LIVING A TAGINE DREAM

Recipe of the week...
... Sweet Potato Tagine

Ingredients: 1 large glug of cooking oil, 1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 aubergine, 1 sweet potato (or 2 if they’re quite small), 1 courgette, 2 stalks of celery, 1 x 400g tin chickpeas, 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes, 1 handful of dried apricots, 2 handfuls of raisins, 1 tablespoon tomato puree, 2 teaspoons sugar, 2 mugs of couscous, 1 vegetable stock cube, 2 teaspoons coriander, 2 teaspoons cumin, 2 teaspoons paprika.

Time taken: An hour (Half an hour prep and half an hour to cook).

  

Hi readers,

Hope this finds you well. More than well! Hope you’re having an all guns blazing start to the week!! Firing out emails and answering the phone WITHOUT hesitation.

As I write, readers, it’s a Monday afternoon in April and Brits everywhere are recovering from the hottest weekend of the year so far… may I speak for the nation when I say what cracking weather we’ve had! It really didn’t disappoint! Clear blue skies, ice cubes fizzing in lemonade, feeling the warm sun on your face, barbecues sizzling, ice creams melting fast, lawn mowers mowing away, and beer gardens overflowing… we turn out for the sun.

Me and my lovely friends
enjoying sangria in the sun

Back to work today and I’m not the only one sporting a lobster-like sunburn! As it’s April, and all good thing come to an end, the weather’s settled back down to normal today and we’re waving goodbye to our heatwave. But, along with our glowing noses and singed shoulders, it feels as though everyone’s putting their best foot forward today and getting the week off to a good start.

Doesn’t the sun bring out the best in everyone? I think so. When the sun comes out, it’s something everyone can enjoy and it’s an event that we all share in. We rip up any plans we’d made and get ourselves out in the garden instead. We invite friends over, crack open a beer and speak with neighbours we haven’t seen in months (and don’t mind all that much). We get our legs out, cream each other up, and burn all the same. We laugh about it.

And proud

I love the sun. Love love love it. I hope you all got to enjoy it while it lasted, readers, and I hope you had a cracking time this weekend. Don’t be too sad to be back to work today! There are still great shows on TV (Broadchurch! One Born!), new films out at the cinema (I want to go see City of Tiny Lights – has anyone seen it?), and there’s ace new music to discover (I’m listening to a playlist I found on The Hungry Yogis’ blog.. which you can find here) and so much to look forward to in life. Just think.

Like FOOD.. glorious food. If you aren’t feeling too weighed down by the immense amount of BBQ food inside you, readers, I’m sure you can appreciate we’ve only six days left to go until Easter Sunday. That’s right – just six days until we’re tucking into a delicious roast and scarfing our way through more chocolate eggs than a bunny could imagine.. even in his wildest bunny dreams.

Even more than that

And, meanwhile, we can’t have any one starving before Easter! Not when we’re this close. Six days allows plenty of time for some wonderful recipes. No matter how busy your week ahead looks – why not carve the time into your calendar to cook a proper meal? Treat your insides! I’m writing to you this week, readers, to share a tasty recipe that I first tried out for a dinner party I threw not long ago.

I had a bunch of friends over one weekday evening, for food and chatter, and needed an all-in-one-pot kind of recipe to feed lots of hungry mouths! I try to broaden my friends’ culinary horizons when it comes to veggie food (and my horizons, too!) and give unusual dishes a go, and have one friend who’s allergic to milk, so I was looking for something a bit different to try, and it had to be dairy-free.

Next time we're having a
compulsory dress code

In the end, I settled on a recipe I found in Vegetarian Nosh for Students. This recipe book is a favourite of mine (and will probs continue to be cherished loooooong after my student days are past) as its recipes are straightforward and fuss-free, with cheap ingredients and inventive shortcut steps, and you always end up with filling, tasty food at the end of the day.

I found recipe for a colourful-looking vegan Sweet Potato Tagine, tripled the quantities of ingredients (to feed a houseful of friends) and hit the shops to get everything in. Prepped veg the evening before and had no trouble on the night, cooking and chatting away with a wine in my hand! All went to plan and everyone tucked in and said they’d really enjoyed the food. Which is a big relief.. one bad recipe and they might stop coming round!

