Taisty Bytes

Taisty Bytes Welcome to Taisty Bytes with me, Mark! 🍰 Discover a world of beginner baker adventures, tips, and tales from my Devonshire kitchen.

Join us for recipes, laughs, and learning.

My first bake from ‘How To Eat a Peach’ by , the third book we’re diving into for my Cook the Books series. On today’s ...
15/07/2025

My first bake from ‘How To Eat a Peach’ by , the third book we’re diving into for my Cook the Books series.

On today’s menu: a pear, blackberry and hazelnut cake. Crowned with sweetened crème fraîche, crushed hazelnuts and a lonesome blackberry the local birds kindly left behind.

Surprisingly simple to put together (which is very handy, given I attempted it in the middle of a busy work day!), the scent that drifted up the stairs while I was back at my desk was enough to make me pause mid email and smile. If the first recipe is this delicious, I’m very much looking forward to the rest of my journey through these pages.

How To Eat a Peach, Page 166 /

There are days when only banana bread will do. Especially when it’s laced with Milky Bar nibs and eaten warm, of course,...
11/07/2025

There are days when only banana bread will do. Especially when it’s laced with Milky Bar nibs and eaten warm, of course, straight from the tin.

Because sometimes, self-care looks like sugar.

—Recipe—

Here’s the recipe, in case you need it as much as I did:

You’ll need:
3 ripe bananas
100g melted butter
2 eggs
100g light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
225g plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
75g Milky Bar nibs (or more!).

To make it:
Preheat oven to 150°C fan.
Line a 2lb loaf tin.
Mash bananas in a bowl.
Stir in butter, eggs, sugar and vanilla.
Add flour, baking soda and salt.
Mix until just combined.
Fold in Milky Bar nibs.
Pour into tin and bake 50-60 mins, until a skewer comes out clean.
Cool slightly before slicing… or eat warm, straight from the tin.

Managed to find a slice of calm amidst the chaos of our kitchen renovations to make these oaty date squares by The perf...
09/07/2025

Managed to find a slice of calm amidst the chaos of our kitchen renovations to make these oaty date squares by

The perfect thing to go with a morning brew ☕️

Lots of tasty things growing in the garden! Looking forward to baking with these soon.Our kitchen is out of order at the...
03/07/2025

Lots of tasty things growing in the garden! Looking forward to baking with these soon.

Our kitchen is out of order at the moment whilst renovation work is being done. In the meantime, dreaming of cooler days and manifesting an early Autumn 🫠

“It’s hard to put into words just how much Mark’s work has influenced me, he says - practically dedicating two full post...
30/06/2025

“It’s hard to put into words just how much Mark’s work has influenced me, he says - practically dedicating two full posts of how he’s done just that! But from awakening my passion for food and storytelling, to unlocking new chapters in my own flavour journey - it’s been profound. His writing slows you down. It reminds you that flavour is built moment by moment and that cooking, at its heart, is in itself a kind of love story.”

We’re returning to the pages of Sour: The Magical Element That Will Transform Your Cooking by for the next edition of Cook the Books.

This time: fermented cherries, vanilla-laced gooseberries and jars of citrus sunshine.

Come and take a read, link is in the bio >>

We’ve come to our final ‘bake’ from Sour by for this issue of my Cook the Books series on Substack - Bake no. 6, Lime P...
29/06/2025

We’ve come to our final ‘bake’ from Sour by for this issue of my Cook the Books series on Substack - Bake no. 6, Lime Possets

This little jars of sunshine are the perfect thing to cool down with on a hot summer’s evening. So decadent, so irresistibly moreish.

What a journey this edition of Cook the Books has been. Sour has been a joy to read and cook from - stirring up so much more than flavours, it’s shifted the way I think about cooking, about balance… about food itself. My tastebuds (and I) are all the happier for it!

Sour / Page 238

Good morning, friends - and happy Sunday! Part 3 of Kitchen renovations starts tomorrow, which presented me with the per...
29/06/2025

Good morning, friends - and happy Sunday! Part 3 of Kitchen renovations starts tomorrow, which presented me with the perfect excuse to spend this whole weekend in the kitchen.

Bake no.5 from Sour by for my Cook the Books series - this Gooseberry and Oat Cake.

As a devoted gooseberry lover, I’d already had my eye on this recipe, so after a further recommendation from to try it, I knew it was going to be a winner.

Sour / Page 244

Happy Saturday, friends! I’m sighing a sigh of contentment this afternoon, after spending the morning in the kitchen. I’...
28/06/2025

Happy Saturday, friends! I’m sighing a sigh of contentment this afternoon, after spending the morning in the kitchen.

I’ve been working on the last 2 bakes for the next part of Cook the Books and now about to sit down to enjoy this delicious looking (even if I do say so myself!) cold cucumber soup. Cucumbers that I only went and bloody grew myself!

- thank you for sharing ‘s recipe. Will for sure be making this again 🙌

Good morning, friends. Quite a special day here, as we have just harvested our very first veggies from the garden! 🥒 It’...
27/06/2025

Good morning, friends. Quite a special day here, as we have just harvested our very first veggies from the garden! 🥒

It’s more likely the stretch of glorious weather we’ve had than my green thumbed prowess that’s behind this bumper crop of cucumbers. But I’ll take the win nevertheless! 👨‍🌾

After a phenomenal evening with and the inspiring team at talking about the magic of food, knowing where it comes from and the hands that bring it to life (more on that soon in a Substack post) - I feel more emboldened than ever to get my hands in the soil and grow my own produce to cook and bake with.

Happy Monday, friends! An early start this morning, working on Bake no.4 from Sour by for my Cook the Books series - Bl...
23/06/2025

Happy Monday, friends! An early start this morning, working on Bake no.4 from Sour by for my Cook the Books series - Blackberry Yogurt Cake (because I couldn’t find blackcurrants anywhere!)

I often steer clear of most recipes without a reference photo. They’re a comfort blanket - showing me exactly what the final creation should look like. And, suggesting failure if it didn’t.

Today was different. Page 248 invited me to just trust the process.

Does this look how it’s meant to? Who knows! But it smells amazing and tastes like the memory of a warm summer’s afternoon.

Bake no.3 from Sour by for my Cook the Books series - Cherry Sour Cream Clafoutis.Some bakes ask for patience. This one...
20/06/2025

Bake no.3 from Sour by for my Cook the Books series - Cherry Sour Cream Clafoutis.

Some bakes ask for patience. This one, just over a week, begins with a jar of cherries and a little waiting. Soured by time, they sing through a batter not unlike that of a Dutch baby.

Which, to me, is permission enough to devour the whole pan for breakfast.

Sour, Page 224

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