COOKBOOKS GALORE

Yesterday I made some creme anglaise to have with our rhubarb crumble. There was a little left over, so this recipe was just perfect. It makes 12 muffins 90g melted butter 300g sr flour 150g plain flour 1 tspn cinnamon [ I love it so used 2 tspns] 165g caster sugar 1 egg, beaten 250ml milk 60ml creme anglaise 150g cooked apples [I used cox and chopped them up before cooking] 2 tbspn demerara sugar preheat oven 200C/gas 6/400F Grease a 12-holed muffin tin or use 12 muffin cases. Mix together the butter, flours, 1/2 the cinnamon, caster sugar, egg and milk till just mixed. Fill the cases or holes half full of the batter, then make a deepish dent in the middle and add 1 tspn creme anglaise and 2 tspns apple. Add more batter on top. Mix the brown sugar with the rest of the cinnamon and sprinkle on top of the muffins. Cook for about 25 mins till golden. Leave the muffins to rest in the tin, and then put onto a wire rack. I like the texture of the muffins with th...

I've invited an old school friend for tea tomorrow, so wanted to make something nice for her. Found this recipe in one of my Mum's old cookery books, and as I had my dil here this afternoon, and she's doing a cake decorating class, they seemed just the thing. I've changed the ozs into grams. and it worked fine. Makes 12 little tarts 212 g packet shortcrust pastry [I used Just Rol} 50g butter 50g caster sugar 1 large egg 59g ground almonds drop of almond essence [not the almond flavouring] 1 rounded tbspn sr flour grated rind of 1/2 lemon 1 tspn lemon juice [I put in a bit more as I wanted them to be lemony] icing: 150g icing sugar drop lemon food colouring lemon juice Preheat oven 190C/375F/gas5 Roll out the pastry on a floured surface,and then cut out 12 rounds with a cutter to fit a bun tin. Cream the butter and sugar then beat in the egg and ground almonds. Stir in the almond essence, flour, lemon rind and juice. Divide this evenly between the...

Am off today to look after one of our grandsons, so decided to leave something in the cake tin for himself. Madeleines seemed a good choice, as I brought several tins back from France, and they've remained unused. The recipe makes 20 madeleines. 150g dark chocolate 70g butter 5 eggs, yolks and whites separated 125g caster sugar 4 tbspns honey 150g plain flour Preheat oven 190C/375F/gas5 Melt the chocolate and butter and leave to cool. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar till they're pale and thick. Then add the chocolate mixture, the flour and the honey, beating quickly between each one. Beat the egg whites, but not too thickly, then add these to the mixture, folding in. Put the mixture in the fridge for at least an hour. Grease the tins well, as madeleines stick! Put a heaped teaspoon of mixture into each hole. Bake for 8-10 mins. Let them cool for a bit in the tin, before putting them on a wire rack.

Thought I'd have a change from baking and post a few photos of our new garden. It's a pocket handkerchief size, so haven't much room. The first thing we did was to buy a good aluminium lean-to greenhouse, so we could grow some veg. We're growing tomatoes and French beans in bags. The beans are doing well - have lots of flowers. We bought 4 different tomato plants, and the cherry ones seem to be ahead atm. I grew some 'Little Gem' lettuces from seed and have planted a few in between the tomatoes. We brought some of our plants in pots back from France with us. This rose is lovely - it has a strong perfume. Have lost its label so can't remember its name! It was given to us, in a large pot, by our neighbours. They all arrived smiling, with one pushing a wheel barrow containing the rose and several boxes of wine bottles! What lovely people, and we miss them. This shrub was growing in the garden and I've trying to find out what it is. Now that it...

Had a few really ripe bananas to use up so decided to make a banana cake. Then I fancied something chocolate, so changed the recipe into a chocolate version. I'm very pleased with the result. It's a very moist cake. 150g butter or margarine 150g light brown sugar 300g plain flour 2 tspn baking powder 2 eggs, beaten 4 tbspns cocoa powder 50g dark chocolate broken up [or chocolate chips] 100 ml vegetable oil Preheat oven 180C/gas4 Grease a 900g loaf tin. Beat the eggs and sugar together. Mash up the bananas and add to the mixture. Beat in the eggs. Mix the flour, baking powder, cocoa and chocolate together, then add these to the mixture. Lastly add the vegetable oil, and give it all a good mix. Spoon into the tin and bake for about 45 mins. I found that because of the lumps of chocolate, the centre was quite soft. I checked to see if it was cooked in several other places. Leave it to cool for 10 mins in the tin, and then turn onto a wire rack. You c...

