Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cake

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

Before I started my dairy-free diet I didn't really eat many cakes and biscuits, but now I'm eating even less as there aren't that many sweet things that don't contain dairy.

So far I've only tried baking dairy-free rock cakes and some biscuits with relative success (I want to play with the recipes before I write a post). But I've lost a few pounds in weight (that I didn't want to lose) since I started this diet and so I thought it was time to start eating more cake.

I found this recipe on the brilliant Joy The Baker blog. Using avocado in a cake was a totally new concept, but I am supposed to be eating more of them for the good fats they provide, so it seemed like a good idea to try this cake. I really wanted Steve's family to try this cake, so I decided not to make the garish avocado frosting and opted for a simple chocolate butter icing instead. I used Vitalite as it's dairy-free and it's a Vegan Society approved product, so it's still a vegan cake if that's what you're looking for.

TASTE TEST:
Well Steve said this was the best chocolate cake he's ever eaten; so I definitely got the thumbs up from him! But his Mum was less keen on this cake as it was too dense and chewy for her tastes. I think it's because this cake is so incredibly moist; rather than the buttery and light sponge that she is used to making. Another reason for the heavier texture is I added too much flour (see below). I would make this again as it had a good chocolate flavour and it would have been perfect if I'd got the flour right!

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:
I always worry when I bake using recipes that measure in cups, because baking requires you to be very precise and using cups can give you so many variations. My 3 cups of flour came to 465g, which did seem like an awful lot. I've checked on a few websites and 1 cup is between 120-130g; so 3 cups would be between 360-384g. So I definitely overdid the flour! This is because I followed Ina Garten's method of using the cup to scoop flour out of the bag and then leveled off with the back of a knife. But I've now read this is the wrong way to do it! You should spoon the flour into your cup and then level it off. Here is a good article explaining how it should be done. I'm always learning!

I used 1.5 cups of caster sugar instead of 2 cups of granulated sugar, as I always reduce the amount of sugar in baking.

I used 1/4 teaspoon of table salt instead of the 1/2 teaspoon salt.

I used 2 Tablespoons lemon juice instead of the 2 Tablespoons of white vinegar as I didn't have any. I read you can substitute lemon for vinegar in most recipes. You have to include some sort of acid to react with the bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) as this is what will make your cake rise in absence of the eggs. I owe any semblance of chemistry knowledge to Alton Brown!

My avocado wasn't as ripe as I'd like it to have been, so I squashed it through my potato ricer as I thought this would be the best way to mash it up and it did work!

The recipe below is how I made it, you can find the original here.

• Oven temperature: Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C
• Oven shelf: middle
• You will need: two 8-inch sandwich tins, greased and lined with non-stick baking paper

Ingredients:

• 3 cups plain (all-purpose) flour
• 6 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Bournville)
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• 1.5 cups caster sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup soft avocado, well mashed, about 1 medium avocado
• 2 cups water
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice (that's the juice of 1 lemon)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C.  
2. Grease and line your tins. Set aside.
3. Sift together all of the dry ingredients except the sugar.  Set that aside too.
4. Mix all the wet ingredients together in a bowl, including the super mashed avocado.
5. Add sugar into the wet mix and stir.
6. Mix the wet with the dry all at once, and beat with a whisk (by hand) until smooth.
7. Pour batter into a greased cake tins. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. To ensure even baking, turn your cakes after half the cooking time has elapsed.
8. Let cakes cool in pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto cooling racks to cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Butter Icing (an adaptation of a recipe from The Great British Bake Off Book):

• 125g Vitalite
• 390g icing sugar
• 4 Tablespoon milk (I used Rice Dream rice milk to make it dairy-free)
• 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder (I used Bournville)

1. Put the Vitalite in a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until paler in colour and very creamy.
2. Sift the icing sugar in the bowl.
3. Add the rice milk and cocoa and beat in with a spatula to get all the icing sugar incorporated before switching to the electric mixer until very smooth and thick.

This makes loads of icing and I had quite a bit leftover. 

Booja-Booja Dairy Free Chocolate Truffles

Booja-Booja Espresso Chocolate Truffles - The Artist's Collection

Steve's sister was given these truffles from a PR company and she brought them over at Christmas as she didn't want them. Since I've been on my dairy free diet I haven't been eating many cakes, biscuits and sweets. It hasn't been a problem for me as I don't have a particularly sweet tooth, but it was nice to have an alternative to the Green & Black's chocolate that I've been eating. Plus I loved the box and it will be handy to keep my jewellery in it.

I was intrigued to try these truffles as they are dairy free and I didn't think it was possible to make truffles without dairy, as Steve and I made them during our stay at the Aviator Hotel and it was a simple mix of melted chocolate and double cream.

For some reason the ingredients for these espresso truffles aren't listed on the Booja-Booja website so I've copied them from the label on the box:
Chocolate (cocoa solids 55%, cane sugar, emulsifier: soya lecithin, vanilla), Coconut Oil, Water, Coffee 5%, Agave Syrup, Cocoa Powder.

Truffles aren't my favourite chocolates so I'm not an expert, but these were quite nice. I don't think they were as creamy as traditionally made truffles, but they were very close in texture. The chocolate flavour was deep and rich and the espresso provided just the right amount of coffee.

I personally wouldn't buy these for myself as they are very expensive. These truffles came in a beautiful handmade wooden box, so they retail for around £23. A standard box is around £7 which is still a lot of money for 16 chocolates, even if they are handmade.