Just me, then

Do you have a dinner party coming up soon? Or maybe you just fancy cooking something a bit different? Trying out new flavours? Giving a colourful veggie recipe a go? And munching through for 5-a-day in one plateful?? Hell yeahhhh! Readers, if you’re tempted to give this Sweet Potato Tagine a try for yourselves, here’s the recipe in just twelve simple steps…

Recipe: Sweet Potato Tagine

1.     Set some sensational tunes playing and – as there are quite a few of them – gather all your ingredients together on one counter where you can see them all and where nothing can be forgotten.

2.     Time for veg prep! Arm yourself with a sharp knife aaand cut your aubergine up into bite-sized amounts, peel your sweet potato(es) and chop into cubes, cut your onion up into wedges, finely chop your cloves of garlic, cut your courgette into bite-sized chunks, and chop our your stalks of celery.

3.     Heat the oil in a wok or a large saucepan and add the onion and garlic. Fry until you see the garlic browning and the onion beginning to soften.

4.     Then, add the coriander, cumin and paprika to the pan, and fry for a minute more.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: Of these three seasonings… I only actually had paprika. So I cheerily described the dish as “off season” to friends and cooked hoping for the best. I switched coriander for Herbes de Provence and subbed cumin for a sprinkling of chilli flakes instead. And the dish turned out pretty well considering! I’m a lucker sometimes. But, I will advise, that if you’re in a shop and you’re not sure your spice rack is as well stocked as you’re hoping it is.. maybe invest in the proper ingredients!

5.     Add the courgette, aubergine, celery and sweet potato to the pan and fry for a few minutes, stirring well to combine everything together.

6.     Add the tinned tomatoes and a mugful of water, along with the raisins, apricots and sugar. Stir to combine and turn the heat up high.

7.     Once your tagine begins to boil cover it with a lid or some foil, and turn the temperature back to a medium heat. Leave to simmer gently for ten minutes.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: I use this time to set the table, top up drinks, and breathe deeply. Keep going… you’re nearly there! The house should begin to smell tasty.

8.     Add the chickpeas and tomato puree to the pan, stir to combine, and then cover again to simmer for a further five minutes.

9.     Now, while your tagine finishes cooking, fill the kettle and boil some water. Pour the couscous into a large bowl and crumble a stock cube over it. Add boiling water until this rises a centimetre or so above the couscous, and stir the contents of the bowl.

10.  Then cover the bowl with a plate and leave your couscous to stand for five minutes until all the water is absorbed.

11.  Uncover and use a fork to fluff up your couscous, then spoon this evenly between the four plates.

12.  Then – last but not least – switch off the hob and dish up your tasty tagine, spooning on top of the couscous. Serve dinner to your horde of hungry guests!

A real crowd pleaser ... Sweet Potato Tagine

Readers, to say the ingredients list looks quite dauntingly long.. isn’t this such a simple recipe?! You just add everything to a pan, bit by bit, cook through and then serve on a bed of couscous. This is my kind of recipe! I promise you, readers, if I can cook this at the end of a busy day at work, with several pairs of eyes watching me, and a glass of wine in my hand… then anyone can do it! And I believe you can.

Fancy giving this recipe a try? I highly recommend! Going into this, I was a bit unsure about adding fruit to a savoury dish. Would it be a Hawaiian pizza kind of fandango? A sweet and sour sauce? A cranberry stuffing? I am not a fan, readers, in general of recipes that mix sweet and savoury flavours. Only recently have I opened my mind to the notion of sweet and salty popcorn. It’s a whole new world.

But, of course, I wouldn’t be writing to you if this recipe didn’t taste KNOCK OUT. I think Sweet Potato Tagine is a keeper, readers! It’s fruity and vegetabley and – somehow – it just works. No one turned their nose up at the table. In fact, everyone was full of (genuine, I hope) compliments, and I took tagine into work as a packed lunch for days afterwards and it didn’t get old. A tagine dream.

Give this recipe a go, readers? And fill me in on how you do in the kitchen? And let me know whether or not you like the tagine? Sounds a plan. Meanwhile, my housemate will still be telling everyone he had tangerine for his tea and it didn’t taste all thar orangey…

Power on and have an amazing week, everyone.

Chef safely,

Hayley

And look at my pretty new tealight holder!
A thing of beauty, I think.

YASOU SUNSHINE

My Big Slim Greek Omelette

Time Taken: 20 minutes.

Ingredients: 3 eggs, a splash of skimmed milk, a splosh of oil, 1 red pepper, 70g feta cheese (1/3 of a block), and a dozen black olives.

