Portobello mushroom burger

Hello :) Yesterday I went out to Grill'd for lunch, and had the field of dreams burger, consisting of a portobello mushroom, pesto, peppers, tomato, cheese, mayonnaise & lettuce. It was delicious and I wanted to create a similar burger for a relaxed Sunday lunch. I did feel the burger was a little oily and heavy though, so I wanted to freshen it up! I omitted the peppers, cheese and mayonnaise, so here's how I made my portobello mushroom burger...

1. I lightly grilled a bun for a few minutes. I simply used a wholemeal one from Bakers Delight.

2. Whizzed up some delicious pesto (basil, 1 garlic clove, handful of parmesan, toasted pine nuts, extra virgin olive oil) and spread it generously on both sides.

3. Topped one half with a (huge!) portobello mushroom which I had drizzled with olive oil an baked in the oven for 10 or so minutes. 

4. Added some sliced tomato & cucumber. I left the skin on for extra crunch!

5. Final step was to garnish with a few fresh basil leaves.

Ta-daaaaaa! 

The result was one flippin' tasty burger! The mushroom can become a little bit messy, so I cut mine in half to make it easier to eat. I must use portobello mushrooms more often, yummo. 

Want another recipe using portobello/field mushrooms? Try these delicious baked mushrooms! I think I'll be making them very soon...

Hannah x

Friday link love...

Hello :) I'm sitting here at the uni library sipping a soy latte (it was free on a loyalty card thing, so how could I resist?) and feeling all 'secretary' in a white blouse buttoned right up to the collar. I don't know if it's because I catch the train in the morning with people heading to work in the city, but I like adding a little corporate touch to what I wear. Fake it till you make it I say! Anyway...

I'm going to share some blogs/blogposts I'm loving at the moment, cause it's Friday, almost the weekend and we're all wanting an excuse not to work or study. Am I right?

1. 10 ways to sweeten food without sugar. Sarah Wilsons blog is quite wonderful, having only recently discovered it. She writes a lot about health and nutrition, with thought provoking posts too. Having just released an e-book all about quitting sugar, she's written this post on some sweet alternatives to sugar. Nice one! One of the tips she mentions is to have roast vegetables for dessert, as they're quite sweet. I have to agree on this one as for morning tea lately, I've been buying a small salad with roasted sweet potato, red onion, beetroot & feta, and the sweet potato totally fixes my sugar craving. Like little, crispy lollies...haha a step too far?

2. The Selby. Do you like to perve on...houses? I do! Grand designs is one of my favourite shows. This popular blog "featuring photographs, paintings and videos by todd selby of interesting people and their creative spaces" is pretty awesome. Houses include that of Susien Chong & Nic Briands (creators of the fashion label Lover!).

3. Roost: a simple life. Just when you thought food photography couldn't get any better than that featured on my a-m-a-z-i-n-g blog (oh ha ha), here comes this fabulous blog which aims to educate people about the "benefits of a grain free diet (due to her husbands Crohn's disease) and the joys of eating and cooking organic, whole foods". Now I want to make these butternut squash & hazlenut bouchons, and I don't even know what a bouchon is!

4. The perfect lipbalm. Even though I hardly ever wear makeup, I can't help but love anything beauty related that Zoe Foster writes about. She used to blog at the beauty website Primped, but has since moved over to Mamma Mia, where she's going to be answering beauty questions and posting videos (yay!). Apart from knowing a lot about beauty (the suvana and honey lip balm she talks about sounds terrific), I like how she writes. It's witty, funny and engaging, and if I ever became a health writer I'd like to copy her writing style ;) To write about health in a way that is fun, as well as informative...that's the dream!

5. Zen habits: the amazing power of being present. This is a blog I subscribe too (you can read about the author here) and it has some great articles about simplifying your life. This particular post is an engaging read about learning to fully live & always being mindful. I like this quote at the end...

"Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis
on which the world earth revolves- slowly, evenly, without
rushing toward the future. Live the actual moment.
Only this moment if life". - Thich Nhat Hanh

And I shall leave you with that. I will now proceed with studying organic chemistry, let's hope I shall be present & mindful while studying such a boring subject ;)

mmmmm terrace houses...

Have you discovered any cool blogs or websites recently?

Hannah x

"Exercise...what's that?"