I thought it would be a good idea to try making a hot chocolate from the truffles and I actually preferred consuming them this way. 

To make one serving:
I heated 200ml of Rice Dream (rice milk) in the microwave for 1 min 45 seconds and then stirred in 2 of the truffles until they melted and then added half a teaspoon of vanilla sugar. This produced a very chocolately hot chocolate and it's a good way for me to eat more calories as I've lost so much weight since going dairy free!
200ml Rice Dream = 94kcal
2 truffles = 122kcal
1/2 teaspoon sugar = 8kcal
Total calories = 224

Elimination diet starts today!

Steve and I went away to Lifehouse Spa over the weekend (it was a complimentary stay to make up for the bad experience we had there before) so I didn't want to start my diet until today, otherwise I would have missed out on lots of nice food!

I had to do a pulse test before eliminating dairy from my diet for a month. So this morning, before I had eaten anything, I took my resting pulse. This means counting the number of beats that occur in 1 minute.

I counted 67 beats.

Then I waited 10 minutes before drinking a glass of semi-skimmed milk (I could of eaten some cheese instead but I couldn't stomach eating cheese for breakfast!). Then I took my pulse rate again 10 minutes after drinking the milk.

I counted 66 beats.

Apparently if my body is intolerant to dairy then I should expect my pulse rate to increase. So I waited another 10 minutes and counted again.

I counted 67 beats.

Hmmm, not very supportive evidence that I am dairy intolerant. But I am committed to trying this elimination diet to see if I can get rid of my eczema.

So I tried rice milk made by Rice Dream for the first time in my tea. I tasted some of the rice milk on its own first and to me it just tasted like watered down milk and that's how it looked as well. When I used it in my tea I think I added about double the amount of normal milk, but I think this was because the rice milk didn't make the tea change colour as drastically as normal milk. So I was trying to match the colour as my normal brew, but I think you would have to add a lot of rice milk to get the same shade. I like my tea pretty strong and I think the rice milk actually allowed me to taste the tea a lot better as it wasn't as overpowering as normal milk. So I actually enjoyed my first lactose free cuppa!

So I'm feeling very positive about this new diet as there are lots of substitute dairy products available. If I didn't like the Rice Dream then I was going to try Lacto Free as their milk apparently tastes exactly the same as normal milk but the lactose has been removed. There's quite a lot of useful information on their website and tips on how to do an elimination diet as well.

I'm not expecting to see the effects of my diet on my eczema for a couple of weeks as it takes this amount of time to purge the body of dairy. I am also aiming to eat more oily fish, olive oil and avocados to boost the oils in my skin, so we shall see!

Eczema condition:-
Hands - on middle, ring and little fingers of both hands and a big arc between middle and little finger on the palm of my left hand. Skin is mainly very dry, not itchy and not cracked or sore.
Body - a small patch on the left side of my waist. Skin is itchy.

You are what you eat!

Today I went to see a nutritionist. It's something I've been meaning to do for a very long time, but I've kept putting it off for various reasons. But my eczema on my hands was getting worse and I was getting increasingly more and more tired, so it was time I did something about it. Also, I'd been watching The Food Hospital series on Channel 4 and it really spurred me on to try and treat my ailments through food.

Before my consultation I had to complete a questionnaire which included what symptoms I had, a short food diary and my general health and wellbeing. It was actually quite difficult to answer some of the questions as you have to be very honest. For example, I didn't tick the box which said I was an irritable person, but Steve said that was definitely a box I should tick! Charming!

The consultation lasted about 1.5 hours and I came away having learned a lot. I had already suspected that my blood sugar levels were all over the place and I now have to make sure I am eating a lot more regularly to make sure my energy levels remain constant, rather than peaks and troughs.

A surprisingly diagnosis was my eczema and tiredness might be caused by a dairy intolerance. My parents are Chinese and it's widely believed that because milk is not regularly drunk in China this has led to a lactose intolerance. So even though I was born in the UK and brought up on a mixed Western/Eastern diet, my genes are saying that dairy is not good for me.

So I need to do an elimination test, which means cutting out all dairy for 4 weeks. This will mean trying soya and rice milk for the first time! Apparently it takes 3 weeks to get accustomed to the taste of soya milk, so this will be interesting! When I think about what I have to cut out of my diet (milk, cheese, butter, ice cream, yoghurts) I don't think it's too bad and it could be worse having to give up something like wheat or my real weakness potatoes!

I am also severely lacking in B-vitamins so I need to get a good quality B-vitamin complex supplement.

I also need to increase my intake of fruit and vegetables, eating at least 3 different types of vegetables at dinnertime. This won't be difficult as I really enjoy eating veggies and it will force me to be a bit more adventurous and try new things to stop getting bored. More oily fish and olive oil will also help with the omega oils for my skin.

So, I thought I would blog about my new diet and it will be good for me to keep a record of my progress. But the diet is going to start on Monday as Steve and I have a nice foodie weekend planned so I don't want to miss out!

Dining dangerously at Westfield, Stratford

Steve and I visited the new Westfield at Stratford after our stay at Lifehouse Spa. It was a completely spontaneous decision as our train home from Essex stopped at Stratford and we thought we could stay in the new Premier Inn hotel beside the shopping centre and do a bit of shopping.

