Hugh's Honey and Peanut Butter Flapjacks
There was nothing in the biscuit tin. There was nothing in the cake tin. I wanted something sweet now what did I have in the cupboard that would make a quick and easy sweet treat? I always have oats, dried fruits and a mix of pumpkin and sunflower seeds that we use in our bread, so I went looking for a FLAPJACK recipe and found this one by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in
River Cottage Every Day:
Honey and Peanut Butter Booster Bars
Makes 16
125g unsalted butter
150g soft brown sugar or light muscovado sugar
125g no-sugar-added crunchy peanut butter
75g honey, plus a little more to finish
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
200g porridge oats (not jumbo)
150g dried fruit, such as raisins, sultanas and chopped apricots, prunes or dates, either singly or in combination
150g mixed seeds, such as pumpkin, sunflower, poppy, linseed and sesame
Preheat the oven to 160C/gas mark 3. Grease and line a baking tin, about 20cm square.
Put the butter, sugar, peanut butter, honey and grated citrus zests in a deep saucepan over a very low heat. Leave until melted, stirring from time to time.
Stir the oats, dried fruit and three-quarters of the seeds into the melted butter mixture until thoroughly combined. Spread the mixture out evenly in the baking tin, smoothing the top as you go.
Scatter the remaining seeds over the surface and trickle with a little more honey. Bake for about 30 minutes, until golden in the centre and golden-brown at the edges.
Leave to cool completely in the tin (be patient – it cuts much better when cold), then turn out and cut into squares with a sharp knife. These bars will keep for 5-7 days in an airtight tin.
These bars are really very moreish and you only need a small piece to fill you up. The fruit I used was mainly raisins with some dried cranberries and dried apricots. I used a mixture of smooth, crunchy and three nut peanut butter, because that's what I had in the house. The peanut butter doesn't dominate the taste of the bars and they are the soft and fudgy type of flapjack rather than the crisp, crunchy type.
Labels: apricots, cranberries, dried fruit, flapjacks, honey, Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall, oats, peanut butter, raisins, Tea Time Treats
Poached Apricots with Honeysuckle Syrup and Gluten Free Granola
I was rather disappointed in a punnet of apricots that I bought, they were rather hard and tasteless, so I poached them in a little water and sugar, creating a luscious pan of soft sweet fruit.
I received some
Nature's Path,
Gluten Free, Nice and Nobbly Granola. It's a really tasty cereal to eat for breakfast or to use, as I did, in this dessert. I used the Pumpkin Seeds, almonds, raisins and cinnamon granola and layered up the poached apricots, granola, and Greek Yogurt, finishing with a sprinkle of granola and some Honeysuckle Syrup (see below)
There are two different kinds of Nature's Path Nice and Nobbly Gluten Free Granola, the Pumpkin Seeds, almonds, raisins and cinnamon type and another with Blueberries, Raspberries Strawberries and Yogurt Chunks.
You may remember that I reviewed
The Foragers Kitchen by Fiona Bird, back in May. I was enthusiastic about the book at the time and was eagerly anticipating the different seasons. One of the foraged ingredients that really intrigued me was Honeysuckle. I had not idea you could do anything with Honeysuckle although I've always love the smell of it and it grows in abundance in the hedges up the lanes to our farm. This year with the warm weather, it has been particularly prolific.
 |
| Honeysuckle Flowers |
Honeysuckle Syrup
Makes 1 small bottle
What to forage and find:
2 large handfuls of honeysuckle (12-15 blossoms)
Scant 1 1/2 cups (350ml) boiling water (50ml will evaporate or soak into the blossom)
1 cup (200g) superfine (caster) sugar
What to do:
1. Allow the honeysuckle blossom to steep in the water for as long as possible (at least 8 hours)
2. Strain the blossom liquid well, and squeeze the blossom to ensue that you have as much liquid as possible.
3. Put the blossom water into a saucepan, and add the sugar.
4. Dissolve the sugar over low heat, then boil rapidly to reduce and thicken the syrup to about 3/4 cup (175ml)
I've been asked what Honeysuckle syrup tastes like, it tastes a little like honey and a bit like the flowers smell, it's a lovely sweet floral flavour. I did wonder if it was just the sugar, but I also made some Elderflower syrup (more of that in a future post) and it tastes completely different.
