BRIGHTON BAKES BY JESSICA HAGGERTY

Colourful and cosmopolitan, with a cheeky edge and a hint of seediness, Brighton is a haven of indulgence for all the senses. From the crunch of pebbles underfoot to the thump of dubstep from nightclubs, the sting of salty wind on your face, to the sweet stickiness of neon pink rock, it's a city that wants to share all its delights with you. So fabulous local caterer Jessica Haggerty needed to look no further than her home town to find the inspiration for this luscious collection of delicious bakes. Evocative photographs by Stuart Ovenden, Deputy Art Editor of Good Food magazine, reflect the quirky spirit of the town and highlight the sensational food. 

Jessica takes you through the seasons with contemporary recipes for cakes, muffins, pies and tarts, all using fresh local produce and showcasing a unique blend of urban chic and old-fashioned flavours. Bake a batch of fragrant lemon geranium muffins for a summer picnic, or warm up a winter's evening with dark chocolate chilli gingerbread. Capture Brighton's vibrant, seductive spirit with Margarita cupcakes (why drink when you can have a cocktail in a cake?), sumptuous garlicky pots with rosemary olive crackers, and the ethereal White Night Cake. 

Irresistible and individual treats for every occasion from a passionate baker, beautifully photographed throughout.

This stunning cookbook landed on my doorstep from Book Guild Publishing - So big thank you to them.

What a beautifully illustrated, easy to follow recipe book to add to your collection! The fuschia pink writing and roses on the front cover along with the vintage jug and sponge cake enticed me to dive into the pages straight away and I wasn't disappointed.

The book starts with Jessica introducing Brighton - a perfect fun description of the town and its inspiration. The book is then divided into four sections, one for each season of the year with guidance for which ingredients should be at their best and events relating to that time. I really liked how this was done it helped give a good structure to the book. My favourite section had to be Spring, not only does this obviously relate to our current season but 20-30 minute meal suggestions for me are  always gratefully received.

Page by page my mouth was watering just seeing the recipes and the amazing photographs. Jessica has put a great amount of effort into thinking about every single one. A few recipes are not my cup of tea - like anybody there will always be one that doesn't tickle your fancy but on the whole I was very impressed. 

My Favourite quote - 'I always distrust a clean cookbook, a cookbook free of even a smear or drop of oil. No crumbs squashed between the pages? The book hasn't been used for what it's intended for, that much is plain.' - SO TRUE!

My pick - Ham hock and pea pies - In my opinion you cant beat a good pie!

My Husbands pick - Sussex toffee and apple crumble - The sweet tooth in the family.

'Prettiest' looking bake - Brighton Rock Cake - Love the pink :-)

Dont miss out - buy your copy today on Amazon!

Book Challenge....Books 9 & 10!!!

Rivers of London 1 by Ben Aaronovitch

My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (and as the Filth to everybody else). My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit - we do paperwork so real coppers don't have to - and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from someone who was dead but disturbingly voluable, and that brought me to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England.

Now I'm a Detective Constable and a trainee wizard, the first apprentice in fifty years, and my world has become somewhat more complicated: nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the Thames, and digging up graves in Covent Garden . . . and there's something festering at the heart of the city I love, a malicious vengeful spirit that takes ordinary Londoners and twists them into grotesque mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair.

The spirit of riot and rebellion has awakened in the city, and it's falling to me to bring order out of chaos - or die trying.

Guest review by Stephanie - thank you!

Being British, I have a genetic code that allows one to see every achievement, by myself or another, with an air of melancholy and a nonchalant vacancy. We Brits don’t do excitable jubilation unless it involves the royals.

But I throw caution to the wind now as I not only applaud Mr Aaronovitch but actually revel in his success. ‘Rivers of London’ is the witty, imaginative wonder that Brit fantasy literature has been craving since Joe Abercrombie lost it after the first law series. Through Peter Grant, Ben takes you on a journey around our ‘ends’ of London Town, weaving everyday people into fantastical yet oddly realistic plot lines. Using the benign trudge of police life and mixing in the colourful splash that is - well we don’t want to use the word magic, but we can settle for ‘supernatural occurrences’ - to grab you and thrust you into modern day Britain.

