COOKBOOKS GALORE

                                                            Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Healthy,                                           Happy New Year.

I was given a bag of apples and wanted to make something different. Browsing through my recipe folder I found this recipe. It's an egg custard over apples, but the custard is made with cream. Lovely to have as a pudding in this miserable weather. For the apples:  50g butter, 1 kg cooking apples, 50g sugar and the zest of 2 lemons For the custard topping: 825ml double cream, 50g sugar, 4 eggs plus 2 yolks, 50g demerara sugar and 1/2 tspn cinnamon Heat a frying pan and add the butter and apples, peeled cored and sliced.  Cook for 6-7 mins till soft but still keeping shape. Add the sugar and zest and cook for a further 2-3 mins. Pour into an ovenproof dish. Beat the eggs, yolks and sugar together; warm the cream over a gentle heat then add to the eggs and gently mix in. Pour over the apples. Mix the brown sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle over the top. Bake in preheated oven, 180C/gas 4 for about an hour, till set but still a bit wobbly. It feeds about 8 people, ...

I love Scandinavian baking and have several Scandi baking books, but to honest, I've never baked from them. Reading an article recently on this type of baking, I thought I must use my books, so decided to make a caramel almond cake. I've adapted it from 'Scandilicious Baking'. For the cake you need; 20ml milk, 1 tspn lemon juice [or 75ml buttermilk] 75g butter, 3 eggs, 150g caster sugar, 1 tspn vanilla extract, 150g plain flour, 1 tspn baking powder and a pinch of salt. For the topping:  150g flaked almonds, 125g butter, 125g light brown sugar, 50ml milk and 1/2 tspn sea salt  Preheat oven 160C/gas3                     Grease and base line a 23cm springform cake tin Stir the lemon juice into the milk to sour it, or use 75ml buttermilk instead. Toast the almonds till they're a light golden colour [takes about 6 mins]. Melt the butter over a low heat then pour into a bowl and allow to cool. Beat the eggs, sugar an...

I love Autumn and its flavours, and one of my favourite is nuts. I know I've mentioned it before, but every Autumn in France we got given a bag of walnuts from my neighbour's tree. She used to make this tart with some of them. I bought a large bag of shelled walnuts on offer at a local deli, so decided to make her tart. I know the taste won't be quite the same, not using fresh nuts, but it will be a lovely memory of Reneé. Preheat oven 200C/gas6.            23cm tart tin Pastry: 125g flour, 75g butter, 25g caster sugar, pinch salt, 1 egg and 25ml water. Mix all the ingredients together into a firm ball of dough. Pop in fridge till needed. Filling: 500g shelled walnuts, 150ml crème fraîche, 60g caster sugar, 1 beaten egg, 1 tspn vanilla extract and icing sugar for the top. Keep enough walnuts back to have enough to cover the top. Put these on a baking tray and put into the oven for a few minutes till they have some colour. Put the rest in a blen...

I love pears and I wanted to make something different with them. Happily my French friend came to my aid again and gave me this recipe. It's a dessert not a cake, but is easy to make. 4 medium pears [firmish but not too hard] 150g plain flour 100g caster sugar 2 eggs 100ml milk 3 tbspn vegetable oil 2 tspn baking powder For the topping: 80g melted butter 3tbspn caster sugar 1 egg Flaked almonds Oven 180C.                             Grease and flour  23cm cake tin Put the sugar and eggs in a bowl and beat till light and fluffy. Add the flour, baking powder and oil and mix in. Pour half of this batter into the cake tin. Peel the pears and cut into strips. Put on top of the batter in the tin and spoon the rest of the batter on top. Bake for 30 mins. Topping- Beat the egg and sugar together then add the butter and mix together. After the fondant has baked for 30 mins, take out of the oven a...

The small 'fondants au chocolat' were the puddings which caused the most problem when I used to watch Masterchef! My French friends recently came to visit, and knowing how I love to try new things, she brought me her recipe for a large cake version. The biggest problem was choosing the right tin, as G had used a French one and I wasn't sure which one of mine to use. In the end, I used a tin I use to make quiches, 22cm. It has a loose base which was very useful. The recipe:  100g chocolate [my friend used cooking chocolate in her recipe. but I used supermarket's own dark]  75g softish butter  3 eggs  100g caster sugar  40g plain flour  1 tspn baking powder Oven 180C                        Grease and flour a 20/22cm tin Break up chocolate and cut butter into pieces. Melt over a pan of simmering water, or in the microwave. Mix together. In another bowl beat eggs and sugar till white and...