Bought a large bag of pecans recently on offer from Julian Graves. My lovely friend Jackie brought us some maple syrup from her recent trip to Canada, so, a marriage made in heaven. It's such an easy tart to make, and if you have some pastry in the freezer, it's even quicker. Pastry: 250g plain flour 125g salted, cold butter 2 tbspn sugar 3-4 tbspn very cold water I make this in the food processor, make double and keep half, wrapped carefully, in the freezer. I let the half I'm going to use, rest in the fridge for a couple of hours. I don't like sugar in pastry, even in sweet desserts, so I don't add it. Filling: 60g melted butter 100g sugar [I used golden caster] 180ml maple syrup 2 eggs 250g pecans Preheat oven 190C/375F/gas5 Grease a rectangular tart tin. [I bought mine from Lakeland and have had lots of use out of it. It's loose-bottomed!] Roll the pastry out into the tart tin. Beat the butter, sugar and maple syrup together with an ele...

I tend to make large cakes, so today, as my grandsons are coming for tea, thought I'd make them some small cakes. This recipe is from my friend Liz. Recipe makes 12 cakes. 115g soft butter or margarine 115g caster sugar 2 tbspn crunchy peanut butter 2 eggs, beaten 85g sr flour 4 tbspn cocoa powder 100g plain chocolate chips 100g chopped pecans or walnuts [keep 24 to decorate] 200g plain chocolate 24 mini marshmallows Preheat oven 180C/350F/gas4 Put 12 cake cases into a bun tin. In a bowl, put the butter, sugar and peanut butter and beat till it's light and creamy [with an electric beater]. Beat in the eggs and fold in the flour, cocoa, chocolate chips and nuts. Put the mixture into the cake cases. Bake for 15-20 mins till golden and firm. Leave them to cool on a wire rack. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate and leave it to cool a bit. Spread most of the chocolate over the top of each cake with a knife, leaving some to drizzle over the top of the cakes, ...

My lovely Dutch friend sent me some goodies recently, including some of my favourite speculoos biscuits. I wanted to use them in a cake of some sort, and found this recipe in a French magazine. No cooking is needed for the cake. 125g speculoos biscuits [or any spicy biscuit] 4 dried figs, finely chopped 4 dates, finely chopped 2 tbspns sultanas 60g melted butter 200g milk or plain chocolate - broken into small pieces 15cl single cream 2 packets of Werther's originals or other butterscotch sweets 22cm cake tin - preferably a silicone mould Crush the biscuits and mix them with the dried fruit. Press the mixture into the bottom of the tin/mould and put it in the fridge to harden. Break the chocolate up into a bowl. Put the cream in a small saucepan and bring to the boil, then pour it over the chocolate. Stir well till the mixture is nice and smooth. Cool. Take the base mixture out of the fridge and pour the chocolate over, then put it back in the fridge again to...

Yet another version of my favourite bakes -  loaf cakes. I like these cakes because they're quick and easy to make and keep well. 175g dried apricots 150ml orange juice 400g plain flour 175g caster sugar 100g raisins 1/1/2 tspns baking powder 1/2 tspn bicarb 1/2 tspn salt grated rind of 1 orange 1 egg, beaten 25g melted butter of margarine sugar of choice to sprinkle on top Preheat oven 180C/350F/gas4 Grease a 900g loaf tin Soak the apricots in the orange juice. Then put the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Add the apricots and orange juice, butter, orange rind and the egg and mix it all together. The mixture is very stiff. Put it into the tin and bake for about an hour till it's golden and firm. I used golden caster sugar, and only 100g, as 175g seemed a lot. I sprinkled some golden granulated suagr over the mixture in the tin. Ready to eat with our afternoon cuppa! The recipe is adapted from a book I've had for ages but...