Cronuts, Crodoughs and Brownutters.

This is probably not the best time to be writing this post. After a weekend of a horrific amount of sugar and my inability to last a day without some form of chocolate, I'm making a really conscious effort to cut sweet stuff out. I'm genuinely getting all hypochondria-ish about my poor blood sugar levels. I come unstuck when people buy me brownie slices from Brick Lane and insist on office cake sales, but I reallyyy am trying.

I've decided to give myself two treat days a week - Tuesday (for treat Tuesday with Bela) and Friday. Because it's Friday. And I'll definitely need it by the end of the week, along with a large glass of wine.

That's fair, right?!

So instead of eating the stuff, I've taken to googling and reading about the stuff. Cue my new found obsession with Joy the Baker, and obsessing over Shu's obsession with Cronuts. That's a lot of obsessiveness. Below are two of Joy's recipes I genuinely need in my life:

Apple and cinnamon baked doughnuts

Chocolate, peanut butter cookie dough and toasted marshmallow cupcakes. I KNOW.

If you haven't already heard of Joy the Baker, you need to get on it. I first started following her on Instagram and then became hooked on her blog. The photography is amazing and all her recipes look incredible. The only annoying thing is the quantities are all done in American cups, which is still something I haven't worked out how to convert...

Cronuts are the croissant-doughnut hybrid that took America by storm, and saw people camping out to buy one. (Or several and ship them across the world). Tsk tsk. Then we had the Starbucks/Bea's of Bloomsbury Duffin controversy (vote Bea's), and now Shu has delighted on the UK cronut - the Crodough from Rinkoff Bakery. She's just told me there's a bakery thats sell them in Soho too. I may just have to sleep until Friday.

Rinkoff Crodoughs, over on Shulikesclothes

This all got Shu and I chatting the other week about these hybrids, and I think we came up with the most ingenious one yet. It combines the three ULTIMATE things of delight; doughnuts, brownie and, yep, peanut butter. All hail the Brownutter. Not only does it have an amazing name, but tell me you can't already taste it just from that description. See, you can't. Rich, gooey brownie hiding a dollop of creamy PB all encased in a crisp, sugar dusted doughnut coat. Me oh my.

If anyone (Starbucks) takes this as their own before we have time to make and patent this concoction, I will bring you down.

Anyway, back to my grapes.

x

The Food Baby Returns: Embankment Real Food Market

This evening I met up with the rather wonderful Shu from shulikesclothes, who I haven't seen for approximately AN AGE. She is my fellow food baby friend, the girl who introduced me to the delights of banana pancakes, and the only person who shared in, and sympathised with my unhealthy peanut butter obsession for a good few months. We also made a rather brilliant fluffy bunny video together. I did worry for a while that our friendship was based solely on food, but then we also realised we had a shared love for cocktails. Hmm.

Anywayyyy, she recommended we head to the embankment for a romantic Friday night food session, (maybe I was right...). Tucked away behind the Southbank Centre by the Thames, I had an incredible Korean burrito full of spicy pork belly and rice, followed by cinnamon sugar-dusted churros and chocolate dipping sauce. (She made me.) Shu had a confit duck brioche with goats cheese made by some lovely French boys. I'm a sucker for the French accent. Definitely heading there next time s'il vous plait.

We then stumbled across the Shouthbank Centre shop, which is ALMOST as good as Tiger. Think duvet covers you can draw on, books about angry crayons and cloud and scissor shaped cushions!

Although nowhere near as big as Borough Market, it's a lovely place to pop down to after work, and is full of deli stands, sausages, cheese, chorizo, beers and cake stalls... basically all the things you need of a Friday evening.
Also, you can guarantee a nice romantic walk back over the thames afterwards. 

I think at night, lit up by all the twinkly lights, is the only time I fall in love a little bit with London. 

Anyway, enough mush. Byeeee!

x