These came about because I found a jar of my favourite Biscoff spread in Sainsbury's. I've since noticed that Lidl sell the same kind of spread called Spiced Biscuit spread. I expect most of the supermarkets now have their own versions. I bought a new tartlet tin so wanted to try it out, and chocolate and spice seemed to go well together. I was very lazy and bought a pack of shortcrust pastry, but of course you can make your own from your favourite recipe, or even buy ready made tartlet shells, so then you'd have no cooking at all! You need; 1 pack ready shortcrust pastry, 100g dark chocolate, 3 tbspn spiced biscuit spread, 100ml single cream, 60g butter and a few crumbled Biscoff biscuits [or supermarket equivalent] to sprinkle on top. Preheat oven 200C                    Grease a tartlet tin. Roll pastry out on a floured surface and cut out discs using a 71/2 cm /3" cutter. Line the tin with these then bake for 20 mins. Take ou...

I went to tea with a friend recently and she'd made this loaf cake. If you're on a diet, look away now! It involves chocolate, peanut butter and courgettes, but you wouldn't guess about the courgettes as they add moisture but no flavour. The negative bit is that you use several bowls, but the end result is well worth it! So for the loaf you need:  2 small courgettes grated [leave the skin on], 2 eggs, 80ml honey, 120ml vegetable oil, 100g soft brown sugar, 2 tspn vanilla extract, 1/2 tspn bicarb, 1 tspn baking powder, 200g plain flour, 75g smooth peanut butter, 1/2 tspn instant coffee, 25g cocoa, 50g chocolate cut into pieces and 25g chocolate melted with 25g smooth peanut butter. Preheat oven 170C           Line a 900g loaf tin with baking paper In bowl A mix together the courgettes, eggs, honey, oil, sugar and vanilla extract. In another bowl B sieve the flour, baking powder and bicarb together, then add to the batter. In yet anoth...

There are lots of blueberries around at the moment and I love them. I've been eating some every morning with my cereal, but decided I wanted to make a cake. This is one of our favourite loaf cakes, but with a streusel topping. The original recipe was from an American website so has been converted from cups - hence the odd amounts. I've tweaked the recipe because it had way too much sugar in the cake. I like making cakes with oil - makes me think they're healthier! So, preheat oven 190C/gas5 Grease a 900g loaf tin. Put 80g granulated sugar in a bowl with 60ml sunflower oil. Mix together with an electric mixer, then add 1 egg, 250ml milk and 1 tspn vanilla extract and beat till smooth and creamy. Fold in 280g plain flour which has been sieved with 3 tspns baking powder. Mix to a batter without lumps.  Put 220g blueberries in a bowl and add 1 tbspn flour and coat the berries with it. Then gently fold the blueberries into the batter. Pour into the tin and smo...

If you like Hershey's peanut butter cups, which I do, then these are for you. They aren't the healthiest of options, but as a treat they're very moreish.  120g unsalted butter 175g icing sugar 260g smooth peanut butter 12 digestive biscuits made into crumbs 60g unsalted butter 90g chocolate chips or chopped chocolate You don't need an oven to make these. Line a 20cm square cake tin with foil, leaving some hanging over the sides and butter the foil. Melt the 120g butter in a saucepan over a low heat. When melted, take off the heat and add the icing sugar. Stir till smooth. Add the peanut butter and the crumbs and again stir till smooth. Spread this mixture into the cake tin and smooth the top. Melt the 60g of butter in the same saucepan and add the chocolate.Stir till it's nearly melted, then take off the heat and stir till it has completely melted. Pour this over the layer in the tin and smooth. When cool, put into a fridge for at least 30 mins t...

