Sicily in a biscuit

'Brutti ma buoni' means ugly but good. 

It certainly does sum up this nutty, citrusy, sweet mouthful of joy, that transports you to the Sicilian shores for a moment of pleasure. Several moments in fact, if like me, you cannot resist more than one. Be careful, you will eat them ALL.

So if you are dreaming of warmer times, need to de-stress or decide if Sicily is this year's summer holiday then I recommend baking these.

There's fierce competition in the the convents across Sicily to bake the best dolci, sweet treats fit for the Pope.


Makes 24

4 egg whites
Pinch of salt
110g ground almonds
110g caster sugar
zest 2 lemons
2tbsp honey


Heat the oven to 180C and line a baking tray with parchment paper. Lightly       whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt.

Mix the almonds with the caster sugar and lemon zest and add enough of the whisked egg to get a soft paste - add the egg slowly as I find you are often left with a little. You can add more ground almonds if you do think it is too runny. Finally, stir in the honey.

Use two spoons to make small heaps of the paste on the baking tray, leaving enough space for the biscuits to spread a little.

Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a rack and enjoy. x

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The Sunday Eggxperiment

Buy three small Easter eggs and cut in half.

Photograph and share with whoever is within a 5 meter radius [1 person].

Vote for preferred egg. Creme Egg - 1 point. Galaxy Bubble Egg - 1 point. Galaxy Caramel Egg - 0 point. 

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Rhubarb crème brûlée

Rhubarb crème brûlée.

By Jules

March is a tricky month for the foodie. Trapped in 'The Hungry Gap'; the time of year when fresh fruit and veg are thin on the ground, the seasonal chef is found scratching her head, scouring the store cupboard for ingredients. Cue the arrival of robust rhubarb - the bright pink stems shoot through the hard earth to brighten up these bleak winter days.

And with the arrival of rhubarb comes the inevitable craving for custard. This Christmas, the new toy in the Keston Kitchen was a a chef's blow torch. It didn't take long to conclude that this very British flavour combination could add a twist to an old French classic. The divine Creme Brulee (a posh name for egg custard with a crunchy sugar crust) is fun to make and even more fun to eat: firing the sugar then tap taping the crust with the back of your spoon to delve into the cool creamy custard. The hit of tangy pink rhubarb is the surprise hiding beneath.

This recipe requires a bit of patience and attention. I know to my cost that the cream can quickly bubble over and, if it is too hot when you add it to the egg, it will have a curdly consistency rather than the longed-for creaminess. But the treat is worth it in the end. And if you don't have a blow torch, you can get similar results by putting the custards under a very hot grill to burn the sugar crust.

What better way

to spend a cold winter's day

than making creamy and delicious

rhubarb creme brulee?

Ingredients

4 stems of rhubarb, cut into 1cm slices.

4 egg yolks

450 ml double cream

10 tablespoons caster sugar

1 vanilla pod (sliced lengthways and seeds scraped out)

4 large ramekins or 6 smaller ones.

Preheat the oven to 180C and put the rhubarb in the roasting tin and sprinkle over 4 tablespoons of the sugar to coat. Roast until soft (20-30 mins). Divide between the ramekins and chill.

Whisk 4 tablespoons of sugar and egg yolks together until pale.

Heat the cream and vanilla seeds over a medium heat until the cream bubbles at the edges. Be careful not to overheat!

Gently pour the warm cream into the egg mixture whisking until smooth. Pour back into the saucepan and stir over a low heat for 20 mins until the custard is thick. This needs patience and attention - you don't want the cream to boil over or burn.

Pour into the ramekins and chill for 6 hours or overnight.

Sprinkle the remainder of the sugar over the custards and - the fun bit - fire with a chef's blow torch.

Alternatively place under a very hot grill until glazed. Allow the crust to cool and harden for a moment then serve to your guests who are eagerly waiting to get cracking.

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Russian Tea Cakes

Russian Tea Cakes by Charlotte

I recently discovered Russian Tea Cakes at Rosalind's Kitchen and I now seem to be slightly addicted...

An interesting take on a very English recipe - shortbread. These sweet icing sugar coated bombs are referred to as Russian tea cakes or Mexican wedding cakes. It appears that although 'tea cake' comes from the British tradition of enjoying baked goods served with afternoon tea, these particular treats were served with tea in Russia in the 18th century and later became part of wedding ceremonies in the US and Mexico.

