My day at E.L.F Cafe

On Saturday 23rd February I helped out at my friends 'pop-up' cafe in Stoke Newington.

Chance Kellner, herself is worth writing about. She is an actress, musician and enthusiastic cook.

In between castings, playing her fiddle at theatrical productions & shooting short films for Red Nose Day, she decided she'd open a cafe. Why not...

She went into ELF (East london Furniture) and asked if she could open / run a cafe aside them selling coffee... and they said yes. So for the past three weeks she has been running a cafe in E.L.F selling their coffee (NUDE Coffee beans) and her own homemade treats. 

After hearing the story I couldn't help but feel completely inspired. The saying 'if you don't ask you don't get' is really quite true. Chance has never run a cafe before but has the enthusiasm and enough charisma for it not to be an issue. Every hurdle she has been presented with she's has taken in her stride and then overcome.

It is so refreshing to see someone who enjoys doing something go out and just do it. Why not!

Anyway enough waffling.. Chance dropped me a line asking for ideas for recipes and just a chat really. After a bit of thinking, excitement took over and before she even asked I was up for rolling up my sleeves and just helping out.

When I said I'd help out for free, I think she thought I was a little bit nuts... Well why not, I used to work as a waitress for quite a long time as a youngster and really enjoyed it.

I agreed to bake something and bring it along on the day. Obviously I decided to test out some new recipes. A Spiced apple and Banana Bundt cake and a Spinach and Squash Tart, I'll post about in the next post...

Chance will only be running E.L.F till the end of March, so you'd better get there quick! However there are murmurs of Chance and her boyfriend, Ben, are going to do Sunday Specials at ELF. Music to Work Too, the idea is that Chance with a melody of other musicians will play in the background whilst onlookers can work on their illustrations, knit their scarves or write an song.... Ben will take over serving the coffee and a friend will be serving up some delicious food! Sounds good doesn't it ;)
I shall let you know when more is confirmed, but at the moment the idea is that it will be between 3pm-8pm on a Sunday....

I myself will definitely be bobbing along!

E.L.F - East London Furniture

197-199 Stoke Newington High Street

E.L.F

This SATURDAY 23rd February

 NEVER EAT WOBBLY JELLY

 is popping up in a

POP-UP Cafe in Stoke Newington!

I will be helping out at E.L.F Cafe, which is situated inside East London Furniture's shop. 

So you have the added bonus of sitting on and testing out furniture which if you like you can buy! Gotta love "test before you buy". Oh and you even get the added bonus of seeing the furniture being designed

and created in the back of the premises.

Chance Kellner, the creator of the CAFE inside E.L.F, will be dishing out fresh coffee made with NUDE coffee beans and homemade cakes and treats. It is a 'true' pop-up venture and you could easily walk past it without realising the hidden gem is inside.

I'll be rolling up my sleeves, helping out, baking a few treats and most probably getting to grips with the washing up!

I shall be doing a post about the cafe and my day helping out soon. But please do pop in, it will only be there till the end of March - SO DON'T MISS OUT!

E.L.F Cafe is open 10am - 4pm on Saturday, and I shall be there from 12noon to 4pm - so do pop by and pop in to the pop-up!

E.L.F

197-199 Stoke Newington High Street

Here are few links:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/112511792263159/permalink/117841668396838/

http://www.wearepopup.com/p/meanwhile-in-stoke-newington/

And a bit about East London Furniture:

http://www.eastlondonfurniture.co.uk/contact.html

Moroccan Honey & Mint Bundt Cake

If like me you have loads of left over fresh mint and dozen of eggs in the fridge that  need using up, this is the recipe for you!

I have to say this is the first cake I have ever baked that contains fresh herbs and I like it! Why have I never done this before?! It just shows that is always worth a good google when you have an abundance of particular ingredient. You end up finding unique new recipes.

The original recipe had a lot more coconut and no ground almonds in it. But due to a limited amount of coconut, I improvised and it seemed to work.

Here is the recipe I used:

Moroccan Honey & Mint Bundt Cake

Ingredients

For the cake batter

160g butter, softened

310g sugar

1½  teaspoons dried or fresh chopped mint

6 eggs

100g desiccated coconut

130g ground almonds

210g self-raising flour

10-15 Cup Bundt Tin (or you can use 20cm spring-release cake-tin with baking paper)

Method

Preheat the oven to 150ºC.

Beat the butter, sugar and mint until they begin to change colour. Add small quantities of the egg, coconut, ground almonds and flour, beating well between each addition to prevent the mixture from curdling. Repeat until you have used these ingredients up.

Butter a large Bundt cake-tin and then lightly dust with flour. Pour the batter in. Bake for 1–1½  hours (you can make the Mint Syrup during this time).

Check the cake is baked by inserting a skewer in the centre. If it comes out clean, the cake is ready. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool in the tin for 5–10 minutes.

For the Mint Syrup

200ml water

180g sugar

1½  cups roughly chopped fresh mint

Place the water, sugar and mint in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally to ensure the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 30–45 minutes. Strain through a sieve and discard the mint leaves. Use the syrup as directed.

To finish

75g butter

180g honey

180g flaked almonds

Preheat the oven to 170ºC.

With the cake still in the tin, prick 60–70 holes in the top. Pour the Mint Syrup evenly over the cake, allowing it to soak in. Once soaked in fully, turn cake out onto a lipped baking tray.

Place the butter, honey and almonds in a saucepan and melt together, stirring until well combined. Do not allow to boil. Remove from the heat and immediately spread this topping on the cake.

Place the cake back in the oven and bake the topping to a light amber colour, approximately 10-15 minutes. Remove and allow to cool in the tin for 20–30 minutes.

Remove the cake from the tin carefully and remove the baking paper gently while still warm.

Dust with icing sugar before serving warm with a blob of creme fraiche.

Have to say it's great to be back back blogging and I plan to do a lot more this year. Hopefully I stick to this promise this year!

Tap soon....