If Only All Cakes Were This Red

One of the great things about parties is they are an excellent excuse to bake cakes.

Having had some beetroot in this week's vegbox, I thought I'd make another beetroot and chocolate cake, but in searching for the recipe I found this instead:

Beetroot & Banana cake

• 450g self-raising white flour


• 1 generous tsp-ish grated nutmeg (completely guess as I just grated it straight in)


• 1 generous tsp ground cinnamon


• 1 generous pinch (the benefit of having large fingers) ground cloves


• 1 generous pinch ground ginger


• 275g light brown sugar


• 125g walnuts, chopped


• 2 ripe bananas, mashed


• 350g cooked beetroot, grated


• 4 medium eggs


• 300ml sunflower oil

(Would have put some coriander in too, but I'd run out. Likewise I would have put some cream cheese icing on it, but also found I'd run out of icing sugar - it didn't really need it though.)

Sift flour and spices.
Stir in sugar, nuts, beetroot and bananas.
Add eggs and oil and beat until incorporated.
Bake at 180C for around 1 hour

(tweaked from a recipe from Abel and Cole)

The cake mix was the most amazing shade of red when it went into the oven, was very disappointed when I got it out and it was pretty much the same shade of brown as a carrot cake, but with a slight red tinge. Oh well, at least it tasted nice.

There was also red wine cake, but I've already posted the recipe for that.

Oh, and, 100

Goings On Under The Bridge

There's a couple of interesting things happening under Hungerford Bridge at the moment.

Firstly, this weekend, publishing house Picador together with sound artist Martyn Ware have created an audio installation on the South Bank playing the sounds of 20ft waves. It's quite odd to stand on the edge a look at the river and hear waves all around you.

Secondly, the BBC have create Blast Studio, a remote control art installation in one of railway arches. You can have a go at controlling the various devices in the installation on the website. The tools will be available 12 noon - midnight BST until 9 June.

Excursion into the Mountains

There are days when I feel just like this:

Excursion into the Mountains
by Franz Kafka (translated by Willa and Edwin Muir)

"I don't know," I cried without being heard, "I do not know. If nobody comes, then nobody comes. I've done nobody any harm, nobody's done me any harm, but nobody will help me. A pack of nobodies. Yet that isn't all true. Only, that nobody helps me - a pack of nobodies would be rather fine, on the other hand. I'd love to go on an excursion - why not? - with a pack of nobodies. Into the mountains, of course, where else? How these nobodies jostle each other, all these lifted arms linked together, these numberless feet treading so close! Of course they are all in dress suits. We go so gaily, the wind blows through us and the gaps in our company. Our throats swell and are free in the mountains. It's a wonder that we don't burst into song."

My book of Kafka's short stories may be taking me a while to read, but their are little gems like this that make it so worth it!

Now, where can I find a pack of nobodies? An excursion into the mountains sound so much more fun then this marking.