Category Sweet Treats

Orange Polenta Biscuits

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These will pleasingly fill any anorexic looking biscuit tin. Thanks once again to Jamie Oliver’s help……

  • 85g unsalted butter, cubed
  • 85g caster sugar
  • 130g polenta
  • 50g plain flour
  • Zest of 1-2 oranges
  • 1 egg
  1. Rub the cubed butter into the flour, polenta and sugar
  2. Stir in the egg and orange zest
  3. Chill in the fridge for about 1 hour.
  4. Preheat the oven to 190°C and line a baking tray with parchment. Take walnut sized pieces of dough, roll into balls and flatten slightly on the tray.
  5. Bake for about 6-8 minutes until crisp and tinged round the edges. Leave to cool before removing from the tray!

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Triple Ginger Cake with Lime Icing

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It goes without saying….if you don’t like ginger, turn away now. This has three different ginger kicks with a cheeky splash of rum for good measure. This icing is lovely and sharp in contrast to the ginger but replacing the lime for rum wouldn’t go amiss! (Adapted from Delia Smith)

  • 4 pieces of stem ginger, diced
  • 2 tbsp dark rum OR ginger syrup
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp puree/grated ginger root
  • 175g unsalted butter
  • 175g caster sugar
  • 3 eggs, beaten
  • 1 tbsp molasses
  • 225g self raising flour
  • 1 tbsp ground almonds
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • ½ lime
  • 150g icing sugar
  • Crystallised ginger to garnish
  1. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Line a cake tin (about 25cmx14cm or so) with parchment
  2. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale a fluffy. Add the 3 beaten eggs, bit by bit, until combined.
  3. Stir in the molasses and the rum (or ginger)
  4. Next sieve the flour and ground ginger and fold into the mixture
  5. Add the almonds and milk and mix.
  6. Finally fold in the pureed/grated ginger root and the diced stem ginger pieces.
  7. Pour into the lined cake tin and even out. Cook in the preheated oven for about 40-50minutes until springy to touch and cooked. Leave to cool.
  8. For the icing, mix the sieved icing sugar and lime juice until a thick double cream consistency. When the cake is completely cold, drizzle generously and randomly over the cake. Garnish with small diced pieces of crystallised ginger.

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Banana and Coconut Flapjacks

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Whenever my fruit bowl is harvesting some compost worthy bananas I peel and bag them and shove them in the freezer ready when I need them when banana bread calls. So, never throw your poor bruised bananas in the bin, stick them in the freezer….consequently mine is full of bags of random bananas. I always make my standby banana and walnut loaf but with a hankering for something new this time, I tried whacking them into my flapjack recipe…..! I dabbled with the idea of  ‘banoffee flapjacks’ but with a hate of banoffee pie, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. But if you’re a fan, a handful of toffee or a drizzle of caramel on top would probably be your best bet.

  • 130g unsalted butter
  • 50g golden syrup
  • 50g soft light brown sugar
  • 250g oats
  • 50g dessicated coconut
  • 2 ripe bananas, mashed
  • Pinch ground cinnamon
  • Pinch ground ginger
  1. Line a baking/brownie tin with parchment and preheat the oven to 180°C.
  2. Melt the butter, sugar and syrup in a saucepan until melted and glossy.
  3. Whisk in the mashed banana and the spices (as liberally as you like)
  4. Tip in your oats and coconut and stir to combine before pouring into the lined baking tin. Bake for about 25-35 minutes. They should be golden on top and still soft. The banana will keep them from drying out like some flapjack recipes.

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Vitamin C Brownies

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These chocolate orange brownies won’t fight off scurvy but I’m sure the Government would say you’re well on your way to one of your five a day here…..they do contain orange zest after all. Add a packet of fruit pastels and hey….new years health resolution kept. I’ve made countless amounts of brownies and all have varying textures from ‘cakey’ to ‘gooey’ but this one I would describe as ‘fudgy’ I think.

