A quick bit of news from us over here at Cornishware: sign up for our rather lovely emails and we’ll give you 10% off anything at the website. Seems like a pretty good swap to us. Just go here and pop in a couple of details.

The Great British Bake Off has already given us plenty of inspiration to get baking, and last week we used our signature sponge recipes to get involved in the Macmillan Cancer Trust’s Biggest Coffee Morning.

It was a lovely excuse to have our friends round, and nibble on some delicious cakey creations. Ours were all served on our favourite Cornish Blue plates, not that you could really see them underneath the mountain of treats!

Did you get involved in the Biggest Coffee Morning?

We love any excuse to pop down to Cornwall, especially if it means a chance to visit Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant. At the moment they are celebrating their Totally Cornish season by giving away a rather posh break at Fistral beach. The very lucky winner will also receive a hamper of Totally Cornish produce, and a crockery set from yours truly, worth over £500.

If being Totally Cornish sounds right up your street, enter the competition here.

Just because the Olympics are over, it doesn’t mean that we’ve forgotten about all things sporty. We can’t wait for the next World Bellyboard Championships on Sunday 2nd September. It doesn’t require any fancy equipment or flashy opening ceremonies – all you need is your swimming costume and a wooden board.

But if that all sounds a bit adventurous for you, you can always enter our very own Bake Off and watch from the sidelines. To whet your appetite, why not try this recipe from an old pro?

Sara’s Chocolate Bellyboard Cake


Preheat oven to 160ºC (325ºF), gas mark 3.

Ingredients


7oz plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cocoa

5oz soft brown sugar

1 tsp golden syrup

1 tsp milk powder (secret ingredient)

2 eggs

1/4 pint vegetable oil

1/4 pint milk

The doing bit


1. Sift dry ingredients into a mixing bowl.

2. Add the syrup, eggs, oil and milk (remove the egg from their shells obviously) and beat thoroughly until smooth.

3. Pour into a greased 9″ cake tin and bake for 45-50 minutes.

4. Leave to cool in tin for a few minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool further.

5. Stand back and admire.

We all know that hot cakes are as popular as, well, hot cakes, but you don’t always have time to go the whole hog and bake one from scratch. That’s why we’re such huge fans of Half Baked cakes. All the mixing and measuring is already done, so there’s no need to get yourself in a flap. After you’ve baked it at home, you can decorate with the icing kit provided and still take the glory! It sounds like a faultless plan to us.

We know you’re not really supposed to speak to strangers, but we love this idea. The Back Cover Book Club thinks that a great story shouldn’t be kept to oneself. They’ve created a handy sleeve to attach to the back cover of your book to encourage people to strike up a conversation. And people say us Brits aren’t friendly!

If you’re anything like us, you’ll be counting down the days until the Jubilee weekend. Now, although we’re partial to a spot of bubbly, we’re going to be celebrating this most British of occasions with that most British of refreshments: a nice mug of tea. Which is why we’ve made some very special Jubilee mug sets. It’s a limited run of 60, so if you fancy owning a piece of Cornishware history, get in quick!

There’s nothing quite as relaxing on a weekend than a spot of cooking and a lazy day in front of the television. That’s why we are such fans of ITV Saturday Cookbook, a delightful mix of the two! And we’re rather chuffed as they seem to be fans of us too.

We’ve got to admit that we are creatures of habit. We like cornflakes on a weekday, and scrambled eggs at the weekend. We can’t have a scone without jam, or a bowl of porridge without a very generous drizzle of honey. But it’s about time we tried something new, and where better to start than our next trip away? No more dusty bed and breakfasts for us. We’re rather taken by The Yurt at Harptree Court . It would certainly be a novel way to spend at least a weekend. For even more weird and wonderful destinations, visit the rather fantastic Canopy and Stars.

Do you ever find yourself without anything delicious to offer when a friend pops over for a cuppa? Us too. Luckily, one of our favourite bakeries may have solved that little dilemma. You can sign up to receive one of their mouthwatering cakes every month, for a year! It’s far too tempting for us to resist.

http://www.beasofbloomsbury.com/cake_club