Scones, Tea loaf, on a rainy day

 

Momo's party cookies

9 years later another party

Momo's party cookies... what a joy!
A blessing indeed to relive a cherished memory brand new again 🍪🍪

https://2tired2cook.blogspot.com/2010/07/orens-party-cookies.html

Recipe: Shrewsberry biscuits

250gr SR flour (i didn't have so used 1:1 of plain too)
100gr soft butter
100 gr sugar
1 egg


Cream butter and sugar
Add flour. Mix
Add egg
Mix.
Chill in fridge/freezer to firm up the dough
Roll out or just press with hands to 1cm thick

Bake in 180oC till done
Prepare icing sugar, drops of water and colouring. Mix to thick batter consistency
(Like pancake batter)
After cooled, dip in icing then into coloured sprinkles.
Done!

Toffee with Oats (Healithier -ish) Flapjacks

Ingredients

• 50g/1¾oz butter
• 50g/1¾oz demerara sugar
• 50g/1¾oz golden syrup
• 50g/1¾oz Oats
• 25g/1oz dried cranberries or glacé cherries, finely chopped
• 50g/1¾oz candied peel, finely chopped
• 25g/1oz almonds, finely chopped
• 25g/1oz walnut pieces,
• Raisins (optional)

Melt butter, sugar, and treacle in a pan.

Be watchful as it reaches it nice brown colouring, at this stage move fast before the syrup burns, Also here people have their preference how "burnt" they like their toffee.  I like mine just on the border, between almost too burnt but not quite with that full on flavour.  I don't like my pale toffee. 

Nuts are great! for that extra crunch.

• Original Recipe

Buckwheat Crackers/bread

 
Bread recipe contained eggs and not yeast.
This did rise quite a bit, but looked spongy to my mind, anyways into the oven...


Nice nutty taste, but the texture was too cakey for me and not the bread I was looking for.
Another recipe next time.  I think.  By the way this recipe required 2 eggs/500g buckwheat flour and no yeast.


This new recipe the dough did not rise at all after many hours.
So rolled it out and baked it.  If not bread then we shall have crackers.  It was next on my list anyway.
Click here for Buckwheat Recipe

Note, this did not rise for me, I rolled the dough indented (this helps to break and eat later) before baking in a warm oven about 150 till crispy and brown.
NOTE:  Roll as thin as possible for delicate crispiness!  (Not so nice when it's a thick slab)
Also note to self add cheddar in mixture or Parmesan for cheezy kick. 

Came out very nice, considering it was a 'rescue'  will add more seeds and perhaps flax next time.

Fresh from the oven lovely and crispy.  If kept longer, then should be toasted just in a regular toaster to crisp it up, it looses it's crunchiness, unless you like your crackers less crusty.

 My salad of this Summer is this refreshing celery and apple salad.  Delish.
Recipe for refreshing salad

Favourite salad, home made labane, and home made buck wheat Crackers.  What could be more healthy and satisfying ..

Recipe

½ teaspoon baker's yeast
2 heaped teaspoons raw sugar
1 cup lukewarm water

3½ cups buckwheat flour (preferably organic)
1 cup oats (quick oats, large oats or a mixture of both)

1¼ cups seeds: ¾ cup sunflower, ¼ cup flax, ¼ cup sesame
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1¾ cup water 

Matzot Crunch - Chocolate-Covered Caramelised crack

• Matzots
• 1 cup (230g) Butter
• 1 cup (215g) Sugar
• Dark chocolate chip buttons
• Sprinkles optional

1. Line a rimmed baking sheet (approximately 11 x 17″, 28 x 42cm) completely with baking paper to prevent sticking.

Preheat the oven to 375F (190C).

2. Line the bottom of the sheet with matzoh, breaking extra pieces as necessary to fill in any spaces.

3. In a 3-4 quart (3-4l) heavy-duty saucepan, melt the butter and sugar together, and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the butter is melted and the mixture is beginning to boil. Watch carefully till the liquid becomes golden brown colour.  Do not leave as at this stage everything can move fast. And it can quickly become burnt. (Unless u like it burnt- some do)

4. Pour over the waiting matzots on the tray

5.  Bake to golden crunch brown.
The oven stage can be totally omitted if the caramel was overcooked and you can see it will set anyway without the extra baking.  This happened to me once.  I just poured the scorching caramel/toffee on the matzoh, spread and dotted chocolate all over and spread that.  Let to cool and refrigerate for that glorious crunch.

6. Remove from oven and immediately cover with chocolate chips. Let stand 5 minutes, then spread with an offset spatula.

7. If you wish, sprinkle with toasted almonds (or another favorite nut, toasted and coarsely chopped), a sprinkle of flaky sea salt, or roasted cocoa nibs.

Let cool completely, then break into pieces and store in an airtight container until ready to serve. It should keep well for about one week.