Hello :) So lately, I think I've been getting the whole "healthy eating" down pat. I've been quite happy with myself- cooking up lots of lentils/quinoa to take in salads to uni, eating lots of vegetables, only drinking coffee about once a week, avoiding sugar and processed foods and getting lots of sleep. Although I know on a holistic level diet is only one aspect of our health, and something I would like to improve on is...exercise!

Commuting to uni makes it hard, as I get home late but today was actually my last day of uni (heck yes!), so now I'll have a bit more time on my hands. Sure I have study and exams, but it's not as structured and I don't have to go in most days. Currently my exercise includes walking to uni & back from the station most days (about 15 minutes each way) and a 1.5 hour ballet class each week. Yep. Not much! So here's what I'd like to add to my fitness regime...

- 1 hour pilates class on Saturday morning.
- Swim at my local swimming pool once or twice a week.
- 7km powerwalk at the Bay Run once a week

Nothing too high intensity, but it all helps and I always feel so much better!

What kind of exercise do you do? Motivate me :)

Haha..I was trying to find a "sporty" photo of myself, and all I found was one of me hula hooping at a festival. Hey, whatever works!

Hannah x

Honey, tahini & cranberry biscuits

Hello :) Tonight I have been a bit restless! Most likely because I have spent the day studying at uni. Yes, on a Saturday, how fun! When I got home I just wanted to do something, anything but study! So after I finished dancing around in my room and trying on dresses for a bit too long I decided it was about time I went and got ma baking on ;)

I flicked through a few cookbooks for inspiration until I came across a recipe for Honey and Linseed biscuits, which sounded delicious and super healthy! However we didn't have any linseeds, so I searched around and came up with this similar recipe...

Recipe: Honey, cranberry & tahini biscuits (based Honey and Linseed biscuits, from Star Foods)
Ingredients-
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup tahini
1.5 cups oats
1/2 cup almond meal
1 teaspoon cinnamon
handful of cranberries
handful of sesame seeds
Method- 
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius and spray a baking tray with cooking oil or grease with butter.
2. Combine and mix all ingredients, except sesame seeds
3.  Roll mixture into golf balls and sprinkle with sesame seeds
4. Press flat with a fork, leaving plenty of room as biscuits will spread
5. Cook for 15-20 minutes, or until biscuits are golden brown
6. Let biscuits cool for 5-10 minutes, as biscuits will be soft

Voila! I was very impressed with the results. Who knew biscuits could be so healthy & delicious?! The tahini gives it such a rich, creamy taste and the honey is the perfect amount of sweetness. The recipe can be used as a guide, add whatever dried fruit/nuts/seeds you like!
I added the almond meal, cranberries & sesame seeds to replace the linseeds, but if you have linseeds feel free to add 1/2 cup of those instead.

Just posing in my kitchen, what else are Saturday nights for? 

Fun fact 1: This dress is a size 18 but after very recently discovering the joy of belts, it suddenly fits! 

Fun fact 2: Change the word from "belts" to "baking" in the first fun fact. hahahahahaha ;)

Hannah x

Thursday & Friday snapshots...

Hello :) Since I will be spending the weekend at uni, or studying at home I thought I would entertain you with some snippets of how my Thursday & Friday were spent...

Thursday...
In the morning, I was lucky enough not to have any classes till 1:30 so I had brunch with Adrian :) We went to Single Origin cafe in Surry hills. I wanted to try something different so I had these Persian spiced baked beans with feta & dukka. Just delicious!

A quick dinner before ballet. I had a sushi with sweet tofu with ginger, carrot and sesame seeds and another with pumpkin tempura. This sushi place in Newtown has such yummy vegetarian options! 

Friday...

Morning tea! Vanilla & rose black tea and a nectarine. I'm so excited that nectarines and peaches are coming in season, so juicy and sweet...

In the evening I met my friend Renee and we went to the Noodle Markets. It was so crowded though and luckily I had actually bought some sticky rice and mango from a Thai restaurant I past on my way, so we shared that. Nothing beats fresh mango!

yum yum. You can't really tell in this photo- but I'm still participating in Frocktober! This amazing weather we've been having lately, has made it quite easy. I'm loving dresses at the moment :) 

Renee..who recently cut her hair into a stylish crop!

After relaxing in Hyde Park, we walked up Oxford St and saw Midnight in Paris at the Palace Verona. I can't recommend this movie enough!! It was absolutely delightful and we were in fits of giggles the whole way through...go and see it! 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! 

