Professional vs amateur: food photos for Kelly's Creative Kids in the Kitchen

Sometimes I wonder what would my blog recipe photos look like, when done by a professional photographer and a food stylist. Recently I had a chance to find out exactly how it might look. Earlier this year, my guys and I were invited to take part in Kelly's Creative Kids in the Kitchen challenge. My younger son Eddie and I had fun, creating a twist on a classic Eton Mess with Kelly's ice cream, meringues and berries as well as Colin's butterflies (M&S sweets from Percy Pig range) and Jelly Bellies, and called it Eddie's Mess.

To be honest, I thought it was just great fun and not much of a recipe. Yet lovely people at Kelly's have seriously considered our recipe suggestion, and our simple playful kiddie-created recipe has reached the final stages of Kelly's Creative Kids in the Kitchen competition.
Moreover, a professional photographer took photos of Eddie's Mess. Many thanks to Kate Whitaker for doing s super job! Kelly's of Cornwall have given me permission to reproduce the official photos on my blog. The image below shows Eddie's Mess decorated with sweets.

Photo by Kate Whitaker (reproduced with kind permission from Kelly's of Cornwall)

As Kelly's feel that the recipe without sweets would represent the brand better, they have also asked Kate to take a photo without sweets.

The images look uncluttered, light and elegant.
For me it's always a problem to find a clear space in the house, with a good light. Our house is quite dark inside. I tend to take most of my photos out in the garden, weather permitting.
And if I'm taking photos in the kitchen, I usually use curtain samples as drapes over my numerous jars and boxes, so as not to distract from the food I am taking photo of.

My photo

We are very fond of Kelly's of Cornwall ice cream. Every summer, when we stay for a week in Cornwall, we enjoy eating it outdoors in a seaside cafe.

Having an ice cream cone by the sea is the best treat of all. And then we try to keep our summer alive by eating Kelly's of Cornwall ice cream from a tub at home. It is perfect with hot crumbles and apple pies.
The sight of Kelly's brand umbrella never ceases to work its magic, we just love Kelly's ice cream.

Grilled peach and Soreen with ice cream

Soreen has been a staple of the British cuisine since the late 1930s, when Mr Sorensen created it in 1938. Is it a cake? Is it a bread? Whatever it is, this squidgy, squishy cakey bread has become a British icon. Nowadays, apart from the original malt flavour, Soreen offers a wide range of fruit snacks including the Banana loaf, Cinnamon and Raisin loaf and several other fruity flavours.
I was recently asked to create a recipe, using one of Soreen fruity loafs. I confess that until recently I have only tried the Original malt loaf, and was very curious to test and taste a Banana flavoured loaf.

What did I think of it?
It's very moist, soft and with a dense texture. The smell is lovely, and the banana flavour is quite pronounced. It is something in between a fruit cake and a banana bread. It is very nice with a cup of tea.

It could also be used as an ingredient for a dessert like the one I made a few days ago. This is not exactly a recipe, more of a recipe suggestion, but believe me, it is a very moreish dessert.

Grilled Peach and Soreen with ice cream
Ingredients (per each person)
1 peach, quartered
2 slices of Soreen
a scoop of Kelly's clotted cream ice cream
a drizzle of chocolate sauce (I used Choc Shot liquid chocolate)
Grill the slices of Soreen as well as peach slices on a grill pan for 5-7 minutes, turning over. Assemble your dessert: place one slice of Soreen in the middle of a plate, add the peach slices. Scoop some vanilla or clotted cream ice cream in the middle, top up with another slice of Soreen and drizzle with some liquid chocolate.

Mmm, mmm, how tasty is that! You can experiment with fruit and use apricots or nectarines instead, or even ripe pear slices. Greek style yogurt instead of an ice cream would be a healthier choice. This is a lovely combination of flavours and textures. Try it!
What's your favourite way to eat Soreen?

If you liked my recipe suggestion, you might be interested in watching a video on how to make a delicious Chocolate Soreen Flapjack.





Disclosure: I received a selection of Soreen products for the purposes of creating a blog recipe. I am not paid for posting the video, but thought you might like the recipe.

