If you were to ask me what my absolute favourite kind of pie was and were to only let me choose ONE . . . . I would definitely pick Lemon Meringue.  

It is my most favouritest of all the pies and that is saying a LOT because in my family if it has  a crust and is a pie, we are all over it.  We be PIE PEOPLE!



Yes, lemon is my absolute favourite flavour. In all truth I probably even love the flavour of lemon over chocolate.  

 Please don't ever ask me to give up one of those however, because I could never ever give up either one!



If you are a lemon nut just like me, then you are going to love, Love, LOVE these delicious Lemon Meringue Cookies.  

To borrow a phrase from the youngsters . . .  They Da Bomb!  (or am I really dating myself here???)

 

In other words they are totally delicious and they can be as complicated or as simple to make as you choose.   They consist of a simple shortbread base, baked until all short and crumblicious.

This is then topped with a dollop of lemon curd, either store bought or homemade. (that's a link to my recipe) and baby meringues again either store bought or homemade.   (I always buy my baby meringues coz I'm rather lazy that way.)



The end result is so moreishly delicious that . . .  upon biting into one . . .  you will immediately go into a swoon and reach for a second one!  I promise you they are THAT good.   

Scrummy.   Moreish.  Scrumptious.  Scrumdiddlyumptious.  Can't eat just one . . . irrisistably delectable.

 

Once they are completely cooled, fill the centres of each with a generous teaspoon of lemon curd and top with a meringue.  Fill on the day you wish to serve them and only fill as many as you feel will be eaten.  Store the remainder in an airtight container until you are ready to serve. 

I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have baked this delicious tea bread!  

I confess . . .  I am a weak woman.   Especially when it comes to food, and most especially when it comes to shortbread biscuits.

MOST especially when those shortbread biscuits are as simple, quick to make and as delicious as these Brown Sugar Shortbread biscuit are!


 

These are the perfect shortbread biscuits.  (Biscuits is what they call cookies over here.)  They are short and buttery, without being in the least bit oily or greasy . . . 

I think of all of the cookies I make, shortbreads are my absolute favourites.



They are crisp without being hard.  My husband doesn't like hard biscuits and I confess I don't really like my cookies too hard either.   

These have just the right amount of  crispness . . . crisp without being hard.



These are perfect for dunking. A good biscuit should be perfect for dunking don't you think?  I thought so!  

 Biscuits were made for dunking! I love a good biscuit dunk.

 

In regular or herbal teas . . .  in milk . . .  in those frothy cappuchino's . . . and hot chocolates.  These lovely biscuits would go well with all of those . . .



These are not too sweet . . .  with only a touch of brown sugar in the biscuit dough . . . and a scattering of demerara sugar for a bit of sweet crunch on top.    

 In short . . .  no pun intended . . .  these are fabulously moreish.  If you only bake one cookie this weekend, make it this one! 

Cream the butter together with the brown sugar until smooth and quite creamy.  Stir in the vanilla and salt until they are completely amalgamated.  Stir in the flour until combined.  Press firmly into the bottom of the prepared tart pan, without allowing it to go up the sides.  I use a piece of parchment paper to help press it down smoothly.  Prick all over with a fork.  Sprinkle the demerara sugar over top.





Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until deep golden brown.  Remove from the oven and immediately cut into 12 wedges using a pizza cutter, and then a small sharp knife to get all the way to the edges.   Allow to cool completely in the pan before removing the sides and lifting apart.   Store in an airtight container. 

The rain is bucketing down today.  It's not a great day to go out and do much of anything.  How fitting for the first day of the summer school holidays. I hope it's not a portent of things to come!

  

I had in my mind to make Friands today, but not just any friands . . .  raspberry and marshmallow friands.   I went to the shops and picked up some lovely fresh raspberries and a bag of pink and white mini marshmallows and got home only to discover I had no ground almonds.  I hate it when that happens. 

You might be forgiven if at first glance you were to over look this delightful quick bread.  It's not the prettiest crayon in the box, but be assured that first glances can be very deceiving, and you should never judge a book by it's cover.



Without it's party dress on, it looks very plain Jane indeed  . . .  except for those few teasing little wet and moist pockets of promise dotting the surface here and there  . . .



Dressed for the ball . . . it starts to look a bit more appealing and does catch the eye . . . inviting you to lean in and take a closer look.

 

A slice down into that sugar dusted surface and you get to the heart of the matter . . .  a moist and buttery tea loaf studded with lovely sweet/tart blackberries . . .  ribbons of fruitiness that get your taste buds to tingling in over time . . . is it possible?  Could this really taste as good as it looks????



The answer would be YES.  Absolutely. It does.  If anything . . .  it tastes even BETTER than it looks!  This is a great way to use up the last of last years blackberries you have in the freezer before you begin to replace them with this years crop.  Frozen berries are perfect for this.  Perfect.  Try it and see . . . but don't blame me if you fall in love.  It can't be helped.   Don't say I didn't warn you.




*Blackberry and Cinnamon Yogurt Loaf*

I was recently sent a few flavour extracts from the Nielsen-Massey Vanillas company to use in my baking.   I am no stranger to the Nielsen Massey line.  I have a drawer containing quite a few different ones, and of course their line of Vanilla products have been a favourite of mine for a number of years now.

