Wimbledon slices

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Sarah Bacchus

With Wimbledon starting today its only the done thing to give you all a little bit of Summer heaven in the form of a delicious treat. I created these from a recipe for strawberry drizzle cake, but I added my own naughty little twist by filling these babies with tenderised strawberries right through the entire mixture. This creates the softest and most moist slices. They are divine and they get better the next day when all the juices have settled. Sticky, sweet and so sensational you will be rolling those eyes as you gobble them up.

You will need:

600g box of strawberries
2 eggs
1 tbs vanilla essence
50g Icing sugar
100g Salted Dairy Butter, at room temperature
200g self raising flour
200g caster Sugar

Put the caster sugar and the butter in to a bowl and mix into crumbs.

Add 1/2 of the strawberries cut into slices.
Then add the flour, vanilla essence and the eggs. Mix to a creamy consistency.

Pop it in to a greased lined baking tray. Cook in a preheated oven gas mark 6 or 200c for 45-60 minutes depending on your oven. Just make sure its cooked through. While this is cooling add the remainder of the strawberries to a dish along with 25 of icing sugar and let the juices start to come out.
Put the other 25g of icing sugar into a bowl and strain off the juiced strawberries. Mix this up and pour over your creation, Its best to make small holes all over the cake to let the icing drizzle down into the sponge. Then let this cool off completely before turning out, dusting with a little icing sugar and then lastly cutting into nice sized chunks. Perfect with a Wimbledon cocktail…..Recipe for that coming soon!

Cant have you over indulging too fast can we. Its a recipe worth waiting for I assure you! I hope you make a batch of these while watching the games as they are amazing! Let me know if you do and pop me a quick tweet @sarahbacchus. For loads more recipes head over to our lifestyle magazine www.slbstyle.com and for photographic work check out www.sarahbacchus.com

Chocolate and Raspberry Cake

Posted on June 16, 2014 by Sarah Bacchus

Baking cakes is one of the best pleasures in life and they are so easy to do. All you need to have is the basic foundation ingredients and you can simply add whatever the devil you like. We love a good chocolate cake but sometimes you need to have a few fresh and new ideas up your sleeve. Not that chocolate ever gets boring. This recipe is totally delicious and perfect for those who are Lactose intolerant.

So very easy and delightful on the taste buds.

You will need:

250g Plain flour
250g Dark brown sugar
175g pure Cocoa
2 eggs
250ml of lactose free milk
1 tbs Vanilla essence
1 tsp of baking podwer
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tray of fresh raspberries
2 tbs icing sugar
150g Dark chocolate

Place all the dry ingredients into a large bowl along with the eggs.

Bash up the chocolate while its still in the wrapper.

Drop it into the bowl and mix well, then add the raspberries. Leaving a handful to garnish later.

Place this into a lined greased large cake tin and level off.

Pop this into the oven for about 35-50 minuets depending on how soft and gooey you want it to be in the middle.

Take out of the oven and leave it to totally cool before dusting with icing sugar and serving.

All done within an hour too! Let us know how you get on making this, and how long it takes to devour the entire lot!

Follow me on Twitter @sarahbacchus for more food and fun updates. For all our Fashion and style check out www.slbstyle.com and for all interest in the photographic side of my work head to www.sarahbacchus.com

Bottle Green Elderflower Cordial Review & Cocktail Recipes

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Frostie

We love Bottle Green’s Elderflower Cordial at Frost. It is a delicious, refreshing and versatile drink. We got sent some to review this week and have been trying it in different ways. It is great with cold water, either still or sparkling, and preferably with ice. It also tastes great in hot water, champagne and various cocktails. We have some great cocktail ideas below.

The light, delicate taste of hand-picked elderflowers perfectly captures the essence of warm summer days and relaxing evenings on the veranda. Simply dilute with iced water or try adding to Champagne for a refreshing twist.

Grey Goose Le Fizz

An elegant and refreshing combination of Grey Goose vodka, fresh lime juice and elderflower, served in a flute topped with chilled soda.

Glass: Flute

Ingredients

35ml Grey Goose vodka

15ml elderflower cordial

15ml freshly squeezed lime juice

75ml chilled soda

Method

Add the GREY GOOSE vodka, fresh lime juice and elderflower cordial into a cocktail shaker and shake hard. Double strain into a flute glass and top with chilled soda water.

The Elderflower G&T

Gordon’s & tonic and elderflower cordial – two British classics, one classic drink.

Step 1 Fill a chilled glass with cubes of ice

Step 2 Add 50ml* of Gordon’s gin and 5ml of bottlegreen Elderflower cordial

Step 3 Squeeze a wedge of lime into the glass and add a choice of fresh cucumber, mint or strawberry

Step 4 Top up with fresh tonic and stir to release the refreshing taste

Elderflower Cooler

Utterly refreshing and elegantly simple, this cooler really hits the spot with the elderflower and vodka complimenting each other perfectly. Enjoy.

