Peanut butter and jelly sandwich

I posted this photo on instagram and you all liked it a LOT! So I think it deserves an explanation.

After a food styling job the other day I was left with a loaf of sliced white bread. Something that as a child, I was NEVER allowed. My sandwiches were always on whole wheat bread. It’s amazing to me that as this loaf sat in my kitchen, it started to haunt me. I’m a grown woman who owns a cake bakery for God’s sake. But white bread is a no-no. I couldn’t bring myself to throw it away, yet I felt guilty breaking into it. I tried to ignore it but when I woke up the next morning, it was the first thing I thought about.

I have recently been testing some peanut butter cookie recipes and have a jumbo jar of Skippy in my cupboard. I also had a jar of very special passionfruit jelly from a recent trip to Paris. The three ingredients were made for one another, so before I knew it I was making one of the best snacks of all time. Cutting the crusts off at the end seemed fitting in order to make this soft, creamy, sweet and tart little sandwich into a true slice of Americana.

I don’t really think I will be buying white bread like this often but when you want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with the crusts cut off, it really does taste better.

Come to our special Christmas market  put on by the awesome KERB crew outside Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen today from 11:00-17:00!

Stock up on your provisions for the festive season. There will be producers there along with hot food and drinks!

We are serving up hot cups of strong tea and have piles of mince pies and whoopie pies in your favourite flavours. It’s your last chance to get pumpkin whoopies this season and we have brought back your favourite rose-pistachio with kirsch filling (it is time to celebrate after all).

If you can’t make it to Shoreditch, we are at Broadway Market as well of course. And the shop is cozy and toastie warm.

See you today!

My friend Todd Selby is doing a series of events in the Bay Area and I am joining some of the other chefs/cooks featured in the book on Wednesday at Camino in Oakland (one of my favourite restaurants in the world). The event is already sold out (I couldn’t even get my brother in) but here is the adorable invitation:

We will be selling signed copies of Todd’s book at Violet from the 30th October so come by and get a copy!!! Todd will be hanging around to personalize them for you too on the 30th and 31st during the day. x

My friend Todd has done it again. A beautiful book of photos and illustrations and funny comments and blurbs about some of his favourite food establishments. I am so psyched to be included!!! We have known about this book for some time so the fact that it is finally hitting the shelves is just too good to be true.

Have a look at the piece in the NY Times x

Marco’s wines are 100% organic and natural as he believes that organic agriculture respects the earth and therefore the vines and is the best way to preserve the quality and authenticity of the grapes. This is something that is close to my heart as well, coming from an agricultural community in Northern California. Many of my friends there are organic farmers and I have always strived to make Violet as organic as possible.

Please come and join us Wednesday at 7:30 at Violet for an hour and a half or so of tasting. We will have some charcuterie and bread and cheese to keep the hunger at bay whilst tasting. I will also make a couple of simple cakes to taste with the sweet wines, mainly using almonds and olive oil in keeping with the Italian palette.

The cost will be £15 to taste. Marco’s wines will be available for purchase on the night only, as we don’t have any storage space in our already teensy shop.

Please RSVP by email only to Violet subject: Marco Sara Event. Space is extremely limited so please get in touch ASAP

We look forward to seeing you this Wednesday!

A trip to the wonderful Sipsmith distillery in West London has left me wanting to make cocktails every chance I can get. Making a really good cocktail is so much like crafting a perfect cake, so I am naturally drawn to the task. The subtle but true and beautiful flavours of the Sipsmith London Dry Gin is a wonderful backdrop for some very exciting cocktails. Jared Brown, the master distiller, gave us this recipe which we went straight home and tried. It is my new holiday drink (sharing a place next to last year’s egg nog). It is a purply pink and lovely and frothy.

Sloe Gin Fizz (makes 2)

100ml Sipsmith Sloe Gin

25ml fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 egg white

ice cubes

Champagne to finish

Add the sloe gin, lemon juice and egg white to a cocktail shaker and shake well to get a nice froth. Add the ice cubes and give it a few more shakes. Divide into two white wine glasses and top with Champagne.

We love her and the awesome Twin magazine she is the fashion director of. We have a copy of the latest issue upstairs at Violet so have a look with a coffee and a mince pie if you don’t already own it.

All day Saturday and Sunday upstairs at Violet. Hope to see you there.