Steampunk Tea Party

So, my lovely friend Jema is the queen of steampunk! As well as making beautiful and whimsical jewellery she is also a mean cook! Her latest book 'Steampunk Tea Party' is a veritible wonder of yummy sweet and savoury treats essential for any elegant affair - or just for munching on when you want a snack! It's beautifully presented and has lots of quirky additions along the steampunk theme.

Lots of the recipes in the book are vegan, like the pear loaf, or easily veganised by replacing butter with dairy free marge, like gingerbread.

I decided to be adventurous and try two recipes in one day! I thought I'd try Gingerbread Woppits and Oriental Fruit Cheese! Oooh!

For the gingerbread I didn't have any bunnies but I thought squirrels were an excellent substitute. I substituted the butter with Stork (the hard block stuff that comes in the foil packet is vegan and great for baking). These turned out perfectly! :) I decide not to ice 'em but I love the colours Jema used for hers!

For my fruit cheese I chose raspberries and cranberries which Jema assured me was a great combo. I'm still waiting for these to set - I'm not 100% sure how successful these were but I put this down to my cooking skills and my rubbish hob, rather than Jema's instructions. If they don't set I'll definitely use them as jam! :)

*Amend - for anything like this a sugar thermometer is recommended to make sure your fruit and sugars get hot enough. If they don't then like mine they won't set.