Now I am slightly bias, as I live in London and actually found myself jumping with joy when he mentions places I know well or have been to (in particularly Paperchase in Covent Garden, I love notepads). Relating is great fun, and this is what this book gives you that fantasy novels aren’t supposed to - relation. Much as a certain well known child wizard does to anyone who has had a childhood and gone to school, Peter Grant draws you into the mundane work life, and wonderfully grey London.

On a writing stance one has to keep the cogs turning to grasp the high speed level at which the dialogue and detective work race along, and more than once I found myself skipping back a page to make sure I hadn’t missed anything before I move on. Ben places ‘magic’ within the rational confines of modern day science, and the explanations are well thought out, albeit at times a little too clever for Peter Grants own good, however this is not a mark down, simply an observation.

As much as everyone wants to market this series as ‘What if Mr Potter grew up’, it is so much better than that. Witty, innovative and best of all full of swear words, Rivers of London is the type of book that helps sets a new genre.

In summary, go read this book now, and bask in the growing glory of British fantasy literature!

FAIRYTALE FOOD by LUCIE CASH

... Once upon a time, a young(-ish) maiden decided she was fed up with cooking the same old beans on toast and pasta bakes every night; she longed for some magic in her cooking. So she left her cosy cottage (flat in West London), pen and paper in hand and set off to find inspiration in the land of fairytales. For months and months she toiled visiting our best-loved characters; some were wonderfully sweet and generous, others were a bit grumpy and a little scary, but they all gave her ideas, tips and the confidence to create her very own delicious recipes.

When I decided to 'widen' The Novel Cafe to include non fiction reviews too I was so excited when this was the first book to arrive through my door. Fairytales and cooking - what more could a girl want! Lucie has written a magical book full of over 60 enchanting recipes based on all the fairy tale classics. At first glance you may assume this is a children's cookbook - but it's definitely for the 'older kid' in us all.

Lucie starts with 6 ' Rules of Fairytale cooking' one of which is to 'Ensure that your cauldron is sparkling clean'. She then continues with individual chapters of recipes, each based on a loveable classic. Seven Dwarf Salad, Princess and the Pea Soup and the Mad Hatter's Teacakes...can you guess which fairytale they relate to? The way Lucie has written out each recipe is beautifully charming and it is clear that each story and its characters were a true inspiration. 

One of the chapters 'Not a Teddy Bear's Picnic' based on Goldilocks and the Three Bears included the recipe below. It makes my mouth water just reading it. It will certainly be the first recipe I attempt and definitely not the last.

This sparkly, magical, enchanting cookbook gets a 10/10 at The Novel Cafe. A Novel Cafe twinkling cupcake!

Lucie was kind enough to speak to me about her book and answer a few questions....

Thank you so much for sending me a copy of your book and answering some questions for my blog it really is much appreciated :-) I'm a huge girly girl and love fairy tales & baking so amazing book if you ask me!

1. Tell us a little about yourself....

I live in West London with my husband, but I grew up in Cheshire surrounded by dairy farms, so I am very much a country mouse at heart! I love food and cooking obviously, but reading, shopping, dogs, nice walks and sitting cosy on the sofa watching Strictly or a Marvel film are my other favourite things to do. A dream would be to have a garden so that I can grow my own veg and keep a hen or two.

2. Have you always been a keen cook?

I have always loved cooking and I enjoy trying out new recipes. My great grandmother taught my mum to cook and then my mum taught me. I remember helping her make Fairy Cakes, Flapjacks and Shepherds Pie - all the necessary food groups! 

3. What's been your worst kitchen disaster?

I had a full on Kedgeree disaster. It was horrible. I made the school-girl error of using old spices and the dish tasted so bland that no amount of salt or parsley could save it.

4. What inspired you to write a cookery book based on fairy tales?

I have always loved reading and I collect some of the Folio Society hardback editions of various fairy tales. I had been reading Grimm's Fairy Tales and I suddenly had the random idea that fairy tales might be a great theme for a cookery book. It was fortunate that a publisher agreed!

