The Breakfast Club – Blueberry Monkey Bread

As I mentioned in my last post, 2015 has been a year for big breakfasts, with big groups of friends. It’s been fun spending more time together in a more sociable (and less drunken) environment, and I hope that we can keep it up throughout the year. As hosts this weekend, James’ croquet madame muffins went down a treat, and my blueberry monkey bread was well received too. This recipe has been adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction's recipe for Homemade Cinnamon Monkey Bread. I forgot to take a photo of it before everyone tucked in, but you can see in the photo that I did manage to take what the structure is like inside. 

The Breakfast Club – Croque Madame Muffins

The new year marked the start of a new event for a group of our friends; The Breakfast Club. We’re taking it in turns to host fortnightly breakfasts in an effort to get together more often outside of the pub on a Friday night. So far we’ve been treated to a good old fry up, an American style brunch of pancakes and corned beef hash, and another intercontinental fusion of Indian eggs and bacon.

This weekend it was our turn, and we both chose a dish each to make for our friends. James went for croque madame muffins for the savoury option, and I chose to make a blueberry monkey bread ring for those with a sweeter tooth. Here I’m sharing James’ recipe for the croque madame muffins; I think as part of a larger spread, one each would be enough, but as the main event, I’d recommend two per person. Recipe adapted from The Little Paris Kitchen on BBC. This recipe makes 12.

The Split Worlds: Between Two Thorns

Image taken from Amazon

Whilst browsing our local Forbidden Planet in the run up to Christmas, I came across this series of novels by Emma Newman. I read the blurb on the back, and solely on the basis that they’re set in Bath (or it’s reflection in a fantasy world) decided to put them on my Christmas list.

Honey and Almond Oatmeal Cookies

Oatmeal cookies are one of my favourites. They are so easily adaptable, you can use the same base recipe for anything from fruity, to chocolatey, to nutty cookies - and you can get a lot of cookies from what seems like a relatively small amount of ingredients, depending on what size you make them, which makes them great for feeding a crowd. This recipe is adapted from here.

By the way, you can follow me on Instagram! I'm 'jadebakes89'.

Pistachio and Sea Salt Brownie Cake

I made this as birthday cake at work for another colleague - we've had three birthdays in three weeks! After making the fruity blueberry and coconut cake the previous week, I thought I'd go for something chocolaty this time, and this did not disappoint! I came across this recipe on BBC Good Food months ago, and so adapted this slightly to make this amazingly fudgy, pistachio topped brownie cake. It's a good one for making ahead as it'll keep for a few days and still be rich in the middle, and you could just as easily replace the pistachios with any other nut you fancy.

The Labyrinth Worm Amigurumi

Jim Henson's The Labyrinth is my all-time favourite movie; I think it's where my love of David Bowie stems from. I love the puppetry, the creatures, the costumes, Sarah's journey... everything.

Coconut and Blueberry Cake

This is the first birthday cake of the year at work; a light sponge topped with a generous amount of fresh cream and a mountain of blueberries. Although it might not be the prettiest cake, it's quick and easy to make, and went down a storm with my colleagues!