We'd been to a Westfield shopping centre in San Francisco and the food there was amazing so we were hoping for more of the same thing over in the UK. We'd arrived shortly before dinner time and as it was the opening week everywhere was completely packed so there were long queues for all the restaurants like TGI Fridays, Wagamamas, Las Iguanas and Giraffe. So we decided to go to the fast food part where there was loads of choice - literally food from around the World.

We found a great Thai place called Rosa's. I had the Black Pepper Beef noodles and it was fantastic. The meat was incredibly soft and tender and there was just enough pepper to give this dish a nice kick.

Steve had a Beef Massaman curry which he liked but it was too sweet for me. We also had the Chicken Satay which was nice but a bit cold because it had been sitting on the counter for a little while. The kitchen cooked everything fresh and they couldn't really keep up with the orders.

We'd just started our meal when the smoke/fire alarm went off and an announcement kept repeating that we should evacuate the area, but I didn't want to leave our food! So we stayed put as none of the staff was telling anyone to leave. I couldn't see any smoke or smell any fire so I thought it was just one of the kitchens having a bit of an issue with a burnt pan. It did make me realise it takes quite a bad situation for me to abandon my dinner! Eventually the alarm stopped and everyone went back to their food, but then it kept going off again as the reset system was messed up so the smoke screens kept coming down and going up again into the ceiling. It certainly made dining rather interesting!

For lunch the next day we went to Tortilla Mexican Grill for burritos. Steve had his with steak and I had mine with braised pork which was so tasty and tender. You can get it filled with all different fillings and I chose mexican rice, onions, peppers, cheese, sour cream, lettuce and some hot sauce from the bottle as I didn't fancy any of the runny salsas on offer (definitely get the hot sauce - Steve didn't see it so didn't ask for it and regretted it!). As you can see they really pack a lot in there and this was the best burrito I've ever had (OK I haven't had many, but the last one I had was at the Ferry Building in San Francisco and it was awful!). We had medium burritos and they were definitely big enough for lunch.

Unfortunately neither of these places are at the Westfield in Shepherd's Bush which is closer to where we live. Sigh. But they have other branches dotted around London so they are definitely places we would visit again.

Oh yeah, the shopping at Westfield isn't too shabby either - got myself some new trainers, a snuggly hoody and a new tee!

First taste of home-grown sweetcorn!

I decided to take the plunge and pick a cob today. This is the one I checked for ripeness the other day and you can now see how much the top of the cob is undeveloped. After I'd fully opened it up and squeezed one of the kernels closer to the base of the cob and the liquid that emerged was milky.

I boiled it for 3 minutes and it was lovely and sweet. However the kernels were quite small. They look quite plump but they are actually quite shallow so when you bite into it you don't get a satisfying amount of corn to munch on. But I'm still really pleased that I've managed to grow a new vegetable and it was edible! Most of my corn plants have double cobs, so we've still got a few more to enjoy!

you can read more about growing sweetcorn here

Blackberry & Apple Loaf

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

I've made this cake before but I didn't write a post, however it turned out so well again this time that I thought it deserved a mention. I really like this cake because it's so easy to make - you don't need to cream the butter and sugar together, just rub them together with the flour like when making a crumble. It's also lovely and moist but it has a crunchy topping for a great texture contrast.

Also this time I used blackberries that Steve and I picked from our local hedgerows, so that made it a bit more special. I'd frozen the berries and it worked just as well as the first time I'd made the cake. To freeze berries is incredibly easy - just wash the fruit and drain really well. Then I cover large baking trays with cling film to stop the berries from sticking to the trays and then just pop them in the freezer for about an hour or until they're hard and then pop them into freezer bags. The berries can be used straight from the freezer in this cake.

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:
The recipe is from BBC Good Food, but I tweaked it slightly by using soft brown sugar instead of muscovado and using 75g less sugar as I always reduce sugar in cake recipes. The apple gives it enough sweetness and makes the cake lovely and moist.

I also used a silicone loaf pan which is slightly wider so my cake wasn't as deep, so it cooked more quickly.

you can find the original recipe here

• Oven temperature: Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C
• Oven shelf: middle
• You will need: a 1.7 litre loaf tin 

• 250g self-raising flour
• 175g butter (I used Stork, at room temperature)
• 100g soft brown sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 2 rounded tbsp demerara sugar
• 1 small Gala apple, (not cored or peeled)
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 orange, finely grated zest
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 225g blackberries (fresh or frozen)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C. Butter and line the bottom of a 1.7 litre loaf tin (no need to do this if using silicone). In a large bowl, rub the flour, butter and brown sugar together with your fingers to make fine crumbs. Measure out 5 level tbsp of this mixture into a small bowl for the topping, and mix into it the cinnamon and demerara sugar. Set aside.
2. Coarsely grate the apple down to the core and mix in with the eggs and the zest. Stir the baking powder into the rubbed-in mixture in the large bowl, then quickly and lightly stir in the egg mixture until it drops lightly from the spoon. Don't overmix.
3. Gently fold in three quarters of the berries with a metal spoon, trying not to break them up. Spoon into the tin and level. Scatter the rest of the berries on top. Sprinkle over the topping and bake for 50 minutes and then cover loosely with foil and bake for a further 30 minutes. When done the cake will feel firm, but test with a skewer.
4. Leave in the tin for 30 minutes before turning out, then cool on a wire rack. Peel off the paper before cutting. Will keep wrapped in foil or in a tin for up to 2 days.

