Clafoutis is a French Dessert, normally made with ripe cherries, placed in a well buttered dish and covered with a rich batter, which bakes around them . . . kind of like a rich custard really.

You serve it lukewarm and dusted with icing sugar and it's really, really lovely.



You don't have to just make it with cherries though. Clafoutis is also very delicious when made with other stoned fruits . . .



Fruits like apricots, nectarines, peaches . . . and my favourite Plums!!!



My batter deviates somewhat from the norm as well, in that I have added sweetly fragrant Orange Flower water and some grated orange zest. Orange is a flavour that goes very well with plums.



If you wanted you could use an orange flavoured liqueuer instead of the Orange Flower water . . . such as Cointreau or Grand Marnier. Another tasty version includes prunes which you have soaked in armagnac.



It's so easy to do and so very tasty . . . the batter is silky and buttery . . . the fruit almost tart . . . the nuts all toasted and crunchy on the top.



This is bliss, pure and simple. Of course you could serve this with some vanilla ice cream or a dollop of creme fraiche. Then it would be double bliss . . .

Plums make this a very autumnally delicious dessert!! (It's hard to believe that August is almost over!!)



*Plum Clafoutis*
Serves 8 - 10
Printable Recipe

Deliciously simple . . . yet impressive.

softened butter and caster sugar to butter the dish with
10 ripe but firm plums, halved and pitted
4 large free range eggs
6 TBS caster sugar
5 TBS plain flour
450ml of cream (2 cups)
1 TBS orange flower water
the grated zest of one orange
70g of flaked almonds (1/2 cup)
icing sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark5. Butter a large round baking dish or flan dish. Dust with sugar, knocking any excess out.

Place the plums down into the dish, cut sides down. Beat the eggs together with the sugar and flour until smooth. Whisk in the cream, orange flower water and orange zest. Pour the resulting batter over the plums in the baking dish. Sprinkle with the almonds. Bake for 40 minutes, until well risen, lightly browned and set. Remove from the oven. Cool to lukewarm. Dust with icing suga and cut into wedges to serve.

Note - baking times are subjective and vary according to your own oven. I can only speak from my experience with my own oven. If you think that your clafoutis is browning too quickly, then you may loosely cover it with some foil during the last ten minutes of baking. If you find that it's not set by the end of the suggested cooking time, then by all means leave it in for a bit longer. I also like to have all of my ingredients at room temperature when I start, so take your eggs out of the fridge about an hour before you want to use them and measure out the cream and allow that to come to room temperature as well. This may allow for a shorter baking time. If your ingredients are cold then it will take longer of course!

Also I use Double Cream for this.

When my children were growing up I had a cookie jar in my kitchen that was never empty. I think I baked fresh cookies about every second day or so.



They had their favourites of course! (As did I!) I think chocolate chip topped the list, followed very closely by oatmeal raisin and peanut butter.



At Christmas I would spend weeks and weeks baking up extra goodies for our holiday celebrations and popping them into the freezer. That way I could present our friends and their families with trays filled with a variety of baked goodies, as well as having plenty of treats to munch on in our own home!



Then there were the special cookies. You know the kind I mean . . . slightly elegant and subtly special . . .reserved for special occasions such as baby and bridal showers and afternoon teas.



These fall into that category. They have to be the most delicious cookies ever . . . I kid you not!



There is no egg in them, so they are perfect for people who are allergic to eggs. They have an almost macaroon like consistency . . . crisp around the edges and slightly chewy in the middle . . .



Chock full of lovely dried blueberries and almonds . . . drizzled with sweet white chocolate. Bet you can't eat just one!!



*Blueberry Almond Cookies*
Makes 24
Printable Recipe

These just may be the best cookies you have ever tasted! Very similar to a macaroon in texture and oh so scrummy!

90g unsalted butter, softened (1/3 cup)
170g caster sugar (3/4 cup)
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 TBS milk
125g plain flour (1 cup)
1/2 tsp baking powder
80g ground almonds (3/4 cup)
50g of dried blueberries (1/3 cup)
melted white chocolate for drizzling

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Line two baking trays with parchment paper. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the almond, vanilla and milk. Whisk together the flour and baking powder. Stir into the creamed mixture along with the ground almonds. Stir in the blueberries. Mix well to form a soft dough.

Using your hands squeeze together 2 teaspoon measures of the dough into oval logs about 2 inches long. Place at least an inch and a half apart on the baking sheets.

Bake for 15 minutes, turning the baking sheet around halfway through the baking time. They should be lightly golden along the edges. Allow to cool on the pans for about 10 minutes before removing to finish cooling on a wire rack.

Melt some white chocolate and drizzle over top. Store in a tightly covered container.

Sometimes you want something for supper that is totally unpretentious, delicious and simple to make . . . made from simple, fresh ingredients . . .



Things that you have in your larder and fridge all the time.



Things like potatoes and eggs.



If you have potatoes and eggs . . . you got a meal.



Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Are you going to Scarborough Fair?



I did . . . and it was delicious.



It went down a real treat with a slice of buttered bread on the side, and a dab of ketchup.



Herby baked oven chips . . . with the skins on and coverd with little crunchy bits. Runny yolked oven fried eggs . . . broken open and running all over the potatoes . . . rich and scrummy . . . go on . . . dip your bread in. You know you want to.

Totally Todd approved.

Breakfast for dinner. Works for me!



*Scarborough Fair Egg and Chips*
Serves 2
Printable Recipe

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. Delicious, quick and oh so easy. Healthy too, coz it's baked in the oven.