Soooooo good

Source Recipe - Click here

Ozen Oh Man2 - Lemon Curd and Poppyseed

Poppyseed filling:
150g poppyseed grinded

Zest of 2 lemons

Juice of 1 lemon

3 tbps honey

3 tbps of sugar

1/8 tsp salt

180 ml of milk

Vanilla paste/extract

1/4 cup of crushed biscuits

1. Mix and heat all but the biscuits in pan till thick

2. Take off heat. Add biscuits. Allow to cool.
After making your own poppyseed filing you'll never buy another.  Homemade is sooo much superior than bought.  The Lemon takes it to a totally different dimension.

Click Here for Lemon Curd filling Recipe

Poppyseed Dough/Pastry:

Pre-heat oven 180c
2/3 cup Oil
1 cup Sugar
4 cups Plain Flour
1/3 cup Poppyseeds
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/4 Salt
2 Large Eggs
1 Tsp Vanilla Essence
1/2 orange juice
Zest of Lemon/orange
2 Tbp Brandy (optional)

Whisk egg, add sugar whisk till pale.
Add oil, whisk.
Add Vanilla, whisk.
Add Zest, mix.
Add Flour, B. powder, Salt.  Poppyseed. Mix
Add juice till soft dough.  Don't worry if it's quite soft, it will stiffen up when chilled.
Refridgerate till cool and manageable.
Perhaps because oil is used and not butter, the dough softens up very fast out of the refridgerator.
So work quickly here.  Quarter the dough keep the rest in the fridge till needed.
Roll out this quarter, cut into smallest rounds,  drop small amount of filling in centre and pinch sides.
Bake in pre-heated 180'c oven till done.

I usually make half this amount at a time.





Click Here for Lemon Curd filling Recipe

Click Here for Lemon Curd filling Recipe

Biscotti

with a cuppa tea

So cripsy dry perfect with a cuppa.
Biscotti much like chinese food uses what you've got, that is whatever dried fruit and nuts you have knocking around, ie., walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, apricots, figs, rasins (rasins they tend to burn) mixed peel etc.,

Ingredients:

• 3 cups Plain flour
• 1.5 cups Sugar
• 1 tps. Baking Powder
• 4 eggs
• 2 yolks - optional
• Dried fruits chopped 
• Lemon zest (optional)

Mix eggs yolks, sugar, beat for 5 mins. ( Recipe calls for 2 yolks, I just use whole 4 eggs)

Add flour with baking powder.

Add nuts etc., zest

Line tray and bake at 180oC till 'pale done'

Leave to cool completely.

When cold slice desired width and bake till golden.
(I like it thin as possible for delicate crispiness)
(Tip: use best serrated knife for this)

 All sliced up

 Before 2nd baking

After 2nd baking

Great Pressies

Almond Tea Biscuits

Veggie & Cheez Tart / Quiche

Been on a no-meat binge for no explainable reason, this began with a desire to jazz up my short-crust recipe. So I jazzed it up by throwing a handful of dried herbs, in this case marjoram and some thyme. The pastry was wonderfully speckled and crispy.

Baked some veggies, here there are peppers: yellow, red, orange, yams, red onions, courgettes and carrots. Thing here, is colours, think colours and the veg will follow.
Douse with oil and again dried herbs. (no salt, don't want the vegetables to 'weep')
Into the oven for an hour at 180c.

Pile into the baked pastry case, add clumps of favourite cheese, I like here salty white cheese, then add some chopped greens like dill, cilantro or parsley for garnish.

Serve with tehina sauce on the side.

A light summery lunch, picnic or supper
Your veggie friends will applaud you and toast you as one of their own!

Chinese Peanut Cookies

Fah Sang Paeng Chinese Peanut Cookies
Childhood Favouries

As a child my fondest memory of visiting Soho, London's chinatown was scoffing these melt-in-your-mouth cookies. Wrapped in a flimsy foldable box with a gaudy pink ribbon around, (hardly protection) I could never resist slipping my tiny hands in and grabbing some crumbs.

The first time I made them, I stayed faithful to the recipe, second time, I added an egg and slightly manipulated the technique.

To my surprise they came out perfect! To my memory, my stomach and more importantly to my children. My son just loves helping me bake these.... who am I to argue?

300gr Plain Flour
1 tsp (heaped) Baking Powder
1 cup sugar
250 gr of peeled roasted whole peanuts
1 Egg + to brush
130-170ml of Oil

Measure all dry ingredients into the food mixer.
Blitz till peanuts are chunky in size (few seconds only)
Add egg.
Drizzle oil slowly in, till mixture becomes bread-like dough.
If you can, cover and leave to rest for 30mins - 1 hour (easier to shape into balls)
Shape into balls (not too big, bite size best)
Pop into hot oven 180c.
Wait about  5-10 mins. till the cookies have risen and still soft, open oven and flatten with spatula.
Brush liberally with beaten egg, press half a peanut on top of each cookie and brush again liberally with egg, this gives a wonderful gloss.

(Trick: The cookies are so crumbly, I found trying to flatten them before baking only breaks them apart. Flattening them during baking while they are soft and mallable is a great tip.:)