COOKBOOKS GALORE

Lovely Autumnal look to the trees around here, so thought of making something with apples. I love apple cakes, but having just made 2 for a leaving lunch, thought I'd make a tart. Having yet another sort out in a cupboard, I found a bottle of Calvados with just enough left to put in my tart! Got to be a Normandy Tart with Calvados! This is yet another recipe I got from my lovely neighbour in France, and I've made it many times for friends and family. You need: 1 pack of butter puff pastry, 4 medium apples, 160g caster sugar, 50g butter, 1/2 tspn cinnamon, 2 eggs,100ml crème fraîche, 1 tbspn Calvados and some flaked almonds Preheat oven 210C/gas7                       Grease a tart tin lightly Peel and core the apples and cut into thick slices. Melt the butter in a pan and add the apples, 30g of the sugar and the cinnamon. Cook gently for a few minutes, but be careful they don't stick to the bottom and burn! Roll the ...

This is a nice easy tart to make, but gives the impression it's luxurious. It's one of my family's favourite desserts. Here I go reminiscing again, but in France my neighbour over the road had a walnut tree, and gave me carrier bags full of them. Ahhh!  No carrier bags full, but a special offer on walnuts in a supermarket was the incentive for making this tart. For the shortcrust pastry - 250g flour, 130g butter, 2 tspn sugar, pinch salt and water. Am not going to tell you how to make pastry! Preheat oven 180C/gas4                Line a tart tin with the pastry. For the filling - 250g chopped walnuts, 2 eggs, 400ml crème fraîche, 2 tbspn salted caramel and 2 tbspn soft brown sugar Beat the eggs with the cream and the caramel. Sprinkle the nuts over the pastry, keeping a few back to decorate afterwards. Pour over the cream mixture and sprinkle on the soft brown sugar. Bake for 35 mins. Decorate with some walnuts before serving. ...

What to make for a friend coming to tea? I bought some ground and flaked almonds last week so wanted to use them. I love Bakewell tart, so searched for a recipe with similar flavours and found this one. Couldn't wait to try it as a cake. It's from the  BBC Good Food site The recipe suggests you blend it in a food processor, but as mine is broken, I used an electric hand mixer and it worked fine.  There's ground almonds in the recipe so it's quite a thick batter. You put a layer of the batter into the tin, spread the raspberries over, then spread the rest of the mixture on top. It's mentioned in the recipe that it's better to use your fingers to spread the mixture on top of the fruit, and this is good advice, as it's impossible to spread with a spoon or spatula! It has a lovely almond flavour and the fresh raspberries give another texture and aren't sweet. It does feel and taste like a Bakewell tart. My friend loved it, and took a large piece...

I belong to a French Conversation group, and we had a get together last week with coffee and cakes - French recipes. This is one I made many times in France, but not since I've been back in the UK. Praline chocolate and nougat seemed to be more readily available there, or maybe I haven't been looking in the right places! You need: 60g sr flour and 1 tspn baking powder, 100g praline chocolate, 50g nougat chopped into small pieces, 70g caster sugar, 60g butter  Preheat oven 180C/gas4          Grease and base line a 24cm cake tin. Break the chocolate into pieces, add 5 tbspn of water and melt in a microwave. In another small bowl, melt the butter, and in a 3rd bowl beat the eggs and sugar together till fluffy. Fold the flour and baking powder into the batter, then pour in the melted chocolate and butter. Mix together. Add the pieces of nougat and mix again. Pour into the tin and bake for 35 mins. Cool the cake in the tin . Serve with ice cream, c...

I haven't done much baking lately. Been too hot, and not much fun baking for one! Friends coming for tea so decided to make something my friend in France used to make - a raspberry moelleux. The word moelleux means smooth or creamy, but it's used as a type of dessert too. You need: 180g sr flour, 1 tspn baking powder, 400g raspberries, 160g caster sugar, 1 small pot natural yoghurt ,3 eggs, 100ml vegetable oil, icing sugar Preheat oven 180C/gas4                  Grease a 20cm square tin well and line base. Beat the eggs and sugar together till fluffy. Add the yoghurt and oil and mix in. Fold in the flour and baking powder gently. Spoon into the tin and cover with the raspberries. Press them down gently with the back of a spoon. Bake for 25 mins. Mark the cake into slices then cool on a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar. The 'cake' is lovely and soft; the centre is smooth and a good contrast to the raspberries. Makes a good dessert w...

Am not really enjoying this heat or cooking, but I had to make something to take to a helpers' lunch. I bought a bowl of courgettes from the market on a whim, so this was a good way to use them up. It's a bit of a faff having to grate them, but my food processor does it for me. Don't grate them too fine or they'll end up like water! Past experience! You need: 300g goat's cheese, 5 medium cougettes, 3 eggs, 150g flour, 1 tspn baking powder, 2 tbspn vegetable oil, 120ml milk, 100g grated Gruyère cheese, 2 pinches salt. Preheat oven 200C/gas6                         Grease a 900g loaf tin. Wash and grate the courgettes. Chose the goat’s cheese into chunks or slices. In a bowl mix the eggs, cheeses, flour and baking powder, oil and milk. Add the courgettes and salt. Mix well and spoon into the tin. Bake for about 40 mins then cool on a wire rack. It makes a change from ham with a green salad! Good cheese flavour a...

Bought some 'Wonky' rhubarb from Morrisons and decided to make this for a family get together last weekend. It's a French recipe and uses a yoghurt pot as a measure. Very easy to make. you need a 125g yoghurt pot So:  1pot natural yoghurt, 3 pots sugar, 3 pots flour, 1 tspn baking powder, 3/4 pot vegetable oil, 1/4 pot milk, 1 tspn vanilla extract, 2 eggs, 250g rhubarb Preheat oven 200C/gas6                        Grease and flour a 20cm cake tin. Put all the ingredients except the rhubarb into a bowl and beat together. Chop the rhubarb into chunks and add to the mixture. Mix in with a spatula. Bake for 30-35 mins till golden. It has a lovely moist crumb, and a good contrast between the fruit and the sponge. It makes a good cake with a cuppa or a dessert with cream or ice cream. I've made it with apple, but plums or pears would be good too.