 

Hi readers,

You know the phrase, ‘The sun will come out… tomorrow!’? Well the sun has come out in Newcastle!! Today we’ve had gloooorious sunshine and warm rays baaaathing us in summer here. For the North-East of England today has been STUPENDOUS. Utterly wonderful.

Do I have a mobile phone yet 6 days after the last one fell in the loo?
No, I don’t.

Am I even CLOSE to sorting out my replacement phone?
Probably not, no.

Do I care today?
Not really, readers. HELL NO.

And all because of the Sun. It’s magic! Today, the campus of Newcastle Uni’s been crawling with students in their shorts and flipflops. Laid out on any available patch of grass. With sunglasses and ice creams. And I was there as one of them! My presentation group at uni had the inspired idea to hold our afternoon meeting on a lawn by the Student’s Union, and I left all my phone woes behind this afternoon to sunbathe with the girls. Best time ever.

How has your day been, readers?? Has the sun been shining inside and out? Have you sung a little song? A small skip in your step? Freckles on your nose? The good times are coming! SUMMER SUMMER TIME. Readers, sit back and unwind and tuck into some proper healthy nosh this summer. Includingggg… My Big Slim Greek Omelette!

For all the bikini-dieting, ball-gown-squeezing, healthy-attituding women of the world: I give you a new tasty Mediterranean recipe to try out at dinnertime! This recipe is a really delicious, light option for your evening meal, which includes 2 of your 5 a day and no carbs along the way. Plus, it’s packed with protein and terrifically filling. And you only need one pan. Win!

Tempted to try My Big Slim Greek Omelette? Here’s how you do in just 10 easy steps…

1. Fish a dozen black olives out of their jar.

2. Use a sharp knife to dice up your red pepper and to chop your feta cheese into small cubes.

3. Heat a little oil in a frying pan over a medium heat.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: You need enough oil to cover the base of the pan when you tip your oil around, but not much more or your omelette might be greasy.

4. Add your diced pepper to the pan and leave to soften for 5 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, crack 3 eggs into a cup and add a splash of skimmed milk along with them.

6. Use a fork to vigorously stir together the contents of your cup, until they’re well mixed.

7. Turn on the grill to heat and then tip your eggy-milky mix into the frying pan along with your pepper.

8. Leave to cook for 5 minutes over a medium heat, until the mix at the edges of your pan starts to look like omelette.

9. Sprinkle your olives and cheese over the omelette and it (still in your frying pan) under the grill for 5 minutes.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: Try to leave the handle of the frying pan so that it sticks out of the grill. This way it won’t be hot when you go to touch it.

10. When your omelette looks cooked on top, take it out from under the grill and use a spatula to shimmy your omelette from the frying pan onto a warmed plate, folding it over in half as you do. Tuck in!

And here we have... My Big Slim Greek Omelette

So, this omelette may not be a looker but it tasted wonderful for my tea today, readers, and went perfectly with the sun shining through the window. I’m not saying we won’t all be tucking into pizza and cake sometime this summer, because I’M SURE that we will. But some days you just want something a little summery, right? And I think omelette makes a top answer to the grumbling in your belly! Never thought to put olives and feta in an omelette? Well, now’s the time!

Readers, hit me up with your thoughts on My Big Skinny Greek Omelette. Does the recipe work when you try it out? Does the omelette taste good in your books? Does this suit a summers evening? Is it just the recipe you’ve been looking for? I’m interested to hear!

And waiting on your feedback. :) Nah I’m off dancing around my room! But I wish you all luck throwing together My Big Slim Greek Omelette. And whatever the weather does, keep carrying summer around with you inside! AAAND put your bloody phone down. You don’t need it in your hand so much! I’m learning this.

Sunbathe safely everyone,

Hayley

TASTES OF GREECE

Greek Summer Bites

Time taken: Half an hour

Ingredients: A sweet potato, 2 tomatoes, an avocado, 100g feta cheese, a teaspoon of salt, ½ a teaspoon of cumin, ½ a teaspoon of paprika, a tablespoon of oil & a tablespoon of lemon juice.

Hi readers,

I write to you at the end of a beautiful day in Newcastle! Today here there’s been the most glorious sunshine. It’s literally been a snapshot of summer. I’m not saying that we’ve seen the back of winter quite yet, perhaps, but today the weather’s been lush. Residents of Newcastle may have even seen me strolling about without a coat on! I still had my gloves on yes, but today the coat stayed behind.

It’s very inspiring. Last night, the geography students of Newcastle Uni were in town totally en masse to celebrate the end of our dissertation work. Me and my friends met for lunch and cocktails during the day (An event which somehow lasted 5 hours! That’s a lot of cocktails! ) and then we retired home to freshen up and in need of some more food. This break was a wise move for sure.

