Almond Horns. These delicious almond flavoured, gluten free cookies are very easy to make and incredibly addictive to eat. They are very similar to a German Cookie called Mandelhörnchen.
Almond Horns are filled with almonds, from the outside in and are naturally gluten free. If you are nuts about nuts like I am, then that is a bonus!
I come by my nut addiction quite naturally. I adore peanut butter and any kind of nut really. When I was a child my parents always got tins of mixed nuts at Christmas and we would all want the cashews in the mix, of which there were very few.
I also love, Love, LOVE Macadamia nuts. I think they are the most delicious of all the nuts, especially when coated in chocolate, but almonds are a very close second!
I do believe however that these fabulous cookies are considered to be Italian in origin, not German. I found them to be very similar to Amaretti, which are of course Italian. I once made sour cherry amaretti, based on a recipe by Ottolenghi from the same name book.
That book is at the top of my list to replace once I am in my own place. You can find the recipe for the amaretti here. I will tell you up front that they are incredibly moreishly addictive. You have been warned.
So are these. From their crunchy flaked almond coating on the outsides to the moist and chewy middles these are winners all round. I adore almonds, so it is only natural that I adore these as well.
You can use either almond paste or marzipan to make them. I much prefer making them with marzipan as it is a bit stiffer to handle. If you are not fond of marzipan or almond paste (as if!) then you may not want to read any further.
Personally I love both and have been known to pinch off bits of marzipan from my package just to eat. What can I say? I adore almond flavor.
And these are filled with plenty of almond flavor. Its something I have always really enjoyed. One of my favorite nibbles is chocolate covered almonds, and I also love whole almond bars. Bakewell tarts, etc. If it smacks of almond I am all over it like a rash!
Most of the baked almond horns that I have seen are not quite as flat as these turned out to be. They have also been dipped or spread with chocolate on the bottoms. I prefer them just as they are here. A little bit flat and more like a crescent moon than a horseshoe.
Of course I have never seen shop made so I really have no idea of what a real one looks like. I can only tell you that these are absolutely flippingly delicious, especially if you are really into almonds like I am.
I love, LOVE that crunchy almond coating on the outside. I used flaked blanched almonds. I have also seen them done with flaked un-blanched almonds which give you somewhat of a different appearance. Both are pretty.
I think that if you refrigerated the dough before shaping and baking, they might not flatten out quite as much. These were incredibly delicious however so I have no complaints.
I quite liked them just as they are. I am very fond of marzipan. I make a cherry cake that has a layer of marzipan in the centre. It is my favourite of all the cake. (I know I say that about all cakes. I just like cake I guess!)
I really need to make it again someday and take better photos of it, but you can see that cake recipe here.
Its a recipe I adapted from Mary Berry's Cake Book. I just love it. The marzipan gets layered between two amounts of cherry almond cake batter before baking. Its lovely and dense and buttery and studded with sweet cherries.
Some people might think that these kinds of cookies should only be baked around Christmas time, but I think they are wonderful any time of the year. They go down perfectly with a hot cup of tea.
I only drink herbal teas because of religious reasons (Latter Day Saint), so I can tell you first hand they are excellent with either a fruity tea or a lemon tea.
I used to drink black tea however, and coffee for that matter, and I can only think that they would also be excellent with these.
I really love the crunch of those flaked almonds on the outside. When they are baking they get all toasty and brown, really nutty. You feel a distinct crackle crunch when you bite into them.
But then when you get inside it is all chewy and almond flavored. Very unique and extremely addictive!
They look really fancy and fiddly, but I can assure you they are incredibly easy to make. Aside from the fact that the dough can be a bit sticky. Again, I think chilling the dough would help on that score.
If you are looking for a gluten free treat that pleases on multiple levels I don't think you can go far wrong by baking these delicious little gems.
Almond Horns
Yield: 16
prep time: 5 Mincook time: 15 Mintotal time: 20 Min
Crisp on the outside and chewy middled, chock full of almond flavour cookies that are easy to make and gluten free. These are gorgeous.
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound marzipan (8 ounces)
- 1/2 cup (45g) finely ground almonds (almond meal)
- 1/2 cup (95g) sugar
- 1 egg white
- 1 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1 1/2 cups (255g) flaked almonds
- Icing sugar to dust
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Line a large baking tray with baking parchment. Set aside.
- Crumble the marzipan into a bowl. Add the sugar, egg white, ground almonds and almond extract.
- Using a hand mixture beat until well combined. The mixture will be fairly sticky. Spread the flaked almonds in a shallow dish or plate.