Makes, well, more than enough….(about 25 squares)

  • 225g unsalted butter
  • 350g plain, good chocolate chopped into chunks
  • 150g walnuts (or hazelnuts)
  • 4 large free range eggs
  • 350g light brown muscovado sugar
  • 225g plain flour, sieved
  • Grated zest from 2 large oranges
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a 23x32cm deep tin with parchment. Alternatively, use a few smaller tins, it just depends how thick you want the end result.
  2. Put the walnuts onto a baking tray and toast in the oven for about 10 minutes until fragrant
  3. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat and once beginning to turn liquidy add the chocolate chunks and stir until melted. Put aside to cool slightly.
  4. Put the eggs, sugar and orange zest into a large bowl and whisk for a good 5 minutes or so until light, airy and creamy.
  5. Add the slightly cooled chocolate mixture into the eggs and stir to combine.
  6. Add the walnuts and fold in with the sieved flour.
  7. Pour into your prepared baking tin and bake for about 20-25 minutes until set but with a slight ‘goo’ in the middle. Allow to cool in the tin before cutting into fudgy chunks and dust with icing sugar.

Also a great gift to cunningly ply any potential life-long friends or future husbands with…………..

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Chocolate Olive Oil Cake

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You know the moments when nothing but a chocolate cake will quite do? This cake is so moist and simple and courtesy of Nigella, the queen of chocolate desserts. With no butter its great for all those lactose intolerant folk and if you use ground almonds instead of flour…..gluten free! Plus, almonds give it an added texture which is really nice. I was slightly disappointed that it didn’t offer a deep and hearty enough chocolate flavour….I would suggest a generous painting in a dark ganache perhaps……? Anyhow, nothing pleased me more than taking a charitable and gluttonous chunk over to some appreciating friends to share the satisfaction. Of course, I kept some for myself too………..now pass me the mascarpone…

  • 150ml olive oil
  • 50g cocoa powder
  • 125ml boiling water
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 125g plain flour
  • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 3 eggs
  • 200g caster sugar
  1. Line a 23cm (ish) cake tin and preheat the oven to 170°C.
  2. Whisk the vanilla and cocoa powder into the boiling water until smooth. Leave to cool a little.
  3. Using an electric whisk or a food processor, combine the eggs, oil and sugar for a good few minutes until pale, frothy and airy.
  4. Pour in the chocolate mixture and combine.
  5. Then combine the flour and bicarbonate and stir into the chocolate mixture.
  6. In the words of Nigella- ‘pour the liquid batter’ into the lined cake tin and bake for 40-45 minutes until a knife inserted comes out clean (although it will be a moist cake)
  7. Serve warm with ice cream, mascarpone or anything that hits the spot!

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Rose, Mint and Coconut Macaroons

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With Valentines day approaching and a craving for macaroons, my girlie side made its way into these sweet little morsels over the weekend as I experimented a little with some new flavours. I love bright coloured macaroons and with some rosewater and red colouring to hand, these barged their way into the oven. I adore ANYTHING coconut related so I knocked up a coconut buttercream to sandwich these together but I couldn’t resist the green the mint adds against the rosy red. It seems this year I have a date with a macaroon………could be worse

Macaroons (makes about 30)

  • 90g egg whites (about 3. These can be old egg whites you have lying around in the fridge, they often work better)
  • 30g caster sugar
  • 200g icing sugar
  • 110g ground almonds
  • 2tbsp red food colouring
  • 1 large tsp rosewater

Buttercream

  • 70g unsalted, softened butter
  • 50g coconut cream block
  • 90g icing sugar
  • 1 heaped tbsp dessicated coconut
  • Small handful chopped mint leaves
  1. Begin with the macaroons. Preheat the oven to 150°C. Line a large baking tray with parchment so that your are ready and prepare your piping bag.
  2. In a food processor, blitz the ground almonds and the icing sugar together until fine. Sieve into a large bowl.
  3. In another really clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks and then add the caster sugar a bit at a time until you have a glossy meringue. Don’t over-beat.
  4. At this stage, add the red colouring and rosewater to the egg whites (This is the point where you can add other flavours or colours of your choice)
  5. Fold in one third of the ground almond and icing sugar mix into the egg whites to loosen.
  6. Then fold in the rest until thoroughly combined but be careful not to knock out all the air.
  7. Fill your piping bag with the mixture and pipe small rounds onto the lined baking trayimage
  8. Give the tray a few sharp hits on the surface by dropping the tray from a small height to flatten the macaroons. Leave the tray in a safe place for 30 minutes.
  9. Now bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes (mine took about 13…) until they come easily away from the tray.
  10. Leave to cool. Make the buttercream. Melt the coconut block over a pan of simmering water until runny or immerse the block, in its bag, in some hot water.
  11. In a processor, mix the butter and icing sugar and then add in the coconut cream. Add the chopped mint and blitz again. Then stir in the dessicated coconut.
  12. Spoon into another piping bag and pipe enough mixture onto the back of one macaroon and sandwich with another. Continue with the rest.