Then we were back out again! We danced TO THE MAX. It was such, such a good night! The girls looked beautiful. We went to Flares for the cheesiest tunes in Newcastle and, of all the geographers there, I think we were singing the loudest! We busted some spectacular moves and then, having been drinking all day, called it quits sometime after 1am. We got chips and went home.

This has to be the best day I’ve had in such a long time!! And I feel like all the other girls did, too. This was so well deserved. We drank some gorgeous drinks and had all-day fun, and most of us managed not to overdo it and we came away able to remember our night and feeling good. I’m quite proud of myself. The girls ended on a high!

Then, today, no hangover!! It’s a miracle! I managed a full night’s sleep for the first time in a long time, then got myself up for breakfast and off to yoga. I had a lovely practice and walking there and back in the fresh spring air was lovely. Everything feels fresh today and lots of flowers are coming into bloom.

So I had a spring clean of my room and the flat here. The ChefBeHere kitchen got a spruce up! It felt good to file away all my dissertation notes, and organise the notes for my modules that I’ll be continuing on with, now that the dissertation is over. Out with the old and in with the new!

Do you feel like spring has sprung quite yet, readers?? I hope you’ve started to see blue skies and flower buds wherever it is that you’re living. Take a walk and breathe the fresh air! Today has the definite feeling of being the start of something. A new beginning.

And I have the best of intentions! So, tonight, even though it’s Friday Night Pizza Night… I went crazy and cooked up a spring-filled storm in the kitchen. Instead of pizza, tonight I tried out a tasty, flavoursome, colourful, health-packed new meal, instead! I went OFF THE RAILS.

This recipe was inspired by one I found on a blog called Blissful Basil, which you can read HERE. And it’s such a good idea! This recipe is for sweet potato bites, which I put a spin on using feta cheese. This I had in the fridge and always reminds me of times that I’ve spent on holiday abroad. Feta stirs up memories of summer nights by the coast in Greece or Turkey, with warm, salty air and a beautiful sunset over the sea.

Feeling so full of Spring today, I really didn’t fancy eating the heavy, winter food that I’ve been cooking up over recent months. A fresh start means fresh food! And this recipe works a treat. A very flavoursome and guilt-free, summertime treat.

You could craft a plateful of Greek Summer Bites to eat as a meal for one if, like me, you fancy some light food to match your end-of-winter mood. Or you could throw these together, perhaps, to share as a starter among friends if you’re cooking them a meal? Or how about you serve up a plateful of Greek Summer Bites as snacks during a film you watch this weekend? So many options, readers!

To throw together a batch of Greek Summer Bites in ten easy steps, here’s what to do…

1. Heat your oven to 200˚C.

2. Slice your sweet potato up, so that you create around ten circular discs of potato.

3. Sprinkle ½ teaspoon of salt, ½ a teaspoon of cumin and ½ a teaspoon of paprika in a bowl, along with a tablespoon of oil. Stir it up!

4. Line a baking tray with a sheet of baking paper. One by one, coat your potato discs in your oil mix and then spread the discs out on the baking tray.

5. Safely transport into the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until tender.

6. Meanwhile, chop your avocado in half and remove the stone from its centre. Scoop the flesh of the avocado into a small bowl.

7. Add a tablespoon of lemon juice and a big pinch of salt to the bowl, then mash together with the back of a fork.

8. Chop your tomatoes each up into 5 pieces, however you like!

9. Carefully remove your tray from the oven and tip your potato discs onto a plate. Spread each one with guacamole (your avocado mash), then top with a piece of tomato and crumble feta cheese over the top.

10. Return to the oven to warm for a couple of minutes, until your cheese begins to melt. Then serve up!

My plateful of Greek Summer Bites…

That, really, is all there is to it. This recipe is very simple and takes no time or hassle at all to follow. And provides 3 of your 5-a-day of fruit n veg. :) Thank you Blissfully Basil for the inspiration for this dish! I really enjoyed the taste of Greek Summer Bites and found that feta cheese made for a welcome addition to the original recipe. These Bites get my ChefBeHere thumbs up for sure!

Readers, wherever you are and whatever the weather may be doing where you live, get your ingredients in and give Greek Summer Bites a try! This is a move that you definitely won’t regret. Summer will be in your heart for sure, after a feta-fied kitchen Chef session!

