
So, the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness is once again upon us. Down the boat road, the blackberries are just about finished, but there are still elderberries, rosehips and sloes – all around here I can see flashes of orange in pumpkin patches, and trees heavy with big ol’ Bramleys.
So it’s time for another bakeoff, don’t you think? A proper, wholesome autumn bakeoff. What does autumn mean to you? Is it pumpkin pie? A rich, berry crumble? Or maybe it’s a big, dense slab of brownie, to be eaten in front of the fire with a decadent mug of hot chocolate?
This time, there’s a proper theme to encourage your kids into the kitchen. Their own special theme is Hallowe’en, so let the spider fairy cakes and ghostly meringues abound! The winning entry will win this gorgeous Chef Curly from the very generous Build-a-Bear Factory.
As usual, there are very few rules (the one about having to send me a sample of each entry has sadly been scrapped due to the possibility of lots of soggy Jiffy bags turning up on my doorstep):
1. You’ve actually got to bake something (although see below re: waffly theme wavering)
2. Take a picture
3. Email it to me at: english [dot] towers [at] gmail [dot] com, or via the contact form at the top of the page, telling me what it is and who you are. Entries must be received by midnight on 12th November.
Here at English Towers we like to embrace a bit of healthy skullduggery, hence a little wavering from the theme will be acceptable as long as there’s a suitably waffly and entertaining reason why.
If you’re a blogger, please link back to this post, and if you’re a tweeter, please use the hashtag #autumnbakeoff,. If you’re neither, then just ignore this bit completely.
Entries will be displayed in one enormous blog post (hopefully without the descent into hysteria which accompanied the last bakeoff) and the winner will be paraded through the streets of Cavan while we all throw rotten apples at them. Ahaha fooled you again, the best entry will win a copy of the fabulous new book by Diana Henry: Food from Plenty: Good Food Made from the Plentiful, the Seasonal and the Leftover with Over 300 Recipes, None of Them Extravagant It’s a brand new book, encouraging us all to cook with sustainable ingredients, use up gluts from the garden, cook ahead, and all while spending less money and without using up our planet’s precious resources.
The wondrous and gorgeous winner of the last bakeoff, Amy Lane, has foolishly generously agreed to be the judge. All bribes and dodgy approaches to be made directly and not via this blog. The judge’s decision is final.
So that’s it, then. You’ve got loads of time, plenty of inspiration, and some very ambiguous rules. Let’s get baking!
No prizes apart from the glory of winning!!
Mwah!! XX
But good luck to all.
Spill yer guts, Missus!
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