Today I am taking part in the Ndali Vanilla Gift Swop, an event organised by Vanessa Kimbell at Fortnum & Mason in Piccadilly. Vanessa is a BBC journalist who went to visit my cousin Lulu Sturdy in Uganda and devoted an entire BBC Radio four Food and Drink program to Ndali vanilla last month. It was a wonderful program, packed with information about the process of growing this very special vanilla and Lulu came across as extremely knowledgable and passionate about her vanilla. I was glued to the radio because of course I had been out to see Lu myself earlier this year and had a fantastic time.
The idea behind The Ndali Vanilla Gift Swop is to promote the new Ndali vanilla powder which has just been launched on the market. It is a totally new product and very versatile. A teaspoon of Ndali vanilla powder is the equivalent of an entire vanilla pod and you can use it in biscuits, cakes, puddings... anything which needs that rich, delicious flavour of vanilla. Everyone taking part in the event brings along a gift which can be one of four different categories:
1 Biscuit
2 Cakes/cupcake
3Pudding
4Preserve
There will be prizes for each category but the main thing is that everyone gets to leave with a gift brought in by another person containing Ndali vanilla. It's a lovely, original idea and I'm looking forward to it. My offering is The Ultimate Vanilla Cake with lashings of rich cream and mixed summer berries on top. It is absolutely delicious and one of my favourite cakes so I'm feeling reasonably confident. I will keep everyone posted on the results..
1 comment:
Thanks for this post, never realised how important vanilla was in the baking process. Now I know why my cakes always taste funny, I'll give this a go. On a related note, my food startup Foodster is launching in October and I was wondering if I could offer you a subscription on the house? We deliver tastings of nutritious artisan products so that foodies can try before they buy food online - www.foodster.london
What are your thoughts? I could not find an email address on the blog so thought I would leave a comment instead.
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