5. How did you come up with the recipes and link them to each fairy tale?

Coming up with the recipes and the names was quite a challenge and easier for some fairy tales than others. For instance, I knew an oats recipe had to feature in the Three Bears chapter and a recipe involving beans for the Jack and the Beanstalk chapter. Most of the recipe names in the book are a play on words or they pick out certain ingredients to make a link between the food and the stories. It's all just a bit silly really.

6. Beauty and the Beast is my favourite story, I saw it at the theatre the day my husband proposed and walked down to the isle to 'Tale as old as time.' What's your favourite fairy tale and why?

Ooh, I like a scary story, so I think my favourite fairy tale has to be Little Red Riding Hood. It is one of those tales that everyone knows and there is something so gloriously spooky about the Big Bad Wolf in Grandma's clothing! I also adore Yelena Bryksenkova's illustration of Red Riding Hood and the Wolf in my book, it's just beautiful.

7. What's your favourite recipe in the book?

It's hard to pick a favourite recipe but my Pebble Beach Bars are super easy and always go down well when I take a tin of them into work. Daddy Bear's Big Breakfast Banana Bread is my go to recipe to use up ripe bananas, I make Dragon Fire Chilli most weeks and Alice's Amaretto Cakes are just the ticket when I need a sweet, sophisticated treat!

8. Do you have plans to make book number 2?

No book 2 just yet, although I am toying with a few ideas ...  

I for one cannot wait to hear more from Lucie. xx 

Book Challenge...Books 7 & 8

The Fault in our Stars by John Green 

and 

Cross my Heart by Carmen Reid

Apologies for the delay on the reviews for books 7 & 8 of the challenge - coursework had taken over! Anyhow here we go....

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

Review by Laura

Book purchased from Amazon

The Fault In Our Stars is the beautiful and tragic love story of Hazel and Augustus. Hazel and Augustus meet at a counselling group for teenagers who have or have had cancer. They fall in love and spend their days questioning life, death, and love. Along the way they are surrounded by their parents and their mutual friend Isaac.

I really enjoyed this book, though I was a blubbering mess by the end of it! I thought Green did an excellent job at making sure the focus of the story was the individual characters involved rather than their cancers. Before starting this book I thought that this would turn out to be another heroic cancer story, while these are excellent in their own right, this book feels a lot more honest and realistic when telling the story of a teenager living with a terminal disease.

The characters of Hazel, Augustus and their friend Isaac seem strangely authentic to me and while they are seemingly too intelligent and emotionally grown up for teenagers, it isn’t far from what you would imagine a teenager, who has spent most of their life living with cancer, would be like. They react emotionally in ways that remind me of my teenage years – falling desperately in love in such a short time and becoming obsessed with anything that they identify with. Yet in other ways they are so adult, they handle their illnesses with a strength that you would not imagine in a teenager, but then anybody who has spent time with a teenager with a serious illness could probably see a similar spirit in these characters as they would in real life.

The love story between Hazel and Augustus is excellently written, a whirlwind romance that provides them with a world away from teenage angst, overbearing parents and cancer.

The Fault In Our Stars is a touching story of love, loss and, more importantly, living.

I give this book 10/10, A Novel Cafe Cupcake – I would highly recommend to anybody but make sure you have the tissues ready!

Brussels, 1940. Fifteen-year-old Nicole watches as the Nazis invade Belgium. Determined not to stand by as her country is brought to its knees, Nicole vows to fight back and joins the Belgian Resistance. Under her new alias - Coco - Nicole embarks on a dangerous new life as a spy, where the only question is not if you'll be caught, but when...

Review by Nicole (or lack of!)

Book received from publisher - Thank You

Unfortunately I don't have a review for this book. I started reading it but it really isn't my cup of tea so im ashamed to admit I gave up so it would not be fair for me to write a review. The story follows a young girl called Nicole (ironic!) and her life during the war. Im sure anybody who likes historical stories would very much enjoy it - I know all of Carmen Reid's other books I have - this one was just not for me.