Displaying items by tag: competition

Apparently there's a Golden Ticket hidden in one of the Mother's Day cards handed out to all Mums this Sunday at Giggling Squid branches across the country. (The Golden Ticket will be a £50 voucher to be used on a future visit). Tables still available for late lunch and supper in our Bury St Edmunds branch.

Zumba Josie celebrated 7 years of fitness and fun by having a party and a great Zumba Bake Off at Norton Village Hall. I hadn't quite expected the level of competition when I was asked to judge. Here's the winner! Chocolate Heaven. A tower of chocolate sponge with layers of buttercream, mountains of chocolate and a secret stash of smarties in the middle. Made by mother and daughter team Sue and Grace.

• runner up - Black Forest Gateau
• cakes
• more cakes!
• runner up - Fruit Mousse Tower
• winner - Chocolate Heaven
• runner up - Zumba cake
•  

Here is something creative and arty to entertain the children eating at The One Bull, Bury St Edmunds, The Cadogan at Ingham or The Crown at Hartest between 24th July and 31st August. Let their imagination and creativity run wild to turn a plate image into an amazing picture.There are two categories – 5’s & under and 6’s & over.There are prizes too with a £50 voucher for the winner of each category at each pub. (one entry per visit).The winning entries will be displayed at each pub. Look out for the pictures being tweeted under the hashtag #TheGreatGustoChallenge. My favourites so far... The Crown Hartest above and this lovely One Bull.

Old Speckled Hen is celebrating Easter this year by bringing its much loved ale to Suffolk in a characteristically cunning style, that's set to test the grey matter and get those bushy tails wagging. The UK's number one ale brand will be burying its Hunt for a Hen Travelling Bar in a secret location in Bury St Edmunds on Saturday 14th March, and rewarding those who find it with a free pint of its full, smooth flavoured ale, in exchange for a social post. The social hunt will be taking place across four secret locations in the UK throughout March and the Easter weekend with clues appearing online from March 9th. All those up for the "Aleventure" just need to follow @SpeckledHenry on Twitter and keep a beady eye out for his clues dropped with a dedicated #huntforahen hashtag. It's then up to you to crack the clues and head to the secret location to reap the reward.It won't be hard to miss. Free ale won't be all that's on offer;there will also be the opportunity for dedicated explorers to boost their trophy cabinet with the Old Speckled Hen "Hen Hunt" competition. There are lots of prizes on offer including free beer and even up to £1000 in cash. SuffolkFoodie also have some prizes to giveaway.

Being serious foodies we also recommend that you try baking this delicious ale infused chocolate cake.

Rich and Dark Old Speckled Hen Chocolate Cake

Delicious served with freshly whipped cream....

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients;

175g self-raising flour

• • ¼ level tsp baking powder

  • 1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda

  • 275g dark brown soft sugar

  • 110g spreadable butter

  • 2 large eggs, beaten

  • 50g cocoa powder, sifted

  • 200ml Old Speckled Hen

  • For the Icing:

  • 200g butter, soften

  • 400g icing sugar

  • 2 tbsp Old Speckled Hen

  • 50g dark chocolate, melted

  • Cocoa powder or grated chocolate to dust

  • Method:
    

 Preheat the oven 180°C, fan oven 160°C, gas mark 4.  Grease and line the base of 2 x 22cm round cake-tins, with non-stick baking parchment.

Sift the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a freestanding mixer.

Add all the other ingredients, except the Old Speckled Hen. Either using an electric hand whisk or the freestanding mixer combine all the ingredients for about one minute until you have a smooth creamy consistency.   Add the Old Speckled Hen a little at a time until thoroughly combined.

Divide the mixture between the two prepared tins and bake for about 30–35 minutes.  The cakes are cooked when pressed lightly with your little finger and the center springs back.

Place on a cooling rack and leave to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the tin and cooling further on a cooling rack.

To make the icing: melt the chocolate in the microwave - 2-3 minutes on medium should do it - or in a bowl sitting over a pan of simmering water, and let cool slightly.

Beat the softened butter, gradually adding the icing sugar a spoonful at a time. Once all the icing sugar has been added, whisk the icing for about 5 minutes on a high speed with an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Add the Old Speckled Hen and mix thoroughly. Add the melted chocolate and beat until everything is glossy and smooth. Spread or pipe half the icing onto the bottom layer, top with the other cake, spreading the remaining icing on top.

Matthew Coward and Fatima Francoise have won the Ceviche Peruvian Kitchen cookbooks.   Well done and happy cooking!

You could win one of two copies of Ceviche Peruvian Kitchen by Martin Morales who is celebrating his new book release with Britain's first ever pop-up restaurant tour, starting in Aldeburgh on July 1st. Of course, we will be there! We have two copies of the cookbook at suffolkfoodie hq and we will be giving them away via the blog and on twitter on July 4th, the date the book launches.

The challenging question for our blog readers is:  When did the restaurant Ceviche Peruvian Kitchen open its' doors?

How to enter: Please send your answer via the comments button below - at the bottom of this blog - with a valid email address where we can contact you if you are a lucky winner.

For tweeters it's even easier - no question to answer, but you must be following @suffolkfoodie on Twitter. Don't include the answer via Twitter (derr...) but tweet the following sentence exactly: I’d love to win the Martin Morales Ceviche Cookbook #cevichepopuptour, and we will note your contribution and draw your name out of a hat on the day.

A few rules!

• The deadline for entries is 18.00hrs GMT July 4th 2013.
• The two winners will be selected from all valid entries from the blog and twitter
• Entry instructions form part of the terms and conditions.
• The prize is the fab Ceviche Cookbook as shown above, and includes free delivery anywhere in the UK.
• The prize cannot be redeemed for a cash value.
• The winners will be notified by email or Twitter. If no response is received within 7 days of notification of winning, the prize will be forfeited and we'll keep it.

The Guild of Food Writers are calling for entries to their annual cooking competition for 10 - 16 year old children. Some great prizes are on offer to the winner who comes up with a two course menu which will  impress the judges.  The deadline for entries is April 19th.  Follow the link

Next weekend starts a full programme of foodie stuff at the Aldeburgh Festival of Food and Drink, 23rd September to 8th October, including a competition to find Suffolk’s best amateur baker. Adult Classes include ‘Victoria Sandwich’, ‘Fruitcake’, ‘Scones’ and ‘Cupcakes’, with a ‘Best Junior Cake Maker’ class for 10-16 year olds.