Anyone you make these for will adore them….they are sweet, delicate and dreamily elegant….not to mention delicious!

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Blackberry and almond slice

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This recipe is one of my favourite treats for the cake tin and was thankfully saved from a copy of the ‘Waitrose Food Illustrated’ magazine from the 90’s before I was even tall enough to reach the kitchen counter. Its delicious, as is everything with a frangipane topping in my opinion. With the thought of that bumper crop of blackberries still stored safely in my freezer, half a block of sweet pastry stored in the fridge and some slight adaptation and tweaks in the recipe, it made a welcome occupier of the detoxing January cake tin……

(Alternatively you can use different flavoured jam and fruits. Cherries would be nice with a spike of Kirsch)

Sweet pastry (or buy a block of 350g)

  • 225g plain flour
  • 115g unsalted butter
  • 2 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten

Topping

  • 150g blackberry or blackcurrant jam
  • 125g unsalted butter
  • 135g soft brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs
  • 200g ground almonds (I like to buy flaked almonds and grind them myself as it adds a much nice texture and flavour)
  • 300g blackberries
  • 50g flaked almonds
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
  2. Begin by lining a large baking tin  with parchment (about 20cm x 30cm or whatever is to hand)
  3. Roll out the pastry on floured surface to about 1 pound coin thick and cut into the shape of the tin, and line the base evenly. Prick with a fork and bake for about 15 minutes until lightly golden. Remove from the oven.
  4. Now make the frangipane. Using a spoon and some elbow grease or a blender, cream the butter and sugar.
  5. Add the eggs and vanilla bit by bit (don’t worry if it curdles)
  6. Now add the ground almonds and mix thoroughly. (Add a splash of milk if it looks too thick, depending on how big your eggs were)
  7. Spoon the jam onto the pre-cooked pastry base and spread out evenly. Top with the frangipane and spread evenly over the top to cover the jam. Sprinkle with the berries and scatter over the flaked almonds
  8. Bake for anywhere between 20-45 minutes (sorry but this depends on the tin size but usually about 30 minutes), checking every so often until golden and set. I often find frangipane takes a little longer to cook than recipes state but it will get there. It will always be more moist and soft than a cake sponge so check its done by giving it a wiggle. It should be set!

This is lovely served with some mascarpone or cream cheese, sweetened with icing sugar and a generous pinch or two of ground cinnamon….dreamy.

Pine nut, honey and rosemary tartlets

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I love the subtlety rosemary can add to a dessert. Added carefully it can be delicious and after a first trying it in an outrageously scrumptious recipe which included a vat of stewed sweet apricots and some crunchy textured crumble, pine nuts were inevitably due to work. This is a cross between a pecan pie with pine nuts and a treacle tart. Served at the end of a recent dinner party topped with a chocolate sorbet, it was a winner.

Sweet pastry

  • 250g plain flour
  • 50g sifted icing sugar
  • 125g cold unsalted butter, cubed
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • Splash milk

Filling

  • 150g pine nuts
  • 2 eggs
  • 75g unsalted butter, cubed
  • 100g runny honey
  • 100g soft brown sugar
  • ½ vanilla pod, seeds removed OR 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 small sprigs of rosemary (optional)
  1. Make you pastry by rubbing the flour and icing sugar into the butter to form a breadcrumb texture. Add the egg and a splash of milk to bring it together to form a soft dough but make sure you are gentle. Wrap in cling and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. Next, line 6 small or 1 large tart tin and bake blind (see here to do this)
  2. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
  3. In a large frying pan over medium high heat, toast your pine nuts until fragrant and golden. Leave to cool.
  4. Add the honey and rosemary sprigs to a saucepan and heat gently over a low heat until warm and runny. All the honey to sit on a low heat for a good 10 minutes to let the rosemary infuse
  5. Then remove and reserve the rosemary. Then whisk in the cubed butter until melted.
  6. In another bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs and vanilla until combined.
  7. Strip the leaves from the reserved rosemary and chopped very finely to get about 1 tsp or less of the leaves and add back to the honey and butter (optional). Whisk the butter and honey mix into the egg and sugar mixture.
  8. Now, space your pre-baked tart cases out onto a lined baking tray and sprinkle the pine nuts amongst the cases. Make sure you keep the tart case inside its metal tin (unlike I did) as this will add extra support for the thick mixture.image
  9. Fill with the honey mixture evenly and bake for 18-20 minutes until set. Remove and leave to cool and set.