- Drop 1 1/2 TBS of the dough into the dish of flaked almonds and shape into a rough log rolling the mixture in the nuts. Place onto the baking sheet.
- Repeat until the almond dough is all used up, leaving a fair space for spreading in between the shapes.
- Try to give them a curved shape.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 13 to 15 minutes until light golden brown. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 25 minutes. Dust liberally with the Icing sugar.
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.
Irish Apple Cake. Apple Cake has to be one of the most delicious cakes a person can bake. You cannot beat a cake that is filled with sweet tender slices of apple and warm baking spices. Unless you are talking about an "Irish" Apple Cake.
And then the combination becomes absolutely unbeatable. Tender apple slices baked in a cake batter and then topped with a wholesome oat streusel. Add flaked almonds to that streusel and you have one very delicious cake!
Every year I like to bake an Irish Apple Cake for Saint Patrick's Day. The first time I made it, I made a recipe adapted from a recipe I got from a Rachel Allen Cookery Book. If you are not familiar with who she is, she is the daughter in law of Darina Allen, the doyenne of Irish cookery.
They run the Ballymaloe House, Restaurant and Cookery School in Ireland. I had always wanted to go to this cookery school, but never got there.
I am not sure what makes this an Irish Cake. I would say more that it is a cake in the European tradition, in that it is somewhat denser than North American Cakes, and the manner of putting it together is also somewhat different.
It is kind of done in layers. You make a cake batter, which you spread in the pan and top with sliced apple, topping that finally with a streusel layer. This year I added some flaked almonds to the streusel to amp it up. Lovely-icious!
The cake itself is moist and delicious, lightly spiced with cinnamon. You put it together in a way that is very different than North American cakes. You rub the butter into the flour, almost like you would do if you were making scones.
North American cakes are a lot sweeter than European cakes. I have to say, not trying to be rude, but I prefer the lesser sweetness of European styled cakes.
We North Americans make and use far too much sugar I think. Living in the UK, I got used to their way of doing things. Even the bread in North America is too sweet for my taste. I had noticed that the last time I was home with mom.
Most of the sweetness in this cake comes from the apples and the streusel topping. You want to use a nice cooking apple for the filling. Cooking apples are a bit more tart than regular apples. You could use Granny Smith or a Cortland.
These are tossed with some sugar and cinnamon before laying them on top of the cake base in the pan. Sometimes I will add a bit of nutmeg. The warm flavour of nutmeg goes very well with apples and you don't need a lot of it. A little bit always goes a long way.
More sweetness comes from the streusel topping. It is sweet and wholesome and adds a lovely crunch to the top of the cake. Oats make it really wholesome, but adding flaked almonds made it nice and crunchy.
Apple and almond is a very quintessentially moreish combination. But then again, so is apple and oats.
This not too sweet cake goes excellently with a nice hot drink. (Also a European tradition.) Hot cups of tea if you are so inclined or Coffee both go very well. That makes it the perfect cake for a mid morning or mid afternoon treat.
It also makes for a fabulous dessert however. Especially when paired with a custard sauce/creme anglaise in the European fashion. You can find my recipe for the custard sauce here.
Serving this warm with custard sauce is a very British thing to do. I can remember when I first moved to the UK, we were taken out for dinner by the people in our church to celebrate our wedding. At the end of the meal I was asked what I wanted for pudding.
I was thinking pudding . . . hmmm . . . butterscotch, vanilla or chocolate. I like all three, but the word Pudding has a totally different context over there in the UK.
In the UK the term "Pudding" is meant to mean a course, ie. dessert. So when they ask you if you want pudding, what they really mean is do you want dessert?
And then, once you get the dessert, do you want it with lashings of cream or custard, or . . . both! Believe it or not I know people who would choose both.
And the cream is never sweetened, or whipped, just poured. Even the custard is not overly sweet in comparison to our puddings/desserts. And lashings . . . means poured liberally over top.
In restaurants your dessert will often come with its own little jug of each. I do love either one. But the North American in me will always love Ice Cream most of all and with a cake like this is has to be vanilla ice cream.
You don't want to serve it with anything that is going to detract from the lush flavors of the apple and the cinnamon and the streusel. Vanilla works best with all those things.
But its your dessert, so you go ahead and have whatever you want. I am thinking Maple Walnut would be nice, but then I am nuts for Maple Walnut ice cream! But again, not very Irish.
In any case, if you are looking for a fabulous dessert to serve with your Saint Patrick's day dinner on the 17th of March, you can't go far wrong by serving this!