On my friend Phil's lovely blog, As Strong as Soup, [ http://asstrongassoup.blogspot.com ]   he writes about Nonnettes and using honey. I haven't tried his recipe yet, but my Polish dil also gave me her  recipe for a Polish Honey cake. Every time I visit a farmer's market I always buy a jar of local honey, so have plenty to use in both recipes. I decided that I needed a large cake to take to a meeting yesterday, so made the Polish honey cake. It's called Piernik in Polish. There seem to be many varying recipes for this cake, but they all contain a mixture of ground spices. The recipe said to use a 22cm tin, but I don't have one this size, so used a 23 cm tin and it turned out fine. 500g plain flour, 2 tspn baking powder, 1/2 tspn ginger, 1/2 tspn cinnamon, 1/2 tspn cloves. 1/2 tspn allspice, grated zest of 1/2 orange, 25g chopped walnuts, 25g seedless raisins, 25g chopped figs, 300g honey, 90g caster sugar, 90g butter, 4 egg yolks, 2 tspn instant coffee dissol...

I love loaf cakes. They’re easy to make, easy to cut and so useful. A few very ripe bananas in the fruit bowl was my inspiration for this loaf cake. I added some pecans, and used the buttermilk left over in the fridge from making scones. Cake : 3 ripe bananas, 100g pecan nuts broken into small pieces, 100g soft butter, 175g soft brown sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tspn vanilla extract, 250g plain flour, 1 tspn bicarb, 1 tspn mixed spice, 100 ml buttermilk Topping: 1 small banana, sliced, Preheat oven 180C/gas4.        Grease and line base of 200g loaf tin Beat the butter and sugar together till light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract, a bit at a time. Mash the bananas and add to the batter then add  flour, bicarbonate and mixed spice and fold in. Stir in the buttermilk then most of the nuts, saving a few bits for the top. Pour into the loaf tin, then put the sliced bananas on top and sprinkle over the rest of the nuts. Bake for about 45-50 mins. If...

I made this last week for a friend’s birthday. It’s easy to make, but looks impressive. It’s a pavlova with a top! For the cake you need : 4 egg whites, 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar, 125g light Muscovado sugar, 100g caster sugar, 1teaspoon white wine vinegar Filling: 200ml double cream, 250g strawberries Preheat oven 150C/gas 2.     Grease and base line 2 x20 cm sandwich tins Whisk egg whites and cream of tartar in bowl till stiff. Put the sugars together then add to the white a bit at a time. Whisk a few minutes more till nice and thick and shiny. Divide equally between the sandwich tins and bake for 35 - 45 mins till light brown. Cool on a wire rack. Whip the double cream to peaks. Save 8 strawberries and slice the rest up. Put one meringue on a plate and cover with half of the cream Sprinkle the strawberry slices over the cream then put the second meringue on top. Cover this with the rest of the cream then slice the 8 remaining strawberries in half and arrange in t...

I don't really do much baking now that I'm on my own, but sometimes I have a need to make a cake! I bought some blueberries from our local market. They're one of my favourites fruits, and I used to have a bush in my garden. Sadly the winter before last killed it. I love them on porridge, but I had an urge to make a cake with them. I decided on a streusel cake - I love these cakes with the crumbly topping. So you need: For the topping 25g caster sugar, 2 tbspn flour and 55g soft butter For the cake 3 eggs, 200g caster sugar, 220g melted butter, 1 tbspn vanilla extract, 250ml buttermilk, 320g flour, 1 tbspn baking powder, pinch salt,  400g blueberries [washed and dried] Preheat oven 180C/gas4         Grease and flour a 9"x13"  [23x33cm] cake tin For the topping - mix the sugar, butter and flour together till like crumbs. For the cake - In a large bowl beat together the eggs then gradually whisk in the sugar till the batter is nic...

I made Mary Berry's Chocolate Cappuccino Tart as our Easter dessert from her recent Quick Cooking series. My son and family were due to arrive for Easter Sunday lunch, but he had to go into work for an emergency, so my daughter and I were left with a huge leg of lamb and Mary's dessert! It took us all week to eat it!   https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/mary-berrys-chocolate-cappuccino-tart I didn't finish the top in the same way as Mary, just added some Easter eggs. Thought enough cream had gone into it! It's extremely rich and a small slice is enough. Maybe I should have tried to freeze it rather than to eat it all! My neighbour was given several slices, as was a friend. Yesterday my son and family did finally arrive to eat with us, so I decided to make a special cake. My son loves anything caramel, so this recipe seems just the thing. I found the recipe on an American site, but changed the recipe to suit us, and changed the cups into grams. Cake : 150g ...

