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Reaching the final of Masterchef 2007 was a rollercoaster of emotion, with huge highs and lows, but I loved every minute and learnt a huge amount. I owe a great deal to John and Gregg who had faith in my ability when I did not believe in myself. Since competing on the programme my life has changed considerably. I now write cookery columns for two magazines, give cookery demonstrations and am just working on my 13th cook book - unlucky number for some but not for me!!! I love all forms of country cooking, using seasonal and locally sourced produce. This blog is to enable me to share with you a few of my recipes and baking ideas. Enjoy Hannah xxxx

Monday 25 June 2007

Yesterday was Kathy Brown's Garden Open Day for the NGS. Despite the rainy weather a lot of people came - one man even cycled 3 hours in the rain to get there! I gave two cookery demonstrations to 140 people with talks about Masterchef and behind the scenes insider information! The demonstrations (toblerone tiramisu, strawberry chocolate and rosewater tart, lime and ginger cheesecake) were followed by rose petal cream teas including my glittery lavender shortbread (ok so the glitter is becoming a bit of an obsession but they looked really pretty!)


It was also our village church cream tea yesterday so in addition to the 160 lavender shortbreads, I also made 60 scones, 50 cupcakes and 36 fondant fancies (oh and a birthday cake for my Grandma). It's lucky that I enjoy baking! I have never made fondant fancies before so was really excited by how they turned out. Violet flavour with violet syrup in the icing and violet liquor. I hope that Tom from Fitzbillies would be proud of me as I made the fancies exactly as he showed me - cutting the cake into really thin layers that you separate using a metal sheet and then drizzle each layer with alcohol and a thin spreading of buttercream. Tom must have asbestos fingers as I kept burning mine on the hot fondant but it was worth it for the end result. I am sure that they will get better with practise too. And yes they were decorated with purple glitter!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hannah,i love looking at your blog and all the yummy things you bake,i would love to get more of the recipes like toblerone tiramisu,i make the original and a summer fruit variation.This is just a suggestion but it would be great if you posted the recipes with the photos.I know it can be time consuming. From an Irish Fan

Gretel said...

Fondant fancies are my very favourite cakes ever - this one looks delightful! I have always wondered how they were made.

David Hall said...

Well done Hannah, you have lived your dream this weekend! I had an exhausting one cooking for 60 people, and I also made a far better tomato rose that somebody I competed against on Masterchef this year, check the Blog for evidence......x

Anonymous said...

Hey Hannah,
The Fondant Fancies were absolutely delicious. I was going to ask you how to make them but reading the blog has made me realise "I can but dream!!!" ...oh well, I can only hope you will be making them for other church doos.