Showing posts with label coffee break. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coffee break. Show all posts
Today's recipe is a traditional one that I have adapted from a great National Trust cookery book I have entitled, Complete Traditional Recipe Book, by Sarah Eddington. I love these old traditional recipes. There is always a story behind them. They are also very simple and uncomplicated as well as being very delicious!
They are also known as Ashby Statutes Cakes, which have traditionally been baked to enjoy during the travelling Summer Fun Fairs of July, August and September. I think they are very similar to Welsh Cakes, or biscuits.
To me they seem to be somewhat of a cross between a cookie and a pastry . . . nice and buttery . . .and short, but not as short as a shortbread biscuit would be . . .
Welsh cakes are very similar in shape and size and also dusted with castor sugar . . . but are studded with raisins and flavoured with spice.
These are not studded with raisins alone . . . nor is there any spice . . .instead they are studded with a mix of dried fruit and chopped nuts. I have used glace cherries, sultanas, currants and citrus peel, along with chopped toasted hazelnuts.
I chopped the cherries very fine, and then I chopped the other fruits also. Not too fine, mind . . . just fine enough to make them easier to stamp out. Nothing worse than a whole raisin or a nut ruining the look of your biscuit by jamming the cutter.
These are beautiful dunkers . . . be it in a nice hot cuppa or a glass of milk . . . which makes them perfect for elevensies, or coffee break or afterschool, or with your afternoon cup of tea.
I love a good dunking biscuit don't you? Its a bit of a comfort thing I believe . . . and these are very comforting. I do love these fabulous traditional foods of these beautiful Islands, and all of their the history and folklore behind them!
*Langley Wakes Cakes*
Makes approx. 16 1/2 tsp baking powder
and finely chopped toasted hazelnuts)
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Line several large baking sheets with some baking paper. Set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Sift together the flour and baking powder. Stir in the dried fruit and nuts. Add to the creamed mixture, alternating with the well beaten egg, stirring until you have a batter which is stiff enough for rolling out. You don't want it too sticky.
Lightly flour your countertop. Working with half of the dough at a time, roll out approximately 1/3 of an inch thick, using a lightly floured rolling pin. Take a 3-inch fluted round cutter and stamp out rounds. Transfer to a baking sheet, leaving about an inch of space in between each. Add the scraps to the second half of the dough and lightly knead together, roll out again as before and stamp out more rounds, again placing them onto the baking sheets. Repeat until you have used all the dough.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown on the edges. Sprinkle with additional caster sugar and leave on the baking sheets to cool for about 5 minutes prior to scooping off to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Store in an airtight container. These will keep for several days.
I love the idea of sprinkling hot biscuit/cookies with fine sugar right when they come out of the oven. The heat from the cookie makes it stick, and it adds a glorious gild to that tasty lily! Fire up the oven, you won't want to miss out on these! Bon Appetit!
You would be forgiven for thinking that these are Molasses Crinkle Cookies at first glance, but you would be completely wrong. Although they might look quite similar in appearance, they are quite different, albeit just as delicious to munch on!
These are much larger for one thing . . . about 3 inches in diameter. So quite big . . .
These are also quite a bit softer . . . chewy . . . moreishly so . . . they use not one but two kinds of soft brown sugar, both the dark and light. If you don't like lumps of sugar in your cookies, sift the sugars. Myself, I am not opposed to small nuggets of chewy, almost caramel-like sweetness studded here and there in my cookies. But suit yourself . . .
They are aso sweetened with molasses as you can see from the title. If you cannot get molasses and I appreciate that it is somewhat difficult to come by here in the UK, combine equal parts of dark treacle and golden syrup, 30ml of each should work.
The rest of the flavour comes from a nice and generous amount of baking spices . . . cinnamon, ginger, cloves, ground cardamom, some vanilla, and . . . surprise, surprise . . . a bit of cracked black pepper. Seriously do not leave this out. Its a beautiful addition. Trust me on this.
The dough is quite sticky, but don't worry about that. It is supposed to be, just roughly shape into large balls and roll them into sugar before popping them (well spaced apart) onto the baking sheet before pressing them down lightly and droping some more sugar on top.
They bake into beautiful big round dense and fudgy almost . . . chewy wonderfully flavoured cookies that would not entirely be uncomfortable served with an ice cold glass of milk!!
