Blackberry Muffins – heard of them? No? We all seem to go mad for muffins made with blueberry but not the humble blackberry. Why is that? They are simply delicious!
Continue reading
Blackberry Muffins with Lemon & Ginger Crunch Topping
Blackberry Fool
Blackberry Fool used to be one of my favourite treats towards the end of the Summer Holidays. We would have been out with a picnic to go blackberry picking and have returned home with lots of blackberries. Some would be frozen, ready to be used in crumbles later in the year. Some would be held in the fridge ready to make jam the next day. But a few, a precious few, would be magicked into a fool for that night’s supper. Bliss.
Continue reading
Granny’s Shortbread
Granny’s Shortbread. People seem to fall into two camps about shortbread. My Granny liked hers on the thicker side, buttery and very crumbly. My Dad liked his thinner and crisper, more like a biscuit.
This is the recipe for Granny’s Shortbread. It’s very easy to make, even by hand. You’ll need a 20cm square cake tin for the amount given here. Double the quantities and it will fit a Swiss roll tin. Completely up to you. I try to restrict myself from devouring it by making this smaller quantity. I must add, just to be completely fair, that this shortbread does keep well in an airtight tin and it makes a great present.
Fig and Earl Grey Jam
Everybody seems to have a favourite jam in our household Fig and Earl Grey Jam is our goddaughter’s, Chloé’s absolute favourite. Our fig tree seems to have good and bad years dependant on the weather so it makes it extra special when there are enough to make her some.
It is, of course, glorious on toast, and wonderful next to a blue or goats cheese. But I think if Chloé had her way she’d just eat it straight from the jar! I am with her on this one, although I’d probably alternate mouthfuls of jam with squares of dark chocolate!
Continue reading
Blackberry and Apple Almond Crumble
Blackberry and Apple Almond Crumble is surely one of the best puddings going! Early in the season when the blackberries are at their plumpest is the time to pick, cook, pickle, freeze as many as you can. These are the heady days of foraging and harvesting from the garden when you just want to make the most of everything and prepare for the colder and leaner months ahead. But that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve a treat and to miss out now – and this comforting, homely crumble is just that, taken to a whole new level with the addition of almonds to the crumble.
Continue reading
Plum and Walnut Tart
Plum and Walnut Tart. So many people tell me that they can’t make pastry and so wouldn’t try to make a tart. Well this is recipe that allows you to make a tart without making a pastry! It’s a delicious cheat.
Croissant White Chocolate and Whisky Pudding
Croissant, White Chocolate and Whisky Pudding! You really have to try this as it is just a wonderful pudding at any time of the year. In reality it’s a very smart update on a bread and butter pudding although I suspect far more people will love this.
I always make it part of my Burns Night and St Andrews Day (any excuse). So why is the pudding suitable for a Scottish celebration? The croissants are reminiscent of the “Auld Alliance” and are thrifty because you use them when they are one or two days old. The sultanas are soaked in Whisky (though there is the option to use tea instead should you want to), and the custard is rich with cream and eggs and melted white chocolate and what Scot doesn’t love sweet and rich puddings? Then again don’t we all?
Blackberry and Apple Jam
There is nothing better in the mornings than a hot piece of buttered toast slathered with some homemade jam. Blackberry and Apple Jam on toast makes breakfast feel cosy and autumnal. But don’t just stop at spreading this jam on toast or crumpets. This jam is a great all rounder. Try it sandwiched in sponge cakes and atop scones, but it also works really well with savoury dishes. It’s lovely alongside pork or venison, and I particularly like it served alongside a hunk of tangy cheddar.
Irish Apple Cake
Irish Apple Cake is an ideal recipe to use up windfall apples. Not that you can’t make it with perfect fruit. It makes a wonderfully moist cake, spiced with cinnamon and has a crunchy top It’s a great pudding cake when served slightly warm with cream/custard/icecream; though I confess I like it best as a plain slice with a cup of tea in the afternoon It’s comforting and very “moreish”, and somehow makes me think of something your great-aunt would have served – an apron tied round her middle and bustling around making tea in her Brown Betty teapot (with a tea cosy of course!)
