Urban Renaissance Cafe

★★★★

It was a blustery day (and perhaps blustery is an understatement - we nearly lost our footing more than once!) and so Mum and I wrapped up and head into Bournemouth town. Being a ten minute drive away from the sea is such a great feeling, that I don't think I'll ever tire of.

With the absence of the sun and grey clouds threatening rain, a trip to the Russell-Cotes Museum and Art Gallery seemed like the perfect thing to do with our morning. The Museum itself is situated in a grand old house on the seafront, and the wonderful story behind it, was that Merton Russell-Cotes, bought the house and presented it to his beloved wife Annie for her birthday and they filled it with the most beautiful art and artefacts from all over the world.

The house and gardens are beautiful and well-preserved with amazing views out over the seafront and the pier.

After looking around the beautiful rooms of art and exhibitions, we stopped at the resident cafe, Urban Renaissance and had the most delicious 'slices' of chocolate cake accompanied by tea and juice.

The cafe is situated within the house in an open plan room with huge skylight and a floor to ceiling window overlooking the feature gardens and coastline.

The decor is modern and minimalist with a touch of colour. Think bunting, florals, bright colours and potted plants, I especially loved the yellow tea cups and saucers.

The chocolate cake was incredible, and I wish I'd asked whether it was gluten-free or some kind of vegetable substitute as it was different to any other chocolate cake I've tasted. It was moist and rich, but not too rich and I'm afraid on this occasion, it doubled as lunch. Oops. I had a Froblishers berry drink which was delicious too and helped to wash down the remaining cake crumbs. Mum had a modest pot breakfast tea which was served in the cutest teacup and saucer.

The museum and cafe are open Tuesday - Sunday between 10am and 5pm. I'd definitely recommend a visit, especially to see the 'Alphonse Mucha: In Quest of Beauty' exhibition currently displayed in the museum and to sample a slice of the chocolate cake!

What is your favourite Bournemouth attraction?

Kate x

Chewy chocolate chip cookies

Cookies are my favourite. The recipes are simple, and easy to adapt to add your favourite ingredients. They make people happy and are the perfect accompaniment for a cup of tea. You make big ones, small ones, short ones, chewy ones, fat ones, thin ones, crunchy ones and crumbly ones. Cookies filled with chocolate, fruit or nuts or all three! Need I say more?! For my birthday this month, my friends bought me a cute set of cookie bags and labels from talking tables and in amongst all the brown paper goodness was a 'big round chewy choc chip cookies' recipe, which I just had to share on my blog.

The original recipe makes 36 large cookies, and although I'm sure 36 cookies would have no trouble getting eaten, I thought it was a slightly obscene amount to make in one go for a household of 5 adults, especially after seeing the size of them when baked. So I decided to halve everything on the ingredients list but still follow the exact method, so all credit goes to talking tables for their heavenly cookies to-die-for!

To make your own, you will need:

250g Plain flour
1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp Salt
170g Unsalted butter
200g Dark brown sugar
100g Caster sugar
1 tbsp Vanilla
1 Egg
1 Egg yolk
300g Milk chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 170c/ gas mark 3. Grease baking trays and line with baking parchments.
2. Sift together the flour, bicarb and salt and set to one side.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and caster sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips using a wooden spoon.
4. Drop the cookie dough onto the prepared baking trays - I used one table spoon of mixture for each cookie and rolled into a ball - do not flatten the dough. Cookies should be roughly 8cm apart.
5. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven or until the edges are lightly toasted. Remove from oven and leave to cool on the baking trays for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

This recipe is one of the best I've used for making chocolate chip cookies. The cookies look just as you'd get them from the bakery and taste at their best still warm from the oven. They are chewy and incredibly chocolatey and perfect as a kind of cookie dough dessert by warming a cookie in the microwave for a minute or so and serving with a big blob of vanilla ice-cream, mmm...

Have a go! And of course, please share your favourite cookie recipes below.