Hannah x

Coffee alternatives

Hello :) So I never said I would cut out coffee altogether, although when I went out for brunch this morning it was the first time I'd had a cup in almost 2 weeks! I've actually been enjoying trying new and rediscovering beverages which I though I'd share.

1. Coconut juice. I'm a bit obsessed with this at the moment! This little bottle costs me $2 at my local Thai restaurant and contains 85% coconut juice, 10% coconut flesh and 5% sugar. So refreshing & delicious, and it has yummy pieces of coconut in it too! I've had coconut water (not sure if that's different?) a few times which really yum too.

2. Rooibos tea & peppermint tea. I started to get a bit sick of green tea so I've switched to these teas. Peppermint tea is a nice 'pick me up' at about 3pm I find, quite refreshing actually! And I only bought rooibos tea a few days ago, as I used to drink it all the time but haven't had any in a while. I'm getting back into it, so good.

Enjoying some rooibos tea in bed :)

3. Apple cider vinegar in water. This one is a bit weird- but very good for you! I've started again adding a teaspoon or two of apple cider vinegar to my glass of water in the morning. It tastes, well like sweet vinegar, but I don't mind it too much! A very alkaline way to start the day.

5. Roasted dandelion root tea. I haven't really been drinking this lately, but I noticed we had a container of it being neglected at the back of our teas, so I think I'll start drinking it again. It has a strong, nutty taste. 

So tell me, do you like any of the beverages/drinks above? Have you discovered a delicious drink lately?

 Next on my list because I'm a bit kooky, I want to mix liquid chlorophyll in water to increase my intake of greens! Have you tried this?

Hannah x

Quinoa & oat fruit salad porridge

Hello :) On Sunday morning for breakfast I wanted something healthy, but a little bit more exciting, than my usual weekday porridge. I felt like it was about time I cooked quinoa for breakfast! However, I don't know if it's just me but quinoa porridge never seems to be as filling as an oat base. So I decided to combine the two! Well I can't actually take full credit for this, as I got the recipe idea from a recipe preview of a cookbook, although can't seem to access that website now! But I knew the basis was using quinoa & oats to make porridge, so I decided to try it. 

All I did was cook 1/3 cup of quinoa in about 1 cup of water, brought it to the boil and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Then I added two small handfuls of oats, added more water, brought that to the boil and let it simmer for another 5 or so minutes (until the quinoa was cooked and the water was absorbed). I suppose I could have added them both at once but it turned out well :)

And I was craving fresh fruit so I topped my porridge with cut up orange, defrosted raspberries and dried cranberries. I definitely got my vitamin C requirements! A drizzle of agave was all the sweetness it needed.

I actually prefer this version more than having quinoa on it's own. The oats make it a little more creamy, and bring it all together. Quinoa can sometimes be a little grainy and bird seedy by itself, if you know what I mean...

P.S. My mum scored this new tablecloth for $4 the other week at an opshop. Good one!

Hannah x

Weekend snippets...

1. Vegetarian dumplings at the Night Noodle markets. Yummo! We didn't stay long because it was sprinkling and we weren't that hungry but there were lots of delicious looking eats...

2. I made crepes for breakfast on Saturday, except they were quite small. Still yummy though :)

3. I went with Adrian to uni (seriously, who goes to uni on a Saturday?), then walked down Newtown to go home. This whole trying-to-save-money thing became quite difficult when there was a baguette & custard tart to be bought from Luxe Expresso and the new issue of Frankie, from magnation.

4. I picked a few strawberries from our garden, exciting :) These two lucky hadn't been eaten already by bugs!

I'm also halfway through The Sunday Philosophy Club, which is the prequel to Friends, Lovers & Chocolate. I'm really liking it so far, with the female protagonist being a philosopher living in Scotland who enjoys classical music. What's not to love?

Hannah x

Lentil bolognese

Hello :) Hooray for the weekend and hooray for sunny weather! It's actually quite warm today, a nice change. So spaghetti bolognese is a weekly meal in our house, and I'm sure it might be in yours too. However mince meat really doesn't excite me, so I make mine with red lentils instead. I don't generally use a recipe, but here's how I made lentil bolognese for today's lunch.