The recipe only makes 16 rather large cookies, but upon tasting them you will be glad for that fact because, lets face it . . . you will not be able to leave them alone and having any more than that would be sure to tip you over the edge into full on gluttonly. They are nigh on impossible to resist!
*Chewy Spiced Molasses Cookies*
Makes 16 large cookies
1 tsp vanilla
310g plain flour (2 1/2 cups)
1 tsp baking soda, dissolved in 1 TBS hot water
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/gas mark 5. Line two baking trays with baking paper. Set aside.
Sift together the flour, salt and all the spices. Set aside.
Measure the granulated sugar into a bowl. Scoop out dessertspoon measures of the dough and shape into ping pong sized balls. Drop into the sugar in the bowl and roll around to coat. Place onto the baking sheet leaving plenty of space in between. You should be able to fit 8 cookies on each sheet. Press down lightly with the palm of your hand until they are 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle with a bit more granulated sugar.
Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 10 minutes until puffed and beginning to crack, rotating pans halfway through the baking time. Allow to sit on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes before scooping off onto a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
Will keep well for three days, not that you will have them around that long!
You are seriously about to fall in love. You can thank me for these after . . . Bon Appetit!
I wish I had a pound/dollar for every time I have made Crispie Bars through the years. I would be able to retire to a tropical island, I have made that many! I am sure that I made them at least once a week, ir not more often, the whole time my family was growing up! They were a favourite of my ex husband and my children! They never lasted very long! They used to inhale them.
I never made unsual flavours or added anything to them. I just made the basic crispie bar. Marshmallows, butter, vanilla and the cereal. Easy peasy.
The kids loved to clean the pot out afterwards. They would all gather around it with spoons and fingers and lick/scrape that pot clean!
This is my youngest four in action. I am not sure where
big brother was!
I was quite intrigued when I saw this recipe for Cappuccino Crispies in one of my Cooking Light Cookbooks. (I think it was The Lazy Gourmet!)
This is a crispie bar for adults, with adult flavours . . . coffee . . . milky marshmallows . . . and not a scrap of fat in sight!
Which also makes it quite adult friendly. Most of us are watching our waistlines. (Unless you are very lucky.) Some of us are also watching our sugar intake, so I have to say upfront, this isn't for those people. Lots of sugar in the marshmallows, I'm afraid. So if you have to watch your sugar (like I do) these are not for you.
But if you are one of the lucky ones who doesn't need to watch their sugar intake, then you are sure to enjoy these quick and easy bars! The dusting of cocoa powder is my addition. Most times coffee shops dust cocoa powder over their cappuccino drinks! It added another grown up touch to these!
*Cappuccino Crispie Squares*
Makes 24 bars
unsweetened cocoa powder to dust
Yep, these are definitely for the grown-ups. Bon Appetit!
Todd is a Bakewell Tart man. He loves, LOVES the flavour of Bakewell Tart(s)! It doesn't matter if it is a whole tart or small individual tarts. You can count him in if Bakewell Tart is on the menu.
A Bakewell tart is an English pastry consisting of a shortcrust pastry shell beneath a layers of jam, almond flavoured frangipane, and a topping of flaked almonds.Oftimes the flakes almonds are foregone and the tarts are topped with an almond glace icing and a glace cherry. Those are Todd's absolute favourites! You can also find it baked as a large tart as opposed to small individual tarts.
The definitive flavours are almond and raspberry . . . the rest (the icing and cherry) are just gilding an already beautifully flavoured lily.
These muffins are moist from the use of buttermilk in the batter and deliciously almondy, using both ground almonds and almond extract . . .
They are filled with sweet raspberry jam . . . just a dollop in the centre, prior to baking . . . kind of like my jam doughnut muffins are filled with jam. The jam really stays in the centre of these however, and I think it is the ground almonds in the batter which helps with this.
They crown beautifully and come out of the oven with lovely muffin tops! Ohh, I do so love a good muffin top . . . all crispy edged . . . my favourite part of any muffin!
The almond glaze tops the off beautifully . . . and of course that cherry is the perfect dressing! And so very bakewellie.
Perfect for Elevensies, tea time, breakfast on the go, brunch, picnic baskets, or just because . . .
Go on! Treat yourself! You won't regret it. I guarantee!
*Bakewell Tart Muffins*
Makes 6
You will love these muffins. If you only bake one thing this weekend, let it be these! Bon Appetit!
I love scones and am always looking for a delicious recipe to try. I spied a recipe the other day on a blog called Seasonly Creations for Irish Coffee Cake Scones.
