Spring Lemon Cake

Posted on 12/03/2019 by Anna

I can’t tell you how many lemons have been squeezed and cakes made here in the name of research. Lemon drizzles, lemon curds, lemon polentas and of course there is the layered beauty that features here in Lemon Cake and the 1970’s (May 2013) and often graces our table as our Easter Cake*.

I’m happy to eat a lemon based cake any day of the year but in Spring it seems even more appropriate. That bright yellow zip and zest works perfectly when there is still a nip in the air but green shoots are on show and the hope of sunny days feels well founded. This then is a cake for teatime, picnics or rainy days, trips to the beach, eating outside or in front of the fire and, of course, for all those school bake sales.

This modest looking little loaf cake has been tried and tested in many incarnations and this is my favourite. It couldn’t be easier, is very quick and a doddle if you have children who want to make a cake. If you don’t have any lemon curd don’t worry it will still be delicious but it’s worth having a jar of good curd in the fridge for such occasions. You can stick with a crunchy sugar and lemon drizzle if you prefer but this lemony icing is our perfect topping. Finally, whilst I am a huge fan of butter, it has become quite expensive and Stork or similar works brilliantly here – if its good enough for Mary Berry, its certainly good enough for me!

Spring Lemon Cake

160g butter or Stork (see introduction)

120g caster sugar

Good pinch of salt

2 large eggs

140g self raising flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Zest of one large unwaxed lemon

2 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons lemon curd (see introduction)

150g icing sugar

Juice of 1/2 – 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 180 and line a loaf tin. Cream the butter or Stork and sugar together until light and fluffy, I use a stand mixer for this but a wooden spoon and bowl work a treat too. Add the eggs one at a time with a spoonful of flour until well incorporated and then add the remaining flour, salt, baking powder, zest and milk. Finally swirl in the lemon curd leaving a few streaks. Put the mix into the lined tin and bake for 40 minutes. Check after 30 and cover with foil if its brown on top before a skewer comes out clean. Whilst the cake is cooling, mix the icing sugar and lemon juice (add the juice slowly as you may not need it all) and then pour over the top of the cake. Leave to set and then tuck in.

*Whilst I know a Simnel Cake is the usual Easter offering and I love it, none of my immediate family like fruit cake (also my daughter is allergic to nuts). Besides, we all know what happens to a cake when only one person likes it……

Blackcurrant Fool

Posted on 07/02/2019 by Anna

Well, here is a blast of summer. I’ve made no secret of my feeling that a weekend lunch isn’t complete without a pudding and we’ve tucked into no end of rib sticking treats appropriate to the colder months of the year. Golden syrup sponge, plum galette, apple crisp, raspberry larder pudding and a whole host of crumbles have made an appearance recently. Poking around in the freezer last weekend however I found a bag of blackcurrants which I’d picked last year and had been languishing in the icy depths since then. Whilst my surprise clearly illustrates that I am not one of those with a list detailing the exact contents of the freezer, the weight and when it was frozen etc – I was jolly pleased with my find.

Thawed and simmered briefly with sugar I mixed them with cream and yogurt and we delighted in that mouth puckering, tangy, fragrant hit that is unmistakably blackcurrant. Should you have any berries in your freezer I highly recommend making this or simply buy a bag of frozen berries – I use them all the time in the winter for various recipes.

Blackcurrant Fool

Don’t worry if you have a few less (or more) blackcurrants – a fool is pretty forgiving and 20/30g either way won’t make much difference. Equally if you need to use a bit less cream or yogurt the end result will still be fruity and delicious.

500g blackcurrants

100g caster sugar

200g double cream

200g Greek yogurt

Simmer the blackcurrants for about 10 minutes with the sugar until the fruit has broken down and the juices have become syrupy, cool. Whisk the cream until soft peaks hold, add the yogurt, mix again briefly and then swirl in the blackcurrants. Combine as much as you want – I like to seem some seams of pure blackcurrant but it is up to you. This served 4 with a bit left over for someones breakfast.