Growing chillies, tomatoes and peppers

My chillies have actually done quite well this year and I've had a few that have turned red despite the poor summer. The secret of my success? It's because these plants were grown last year and I overwintered them. Before I read about overwintering I had always assumed chilli plants had to be thrown away after the fruits were harvested. But following the advice on the Chilli King website shows that the plants can produce again after a sleep through the winter. I admit that I cut a few corners with my overwintering process, in that I didn't put the plants in new compost. I simply pruned the plant to 10-15cm of the main stem.

I will try overwintering these plants again this year, however I think I will give them some fresh compost as I think they need a boost of nutrients. The stems are starting to look quite woody and I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not. I'm looking at it as a positive sign that the plant is just becoming more mature and since there appears to be new growth I'm not going to worry too much.

you can read about my chilli growing from last year here

Now onto peppers. These are called Sweet Mohawk Peppers and they're supposed to be small and bright orange. I bought this as a small plant from the garden centre so I expected them to have enough time to grow and ripen, but there is absolutely no sign of even a slight orange tinge to them yet! I find it strange because these peppers have been in the same mini greenhouse (the plastic type) as my chillies and they have already started to turn colour. I'm really not that keen on green peppers, so I'm really hoping these will turn orange! I don't think I'll bother trying to grow peppers in the future as we just don't have enough sun in the UK!

Finally these are my tomatoes. This is the first time I've tried a bush variety - these are Tumbling Toms. I love that the bush variety needs very little attention in that you don't need to pinch out the sideshoots like you do with the cordon variety. My tomatoes in the past have grown out of control because I haven't been prudent enough in my pruning and they have needed lots of support with canes. This bush variety has grown quite happily in a large pot, but unfortunately a lot of the fruits have turned red before they have grown to a decent size. They are still rather tasty and I will definitely grow these again next year.

Sweetcorn update!

The weather has definitely been on the Autumnal side lately, but today was actually really warm and lovely. So I decided to check on my sweetcorn to see if it was ready for eating.

Well the silks have now turned brown, which is apparently a good indicator of ripeness, so I had a little peak underneath the husks to see if my corn was ready yet.

Unfortunately it was still looking a bit undeveloped and pale - not the glorious burst of yellow sunshine I was expecting as I unwrapped my little maize parcel. When I squeezed one of the kernels the liquid that came out wasn't milky, so I wrapped this cob back up to be consumed another day.

read more about growing sweetcorn here

 

I've been growing carrots in the space around the corn in my raised bed and I decided to pull up the last remaining ones to give the corn all the resources it might need to finish ripening.

I was quite surprised how many carrots were actually left in the bed and how big some of them had grown! These were Chantenay carrots and I bought them as seedlings from Chessington Garden Centre (along with spring onion and leek seedlings as they were on offer 3 for £10) because I haven't had much luck growing carrots from seed.

The first few carrots I pulled out a few weeks ago were a disappointing size and were only good for using in a stir fry as a "carrot gesture". But these ones I harvested today were of a decent golf ball size. I'm pretty sure it's because they had longer in the ground, but also they had more space to grow after I'd pulled the first ones out. When I planted the seedlings they were in little clusters of 3 or 4 and I didn't pull them apart to space them out as I thought I would damage them too much. I also didn't thin them out when they were growing as I didn't want to encourage carrot root fly. As it happened my carrots didn't suffer from that pesky pest and I think growing spring onions in the same raised bed helped as the oniony smell confuses them. The only problem I had with my carrots was ants and aphids, which is what happened to me last year. My carrots were covered in ants and these other tiny white bugs which I initially thought were ant eggs. A search on Google revealed the white bugs were actually aphids and according to wikipedia:

Some species of ants "farm" aphids, protecting them on the plants they eat, eating the honeydew that the aphids release from the terminations of their alimentary canals.

So I waged war on the ants and grabbed an out of date jar of cayenne pepper and generously sprinkled it all over the carrots - boy did those ants run! Anyway, my carrots seemed to be fine after that and I will enjoy eating the fruits of my labour later this evening.

Anniversary Dinner at Roast

Yesterday Steve and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary of the day we met. I took him to Roast in Borough Market for dinner as I'd bought a voucher from Toptable for £20 which entitled me to £40 of food. I might sound like a bit of a cheapskate using a voucher for our special dinner, but Roast isn't a cheap place to eat so I think it's justified!

I ordered the Slow roast Wicks Manor pork belly with mashed potatoes and Bramley apple sauce which is on the main menu as I'd read good reviews of it online by other diners.

Whilst Steve ordered Roast rib of Welsh Black beef with Yorkshire pudding, horseradish and Colman’s English mustard which is from the Daily Special menu. Of course, main courses don't come with any vegetables, so we ordered carrots and creamed leeks, which disappointingly lacked any creaminess.

Steve's main came with roast potatoes which he declared as being "the best roast potatoes" he's ever eaten. Normally he only has one roast potato when his Mum cooks Sunday dinner, but he ate all of these apart from one which he very kindly let me try as I am a massive potato lover!

We did enjoy our main courses, but I wouldn't say the food was incredible. The crackling on my pork wasn't crispy so I had a tough time cutting through it, even after I requested steak knives to replace the poor excuse of a knife they provided us with (definitely a faux pas of the waiting staff).

