Showing posts with label dried fruit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dried fruit. Show all posts
One thing we both love in this house is figs. Fresh, dried, in baked goods, diced on top of our morning oats, fresh in a salad, etc.
Figs are a favourite in our home.
Todd really loves Fig Rolls. Do you know the ones I mean? In North America they are called Fig Newtons. Here in the UK they are called Fig Rolls.
I suppose that is because they are basically a cookie/bar dough rolled around a sweet fig filling, flattened and cut into bars.
They can vary drastically from one brand to another. Some might have more filling than others, but I think they are all a bit stingy with the filling to be honest.
I prefer a much higher filling to cookie ration.
There are quite a few copycat versions of them around the world wide web.
Today I adapted the best of all of them, threw in my own interpretations and made a small batch, from scratch.
Let me tell you . . . these are infinitely better than the fig rolls that you buy.
No, the filling isn't totally encased and rolled up in a biscuit dough . . .
These are more like a bar. There is plenty of filling to cookie dough ratio I think it is the perfect amount.
You get the sweet brown sugar dough, crumbly and buttery . . . both on the bottom as a bar and on the top as a crumble.
NO oats in this I am afraid, but there is whole wheat and plain flours, so a bit more fibre.
The filling is perfectly ample . . . not too much, not too little. Just right.
These are moist and crumbly and incredibly moreish, from that buttery crust to that sweet and sticky filling.
They are filled with sweet fibre, both in the crust and in the filling. These will help to keep you regular which reminds me of an interesting story about my mom.
Mom always kept a special jar of this fig spread in the refrigerator. She bought it at the drugstore I think, or maybe it was the health food store.
She called it her medicine. Nobody was aloud to touch it upon pain of death.
Nobody wanted to to be honest. Medicine? Who would take medicine on purpose!
Now that I am an older woman I begin to appreciate the importance of fibre and figs to help keep things working smoothly.
These are a fabulous way to get in some of that fibre, and in a most pleasant way.
Incredibly moreish. Trust me on this. So much so that I am wishing I had not baked a small batch.
Never mind . . . I just get to bake them again. Fresh, as and when we need want them!
Trust me when I tell you, having tasted one of these, you will never settle for a ready made Fig Newton Roll again! Never!
Yield: Makes 8
Homemade Fig Bars (small batch)
Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 1 Hour
This small batch recipe, if anything, is more delicious than the fig bars you can buy. They are also very delicious.
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 4 ounces dried Turkish or Calimyrna figs (1/4 pound)
- 240ml cloudy apple juice (1 cup)
- pinch salt
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
For the crust:
- 53g all purpose flour (4 TBS)
- 35g whole wheat flour (1/4 cup)
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- pinch salt
- 3 TBS unsalted butter, softened
- 83g soft light brown sugar (6 TBS, packed)
- 1 large free range egg yolk
- 1 tsp pure vanilla
Instructions
- First make the filling. Trim the hard stem from the dried figs and discard. Cut the figs into quarters and put them into a small saucepan. Add the apple juice and salt.
- Cook over medium heat until the figs are very soft and the juice is syrupy. This will take 15 to 20 minutes. There should only be about a tablespoon or two left in the pan.
- Stir in the lemon juice. Puree them in a small food processor until smooth, or use an immersion blander. You should have something with a thickish jam consistency.
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Line an 8 by 4 inch loaf tin with some aluminum foil and butter the foil.
- Whisk together the flours and baking powder. Set aside.
- Beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture to combine well.
- Divide in half and press half of the mixture into the bottom of the loaf tin. Spread the fig mixture over top of this. Scatter the remaining batter evenly over top and lightly press down to help it to adhere to the filling.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown.
- Leave to cool completely in the tin before lifting out and cutting into bars. Store any leftovers in an airtight container.
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Does anyone know the story behind Fig Newtons? Here is what I found out. I thought you might also find it intersting: (Source, the Inventors.org)
A machine invented in 1891 made the mass production of Fig Newtons possible. James Henry Mitchell invented a machine which worked like a funnel within a funnel; the inside funnel supplied jam, while the outside funnel pumped out the dough, this produced an endless length of filled cookie, that was then cut into smaller pieces. The Kennedy Biscuit Works used Mitchell's invention to mass-produce the first Fig Newton Cookies in 1891.
Originally, the Fig Newton was just called the Newton. There is an old rumor that James Henry Mitchell, the funnel machine's inventor, named the cookies after that great physicist, Sir Isaac Newton, but that was just a rumor. The cookies were named after the Massachusetts town of Newton, which was close to Kennedy Biscuits. Kennedy Biscuits had a tradition of naming cookies and crackers after the surrounding towns near Boston."
So now we both know.
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My husband is a very simple man with very simple tastes. There is nothing he loves more than a fruit tea loaf, and this is one of the best.
The recipe has been adapted from one I found in the cookery book, Supper For a Song by Tamasin Day-Lewis.
Its a really simple loaf to make but does need some prior planning, as you need to soak the fruit overnight in an amount of Earl Grey Tea, which really helps to plump up the fruit nicely.
I love the flavours of Earl Grey, with the Bergamot . . .
I like to use a really nice fruit when I make a fruit loaf. I use a quality dried fruit mix, with plenty of sultanas, currants, raisins and cherries.
I also added some dried cranberries to the mix, but dried blueberries would also be nice.
Its also very low in fat, in that there is no fat added.
Just the soaked fruit, some dark brown sugar, a beaten egg and some self rising flour. It goes together lickety split!
