Carrington Lane Bakery is open for Business!!

A few short weeks ago my friend Anne got in touch with me and asked me to design a logo for her for her new Etsy online shop "Carrington Lane Bakery" - I was so excited as I have been an ardent admirer of Anne's baked goods since the day I first tasted them about three years ago. Anne wanted a cosy, charming feel for her shop with a bit of European flair as she decided to skew the theme of the shop towards international delights - baked goods from countries near and far made in Maine with wholesome ingredients and as many local ones as possible - sounds just fine to me.

So I got started by creating three different quick sketches to establish a look and colour pallette:

Obviously, as evidenced by the top picture, Anne chose to go with the lower image but decided to go with a red gingham instead of the blue - bless her little cotton socks - she chose one and stuck to it and it was so easy for me to translate her wishes into my happy command, especially so as she plied me with samples of her goods and also baked up some Milanos for me to photograph and illustrate for the 'biscuit' on the saucer. Here is the banner and profile picture for Carrington Lane Bakery on Facebook:

Next I designed a banner for Anne's shop on Etsy:

 ...which co-ordinates and complements her Facebook banner - the Etsy banner is hard to do as it is so shallow and wide - quite the design challenge I'd say!!

 Here are pictures of the first three delicious International Delights Anne is offering from her newly opened store:

Cheerio! Caramelly, oaty Flapjacks from the UK

CIAO!! Delightful Milanos from Italy

Ooh la la - Espresso Hazelnut Macarons from France

As you can see on the cup in the logo I also created a monogram for CLB and I reworked this into a round label for Anne's packages thus:

Best of luck with Carrington Lane Bakery! Friends do visit the shop HERE!

Flapjacks, British Country Living and a cup of tea!!

 British Flapjacks, an oaty biscuit/cookie….not pancakes which are sometimes called flapjacks in the US and Canada….you'll love them!!

I don’t remember eating too many Flapjacks in Blighty…AND WHY NOT I now ask myself…they are really delectable!! They are crunchy, chewy, buttery, sugary and oaty…they are very caramelly and I have added an extra bit of salt to give them that wonderful counterpoint against the rounded sweetness of sugar and butter.

This is about the easiest cookie/biscuit you will ever make, this recipe doubles easily, if not quadruples...you may want to go that far!!

From “Farmhouse Kitchen 2” Yorkshire Television

INGREDIENTS:

3oz/6Tbsp butter...I use salted

1 Tbsp of  honey

1Tbsp of molasses/treacle/maple syrup

(you can do 2 Tbsp of either honey or molasses or golden syrup or maple syrup whatever combination of those you like…I liked the honey with the molasses to give a depth of flavour BUT if you have Golden Syrup on hand that would be excellent too…it is a little harder to find…actually you’ll be making these more than once I almost guarantee so try it a different

way each time!)

3oz/a very scant ½ cup sugar…I used a blond organic sugar because I used molasses but if you don’t use molasses then use brown sugar of some form.

5oz/1½ cups oats…I used quick cooking organic oats…you can use regular, rolled - the result will be more chewy AND more traditional, just don’t use instant.

A goodly pinch of salt

METHOD:Pre-heat oven to 350F

1. Lightly grease a round baking tin…this recipe is good for a 9” diameter one
2. Melt butter, salt, sugar and liquid sweeteners gently until sugar has melted.
3. Stir melted butteriness into oats and coat evenly.
4.  Spread mixture evenly into tin.
5. Bake in centre of oven ‘til nicely golden browned and a little dark at the edges and slightly bubbling all over, see photo, this should be about 20 minutes at 350.
6. Remove from oven even though the mix looks too loose if you jiggle it…it will quickly set up as it cools.
7. After about 10 minutes run a knife around the edge of the tin to loosen the flapjacks.
8. Leave in the tin to cool, if you take it out before it is completely cool it could be really sticky in the pan - before you remove from the pan cut into four sections with a sharp knife - then gently pry one quarter out and put on a board and then cut in two or three with a seesaw motion of the knife - I have found this is by far the best way to get them cut into nice clean edged pieces - some recipes say to cut whilst still warm but that leaves ugly squushed edges - cutting when they are almost cold is more effort but the flapjacks look so much better..
9. It does seem/look a bit greasy before it is cooled completely.
10. Eat and smile…I defy you to eat just the one…

Happy Baking!!

 I LOVE British Country Living magazine, it is my favourite mag in the world and I recommend you take a look if you see it for sale anywhere. My January copy arrived today and the flapjack along with a cuppa was the perfect complement to my reading.

Please follow these links to some other wonderful Tea Time Treats :)

Lavender and Lovage

What Kate Baked