The tea cakes consist of a simple shortbread recipe of butter, sugar and flour, mixed with finely chopped nuts, which are rolled in icing sugar once baked. Sampling has resulted in much joy and excitement as well as icing sugar all over the face, hands and clothes of the sampler - not a problem as everyone else tasting will also be coated a fine layer of the white stuff.

Ingredients:
225g butter
60g icing sugar
half a vanilla pod
250g plain flour
Salt
75g walnuts or pistachios, very finely chopped

Method:
- Mix together the butter and sugar, then add in the vanilla.
- Stir in the flour and a pinch of salt, then add in the nuts and mix well.
- Put the dough in the fridge to cool, I left mine for 30 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 180C.
- Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and put them on a baking tray. Bake for 10-12 minutes so that they are firm but not brown.
- Let the cooked tea cakes cool slightly and then roll them in icing sugar while they are still warm. When they are completely cool roll them in more icing sugar.

Enjoy with a good coffee.

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Wiltshire Lardy Cake

Wiltshire Lardy Cake by Charlotte

Lardy cake - a reminder of buying cakes on Saturday with my dad from a bakery in Gloucester, Jane's Pantry, a place that all Gloucester folk know well. What joy when I opened my favourite book, British Regional Food by Mark Hix, to find a recipe for Wiltshire lardy cake.

This recipe will not disappoint; it is gooey, fruity, doughy and sweet - great with a coffee on Sunday morning. It will definitely make you want to visit your local bakery too, which is always a good thing. And, if you cook and bake regularly, you may find you have most of the ingredients already...

200g lard, softened

50g butter, softened

200g mixed dried fruit (I used up old currants and a few tunisian sultanas that were festering in the back of the cupboard!)

75g mixed candied peel (I used some candied ginger and glacier cherries)

200g granulated sugar

for the dough:

650g strong white bread flour

2 tsp salt

1 tsp caster sugar

7g sachet yeast

400ml warm water

First make the bread dough: in a warm bowl mix the flour, salt, sugar and yeast. Add the warm water and mix to a soft dough. Knead by stretching and folding the dough for about 10 mins on a lightly floured surface.

Then mix the lard, butter, fruit, peel and granulated sugar together.

On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough to roughly three times as long as wide. Spread two thirds of the length with a third of the fruit mix, then fold both ends of the dough into the centre and press the edges firmly with your fingers. Repeat this process twice, using up the fruit mix, then roll the dough out to its original size.

Line a shallow baking tray with baking paper and turn the dough over, onto the tray. There should be enough room for the dough to rise again. Let the dough prove for 30 mins.

Pre-heat the oven to 190C and bake for about 45 mins. Turn the cake upside down and cool a little. Sprinkle with caster sugar and serve warm.

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Goosnargh Cakes (pronounced 'Goozna')

These little beauties are easy to make, they can be served as a sweet or savoury biscuit/cake, and not only that, they come from my favourite cookbook of the moment - British Regional Food by Mark Hix. These tasty little cakes, or biscuits, come from the north west, Lancashire to be precise. They can be dusted with sugar for a sweet kick or served with some cheese if you are that way inclined. This week I have been mostly eating Goosnargh cakes with cheese at my desk at 11am. Satisfying it has been.

They may remind you of shortbread with a caraway kick. Pretty darn good.

ingredients:

275g plain flour, sieved

225g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

20g caster sugar

2tsp caraway seeds

icing sugar to dust (optional)

method:

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees.

Put the flour and butter in a bowl and rub together with your fingers until you achieve a breadcrumb-like consistency.

Add the caster sugar and caraway seeds and mix well. It should now be a smooth dough (mine was a little sticky so I added a bit more flour). If you think the dough is warm chill it in the fridge for ten minutes.

Roll out onto a lightly floured surface to about 1cm thick. Cut into rounds, I used a 7cm cutter.

Dust with sugar (or not if you're taking the savoury cheese route).

Bake for about 20 minutes until they just begin to colour.

You can dust again while hot and cooling on a wire rack.

Enjoy.

Thanks Mark.

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Harry Potter marathon sweets

If like us, you are planning a Harry Potter marathon, in order to watch all seven spectacular films before the final battle arrives on our screens in July, it may be wise to take a few minutes to consider what sweets to serve. The films are long and require much snacking. We are now over half way through, having watched four films and the list below details the sweets which have worked well for us so far:

Strawberry liquorice wands

Popping candy (super loud)

Bertie Botts every flavour jelly beans

Jelly snakes

Chocolate caramel frogs

Jelly babies

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