Then send your thoughts my way about what you think of Greek Summer Bites! Do you like them? Do you like the idea? Did the recipe work well for you?? Of course, the ultimate question, do these Bites taste like summer to you, readers? Which tastes spring to mind when you imagine your summers gone by? I would love to know.

Fingers crossed the blue skies and warm climes are here to stay!

Spring safely,

Hayley

PEANUTS & PARTY TIME

Peanut Butter n Jam Sandwich Cake!

Ingredients: 500g butter, 300g smooth peanut butter, 8 eggs, 400g caster sugar, 300g natural yoghurt, 400g self-raising flour, 450g icing sugar, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, 4-6 tablespoons milk, a jar of fruit jam, & 100g salted peanuts.

Time taken: 3 hours

Hi readers,

What an eventful start to the week! Here in Newcastle there’s been glorious sunshine for the past few days… not that any of the geographers have seen it because they’ve been locked away in the library making final dissertation edits, ahead of our deadline tomorrow!!

I can report, with a big sigh of relief, that mine is finally handed in. And the battle is over.

It’s been a long road since we handed in our project proposals, which was this time last year, but at last I’ve written everything up and then chopped it to smithereens, and then edited it and handed in two bound copies of my work. No more.

And finishing such a big piece of work (the biggest I’ll maybe ever write!) feels… WEIRD. So, so weird. It makes me realise how much the dissertation’s become a part of my day. As sad as that is, I’ve worked on it most days of my life for a long time now. And today the dissertation is gone – so how do I fill my time?

The answer is… WITH FUN. Today, me and a good few of the geography chums are planning to head to the seaside, we are. We’re allowed to do that now! The girls and me are going to brave March temperatures at the coast of north-east England (brrrr) for some fresh sea air and lashings of fish n chips! And I cannot wait.

Yesterday, I was hungover and I think largely in shock about handing in my dissertation. It was a very strange and confusing day. But it’s been Dr Davies birthday in the house (Happy 21^st missus!!) so we all went bowling and had some slightly-competitive fun. Dr Davies WHOOPED US ALL in the game and claimed victory… but I did come second. And slurped a CocoFudge Milkshake, which was heaven. So good.

And the fun agenda, really, was launched on Monday with an afternoon-long baking session in the ChefBeHere kitchen. This was in preparation for a birthday party and night out that we held in honour of the tremendously old Dr Davies.

BIRTHDAY FUN TIMES. It was a lovely night! Of what I remember, the Birthday Girl and friends got to drink real champagne and I believe we did some seriously good boogying out around Newcastle. You can’t beat it!

So, today really is Day 3 on the Fun Agenda. Whatever will come next?? Who knows! So long as it’s funfunfun. If I’m well enough to drink again soon then maybe there’s a cocktail on the horizon. I do hope that there is. And I hope you all, readers, are having some fun wherever in the world you may be this week!

If not… go get your fun on! What’s one sure fire way to fun up your week? Surprise everyone and bake something CRAZY. Literally, don’t hold back… just go for it!! If you’re up for a challenge, then this blog post today talks you through how to bake up a mammoth Peanut Butter n Jam Sandwich Cake, like I did for Dr Davies on Monday. I’m not kidding. This cake is possible and it’s do-able and it tastes SO GOOD. Like aaaaaaaaaah kind of good.

I recommend this cake for those of you, readers, who…

1. Are not on a diet.

2. Like to eat peanut butter n jam sandwiches.

3. Also, like to eat cake.

4. Have at least 3 hours to spare.

5. Are feeling frivolous with regards to ingredients money.

6. Maybe have some kind of occasion to celebrate?

AND 7. Want a challenge.

IF THIS IS YOU then here is how to bake up a storm and craft one Peanut Butter and Jam Sandwich Cake, which you will not regret, in just 22 fun-filled steps…

1.       Heat your oven to 180˚C. Grease a square cake tin and line with baking paper.

2.       In a large mixing bowl, add: 400g butter, 6 tablespoons of smooth peanut butter, 8 eggs, 400g caster sugar and 300g natural yoghurt.

3.       Mix it up! Beat together until smooth and creamy.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: As there was so much mix and it was difficult to stir, I got out our electric hand blender and had a little help from technology, in order to get this mix to be smooth. If you have an electric blender too then there’s no shame in getting it out. If you don’t have one then prepare for an arm workout!

4.       Fold in 400g self-raising flour. Don’t worry if this makes your mix a little lumpy – just try to beat out any big lumps. Then pour half of the mix into your baking tin.

