Bacon, Onion and Cheddar Scones
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Slightly adapted from ‘The Pastry Queen’, this recipe makes the ultimate cheese scone; served warm with gently melting salted butter, this is the most satisfying savoury tea.
Posts tagged: butter
Comments (1) 
Plum, Marzipan and Almond Cake or Pudding
By Anna, 7 November, 2009 1:28 pm
This recipe is from ‘Delicious’ magazine’s Dec 2009 edition. It is very delicious. Very delicious indeed. Mum made it last week; it took just one bite for me to shove the magazine in my handbag and scurry home to make one for us as well.
Moist, moist, moist, plummy, fudgey with marzipan and some chopped nuts for an additional texture.
Not just that, this genuinely works as a cake. It isn’t a ‘best served warm’ cake, it is a proper cake. Likewise, if you serve it warm, it is a real pudding.
A really clever recipe that comes together without a lot of fuss. In addition to all this, it can be frozen. That is pretty marvellous at this time of year – you never know when you’re going to need a cake or pudding on standby.
Continue reading 'Plum, Marzipan and Almond Cake or Pudding'»
Wild Mushroom Soup
By Anna, 31 October, 2009 10:21 am
Wild Mushrooms? Wild?! They were livid! Actually, they weren’t wild because they came from the supermarket, but let’s not be pedantic.
So. Wild and livid? There’s nothing to get worked up about when making this lovely soup. There’s no getting away from the mushroom flavour. This is mushroom soup that wears a big sign saying, ‘I am SO a Mushroom soup’. Super.
Continue reading 'Wild Mushroom Soup'»Marsala Raisin and Almond Cake
By Anna, 29 October, 2009 7:24 pm
The original recipe from ‘Olive’ magazine uses Pedro Ximenez sherry; it’s an absolutely delicious Sherry with a very raisin-y taste, but I didn’t have any on hand; instead, my larder boasted a big bottle of Marsala and frankly, what is there to dislike about that?
A boozy cake, but boozy without being rasping or obnoxious.
This cake isn’t the lashed-up lout who pushes over your dustbin on a Saturday night and then vomits over your Winter pansies, no, no. It is the elderly Aunt who, on a Sunday lunchtime visit, has a revealing whiff of something floral and fortified about her, who wears unusual jewellery and asks you about boys you like. Cool, elegant and engaging. Most excellent.
Banana Hotcakes
By Anna, 22 October, 2009 6:58 pm
AKA American buttermilk pancakes with banana slices in them… drowned in maple syrup. Oh, yes please!
My Mum and MIL dined on these in Hong Kong when I was a toddler, the memory remained and the recipe, whilst it has morphed with input from both Mum and me over the years (decades actually, eek!) is still as sigh-inducing as always. I often wonder what I was eating whilst they stuffed banana hotcakes down their throats. Probably best not to know, really. It would only be upsetting.
Butternut Squash Soup
By Anna, 20 October, 2009 4:10 pm
Liquid Autumn.
Warming, vaguely sweet, easy and delicious. My butternut squash cost me £1 and I have a saucepan full of soup that will freeze well, so I should have added economical to its list of attributes.
Bacon Macaroni Cheese
By Anna, 17 October, 2009 7:14 pm
I’ll admit, my cheese sauce is nearer cheese fondue than cheese sauce, but I reckon that cheese sauce needs to taste of cheese, not hint at it. Unless macaroni cheese tastes of cheese, I see no point in making it. None at all. In fact, I’m getting twitchy at the thought of it.
There’s only one thing better than macaroni cheese and that’s macaroni cheese with bacon in it. Walk this way…
Shortbread Pastry
By Anna, 14 October, 2009 8:39 pm
This pastry is the best in the world.
Sweet, crumbly, crisp yet substantial. Mum’s been making the recipe for a few years now, but neither of us can remember where the recipe came from. It’s outstanding. It’s practically shortbread. Buttery. Sweet. Can pastry be better than that, I ask you? There’s no other pastry I know of that I like to eat by itself.
It’s not like other pastry because there is no liquid binding it together, so it has to be squeezed together and firmly rolled out, but the upside? You don’t have to be gentle with it – no freezing of fats or handling with the tip of one icy finger. You treat it a bit roughly and in return, it charms you. You may find yourself thinking about little pies a lot more after trying this.
Doughnut Cupcakes
By Anna, 13 October, 2009 7:05 pm
It’s a cupcake that bows in the presence of the mighty doughnut; taking on its personality but with none of that boiling oil business.
There are so many recipes out there for this kind of thing, but they all seemed so cakey – you’re not going to pull off the homage to doughnut-ism with a cake crumb, so I was downright excited when I stumbled across this recipe in my little darling, ‘Goodfood 101 teatime treats’.
I altered the method slightly to my ‘all in one, but in 2 goes’ method because I’m not a fan of the ‘all in one method’ – that’s just asking for a tough cake.
I also changed the jam from strawberry to raspberry and I sieved it to remove the seeds. Far more doughnutty that way.
This recipe was intriguing because the proportions are different and you are rewarded with a coarser crumb – far nearer the doughnut. Having said all that, don’t be fooled into thinking this is a doughnut because it definitely is not. If anything, it’s a cupcake/muffin hybrid with a big nod in the doughnut’s direction.
Oh yes, I forgot to add. It’s delicious and horribly more-ish.
Beef Stew
By Anna, 12 October, 2009 1:48 pm
Good old fashioned Beef stew. What is there to say about it? Nourishing, thick, warming, tasty and packed with good stuff. Just the thing for the colder months. Economical too as it uses a cheaper cut of meat and root vegetables which as always gratifyingly reasonable. Increase the meat a little and you can feed an army.
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