Peach and Plumb baked-cobbler: five minute comfort food!

Okay so not quite five minutes but bloody quick for a hot, heartwarming desert! It's something that I often make for me and my husband on a Sunday night as you don't need any fresh fruit to make it and you don't have to sit around for ages stewing fruit either. Tinned fruit is so underrated however I regularly use it to make really impressive puddings that take next to no time to prepare and look like you've been slaving away for hours!

Ingredients

- 1 cup of brown caster sugar

- 1 cup of self raising flour

- 3/4 cup of unsalted butter

- 1/2 cup of granola 

- 1 tin of peaches in syrup

- 1 tin of plums in syrup

Method

1. Strain your plumbs and peaches and place in a medium sized ovenproof dish.

2. In a separate bowl combine all the other ingredients and using a fork combine all the butter so the mix replicates breadcrumbs. This can also be done with your hands, if you don't mind getting a little messy?

3. Spread the breadcrumb like mix over the fruit evenly and bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 25/30 minutes.

4. Serve with custard, cream, ice cream or mascarpone!

Smokeworks - Cambridge

Again a while since I last posted but a few gems coming your way. Having promised my wounded solider of a best friend (he'd just had an operation) to a night of meat and beer (cos that's what you do when you're best friends a burger/pint lovin' dude). We headed to 'Smokeworks' on Free School Lane in central Cambridge.

A cute spot that used to be one of my favourite restaurants in Cambridge (a tiny family owned Greek place that apparently Stephen Fry frequented when he studied at Cambridge) has now turned into a 'young' Shoreditch vibed burger bar that brings quality meat based dishes in a fun way!  

Now Tom (my best friend) and I have never been known to go out for dinner and order one thing on the menu, generally we have a huge case of eyes bigger than tummy and this night was no exception. Having ordered our drinks, a couple of snazzy largers in retro cans we took in our surroundings.

First foremost the decor is original and a little grungy looking with lights you can turn in when you need waiter/waitress assistance - very cool and no waiting around for your bill for an age! We sat in a cute little cave seat and ordered the following...

- Two smoked pulled pork burgers

Insanely good, dripping in burger sauce, gherkin juice, salad and porky goodness! Adored it and would happily go again for this alone.

- Southern fried chicken 

Yummy if a tiny bit burnt but delicious all the same!

- Beef dripping mash

Tom loved it and used it as a dipping sauce for his chicken, I however found the texture odd and didn't like the sloppy, greasiness of it. It's definitely something worth trying but I couldn't really get over the wetter-than-babyfood texture.

- Sweet potatoes fries

Yummy - need I say more?

- BBQ beans

Insane, I don't know what they had in them but they were smoky however cut through the richness of the food. Delish!

I would certainly say that Smokeworks is something new for Cambridge and a fun casual dining experience. I must lastly mention our amazing waiter, unfortunately I didn't catch his name but he was American?! He was really helpful, informative without being OTT and just generally a really nice guy, 10/10 for service Smokeworks! I would definitely go again but not often, after all I don't want to have a heart attack under the age of 30!

www.smokeworks.co.uk

They don't do reservations unfortunately, however we went on launch week and although busy they weren't heaving.

Chai Kai - something new for St Ives?

So as some of you may know I live in a very small town in Cambridgeshire which doesn't exactly have the best selection of eateries unless you want a curry!

Not straying too far from its curry-loving-ness St. Ives has recently acquired a quirky, new, Indian tea shop called Chai Kai which also serves 'Indian style tapas'. I've got to say I couldn't see the idea working in what is essentially a very sleepy town but it really does.

The menu includes a range of street food style dishes from curries to wraps and salads. They also have a large menus of house blend teas which include vanilla chai and spiced cardamom. Me and my sister Amy opted both for wraps and we chose the lamb kofte and the paneer. Both come with a lovely side salad and house 'Indian mayonnaise' - yum!

The food was delicious and the tea refreshing and unusual. I was really impressed with the service and the way the restaurant was laid out, using simple Bollywood posters, hand painted wall art and beautiful low, dim lighting. This eatery could easily be seen in a quirky side street in Soho. The food and drinks were presented in a unique mix of Classic Indian teapots and Swedish style orange strainers. I was so impressed with desert too which was a white chocolate and pistachio samosa. It came with the most stunning vanilla ice cream and was a very generous portion.

The staff were attentive, helpful and friendly and yet didn't 'over fuss'. The food is reasonably priced and a light lunch with pudding and drinks set us back around £22 - not bad at all given you're getting freshly prepared food.

I would highly recommend Chai Kai, I can't wait to return for lunch/dinner soon as I believe this would make the perfect place for a meal with friends, family or even just for a quiet cup of tea alone.