Well, we are still cooking with yogurt here. I have that much of it, I'll be a while getting through it and I positively don't want to waste any of it. Total Yogurt is such a lovely, thick and rich brand of Greek yogurt, so I'm not complaining!!

I had a lot of lemons that were getting close to their use by date and so I thought I would try making a Lemon Loaf with it.



Mmmm . . . great call! Yogurt in baked goods helps to create a lovely moist and rich crumb. In fact you can subsitute yogurt for sour cream or creme fraiche in most baked goods quite successfully!



This is a wonderful lemon loaf, with just the merest hint of lemon in the actual loaf part . . . it goes so well with vanilla. The combination of lemon and vanilla is a real favourite of mine. It helps to bring out the inate sweetness of baked goods, without you having to use a lot of sugar, or at least that is what I find to be true!



You get a real double blast of lemon in the topping, which is where it really shines, both with an undercoating of a sugar lemon syrup and a final crowning of lemon drizzle icing.



Oh my, but this is some good. So good in fact that I am going to skip summer tonight and just have some more of this luciously scrumdiddlyumptious loaf!!



I know . . . ME <=== BAD. But in a good way, doncha think? ☺ I'm with Marie Antoinette. Cake for supper . . . it's a very good thing!



*Lemon Yogurt Loaf*
Makes one large loaf
Printable Recipe

Moist and lemony, with an underglaze of sweet and tart lemon syrup, topped with a lemon glaze drizzle icing!

210g of plain flour (1 1/2 cups)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
200g of full fat Greek yogurt ( 1 cup)
7 ounces of sugar (1 cup)
3 large free range eggs
the finely grated zest of 2 unwaxed lemons
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 ounces vegetable oil (1/2 cup)

For the sugar glaze:
the juice of 1 lemon
5 TBS sugar

For the Drizzle Icing:
140g of icing sugar, sifted (1 cup)
2 TBS fresh lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a large loaf tin. Line with parchment paper and butter the paper. Set aside.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Whisk together the yogurt, and sugar in another larger bowl. Beat in the eggs, lemon zest and the vanilla. Slowly whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Fold in the oil, using a rubber spatula, making sure to get it all in smoothly. Pour into the loaf tin. Level off and then place on a centre rack in the heated oven.

Bake for about 50 minutes, or until well risen and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Whhile it is baking, heat the lemon juice and sugar for the glaze together until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before removing. Place on a wire rack over a baking pan and spoon the glaze over top, allowing it to soak in a little at a time. Allow to cool completely.

whisk the icing sugar together with the lemon juice and drizzle over the top of the loaf. Allow to set. Cut into slices to serve.

Occasionally I like to bake something really special for an extra special treat.
Something deliciously different than the usual cake or cookies.



Something unique and fantabulously tasty. Something like these light and tasty, spiral shaped, quick rolls!



Oh my but they are delicious . . .



Just imagine, if you can, a soft fluffy buttermilk scone dough, rolled out and spread with a scrummy spicy fruit and nut mixture, and then rolled up tightly like a Swiss Roll.



Cut into slices and baked until delicately brown, and then glazed with an apricot glaze and drizzled with a sweet icing.



Can you say S-C-R-U-M-M-Y????



mmmm . . . mmmm . . good . . . Just PERFECT for elevenses or as an extra special teatime treat!!!



Best eaten on the day . . . NOT a problem!!



*Fruit and Nut Scrolls*
Makes about 18
Printable Recipe

Quick and tasty spiral buns, filled with a deliciously spicy fruited filling!

for the buns:
450g self raising flour (3 1/4 cups)
2 tsp caster sugar
50g butter (1/4 cup)
330ml of buttermilk (1 1/3 cups)

For the filling:
40g sultanas (1/2 cup)
35g currants (1/2 cup)
50g chopped stoned prunes (1/2 cup)
1 medium apple, peeled and finely chopped
2 TBS flaked almonds
2 tsp grated orange rind
2 TBS orange juice
1/3 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp rum or brandy
50g soft light brown sugar (a heaping 1/3 cup)

Apricot glaze:
2 TBS apricot jam
2 tsp water

For the glaze:
55g icing sugar (a heaped 1/2 cup)
1 tsp hot water

Preheat the oven to 200*c/400*f/ GAS MARK 6. Butter several baking sheets. Set aside.

Combine all the filling ingredients in a bowl, mixing together well. Set aside.

Sift the flour into a bowl. Whisk in the sugar. Drop in the butter and then rub it into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Stir in the buttermilk to mix to a soft sticky dough. Turn out on a floured surface and lightly knead until smooth. Pat or roll out into a rectangle about 10 1/4 inches by 14 1/4 inches in size. Spread with the fruit mixture leaving a small border on the far long side. Roll up from the long side nearest you, firmly, like a Swiss roll. Press the far edge onto the roll to seal. Using a sharp knife, cut into 3/4 inch thick slices and place, cut side up on the greased baking sheets.