I love the little spicy biscuits you get with a coffee, and this cake is made using these and the spread you can now buy which is made with the same mixture - Lotus Biscoff biscuits and spread. They're also called Speculoos biscuits, and my Dutch friend sends me the spice mixture every year. You can buy fantastic wooden moulds to make them. I bought my jar of their version of the spread from Lidl at Christmas, but am not sure if they sell it all year round. It's a loaf cake, which I love making, and it has a great mix of ingredients. You need: 150g butter, 3 eggs, 100g caster sugar, 100g sr flour, 100g praline chocolate, 50g Lotus spread, 20g ground hazelnuts, 1 tspn vanilla extract and 5 Lotus biscuits. Preheat oven 180C/gas4                    Grease and line a 900g loaf tin Break the chocolate into pieces and crush the biscuits into smallish lumps. Beat the eggs and sugar together for 10 mins in a mixer or using an elect...

This cake is another result of a baking cupboard sort out. I had some brazils, apricots and dates to use up, but not enough of each to use on their own. I love loaf cakes, and just took out the mixed dried fruit from the recipe I usually use in this cake, and added my store cupboard finds. 140g soft margarine 2 large eggs 250g self raising flour 60ml milk 140g caster sugar – reserve 1-2tbspn for cake topping 125g each of dried apricots and pitted dates - each piece cut into 3 65g chopped brazil nuts 1 level tspn mixed spice    Preheat oven 150C/Gas 2  Grease and line a 900g loaf tin.   Cream margarine and sugar together until soft and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs to the mixture a little at a time and one by one, mixing well .  Put the fruit and nuts into a bowl and add 2 or 3 tbspn of the flour to coat the fruit and nuts. Sieve the rest of the flour and the mixed spice into the cake mixture.  Fo...

My daughter loves dark chocolate and raspberries, and as she was coming up for the weekend, I found this recipe in my scrapbook which was perfect for her. I know raspberries aren't in season, and I know you could use frozen ones, but I found some at a reasonable price in my local market. For the cake you need:  250g dark chocolate (70% cocoa) 200g butter 1 tspn instant coffee, dissolved in 1 tbspn hot water 5 eggs 100g caster sugar 75g plain flour 100g raspberries  Preheat oven 170C/gas3                    Grease and line a 20cm springform tin In a saucepan, put the chocolate, butter and coffee and heat over a low heat till melted and glossy. In  a bowl beat the eggs till pale and fluffy.  Pour in the chocolate mixture, add the flour and fold together gently. Pour this batter into the tin and sprinkle the raspberries over the top. Bake for about 40 mins till the cake is firm. This cake is good with a ...

As it's National Pie Week, I thought I'd post a pie recipe that's one of my family's favourites. The leeks are a belated homage to St David's Day [I did make Welsh cakes and have daffodils!]. It's an easy pie to make as you use ready made puff pastry.  So for 6 people you need:  2 tbspn oil - I used rapeseed 6 skinless chicken breasts cut into cubes 2 medium leeks - sliced 4 tbspn white wine [opt] 15g butter 1 tbspn plain flour 750ml milk 1 chicken stock cube s & p 500g butter puff pastry 1 egg to brush top of pie Preheat oven 200C/gas6           23 x30 cm pie dish Heat 1 tbspn of the oil in a pan and add the chicken. Brown all over then take out. Add the other tbspn of oil [and the wine if you're using it] and then cook the leeks till tender [and the wine has evaporated]. Melt the butter in another pan then stir in the flour to make a paste. Add the milk a bit at a time, stirring continuously till th...

