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Family, food, travel, gin and a touch of hysteria…
ENGLISH MUM IN THE PRESS

English Mum’s Great Big Autumn Bakeoff

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.

The Big Autumn Bakeoff

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?

The Kids’ Hallowe’en Bakeoff

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.

The Rules

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.

Cheating

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.

The Techy Stuff

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.

The Prize

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 Judge

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!

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43 Responses to “English Mum’s Great Big Autumn Bakeoff”

  1. English Grandma says:

    Sloes! Ooh, make some sloe gin! I hate gin normally but sloe gin is yummy….

  2. TheGlutton says:

    Yipeeeee! Greasing down the tin as I type. Can’t wait to see all the entries and get some freat Autumn recipes in to the bargain :)

  3. Arlene says:

    O yay! I must get my thinking cap on! And I promise to not be rushing in with an ohmygodthisislastminute entry at the end ;)

  4. English Grandma says:

    Hardly baking…but suggestions please for the glut of green tomatoes in my garden….chutney [boring]…salsa [slightly more interesting]…or maybe some sort of marmalade?

    No prizes apart from the glory of winning!!

    • Jennynib says:

      Slice ‘em, dip ‘em in egg and then again in semolina/flour mixture. Fry until you can hear your Weightwatchers Team Leader screaming. Eat with a zero points side salad (lol!) and a huge dollop of real mayonnaise.

      Mwah!! XX

    • English Mum says:

      I’ve heard that they’re really good pickled. Don’t have a recipe though. Google? x

  5. exmoorjane says:

    I am sticking my fingers firmly in my ears and singing ‘tra la la la la’, Bake-offs are banned chez moi right now as I am listening to guru Pete and following my inner thinness. So far, I’ve lost eight pounds (in ten days) so I’m feeling pretty smug. Behind me, muffin! Avaunt thee, crumble!
    But good luck to all. :)

  6. Preseli Mags says:

    Oooh count me in!

  7. [...] foodies. EnglishMum has an Autumn bakeoff [...]

  8. Now that I am not judging I get to enter! Brilliant coup. Off I go to Martha Stewarts website to find the coolest halloween treat I can master. Not that I am competitive or anything….

  9. Yay, count me in! As if we need an excuse to make something sweet and cakey. I might try something with a marginal health slant so that dieters are not excluded. Is that even possible? Let’s see…

  10. Nova says:

    oooo, how exciting. :D

  11. Amy says:

    Disappointed not to have received any bribes yet! None! Nothing! Ah well, there’s time yet….. ;-)

  12. I’ve entered. Not quite baking, but I’m hoping the sloe gin fumes will intoxicate you so you don’t notice!

    http://talesfromthevillage.com/2010/10/how-to-make-sloe-gin/

    xxxx

  13. Lucy says:

    I love a bake-off! Can’t wait to see the results, and perhaps have a go myself as well :)

  14. [...] autumnal/halloween spirit I have made lovely moist butternut squash muffins for English Mum’s Great Big Autumn bake off. Prizes are [...]

  15. Working Mum says:

    Just entered my Autumn Leaf Cupcakes. Looking forward to seeing the other entries. Keep up the good work!

  16. I’m entering! I’m so Hallowe’eny at the moment it’s as if someone shoved a bat up my nightdress.

  17. I have my ingredients ready to go but I can’t seem to drag the kids away from Thunderbirds…. Whats that all about?

  18. [...] Gross fact: black marzipan when accidentally rolled the wrong way looks suspiciously like mouse/rat/bat droppings. While this could have given the cakes a rather disturbing twist I didn’t think the recipients of the cakes, Hubs’ workmates, wouldn’t appreciate it or ever ask me to bake for them again. I’ve entered these cakes to English Mum’s Big Autumn Bakeoff. [...]

  19. [...] face it, it’s not Autumn without English Mum’s Bakeoff. [...]

  20. [...] made these cakes to practice my cake decorating skills and to submit them for entry into English Mum’s Great Big Autumn Bake Off.   I recently received some cake decorating goodies from Sliver Spoon and some Fairtrade Taste The [...]

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