Kate x

Afternoon Tea at Bournemouth Hycliff Marriott Hotel

★★★

On my birthday, my family treated me to 'Afternoon Tea by the Sea' at the Hycliff hotel, a grand old building part of the Marriott franchise overlooking Bournemouth pier and surrounding coastline. We all dressed up for the occasion and despite the weather being a little on the grey side, we excitedly took in the views as we entered the hotel.

As a hotel guest you are entitled to free parking in the hotel car park by registering your registration number at reception. Afternoon tea was located in the high grill bar on the ground floor of the hotel, with panoramic views of bournemouth beach and the crashing waves.

The afternoon tea menu consisted of the standard high tea components, complete with a selection of assorted finger sandwiches, a combination of plain and fruit scones with clotted cream and jam and a small variety of cakes and puddings. Options of Pimm's, champagne and other hot drinks were also available on request.

We opted for one tier of scones, cakes and sandwiches which would usually be recommended for two people, but judging by the size of other people's portions, we thought better of it! In my experience, afternoon tea is always much more food than you think, and the sweet definitely outweighs the savoury!

After the food and drinks arrived though, we did order another couple of fresh scones, just to be on the safe side!

The lounge area of the bar was well decorated with lavish decor and ornate furnishings with a modern twist. As part of a chain, I did think the interior did lack a bit of character, but it felt welcoming nonetheless. Service was okay, however a large party arrived just after we did which perhaps explained why the waitress tending to us was a little preoccupied at times. We were relaxed so this didn't effect us too much.

Now, I hate to give a bad review but the sandwiches were nothing special, which is surprising but I guess at £16 per person, not at the top end of the spectrum as far as afternoon tea goes. The scones were delicious, especially the plain scones, as they were freshly made and still warm from the oven.

After ploughing my way through the huge scone and several sandwiches, I was already short of room for cake, so allowed myself a breather, calling dibs on my preferred choice - it was my birthday after all! The cake choices were Vanilla, Blackberry and Apple 'Crumble', White Chocolate and Lemon Verbena Cones, Dark Chocolate and Coffee Gateaux Opera, and Lemon, Bloom Gin and Thyme Drizzle cake. The gateaux opera cake was by far my favourite. I'm not usually a coffee lover, but the cake only had a small hint of coffee and was pure indulgence. Thank goodness it was only a miniature! The blackberry and apple crumble was a hit with my parents, it was light and probably the better choice on an already full stomach. We asked for the remaining cakes to be boxed up to take home with us, so nothing went to waste.

Overall, it was a very pleasant afternoon. The scones definitely won it for me, and the lovely views over the sea. I think if I went back for afternoon tea at Hycliff Marriott, I'd order a plate of scones and a large pot of tea. The cake selection was good, but not great, so worth noting if you're after lavish patisserie style cakes. I can only imagine the coastline views on a sunny summers day must be to die for, so maybe even worth visiting for a glass of bubbles and watch the world go by!

Where is your favourite place to go for afternoon tea?

Kate xo

Jamie Oliver's Rocky Road (Kill)

To celebrate Food Revolution day (May 15th)* I thought I'd share with you a rather tasty recipe from one of my favourite chefs, Jamie Oliver. I'm a big fan of Britain's beloved 'Naked chef' and lately I've been giving cooking a bit of a 'go' using a few of his recipe books whilst I have some free time between jobs. I'd be keen to share my kitchen accomplishments, as and when they happen, as so far I'm really impressed.

But, first let me indulge you in something of the sweet variety... Jamie's Rocky Road (kill) is quick, easy and fun to make, no baking required and tastes delicious. My brother is allergic to eggs and nuts, so doesn't usually get the chance to sample my baking unless it is dairy and nut-free, and lets face it, not many recipes are! Rocky Road is a good option, as with the main ingredient being chocolate and the rest up to you, you can tailor make it so it is appropriate for everyone you're catering for. You could even add more fruit for a slightly healthier option, but who am I kidding, this recipe is pure indulgence and definitely NOT intended as an everyday snack!

