The Beat That My Heart Skipped – A blog dedicated to daily design inspirations. By Rohini Wahi.

As many regular readers will know, I love nothing better than an excuse to bake a cake. One such opportunity presented itself to me recently with a visit from Lily and Arthur’s Great Aunty Celia and her best friend Pat. These two lovely ladies adore Lily and Arthur and often make a trip down to the coast to see them, either with the WI [a slight detour when on the annual Brighton trip], or as on this occasion, they make their own way down from West London on the train. They always arrive, without fail, with [far too much] chocolate for the children, and I, without fail, bake a cake.

Now Great Aunty Celia is rather traditional in her ways when it comes to food. She won’t really dabble in anything from outside this islands shores – so you have to really think traditional English fare that hasn’t been tampered with in any way to give it a modern contemporary twist… so I accept that restraint is called for.

A classic recipe that ceases to fail is a must, something with an air of afternoon tea and village fetes perhaps? Then it just has to be a Lemon-Syrup Loaf Cake. This is a recipe, I have made on so many occasions that I have lost count, is from the wonderful baking bible ‘How To Be A Domestic Goddess’ by Nigella Lawson. There is no excusing that it is a plain looking cake, but this buttery sponge, moist with citrus, just melts in your mouth …. heavenly!

I am pleased to report that both Great Aunty Celia and Pat gave the cake exceedingly good merit. From two life-long members of the WI, I’ll accept that as a shining complement!

Louise x

LEMON-SYRUP LOAF CAKE
Serves 8 – 10

For the cake:

125g unsalted butter
175g caster sugar
2 large eggs
zest of 1 lemon
175g self-raising flour
pinch of salt
4 tbsp milk
450g loaf tin, buttered and lined
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This week we have a treat for all you real ‘foodies’ out there. Gavin Billenness is a chef, writer and founder of Savoy Truffle Supperclub and he is sharing his wonderful recipe for Twice Cooked Pork Belly with Apple and Fig Chutney and Maderia Jus … a perfect change to your usual Sunday Roast this weekend!

If you live anywhere near Blackheath in south-east London you could sample Gavin’s extraordinary menus first hand at his laid-back monthly Supper Club called Savoy Truffle Supperclub that he holds in his own front room along with his gardener/writer partner and team of guerrilla chefs. I simply love the idea of Supper Clubs and take my hat off to anyone that can pull them off – it takes a lot of hard work and talent. Gavin and his team certainly have what it takes. The Savoy Truffle Supperclub team work in the hip, award-winning London restaurant Acorn House when they’re not at the Savoy Truffle Supperclub and have cooked for the likes of Orlando Bloom, James McAvoy, Hugh-Fearnley Whittingstall and Giorgio Locatelli.

This underground and exclusive pop-up restaurant prides itself on their multi-course feast of fabulous locally-scoured food. Their veg comes from either their very own allotment or a farm just seven miles away. The thought, planning and sheer imagination that goes into each night is totally inspiring and promises for an experience that could give any top eatery a run for their money.
For more information about the Savoy Truffle Supperclub visit here and if you’d like to try more of Gavin’s own recipes you will find a great selection on his blog gavinbillenness.blogspot.com

Louise x

Twice cooked pork belly with apple and fig chutney and Madeira jus

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It’s been a fabulous last week or so with what really does seem to be the long awaited arrival of spring. During the end of the Easter holidays Lily, Arthur and myself even managed a couple of impromptu picnic lunches on the beach! With the promise of many sunny days to come, I plan to eat al fresco as often as I can, even if it is just a snatched 20 minutes in the park with a flask of tea and a cake. As luck would have it the wonderful Hummingbird Bakery have just launched a lovely new spring range of cupcakes that would suit such an indulgent occasion.

Their new collection is based on delicious hot beverages from around the world. With a new flavour for every day of the week, visitors to The Hummingbird Bakery will find everything from time-honoured coffee flavours to the trendiest teas, all transformed into delicious cupcakes. These gastronomic treats will be available daily from now until the end of June – so there is plenty of time to try out every flavour.

