Before I start I need to talk about GBBO – how amazing was it? Before the episode aired I thought Richard would win, then during it I thought it would be Luis so to see Nancy win was a total shock but I’m so pleased for her! It just goes to show that no matter what age you are in life you can achieve your dreams. I’m also wondering what I will do without my weekly fix of GBBO – I’m going to be lost without it!

I mentioned last week how important it is to me that food comes from the best source we can find and afford and something I’m most passionate about regarding this is eggs.

We eat a lot of eggs in our house, at least 30 a week and there’s only the 2 of us. Mr T eats a 2 egg omelette for breakfast every morning and has 2 eggs in his salad each day. That’s 20 eggs by the time we get to Friday then we often have a fry up on a weekend so another 6-8 eggs are eaten then plus any baking I do or general cooking that asks for an egg or two to be added.

I’m passionate about eggs being free range and I can’t actually remember the last time I bought eggs that weren’t. When Sainsburys approached me and told me about the Campaign for Free Range Eggs I knew I had to take part. I was seriously impressed when they said that they are the first major retailer to use cage-free eggs as ingredients in all their own brand products.

When you can buy free range eggs for less than £1 for 6 there really is no excuse not to buy them. They are getting as cheap as caged eggs but for the sake of a couple of pence I prefer to know my eggs had a good home.

Sainsburys asked me to create a recipe using eggs and my first thought was cake! I wanted to make a cake that focused on the need for eggs but also something that was autumnal cos food always tastes better when it’s in season. When I think of Autumn I always think of apples and spices, foods that are warm and comforting. After a flick through some of my cookbooks I knew exactly what I wanted to make – a brown sugar sponge with brown sugar frosting and autumnal fruits. The frosting recipe I found in my Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days book but I halved the quantity. The sponge was an experiment and I’m pleased to say it was a success. Well if I count my Director going into the MD and telling him he needed to get a slice of the cake before it disappeared – that was a lovely compliment!


 Anyway – recipe!

Apple and Blackberry Crumble Cake

225g Stork

225g Soft Light Brown Sugar

225g SR Flour

2tsp baking powder

1tsp cinnamon

4 free range eggs

Small punnet of blackberries

While the cake is baking time to get on with the frosting!

• Whisk the egg whites and sugar in a bowl over a pan of simmering water until soft peaks are formed (this takes at least 5/6 minutes so an electric whisk is a must!)

• Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter a few cubes at a time until blended and continue to whisk for another 5 minutes until thick

• Cover and set aside to cool for an hour or so.

Once the frosting is done the cake should have just about baked. Pop on a wire rack to cool and now to sort the apples!

Once the cake is cool and the icing well chilled it’s time to assemble the cake!

Enjoy!



Thanks to Sainsburys for this opportunity, I’m so pleased to see how passionate you are about free range eggs.