Fiona suggests that you drizzle this syrup over ice cream. If you keep one or two small plastic bottles of the in the freezer you can glaze your Christmas ham in wild summer blossom.
The Forager's Kitchen is published by CICO Books
RRP £16.99
Popular online book store £10.87
Thanks to Fiona Bird and Mark at Cico Books for allowing me to publish this recipe.
I received the Nature's Path Gluten Free Granola for review, I was not paid for this post and all opinions are my own.
Labels: apricots, Cico Books, Fiona Bird, gluten free, Granola, greek yogurt, Honeysuckle, Nature's Path, syrup, The Forager's Kitchen
How to Bake Paul Hollywood's Christmas Cake
What do you think about when you think of Paul Hollywood? Oh stop it, you naughty readers. If you were behaving yourselves, you might think of baking but more specifically, baking bread. Certainly, I associate Paul Hollywood with bread baking rather than cake baking. So I was surprised and delighted when I received a copy of his book
'How to Bake' to review, to see that there were indeed lots of bread recipes but also lots of other bakes too.
How to Bake by Paul Hollywood
Getting started with Bread
is a great way to start, it’s a comprehensive guide to baking bread covering
everything from different types of flour, through techniques and tools. I liked the use of step by step pictures as
well as written instructions.
Basic Breads covers white
and wholemeal loaves in different shapes and variations, soda bread, flat
breads, Italian breads and even crumpets.
Flavoured Breads moves us on
to introducing savoury and sweet ingredients into the dough, some lovely
recipes for bread sticks, Coriander, olive and onion bread, Bacon and Cheddar
loaves, Pecan loaf and Hot Cross Buns.
Sourdough Bread is a real
challenge for any baker but Paul takes us through all the steps and makes it
sound achievable. As well as basic
sourdough breads, he offers recipes such as Sour olive bread, Muesli and banana
sourdough and Lavender honey and toasted almond sourdough. So many tempting flavours, it makes me really
want to give this a go!
Croissants, Danish & Brioche
takes us into the realm of sweetened yeasted dough, there is a lot of technique
involved in making these sweet breads and they can be time consuming. If you
are worried about technique there is a
double page spread of photographs showing how to make the croissant dough, they
are clear and easy to follow.
Biscuits, Puddings and Cakes and
now we come to the chapter which surprised me, however it’s clear that these
recipes are just as important to Paul as the bread. Sweet and savoury biscuits, strudels,
Baklava, crumble, soufflé, cheesecake,
chocolate cake, muffins, brownies, Buche de Noel and Christmas cake.
Tarts and Pies
If you’ve seen the Great British Bake off, you will know that pies are
something Paul is passionate about. In this
chapter Paul demystifies pastry making
with recipes and techniques for different types of pastry and recipes
for everything from Lemon meringue pie to hot water crust pork pies.
Who is it for?
How to Bake is a book for
anyone who wants to bake, whether you want to learn how to make bread for the
first time, to extend your repertoire or
challenge yourself to try something new.
Pros and Cons
Pros
I loved the step by step photographs and there is also a photo of every
recipe. I like to know what I’m aiming
for. The introductions to each chapter
make you feel that you are really getting the benefit of Paul Hollywood’s years
of experience
Cons
It’s a big book and quite heavy, but that is a very little ‘con’ and
only relevant if you are trying to read it in bed!
Ease of use
The instructions are easy to follow, there is quite a lot to read at
the start of each chapter and it’s worth reading this through before diving
into the recipes.
Worth buying?
I would recommend this book, it is well thought out with techniques
explained clearly in words and pictures, definitely worth buying.
As I hadn't yet made my Christmas cake, I decided to try Paul's recipe, the photograph above is from the book.