Tarte Tatin

Posted on 30/01/2019 by Anna

Well this is a proper treat and even better supremely easy to make with only 5 ingredients! That combination of tangy apples bathed in caramel sauce with a crispy, flaky pastry base, just fabulous. Whilst there are many recipes out there for Tarte Tatin, this one is so simple and delicious that I rarely deviate. It works like a dream and there is never any left over. By the way if you are a fan of salted caramel puddings just up the pinch of salt in the ingredients to about 1/2 a teaspoon and voila you will have Salted Caramel Tarte Tatin.

A frying pan with an oven proof or removable handle is ideal but if you don’t have one just cook the apples in a regular frying pan and then transfer to a baking tin before topping with pastry and putting in the oven. I use a 20cm le creuset that I have had for ever and these amounts work a treat and we easily finish it between the four of us. I have also used a 30cm saute pan (also le creuset) which make a great big tarte but I did need a little help turning the pan over on to the waiting plate.

Tarte Tatin

I tend to use a pack of ready rolled puff pastry for this. With a bit of careful cutting out (and patching for the second) I can get two circles of pastry out of one roll so either make another tarte tatin, freeze it or make the Onion Tarte Tatin with Blue Cheese (February 2014)…. just saying.

4 large eating apples, Braeburn are ideal, peeled, cored and quartered

60g butter

50g caster sugar

1 pack ready rolled puff pastry (usually around 375g)

Pinch of salt (see introduction)

Preheat the oven to 200. Unroll the pastry and measure out a circle using the top of the pan. Melt the butter with the sugar and add the apples along with a pinch of salt. Cook for around 20-30 minutes until the apples are tender but not collapsing. As it bubbles a caramel will form. Turn the apples a couple of times for even cooking. Remove from the heat, ensure all the pieces are round side down then extremely carefully place the circle of pastry over the apples and tuck the edges between the side of the pan and the apples. Put in the oven for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden and puffed up. Take the pan out remembering of course that the handle will be hot and let it sit for a couple of minutes to settle. Using a plate with a lip so you don’t lose all the sauce, invert this over the pan and quickly turn both so that the tarte ends up on the plate pastry side down, apple side up. Adjust any apples that have slipped out of place and serve with cream. I divide this into quarters for the four of us but reckon I could eat half without much trouble….

Meringues with Rhubarb and Ginger Cream

Posted on 29/04/2018 by Anna

I adore rhubarb – its sprightly pinkness brings cheer to the sometimes dreary late winter and early spring table. When there isn’t much in the way of home grown fruit around, robust rhubarb persists in growing regardless of the cold, its brave stalks standing proud whatever the weather. Technically of course rhubarb is a vegetable and can be used in savoury applications but this recipe is unashamedly a pud, sweet and lip smacking.

Meringues with their crisp carapace and yielding chewy middles topped with poached rhubarb scented with a hint of orange and finished off with billowing clouds of whipped cream studded with preserved ginger. Properly good. I make this pudding a lot when rhubarb is around – it is a dream of a make ahead and as such I couldn’t recommend it more highly for entertaining. The meringues can be made days if not weeks ahead as long as they are stored in an airtight container. The rhubarb can be cooked a couple of days in advance and kept in the fridge and the cream whipped with the ginger a couple of hours before you need it. You could omit the ginger if it is not your thing and add some vanilla to the cream instead. Finally, baked plums are also delicious when rhubarb is not around and go very well with the ginger.

Meringues with rhubarb and ginger cream

Ideally I prefer to roast rhubarb but in this case your oven is busy with the meringues so I’ve given a stovetop method. If you have done the meringues ahead of time or have two ovens heat the other to 190 and put the rhubarb in a shallow dish with the sugar, orange zest and juice and bake for 15 minutes (see photograph below).

2 egg whites

100g caster sugar

Drop of oil

400g rhubarb, chopped into short pieces

40g caster sugar

1 orange, zest and juice (remember to zest before you juice!)

