COOKBOOKS GALORE

  I had to repost this as my computer went a bit haywire! Sorry if your comment has disappeared! I was  looking for something in my tins cupboard when I found a large tin of peaches hidden at the back. I remembered a recipe that my friend used to make so decided to make it. It’s an unusual recipe in that it uses semolina and crème fraîche , and is cooked on top of the cooker. You need:                                                          traybake tin large tin of peaches in syrup,  250ml syrup from the tin,  250ml milk ,100g crème fraîche   75g semolina  mint sprigs to decorate   Drain the peaches and keep 250ml of the syrup. Cut the peaches into 1/4s. Heat the milk and syrup in a pan till boiling then add the semolina and cook on gentle heat for 15mins, stirring all the time. Whip th...

Sometimes you just want a simple piece of cake with your cuppa, and this loaf cake is just what you need. I had a medium sized tin of peaches reaching its 'Use by' date, so decided to add them to a basic loaf cake mixture. Preheat oven 180C/gas4                      Grease a 900g loaf tin Beat together 150g butter and 150g caster sugar. Beat in 3 eggs, one at a time. Fold in 150g flour with 1 tspn baking powder. Drain the syrup from the tin of peaches and cut them into dice. Add to the batter and stir in. Spoon into cake tin and bake for about 40 mins. This is my attempt and prettying up my photo of the cake! I kept back a couple of peach slices and added some flowers that were hanging round in the cupboard! The cake was nice and moist, with a soft crumb. Good contrast between the soft cake and the fruit. I'll certainly make it again, but with a different fruit, such as pears or pineapple or raspberries. Maybe add a ...

I'm sorting out my food cupboards, checking on use by dates etc. and I came across a some tinned peaches that needed to be used up. I'm not a great fan of peaches, but quite like them in cakes, so decided to make one from a recipe I made ages ago at a cookery class. It uses semolina as well as flour, and also yoghurt, so a bit different. I used a 200g loaf tin greased and lined with baking paper. Preheat oven to 180C/gas5 To make the cake you need 50g butter, 100g caster sugar, 1 tspn vanilla extract, 2 eggs - separated. Beat the butter, sugar, vanilla extract and egg yolks together till nice and white and fluffy. Add 250g plain yoghurt and mix in. Mix together 125g plain flour, 2 tspn baking powder and 125g semolina and add to the batter. Whisk the 2 egg whites till stiff then fold carefully into the cake mixture.  Put half of the mixture into the cake tin. Chop up 200g peaches halves or slices into dice and add half to the cake tin on top of the batter. Put the rest o...

I'm back to using up things lurking in my cupboard, and this time it's some Amaretti biscuits. I bought some peaches a while ago and they're just ripe, so decided to use them too as peaches and almonds are a great combination. To reinforce the almond flavour I added some chopped almonds. The cake makes a nice dessert or a nice addition to the afternoon cuppa. Preheat oven 180C/gas4 and grease a 20cm springform cake tin. Skin and remove the stones from 2 peaches  [or you could use tinned]. Chop one into chunks and slice the other. Whisk together 250ml plain yoghurt [not low fat] with 1 tspn bicarbonate of soda. In another bowl sift together 200g plain flour and 11/2 tspn baking powder. Beat together [yes I know it's a lot of bowls!]  115g butter and 200g sugar then add 2 eggs one at a time. Add 1 tspn vanilla extract to the batter. Add half the flour mixture then half the yoghurt mix then the rest of the flour mixture and the yoghurt mix. Carefully fold in the p...

I have to say that I'm not a fan of the American type cupcakes with lots of sickly icing on top, but these are upmarket fairy cakes.  Peaches were on offer in the local supermarket, so thought I'd try using them in a small cake for a change. The recipe makes 20 cakes. You need 2x12 hole greased  bun tins [not muffin tins- you need the ones you make jam tarts or mince pies in] or you can cook 2 batches of the cakes. You need 2 ripe peaches with stones taken out and cut into 40 thin slices - you need a good sharp knife! Preheat oven 180C/gas4       You can use paper cases in the tins if you want. Beat 225g soft butter with 225g caster sugar using a hand beater, till nice and creamy. Add 4 eggs a bit at a time, then fold in 250g sr flour; add 3 tbspn sour cream or crème fraiche [and 2 tbspn peach or apricot jam if you want a more fruity flavour] and mix in. Spoon into the cases or tins and put 2 peach slices on top of each cake and bake fo...

My friend Jenny came to stay recently, and as usual, brought me a few recipes she thought I'd like. We've always exchanged recipes, and her cheesecake is legendary in my family. I have to say that I cheated a bit, as I used tinned peaches because I couldn't find any ripe ones in the shops; it still tasted great. It's very simple - peaches in frangipane. You can use bought pastry too. Jenny said that it tastes better if you grind whole almonds, instead of buying ground almonds ready done. It didn't take long to whizz them in the food processor.                              400g shortcrust pastry [can use butter JusRol if you're feeling lazy]                             200g whole blanched almonds                             150g caster sugar       ...