Sorry for the long break in posts. We have been away for our annual holiday in Spain. It bit manic with a 2.5yr old but a lovely break from the daily routine. So, not much cake has been made but lots in the diary so watch this space.

In the meantime here's a picture of Eloise enjoying a Spanish delicacy -  Churros. Check out my old blog posts to find out more about churros.

Today had a very important appointment. During the kids afternoon nap my bestie Laura and I had a conference call whilst watching the last episode of Revenge, season 2. For those of you who have never heard of Revenge don't worry, this blog post is not about the show, which is completely unrealistic but amazing, it is about my snack.

Eloise was asleep. I had about 3 minutes before I had to call Laura. The kettle was boiling. Question: What could i make to snack on whilst enjoying 45 minutes of indulgent TV... Answer: A digestive biscuit, squirted with ice cold reduced fat squirty cream and topped with raspberries. Honestly, it was amazing. I ate two. Sometimes you don't need to bake!

A word from Annabel: “Teething is a difficult and painful process for most babies and, from my experience, can leave both baby and mum exhausted. It is important for parents to make teething as easy and painless as possible by helping them through the teething developmental phase.  Sore gums and flushed cheeks are the primary symptoms of teething, and babies will often chew on anything they can get their hands on to relieve the discomfort, which is why I have created a delicious Nelsons Baby Teething Biscotti.” 

Ingredients

• 12oz self raising flour
• 10oz soft margarine or softened butter
• 4oz caster sugar
• 4 oz demerera sugar
• 2oz chocolate chopped up(or anything else you fancy putting in; smarties, raisins, apricots etc). 

Preheat oven to 180C

Mix the ingredients together and knead the dough in your hands - it should not be crumbly so add more butter as needed.

Take a small ball of dough, about the size of a golf ball and squeeze it so it's a circle about 1.5cm thick.  

Place cookies on a greased tray, evenly spaced and bake in a preheated oven for no more than 15 minutes. 

Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. They should be crunchy on the outside and chewy in the middle. 

Sorry for the break in blog posts. I took my daughter to Spain on holiday and whilst there got to enjoy one of my favourite Spanish customs - Churros!

Churros are Spanish doughnuts which are fried until they become crunchy. They are long tube like shapes which can be straight, curled or twisted. They are traditionally served with super thick hot chocolate for dunking or sprinkled with sugar. The surface of a churro is ridged due to having been piped from a churrera, a syringe with a star-shaped nozzle.

In Spanish markets churros are often sold by street vendors, who fry them freshly and sell them hot covered in sugar. For 1 euro you get a huge bag full of greasy, hot, sugary doughnutty goodness. They always reminds me of the doughnut sellers on Brighton pier but half the price for twice as many!

Personally I only like churros hot as they are very chewy once they cool down. Eloise didn't seem to mind what temperature they were and scoffed most of our bag.