Apart from the bitter herb stuffed inside my pork, I thought it all tasted rather bland and I hate to say it, but I reached for the salt and pepper grinders more than once.

I needed a long break after my main course before ordering dessert as the portions were generous. I ordered the Pear, raspberry and almond crumble with custard. Again I was a bit disappointed as the crumble wasn't particularly crunchy and the fruit wasn't cooked enough for my liking. I actually prefer my own crumble recipe! Also, the custard was too runny, so instead of adding a delicious comfort blanket to my crumble it drowned it in a watery crème Anglaise mess.

 

Steve ordered the Chocolate banoffee pudding with Devonshire clotted cream, which he thought was going to be a chocolately version of a banoffee pie, but it was in fact more like a chocolate fondant with just a hint of banana.

Overall we had a nice meal but I don't think I'd visit Roast again for lunch or dinner. One reason is the price and another is the menu is rather limited and not that many things appealed to me (to be honest the price of certain things does make them a lot less appealing!).

I was worried that the service was going to be appalling as so many online reviews had complained about this, but our waiters were absolutely fine and I didn't mind paying the 12.5% service charge whacked on top of my bill.

Grow your own Sweetcorn 2011

Well it's certainly been a long time since I have posted anything on my blog! I haven't had a lot of time since I began working full time in London, so cooking and blogging about it has definitely taken a backseat. But I have still made time for some vegetable gardening so I thought it was about time I wrote about it! I also now have a smartphone, so taking photos and posting should be a bit easier and less time consuming!

This is the first time I've tried growing sweetcorn and it's going pretty well I think as it's blocking the view out of the kitchen window! I grew these plants from seed. They were an online freebie so I didn't get to choose the variety but they are called "Extra tender and sweet F1 hybrid" which sounds promising. They were easy to grow from seed: I just put them in 3inch pots filled with seed compost, watered, covered with cling film and left them in my mini greenhouse.

They sprouted really quickly and I put the seedlings into the raised bed when they were about 6inches tall. I read that you have to plant them in blocks so that they can pollinate properly, so I squeezed 8 plants into my 50cm x 1metre raised bed. I've got spring onions, carrots and dwarf beans growing in the spaces in between the sweetcorn and I don't think they've been competing too much for space or nutrients. I started off by feeding everything Miracle Gro, but then I read sweetcorn likes tomato feed so I switched to a weekly feed of that instead.

This is one of the cobs emerging a couple of weeks ago. I found it amazing how it suddenly appeared in the side of the trunk of the main plant. Each plant has 2 cobs growing so we will be eating quite a lot of sweetcorn quite soon!

Apparently they are ready to eat when the silks have turned dark brown and when you pierce a nice plump kernel a milky liquid is released.

Grow your own Chillies 2010

PLANT: ‘Hungarian Hot Wax’ Chilli Pepper
HEAT: mild to medium (10,000 Scoville)

This is a popular`Yellow Wax' type, originating from Hungary and is sometimes known as the Banana Chilli. Fruits start out a pale yellow then turn orange and red at maturity. The smooth and waxy peppers grow 5 to 8-inches long and 1 to 2-inches wide. Known for being prolific and easy to grow.

The Serrano chillies I tried to grow last year were a disaster, but I did plant them very late and the seeds weren’t brilliant to begin with. I’m quite confident I will get a good yield from these Hungarian Hot Wax chillies as I’ve started them early. I’m hoping I’ll have enough to dry and store – fingers crossed they won’t be as hot as the Apache chillies I grew in 2008 as they blew our heads off!

Sow under cover:	February - April	1st Mar
Sow direct:
Germination time:	10-21 days	21st Mar
Plant out:	Before the end of June.	26th May / 5th June
Harvest:	June-October	15th July
Time from seed to plate:	70 days

SOW: Sow as early as possible as they can take a long time to germinate and have a long growing season. Don’t start seeds off after April as it’s too late. Sow in small pots of Jiffy 7’s. The ideal temperature for germination is 18-21°C so a windowsill above a radiator is ideal. The plastic bag/pot method is the best way to germinate seeds.

GROW: When seedlings develop leaves that are large enough to handle, prick them out into individual 6-9cm (2.5-3.5in) pots. A few weeks later when the plants are 8-10cm (3.25-4in) tall, transfer to larger 21-23cm (8-9in) pots, growing bags or directly into the ground before the end of June.

CARE: Water regularly. As soon as fruits begin to set, feed with a general fertilizer or liquid tomato feed every 2 weeks. Stake for support and limit height by pinching out growing tip.

HARVEST: Pick them at their peak – usually September, depending on how good the Summer has been!

March 15th:

None of the seeds that I planted in my windowsill propagator have germinated yet and I got impatient so I decided to try and sprout some more using a different method. This is a slightly amended version of the plastic bag method that I used last year.

I’d kept a clear plastic pot with a lid (from some foodstuff that I can’t remember what it was!) and I thought it would be perfect because I can easily remove the lid if I need to moisten the tissue later.

I just got one sheet of kitchen towel and made it wet, then I placed my seeds on the wet towel and folded it in half. Then I put the towel inside the pot and put the lid on. I’ve put the pot right next to the radiator as the seeds need a high temperature to germinate. Fingers crossed this will work and then I will transplant the seedlings.