Ingredients

25ml bottlegreen Elderflower cordial

apple wedges

Fill with ginger ale

50ml Vodka

Glass

Highball

Decoration

apple wedges

Method

Stir ingredients into glass and add apple wedges to decorate

Elderflower Delight

A wonderfully light and refreshing cocktail, blending the freshest ingredients to finish with a perfect cocktail for a Summers evening.
Ingredients

6 mint leaves

50ml Gin

15ml bottlegreen elderflower cordial

15ml Orange Juice

5ml Syrup

Glass

Martini

Decoration

Mint leaf

Method

Muddle Mint with Lemon Juice and Sugar Syrup.

Add remaining ingredients and shake with ice, fine strain into chilled 5oz martini glass.

Garnish with mint leaf on surface of drink.

Available from Amazon and Ocado.

Clearspring Organic Japanese Sencha Blend Matcha Green Tea

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Frostie

Green tea has always been hailed as the healthiest hot drink out there, but new research has found it can also be good for your mind.

Scientists claim green tea enhances several cognitive functions, in particular our working memory. The new research, from the University of Basel, found that green tea increases the brain’s effective connectivity. Scientists at the university saw significant improvements in working memory tasks after people had consumed green tea.

So we reviewed some Clearspring Organic Matcha Green Tea. It is a delicious blend and is created especially for Clearsrping by expert tea producers in Japan. It combines the exceptionally light, smooth and refreshing flavour of Japanese Sencha with distinctly rich and exquisite ceremonial grade Matcha Powder. Skilfully blended and packed on their tea producers’ estate immediately after production to ensure the freshest quality. Available from March in Waitrose and here, RRP £3.99

It tastes great and left us feeling very healthy. We’ll keep you updated on any improvements to memory, if we remember.

Karpo… A Restaurant of Choice

Posted on June 11, 2014 by Corinne Tuddenham-Finn

Deep in the heart of King’s Cross, right opposite St Pancras Station is Karpo brasserie, the ideal place to rest, relax and recharge in an unpretentious setting… everything a restaurant should be. Draped in an anti-camouflage montage of colour, this restaurant is no shrinking violet.

Serving cuisine with a global influence, the standards of service are uncompromising, with a highly developed sense of noblesse oblige, each and every customer is valued as a welcome friend by Massimo, the front-of-house manager. The light streams in through a roof window onto a vibrant wall of foliage creating the perfect backdrop to the non-conformist tables and chairs, different styles and textures, refreshingly breaking up the dining area with slices of beautifully turned wood and marble… there were no ‘bad tables’.

Karpo have created a pleasingly uncomplicated menu that discards unnecessary fripperies , keeping to the bare essentials in terms of ingredients and cooking processes. We were tempted with the brunch menu offering a selection of superb egg dishes ranging from Benedict through to plain and simple poached egg, but the deep fried cod cheeks and polenta with wild mushrooms came a close second to our choice of confit duck leg, sausage and lentils (£12) and Cumberland sausages, mash and gravy (£10). It was pleasing that Karpo chose to ignore the zeitgeist of listing every supplier on the menu, just occasional references of where the menu was taking us.

The duck was cooked to perfection with the sausage and lentils adding a twist of colour and texture, an adequately-sized portion, nicely washed down with a glass of house wine (Chardonnay, £4.75 glass). The Cumberland sausages, mash and gravy were presented in an uncomplicated way, you just can’t sex this dish up, the taste reminiscent of good ‘ole home cooking… but better. I rounded my meal off with lemon posset with handpicked lavender (£5), daintily presented but with a potent citrus kick! English breakfast tea was served… properly. The tea was presented and a healthy amount of tea leaves were allowed to brew in a teapot instead of the usual ‘coquette of the teabag’ ritual most restaurants resort to. Attention to detail was uppermost and it was reflected in the taste.

It was refreshing not to be asked ad nauseam if everything was ok, the well-mannered hosts discreetly sashayed around the tables keeping a close eye but not interrupting the quiet intimacy of the couples or the vibrant interactions of business people wooing clients in an appropriate setting.

And this is the defining point about Karpo, when we visited, customers looked relaxed as if they genuinely wanted to be in this establishment rather than ‘this’ll do’ as a need to just ‘grab a bite to eat’. People brought people to eat here… and that’s good enough for me.

Karpo Restaurant
23-27 Euston Road
King’s Cross
London
NW1 2SB
Bookings for up to 8 via email: reservations@karpo.co.uk
Website: www.karpo.co.uk
Telephone: 0207 843 2221
Facebook: karporestaurant
Twitter: @karporestaurant

Open for breakfast 7:00am to 11:am Monday to Friday
Neighbourhood brunch: 8:00am to 4pm Saturday and Sunday
All day menu runs from 12:00pm to 10:00pm weekdays, 5:00pm to 10:00pm Saturdays/Sundays (till 9:00pm Sundays)

Imagery by Shane Finn at Visual Devotion

Busaba Eathai Kingston Riverside Is Now Open

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Frostie

Frost favourite Busaba Eathai has now opened its 11th restaurant in Kingston, located at the picturesque Kingston Riverside, next to the historic Kingston Bridge.