Recipe: Lentil Bolognese 
Ingredients-
3/4 bunch of basil, chopped
2 (400g) chopped tinned tomatoes
1/2 cup red lentils
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 leek, chopped, white part only
1 carrot, finely diced
splash of balsamic vinegar (optional)
1 teaspoon brown sugar (optional)
Method-
1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil (I used rice bran) until hot, and add basil to 'deep fry' for 2 minutes.
2. Add the chopped garlic, leek and carrot and stir for a few minutes to soften.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes & red lentils. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and brown sugar if using. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30-40 minutes, or until the sauce has been reduced and the lentils are soft and cooked.
4. In the meantime cook up pasta of your choice. I used wholemeal spirals.
5. Serve in a bowl, and garnish with freshly chopped basil & parmasen if desired.

Most of my ingredients all ready to go!

Lots of chopping.

And ta-da! It was so tasty! Loving fresh basil at the moment. And I served it with a few slices of baguette with butter. 

Enjoy the weekend! 

Update: I just had some bolognese on toast topped with grated cheese for a lazy dinner. yum yum!

Hannah x

"You don't need coffee, you need sleep!"

Hello :) This post is about listening to your body, and is particularly about coffee. You see, I do love my coffee, but lately I haven't been liking the negative side effects of it- headaches, feeling hot and too jittery etc! So this week I made a conscious decision not to have any coffee and so far I feel great :) I enjoy coffee partly because when it's cold in the morning and I'm very tired it's a nice warming ritual, and wakes me up.

But coffee is not the real issue it would appear, it is a lack of sleep. So I've also been making an effort to go to bed early. I know I've discussed this previously, but with exams coming up it can be difficult. So when it's 9pm, and my eyes feel like they're about to shut I have decided the best thing is the listen to what my body is telling me and just sleep!

Ok so one part of why I liked coffee is solved (feeling tired), and the other part is having a nice, warm drink! Especially when it's cold. This is where my friend Mr. Tea helps ;) Each day I've been taking my keep cup to uni with two tea bags. Black tea for the morning and peppermint tea in the afternoon. There's a place where I can get hot water (for free), which is fabulous! I've actually stopped drinking black tea in the afternoon too because it still has caffeine and I want to be asleep as soon as possible.

Another reason I drink coffee is because it fills me up and becomes my morning tea. I know tea isn't very filling so I'm taking more food with me too. Such as those kale & oat raw fudge balls and lots of salad! Last night I cooked a cup of lentils and drained a large container of chickpeas to keep in the fridge which for this week have become my base grains for lunch. Fun times ahead!

I'm not saying I'm banning myself from coffee because I like the taste so I'll most likely treat myself to it on weekends. But with all the negative side affects (including the cost!), I think I shall take a break from it during the week, for now anyway. Today, already since going to bed early last night (9pm), I feel so much more alert and focused. It's great. And I've been studying more during the day so when I get home in the evening I can pretty much chill. Oh yeah.

Why do you drink/not drink coffee? Do  you feel negative side effects from it? Do you listen to your body? I'm curious!


Hannah x

Kale & oat fudge balls.

Hello :) Gosh, I feel a bit like a kooky vegan! First I add silken tofu to a smoothie and now I've gone and added kale to raw fudge balls. A bit weird? Kind of. It all started last week when at uni we had market stalls, as we do each week and there was a man selling homemade organic treats such as brownies (made with rice flour, carob etc) and also this bar made from kale, broccoli as well as oats, rice flour, carob etc. I bought one and thought it was quite nice and interesting, I liked that he used kale! I've always seen kale on other health blogs where they've cooked it in the oven and made 'chips', so I thought I'd do the same, and blend some up with raw fudge balls (as you do).

It took a little while to find kale actually. It wasn't at my regular fruit & vege shop and it was only until last night when I was in Newtown that I found some at a health food shop/grocer. Look! My little kale bunch...I had to cut off the stalks to fit it in my fridge!

After cooking it in an oven for about 5-7 minutes they turned crisp & crunchy.

And then I made these raw fudge balls and added 1/4 cup of oats too. After blending up these ingredients I added my kale, which I crumbled in. Voila! Ok I know they look unappetising, but you can hardly taste the kale, I swear ;) A nice green vege hit! 

Some alternatives...


Gluten free: try using quinoa or rice flakes instead of oats. My friend Monica using a mixture of these flakes as well as LSA for gluten free porridge. Delicious :)

A little bit more festive: Add a handful of goji berries or cranberries and pretend like it's Christmas!

Even more hippy-ish: Add a block of firm tofu. I'm not sure if it would work with this recipe, but there's a recipe for carob tofu bliss balls I've been meaning to make and they look yum!

