Daffodil Soup London

 This is one of those recipes that makes you frown at first, trying to get your head around the is-it-a-bread question that leads to the savoury scone/muffin or all-in-one-quiche debate. There is no solution except to make it and draw your own conclusion, which will be that it is delicious! After all, how can a combination of bacon, cheese and leek be wrong? This lovely loaf (or you could bake the mix in muffin tins) is a brunch crowd-pleaser, especially served toasted with a fried or poached egg on top. For lunch it's perfect served as a wedge with a fresh green salad and for a lighter evening meal you won't regret serving it with a bowl of soup or chilli.  Serve with good salted butter (and extra cheese on the side for good measure). This makes a 750g loaf or 10-12 muffins Ingredients 1 medium onion, diced 250g smoked streaky bacon, diced 1tbsp light olive oil 1 leek, finely sliced 225g self-raising flour A pinch of salt  1tsp English...

I cook and bake for a living and in recent years, two American imports have dominated the cake and coffee scene. Cupcakes, getting ever larger and more diverse, and brownies, both of which my clients never seem to tire of. I had a bright idea the other day, still to be tested, to combine the two and make a brownie cupcake ... it's probably already been done, but I should still give it a go. Now you can do a lot with a cupcake ... flavourings, icings and, most obviously, decoration. I have even seen a cupcake inside a cupcake, complete with icing ... if you want to investigate some of the myriad incarnations have a look at the Cupcakes take the Cake blog. All of life is there. But it is very hard to pretty up a brownie. That's what it is ... brown. And while most people would be happy with a straightforward, up and down chocolate brownie, there are those that would tinker with it. I would never put icing on a brownie - it's OTT for something so rich, so sweet, so comple...