Their most famous product is their Vanilla extract.  Started in 1907 in the United States, this family-owned business has gone from strength to strength. Want to know the secret of their super high quality? They use a cold-extraction process, slowly and gently extracting every bit of flavour from the beans, without harming them using heat.    They also have quite a variety of other pure extracts, including coffee, almond, chocolate, lemon, orange, peppermint, orange blossom and rose water.    I was sent a bottle each of the orange blossom, vanilla and rose water.

Like I said, I use the Vanilla all the time so there is nothing really new about that, but this was my first time using Rose Water or Orange Blossom Water.  If you are a fan of turkish delight you would already be familiar with the flavour of Rose Water as that is the predominant flavour in that lovely sweet treat.  

Sweet and fragrant Rose Water is an elegant steam distillate of rose petals. Its delicate floral notes are perfect in Middle Eastern, Indian and Greek cuisine and offer a wonderful accent to delicate French pastry glazes and creams. In addition to pairing well with vanilla, cream, white and dark chocolate and mild cheeses such as Brie or cream cheese, this water blends nicely with fruits like strawberry, raspberry, lychee and mango. Rose Water can also elevate sweetened hot water or milk and is a delightful way to flavour sugars and cookies.


I did a search on line and came up with a recipe by Sophie Grigson for a delicate sounding Almond Cake with a Rosewater and Lemon Syrup.   It almost sounded Greek with its flavours and of course the texture of the cake very much reminded me of a special Greek Cake that one of my friends back home always made.  I fell in love with it the first time she made it, and I fell in love with this cake as well.

It's incredibly moist . . . and rich.   You start it in a cold oven, which means that the outside surfaces bake first, leaving the centre with an almost damp and incredibly squidgy texture, all of which is greatly enhanced by the Rosewater and Lemon Syrup which you spoon over it as it is cooling . . .  a bit at a time so that it soaks into the cake, adding to it's wonderful depth of flavour and richness.

The syrup had an almost perfumed quality, not at all unpleasant in the least.   The lemon and rosewater went together beautifully.  I simply dusted the top of the cake with a bit of icing sugar to serve.   I thought a nice dollop of  crème fraiche or Greek yogurt would go perfectly with this, and . . . quite simply, it did.



*Almond Cake with a Rosewater & Lemon Syrup*

Generally speaking at the weekend I like to bake the Toddster a delicious teatime treat.  Something that I know he will enjoy and that I wouldn't normally bake for him.  He's very fond of scones . . . the problem is so am I.   What to do about that??  I don't know.  I bake em anyways, even if they do get in my mouth.

 

This is a simple recipe, using ordinary things and my most favourite ingredient of all fresh blueberries.  So good for you with their vitamins and anti-oxidents!    Once the dough is made for these you just pat it into a round, place it on the baking sheet and then cut it into wedges, pushing them apart gently for baking.  So good.

 

They bake like a dream and there is no faffing about with cutting them into rounds etc,  all the dough gets used up, so there's no waste.  No tough scones from having to re-roll and cut, etc.



These puff up really nicely, and are stogged full of lovely coconut and lime flavours which go really well with the blueberries.

 

These are beautiful served with a nice cuppa and some blueberry jam . . .  but lemon curd is my chosen poison, and I eat it whenever I can.   I know . . . I'm repeating myself here, but blueberries and lemon are such perfect partners!



Just look at that crisp  coconut and sugar gilding  the top of these delicious bakes!  So good!



And all those blueberries.   So tasty!  Nice.  Nice.



The delicate crunch of coconut and sugar, the sweetness of blueberries, the tang of lime.   What's not to like about these??

 

 

I confess.  I love chocolate and it doesn't matter what kind of chocolate it is.  Dark, milk . . .   in cakes and cookies . . .  good candy bars, good chocolates . . . pies and puddings.   The only kind I am not fond of is chocolate milk or chocolate ice cream.  I'm not even really fussy on hot chocolate drinks.  I don't know why that is. It is a mystery to me too.



The Toddster of course, he doesn't like chocolate in any form other than chocolate candies or hot chocolate.   I know!  It just ain't human, but I'm not complaining as that always means more brownies for me!!

 

Chocolate Baked goods are notoriously difficult to get a good photograph of.  I don't know why that is.   I apologize for a lack of tasty photos of these fabulously delicious muffins.   No matter how I tried, they just did not want to come out right.  Nevermind . . .



You will just have to take my word for it that they are tasty.  Moist.   Chocolaty.   Stogged full of three kinds of chocolate.  Hard to resist . . . and . . . mine, all . . . mine.   I ain't complaining!




Place the butter and one half of the  bittersweet chocolate into a saucepan.   Melt over very low heat, whisking to blend. (Alternately do in a bowl set over simmering water, taking care that the bottom of the bowl not touch the water.)  Remove from the heat and set aside. 

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of one comes out clean.  Don't over-bake.  You want them a bit squidgy not dry.  Allow to cool in the pan for five minutes before tipping out onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely.  Store any leftovers in an airtight container.