300ml double cream

1 globe and 1 tablespoon syrup preserved ginger, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 140 and very lightly brush a parchment lined baking sheet with oil. Whisk the egg whites until stiff (like shaving foam) then add the sugar spoonful by spoonful until satiny. Divide into four blobs on the parchment and fashion into rough nests. Put in the oven, turn down to 120 and leave for 2 hours. They should be spot on but if they are still a tiny bit soft leave in the turned off oven until its cool and they are dry. Meanwhile cook the rhubarb very gently in a pan with the sugar, orange zest and juice until the sugar is dissolved and the rhubarb soft but hasn’t fallen apart. When you are ready to serve whip the cream with the ginger syrup until just holding its shape then fold through the chopped ginger. Put a meringue of a plate, pile on the rhubarb followed by the cream. If you are keen on ginger you can trickle a little more ginger syrup over or grate some orange zest over for prettiness. Serves 4.

Plum Galette

Posted on 31/10/2017 by Anna

There is a definite nip in the air this morning and I feel we are now fully enveloped in Autumn and the treats it brings. There is bonfire night to look forward to which always reminds me of those when I was a child. Nibbling enthusiastically on a toffee apple but shamefully becoming bored once past the sugar and faced with the apple. Hot dogs which inevitably leaked ketchup onto my woolly gloves and the glowing face that comes from a huge bonfire.

It is then a speedy tumble towards Christmas but I don’t want to become distracted by this end of the year fiesta and rather enjoy now. Frosty mornings which lead to sunny but cold days, leaves changing colour then falling and the sparse bleakness of the garden. On the flip side there is sloe gin to be made and stashed away, fires to be lit and all those culinary delights that were cast aside somewhere around early April. Stews, hearty gratins and bakes, crumbles and cobblers filled with all manner of orchard fruits. Rib sticking food to keep out the cold and to enjoy around the table with family and friends as the daylight fades.

My previous recipe for a galette was a nectarine and cherry one (August 2013) and it seemed long overdue to offer a more autumnal version, this fits the bill perfectly. Unlike that summer version which suggested using bought pastry for speed (summer holidays and all) this time I make the pastry but you should do whichever works for you (I won’t judge). I have used plums here because I can’t resist their juicy tartness, the perfect foil to crisp sweet pastry but you can just as easily use a few crispy apples (eaters not cookers here) perhaps adding a little cinnamon along with the lemon juice. We have enjoyed this two or three times over the last week or so, my children love it with ice cream, I prefer it with cold pouring cream but can’t help thinking a really good vanilla custard would probably bring the house down.

Plum Galette

The amount below is just right for the four of us, a generous quarter each but then none left winking at me from the counter begging me to finish it (for which I am grateful). The one in the photograph is simply this amount doubled and it happily served seven. You only need a teaspoon of beaten egg for the glaze so take it from another egg that is being cracked for another purpose if possible otherwise use milk.

100g plain flour plus a heaped teaspoon extra

60g cold butter, cubed or grated

A good pinch of fine salt

60g caster sugar, divided in two

30ml cold water

6 plums stoned and each cut into sixths

Squeeze of lemon juice

A teaspoon or so of beaten egg (see introduction)

A dessertspoon of demerara or caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 190. Put the flour and butter into a medium size bowl and rub together with your fingers. There isn’t really enough to justify getting a food processor out. When it looks like breadcrumbs add the salt and 30g of sugar followed by the water, bring it together into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and leave somewhere cool for half an hour. Mix the plums with the teaspoon of flour, remaining 30g of sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice. Roll out the flour to a rough 30cm circle and place on a parchment lined baking sheet, tumble the plums onto the pastry leaving a good gap and turn this pastry edge over the plums. Brush with your glaze, egg or milk and sprinkle with the dessertspoon of sugar. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown on top and crisp underneath.