You can easily make your own self rising flour by adding 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt to each cup of flour.
This is delicious cut into thin slices.
You can toast it or not . . . but a tiny bit of softened butter is also a great addition when you come down to eating it.
Oh boy . . . a lightly buttered slice of this goes down really well with a nice drink at breakfast, or for coffee time, tea time, or just because, just because . . .
just because you fancy something a little bit like this. Oh we are so naughty sometimes!
Some other loaves here in the English Kitchen that you might enjoy are:
GINGERED GINGERBREAD LOAF - Deep, dense and delicious this gingerbread loaf packs a double whammy of ginger with plenty of powdered ginger and a generous amount of candied ginger bits studding it throughout. Sweetly glazed it is a fabulous loaf for the holidays, or anytime really.
GLAZED LEMON LOAF - The perfect lemon loaf. A recipe adapted from the old Purity Cookbook. Lemon loaf does not get much better than this!
Yield: one (2 lb.) loaf
https://www.theenglishkitchen.co/2022/12/gingered-gingerbread-loaf.html
Prep time: 24 HourCook time: 1 H & 30 MTotal time: 25 H & 30 M
This is a moist and fruity loaf that is delicious sliced thinly and buttered, toasted or not as you please. Plan ahead as you must soak the fruit overnight prior to baking. I use a luxury mix of fruit, which has dried currants, sultanas, raisins, dried cranberries and cherries. This loaf keeps beautifully and freezes well. You can keep it for about a week wrapped in greaseproof paper, foil or in an airtight tin.
Ingredients
- 400g mixed dried fruit (2 2/3 cups)
- 120g dark muscovado sugar (1/2 cup, plus 1 TBS, packed, can use dark brown sugar)
- 300ml hot earl grey tea, freshly made and strongly steeped (1 1/3 cups)
- 225g self raising flour (1 1/4 cups plus 3 tsp)
- 1 large free range egg, beaten lightly
Instructions
- Place the fruit into a bowl along with the sugar. Pour the hot tea over it. Cover with a tea towel and leave to set overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a 2 pound loaf tin and line it with baking paper.
- Sift the flour over the dried fruit in the bowl and add the beaten egg. Stir everything together until combined. Spread into the prepared loaf tin.
- Bake for 1 hour. Reduce the oven temperature to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool in the tin on a wire rack. Turn out once cold and remove the paper. Store airtight. I like to leave it overnight before slicing.
Simple and old fashioned. You can't get much better than this! Bon Appetit!
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Sausage Pie. I can hear you saying, now that sounds a bit unsual! I hope it also sounds tasty!
Because it is, very tasty. A delicious crisp and buttery crust filled with a fabulous sausage stuffing mix . . .
Made with two slices of crumbed stale bread, some chopped onion and celery . . . sage . . . a small leek I had languishing in the bottom of the vegetable drawer that needed using up . . .
A pound of really flavourful breakfast sausages, skins removed and meat crumbled. I like the Heck 97% myself, or Debbie and Andrew's, but you pick your own favourite breakfast sausage . . . you don't want to go too crazy with unsual flavours here. Breakfast sausage will do the trick . . .
Just don't go cheap and nasty. NO. NO. NO. Blecch.
There is some dried sage in there, and some salt and pepper, just a smidge . . . and then the addition of chopped prunes and apricots which go soooooo well with pork. Mix it all together and pop it into that crisp buttery crust and voila! You have a pie fit for a King! And . . . it was so easy to make!
*Sausage Pie*
Serves 6
175g plain flour (1 1/4 cups)
pinch fine sea salt
85g butter cut into cubes and chilled (6 TBS)
1 - 2 TBS cold water
9 soft dried apricots, chopped
1 finely grated zest of one large orange
2 thick slices stale bread made into crumbs
1 large free range egg, beaten
Make the pastry case first. Sift the flour and salt into the bowl
of a food processor. Drop in the butter cubes and pulse until the
mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add 1 TBS of the cold water through the
feeder tube while you have the motor running until the mixture forms a
ball, only adding additional water as needed. Shape into a flat disc,
wrap in cling film and chill in the refrigerator for half an hour to
rest.
Make the stuffing while the pastry is chilling.
Melt the butter with the oil in a skillet. Add the onion, leek and
celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat to soften without
browning. Toss in the bread crumbs, dried fruit and orange zest.
Season lightly, remembering that the sausage meat will be seasoned.
Crumble in the sausage meat and mix to combine. Stir in the beaten egg
until it is absorbed.
Preheat the oven to
190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured
surface to a 11 inch round. Fit into a 9 inch tart tin. Line the pastry
case with a sheet of baking paper and fill with baking beans or rice.
Bake in the heated oven and bake blind for 15 minutes. Remove from the
oven and remove the paper and beans/rice. Prick with a fork and return
to the oven for 5 minutes longer.
Pile the stuffing
mixture into the pastry case. Smooth it down slightly. Bake for 30
minutes in the heated oven until the top is browned and the filling is
cooked through. Let stand for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
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.
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.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 17 minutes. Serve warm with your favourite hot drink!
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.
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!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE IRISH COFFEE CAKE SCONES
HOW TO MAKE IRISH COFFEE CAKE 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.
Yield: 12 scones
Irish Coffee Cake Scones
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 17 MinTotal time: 32 Min
Flaky sweet scones studded with plenty of dried currants and topped with a coffee cake streusal crumb topping.
Ingredients
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
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Line a large baking tray with baking paper. Set aside.
- 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 breadcrumbs.
- 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!
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.
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