Lovely Cheryl from Madhouse Family Reviews has come up with three delicious ideas in her post Quick desserts using Soreen Malt Loaf. Check them out!

Kelly's of Cornwall ice cream (giveaway c/d 1 August 2014)

For me, summer and Kelly's of Cornwall are inseparable. Of course, we buy Kelly's ice cream throughout the year, but treating yourself to a scoop of Kelly's in a cone is a summer must. We love Cornwall, and each summer spend a happy week in a small village Perranuthnoe, not far from Penzance. There is not much to do in the village apart from visiting a beautiful old church and a gallery, and spending hours on the beach.
There is a small open air cafe called The Cabin just next to the beach, with the most fantastic views of the sea.

At The Cabin in 2012 and 2013

The Cabin serves overpriced hot drinks, plain meals and cakes... If you cannot live without the Internet, then the indoors part of the cafe is the place where the connection works well (it is very sporadic otherwise... in our cottage it is truly hit and miss).

...but the main attraction for us is the selection of Kelly's ice cream... We have tried all the flavours on offer. I am very partial to a chocolate scoop. My husband enjoys the mint choc chip. Boys prefer Vanilla.

My little man with his ice cream in 2012 and 2013

I was pleased to discover that Kelly's of Cornwall ever expanding range has several new additions to its scoop range including most delectable Eton Mess and Cherry Pie and custard. I hope these flavours will be available in The Cabin this summer, when we stay in Perranuthnoe.

New flavours: Eton Mess and Cherry Pie & Custard (image credits: Kelly's of Cornwall)

You cannot recreate the seaside and the sound of the waves back at home, but you can still enjoy a scoop of Kelly's. The choice of tubs is varied, but the one we buy most often is Clotted Cream.
"Wait, wait for a bowl!", but No, apparently it tastes better straight from the tub, according to some little people.

This summer Kelly's of Cornwall have created a beautiful excursion map for Cornwall, which is a must-have travel accessory for anyone visiting this marvellous peninsula. To view and download the map please click on the link of the map. If you are a fan of Kelly's, you will be able to find the locations of all the ice cream parlours, cafes and hatches which sell this delicious ice cream. I was thrilled to see "our" Perranuthnoe with The Cabin on the map.
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Kelly's of Cornwall have kindly offered a prize for my blog readers. One lucky winner will receive a month's supply of Kelly's of Cornwall ice cream (in vouchers, total of 4 tubs).

To be in with a chance of winning, please fill in a Rafflecopter form.

T&Cs:
Only the first step is mandatory: all you need is answer my question by leaving a comment (if you login as Anonymous, please leave you Twitter name or FB name, so that I could identify you, I do not suggest leaving the email address in the comment)
All the other steps are optional, you don't have to do them all. All it takes to win is just one entry.
Only one entry per person is allowed (however, you can tweet daily to increase your chances).
The giveaway is open to the UK residents only. Once the Rafflecopter picks the winners, I will check if they have done what was requested. I will contact the winners, if they do not reply within 28 days, the prize will be allocated to another person. I will pass on the winners' details to Kelly's of Cornwall who will dispatch the prizes.
Please keep in mind I only host a giveaway, and cannot be hold responsible for any prize lost due to Royal Mail. 
The giveaway will close on 1 August midnight.


 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received several vouchers for Kelly's of Cornwall ice cream for the purposes of writing this post, but as you can see from my photos and post we're big fans of Kelly's already. All opinions are mine.

Eddie's Mess for Kelly's Creative Kids in the Kitchen

I'm fickle. For days I have been moaning about the rain, but once the temperatures started soaring, I complain about the heat. As England is battling with the heat wave, the best way to cool down is to treat yourself to a scoop or two of ice cream. Kelly's of Cornwall ice cream has recently started a new culinary campaign "Creative Kids in the Kitchen". My guys love "helping" me in the kitchen, and I knew they'd love to get their mitts or spoons on a tub of Kelly's ice cream. As Sash has special needs and Eddie's not 4 years old, we didn't come up with anything complicated. I thought there might be jelly bellies involved at some point, and possibly wriggly catepillars or Percy pigs.
Our dessert is not as classically constructed as Eton's Mess, but is as chin- and finger-licking as it's posher relative. Here it is, Eddie's Mess.