5.       Bake in the oven for half an hour until your cake is well risen and golden, and a knife jabbed in its middle comes out clean.

6.       When it’s ready, remove your cake from the oven and leave to cool in its tin for ten minutes.

7.       Then, run a sharp knife around the edge of your cake to loosen it from the tin and tip out onto a wire cooling rack, to cool completely.

8.       Quickly wash your cake tin, then grease again and re-line with baking paper.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: I forgot baking paper here for the second bake and this meant that my cake broke a little when it came out of the tin later. So no forgetting.

9.       Pour the second half of your mix into the tin and bake in the oven for half an hour.

10.   As with the last sponge, when it’s ready, remove your cake from the oven and leave to cool in its tin for ten minutes. Then run a knife around the edge and tip onto a wire cooling rack to cool.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: OBVIOUSLY if you have 2 large, square cake tins then you can save time and bake both sponges at once. Just remember switch them around in the oven half way through baking so that they change oven shelves. This way they should bake evenly.

11.   Meanwhile, turn your oven up to 200˚C.

12.   In a small bowl, mix 100g salted peanuts with 2 tablespoons of icing sugar and a small splash of water, until well coated and claggy.

13.   Spread over a baking tray and pop this into the oven. Roast your nuts for 10 minutes, tossing them a couple of times until golden and coated in a shiny caramel.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: Remember to keep checking on your nuts. If any marshmallow-like froth appears on your tray in the oven, then just spoon this off into the bin before it has time to burn. Once roasted, tip your nuts onto a lightly buttered plate, so that they don’t stick!

14.   Using a large sharp knife, cut both of your sponges diagonally so that you now have 4 triangles of cake.

15.   Cover a large chopping board with tin foil. This will be your cake presentation board.

16.   In a large mixing bowl, beat together 50g butter and 150g smooth peanut butter.

17.   Add 400g icing sugar, 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Add 4-6 tablespoons of milk until you achieve a spreading consistency for your cake frosting.

18.   Arrange 2 of your cake triangles on your presentation chopping board, so that they are slightly apart and look like 2 halves of a sandwich.

19.   Spread the tops of both sponges liberally with jam and use a butter knife to spread the 3 sides of each sponge with frosting.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: Your sponges should be completely covered!

20.   Then, coat the sides and tops of your remaining 2 cake triangles with frosting.

21.   Very carefully, place your second 2 triangles of cake on top of the first 2, so that the jam sticks your sponges together

ChefBeHere Top Tip: These sponges should also be completely covered! No cake on show!

22.   Wipe any spilt jam or frosting from your cake presentation board. Use your hands to break apart your caramelised peanuts and scatter your cakes with the nuts. YOU’VE DONE IT!

 

Here’s how your cake might look at the end…

And that… is it. That’s how to bake a Peanut Butter n Jam Sandwich Cake. I mashed a lot of recipes together here and upped the quantities of everything as I didn’t want a cake that was too small for a birthday party (not an issue). And in the end this cake turned out pretty decent, I have to say. I think it’s very tasty myself – I can’t stop eating it – and everyone that’s tried some has been really nice and complimentary to me about it, too. About the idea, the taste and the sort of unconventional sandwich design take of this cake. Overall, this recipe has been a ChefBeHere success story!

I can report that the peanut butter comes through subtly in the taste of the sponge. And then like a hammer in the frosting, which is incredibly rich to eat! The jam, of course, balances all of this peanut butter with the age-old PB&J taste sensation. Then you have caramelised peanuts thrown on top for good measure, which work a treat. I’ve never caramelised anything before or eaten any nuts of this kind, but they’re SO LUSH. As it happens, caramelised peanuts turn out to be a really easy, sweet decoration to make for a cake. These nuts are something which I’ll definitely be repeating in the ChefBeHere kitchen. Just you wait and see.

Sooooo this bake is long and, mostly likely, quite stressful. But very worth your effort! A PB&J Sandwich Cake is a real show-stopper and I’d love to see some of you have a go at pulling one together. Would you consider giving this recipe a try?? Do you think you’d follow it to the letter or would you make tweaks? Can you imagine you’d like the taste of this crazy cake? Do you think it has the funfunfun factor??

Readers… be inspired. Go bake something spectacular and be sure to share with me how you get on. I wish you all the best of luck and, while you’re breaking ground in the kitchen, I intend to sit myself down and have a thorough post-hand in relax, I do. Nothing more.

Have fun safely,

Hayley