Since I was young I have always had an interest in cooking. Growing up my Mum cooked us lovely home-made meals which when I was old enough, she taught me. My earliest memories of cooking were making cheese straws from my Mum’s Be-Ro cooking book and her own recipe for Chilli Con Carne.
When I went to uni, I realised that my love for cooking wasn’t shared by everyone. Whilst others were cooking pasta with shop bought sauce (sometimes even without the sauce), I was making soup and pies from scratch. I’ll always remember the look one of my flatmates gave me and my friend when he came into the kitchen to put his pizza in the oven and we had taken over the kitchen with nearly every pot and utensil making homemade sweet and sour pork. I wasn’t going to let my budget student days stop me from cooking. Much to my housemate’s upset, I used to bake cupcakes to take to my now husband’s house as a thank you to his parents for putting up with me for half of the week.
One contributing factor to my love of cooking is that I am a fussy eater. Not only am I fussy about what I do and don’t like to eat, but I’m also fussy about how it is prepared. I have no doubt that my husband, Rien thinks I am slightly weird because when I make fajitas, the chicken has to be cut into strips and can’t be cubes; whereas with a curry the chicken is cubed. But that’s obvious to everyone isn’t it?!
Its been in the last few years that I have started getting really into baking. I started making a few cupcakes and taking them into work for my colleagues to try. They have always been so complimentary with what I have made that they either really like my cakes or are very polite (if you know the people I work with, then it’s definitely not the latter!) My friend at work was where my nickname Curly came from. Initially because my name is spelt with a ‘curly C’, but the far more obvious reason and why I think it has stuck is due to my curly hair.
I am passionate about not only cooking, but also photographing and sharing what I have made with others. My Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are always covered with my lastest efforts so a blog is a perfect way of showcasing what I have made. It was Rien’s idea to start a blog and with his help and encouragement, here I am! Without him I don’t think I would have managed to even start the blog because the technical side of it is beyond me. He has a background in software engineering so is always on hand to help out with my constant questions.
We live together with our two dogs, Tilly the Pomchi and Izzy the Siberian Husky. Tilly keeps her eye on me whenever I’m in the kitchen, but Izzy has a more refined pallet and is only interested in (more accurately goes crazy for) buttercream.
We have had a great few years, buying our first house together and getting married a couple of months ago. To avoid confusion, I refer to Rien as Mr Curly in my blog. Before blogging full time, I was a travel agent which may explain my obsession to travel; not only to see the sights but to also experience the food which you will often see on my Facebook and Instagram accounts.
I hope you enjoy reading my blog and watch me improve and hopefully give a recipe or two a go yourself!
Elaine says
Looking forward to popping in on your blog to see what’s cooking.
Debs says
You make amazing cakes, they taste so yummy!!!!! 🙂
Charlotte says
Absolutely gorgeous cooking! Very tasty!
Laura says
Your adaptation of the BBC goodfoods cheesecake recipe is perfection! Please warn me if you ever take it down! Thank you for all the time and effort you put into making it great!
xo
Cat says
Hi Laura,
That is so lovely of you to say, thank you 🙂
Haha don’t worry it is definitely here to stay! xx
Alex says
Hi,
I am making your cheesecake recipe for my wedding cake, I have tweaked just a tiny smidge, and I worked out a way to get rid of the cracks too. Once I have the finished product I will share it with you, but in the meantime, wow, great recipe. Ill keep you posted.
Cat says
Hi Alex,
Oh wow, how fantastic!
Any tips to share would be great. Also any photos would be great too 🙂 x
stefani says
Love your blog.
Your pictures are amazing.
Curly says
Thank you 🙂
Emma says
I absolutely love cooking and baking your recipes, the ingredients are always to hand and even if they aren’t some great alternatives are always listed. We really love the small batch brownies and carrot cake!
Thank you and keep them coming! Xx
Curly says
Aww thank you so much Emma. I’m so pleased you’ve liked the recipes of mine you’ve made:) xx
Freddie says
amazing!
Simon says
Looking forward to making your honey and mustard sausages. Think they’ll make a perfect accompaniment to roast chicken with roast potatoes & celeriac and some red cabbage on the side.
Curly says
Oh yes, that sounds delicious!
Miss Baking says
Hi curly! I LOVE your recipes. I am only eleven, but I love baking, and whenever I want to make cupcakes, this is my go to recipe. Please could you reply?
Curly says
Hi 🙂 Thank you so much! Which are your favourite cupcakes to make?
Shama visram says
Hi curly,
Do you have recipe for chocolate cup cake?
Curly says
Hi Shama – this is the one I have at the moment https://www.curlyscooking.co.uk/small-batch-chocolate-cupcakes/
Hilary Dring says
Hi Curly, I have just baked your Rhubarb Crumble Cake Bar recipe. I love the idea of putting the yoghurt into it- it does make it lovely and moist. When I was preparing it I wondered about the amount of sugar, butter and flour for a tin that size. It seemed quite a lot. When I baked it the sponge mixture came up and over the crumble and rhubarb so the top just looks pretty much like a sponge cake. I wondered whether the amounts should have been slightly less? I think I will make a bit of lemon icing to drizzle over it to make it look better but I just wanted to check with you in case there is an error in the amounts. Maybe 200g of each would be plenty?
Curly says
Hi Hilary, I haven’t made this cake in a little while but next time I do I’ll double check. My crumble does sink into the cake slightly when I make it too which you can probably see in the photos?
Rose says
Omg that is so true about the chicken! I made some cupcakes from your recipe and they’re gorgeous!
Curly says
So pleased you liked them Rose 🙂