Irish Apple Cake
Yield: 6 - 8
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 50 Mininactive time: 10 MinTotal time: 1 H & 10 M
A delicious version of an apple cake, baked with tasty apple slices sandwiched in the center. Serve warm with or without custard, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 cups (280g) self raising flour (You may need extra, see note below to make your own)
- 1/2 cup (125g) butter
- 1 large free range egg, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar (use caster sugar in the UK)
- 1/3 cup (80ml) milk
For the filling:
- 2 cooking apples, peeled and sliced
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 4 1/2 TBS soft light brown sugar
For the Streusel Topping:
- 3/4 cup (105 g) plain flour
- 1/4 cup (20g) old fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar (in the UK use caster sugar)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 6 TBS butter, cut into bits
- 4 TBS flaked almonds
To serve:
- Icing sugar to dust
- Custard sauce or vanilla ice cream
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Butter a deep flan tin, with a loose bottom, roughly 9 inches in diameter. Set aside.
- Make the Streusel. Measure the flour and oats and sugar into a bowl. Stir in the cinnamon. Drop in the butter. Rub together with your fingers until it clumps together and you have a crumble mixture. Stir in the flaked almonds.
- Place the flour and butter into a large bowl. Rub the butter in with your fingertips to form a breadcrumb texture. Stir in the sugar. Add the beaten egg and milk and mix together with a round bladed knife.
- If the dough seems a bit too sticky add a bit more flour. You want a soft dough.
- Spoon the dough into the prepared pan, making it higher around the edges, about 1 inch into the center with a hollowed out space to put the apples.
- Spread the apple slices evenly over the center of the base. Press them down lightly. Sprinkle with the soft light brown sugar and the cinnamon.
- Sprinkle the streusel over top. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until well risen and golden brown.
- Let stand in the tin for about 10 minutes before removing the sides.
- Place the tin on top of a jar and push the sides of the pan down and remove. Place the cake on a wire rack to cool to warm.
- Dust with icing sugar before cutting into wedges to serve, with or without ice cream or custard.
Notes:
Make Your Own Self Raising Flour:
You can make your own self raising flour by adding 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp of salt to every cup of plain flour.
Easy Old Fashioned Gingerbread. I have shared a lot of gingerbread recipes on here over the years. Soft gingerbread cake is something that I love and I can honestly say that I have never met a gingerbread that I did not like or fall in love with.
This recipe I am sharing today is one of my favourites thus far. It is easy and quick to make and incredibly moist and delicious.
I adapted the recipe from one I found in this Betty Crocker cookerybook entitled, Lost Recipes. Beloved Vintage recipes for Today's Kitchen. What can I say? I love Vintage anything.
Since my return to Canada, while I am waiting to move into my own home, I have been busy creating things for my new home. I've been embroidering tea towels, crocheting blankets, dishcloths, etc. I think it is called nesting.
I really love things with an old fashioned vintage flair, so it is really bringing me a lot of joy to do these things. Now I will have nobody to really please most of the time but myself. I won't have to worry about a man damaging my work, by using an embroidered tea towell to mop up oil etc.
That's a plus. And I can cook as much pasta, lemon, or chocolate as I like. It will be a whole new adventure for me. But back to the cake.
I have to say that I really, really LOVE this cookery book. Every recipe which I have cooked/baked from it has turned out beautifully and been most delicious. All classics in their own right and very tasty.
As they say, don't fix what isn't broken, and none of the recipes in here are broken. These are truly classic, family style recipes. The type you would be proud to hand down to future generations.
Just like vintage tea towels and needleworks. I believe this recipe was first published in the Bey Crocker Picture Cook Book back in 1961. Another classic cookbook I wouldn't be without. Like my good old Fanny Farmer cookbook, these recipes just never go out of fashion.
Early North American Settlers were somewhat limited in what they could use to sweeten their baked goods with. Sugar was quite expensive back then and I know that here in Nova Scotia, many things were sweetened with either Maple Syrup or molasses, both of which were much cheaper in comparison.
Molasses is a by-product of the sugar cane industry and was used to help distill beer and rum. It was a cheap alternative to sugar and you will see a great many recipes from post 20th century using it in one way or another.
Where I come from, the maritime provinces, it is a very common thing and you will find a jug of it in most kitchens and perhaps even a pouring jug of it on the table at every meal. Molasses, thick bread and butter has kept many a child (or man) satisfied and helped to stave away the hunger pains.
This is a particularly easy gingerbread recipe. Everything just gets measured into a bowl and beaten together. You do need a small amount of sugar. Its just granulated sugar.