Flaky sweet scones studded with plenty of dried currants and topped with a coffee cake streusal crumb topping.
For the scones:
340g of plain flour (2 1/2 cups)
50g soft dark brown sugar (1/4 cup)
45g white sugar (1/4 cup)
1 TBS baking powder
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
115g of dried currants (3/4 cup)
120g cold unsalted butter (1/2 cup) cut into cubes
2 large free range eggs, lightly beaten
120ml buttermilk (1/2 cup)
2 tsp almond extract
To glaze:
2 TBS milk
1 large free range egg, beaten
For the streusel:
73g of white vegetable shortening (1/3 cup)
40g chopped toasted pecans (1/3 cup)
50g of soft light brown sugar plus 2 TBS (1/4 cup, plus 2 TBS)
2 TBS white sugar
3 TBS plain flour
pinch salt
To
make the streusel, rub the flour and both sugars together with the salt
to combine and work out any lumps in the sugar. Drop in the shortening
and rub all together with a fork to completely incorporate. Stir in
the chopped nuts. Set aside.
For the Scones sift the flour
into the bowl Stir in both sugars, the baking powder, the nutmeg and
the salt. Rub all together to make sure any lumps from the sugar are
broken up. Drop in the butter, rub it in with your fingertips until you
have a mixture which resembles fine bread crumbs.
Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. LIne a large baking tray with baking paper. Set aside.
Beat the egg and milk together for the glaze and set aside.
Whisk
together the buttermilk, eggs and almond extract for the scones. Make a
well in the middle of the scone mixture and dump in the wet
ingredients. Stir together with a fork until the mixture begins to come
together into a soft dough. Tip out onto a lightly floured board and
knead lightly for a few turns. Divide the dough in half and shape each
half gently into a circle which is 5 inches across and 1 inch tall. Cut
each into six wedges. Place onto the baking sheet, leaving plenty of
space in between for rising, spreading. Brush the tops with the glaze
and then spring a heaped TBS of the streusel on top of each.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 17 minutes. Serve warm with your favourite hot drink!
They looked really good so I thought I would give them a go! What a tasty way to end the month of May!
A basic scone recipe is created and then topped with a brown sugar and nut streusel before baking. It does use a mix of dark brown and white sugars, and plenty of nutmeg which was a bit different.
I thought I would give you an action shot of them ready to go into the oven! Yes, I do end up having to use my table as a preparation surface most of the time as I have almost nil counter space in the kitchen.
There really is only an area about 3 feet in length and by the time you put a toaster, a kettle and a knife block on it, prep surface is minimal at best.
Now back to the scones.
The dough was really easy to put together, most scone doughs are. You can't go wrong so long as you use a light hand.
The original recipe said to cut the fat into the flour, but I have always found that rubbing it in with your finger tips works much better.
It uses buttermilk, which usually makes for great scones. I was a bit nervous about this recipe however, as it did not call for any baking soda, just baking powder.
I always understood that you needed to use some soda with an acidic ingredient such as buttermilk in order to get a good rise.
I crossed my fingers and went with the recipe however and hoped that they would turn out like they should.
Hers certainly looked alright!
As you can see however, my worry was for naught as I got a really nice rise! I used some currants that I had in the cupboard from Whitworths, seedless ones, and really tiny.
They worked beautifully and the end result in the finished scones was lovely.
I confess I probably added an addition handful because I like lots of fruit. The only thing I wasn't totally fond of was the use of white vegetable shortening in the crumble topping, and to be honest, it kind of melted a bit.
I had been thinking it would stand up like the crumble on a coffee cake, but it didn't. I am not sure how you could get around that.
And I am not sure butter instead of shortening would make any difference. I checked back at hers on the other blog and they looked the same.
I think if just a bit more flour was added it might make a difference, but I will try that the next time around. Maybe bake one and let you know. They were really very good however and I will be making them again!
*Irish Coffee Cake Scones*
Makes 12
Other than changing a few things about the way I put these together, I basically followed the recipe as per written and I found them to be quite, quite delicious. Even the day after. I do have to say that next time I would leave out the almond extract. I am not sure that it added anything at all to the flavour of the scones, and to be honest it wasn't a very "Irish" addition. Using the dark brown sugar however gave them a beautiful colour. Warm out of the oven, split and buttered, they were utterly devine! Bon Appetit!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Icons