Aren’t the weekends bundles of fun? Why not use the long light days to rise early and bake your own bread and cakes to go out and picnic with them in the sunshine with freshly fluffy loaves and springy soft cakes.

To get you started with some ideas we’ve put together two ‘Weekend Baking Bundles’.

There’s the  Savoury Baker’s Dozen which contains a trio of things to feel triumphant for when you next bake breads; artisan flour with dipping oils and spread for £13*

Start the day with a wholesome wholewheat loaf using Gilchester’s Organic Spelt Flour.

Once baked, try resisting the temptation of ripping a piece of fresh warm bread open letting the steam escape to dip it into a nutty flavoursome Olive Oil and there’s nothing tastier than Santiago’s Chilean Limited Edition exotic premium oil that really just tastes of the finest olives and is equally delicious with a hearty Red wine from a neighbouring Chilean vineyard.

Unfortunately fresh bread goes stale much quicker than processed store bought loaves, so there’s even more excuse to polish it off sooner. Don’t resist ploughing through the bread bin, slice some doorsteps off  for a hefty sarnie, cut a chunk off a crumbly creamy tangy cheddar and top it off with We Love ManFoods chunky Piccalilli.

If sweet treats are more your thing then there’s also the sweeter version: The Weekend Treat Baking Bundle, £20* containing store cupboard baking essentials; artisan flours for light cakes and loaves, along with marmalade and spreads too.

No baker or pastry chef should be without the best Vanilla Extract and Uncle Roy’s is one of the most fragrant and pure extracts and with this, a little lasts and goes a long way.

Sweet things need not leave you a sickly taste in the mouth, especially when you use SugaVida. SugaVida is made from 100% pure, unrefined nectar from the Palmyra (Borassus flabellifer) tree.  It’s great for diabetics, vegan and vegetarian diets as it contains high levels of Vitamin B12, too.

If you’re dreaming of a Greek Island getaway this summer, then why not plan it over breakfast after you’ve splatted lashings of Mr and Mrs Greek’s Mandarin Marmalade over your morning loaf. Mmm! It’s yummy. From the sunny climes of the deli-Chios Island.

Another star store cupboard ingredient is from Gilchester’s, their Double Milled Semolina Grains will ensure you never need fret over gravelly polenta cake again as Semolina makes for a smoother, lighter cake.

Now, this never fails to impress come rain or shine, it’s another delicacy by Uncle Roy’s; Passionfruit Curd! Simply summer in a Jar! If you don’t want to spoon it over ice-cream, it makes for an exotic topping for scones or you could try making this with the Semolina grain, my failsafe flavoursome cake recipe:

Passionate about Lemons? Say ‘Niente’ to Polenta-Cake.

Ingredients for the Cake:

225 g butter

225 g Tradecraft Fair Trade Organic Raw Sugar

3 medium eggs, beaten

250 g Plain Yoghurt

250 g Gilchester’s Double Milled Semolina grains

1.5 tsp baking powder

Zest of a lemon

Ingredients for the Syrup:

175g Uncle Roy’s; Passionfruit Curd!

3 small or 2 big lemons, juice & zest

100ml water

Directions

Preheat oven: 170°C, 325°F, Gas 3

1.Line a 23cm (9″) circular spring band cake tin with non-stick baking paper.

2.In a separate large bowl whisk the butter and sugar together until they are soft and creamy.

3.Beat in the eggs, whip in the yogurt (don’t worry if it looks a bit curdled), gradually stir in the semolina grains and sprinkle in the baking powder evenly. Beat it all in well until the mixture and I repeat, has evenly come together.

4.Pour the batter into the lined cake tin and bake for about 80 minutes. Check it at 1 hour, then at about 7 minutes intervals after the allotted time. When the cake is done the surface should be golden biscuity brown and firm, but give a bit of spring back. Insert a bamboo skewer. If it comes out clean it’s done.

5.Leave in tin. Let it cool.

6. While the cake is baking, make the syrup. Put the Passionfruit Curd into a saucepan along with the juice of the 3 lemons and the water. Bring the liquid to boil and simmer until the mixture has a thicker syrupy texture. Stir in the lemon zest, then be cool and cool it.

7.Spoon the syrup over the cooled cake while it is still in the tin, and then allow the cake to really cool completely.

8.The cooked grains will have swelled with the syrup. Remove from the tin and slice.  Serve with a blob of Greek yoghurt or vanilla ice cream.

Oh Yeah!

*Psst, prices shown do not include delivery, but if you’re a local and want to collect or have shopped with us before then use code GPCUSTOMER at the checkout for free delivery.

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