March 21st:

Hurrah! One of the 6 seeds I planted in the propagator has finally sprouted! I was beginning to lose all hope of ever having any chillies to harvest this year!
3 of the seeds I put into my plastic pot have also germinated, so I removed 3 of the inactive seeds from the propagator and replaced them with these sprouters. Hopefully they’ll make more progress and I’ll have a few chilli plants to nurture.

March 28th:

3 more of the seeds I put in the plastic pot germinated, so I put these into the propagator as well and now I have lots of seedlings that are doing very well. I must remember next year to use the plastic pot method as the success rate was almost 100% compared to putting the seeds straight into the soil





I can’t really use the lid of my propagator anymore as some of the other seedlings are too tall, so I’ve put the plastic pot over the chilli seedlings to keep them warm and I think it’s doing a good job.

APRIL 6TH:

The seedlings are large enough to handle so I’ve put them into 7.5cm pots. They were still delicate and I broke one, but I expected to lose some and that’s why I planted so many seeds to begin with.






The seedlings didn’t really like being transplanted as it was quite a windy day and I think they got a bit of a shock and just decided to keel over. But after a little drink of water and back in the comfort of the warm windowsill, they perked up.

APRIL 15TH:

My chilli seedlings are doing really well, so I’m absolutely chuffed as last year my chilli plants were pathetic! I now know that I planted the seeds way too late last year, so that’s why I started them ASAP this time.

This is the biggest seedling at 5cm tall and it’s developing its 5th and 6th leaves now. The other seedlings are 3cm tall and now have 4 leaves.

APRIL 18TH:

I bought some special feed for my chilli plants when we visited Wisley in March. It’s called Chilli Focus and it cost £1.95 for a 100ml bottle. I’d actually forgotten I bought it until today, but the instructions say to use on ‘young plants – from seedlings onwards’ so I thought now was the perfect time to start.

At the seedling stage you need to use 5ml of feed per litre of water (so I’ve used my spray bottle as that’s a 1 litre bottle) and to feed plants weekly. I only used about 500ml as the 6 seedlings I’ve got are still in small pots and I didn’t want to drown them. I’ll use the rest of the diluted feed next week.

The instructions also say at the ‘onset of flowering – first sign of blossom’ you can increase the feed to 10ml per litre of water and to feed weekly.

This feed is apparently a precise formulation for optimal performance of chillies. After the terrible yield I got last year, I’m taking no chances with my chillies this time! There is more information on the Growth Technology website and they also do other products.

MAY 1ST:

My chillies are looking really healthy and have grown quite a lot in the last couple of weeks. I think the feed has helped as the growth rate is quite fast:
On April 26th the largest seedling was 8cm tall and the smaller ones were 5cm tall. Today the largest is 10cm and the smaller ones are 6cm. So that’s between 1-2cm taller in just under a week.

I’ll transplant all the seedlings into bigger pots once the smaller ones reach 8-10cm.

MAY 26th:

I’ve been so busy lately that it took me a while to get around to re-potting my chillies and so far I’ve only had time to do the biggest one. It’s grown quite a lot in the last few weeks as you can see from the photo. Sam was hovering around me whilst I was gardening and got into the picture, which is actually quite a good indication of how big the chilli plant has grown.

I didn’t manage to plant it very straight in the pot, but it seems to be doing OK as buds are actually starting to develop so it’s well on its way to producing fruit!

I didn’t bother to harden off the plant when I re-potted it, I just covered it with fleece and left it outside.

I really need to get my other chilli plants re-potted as they’re almost as big as this one. I just need to get myself some more compost and more time to do it!

5th june:

I finally managed to re-pot all my other chilli plants. Since the other one survived without being hardened off, I just kept this lot covered with a fleece for about a week and there haven’t been any problems…







… apart from whatever is having a good old munch on all the leaves! I did find a  tiny little snail on one of the leaves, but I can’t believe that he alone has done this much damage to so many of my plants as it’s not just the chillies that have fallen victim. Still, it hasn’t stopped them from producing flowers/fruit, so I’m not too worried.

I’m still feeding them roughly once a week with the special chilli feed I bought.

19th june:

Despite the leaves getting eaten to shreds, the chilli plants are doing pretty well and are starting to produce fruit!

I’ve got 6 plants and hopefully I’ll have a good harvest this year. Apparently you can freeze chillies, so if I have loads then I’m going to try this.

3rd july:

I was shocked to see how big the chillies have grown after returning from a week’s holiday! They’re roughly 3 inches long, but I’ve only got one chilli this size on a couple of plants so far.

I’ll probably pick them when they’re still green as this will hopefully encourage them to produce more fruit.

15th July:

I did pick 4 chillies when they were still green and I’ve used 2 in my meals. The first one was in a pasta dish and I’d removed the seeds, so it wasn’t hot at all. The second one I used in a stir fry and I left the seeds in and it was the perfect heat. I’ve got lots more chillies growing so I’m really pleased with my crop so far. I’ve run out of the chilli feed so I’ll need to get some more. I’m pretty confident it has helped my plants!

31st July:

I ran out of the Chilli Focus feed, so I started feeding my chilli plants with liquid tomato feed instead, which is recommended (I actually compared a chilli feed with a tomato feed in a shop and they basically have the same composition). I’ve been feeding them weekly but other than watering them when it’s been dry, I’ve pretty much left them to their own devices. So I was shocked when I checked on them and saw how huge some of them had grown! I’ve had a really good harvest so far having picked about 15 green chillies and there are still loads more growing. I’ll be giving some to my family when I see them and I’ll be freezing some too. Apparently you just put them into a freezer bag (must be good quality to prevent freezer burn, or even better to double-bag them) and then they can be used from frozen, especially if you chop them up before freezing.