Gooseberry, Strawberry and Elderflower Eton Mess

Posted on 30/06/2016 by Anna

My Granny had a kitchen garden, a big old walled space which I thought was heaven. I adored it and spent hours there as a child wandering between the rows of vegetables, marvelling at the artichokes taller than me, rubbing my fingers on the fennel fronds to release their aniseed scent. Inspecting the asparagus, picking baskets of peas and snacking on apples and pears when the mood took me. It has always been a deep held wish to have such a garden and we moved house last year we were lucky enough to find one tucked away. Overgrown and wild it was but the bones were there nonetheless and I had visions of recreating my Grandmothers remarkable garden. Ha! After a mass of reading and learning, a weekend of rotavating and what feels like endless weeding I have planted and planted. Seeds have been started off on the kitchen windowsill or in the green house or planted direct, seedlings bought where my own efforts have failed and donations of little vegetable plants and dahlias gratefully received.

I am delighted with it all and spend hours trying to keep up with the weeds (impossible) and planting various rows of salad leaves to follow on from the ones we are eating now (I believe that is what you do…). My battle with the slugs is another story altogether. It is considerably harder work than I anticipated but supremely rewarding. The first spear of asparagus, eating the first herby green salad with a variety of leaves all grown by us. There are three tiny plums on a new plum tree, pea pods, baby beetroots, courgettes and beans on their way.

The first fruit picked so far have been wild strawberries and some gooseberries which immediately went towards the fool in this pudding. With local strawberries winking at me and last weeks elderflower cordial to hand I decided to combine these flavours, the very essence of summer. The tang of the gooseberries along with the sweetness of the strawberries and floral hit of elderflower are a winning combination and a bit of scrunched up meringue adds texture.

Gooseberry, Strawberry and Elderflower Eton Mess

Of course you can just make the gooseberry fool to have on its own in which case I would use 4 tablespoons of sugar as you won’t have any added sweetness from the meringue. Taste the gooseberry puree before you add though and remember the later in the season the sweeter these berries will be.

400g gooseberries, topped and tailed

3 tablespoons golden caster sugar

300ml double cream

2 tablespoons elderflower cordial

1 punnet of strawberries halved or quartered depending on size

Meringue (as per the recipe for World Cup Meringue Cake, November 2013 but don’t bother with 3 layers, 1 will do or indeed individual meringues as you are going to break them up anyway).

Put the gooseberries in a pan with the sugar and 2 tablespoons of water and simmer gently until completely broken down. Leave to cool and then add 1 tablespoon of elderflower cordial. Put the cut strawberries into a bowl, add the other tablespoon of elderflower cordial, turn them gently and leave to macerate while you get on. Whip the cream until it just holds its shape and then fold into the gooseberry puree. Break up the meringues and then mix them with the gooseberry fool followed by the strawberries. This would fill six glasses similar to the ones you see here but I just filled four and we had seconds…..

Apple and Raspberry Crumble

Posted on 30/10/2015 by Anna

I can’t tell you how much I love a crumble. Plum crumble, rhubarb crumble, apple and blackberry crumble, all of them have a place on my table. Childhood weekend lunches often finished with a fabulous, fruity and crunchy crumble whilst apricot crumble at school was a thing to celebrate, the best pudding of all and something that made other school food worth living through.

All that said however, I hadn’t thought of giving you a crumble recipe here. Not out of meanness you understand, rather I thought everyone had a good, reliable crumble recipe up their sleeve to be whipped out when required. It was only after being asked for this particular recipe six time in a couple of months that I began to wonder and so I present it to you now. Soft tangy fruit under a blanket of oaty, sweet and buttery crumble, let me tell you the sum here far, far exceeds the total of its humble parts.

This particular incarnation is my absolutely favourite, the bee’s knees and the vicar’s you know whats. Although a straightforward apple crumble is still something to sing about, the addition of raspberries lifts it, their fruity tang and fragrance make this wholly lip smacking and satisfying which surely is what a pud is all about. Can I rave little more? It is and easy and cheap to make, a perfect way to use up any apples looking a little tired and frozen raspberries are perfect here so regardless of the season this can be on your plate in around an hour, start to finish.