I also cooked some of the kale (following this recipe), where she added paprika, salt and olive oil to them. They were nice actually, you really did need to seasoning though! Not something I'd make all the time, but it's fun to experiment ;)

Have a lovely week everyone! I'm going along to the Night Noodle Markets in Hyde Park on Wednesday which should be fun :) Anyone else going?

Hannah x

Silken tofu, berry & chocolate smoothie

Hello :) I know what you're thinking..."you so crazy"! Let me explain. A little while ago on an episode of Good Chef, Bad Chef the nutritionist Janella Purcell made a smoothie with silken tofu. I think from memory (you had to pay for recipes which was annoying!) the other ingredients included lychees, rice milk and pear concentrate. Well I thought that sounded interesting! I remember she used silken tofu in a lot of her recipes to make everything creamy and delicious, but healthy too.

Well this morning I realised we had silken tofu so I wanted to experiment from my Sunday breakfast. I basically looked around in our kitchen and this is what I came up with: raspberries, rice milk, cacao, silken (soft) tofu, oats and blueberries.

So I got my bamix blender out and whizzed up a handful of frozen raspberries and blueberries, 1/2 cup of oats, 1/2 block of silken, 2 teaspoons of cacao and 600mL of rice milk. 

Result...

A thick, creamy & delicious smoothie! Well that's what I thought anyway. I gave some to my mother and she thought it was too gritty but drank it anyway (woops!). My sister said it was nice but I couldn't really tell if she was being sarcastic because she then covered her face with the newspaper and started to laugh..."Don't look at me Hannah, you're making me laugh". Yeah sure. 

Not trying to turn you off, I thought it was delicious! Because it was my breakfast I wanted it to be thick so I added the oats, however if you want a thinner smoothie here's what you'd do:

- Omit the oats. 

- Use less berries

- Add more milk 

Oh and you can't even taste the silken tofu! I should try the same combination as Janella did, and because it will be a lot thinner, I'd probably be able to tell the tofu made it creamy. 

What are your favourite smoothie recipes?

Hannah x

Saturday snapshots...

Hello :) It's been a while since I've done a weekend post, so let's go!

Saturday started off with a delicious smoothie. 1/2 a cup of frozen raspberries, a handful of fresh blueberries, a banana, handful of oats and rice milk, filled up to 500mL. I wanted something light for breakfast as I planned on going to a pilates class, but silly me forgot it was still school holidays and there were no classes! Luckily I brought my novel (Friends, lovers and chocolate by Alexander McCall Smith) and so instead I enjoyed a soy latte & spelt toast at a nearby cafe.

On the way back home I was silly enough to go to my favourite opshop thinking I wouldn't buy anything. So silly. I came out with a pair of shoes, again! They were $4 and are really comfortable. My obsession with brogues and oxfords must stop! 

About lunch time, we hosted a family friends birthday. The majority of the people were folk musicians which my parents know through bush/folk dancing, editing a folk magazine etc and I kept feeling guilty about not playing violin or oboe anymore when asked if I play music. 

When a group of folk musicians come together there is bound to be music and singing, so all afternoon our house was filled with accordions, a guitar, two fiddles, a flute, two recorders and a harmonica playing folk tunes, and everyone else singing along! Brilliant :) These are roses from our garden my sister put in our lounge room... they're so pretty!  

And there we have it. 3 snapshots of a Saturday...

Oh and Frocktober update: It's been fun so far but I'm not sure if I'll do it the entire month. I don't have any donations yet- due to the fact I haven't really told many people about it. I think I might just do it for half the month. It feels like cheating though!

Here's one snapshot I managed to take. I've realised the key is layering! It's actually a strapless dress but I made it look like a skirt, oh how tricky of me ;)

Hannah x

Flourless orange cake

Hello :) First of all this post is dedicated to one of my closest friends, Miss Tara who has just left the country for a possible year long adventure! First she shall be volunteering with elephants in Thailand, then she'll travel for Munich for a few weeks, then around Europe and then she'll most probably settle and live/work in England for a while. Oh how I envy those with British passports! My friend Renee and I are planning to possible join her in Europe next year in between uni semesters!!! Although this means I will need a job kind of very soon...

So whilst she can't have any of this cake (oh ha ha) I will dedicate this to her! Oh and Tara if you're reading this:

1. Keep reading this 

2. Send me postcards :)

But back to the cake! Yes it is another recipe I found from The Circle, after trawling through there recipe videos. Here's a link to the recipe :)

Without icing...