28th August:

A few of my chillies started to get black marks on them, so I posted a question on the Chilli Lovers Group on UK Veg Gardeners asking if this was normal. I was informed that some chillies do turn black before they change to red. So I kept them on the plant to see what happened…

28th September:

…and it looks like my chillies shouldn’t turn black before they turn red! This chilli is on a plant that I brought indoors to overwinter as I read on the Chilli King website that this is possible. The chilli had started to turn red just before I brought the plant indoors and now it’s been in a nice warm room on the windowsill for a few days it is really starting to change colour even more.
So there is obviously something wrong with the ones that have black spots on them – I just wish I knew what it was!
Sorry for the awful photo, I was too goddamn lazy to get out my SLR and just grabbed my point-and-shoot, which does not perform well in low light!

23rd October:

A few weeks ago I decided to bring 2 of my other chilli plants indoors as the fruits were starting to turn red. The ones on the far right of the picture are from the first plant I brought indoors and now they are a gorgeous deep red colour. I’ve used one in my cooking and the flavour was so much nicer than when they were green in my opinion – a bit like how ordinary peppers lose their bitterness when they’re not green anymore.

The fruits on the other 2 plants are catching up so I’ll soon have quite a few nice red chillies! I’m going to chop up and freeze the ripest fruit today and then I’ll cut the stem down to overwinter the plant.

Grow your own Uchiki Kuri Squash 2010

PLANT: ‘Uchiki Kuri’ Squash (Red Kuri)

A Japanese Hubbard-type squash that has very attractive orange-red skin. The yellow and creamy flesh is firm, very sweet and nutty.  A very productive variety producing fruits of around 1.5kg (2-3 lbs) about 18x18cm in size that store well into winter.


I thought this variety of squash looked really sweet and I’ve read on some other blogs that it’s quite easy to grow. When I saw the blue seeds in the packet I was a bit concerned, but I’ve read that these seeds have been specially treated and coated with a fungicide to prevent wilting and other fungal problems during germination. So fingers crossed I’ll have more luck with these than last year’s butternuts.

 

Sow under cover:	March - May	1st Mar
Germination time:	7-10 days	10th Mar
Plant out:	June - July
Harvest:	October - November	28th Aug and 11th Sept
Time from seed to plate:	100 days

 

SOW: Sow seeds on their side to prevent rotting in 8cm pots full of seed compost at a depth of 2.5cm. Cover the pots and keep them at a temperature of 15-18°C.

GROW: Plant out when plants have grown 4 leaves, spacing them at least 1 metre apart as they will grow long trailing sideshoots.

CARE: Water regularly and feed with a general liquid fertiliser. When green fruits begin to swell remove some of the leaves to expose them to the sun. You can tie the sideshoots to canes to keep them neat and they can be trained up over fences, trellises or wigwams. You may need to pollinate by hand if the insects aren’t doing their job properly!

HARVEST: Leave to ripen for as long as possible. Cut each fruit from the plant with the stalk still intact.

 

I’ve sowed my seeds in small pots filled with seed compost, then I put them inside a clear plastic bag to maintain moisture.

I’ll be growing my squash in 14 litre Tubtrugs which measure 33cm wide and 23cm tall.

Useful websites:
http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/Premier-Seeds-Direct/Squash-and-Pumpkin-Instructions.html_

March 13th:

Unfortunately I haven’t been at home all week so I missed my squash sprouting, but Steve told me my squash had sprouted sometime in the middle of the week. The two on the right of the photo are the Uchiki Kuri and they have really leaned over towards the light as I haven’t been around to turn the pots. Hopefully they’ll straighten up a bit! They’re quite a bit taller than the butternut squash already, so it will be interesting to compare the growth rate between these two varieties of squash.

March 21st:

The Uchiki squash did straighten themselves out as I’ve been turning them quite regularly. Like the butternuts they’re starting to develop their second set of leaves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

APRIL 6TH:

The seedlings look like they’re ready to plant out as they’ve got 4 leaves. But it’s still cold outside, so I think I’ll leave them inside for a bit longer. I’ve had to use a bamboo skewer to support the one on the right as it was falling over. I think this was also due to a lack of water as it did manage to stand up straight after I gave them a little drink.

 

 

 

 

 

APRIL 15TH:

The Uchiki Kuri seeds are growing very rapidly. The bigger one is 24cm tall x 24cm wide (how far the leaves stretch out) and the smaller one is 16cm x 16cm. They’re much bigger than the butternut seedlings and they don’t stand up without the support of the bamboo skewers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

APRIL 27TH:

I know I’m a bit early, but I decided to plant my Uchiki Kuri squash out in the raised bed today as they’re getting a bit too big for their pots. One is 30cm tall and the other is 20cm. I read a great guide on Seed to Plate about growing this type of squash and it said you can grow them up canes. I’ve made a very rough teepee out of 4 canes and planted the 2 squash plants next to them, spaced about 30cm apart and I mounded up the soil. The construction of the teepee is a little bit crude at the moment as I might add some more canes, depending on how the squash grow. I’ll add some string around the canes to give the tendrils something to grab onto later. I’ve covered the empty space in the bed with some chicken wire to deter anything digging up the soil. I’ll cover the squash with a fleece during the night for protection.

