It’s so lovely when review products work beautifully together. Take coffee and cake, for example, which blend perfectly, especially in a household which considers tea to be the work of the devil. I have mentioned before that I was raised on Turkish coffee- a special thick brew which requires a particular kind of sweet and sticky morsel to be consumed with it. I like Turkish Coffee, but it’s a hassle to brew. And I love our coffee machine, but it only does one cup at a time. This is fine if there are two of you but begins to be a little tedious if there are six, so a cafetiere always works well. But bleurgh, aren’t they difficult to clean out?
Step forward the stylish stainless OXO good grips French Press with it’s wonderful Grounds Keeper. It enables you to pack those grounds into a pile and tip them into the composter with ease. It looks beautiful, is practical and is easy to clean as a result. What’s more, the Douwe Egberts coffee supplied with it was lovely: rich, aromatic and- after the night I’d had with my children- very welcome. It was all a revelation to DH, who read the accompanying notes on how to brew the best coffee with interest. I’m not surprised: even I didn’t know that you could add lemon juice to black coffee to bring out the flavours.
And with the coffee I enjoyed a delicious fondant fancy from Betty’s of Harrogate. When I was at boarding school deep in the Yorkshire Dales I recall considering Harrogate to be a veritable metropolis, at the centre of which stood Betty’s- the watchword of tea rooms across the land. Little did I dream that years down the line, when I had long ago put the Yorkshire Years behind me, that Yorkshire would deliver. Thus the fondant fancies: perfectly presented with tiny sugar flowers on top, undamaged by their journey from the North of England.
They had a crispy sugary shell that cracked when you bit into it, then two layers of deliciously fluffy sponge sandwiched together with jam and buttercream. And, and, and! The best bit is the unexpected layer of marzipan under the pretty sugary flowers. Obviously that would be a disappointment to those who disapprove of marzipan but I am a huge fan of the almon paste so this was a delightful bonus. And they were very very sweet. Good thing I had coffee to hand.
The last order date for Easter deliveries in the UK mainland is 26th March. For more details and to take a look at the full range of goodies, please pop along to www.bettys.co.uk.
*disclosure: I was sent the products mentioned above for the purposes of writing this review. No payment was received. All opinions are my own.*
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