Hellooooooo Shorties!

Shorties are the new girl in town...haven't you heard?! She's totally awesome, and pretty, and popular, and has looooaaads of friends! Yeah, I am talking about a cookie and you'd be almost right thinking I'm a bit cuckoo. What can I say, I just love these little things!!!


























Pistachio and White Chocolate Shortie: Pistachio Shortbread made using both ground and chopped pistachios with a white chocolate ganache filling...yuuuuum!





















Double Chocolate and Rum Ganache Shortie: Chocolate shortbread made using dark chocolate cocoa powder and a dark chocolate rum infused ganache to sandwich the two together!! Yo ho,yo ho a pirate's life for me!!

  

Espresso and Dark Chocolate Shortie: Coffee infused shortbread with a dark chocolate and vanilla ganache. Perfect for breakfast...just a thought. Not saying I did it..no, I would never...

We also did an Almond and Milk Chocolate Shortie over the weekend at the Stockbridge Market..I have no photographic evidence, but you must believe me. It was divine! An almond shortbread made using ground almonds and almond oil sandwiched with a lucious milk chocolate ganache with even more almond oil! It was so good, they all went before I could snap a pic! 

These little beauties are so much fun to make! I'm having a great time coming up with lots of fun flavours. Make sure you keep posted here, on our facbook page and on Twitter to see what flavours we're making and what we'll be bringing to market...we just might mix it up again this weekend!! 

In the meantime, Happy Baking!!

xx

'Tis the Season for Loooooooooove!

Summer is fast approaching and, as we all know (or at least I count down each day until it arrives!!!), with it comes WEDDING SEASON!!!! If I haven't said it before, I love, love, love this time of year. Yes, The Handsome Hunter and I had our wedding in June last year, and yes, I think that summer just oozes romance...but I love it for this simple reason: because you never know when, where, or what time of day you will happen upon a wedding. Especially in Edinburgh. Walking up the high street, it could be the middle of the week at 11:00am, and as you pass by the Registrar, you see a group of people gathered around billowing white silk. And you can just make out the promise of a kiss made for the first time, and you can see the faces of people wishing so badly that happiness finds those two people for the rest of their lives. I just can't get enough of those moments...maybe we'll just need to get married again!!! The point is I love doing wedding favours. Over the weekend I was working on some favours for a lovely couple, Eddie and Esther, who got married today!! They had their own cutters so I just baked and handed them over. But I made sure to have my own fun first...made up a few wedding favours to show you lovely people just what we can do here at Pinnies and Poppy Seeds. So, take a look and feel the love!!

Sweet Cardamom flowers and Lemon and Poppy Seed hearts



















Our hand stamped tags can be personalised to say a number of different things (ok, no novels!). We can do initials, monograms, single letters, 'love', 'Mr. & Mrs'...you get the idea. Just ask and we will do our best to make it work! I'll be putting up some images of other stamps we do in the near future...so keep posted for that.

 

And in the spirit of Wedding Season, make sure you tell someone today how special they are to you :)

Happy Baking!

xx

Easter Greetings!!

When I think of Easter I always think of bright, fun colours. Ok, I suppose 'bunny' comes to mind first, but then fun bright colours! It's the whole Spring has sprung thing...especially here in Edinburgh (save the freakish snow blizzard thing that happened today after last week's record high temps!) when the daffodils come out, the birds start singing, and the trees start blooming. I just love it. I love what it means, what it brings, and what it does to people!

So, we've been at the Stockbridge Market the last four weeks and it has been absolutely amazing! I feel so at home there and have met the most lovely people - customers and traders alike! Unfortunately, I won't be at the Stockbridge Market this weekend...weep! I'm helping out my good friend Nadia from Thinking Chocolate this weekend at Science on a Plate at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh and I'm super excited about it! If you have some free time this weekend, do come along. Lots of great chefs and Nadia will be doing some fabulous lectures on chocolate!! If you're wondering how you can get your hands on some shortbread, have no fear. I've been baking up some Easter inspired shortbread for Nadia to have in her shop on London Road.




All Butter and Lemon and Poppy Seed, perfect for Spring! I've done sweet little chicks, bunnies and butterflies and can't wait to see how Nadia chocola-fies them! (I may have to secretly buy some after she gets through with 'em!)


















So make sure you stop by and stock up for this weekend. These will make the perfect Easter treat for that special someone. And if you're looking for Granola and salted caramels, they'll be there too!! See, I'm always looking out for ya.

It's back to the kitchen for me to do some test baking...make sure you check back to see what I'm cookin' up. It may just pop up at the next market! Speaking of markets, you'll want to mark in your calendars that I'm back marketing after Easter. I'll be at Stockbridge Market on Sunday April 15th...so lots of opportunities to stock up on shrotbread!!

Happy Baking!

xx

Salted Caramels

Over the weekend, I made some caramel shortbread to bring to the Stockbridge Market. I mean, making shortbread, it seemed only natural to take it one step further and make caramel shortbread! Really, who doesn't love a rich, buttery piece of shortbread topped with gooey, chewy caramel and luscious chocolate?! Amen to that!