(The first time I did this, I took the tart cases out their metal tins and the sides collapsed (disaster) so I strongly recommend leaving them in the tins to add support for the heavy honey mixture) Served with a generous and glossy scoop of chocolate sorbet, they were the perfect finish to a lovely dinner party.

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Lavender Shortbread

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I’m afraid homemade shortbread is one of my weaknesses. This basic recipe has never failed me and has been handed down throughout the family. If you ever look at a shortbread recipe with more than 3 ingredients, chuck it and use this! Although a complete triumph on its own, I like to add a few cheeky additions now and again and here I had some fragrant lavender to hand. However, its open to experimentation with any flavours that get the heart racing, from lemon and poppy seed to ground hazelnuts or allspice. Lavenders one of those marmite flavours I think. Too much and it tastes like a bowl of your Grandma’s potpourri but added with a delicate hand it adds a quirky kick. I added an intuitive sprinkle to the basic recipe which is as follows. They’ll melt in your mouth like a snowman on an agar….believe me.

  • 125g unsalted butter
  • 175g plain flour
  • 50g caster sugar
  • A sprinkle of lavender, lemon zest, ground nuts etc or any added extra flavour of your choice (optional)
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
  2. In a food processor, mix all ingredients together until it forms a breadcrumb-like texture then continue until it comes together into a loose dough.
  3. Before it forms a ball of dough, stop the machine and turn the mixture out onto a floured surface.
  4. Form together into a ball using your hands. You can chill it now, wrapped in cling film, to let it rest but I’ve always found that the world will not end if you use it straight away, just make sure the room or your hands are not too hot as this will make it really soft when handling.
  5. You can either roll it out onto a floured work surface and cut out into biscuit shapes or place as a thin whole sheet into a lined baking tin.
  6. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes for biscuits and 15-20 minutes for a thicker sheet in a baking tray but check regularly. They will be ready when golden but try and get them out just before they turn too brown to ensure that melt-in-the-mouth texture and that they are not too crunchy.

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Dark Chocolate Sorbet

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Nothing additional added. No secret extra ingredient. This hasn’t been fiddled with. I’m known for always adding twists and tweaks to recipes to add an extra special touch and style which is usually appreciated. However, after what must have been the 100th time at knocking out the standard cauliflower cheese for a mid week supper, I decided to explore the tasty addition of a few added flavours. Don’t get me wrong it was delicious but with a few glaucoma-like glares from the family, I soon realised some dishes are best left untouched. This is one of them. The chocolate flavour (and I am by no means a chocolate lover) confidently powers through like Usain Bolt in 100m final. As a milk chocolate hater but a 90-100% addict, this is perfect for the dark chocolate fans. Left alone, you can experiment with what its eaten with instead….This recipe was helped by one of my favourite ice cream master David Lebovitz.

  • 555ml water
  • 200g caster sugar
  • 75g ‘Green & Blacks’ dark cocoa powder
  • Pinch salt
  • 170g dark chocolate, chopped finely
  • Splash vanilla extract
  1. In a saucepan, whisk together 375ml of the water, the sugar, the cocoa and the salt. Heat, whisking for a few minutes until all the cocoa is combined and mixed into a silky texture. It may not look like its going to mix but keep whisking.
  2. Bring to the boil and bubble for about a minute, until a little more thickened and syrupy.
  3. Remove from the heat and add the finely chopped chocolate and vanilla and whisk until the chocolate has melted. Add the 180ml of remaining water and mix.
  4. Transfer to a blender and give it a few pulses to blend it all together thoroughly. Chill until cold.
  5. Then churn in an ice cream maker until thick and soft textured (about 30-40 minutes)

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