Christmas Cake
Makes at least 16 slices / prep 1 hour, plus pre-soaking fruit / bake 3–3½ hours
This is a classic, richly fruited Christmas cake – deliciously moist and
substantial. It tastes wonderful just as it is, but of course the addition of
marzipan and snowy white icing make it much more festive and spectacular.
You can either make your own marzipan, or use a good-quality bought
one. The same goes for the icing.
450g sultanas
225g raisins
225g dried apricots, chopped
115g prunes, chopped
55g glacé pineapple
225g glacé cherries, chopped
225g chopped candied peel
115g blanched almonds, toasted and very roughly chopped
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange
70ml brandy
225g unsalted butter, softened
200g light muscovado sugar
5 large eggs
280g plain flour
To finish
2 tbsp apricot jam
1 quantity marzipan (see page 255), or a 500g packet ready made marzipan
Icing sugar for dusting
1 quantity royal icing (see page 255), or a 500g packet ready-to-
roll royal icing
1. Combine all the dried and glacé fruit, candied peel and almonds in
a large bowl. Add the orange zest and juice, and the brandy. Mix well,
cover and leave for several hours or overnight.
2. Heat your oven to 150˚C. Line the base and sides of a 20cm round deep
cake tin with a double thickness of baking parchment, cutting it so that
it stands a good 5cm proud of the top of the tin.
3. In a very large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together for
several minutes until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time,
adding a little of the flour with each to prevent the mixture splitting.
Stir in the fruit mixture. Sift the remaining flour over the mixture and
fold in, using a large metal spoon. Spoon the mixture into the prepared
cake tin and level the surface.
4. Bake in the middle of the oven for 3 hours, then check by inserting
a skewer into the centre – if it comes out clean, the cake is cooked.
If not, give it a further 15–30 minutes. Leave the cake to cool before
removing it from the tin.
5. When your cake is completely cooled – and ideally after a couple of days
– you can marzipan and ice it. Warm the apricot jam gently in a saucepan
with a splash of water to thin it down, sieve, then brush all over the cake.
6. Roll out 300g of the marzipan to a large circle, about 4mm thick. Using
the cake tin as a guide, cut a round of marzipan to fit the top of the cake
and position it. Roll out the other 200g marzipan with the trimmings
and cut 2 long strips to fit around the side of the cake. Position these,
then smooth the marzipan and mould the edges together.
7. If you are using ready-to-roll icing, roll it out on a surface lightly
dusted with icing sugar to a thickness of about 5mm. Lift it over the
marzipan, smooth down and trim off the excess at the base.
8. If you are using homemade royal icing, smooth it over the cake with
a palette knife. You can leave it smooth or swirl it into peaks with the
back of a spoon or your palette knife, as you choose. Leave to set.
9. Wrap a ribbon around the side of your Christmas cake and finish as you
wish with festive decorations.
Here is my cake, it is much lighter than the one I usually make but it is packed full of fruit. There seemed to be a lot of mixture, too much for my 20cm tin, so I baked the remaining mixture in a small loaf tin.
The advantage of this was that I was able to taste the cake without cutting into my Christmas cake! In fact the cake cuts very well as the texture of the cake is quite dense but moist and not over sweet. As an apricot and prune fan, I particularly enjoyed the dried fruits. I'll be interested to see how the cake matures.
How to Bake by Paul Hollywood is published by Bloomsbury RRP £20, Popular On line Retailer £8.86
Thanks to Bloomsbury for the opportunity to review this bookLabels: apricots, book review, Christmas Cake, cookery book review, Great British Bake Off, How to Bake, Paul Hollywood, prunes
Seasonal Cheese and Leek Flatbread Sandwich
Jacqueline has set us a slightly different challenge for this month's No Croutons Required, she says "I
would like to focus on what is often served alongside soup or a salad. I
am thinking of the humble sandwich. Toasted or plain, I would like you to come up with an interesting sandwich. The only stipulation is that it must be suitable for vegetarians."