These caramels are deeeelish! Made with proper butter, cream, sugar and honey to give it that little bit extra special flavour. And what makes these even more divine, is the cracked sea salt that gets swirled inside and sprinkled on the outside. You know that salty sweet thing that makes your brain go...'wait...savoury? dessert?? I dont know!!!' Yeah, these are that awesome!













I wrap these dark golden gems up in parchment paper for that old fashioned look. I think there is something so satisfying about food wrapped in paper rather than neon coloured plastic. It almost makes food GOOD for you! Ha! I'm definitely living that mantra from now on. Food wrapped in paper = good for me. Yep, I'm implementing that asap!



I'm going to make these salted caramels a staple at the Market from now on, so make sure you come early and get yours! This past Sunday we sold out of them super quickly. I'll be making more for the Stockbridge Market coming up this weekend, March 25th. Be there or be without your salted caramels!!!

yuuuuumy!

Happy Baking!

xx

Mini Pinnies are the way forward!

As promised, here are the Mini Pinnies I made for market!!

These precious little smocks are the perfect way to get the little ones excited about being in the kitchen. Not only are they fun, they are comfortable (lined with super soft fleece), and they grow with the kids too! The arm holes are big enough to fit 1-3 year olds. How perfect it that!

I make these to order so if you want one made or have the fabric and want me to make it for you, just send me a note! I'd also love to hear what you think of these, so feel free to send me comments/criticism (constructive is best!!) in the comments section below. For everything else, you can email me at jennifer@pinniesandpoppyseeds.com!!                                                          

Happy Baking! xx

                                                                                       

   

Farmer's Market Fabulous!

What a great day! I did my first Farmer's Market on Sunday and, what can I say, I've caught the Market Bug! I had such a great time chatting to people, talking about shortbread and meeting all the great traders selling their amazing goods. The Market opened at 10, and it was jam packed with people ready to buy! I was dying to have a look around myself! But I very happily manned the stall to start giving out my little buttery delights :)

 Everyone was so gracious and lovely, and I got some really great feedback about the flavours and texture of the shortbread. I was surprised that so many people wanted to try the more exotic flavours! The stars of the show were (in no particular order, ehem):



All-Butter
Chocolate Chip
Cinnamon and Sugar
Coconut
Dark Chocolate and Orange
Cardamom and White Chocolate

This was my little set-up, using the picture frame blackboards to write out the flavours (it looked super cute!). I used soup cans wrapped in ribbon as cake stands and I think they really tied the table-scape (I owe that little nugget to Sandra Lee! my ahhhhhmazing sister, Kel) together. I should point out that I did owe that little 'table-scape' nugget to Sandra Lee (and if you don't know who she is, PLEASE look her up!! no words necessary!) but somebody....yeah....wanted a little shout out for their ribbon covered soup can situation. So, this one goes out to you Kel! I'm a grown woman and I can give credit where credit is due: Einstein level genius, right there.





These are the pinnies I made, one a traditional one piece, and the other a more vintage inspired piece. Because Mother's Day is approaching, I'll be making a few more for this weekend and I'll also be doing some Mini Pinnies, for the little ones!! I'll post some pics later this week. They are TO DIE for! The
                                                                                    perfect present for baking and cooking together in the
                                                                                    kitchen.





It was great to see so many people out! The weather was pretty kind to us all. A little blustery (think I'm still picking leaves out of my hair!).

So, thanks again for coming out over the weekend. If you didn't make it, I'll be at the Stockbridge Market again this weekend. Come out and show your support for local businesses. There will be lots of shortbread, pinnies and maybe a few other surprises!!




Happy Baking!

xx

The Countdown is ON!

I know I've been posting some pretty cool and carefree things lately...admit it, you're enthralled!  What I haven't done is make a peep about what's happening with Pinnies and Poppy Seeds the business. Well, the good news is that I've got all my ducks in a row! After loads of paperwork, phone calls, follow ups, filling, spreadsheeting and paying (the most annoying one!), Pinnies is finally an official business. I am a business OWNER! Woohoooo! And, aside from that (it has sort of come about in a very quick fashion) I will be at the Farmer's Market (where I've been dreaming of being) this weekend. So, in a bid to get myself prepared, I did a little trial run for cookies and presentation. I had a crafty week and decided to make some picture frame chalkboards to use as displays for the names of my shortbread. It was super fun and I think they came out A-dorable!

Once the panes of glass were completely dry, I rubbed the whole piece with chalk (to prep the surface to take chalk writing better) and  presto!!!

how cute is that?!









I'll be prepping today and tomorrow for the market on Sunday, so I'll be a very busy bee making tons- literally- of shortbread to feed the hopefully ravenous crowds. If you haven't been to it already, make sure you head down to the Stockbridge Market. It's all day, 10:00-5:00pm, and is a fantastic collection of local traders. Plus, I'll be there!! I am pleading to the weather gods that it doesn't snow or pour down...fingers crossed!!

