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...