butter and chocolate are smooth and melted.
3. Now add the marmalade, sugar, salt and eggs. Stir with your wooden spoon & when it’s all pretty well amalgamated, beat in the flour bit by bit.
4. Put into your prepared tin & bake for about 50 minutes or until a cake tester or skewer comes out clean.
5. Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes before turning out.
6.You can eat this warm with perhaps some crème fraiche or double cream or even ice cream would go beautifully. It tastes just as good cold.
Other info
Prep and cooking time: 1 hour 20 minutes
TIP! Tweak this recipe with the jam of your choice, your best bet would be apricot or raspberry. This cake is so delicious it doesn’t really need decorating but if you feel the need, you can dust with icing sugar, or for a special occasion some buttercream icing made with melted chocolate!
A Very Muddy Dog
I had a book for Christmas with lots of new local walks and so today we decided to explore. The walk is at Bradfield Woods near Bury St Edmunds so not in our usual patch. The countryside is gently rolling with small villages and windy back roads, just what we like. The woods are surrounded by arable fields and have a number of well routed walks of varying distance to suit most visitors. The woods are managed with coppice providing material for hurdle fencing and the paths wind through the woods, alongside fields in a circular route back to the small car park. It was quite muddy being February but we were well booted up and Fozzie loved splashing around and trying to pull us into the quagmire. After a 2.5 mile walk slipping and sliding we decided to head for the local pub at Felsham. Good food, exposed beams and dogs are welcome, just what we needed.