Granulated sugar is much finer here in Canada than it is in the UK. In the UK, I recommend using caster sugar. Molasses might also be more difficult to come by in the UK. You can replicate its mild flavour by mixing together equal parts of light and dark treacle.
This recipe goes together quickly and easily, using the one-bowl method. Most other recipes involve creaming things and then adding boiling water at the end. This one has no faffing about whatsoever with any of that.
Simply measure everything out and beat it together. The resulting batter was a bit thicker than my usual gingerbread recipe, but I have to tell you , it smelled just as amazing when it was baking. AMAZING!
This is a basic no-frills recipe. No bells and whistles. Simple ingredients, simply put together in a most delicious way. I would not add anything else.
It is perfect just as it is. PER FECT! Simple as that.
It has a lovey spicy flavour and a certain amount of smoky robustness from the molasses. If you are not overly fond of the flavour of molasses, you can use half molasses and half maple syrup.
Do note however, that this will give you an extra mild flavour. You may want to add some ground cloves or allspice or both in that case. Not a lot, just a pinch of each.
It was suggested that you serve this with some sweetened whipped cream. In the UK we never sweetened our whipped cream. At first I thought this was rather strange. I had always only ever had whipped cream sweetened with sugar. I got used to having it unsweetened however, and I have to say I much prefer it that way now.
There are instructions included on how to do sweetened whipped cream however. Today we used spray whipped cream. (Not my choice) I don't think that spray whipped cream has the holding and staying power of real whipped cream. But you use whatever you have that you like.
Something I have done in the past and that we have always enjoyed is to fold some lemon curd into softly whipped heavy cream. Oh my but this is really lush. Lemon and ginger are perfect partners.
You can also make a spiced lemon sauce which is beautiful served warm with it. Just ask and I will share my recipe for this. Its lovely.
There is no doubt about it, this is quite simply a lovely gingerbread. As my sister said, it was not cloying or claggy. It didn't stick to the roof of your mouth and had a beautiful light texture.
I would and will make this again. JUST AS IT, with no adaptations. Whats the point in messing with perfection!
Old Fashioned Gingerbread
Yield: 9
prep time: 10 Mincook time: 55 Mintotal time: 1 H & 4 M
Gingerbread. The comfort food cake. Lovely served warm with some whipped cream or lemon sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 1/3 cups (326g) plain all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
- 1 tsp ground dried ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (120g) butter, softened
- 1/3 cup (65g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (240ml) mild molasses
- 3/4 cup (180ml) hot water
- 1 large free range egg
For sweetened whipped cream:
- 1/2 cup (120ml) heavy whipping cream
- 1 TBS icing sugar, sifted
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325*F/165*C/ gas mark 3. Butter an 9-inch square baking dish and line with baking parchment.
- Place all of the gingerbread ingredients into a bowl. Beat with an electric hand mixer for 30 seconds on low speed, scraping the bowl constantly. Increase speed to medium and beat for a further 3 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally. You will have a light fluffy batter. Scrap the batter into the prepared pan, leveling it off.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes, until well risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- Set on a wire rack to cool as desired. Serve warm or at room temperature.
- To make the sweetened whipped cream, beat all of the whipped cream ingredients together in a well chilled bowl using chilled beaters and an electric hand mixer on low speed just until the mixture begins to thicken.
- Increase the speed to high gradually and beat just until soft peaks form. (See note) Serve with the warm gingerbread.
notes:
Take care not to overbeat your cream or it will curdle. If this happens however, you can easily fix it by folding in a bit more cream until you get the consistency you desire.
For a lemon cream, omit the vanilla and fold in a couple TBS of lemon curd.
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.
I am excited to share a fabulously tasty recipe for a good old fashioned blueberry custard pie with you today. This is the kind of pie that women have been baking in their kitchens for many, many years now. I first shared this recipe with you back in the summer of 2011.
Some things are just so delicious, they bear repeating and reminding of. Especially when you are talking about a fabulously tasty twist on the good old classic blueberry pie.
Classic blueberry pie has long been a favorite of mine, especially when made with fresh summer berries. This delicious twist is like that old favorite amped up, with a lush and creamy custard filling, topped with a wonderfully moreish sweet, crisp and buttery streusel topping.
It just does not get much better than this! Incredibly easy to put together, this deliciously different blueberry pie makes a fabulous dessert for any occasion!
Once upon a time this would have been a pie you could only make during the summer months when fresh berries were widely available and abundant. Thankfully these days fresh blueberries are available all year round. Lucky us!
If you do need to use frozen berries, don't thaw them out first. Just use them frozen from the package. Thawing them out first will give you a soggy result. For the best result however, I always use fresh berries if I can.