I found this recipe at jamieoliver.com and worked to his methods but with my own choice of ingredients. To make this particular rocky road you'll need:

400g 70% Cocoa dark chocolate
100g Golden syrup
250g Butter
250g Digestive biscuits
3 Handfuls of large marshmallows, chopped
20g Dried raspberries
65g Fudge chunks
50g Coconut pieces

1. First, break up the chocolate into small chunks, then boil a saucepan of water and place a pyrex bowl over.
2. Melt the chocolate, butter and golden syrup in the pyrex bowl.
3. Smash up the digestive biscuits into rough pieces, whatever your preference and add the rest of the ingredients to the melted chocolate and mix until the ingredients are covered.
4. Pour the mixture into a greased/lined baking tray, roughly 20 x 25, and smooth down with a palette knife or whatever you've got in your cutlery drawer(!!)
5. Clear a space in your fridge and leave the rocky road for two hours until cool.
6. After two hours, sprinkle icing sugar all over and cut into rectangular pieces.
7. Serve with fresh fruit and a cup of tea.

*Food Revolution day, founded by Jamie Oliver himself, is a global campaign to put compulsory food education on the curriculum. Go to foodrevolutionday.com NOW and sign the petition if you agree with everything Jamie's food revolution stands for.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe post, let me know what treats you love to make!

Kate x

Breakfast at Branksome Beach

★★★★

New to the area and in desperate need of a break from unpacking, my family and I celebrated my Mum's birthday with breakfast at one of our favourite coastal spots. Sparing you my family history, we've recently relocated to Bournemouth from Bristol in the hope to find happiness and an easier life by the sea. And we couldn't have asked for a better first day in our new home. The sun was shining on the golden sand and you could see blue skies for miles with a few fluffy white clouds overhead.

Our table reservation was for 10am as the restaurant opened, and being a Thursday, the family-friendly restaurant and terrace bar was quiet, albeit a group of young mums and their babies, an older couple and a party of ladies popping a bottle of champagne and exchanging gifts. The overall atmosphere was friendly and relaxed and it helped that everyone around us was having a good time too. Once we'd taken our seats, we were greeted by our server, who was absolutely lovely. She took our drinks order and we were left to peruse the breakfast menu.

During the week the restaurant offers the 'eggs your way' promotion - 2 for £10 and with this you have the option of either scrambled, fried, boiled or poached eggs with a cooked breakfast accompaniment of your choice. The restaurant charges standard restaurant prices, with no single item costing over £10. Having been to the restaurant before, I knew to order the Bircher muesli, which is some of the best I've had. Everybody else opted for cooked options as there was such a good variety to choose from.

We were served quickly and were all very content with our meals. The bircher muesli was, dare I say it 'moist' and incredibly light and just the right amount. The cooked breakfasts were a good size too and not an inch of grease in sight, which is always a risk you take when eating out for breakfast. Unless you like that of course!

With the cooked breakfasts, there was more than enough toast between the five of us, so we shared it amongst ourselves and asked for a few pots of marmalade. Why is restaurant toast always SO good? Toasters should be made with a setting to get the same texture and taste at home!!

For those who can't last ten minutes without checking their Instagram page like myself, the restaurant provides fast free wifi for their customers - which also meant that Mum could read her birthday messages on Facebook before our food was brought out. As well as breakfast, the beachside restaurant offers lunches, dinners and afternoon tea, so you can enjoy the spectacular scenery from dawn to dusk, though I kind of wish they opened a little earlier! As we were sat at our table, the chef was bringing out trays of gorgeous-looking freshly made cakes to display in the restaurant which caught my eye, so I'll definitely be back to sample those another time!

After breakfast, we had a stroll along the seafront, breathing in the fresh sea air and making the most of the beautiful weather. I'd highly recommend brunch at the Branksome Restaurant and Terrace Bar. If not for the fantastic sea views, then for the tasty breakfast menu. Make sure to book at weekends, especially on sunny days if you want either a window seat or an outside table. On a side note, parking is reasonable, but there is not much of it, so be prepared for that if you're visiting at the height of the summer season.

I hope you enjoyed this review and found it helpful. I'd love to know about any of your recommended Bournemouth breakfast spots worth trying, please comment below with your suggestions.

Kate x