COOKBOOKS GALORE

A couple of years ago my lovely Dutch friend sent me some goodies, including some of my favourite speculoos [ or speculaas?] biscuits. I used them in a recipe I found in a French magazine, and decided to make the cake again. It doesn't need any cooking. 125g speculoos biscuits [or any spicy biscuit - the ones they sell in Lidl are good] 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 and melted butter. 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 ...

There are a lot of fresh figs around in the shops, so I decided to make a tart. Recently I bought a large bag of grounds almonds from a cash and carry, so decided to use them with the figs -  another gluten free recipe. I love fresh figs; they're so versatile. You can use them with savoury things like ham as a starter, or just sprinkle them with brown sugar and bake for a tasty dessert. My friend adds them to salads. The tart uses shortcrust pastry, baked blind. You can use your favourite recipe or buy it ready made. You need enough for a rectangular tart tin [with a loose base if possible] - 250g flour and 125g fat. Preheat oven 180C/gas4 Grease the tart tin and line it with the shortcrust pastry. Either prick the pastry or use baking beans, and bake blind for about 15 mins.  For the almond cream  - beat 60g soft butter with 60g caster sugar and 60g ground almonds; add 1 egg and beat into the mixture. Add 10cl of whipping cream and mix together well. if you want...