BLACK SESAME BUTTER MOCHI

I don’t think anyone out there will be surprised one bit to find me day-dreaming about trips to Hawaii and Japan instead of getting my shit together and out of this place once and for all; but in my defense, I’ve created these little squishy squares that combine the very essence of Hawaiian cake and Japanese treats all in one and they’re so rich and squidgy and flavoursome and if you ever find a way to stop shovelling them into your mouth, please let me know as I’m now at risk of rolling my way back home like a giant mochi ball they’re that good.

ALMOND & PISTACHIO BISCUITS

All that hasn’t happened in four years has suddenly decided to elbow its way to me and happen in the space of a month; and there’s a long long list of people and shoes and medications, boxes, bubble wrap, Texas dreams and Spanish Squads, trains and planes and places and faces; plans and plants and plantains; but never mind breathing, there’s got to be room for baking; and even though I myself will have to stick to whisky and Star Wars breakfast cereal (separately) to avoid death from stomach ache, I know how to make good use of the packs of almonds and pistachios lying in the still-stupidly-full kitchen cupboard (and that goes without mentioning the dinosaur cookie cutters, because you can always make good use of dinosaur cookie cutters): almond and pistachio biscuits; deep breath; go.

SWEET TOMATO SPELT MUFFINS

What was it that gave madness away, the pirate shoes or the wandering aimlessly amongst Egyptian mummies and hippo statuettes or the improvised escapes or the mindless frauds or the frozen cereal or the dragon fruit and turnip diet; but what is all but crazy, I swear, is returning to warm foothills, small towns; and breathing a sigh of relief; and making sweet tomato muffins, as tomatoes are fruits like any other, but sometimes you just very simply forget.

LEMON OLIVE OIL CAKE

Funnily enough all this started exactly one lemon cake ago; and one delicious bite after another, your tummy got fuller and fuller, and the next thing you'll be looking up on Google is 'can you eat so much that your stomach bursts'; and why would you even want to find out.
Yet, there's one big bottle of fancy Italian organic olive oil in your cupboard, and wouldn't it be silly not to whip up a cake with it; and it's so fluffy and citrusy and you really can't make your mind up on which version you like best.
Needless to say, decisions of such great importance require a fair amount of pondering; but the proof of the cake is in the eating, or so I've heard; and I'm thinking, some real tasty lemon cake is what you'll get, either way.

GLUTEN-FREE FAIRY BREAD

I do not recall ever granting mother nature permission to turn me into a (rather small) grown-up; please bear with me whilst I take a break from all this adult business for a minute and day-dream about making bread with my dad and secretly hope someone will take me to Disneyland for my birthday and eat, as one should, sprinkles on toast.

CAROB CHEESECAKE

Leaving the country seems to be very much in fashion this season; and if the individuals doing so had a pack of carob powder lying abandoned at the back of their kitchen cupboard, they too would be making this wonderful thing called, carob cheesecake.

FRUIT SUSHI

I feasted on Veda bread and potato farls and brown lemonade and vegan yellowman and several other Ulster delicacies to my heart’s content; and we’re good already for cherries, biscuits & marshmallows, and inferior potato cakes too (I greatly appreciate the effort, Tesco); and I found myself alone and smiley at Japanese punk gigs and film nights; so even though I’m back now and Peckham’d and sound, here’s dessert sushi, a sweet and sticky ode to Japan.