Eddie's Mess
Ingredients:
3 strawberries, sliced
a handful of blueberries and blackberries
3 meringue shells, broken
2 scoops of Kelly's Clotted Cream & Raspberry ice cream
Jelly Bellies and Colin's butterflies (from M&S) for decoration

Slice the strawberries and break the meringues into pieces. Place them in a fancy sundae glass, with blueberries and blackberries. Add a couple of scoops of ice cream. Decorate with jelly bellies and soft chewy butterflies (optional). Have fun!

And for the grown-ups, make a blueberry & blackberry parfait. Mix a tub of softened Kelly's ice cream with 100g of blueberries and a handful of blackberries, about seven crushed meringue shells. Add a dollop of Raspberry syrup. You can spoon it all back in the tub to freeze, or put in a fancy Pyrex dish as a layered dessert: a layer of berries covered with ice cream (I thought of making it pretty, but didn't have enough space in the freezer for the round dish. The tub is more compact.)

Before serving, take it out of the freezer and let it soften for about 10 minutes. It is a lush dessert, so easy to make but oh so lovely, especially on such a hot day as today.

Did you see what the other bloggers and their kids create?
Multi-talented Cheryl from Madhouse Family Reviews and her lovely trio have created a fantastic ice cream  burger and chips.
Lovely Alison from Dragons and Fairy Dust made a mouth-watering Banoffee Ice Cream Cake.

Disclosure: I received vouchers for 2 tubs of Kelly's ice cream for the purposes of creating a recipe with my kids.

Kelly's ice cream: winter recipes and serving ideas

As a true Russian girl, I loved eating the ice cream outdoors in winter. It could be freezing cold with the temperatures plunging below zero (our typical winter temperature would be below 20C, and when we were kids, we were allowed to skip the school only if it were below 27C with the wind, otherwise we were supposed to attend the school, and on those cold days with the school being closed, most of us were playing in the snow anyway). It was particularly cool and daring to eat the ice cream outside, and yes, some of us had colds and sniffles, but we lived to tell the tale. So, winter or not, I don't see why ice cream should be only a hot weather treat? Kelly's of Cornwall have come up with a few recipes and serving ideas.

I have tried almost all Kelly's ice cream flavours, but keep going back to the classic Clotted Cream flavour. It is so versatile, rich and moreish! (see my blog review A scoop of Cornwall). As a friend of ours has generously sent to us a huge bag of quinces, I am cooking them on a daily basis. Just the other day I made a tasty Quince and almond crumble, and served it with the luxurious Kelly's clotted cream ice cream. The melting ice cream complemented the hot crumble perfectly, and the combination of flavours and textures was wonderfully good.

Kelly's ice cream is a perfect companion to any hot pudding.

Kelly's ice cream serving ideas for winter:

"Don¹t let the cold winter air put you off your ice cream. Here are some ideas to take the chill out of your ice cream and create delicious desserts perfect for colder days."
   
1) Hot sauces for ice cream: 

The simplest hot sauce to make is a melted chocolate sauce. Melt dark chocolate and combine with cream to make a classic chocolate sauce.

Allow to cool and pour over the ice cream of your choice. Kelly's Clotted Cream and Raspberry ice cream with hot dark chocolate sauce is particularly delectable.

For a sweeter sauce, appealing to kids and adults with a sweet tooth like my darling husband, melt some chocolate bars like Mars or Fudge bars instead of the dark chocolate. Pour over Kelly's clotted cream ice cream.

2) Hot chocolate with a scoop of Kelly's Clotted cream ice cream on top. Now we're talking business. Sounds so yummy!

or for grown-ups, a scoop of ice cream covered in a shot of espresso to recreate the classic Italian dessert Affogato.

  

And how about a small cup of coffee glisse? Just add some sugar (or keep it sugar-free) to a freshly brewed cup of coffee and top up with your favourite vanilla or clotted cream ice cream?