Apple and Raspberry Crumble

Ideally use a combination of cookers and eaters, the bramleys are the ones that cook down to a velvety apple puree whilst the eaters retain a little bite. I say 7 tablespoons of sugar and water as this is usually about right but depending on the tartness of your apples you may need more sugar and add more water if you think it is required. You can cook the apples and make the crumble ahead of time but don’t put the crumble onto the fruit until you are ready to cook it as it will get soggy, ideally keep it in the fridge.

1 kg apples (see introduction), peeled, cored and roughly chopped

7 tablespoons golden caster sugar

7 tablespoons water

200g plain flour

100g cold butter, cubed

1/4 teaspoon salt

80g golden caster sugar

40g oats

150g frozen raspberries

Preheat the oven to 190. Put the apples, the 7 tablespoons of sugar and water in a pan and cook gently until the apples are soft and broken down, about 20-30 minutes. You may need a little more water once cooked and taste in case you need a little more sugar. Do keep the apples tart though as the crumble bring sweetness to the party. Meanwhile either whizz the butter and flour in a processor until it resembles breadcrumbs or do this by hand then add the salt, sugar and oats. Tip the cooked apples into a suitable oven proof dish, I tend to use an enamel one which is 29x23cm and add the raspberries to this, mixing so they are evenly distributed in the apples, no need to defrost. Tumble over the crumble and smooth it gently but don’t pack it down. Cook for around 30 minutes or until bubbling at the edges and just browning on top. This serves 6 or better still 4 with lots of seconds, I like it with cold cream or custard whilst my children prefer vanilla ice cream.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Fondants

Posted on 29/03/2014 by Anna

I love a good chocolate fondant and wasn’t convinced there was any need to gild the lily but this salted caramel idea just wouldn’t go away and I knew I had to have a go at making it. Just out of interest you understand……. So this is the pudding I teased you with around Valentine’s and I thought it would be perfect for Mothering Sunday should you still be without a pudding or as an early Easter treat.

These puddings are sublime, honestly beyond fabulous. A crisp chocolate outer gives way to a soft chocolate pudding containing molten caramel sauce within. They are so good. Surprisingly they also very easy to make and sit happily in the fridge until you want to cook them. As long as the oven is at 200 and you cook them for exactly 12 minutes they will be perfect. I am no expert baker but if I can do them then anyone can.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Fondants

I am all for quick and easy and although these puds fit that bill you will need to make the caramel ahead of time so it can set firm. This only takes a few hours but I made it a day ahead so I could forget about it. You can also make the puddings the day ahead and keep in the fridge. If you remember put the caramel in the freezer when you start making the puddings just to give them an extra chill – this keeps the sauce together rather than it melting straight into the puddings. Miss the salt out if you think you or your children would prefer Caramel Chocolate Fondants.

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons double cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sea salt

85g butter, plus a little extra for greasing

85g chocolate, I used 50/50 dark and milk

85g golden caster sugar

1 teaspoon cocoa

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon coffee

45g plain flour

Pinch of salt

Heat the butter, sugar and cream in a pan and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Add the vanilla and a good pinch of salt. When it is cold enough to taste try it, you may want more salt then put this caramel in a small bowl in the fridge to set. Grease 4 metal pudding tins with the melted butter then dust each one with cocoa. Put in the fridge until you need them. Melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Whisk the eggs and sugar together until pale, frothy and at least doubled in volume. Mix the chocolate mixture into the eggs, add the coffee and then gently fold in the flour along with a pinch of salt. Half fill each greased tin with the chocolate mixture then add a teaspoonful of the cold caramel, it may sink a bit but don’t worry. Pour the remaining mix over the caramel to fill the tins. Put the puddings into the fridge for at least half an hour whilst you preheat the oven to 200. Cook the puddings for exactly 12 minutes, then remove from the oven, turn out onto plates and serve with cream or ice cream. This makes four but it is up to you how many it serves…..

Anna May, everyday…

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