Too few people understand a really good sandwich.James Beard
My Mum probably makes the best sandwiches, she always ensures that there was plenty of filling and that the filling goest right to the edge of the sandwich, the best way to achieve this is by cutting off the crusts. But I'm not going to make that kind of sandwich because ever since the early stages of the Great British Bake Off, I've been hankering to make some flatbreads.
I used the recipe for 'Magic Bread Dough' from Hugh Fearnly Whittingstall's River Cottage Veg Everyday.It's an interesting mix of strong and plain flour and something I haven't tried before.
There is plenty of dough to make several different flatbreads. For the dough for my sandwich I added some chopped rosemary. You can cook the flatbreads on a griddle but I put them in a hot (240C) oven for about 5-10 minutes.
This one is more like a pizza. I spread the dough with, one of my favourite sauces, Maggi Chilli and Tomato Sauce straight from the bottle. Then sprinkled over some grated Lockerbie Cheddar Cheese.
For the sandwich filling, I adapted Hugh F-W's Leek and Cheese Toastie from River Cottage Veg to lower the calorie count.
Leek and Cottage Cheese Flatbread Sandwich
15g butter
2 medium leeks, trimmed and finely chopped (white and pale green part only)
A couple of sprigs of thyme, leaves only
3 tablespoons of cottage cheese
1 tsp cornflour
50g cheddar
1 large rosemary flatbread
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Melt the butter in a frying plan and add the leeks. Cook gently until softened. Stir in the thyme. Mix the cornflour with some of the liquid from the cottage cheese and add to the pan, add the cottage cheese and warm through. Take off the heat and add two-thirds of the cheese .
Pile the leek and cheese filling onto one half of the flatbread and fold over, sprinkle over the rest of the cheese and place under a hot grill for a couple of minutes until the cheese melts.
Serve with salad
I served my sandwich with a
Carrot, Cucumber and Apple Salad with chopped Pistachio nuts
To finish off, I'd like to show you the sweet flatbread that I made, using the basic dough a few dried apricots, chopped white chocolate and ground almonds.
After it was baked, I glazed it with honey and put it back in the oven for a couple of minutes.
I'm entering this for No Croutons Required run by Jacqueline at
Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa from
Lisa's Kitchen.
Labels: apples, apricots, carrots, flatbread, ground almonds, Herbs on Saturday, Leeks, No Croutons Required, salad, sandwiches, Simple and in Season, white chocolate
We should Cocoa - Apricots
I just love apricots, fresh or dried, they are probably my favourite fruit, with raspberries coming a close second. So I was very pleased indeed when I saw that 'We should Cocoa' had chosen Apricots as the ingredient to combine with some form of chocolate in July.
I was looking for something that was quite light so chose this recipe from Rosemary Conley's Low Fat Cookbook. In the book it is a 'Low Fat chocolate and black cherry pudding' but I thought it would work just as well with apricots.
Low-fat chocolate and apricot pudding
3 large eggs, separated
4oz (100g) caster sugar
3ox (75g) self-raising flour
1oz (25g) cocoa powder
6 fresh apricots
2 tbsp fresh orange juice
1 tsp caster sugar
Gently poach the apricots with the orange juice and 1 tsp of caster sugar until they are soft. Place them in the base of an ovenproof dish.
Pre-heat the oven to 180C, 350F, Gas Mark 4.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff. Add the yolks and whisk in. Add the caster sugar and whisk until all the sugar has dissolved.
Sift the self-raising flour with the cocoa powder. Using a figure of eight action, fold half the four into the ff an sugar misxture. When the flour is almost folded in, add the remaining flour in the same way until the mixture is smooth. Spoon the mixture over the top of the apricots.
Bake in the oven for approximately 40 minutes or until golden brown. When cooked leave to cool for a few minutes. Serve with low fat fromage frais, greek yogurt or vanilla ice-cream.
The combination worked really well, the sponge is very light, moist and delicious and dig down to find the soft, sweet, golden apricots.Labels: apricots, chocolate, We should Cocoa
