PicoBlog

Hello friends,

I don’t about you but I’ve had a pretty low key January. It’s usually the month that I’ll get all my admin in order, pay my taxes, work my way through food in the freezer and spend evenings curled up on the sofa. I’ve barely eaten out this month so all the sweet things I’ve consumed have been my own recipe tests or supermarket buys. I’m very much looking forward to a new month though; my diary is already filling up with events, dinners, cookbook promo (eek!) and just going back to being more social.

This week though, I did enjoy a sweet treat; a supermarket fave that goes by the name of Colin the Caterpillar. The mini ones to be precise. If you’re based in the UK, you’ll know exactly which edible insect I’m talking about but for those who are yet to be introduced, Colin is a bit of icon created by Marks and Spencers. He’s essentially a chocolate Swiss roll, filled with chocolate ganache (or is it buttercream, I’m never quite sure?) and covered in a milk chocolate shell with a solid white chocolate face. It’s one of the go-to store bought cakes for birthdays and office celebrations across the country. I make my own birthday cake every year but will still have a Colin the Caterpillar just for the fun of it. The mini versions are especially great not least because no one needs to fight over who gets the chocolate face, but they’re the perfect size to satisfy the craving without needing to buy a whole cake.

Is it the best supermarket chocolate cake you’ll eat? Absolutely not. Is he maybe a touch too sweet and perhaps a little dry? Absolutely yes. But we love him anyway, flaws and all. Are you a Colin fan? Or do you have a different supermarket favourite? I’d love to know!

Anyway, this week for paid subscribers, I’ve got a lovely lemony recipe that you’ll want to make over the weekend. Nothing too fancy, just a good slice of cake.

Benjamina x

To avoid confusion, this isn’t quite a lemon drizzle. In my mind, a lemon drizzle has to be baked as a loaf. I don’t know who made those rules but I’m on board with it. It has to be exceedingly lemony with a pleasant dampness from the all syrup and a thin layer of white icing clinging to the top. This weeks recipe is what I’d simply call a lemon cake. It’s a little bit fluffier with some ground almonds incorporated into the batter for a bit of bite and extra flaked almonds on top that go all toasty in the oven.

The curls of lemon peel are optional but not really. I love the gentle bitterness it adds and when making the syrup, I’ll often throw in a few sprigs of fresh rosemary or thyme for a little fragrance that sits really well with the lemon. It’s never too overpowering but makes things a little more interesting so if you’ve got some herbs lurking in the fridge, throw them in! This feels like a proper Sunday afternoon bake and a good one to usher in the new month.

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