And now for something completely different! I fancied something a bit exotic and fresh, so found this recipe in an old cookery book I picked up in a jumble sale years ago. It has lots of recipes for using fruit, so as I had a grapefruit and some lemons, decided to try this tart. It's fairly easy to make, but does need time chilling before you eat it. You need:  150g caster sugar, 70g soft butter, 4 eggs, 2 lemons, 1/2 grapefruit, a pack of shortcrust pastry [or make your own] and 1 tspn cornflour Preheat oven 200C.   You need a 23cm Tart tin Roll out the pastry to fit the tart tin. Line base with piece parchment paper or foil and cover with baking beans or rice. Bake for 15 mins, remove beans and paper or foil and bake for another 19 mins. Cool. Wash and dry the fruit then grate the zests. Put a pan of water on to simmer and in a bowl put the zests, the juice of the fruits, the beaten eggs, sugar and cornflour. Beat this over the pan of water till it thickens. Once ...

Thought I'd post something sumptuous for Valentine's Day. I'm cheating a bit because my daughter made this, with a little help from me. It's a lovely dessert with a meringue base, delicious chocolate cream layer, more meringue, then topped with a good layer of grated chocolate. You could buy 2 large meringue discs to save making them. This is a recipe from my French friend, and she says it originates in the North of France. Meringues:  2 egg whites, 60g caster sugar and 60g icing sugar Ganache:     150g dark chocolate, 150ml single cream Topping:      100g grated dark chocolate It's best to make the meringues the day before, but it's up to you! Heat oven 160C/gas3              Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone sheets Beat egg whites till stiff and add half of the 2 sugars. Whisk again then add the other half and whisk till shiny. Put into a piping bag and pipe into 2 large discs onto ...

I found some dates in the cupboard and looked for a recipe to use them up that wasn't sticky toffee! I found this one which was perfect as I also had some ripe bananas to use. I think it's from an old free supermarket magazine. 150g dried stoned dates 4tbspn orange juice or dark rum 200g very ripe banana (peeled weight) 125g butter, softened 125g sugar Finely grated zest of 1 small orange 2 large free-range eggs (or 2 smaller ones and a yolk) 175g sr flour  Preheat oven  180 o C/Gas 4. Line a 2lb loaf tin .  Make sure that each date has been stoned and cut each into four using kitchen scissors.  Put the date pieces in a small pan, cover with the orange juice (or dark rum) and gently bring to the boil.  Remove from the heat and leave to cool.  Mash the banana in a bowl with a fork. Beat the butter, sugar and orange zest together until light and creamy.  Add the eggs, one at a...

Thought I'd post something savoury for a change. We love quiches and this one has the flavours of Provence. Good for using up odd veg in the fridge.  Using ready made butter puff pastry makes quiche making so easy; only the veg to prepare. You need: 1 pack puff pastry, 3 eggs, 1 small pot of crême fraiche, 100g grated Gruyère cheese, 2 onions, 1 pepper, 3 tomatoes, 1 small tin tuna, drained, 10 olives, stoned and cut into slivers, Herbes de Provence, salt and pepper, green leaves to decorate preheat oven 180C/gas4                           23 cm tart tin Roll pastry out and line the tin. Slice tomatoes and put into base of the tin. Put into the fridge. Chop the onions into dice and the pepper into thin strips, then put into a large bowl. Add the tuna, beaten eggs, cream, cheese, olives, herbs, salt and pepper and mix together well. Remove tart tin from the fridge and pour in the mixture. Bake for about 4...

Sorry about the big white blank on my last post. My computer went a bit haywire that day, and even my son couldn't sort it out, so we left it! It's a tradition in our family that I make a Galette de Rois for Epiphany. They sell them in all the pâtisseries and supermarkets in France in January, with golden cardboard crowns for the person who finds the fève or china figure in the galette. I wanted to try something different, having made chocolate ones in the past as well as the usual almond ones. I decided to add one of my lemons from my tree in the greenhouse. Am amazed at how well this tree does in its big pot. It still has 8 large lemons ripening and many small ones, as well as some flowers. Not bad in Northants! Back to the Galette! It's easy to make - you need: 2 packs puff pastry [butter puff if possible] 125g ground almonds 100g caster sugar 80g butter 2 eggs 1 egg yolk 3 drops vanilla extract juice of 1 lemon Preheat oven 180C/gas4        ...