Of course, Kelly's ice cream goes beautifully with the toffee apples, all kinds of crumble including the rhubarb crumble, treacle tart and apple pie.

4) Classic baked Alaska: defying all logic, this 70s favourite is due for a revival. A sponge cake, which is covered in meringue and served with a hot sauce. Try vanilla sponge cake covered in Kelly's clotted cream and golden syrup ice cream, or a chocolate sponge covered in Kelly's Clotted cream and raspberry ice cream.

For more inspiration, visit Kelly's of Cornwall recipes.

Disclosure: I received vouchers for a tub of Kelly's ice cream for the purposes of promoting the winter recipe ideas with Kelly's ice cream. All opinions are mine.

Marzipan apple tart

Late autumnal apples are so wonderfully full of flavour. I picked a couple of boxes to store them, but also kept some apples on the trees for the birds and for us. When Eddie and I go out in the garden to clear the lawn from the fallen leaves, I pick an apple or two and we munch happily the crispy sweet apples. They are great for any kind of baking too.

One of our family favourites is a simple open marzipan apple tart. I believe the original recipe was printed in one of the calendars, but I have long lost it, and have been baking this tart with different varieties of apples, marzipan and nuts.

about 300g shortcrust pastry (prepare your own or use a Jus-Rol shortcrust sheet)
200 g golden marzipan
2 tsp ground almonds
2 tbsp apricot conserve (I like the TipTree apricot conserve)
4 medium apples, sliced thinly
icing sugar
Kelly's of Cornwall ice cream to serve with (Clotted Cream & Golden syrup is perfect for this tart)


Serves 6
1. Heat oven to 180C.
2. Roll the pastry on a baking tray. Place in the oven for about 8 minutes.
3. Take the tray out and spread the apricot conserve over the pastry.
4. If you are using the roll-on marzipan, then simply cover the pastry with the marzipan sheet. If you have a block of marzipan, cut thin slices and place over the pastry. Sprinkle the ground almonds over the marzipan.
5. Slice the apples very thinly and place over the marzipan. Bake for about 20 mins at 180C until the apples are soft and the pastry is golden. Sprinkle with the icing sugar.

6. Serve with a generous helping of Kelly's of Cornwall ice cream.

Kelly's of Cornwall baking competition (and giveaway c/d 10 November 2012)

How does winning a year's supply of Kelly's of Cornwall ice cream sound to you?

If you like ice cream as much as my guys, then it's a dream come true.

Well, now you have a chance of winning the judges over with a baking recipe and getting your mitts on a year's supply of ice cream.

Image courtesy of Kelly's

Cornwall’s leading ice cream producer, Kelly’s, is launching a nationwide search to find the ultimate home-made pudding recipe to serve with Kelly’s ice cream.

Kelly’s of Cornwall knows only too well how many fantastic puddings us Brits have created over the years and with autumn around the corner, what better excuse to enjoy cosy nights in than getting creative in the kitchen for the Kelly’s ‘perfect pudding’ competition.

The lucky winner will be honoured on the Kelly’s of Cornwall website with their recipe professionally made and photographed. What’s more, the lucky winner will also be treated to a year’s supply of Kelly’s of Cornwall ice cream. For ten runner’s up, there is a month’s supply of Kelly’s of Cornwall ice cream up for grabs.

There are seven flavours of Kelly’s of Cornwall’s lush ice cream to get creative with, so why not organise an evening in with great company, fun entertainment and a rather generous helping of your homemade creations for all to share and feedback.
It’s easy to enter, just submit a photo of your chosen pudding with a detailed description of the recipe, including the flavour of Kelly’s of Cornwall ice cream it matches perfectly with. Enter online via the entry form (www.kellysofcornwall.co.uk )  You must upload a picture of the finished pudding and a reason to why your pudding is oh-so-perfect with Kelly’s ice cream. The deadline for entries is 2nd November 2012.
Members of Kelly’s judging committee will then judge all entries and one winner and ten runners up will be selected, and announced on 9th November 2012 – National Pudding Day.

