Stirling
Today was a cloudy drive through the Stirlingshire countryside and onto to the little town of Doune. The Scottish Antique and Arts centre 1 mile out of Doune is also home to "Cafe Circa" . The Centre is well sign posted and I arrived just in time for a bite of lunch . The lunch review can be viewed on our Hotel/Restaurant tab on the homepage . I was however here for the Cakes and boy was I presented with cakes !!! The Cake display hits you When you enter this lovely homely Café and would be hard to refuse after a bite of lunch once seen. Wendy and Jamie Robertson run this very busy Café and share the Baking duties between them . Wendy has baked all her life and it was a pleasure to chat to her at length about tips and different methods we both used for our Baking. I was presented with a ridiculously huge amount of Cakes to try and all beautifully delivered on lovely China crockery. Where to begin is the issue with this review but here goes - I really should learn to not judge a book by its cover and first up was what I thought was a really coarse looking sponge ,beautifully decorated . This turned out to be an unusual ( And I love unusual) Coconut Delice Cake . Very moist , full of flavour and texture and beautifully decorated with white chocolate and fresh fruit pieces. Loved it ! Next up was a variety of different sponge cakes , none least than an unusual carrot Cake made with dates (No sultanas or nuts) and had the combined flavour of a sticky toffee pudding/Carrot cake topped with a cream cheese frosting - Loved it ! The shortbread was melt in the mouth heaven and the Scones were just as I like - traditionally made with a hard crusty exterior and soft and flavour some in the inside. Wendy is known for producing a good range of Gluten Free cakes and Bakes and I tried an Apple and Almond cake - very good texture and flavour . I would say that if good food and good cakes is your thing then this place is for you . I will certainly be returning for a personal visit very soon. All the best and see you soon .
Another glorious day in Scotland with the Temperature hitting 25oc -perfect for a drive through William Wallace country and onto Dunblane. Now many of you may know this beautiful little town because of a certain Tennis Player but it now has a new reason to be cheerful. The stunning little Cafe by the name of " The Beech Tree Cafe " sits nestled into Dunblane town centre .With its well kept fresh flower hanging baskets and "al fresco" dining it invites you in. This Cafe is ten years old with its present owners - Trisha and Wilma ,Mother and daughter team. The baking is sublime and all handmade between them . I recieved a warm and nervous welcome from Trisha who ushered me to a table and continued to supply me with some of the most mouthwatering baking i have tasted in a while. I had Shortbread which in my opinion is one of the best i have tasted - light ,mouthwatering and full of flavour. I had Caramel Shortcake and Carrot Cake but the Iced gingerbread - oh my- again extremely skilled baking to achieve such a light full of flavour and excellent texture without killing it with the ginger. I also had one of the best Fruit Scones i have tasted in a while . Not doughy ,great colour ,Flavour and texture .. Well this little town of Dunblane has a wee gem on its doorstep and i for one would be in it every day if i lived there . Well done Trisha,Wilma and the team at Beech Tree Cafe .
Tilly Tearoom
10a Bank Street
Tillicoultry
Near Stirling
FK136DP
Tel; 01259752642
Well folks after a great weekend in the Capital ,we took a drive back through Stirling and something took my eye about the sign for Tillicoultry (a place ive never been) so we took a detour and ended up at this tiny little Quirky Tearoom called Tilly in, yes you guessed it Tillicoultry. There was one tiny little table left next to a Log burning Stove as this Tearoom was jammed pack . It reminded me of the brilliant little curiosity shops you find off the beaten track. With tiny little teapots passing by us with little knitted jumpers on alongside vintage crockery this was right up my street. The cakes were packed into every corner of this tearoom and the decoration was simple fantastic. The beauty about places like this are the fact that the owner and family work tirelessly in the background and the front shop and wow does that mean you get Hospitality second to none that the bigger more marketed places have lost along the way. I absolutely loved this little shop and all because i watched the owner constantly making sure every cake that went out was dressed with attention and detail-impressed.The cakes however were terrific.I had the Hummingbird Cake which quite simply was the best ive had .My long suffering partner and driver had the Chocolate Cake and again excellent.But the Homemade Irish wheaten bread was my particular interest as its something which i also do in my shop and i know the work involved at producing this every single day> The Blueberry Scones looked absolutely jammed pack with huge big ripe Blueberries - oh i could go on forever -loved loved loved this tinly little shop of eccentricity .I will be back -Well done Team at Tilly Tearoom
The Wee Blether
I personally assessed the Wee Blether today with my long suffering husband ( Or Chauffeur as hes known) and picked a damp dreech midge ridden saturday for a drive through the Trossachs. Upon entering this remote haven you are instantly cheered up with the great sense of humour in all the signage and walls . The view could not be more relaxing and the welcome very friendly.The tearoom is unusually original and the owners have stamped there own mark on this premises. I unfortunately was not offered some samples to assess more in depth but what i purchased was lovely although i suspect not entirely homemade!! The variety on offer was superb and i loved the look of the Crannachan cake -Great idea and again would have loved to have sampled it. Plenty of different types of sponges and traybakes too. I would recommend this lovely tearoom for its Great cakes, chat and Humour.
The Wee Blether
Kinlochard
Aberfoyle
Stirlingshire FK8 3TL
Awaiting instruction for Re-Assessment.