How are we all? Still enjoying summer? Well, a sign that summer is coming to an end and that TV producers expect us to start staying in and watching TV is the advent of the autumn schedules. There is a glut of cooking programmes on at the moment. Who watched local chef Scott Goss of The Twenty Six on Great British Menu? There’s Celebrity Masterchef too and starting next week is the Great British Bake-Off! Whether you’re a cake baker or not, we seem to be intrigued by confectionery creations, baking blunders and sensational show-stoppers.
Tag: CAKES
Tonbridge Foodie News!
Thanks for all your help over the weekend with my Mediterranean veg soup question – look out for the next review so see what that’s all about! I have been very quiet I know but I am still trying to bring you news of the foodie goings on in Tonbridge – some of the news I’m not allowed to disclose yet (so hard!!) and others, I’m just waiting to hear final details.
Eat that frog! A blog about Basil, Tonbridge.
No this isn’t an announcement that Basil is branching out into French food! This command refers to a book called “Eat that Frog” by Brian Tracy which is all about tackling challenging tasks. And this blog feels like a challenge because I really want to like Basil on Tonbridge High Street but there’s always something that niggles. This blog has been ‘pending’ for quite some time….
WFH – Nichola Ferron, The Black Rose Bakery – “Everyone needs awesome cake in their lives!”
WFH is not a rude abbreviation! For those of you wondering if I’ve gone mad, it stands for ‘working from home’ and represents a new series I’m running on local folk that are setting up their own food & drink enterprises from home. I say ‘local’ but Nichola Ferron’s journey has taken her a long way from home. She was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, cooking providing an escape from an unstable family life. She would religiously watch cooking programmes on television every week. In adulthood she worked in a ‘proper’ job but then decided enough was enough – one day she ‘borrowed’ her mum’s car and made the ridiculously long drive to Seattle to enrol in culinary school, using the car as a temporary abode as well. And now she creates truly spectacular “American style cakes with a French twist,” she tells me, in her kitchen in Tonbridge whilst nonchalantly moulding sugar paste flowers. And this isn’t a professional kitchen or even a very big kitchen but with her numerous fridges, work station and culinary implements stored wherever possible, it works for her and goes to show that if you want to realise your dream, the small issue of ‘space’ shouldn’t stop you. The Black Rose Bakery cakes are true ‘showstoppers’, an edible reflection of this music-loving ex-model’s exuberance: multi-layered, using locally sourced ingredients & fresh fruit, the flavour combinations are unusual and enticing, abundantly decorated with the likes of caramel drizzle, fruits dipped in gold leaf, meringue kisses & award-winning sugar paste flowers. Yes, this is a cake Her signature cake is the hand painted stained glass wedding cake which is simply exquisite; Nichola uses the allegory of an haute-couture gown to describe her cakes, she is preparing them for a catwalk show – they must be perfect. I was treated to amaretto and chocolate sponge with vanilla buttercream, drizzled with caramel and hazelnuts. (Yep, it’s a tough job.) Nichola’s infectious ambition and energy mean that her journey has certainly not finished: this cook with a conscience is aiming high but isn’t forgetting her roots – she wants to help others along the way, just as she was helped back in Brooklyn. She would like to open her own premises next year, employing young apprentices, to showcase her cakes and to share her skills with others, offering sugar paste flower making classes and the like. And in the meantime, look out for her ‘popping-up’ around Tonbridge (offering us savoury, as well as sweet, treats) and going for gold at Cake International in the wedding cake and sugar paste categories (only bronze last year!). Nichola is inspiring, incredibly positive and a great advocate of working flexibly. I’m sure as a little girl she didn’t imagine herself in a kitchen in a town in Kent, England but that’s where her journey has brought her, so far. Once you’ve tried her cake, you’ll be pretty pleased it has. Black Rose Bakery has kindly offered one of her cakes as a prize in the “12 days of Feastmas” competition I’m running in December. If you’re bored of the fruit cake, marzipan, royal icing Christmas cake combo, make sure you’re watching Eat Around Tonbridge on 1 December! If you’d like to meet Nichola, she can be found at the monthly Tonbridge Farmer’s Market (the next is 13 Nov); alternatively, you can find her on FaceBook, Twitter @BlackRoseBakery, Instagram blackrosebakery and at her very own website!
Nancy’s Tea Rooms, Lambert’s Yard, Tonbridge, 22 September 2016
Nancy’s Tea Room opened in August, after teasing us with its makeover for quite some time (previously there were some public loos there!). It’s a quaint looking bright white, timber building near the river, Tonbridge Park and the High Street. The signage is traditional and the overall effect is one of nostalgia for tea rooms of my childhood, before the arrival of the coffee chains. Katie, the owner – the tea room is named after her daughter – offers a simple menu of jacket potatoes, sandwiches, paninis and the like, and of course, home made cakes. My friends and I sat upstairs, which is larger than it looks, and ordered sandwiches and a cream tea. Cheese and pickle The service was very prompt and attentive and the sandwiches didn’t take long at all to arrive. I ordered one of my childhood faves of cheese and pickle and I was not disappointed. The sandwiches were very generously filled (my friend’s tuna mayo sandwich was too) and really tasty. I appreciate it’s hard to go wrong with a cheese and pickle sandwich but some places do, providing limp, sparsely filled offerings where the cheese is sliced and not grated…little things like that matter. The cream tea came with plenty of cream and jam; I had recently tasted a bad scone (overwhelming margarine taste) so my taste buds were piqued with anticipation but there was nothing to worry about, this one was fine. Always forget to take the pics! Red velvet, chocolate fudge, orange and lemon cakes were on offer and I plumped for a slice of lemon and a slice of orange to takeaway (to share with my children I hasten to add). The cakes were moist, although I think the orange and lemon flavours could have been a little stronger so that you really experience a citrus hit. They were perfectly decorated with just the right amount of icing, adorned with a candied orange/lemon slice. We thoroughly enjoyed them! Nancy’s has found a niche in Tonbridge I think and has differentiated itself from some of the other cafes gracing the High Street with its simplicity and nod to a bygone era – these qualities make it feel easy, welcoming and homely. I will definitely return.