Monday – Earl Grey Tea Cupcake
Cure the Monday blues with an archetypal British flavour. This cupcake features a deliciously light Earl Grey tea infused sponge and is iced with a delectable Earl Grey tea frosting.

Tuesday – Hot Chocolate Cupcake
Chocolate drinks have been evolving since Aztec times and this spring, The Hummingbird Bakery has a new twist on Hot Chocolate with the Hot Chocolate Cupcake – a deliciously moist chocolate sponge with a sumptuous hot chocolate flavoured frosting.

Wednesday – Green Tea Cupcake
For some mid-week Zen, visit The Hummingbird Bakery for an Asian-inspired Green Tea Cupcake. This cupcake is made with Shinzo Japanese Green Tea, a premium green tea from Japan, and features a green tea sponge and fresh green tea frosting.

Thursday – Red Bush Tea Cupcake
A flavour savoured by South Africans for generations, this take on Red Bush tea includes a cupcake sponge infused with red bush tea and is topped with a subtle red bush tea frosting.

Friday – Mocha Cupcake
For a Friday treat, the French inspired Mocha flavour is a cupcake you can really sink your teeth into. The Mocha cupcake features a rich coffee flavour infused in chocolate sponge and is topped with a delicious chocolate coffee frosting.

Saturday – Espresso
True lovers of Italian coffee will appreciate The Hummingbird Bakery’s Saturday special. This Espresso infused cupcake has a bold coffee flavoured sponge that is smothered in espresso frosting.

Sunday – Fruit Tea Cupcake
A true American original, the Fruit Tea cupcake features raspberry, cranberry and elderflower fruit flavours in its delicious sponge and is topped with a light fruit tea frosting. The Fruit Tea cupcake is the perfect treat at the end of a weekend.
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House of Origin are a Dutch design studio who create wonderful food installations! Can you imagine anything better?! They create, designed and style special dinners, food installations and several cookbooks…

They presented ‘brain food’ below at the Milan events this year – outlining which foods affect which parts of the brain in a visually striking way.

I also love their past installation of chocolate dipped carrots!

And my favourite… Colour Cakes! Oozy, colourful yummy-ness! See their other works here

This week I’ve been counting down the minutes and seconds until my sister gets back from traveling. 6 months ago she decided to travel around Oz, New Zealand and Tokyo with her partner Ben and 4 year old daughter, Jasmine. Jasmine is actually MY daughter – there was a biological mix up but I kindly offered to let my sister keep her, provided I could have 24/7 access.

We are quite a close knit family [read Brady Bunch] and my mother, being French n’all, has been acting like there’s been a death in the family since my sister ‘left us’. Given that my mum still insists we text to let her know we got back safely from their house [an hour away], she didn’t take the ‘erm, we’re thinking of going traveling for 6 months’ news well. So you can imagine how she’s handling all the malarkey with that pesky volcano.

First there was the initial panic that her youngest would be stranded in Tokyo without food or shelter. However, my sister, being the jammy sibling that she is, just happened to book her return flight on the day after the air ban was lifted. So it looks like she’s flying back on time but now mother is having a wobbly about it not being safe to fly. She recites facts about ash particles hitting planes like she’s some kind of aviation expert and she’ll be pacing the kitchen like a trapped lion until her babies are home safely under her wing.

All this angst will no doubt have been poured into excessive food preparation for the grand homecoming – recipe books will have been scoured; a year’s supply of food will have been crammed into the too-small fridge and my dad will be cowering in a corner on the other side of the house. It’s probably not the best time to announce that I’ve started a detox. I

t’s supposed to be scorchio for the next few days so for those of you who aren’t lucky enough to savour my mum’s welcome home feast, here’s a selection of some of the best alfresco dining spots in London. There are obviously loads  I haven’t included so please add your favourites in the comments section as I fully intend to flex my gastronomic tastebuds this summer.

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