Spiced Runner Bean Piccalilli
If you grow your own runner beans you will know that they are a bit like growing courgettes – they are the gift that keeps on giving. Just a few vines and you have runner beans all summer long.
As much as I love runner beans there comes a point when there are protests at the thought of runner beans for supper yet again (let alone for breakfast and lunch) and even friends and neighbours don’t want a bag of them. So I needed ideas as to how to deal with the surplus. I have frozen some (strung and cut to size, blanched for two minutes, open freeze on trays so beans don’t clump, before putting into small bags to be cooked from frozen later) but frozen beans aren’t as good as fresh, and don’t seem right in the depths of January so freezing has limited appeal. So what else can be done with the surplus? Spiced Runner Bean Piccalilli take a bow! Continue reading
Blackberry and Merlot Sorbet
When anyone talks about blackberries I always think back to when I was eleven. I had just passed my Cycling Proficiency Test and was allowed to go on my bike with my best friend to go blackberrying. From then on, right up until I was 17, the last week of the school summer holidays was always bookmarked for me by picking blackberries. My poor mother couldn’t keep up with my collecting abilities. There were endless jars of blackberry jam in the cupboard and bags of frozen fruit in the freezer.
This recipe for Blackberry and Merlot Sorbet is a very grown up and sophisticated sorbet that I would not have been allowed to have back them. Continue reading
Limoncello – the Homemade Stuff!
I love limoncello but I have been so disappointed by a lot of what is on sale here. Quite frankly it can taste so synthetic that it’s horrid!
Not so this recipe with its use of what is fast becoming my go-to trio of lemon flavours – lemon verbena, lemon grass and lemon. You start off by infusing both lemongrass and lemon zest into your vodka/gin for a week before you add a simple syrup and lemon verbena leaves After a week your limoncello is ready! Serve chilled from the fridge Particularly wonderful on a hot summer’s day but good anytime. The perfect addition to an Italian meal (or if you are like me – the perfect addition to most meals!)
Three Lemon Sorbet
This lemon sorbet uses three types of lemon flavours – lemongrass, lemon verbena and lemon zest. Using all three makes for an absolutely stunning sorbet. I can’t begin to tell you how much of a stunner and how well balanced this recipe is. Quite frankly, it’s more refreshing than a swim on a hot summer’s day! If you don’t have any of the lemon ingredients you can just ramp up the quantities of the other two, but honestly, do try this as it’s written if you can.
Lemon Verbena Shortbread Biscuits
Soft and crumbly, these little lemon verbena shortbread biscuits work well with ice creams, fruit or indeed alongside tea or coffee. They make the most of the herbs you have growing in your garden – in this case lemon verbena although you can vary the herb – try rosemary, lemon zest or thyme instead. Or use lavender flowers.
They are super easy to make. I love the convenience of rolling the shortbread dough into “logs” and slicing off rounds to bake as you need to. The lemon verbena shortbread biscuit dough can be kept in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for 3 months. It means that a freshly baked lemon verbena shortbread is always on hand. How good is that?
Garden Sauce
We call this “Garden Sauce” because we use it to accompany so much of our food from the veggie garden. Here you see it with glorious artichokes It also goes well with asparagus, sprouting broccoli, courgettes, green beans etc. Its made with boiled eggs and lots of herbs and is kind of a riff on the classic Sauce Gribeche I usually replace the anchovies with olives to make it vegetarian but it tastes good with either and with both too!
Lavender Sugar
This lavender sugar recipe is so an easy yo make that as a ‘recipe’ that it doesn’t really need writing down. But lots of people wouldn’t make it because they can’t think of what they’d do with it! So here are a few ideas
- Use it to sweeten homemade lemonade. Here’s the link for my recipe for Quick Homemade Lemonade to make lavender lemonade (yes it’s a ‘thing, and it’s delicious)
- Sprinkle over fresh fruit such as strawberries, oranges, blueberries etc
- Add to whipped cream
- Use in cakes or shortbread
- Add a to hot or iced tea
- Line the rim of a glass to flavour a cocktail
- Sprinkle on top of biscuits or scones
Lavender sugar also makes a wonderful small gift if you decant it into small, pretty jars and attach a pretty label. Great for kids to make as a gift for their teacher or grandparents.
Continue reading