With the cream cheese icing...

All sliced up...

Why haven't I made a classic flourless orange cake before? I don't know! It was super moist & yummy! I don't usually make icing for cakes, but the cream cheese icing was very simple and light. I didn't want to add too much though- so I used a bit less. 

Have you ever made a flourless orange cake? I'd like to make a flourless chocolate cake soon....mmmm!

.............

Just thought I'd add some silly photos, I stumbled upon of (L-R, first photo) myself, Renee and Tara. I'd like to say this was taken several years ago, but it was actually last year at our athletics carnival, because who doesn't dress up like men? I went through a bit of a menswear stage, so yes they are mostly my clothes!

I will miss being 'gangster' with you Tara! 

Well have a lovely day :)

Hannah x

Routines.

Hello :) So last week was my mid session recess from uni. My one week break. Well it was a break, a holiday perhaps, but I wanted it to be a study week! I wanted to have all my notes up to date, do all my pre workshops and labs for the following week and basically understand everything in preparation for final exams. But most of the time I sat down to study, things got in the way or I got distracted. 

And I've realised why I found it so hard. It's because I've had no routine! I'd wake up whenever I wanted, leisurely make myself breakfast etc etc. When I sat down I thought "I have all day"! So I'd do something else such as invite friends over, cook something delicious or read a book. 

When uni is on I wake up at 5:45, I'm out the door within an hour, on the train from Central around 7:30 where I study for half an hour and read for an hour. Everything is organised! In my breaks, I'll usually get a soy latte and go to the library to study. I enjoy routines and need them. 

That's why I'm looking forward to going back tomorrow- getting back into the swing of things. Don't get me wrong, I love relaxing and having time off. It's just not productive! So hopefully my study routine will be up and running tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Do you enjoy having routines?

Oh and just to mix it up, I've been enjoying Frocktober so far! The day before it started I actually bought a lovely dress, with a myer voucher I had. It's quite rare I buy a dress in new condition! I've pretty much been wearing this dress everyday so far...I quite like the buttons at the back. 

I do have one issue with the dress however- there is no lining in the skirt and so it is a bit see through in the light! So far it's been cold, so I've been wearing it with tights/leggings, but does anyone know where I can purchase a short slip or something?

So here I am, just pretending I'm a hip fashion blogger ;) And covering my face, cause I'm just cool. Behind me is where my dresses are kept!

Well hello there buttons.

Hannah x

Lemon capri torte

Hello :) So yesterday morning, when my friend came over we were flicking through cookbooks (as you do), and I came across a recipe for a lemon capri torte, which I've wanted to make for ages but never had all the ingredients. It uses potato flour, which I realised I had from making my delicious tofu!! Well I actually had potato starch but after a quick google search and realising there wasn't much difference, if any, I gave it a whiz!

Recipe: Lemon capri torte (adapted from Sophie Dahl)

Ingredients- 

150g of butter, plus extra for greasing

225g/1 cup of caster/superfine sugar

6 eggs, separated

Zest and juice of 4 lemons

300g/2 cups of blanched almonds, toasted, then ground

115g/1 cup of potato flour; plus extra for flouring

Method-

Preheat oven to 180/200 degrees celcius fan/Gas 6. Grease and flour a 23cm/9-inch round cake tin/pan (I prefer to use a springform tin). 

Cream butter and sugar, add the egg yolks in one go, then add the lemon zest and lemon juice. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks and add to the mixture. Lastly, fold in the ground almonds and flour. Pour the mixture into the cake tin/pan and bake in the oven for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 130/150 (fan) degrees celcius fan/Gas 2 and cook for a further 40 minutes. Cool and turn over. Cover with icing sugar, or as Sophie did, with a mixture of creme fraiche and lemon curd! Serves 6

Mmmmmm. This torte had a perfectly crisp edge, with a dense, gooey, lemon-y inside. Just divine!! 

I was worried the potato starch somehow wouldn't work out, but you can't taste it at all! 

Well have a relaxing Sunday everyone :) I'm going to attempt to make a lettuce soup (although I'm a bit apprehensive), then I should probably do some study before some friends come over! 

And also, Solar by Ian McEwan turned out to be very dull (in my opinion) so I never finished it! I've borrowed a few Alexander McCall novels instead which look good, and people have recommended :)

Hannah x