Keeping it Simple

Sometimes, simple is just what the doctor cook ordered. Simple because you’re tired, simple because you’re ill, simple because the cupboards are bare. Maybe simple because that’s all you need to evoke a happy memory. This summer, my family went to Cornwall for a week. It rained pretty much the whole time – a bit of a shock just back from sunny Italy – but whilst it was exasperating I don’t think it mattered that much. It was a rare occasion for us all to be together: no friends, no parties or shopping. The whole week we were craving scones, but kept missing the opportunity to buy ingredients and the rain kept us out of teashops. On the penultimate day of the holiday we finally caved and bought some, and the wait was worth it. Thick layers of jam and cream – and a hearty debate about which should be spread on first – and the rain was all but forgotten.As a result of the Guild of Food writer’s competition, I recently spent a wonderful afternoon at delicious. magazine. The office is rammed with food, and they were kind enough to give me some samples for me to take home, including a big pot of clotted cream. I’m sure there are lots of adventurous recipes involving this sinfully rich product, but I was only ever planning scones. They’re a classic! I used this Ballymaloe White Sweet Scones recipe, but halved it as it makes a massive amount and I still managed a decent 12 and some of these were huge. Fittingly, it rained for the whole duration of making and baking these, but then again would I expect anything different in London in October? Enjoy!

Mini Bakewell Tarts

I made these tarts a few weekends ago when I had the day spare and kitchen free. When I initially read the recipe properly, I was worried about the pastry because it contains no sugar. When I ate my first finished tart, that completely made sense. Sweet strawberry jam, fluffy almond sponge, smooth lemon icing and a sticky glace cherry – if the pastry had been sweet as well these could easily go into overload and become sickly. As it is, I was more than happy with them. I saw these on Jo’s lovely What do you make of my cake? blog, and was severely tempted straight away. I can’t believe I managed to wait so long before making them myself! They look so dainty and cute and very much reminded me of a bake suitable for Red Nose Day or Comic Relief with their bright red cherry. I love bakewell tarts, having made a whole one before, and also tried the Mr Kipling ones but I knew these would be so much better. As I’ve shown previously, shop bought baked goods often contain all sorts of crazy ingredients and the Mr Kipling Mini Bakewell Tarts (which look pretty much identical to mine) are no different, with over 30 ingredients…
 
Really, these Mini Bakewell Tarts are not that hard to make and you can be safe in the knowledge that all ingredients are pronounceable. Also, seeing as you’ve gone to the trouble of making them yourself you definitely deserve more than one :) You can find Jo’s original post with the recipe here – definitely give them a try. Even though they aren’t tiny and are quite sweet, I still found these quite addictive – enjoy!

Benedict Bars

The trouble with reading food blogs is they always make me hungry. I think it is impossible to look at pages of cakes, pies, tarts and all manner of other delicious things without feeling a little bit envious. And then it becomes all too tempting to reach for the biscuit tin. To avoid snacking endlessly, I have a few times I prefer to read blogs: 1) Last thing at night – having just brushed my teeth I’m not feeling the need to eat more or 2) First thing in the morning on my phone – its unlikely that early in the morning I will be motivated enough to move for food unless its proper breakfast. Of course, there are downsides to these as well. When I came across these Benedict bars last thing at night it became rather difficult to go to sleep as I craved some nutty, jammy, biscuity goodness…

When I finally got round to making these I was not disappointed. The recipe makes a generous tray full but I know that tray will be finished very soon. The bars are comprised of a layer of shortbread, a thin layer of jam (I chose cherry instead of the suggested raspberry) and a flaked almond topping. Boy, do these layers work well together. The time in the oven toasted the almonds and enhanced their nutty flavour, the jam was sweet and sticky and the shortbread base rounded everything off perfectly. Definitely a fan. I don’t think I would make any changes to the recipe. Before baking, I felt the bars looked like they needed extra almonds but I had no spare. However, after baking the layer was definitely thick enough. I did have to bake my bars for 10-15minutes extra than the recipe states to make my almonds golden/toasted but all ovens vary. I look forward to trying these again with different jams – its such an easy recipe and sure to be a hit at school fairs, coffee mornings, afternoon tea….whenever!You can find the recipe here and obviously, I highly recommend it. Now I’m off to catch up on some blogs…safely armed with my hefty square of Benedict bar :)