Happy Baking!

xx

Bagels for Everyone!

Who doesn't love a good bagel? 

You won't see me turning my nose up at these!! I had a burst of bagel-ing inspiration a few weeks ago when I went into my local shop and saw the sad, meagre, spindly things called bagels staring up at me from the shelf. They looked so pathetic! 'How hard can it be to make a good bagel' I thought. So I came home totally revved up. When I looked online, there weren't too many different bagel recipes floating around. They were all pretty much a derivative of the same basic recipe. So I sheeped it and went with the crowd. 

I found this great recipe over at The Galley Gourmet and within a few hours, had these lovely little things!! If you love bagels and want a fun, quick and simple recipe, give these a go! There is seriously nothing more satisfying than taking your own, freshly baked bagels out of oven and smothering them in cream cheese!! This is what I did:

             
After you make the dough and let it rise, you shape the little rotund beauties and let them puff up again. Then, the fun part! You let them have a float in a bagel jacuzzi, for about 60 seconds on each side. Apparently, the longer they boil away, the chewier the crust becomes. That's just a special little tip I'm giving to you...we're pretty gosh darn nice here at Pinnies and Poppy Seeds :)








They don't take very long to bake. Obviously, ovens vary, and in my oven, 20 minutes was too long. I only needed about 15 minutes. But I recommend you just keep an eye on them and when they turn that beautiful eat-me-now golden brown, take em out! (And yes, that is a wok. Don't judge.)

Now go get yourself a good glob of shmear and have yourself a fabulous breakfast!

Happy Baking! 

xx

Get Your Own Banana Bread! (I've eaten all of mine!!)

How could you not love something devoted solely to testing cakes!? Honestly, this is one of my favourite little gadgets (if you can even call it a gadget!). I love baking, love trying out recipes I grew up eating. This banana bread is one of those recipes that just makes me smile. I remember bananas in our kitchen that looked like they'd been painted black, or thrown into the singed charcoal of a fire...something no one would eat or touch! And then somehow, they were transformed into the most delicious, moist, moreish bready-cake.

I have been making banana bread for many years and have come up with my own, extra super delicious, recipe. To me, the things that push this over the top are incredibly, unbelievably dark and smushy bananas (no yellow!!), using brown sugar instead of plain castor sugar (even a molasses sugar would be excellent!), and adding the slightest bit of nutmeg and cinnamon.




The last time I made this, I had a few one slice (because ladies aren't greedy!), put it in a tupper, and then proceeded to eat the entire loaf without sharing any with the Handsome Hunter! I'm a terrible wife.

...but I don't regret it...

IT WAS DELICIOUS!

Do you have a recipe that you remember fondly from growing up?? Have you tried to make it your own? Let me know what you've been baking/cookin' up!


Happy Baking!
xx

Among the Porcupines

It was (and still is) one of the greatest, most honest love stories I have ever read. I found it in an antiquarian book shop hidden away on a rambling, cobbled street somewhere near the beautiful Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh many, many years ago. I've passed that shop a few times since picking it up and smile every time I see it. It was written by Carol Matthau, wife of the great Walter Matthau. Valentine's Day always makes me think of that book and the steadfastness of great, big love. There is a line from that book that remains burned into my memory, the words so clearly marked in my brain. And I believe them so much. Especially when I look at my husband, and I know how lucky I am to have found him

'People grow, people change, people become different, I said to myself. I went to him. He was still a man who could quietly tell you the world. '

::Among the Porcupines:: by Carol Matthau

On that note, hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day! Over at the Hunter abode, we were pretty low key as someone, no names, has contracted MAN FLU and went to bed earlier than a 2 year old. That's ok, I still managed to have quite the romantic dinner and dessert with my (other) main squeeze, Izzy. So, in the spirit of love, hearts, chocolate, and all things red and pink, I want to unveil Pinnies and Poppy Seeds in it's new home!! Drumroll pleassssse....

Nadia, from Thinking Chocolate is my fairy godmother, my penny in the wishing well. She has graciously let me hunker down in her shop to make my little buttery creations and I could not be more grateful. We are getting things organised and I'm looking forward to my first day in the shop!

As it was Valentine's Day, we combined our efforts to make some pretty awesome cookies. Here are a few pictures to show you where I'll be working and what these hunks o' love looked like!

Nadia decorated some small, all butter shortbread hearts with chocolate, drizzles of white chocolate, double dipped in luxurious, velvety chocolate and topped with fun, bright sprinkles to give the shortbread a kick!

I made some big lollipop heart shaped double chocolate chip shortbread which Nadia decorated with a coating of extra delicious chocolate and a piping of white chocolate for contrast. They were the perfect gift to show that special someone you care :)

And if that isn't enough chocolate for you, take a look at some of Nadia's incredible creations!! You can buy boxes with a mixture of your favourite flavours. Take a look!

     

This is going to be quite a busy month, and I'm so happy to say that I should be up and running in the Stockbridge Market by March 11th. Watch our Edinburgh!

Happy Baking!

xx