This pie could not be any easier to make. Berries are first layered onto the bottom of an unbaked 9-inch pie crust. I highly recommend my butter/lard pastry. It is phenomenal.
You can find that recipe here on my Apple Dumpling recipe. (Another phenomenal recipe by the way.) It does make 2 9-inch crusts, but don't worry about the extra one. You can simply shape it into a disc, wrap tightly and freeze it for another time. Simple
It makes for one of the flakiest most delicious crusts. It is tender and flaky and melts in the mouth. I cannot recommend it any more highly! It is my crust of choice, always.
You begin by layering berries in the bottom of the crust. You can use other berries if you wish such as raspberries, blackberries, black currants, etc. or even a berry mix. We love it best with blueberries however.
Once you have the berries in the crust a simple flour and sugar mixture is sprinkled over top. You can mix it through a bit. I use granulated sugar here in North America, but if you are in the UK, I recommend caster sugar as it is much finer and will melt easier in the cooking process.
A milky custard mixture will be poured over top of the berry/sugar/flour mixture. This is created by beating together eggs, vanilla and evaporated milk.
Evaporated milk is a shelf-stable type of cow's milk sold in cans. It has had 60% of its water content removed and is interchangeable with cream in most baked goods. Do NOT confuse it with sweetened condensed milk.
Sweetened condensed milk is a completely different thing and has had a lot of sugar added to it, which makes it thick and syrupy. Evaporated milk has had no sugar added to it. It is simply milk which has been condensed down.
It is dense, creamy and concentrated but not sweet. You can also whip it if you chill it until it is really cold and contains ice crystals. I always keep several cans of it in my larder. It comes in handy for all sorts.
This quick and easy custard is poured over the base of berries and then a simple sugar streusel is sprinkled over top. I always make sure my streusel topping is made before I begin making the pie. That way I can sprinkle it over top as soon as I pour on the custard and then bang my pie into the oven lickety split!
Sugar, butter and vanilla with a bit of flour are rubbed together to make coarse crumbs. This bakes on top and gives a lovely crunchy topping that goes incredibly well with that creamy custard base.
I have seen other recipes similar to this where the flour mixture is beaten into the milk and eggs. I have also seen it made using sour cream. I have never done or used either of those methods or ingredients, preferring instead to use this simple old fashioned recipe.
This blueberry custard pie recipe has been pleasing my family for many, many years now. Simply put it is my favorite of all the blueberry pies that I make.
It will need to bake for about an hour for everything to set up. If you think the crust edges are browning too quickly, you can cover them with a bit of aluminum foil. This works very well for that purpose.
The hardest part of this easy pie is waiting until it is cold enough to cut and to eat. I leave it on a wire rack to cool to room temperature and then you can either cut it then, or you can refrigerate it overnight. It will cut like a dream then.
In any case you will need to leave it sit for about 2 hours before cutting and serving. I usually make this the day before I want to serve it.
You can of course serve this delicious pie with scoops of vanilla ice cream of dollops of softly whipped cream spooned over top. We like it just as it is without any adornment.
It is lush, delicious, incredibly moreish and destined to become a favorite in your home too I dare say. If you bake only one pie this weekend, let it be this one. You can thank me afterwards.
Yield: Makes one 9-inch pie
Blueberry Custard Pie
A delicious berry pie layered with blueberries, custard and a vanilla streusel on top!
prep time: 10 Mincook time: 1 Hourinactive time: 2 Hourtotal time: 3 H & 10 M
Ingredients
You will need:
- one 9-inch unbaked pie crust
For the filling:
- 1/4 cup (35g) plain flour
- 1 1/2 (295g) cups sugar
- 3 cups (450g) of blueberries
- 2 large free range eggs, beaten lightly
- 3/4 cup (180ml) evaporated milk (NOT sweetened condensed)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
For the streusel topping:
- 1/3 cup (47g) of plain all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (97g) sugar
- 1/4 cup (60g) cold butter, cut into bits
- 1/4 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Line a 9 inch glass pie dish with your pastry, trimming and crimping the edges to please.
- Put the berries into the crust.
- Whisk together the flour and sugar for the filling to mix. Sprinkle this evenly over the berries, stirring them up a bit to mix.
- Beat together the eggs, evaporated milk and vanilla. Pour this evenly over top of the berries and flour mixture.
- Rub the streusel ingredients together until they resemble coarse crumbs. Sprinkle evenly over the berry filling.
- Bake for about 1 hour in the heated oven until the pie is golden brown and set and the crust is nicely crisped.
- Allow to cool at least two hours before serving. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.
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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