Bake in the heated oven for about 15 minutes, until well risen and lightly browned on the edges.

Remove from the oven. Heat together the apricot jam and water, strain through a sieve to remove any lumps. Brush over the tops of the buns.

Combine the icing sugar and hot water in a bowl until smooth. Using a small spoon, drizzle this icing over the scrolls in an attractive manner. Enjoy!

Note : if you prefer, you can use 380g of fruit mincemeat instead of the filling in this recipe. That's about 1 1/2 cups.

The carrots are ripening fast and furiously in our garden. Beautifully orange and sweet, we have been having them almost every night with our supper . . . steamed, roasted, grated into salads. We'll soon be turning a glorious colour of orange!!



I have never thought frozen carrots taste very good, so we are trying to use up as many of them fresh from the garden as we can . . . plus giving them to friends to enjoy.



When you have had about as many boiled, steamed, roasted and grated carrots as you can stand, that is the time to make a carrot cake . . . or muffins, or bread.



Ahh carrot cake. Todd's favourite. Every moist bite all spicy and sweet. Chock full of raisins and covered with a simple orange drizzle icing.



I sometimes make another version with crushed pineapple and coconut, and it's very, very good and moist . . . but when you are in a hurry and want a simpler dessert or teatime treat, this recipe is the absolute best. There is nothing complicated or unsual about this one. Simple. Tasty. Easy and quick to make. It's a doddle.



Perfect for lunch boxes and picnics, and eating out of hand! You won't want to waste a crumb of this tasty cake.



Please note - This cake also freezes very well without the drizzle as long as you have it very carefully wrapped and stogged into an airtight freezer bag. What a lovely treat to look forward to in the cooler months!




*A Simple Carrot Cake*
Cuts into 15 slices
Printable Recipe

Deliciously moist, this lovely cake keeps for up to a week and if anything improves with keeping!

6 ounces (1 1/4 cups) light brown muscovado sugar
6 ounces (3/4 cup) sunflower oil
3 large free range eggs, lightly beaten
3 medium carrots, peeled and grated
4 ounces (2/3 cup) of raisins
the finely grated zest of one orange
6 ounces (1 3/4 cup) self raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

For the drizzle:
6 ounces (about 3/4 cup) of icing sugar
1 1/2 to 2 TBS fresh orange juice

Prehat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter well and line the base and sides of an 8 inch square pan with parchment paper. I cut two long strips the width of the pan and put them in criss cross ways, leaving an overhand which makes it easier to lift out.

Measure the sugar into a large mixing bowl Stir in the oil. Beat in the eggs with a wooden spoon until mixed in. Stir in the grated carrot, raisins and orange zest.

Whisk together the flour, soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir this into the wet ingredients, only mixing until all are evenly moistened. The mixture will be soft and runny. Pour into the prepared baking tin.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the cake feels firm and springs back when lightly touched in the centre. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes then lift out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Whisk the drizzle ingredients together until smooth. Using a small spoon drizzle the icing back and forth across the top of the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. Cut into slices to serve.

Store in an airtight tin, for up to a week.

As a North American, I have a real love of sweet and salty/savoury combinations, which drive my British husband up the wall . . . You know what I mean . . . combinations like peanut butter and jam, potato crisps and chocolate, cheese and chutney . . . I'm sure you get the picture.



He equates eating such things on a scale of horror equivalent to eating the likes of fish and custard . . . together. Yikes!!

It is just not the same thing at all!! (although I do have to say that fish and a savoury herby and lemon custard would probably be quite nice!)



I cannot get enough of these sweet/savoury combinations and can often be found to munching on pretzels and chocolate, or peanut butter and jam sandwiches . . . which is perhaps why I look the way I do . . . because of the frequency of these snacks mind you, not because of the combinations . . .



I love, LOVE Chocolate Hazelnut spread. I just adore it. I bow down to it. It is delicious spread on Malted Milk biscuits and slowly scarfed down with an ice cold glass of milk. It is scrummy spread between rich layers of cake, any cake will do. (Try it with Lemon sometime, that is gorgeous!)



I thought I had just about exhausted what I could do with it actually until I had this wonderful brainstorm today.



Imagine puff pastry, spread to the edge with delicious chocolate spread, sprinkled with toasted chopped hazelnuts, rolled up, sliced, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and then baked until fabulously crunchy!!

Oh my but these are some good eating . . . perfect with a nice cuppa and a curl up with a book. Quick, easy and oh so scrumdiddlyumptious! Bet you can't eat just one!!