To kickstart you on the way to creating your baking masterpiece, have a look at this lovely recipe:

TREACLE TART ( recipe and photo - courtesy of Kelly's)

6oz short crust pastry

125g/4oz  golden syrup

1 tablespoon lemon juice

75-125g/3-4oz fresh white or wholemeal bread crumbs

1. Using ¾ pastry line 7in pie plate

2. Add lemon juice to syrup and add to breadcrumbs

3. Pour filling into pastry.  Dampen the edges of the pastry

4. Roll out remaining pastry to an oblong 18cm/7in long, cut into 5mm/1/4in strips. There should be 10.

5. Twist and place lattice fashion across the tart

6. Bake for approx 30 mins at gas 6/200C/400F

7. Perfect with Kelly’s of Corwall clotted cream ice cream!

We love Kelly's ice cream, there is nothing better on a hot summer day than a treat of the scoop of Kelly's ice cream. I wrote about our Cornish trip and ice cream treats back in August.

My guys also love it when I add a generous scoop of Kelly's ice cream while making a milkshake.

As I enjoy cooking challenges and competitions, I hope I will have time to take part in Kelly's baking competition.

But today I am offering you a small giveaway on my blog: you have a chance to win 5 tubs of Kelly's of Cornwall ice cream.

To enter the giveaway, please fill in the rafflecopter form.

Answering the question and leaving a commet below is a mandatory step. All the other steps are optional.

Good luck all!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A scoop of Cornwall (review)

We were very lucky to catch the only week of sunshine this summer, when we stayed in Cornwall. The weather started changing as the landscape was transforming from the grey rainy Cotswolds to the open panorama of Cornwall.

We rented a cottage in Perranuthnoe and enjoyed seven days of sun. Every day we headed to the beach before lunch and late in the afternoon. My boys were deliriously happy, they ran around, jumped in the sea, built sandcastles and felt free.

And every time on the way home from the beach we stopped by a small cafe and treated ourselves to a scoop of Kelly's of Cornwall ice cream.

Sasha always picked a Cornish vanilla, I love Chocolate, Eddie is happy with any flavour, while my husband prefers a Mint Choc Chip ice cream. There's nothing like enjoying an ice cream cone, when out and about. You have to eat fast, or the creamy treat will start dribbling down your hand and you will need to lick your fingers.

Back at home (and back to the rain too), I am trying to recreate the spirit of our holidays in Cornwall by serving the ice cream in cones. I often buy Kelly's of Cornwall Clotted cream ice cream, its rich creaminess works well with all kinds of berries and fruit salads. It is also great for making milkshakes.
Eddie loves it so much, he's ready to eat it using two spoons at the same time (maybe that's the right way to enjoy the ice cream, who knows).

I was recently asked to review a fruity flavour of Kelly's ice cream. I have picked a tub of the Clotted Cream & Strawberries from Waitrose.

First impressions? It looks very pretty. The colours are delicately pink, and if you buy Kelly's ice cream tubs, you know what it looks like when you open the tub (there are many lovely photos around the blogland of the bosom-like luxury).
I couldn't resist either (a disclaimer: adding strawberries was my idea).

It tastes very summery, the combination of cream and strawberries is a classic one, and it works perfectly. It is light and refreshing. It is not oversweet and has a pleasant aftertaste.

We all loved it. And it brings back happy memories of our holidays in Cornwall. We're already thinking of booking "our" cottage for the next summer.

Mmmm, which one to choose? Strawberry or Clotted cream? I think I'll have both.

There's another summery, fruity flavour available in the shops: Clotted Cream and Blackcurrants (which we haven't tried yet but if you are interested in the review of this product, I could re-direct you to the Queen of blog reviews, Madhouse Family Reviews blog and her excellent review).
What I like about Kelly's is their passion for ice cream. At Kelly's they truly care about the quality of the ingredients. They "only use milk from top Cornish farms which helps to support local farmers and ensure that you can enjoy the finest quality clotted cream ice cream, either out and about or from the comfort of your own home".

P.S. I received free vouchers for the tub of ice cream. All opinions are mine.