comfort

The cake was a Blackberry Shagg. (coconut buttercake with blackberry preserves, buttercream and moist coconut flakes) The tea a mild and milky Early Grey. The place was Beatrix, a stroll down uneventful Queensberry St and the closest I came to happiness on last weeks trip to Melbourne. These were my final 5 shots on a roll of Kodak Portra 160 I had been so kindly given by dear Elize. 

It was small, calm, simple and to the point....the point being really good cake. 

Photos: Rachel Kara

meaty

 

 "Some days are made for ginger cake. They are those days at the end of August - an Australian August, a Sydney august - when there are blue skies and bright sun but a stubborn, resistant chill in the air. I'm not going without a fight, it says. You can't get rid of me that easily. Because we try, how we try! to shake off the cobwebs of winter as we shrug on little chambray shirts and strappy sandals and defiantly parade our first bare legs of the season. And those are the days that you need ginger cake. You need it because it's cold and sometimes only cake will do, and if it's going to be cake you might as well make it something dense but not overpowering, with a handful of grated carrot thrown into the mix, and a practiced, too-easy shake of cinnamon (from the wrist, of course!) and a good cup - or two, if you're particularly generous, which we are, of course - of crystallised ginger which you cut into gem-like slivers and distribute with a fair but gentle hand (noblesse oblige) throughout the honey-hued mix in the scant few moments before you put it in the oven. That's why you need ginger cake. But you want ginger cake because it's really, really,really delicious.  

There were other things at this picnic for a trio of friends, too. Some ice tea and raspberry lemonade to drink. A loaf of crusty bread, some butter (not French, but Danish, which is the next best thing), two different types of jam (Rose Bakery's apricot and lavender leaf and home-made cherry and vanilla), Fromage D'affinois, which is a hard-working little crowd-pleaser of a cheese if ever we saw one, and some ham off the bone.

We planned this picnic spontaneously - as most of our food excursions are - over the counter at bread and circus as we saw the glimmer of a shared Saturday afternoon off. Lucinda, whose birthday celebrations we missed last month, was dragged along for the ride, and our duo became a trio. The problem with spontaneous picnics is that the weather doesn't always co-operate. It was just a tiny little bit too cold to be sitting out all afternoon, even this late in August, with just a cotton rug for warmth. As the sun sunk further and further out of sight and the wind kicked up - as winds are loath to do, cheeky little things - none of us wanted to be the first to pike out and make the move inside. Part of this was because of the array of food before us, too good to abandon because of a trifling little wind, but part of it was because of how great it all really was. Spontaneous and unpretentious and totally easy. An afternoon of laughter and advice and confidences shared with exasperated shrugs punctuated by that comforting and even a little therapeutic routine of sharing food. Just some rough-cut bread and butter and jam, some slices of cheese and ham, and a generous slab of ginger cake." HRY

Photos: Rachel Kara

Words: Hannah Rose Yee // Capture the Castle 

cream over cake

Well, would you just take a look at that lady porn! French butter, strawberries, cream, cake, cookies, expensive caramel tea, heart shape cups & saucers, a pink Kitchen Aid, roses...oh my. I can't think of a better way to spend a Thursday afternoon. We were going to embark on a traditional Thursday lunch adventure but after an over excited exchange of text messages sharing recipe and photo inspiration (inducing CAPS and the odd, extra exclaimed "f**ck yeah")  we had a plan of attack and were ready to bake. 

It was nice to find both me and Hannah are kind of a bit I guess you could say, 'freestyle', in the kitchen. Not enough of this? Add a bit of extra that. Run out of milk? Use butter milk. Batter falling like thick ribbons? They're a little thin but I reckon it'll do! 

Our ginger bread cookie dough was a little too soft to use the planned Christmas (in July) cutouts so we settled on the classic and homely fork pressed circle (excuse my technical lingo nt). And the layered rasberry cinnamon cake...that became a single layer cream all over rather type cake when it didn't rise like we (or the recipe) had anticipated. And oh, rasberries were $10 a punnet so strawberries were substituted. 

We were ambitious and ended up producing a 4 course afternoon tea which meant no pretty day light to shoot and learnt two freestylers might need a few more years on them to be clever enough to deviate from the book. But you know what, dam it was a good afternoon - round two coming soon!

Photos: Rachel Kara

getaway

I love being away from home. I love the way time passes without your knowing, without that anxiety or thought or guilt of counting the nonproductive minutes slipping through your fingers. I love the enjoyable things you do and the way you really enjoy doing them.
On a recent South Coast adventure The Berry Tea Shop was one of these things. For me, watching the the redefinition of tea happen over the the past 5 years has been summed up by that (now) chain store with the bright orange bags, slick marketing, black walls, overpriced accessories, upselling employees and too long lines at Christmas. I point this out only so you can imagine how lovely it was to walk into a shop that took me back to what tea always was and should be; warm, inviting, homey, light, humble, comforting and perhaps even a little humorous.
The owner is a seriously lovely chap (pictured) with my favourite kind of British accent who walks around the shop serving and greeting customers with a giant mug of tea in his hand as Tony Bennett plays in the background...yes, I would be all smiles too.
Berry Sourdough had been in mind for lunch but the potential, usual concerns of filling up on desert before a meal fell to the wayside as we shared a piece of Hummingbird cake which floated down a little too easily. On the recommendation of the lovely lady working in the shop (I'm telling you, tea & Berry make people very likeable characters) I sipped a lapsang souchong - a smoky chinese black - with a dash of milk in a beautiful emerald green china set. NB: it is essential for tea & cake to be in your mouth at the same time...ESSENTIAL.
We perused the collection of pots, mugs and cookbooks, made a purchase or two then skipped happily across the road as we realised we had passed enough hours to make it to our next meal period! And then lunch was served....but I should save that for another post.
I really like holidays.

Photos: Rachel Kara