*Chocolate Hazelnut Palmiers*
Makes about 30
Printable Recipe

Delicious and addictively scrummy! Very simple to make and uses only a few ingredients.

Butter for greasing the pan
13 ounces of ready made puff pastry
(thaw if frozen)
plain flour for dusting the work surface
8 TBS chocolate hazelnut spread
(such as nutella)
75g (2 3/4 ounces) chopped toasted hazelnuts
2 TBS cinnamon sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Butter a large baking sheet and set aside.

Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured work surface to a recangle roughly 15 by 9 inches in diameter.

Spread the chocolate hazelnut spread all over the top of the pastry using a palette knife, and spreading it out evenly. Sprinkle the chopped hazelnuts evenly over top of the chocolate spread.

Starting at one long end, roll up one side of the pastry to the centre. Roll up the other side as well, so that they meet in the middle. Dampen the edges where they meet and join. Using a very sharp knife, cut into 30 slices crosswise. Transfer to the buttered baking sheet and flatten slightly with the palette knife. Sprinkle evenly with cinnamon sugar.

Bake in the heated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Scoop off onto a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!!

Okay . . . I put my hand up. I confess. I JUST love (adore even) peanut butter.

If I had to choose only one thing out of everything possible to have as a food on a deserted Island . . . I would choose peanut butter. Seriously. Ok . . . umm . . . maybe chocolate would win out, but trust me . . . only by a narrow margin. What could be better than peanut butter . . . or chocolate???


Peanutbutter and Chocolate together! The ultimate marriage of flavours . . . heavenly bliss . . . totally.



And when you combine that scrummy combination with the tasty crunch of buttery oats and chopped toasted nuts, well . . . I don't mind saying . . .



YOU HAVE SOMETHING TOTALLY IRRESISTABLY SCRUMMILY ADDICTIVE!!!

You just can NOT eat just one . . . I kid you not!





Rich. Decadent. Moreish.

Make them today. You will NOT regret it! Trust me on this.


Okay . . . so maybe your hips might protest, and eventually regret it a teensy weensy bit . . . but . . . you can always tell them that oats are healthy and cholesterol lowering. Very good for you in fact.

And that, my friends, is definitely the truth! ☺



*Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip and Oat Bars*
Makes 36
Printable Recipe
Deliciously oaty bars with a creamy peanut butter filling, and stogged full of rich chocolate chips and crunchy toasted walnuts. What's not to like??

18 ounces of rolled oats (2 1/4 cups)
12 ounces soft light brown sugar (1 1/4 cups packed)
140g of plain flour (1 cup)
1/2 tsp baking soda
8 ounces of butter, softened (1 cup)

Filling:
1 (397g) tin of sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)
(NOT evaporated milk)
2 ounces creamy peanut butter (1/4 cup)
1/2 tsp vanilla
6 ounces semi sweet chocolate pieces (1 cup)
60g coarsely chopped toasted walnuts (1/2 cup)

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/Gas mark 4. Butter a 13 by 9 inch baking pan well, or spray with nonstick cooking spray. Alternately line with parchment paper and butter the paper, leaving an overhang for ease of lifting out when cooled.

Combine the oats, brown sugar, flour, baking soda and butter in a large bowl. Mix together at low speed with an electric whisk until crumbly. Reserve 2 cups of the mixture for the topping and set aside. Press the remaining crumbs into the prepared pan, evenly, to form the base.

Whisk together the condensed milk, peanut butter and vanilla. Pour this over the crumb base, spreading it out evenly. Sprinkle the chocolate chops and nuts over top. Sprinkle the reserved crumb mixture over top evenly and lightly press down to adhere.

Bake in the heated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. The centre will not be set. Allow to cool on a wire rack for about an hour and a half, or until completely cooled before cutting into bars. Fantastic!!

 

I was sitting here today and I thought to myself . . . I want something scrummy . . . something rich . . . something chocolatey. And then I thought . . . what if I bake my favourite brownies, in a tart pan and then cover them with marshmallows and a fudge frosting . . . I wonder what it would taste like

I have only three words for you.

OH - - - MY - - - GOODNESS!!!


Have you ever eaten anything so incredibly scrummy that the very first bite sent you into spasms of delight . . .

so incredibly moreish that you can't utter any words . . . only sounds . . .

Sounds like . . . . mmmmmm . . . . ooooooohhh . . . . nnnngggghhh . . . .

and in between . . . . only the sounds of your fork hitting the plate . . . again and again????

Imagine a fudgy mouthful of rich moist chocolate brownie . . . stuffed with toasted pecans and then topped with oooey, goooey, sweet marshmallow . . . all smoothed over with a rich chocolate fudge frosting.

Yes . . . this is heaven in every bite. Okay, so this has been a bit more than three words . . . but well, I am sure you'll forgive me.


Now, go make this NOW!