New dishes recently trialed at the Busaba Eathai Songkran pop-up at Fairground, Haggerston, feature on the menu at the new Kingston restaurant, such as Isaan grilled pork and a selection of summer salads, all inspired by the executive chef Jude Sangsida’s recent trip to Thailand. Another first for Busaba, and long-awaited by many fans of the brand, the Kingston Riverside branch offers Thai style desserts, such as mango sticky rice and sweet plantain fritters with vanilla bean ice cream.

The new site has 135 covers, including outdoor seating on a 30 cover riverside terrace. The interior is in a familiar Busaba Eathai style, featuring communal teak tables and benches in dark wood. A new lounge bar concept recently launched at the Old Street branch, includes a bar snack menu of small plates and cocktails including Lemongrass and Thai basil Martini and Tamarind Negroni.

Busaba Eathai Kingston Riverside is now open at 4 Riverside Walk, Kingston-upon-Thames, KT1 1QN.

No5 Bridge Street Winchester

Posted on June 7, 2014 by Sarah Bacchus

Winchester has some of the finest places to eat and one in particular will knock your socks off! NO5 has to be the most vibrant happening places to spend a few quality hours eating and drinking. The food is so incredible you will think you are being fed and cared for by the most famous of chefs. The presentation is out of this world and every dish is bursting with flavour and will send those taste buds on a delightful joy ride. We sampled the dishes sitting outside in the pretty courtyard with the sun beaming down on us. A perfect sunny evening full of chatter and excitement over each morsel that we ate.

First we got stuck into the olives, bread and a delicious herb dip before ordering the main events. We drank a smooth red Shiraz that was just the right temperature, velvety and delightful and a crisp bottle of Pinot, perfect for the most balmy and humid of evenings we have had in a very long time. Siting outside in the quaint courtyard was just what this day called for.

We ate pulled pork burgers with a scrumptious BBQ sauce and french fires. This dish was soft, tender and rich. The sauce added a slight sweetness to the flavour that worked perfectly, accompanied by the wine.

Hampshire steak burgers and fries with a spicy dip. The burgers melted in the mouth and not one bit was left. These are possibly the best burgers we have tasted in years. Perfect and delicate at the same time meaty and comforting.

The vegetarian option was incredible. A Roasted garlic gnocchi dish with spring onions and baby red broccoli and chilli with lashings cheddar shavings on top.

A table set for Kings and Queens

The mains where just perfect but no meal is ever truly complete without pudding now is it!!

The best Banana Sticky Toffee pudding on the planet. Rich, crunchy, gooey and it’s possible to say we could have eaten about 3! Not because it was too small, just because we didn’t want this little beauty to end!

Raspberry chocolate mousse with a caramel and peanut slice. This was totally tantalising and the mousse had a hidden sharp treat at the bottom. The raspberries just popped the flavour of the chocolate mousse. Creamy and light with every mouthful, the caramel slice was a perfect addition.

This stunner was a Vanilla cheesecake with blackberry sorbet and a side of honeycomb. Light and delicate in taste but when the sorbet was added it gave the perfect treat for those taste buds.

No5 gets a big thumbs up and 5 star rating with us. One place to visit when you are in Winchester next. No5 also has 5 beautiful, contemporary, cozy and stylish rooms you can stay in too… More on that soon!!

Check out their website here and follow them on Twitter @no5bridgestreet

If you want to see more of the fashion in this post head over to SLBStyle for more details. Come say Hello on Twitter @sarahbacchus.

Beer Butt Chicken

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Sarah Bacchus

This has to be the best and the only way to cook incredible delicious melt in the mouth chicken. Smothered in whatever your heart desires, be it BBQ with a fiery kick or a more delicate rosemary and lemon tang. Beer Butt chicken is a novel way of cooking a bird, but once you have done it you will wonder how you will ever cook chicken any other way in the future. Shoving the beer can up the chickens bottom is somewhat hilarious and a little unglamorous but who cares when it tastes like a Roman feast at the end!

All you need to do is grab a ton of ingredients and marinate the bird about 12 hours before cooking. We chose to use 4 large scoops of brown sugar, a good glug of soya sauce, an ample helping of BBQ sauce, a few chillies chopped up for a real kick and about a tablespoon of smoked paprika. Mix it all up and smother it all over the chicken. Make sure you cut the elastic holing the legs together. Place it in the fridge until you are ready to cook. Then when you are ready just pop it onto a can of dark beer or ale. Empty out about a 1/3 of the can or drink it before hand so their is space for it to let off steam! It takes a bit of patience and its a 2 person job if you get the giggles! Make sure its sturdy and but that beast in the oven and cook as usual.

Rustle up some balsamic potato wedges and a green salad and you are in for a delicious feast.
The juices of the bird make a perfect rich gravy by just adding some flour to thicken over the hob, in the try the bird was cooked in, then thin out the mixture by adding a pint of water and simmer until you are happy with the thickness.

A nice weekend treat that will send your taste buds to heaven! The best way to serve this is with a ton of friends and gallons of wine. A truly fantastic memorable meal thats so simple to create, tons of fun and will leave your guests laughing for weeks on end!