1 pound floury potatoes (Maris Piper, King Edward)
2 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
2 TBS olive oil
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
2 large free range eggs

Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ Gas mark 7. Wash the potatoes and dry. Do not peel. Cut into thick chips. Tip into a nonstick roasting tray. Drizzle with the olive oil and herbs. Toss together with your fingers making sure that they are evenly coated.

Bang the tray into the oven and roast for about 40 minutes until cooked through and golden brown, giving them a shake and a flip every ten minutes or so. Create two gaps in the middle of them, pushing them aside with a spatula. Break the two eggs into the gaps. Return to the oven and bake for another 3 to 5 minutes or until the eggs are as cooked as you like. Season the eggs to taste. Divide between two heated plates and serve hot with buttered bread and ketchup for dipping if desired!

It's getting to that time of year when I need to use up any applesauce I have left in the freezer from last year. This is the time for applesauce cakes and muffins . . .



Applesauce pies and cookies . . .



Applesauce loafs . . .



And this delicious Apple Custard. This has to be one of Todd's favourite desserts. Simple, easy, old fashioned . . . but don't let those three words fool you . . . .there is nothing simple about the taste.



Imagine dipping your spoon into soft sweet meringue and digging beneath to discover a deliciously rich and spicy custard atop scrummy and wholesome applesauce.



I like to use a chunky homemade applesauce, because I love the extra texture it gives to this wonderful dish. You can use smooth if you wish and you can use jarred applesauce. It's all good.

Simple and delicious are sometimes the best dessert treats of all!



*Apple Custard*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This is the type of recipe I really love to cook. Simple, old fashioned, delicious comfort food.

8 ounces whole milk (1 cup)
2 large free range eggs, separated
2 TBS caster sugar
1 TBS plain flour
pinch of ground cinnamon
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup of sweetened applesauce (smooth or chunky, it's up to you,
I think the chunky adds more interest)
2 dessert spoons of sifted icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Set four deepish ramekins on a baking tray.

Scald the milk. (Heat just until bubbles appear around the edges.)

Whisk the egg yolks together with the sugar and flour in the top of a double boiler. Whisk in the hot milk. Cook, stirring constantly, over simmering water until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Whisk in the vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Divide the applesauce amongst the four ramekins. Top with equal amounts of the warm custard.

Beat the egg whites along with the icing sugar until stiff, without overbeating. You don't want them to be dry, just softly stiff if that makes sense. Divide and spoon over the custard in the ramekins. Place the baking tray with the ramekins into the heated oven and cook until the meringues are golden brown. Serve warm.

“A wonderful smell came creeping into the little dining-room, followed by the inn-woman carrying a large tray. On it was a steaming tureen of porridge, a bowl of golden syrup, a jug of very thick cream, and a dish of bacon and eggs, all piled high on brown toast. Little mushrooms were on the same dish.”

Lines like this, were what kept me engrossed in Enid Blyton's books when I was a girl. Her descriptions of food were so wonderfully vivid that my mouth would water each time I read one. I could only imagine what it must be like to live in her world . . . a world where plucky, sensible and intelligent youngsters could go off on such wonderful adventures, all the while tucking into such fabulous sounding treats!



A world filled with Bobbies, tuck boxes, anoraks, jumpers, tail wagging dogs, push bikes, intelligent parrots, fresh air and bracing winds, adventure and wellie boots.



These biscuits are just the sort of biscuit I could imagine her characters enjoying after a long day of exploring caves and moors . . . with tall glasses of lemonade, hot mugs of milky tea, and lots of giggles and good natured ribaldery!



Crisp and spicy and gloriously decorated with a yummy lemon glaze and lots of pretty sprinkles . . . I picked up those pretty little gold stars at Lakeland the other day. I just fell in love with them!



I'm not sure that corn syrup would be a suitable substitute here for the golden syrup. Golden syrup has a very caramel like flavour. You do want something the consistency of corn syrup though. Possibly you could use the darker one, but definitely not the light.



These are delicious, crisp, fragrant and oh so scrummy!



"You're trying to escape from your difficulties, and there never is any escape from difficulties, never.They have to be faced and fought." quote from Mistletoe Farm



These biscuits are the perfect escape! (Isn't that what Enid Blyton was all about!!!)



*Spiced Golden Syrup Jumbles*
Makes about 27
Printable Recipe

Nice and spicy with a lovely lemon glaze! Scrumdiddlyumptious!

60g unsalted butter, softened (2 1/4 ounces)
160ml of golden syrup (2/3 cup)
260g of plain flour (2 cups)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp mixed spice |(a warm and sweet spice mixture containing ground coriander,
ground cinnamon, ground cassia, ground nutmeg and ground cloves)

for the icing:
the juice of half a lemon
9 ounces of icing sugar sifted (2 cups)

Sprinkles to finish

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Line two baking trays with baking parchment. Set aside.

Place the butter and the golden syrup into a measuring jug and heat in the microwave for about 2 1/2 minutes, whisking every 30 seconds or so until the butter is melted and the mixture comes to the boil. Set aside to cool for about 15 minutes.

Sift the flour, soda, ginger and mixed spice into a large bowl. Whisk together well. Once the butter mixture has cooled to lukewarm, add it to the flour mixture and whisk in until thoroughly combined and a soft dough forms. Pinch off pieces of the dough and shape into small logs, about 2 1/2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. Place several inches apart on the baking sheets.

Bake for 10 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool on wire racks before icing.

For the icing whisk together the lemon juice and icing sugar to make a thin spreadable icing. Spread over the cookies with a spoon, sprinkling decorations on each one right away. Let set before eating and storing. Store in an airtight container.