COOKBOOKS GALORE

I've been doing some more baking with my grandson, and we made these treats. He loves fudge! They looked so moreish we had to try them. I know they're calorific, but as a treat...! The recipe comes from a magazine supplement on biscuits. 50g flaked almonds and a few for the top 75g fudge, chopped 200g plain flour 1/2 tspn bicarb. of soda 125g butter 125g light muscovado sugar 1 egg 1 tspn vanilla essence Preheat oven 180c/gas 4 Line a baking sheet with parchment. Pur flour and bicarb. in a bowl and rub in butter till breadcrumbs. Stir in the almonds, fudge and sugar and mix together. Whisk egg and vanilla and add to the fudge mixture and mix till blended. Put large tbspns of mixture on sheet, leaving spaces between them. Put a flaked almond on top. Bake for 12-15 mins. Leave on tray for 10 mins then put onto a wire rack. They really are moreish, but very sweet. You could taste the fudge, but I thought it would have some texture - maybe I chopped it too sma...

I've started making bread again and trying different flours. I bought some spelt last week and made a lovely loaf with it. I had some left, so made some of these little cakes for my friend, who came to have a cuppa with me yesterday. The recipe was on my bag of flour. 175g butter, softened 175g caster sugar 3 eggs 150g spelt flour pinch of salt 1 tspn baking powder 25g cornflour 3 tbspn milk 10tbspn honey, warmed 25g hazelnuts or pistachios, chopped Preheat oven 180C/gas4 Grease 10 - 12 small rectangular tins, a 12 hole 'financier' tin [I bought mine in France] or a 12 hole muffin tin. Beat the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add the eggs slowly, beating between each addition. Fold in the spelt flour, the salt and the cornflour. Add the milk and mix till smooth. Divide into the tins and bake for 20 mins, till golden and firm. When cool, drizzle each cake with a tbspn of warm honey and sprinkle with the nuts. You can make a loaf cake in a 900g ...

I couldn't let St David's Day pass without making some of my Granny's welshcakes. I have her bakestone too [or llechfaen as she called it], rather black but still usable. Her recipe was in ozs and lbs so I've changed it to metric. 450g flour 1 tspn baking powder 110g margarine 110g lard 175g currants 1 tspn mixed spice 1 egg 2 tbspn milk Sift the flour and baking powder in a bowl then rub in the fat. Add the fruit and spice and mix in. Beat the egg and add to mixture to make a firm dough. if needed add siome of the milk. Don't make the dough wet! Roll onto a floured board to about 1/4 " and cut into rounds. Cook on a greased bakestone or heavy bottomed frying pan for about 3 mins each side till golden. Cool and sprinkle with sugar. I don't use lard or margarine, I use butter. Granny used to make about 30 Welsh cakes out of this amount; I seem to make much less - about 16! They're best eaten warm on the day they're made, as th...

Honey cakes are supposed to be some of the oldest cakes in history. It's not something I've ever made, so wanted to try this recipe, from an old cookery book called 'The complete book of baking' inherited from Mum. The recipe says that it's best made a week before you need it! It also uses rye flour, which I couldn't find in my local supermarket, but did find in Waitrose. No fat or sugar in the cake so it must be good for you!! 175ml honey - acacia if possible 3 eggs, beaten 300g rye flour 1 tspn cinnamon 120g ground almonds or hazelnuts 2 tbspn dark run [opt] 1/2 tspn bicarb. of soda 1 tbspn milk almond halves to decorate Preheat oven 175C/gas 4 Grease a deep 30x20 tin [12x8"] Warm the honey in the jar in a pan of hot water then pour into a bowl and whisk till frothy and thick. Beat in the eggs and gradually add the flour. Mix the spices and nuts together and stir in the rum [if using] and add to the honey and egg mixture. Dissolve the bi...

There seem to be a lot of blueberries on offer in the supermarkets, so decided to buy some to try out a recipe given to me by my friend. She says it's a cross between a blueberry muffin and an old fashioned cheesecake with a cream cheese filling. Sounds interesting. I think the original recipe must be American, as it's called a coffeecake. Topping : 120g butter, softened 150g sugar 30g brown sugar 60g chopped nuts 11/2 tspn cinnamon 1/2tspn nutmeg Cream cheese filling : 375g cream cheese 90g sugar 1 egg grated rind of a lemon 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 tspn almond essence Cake : 500g plain flour 4 tspn baking powder 1 tspn salt 120g butter, softened 300g sugar 2 eggs, beaten 1 tspn almond essence 300ml milk 750g fresh blueberries Preheat oven 375F/190C/gas 5 Generously butter a 32x22cm [13x9"] glass baking dish Topping - rub all the ingredients together till large crumbs. Filling - soften cheese and beat with the sugar using an electric mixer t...

Another recipe to use up some fruit. The original recipe used blueberries with the apples, but I love cranberries and wanted to try this combination. The method used to make the cake is a bit unusual, whizzing the flour and butter first. The dough is quite firm; more like a cookie dough. You can bake it, as I did, in a 20cm cake tin, or as a loaf in a 900g loaf tin. 125g butter 225g sr flour 175g caster sugar 2 large eggs, beaten 2 large eating apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced 125g cranberries [or blueberries] 2 tsbpn apricot jam Preheat oven 190C/gas 5 Grease and line a 20cm cake tin or a 900g loaf tin. Sieve flour into a food processor and add the butter. Whizz till it becomes like breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and eggs and whizz again to make a smooth mixture. Spoon half of the mixture into the tin, then scatter over half the apple and cranberries. Spoon over the rest of the mixture then scatter the rest of the fruit on top. Bake for about 45 mins till ...

My younger daughter is coming today, so I thought I'd make her some biscuits with her favourite flavour, orange. I love cinnamon, so this seemed the perfect one to try. The recipe comes from a free booklet in a 'Woman's Weekly' magazine a few years back, but I've changed it slightly to give the thins a more orange flavour. Makes about 30 thins 225g butter 140g caster sugar grated zest of an orange 1 egg yolk 4 tspns orange juice 280g plain flour 2 tspn cinnamon pinch salt Put the butter, sugar and orange rind in a bowl and beat till creamy. Beat in the egg yolk and 2 tspns of the orange juice. Add the salt to the flour and then stir into the mixture till it's all nicely blended. Make into a ball, wrap in film and chill for about an hour. Take it out, unwrap and roll dough out between 2 sheets of baking parchment  into a 30 cm square. Take off top sheet and brush the dough with the rest of the orange juice and sprinkle over the cinnamon. Lightly ...