 

3rd July:

Well I didn’t realise that I hadn’t posted any updates on my squash since April! That is pretty bad!

 

As you can see from the photo, it has grown rather a lot in just over a month. This sprawling mass of leaves is what I returned to after a week’s holiday! I cut back a lot of the leaves so that the flowers/fruit were more exposed for pollination and exposure to the sun. The trailing leaves on the ground are an easy way for slugs/snails to get into the raised bed, which is what has been eating my mange tout pea plants!

 

Here’s a photo after I’ve got busy with the secateurs – quite a difference!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s one of the squash that’s growing with the flower still attached. I’ve learned from last year not to get too excited at this early stage because the fruit can easily be lost due to them not being pollinated properly. So I will just have to keep my fingers crossed that this year will be better.

 

 

 

6th July:

My worst fears have come true – brown dead squash! I’m only guessing it was due to poor pollination because maybe the bees couldn’t get to the flowers underneath all those leaves before I cut them. So I quickly hand pollinated the other squash that have started to grow. I’ll be so gutted if I don’t get any squash this year!

 

 

 

 

13th July:

The squash that I hand pollinated are so far doing very well and are growing bigger! I’m not completely convinced this was the reason the others turned brown and died, as I think that I might have been overwatering my squash. Last week when it was incredibly hot, I was watering everyday, even though the soil didn’t look dry. I’d taken the advice that “squash are thirsty plants” too seriously and completely overdid it by giving them a drink when they didn’t need it. Luckily Steve’s Mum suggested I give them a break, so I haven’t watered them at all over the last few days. It rained a bit today, but I don’t think it will have done them any harm, in fact a bit of rainwater is good for plants.

 

I did a bit of research online today and some other people agree that overwatering can kill off the fruit. So I will be more careful in future and only water every few days, even when the weather is really hot.

 

31st July:

Well the squash that I hand pollinated died. So I’m still not sure if it was bad pollination or the watering that killed it.

 

So I started giving the plants a feed of Miracle Gro and only watered every few days. Then I noticed one of the tentacles had attached itself to the trellis on the wall and this squash had started growing. I’m pretty excited as it’s nearly the size of my fist now! I’ve got a couple more which are slightly smaller than this one, so I’m hoping that the Miracle Gro is what has made the difference and that they don’t die on me!

 

15th August:

I switched from using Miracle Gro to tomato feed once a week and I now have two squashes that are doing extremely well. The one I photographed on 31st July has grown much bigger and has changed to a very pleasing orange colour. I am looking forward to when they change to a red colour, as this will be a good indication that they are ready for harvesting.

 

 

I have another one which is even bigger than this one, hiding underneath a lot of leaves (so it’s a bit difficult to photograph). This contradicts my previous belief that squash need a lot of direct sunlight to grow. I am amazed at how the stems can manage to hold the heavy weight of the squash.

 

It has rained an awful lot over the last few days, which is great for the garden, but I’m hoping we will get enough sunshine for my two squash to finish ripening as I don’t have any others to look forward to!

 

28th August:

This is the larger of my 2 surviving squash. But I got a bit snipper-happy with my secateurs and whilst I was pruning a lot of the dead leaves/vines, I managed to cut this off the plant by accident! It looks quite ripe, but I think it needs to spend some more time in the sun to harden the skin. The problem is it’s been raining non-stop for the past week, so it’s not going to get much sun. I’ve left a long stalk on it and rested it on some wire to stop it sitting in the wet soil. I’m not sure if it will be OK left outside overnight – or should I bring it indoors? My poor squash needs an owner who knows what it’s doing!

 

11th September:

Well the squash I accidentally cut from the plant has survived being left outdoors for 2 weeks. It has been raining quite heavily, but it’s not been too cold at night and we have had some warm sunny days.

 

So I decided to cut the other squash as I wanted the space in the raised bed to put one of my Purple Sprouting Broccoli plants in its place, as it’s getting a bit big for its pot/trug.

 

As you can see there’s quite a difference in size between my 2 squashes! I’m really looking forward to tasting them as I’ve never eaten this variety of squash before.

 

 

 

 

18th September:

Today I cooked the large squash. Just out of interest I weighed them both before I started preparing it. The large one was 1.1kg and the smaller one was 863g.

 

When I cut it open, it looked like a squash should with a nice uniform colour and the seeds inside fully developed, so I assumed it was properly ripe. I prepared it as I do butternut squash, by scooping out the seeds and peeling it. Then I roasted half with sage and rosemary picked from the garden, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. The other half I simmered in stock for my risotto as per this recipe I’ve made before. I wasn’t too keen on the roasted squash at first as the texture was a bit like undercooked potato (but Steve said it was OK) and the flavour was quite nutty which is what this variety of squash should taste like. This time I mixed the roasted squash with some fried bacon, ham, mushrooms and asparagus (as I’d predicted that Steve would say “Where’s the meat?”).

 

The puree for the risotto was good though. As I’ve never eaten a Uchiki Kuri squash before I can’t say if mine had the correct texture or flavour! Maybe I will find one in a supermarket to compare it with, as Autumn approaches and they start stocking more pumpkins/squashes for Halloween!

 

I don’t think I’ll be growing any squashes next year as they’re too much effort and space for such little return.