Gingerbread Train Biscuits

Gingerbread Train Biscuits

This is a very simple recipe for Gingerbread biscuits. Perfect for weekend baking with kids. 

This recipe has lots of benefits for cooking with children:

Unlike lots of biscuit recipes, you don't need to let the dough cool in the fridge first. So you can make the dough and roll out straight away. 

It is also a manageable dough for children to help roll out, rather than ending up with a sticky mess!

Plus they take 8 mins to cook and hardly anytime to cool. Which saves the impatient 'are they ready yet' demands! 

This recipe makes 12. But double it if you would like more. 

Ingredients:

60g unsalted butter (or baking margarine)

50g muscavado (dark brown) sugar

2 tbsp golden syrup

160g plain flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground ginger

Method:

Pre heat your oven to 170 degrees C (fan oven). 

Line your baking sheet with greaseproof paper, you may need two sheets. 

Place the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a medium saucepan and heat gently until all melted. Leave to one side to cool slightly.

Then in a mixing bowl weight out the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ginger and add the butter/sugar mixture.

Mix into a dough and turn out onto a lightly floured board ready to roll. 

* Tip, keep a little pile of spare flour at the side of your board to use as and when you need it. 

Roll out the dough to a thickness of approx 5mm. Then cut out into biscuits in your choice of shapes.

My boys are train mad and I recently bought a 'train cutter' which we not only use for biscuits but sandwiches! Gingerbread men are also a favourite. 

Once you have cut out your biscuits. place on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper and bake in the oven for approx 8 mins.

They will be nicely browned when they are ready. Don't worry if they are slightly soft to touch, they will firm up as they cool. 

Place on a cooling rack. They do not take long to cool.

Decorate with writing icing and sprinkles. 

This is far less messy than making runny icing yourself which ends up absolutely everywhere! But if brave, or your children are older and more responsible than my cheeky monkeys, mix your own icing by adding water to icing sugar. 

* Or tip for tastier icing. Use the juice of a lemon or orange instead of water. 

Enjoy! 

Tasty Pork Loins with Lemon, Garlic and Parsley

A simple mid week supper:

Tasty Pork loin steaks with lemon, garlic, onion, salt and pepper and parsley, served with french beans and spuds

 



This is a perfect mid week recipe when you feel in the mood for a hearty but simple meat and veg meal, but are time poor.

It really is a 30 min meal with time to spare!

If you are already put off by the title - trust me, lemon does go with pork. Also the garlic is delicate and inoffensive and the parsley takes the edge off.

I was originally inspired by this combination of flavours after visiting Majorca and loving the way the Majorcans served fish with the same simple ingredients.
Then in a tapas restaurant in Richmond I had exactly the same flavours with pork loins steaks, which was a revelation, as up until then, I had always found pork loin very dry and lacking in flavour.
Trust me, they are juicy and full of flavour.


Ingredients: 

To serve 2 people

2 x Pork Loin steaks. This recipe works regardless of whether you use pork chops, loin steaks or shoulder steaks by the way.
Fresh chopped parsley. Or *cheat* and buy from the frozen aisle in Waitrose!

Olive oil - you just need a small glug.

Salt and pepper

1 clove of garlic - chopped

A good squeeze of approx 1/4 lemon.

1 medium onion (white or red)

Serve with french or runner beans. 

It also works well with a salad.

If particularly hungry, rustle up some 'quick' roasted potatoes:

Keep skin on, chopping spuds into small squares. They will crisp up in no time if added to a roasted dish with pre heated olive oil. You can even add some chopped onion for extra flavour and season well and add some parsley at the end for a bit of colour. 

* I find these take approx 20 mins on a hot oven 220 degrees (fan). But oil has to be red hot when you add the potatoes.

Method.

• Place the chops in a dish. Season generously with salt and pepper. Squeeze over the lemon then add the chopped garlic. Turn the chops over so that they are evenly coated. Leave to one side.

• Chop up the onion into 1/8s or medium pieces. It doesn't matter really. 

• Heat some olive oil (only a small amount req - small dash) in a frying pan.

• When the pan is nice and hot add the chops followed by the onion. Let it sizzle away. 

• Cook on one side for approx 6-8 mins. Try and rotate the onions whilst the pork is cooking.

• Turn over the pork and cook again for the same time. Sprinkle with parsley. The cooking time varies depending on the size of the chops. The outside needs to be nice and browned, but the middle cooked (obviously). So if in doubt slice into it at the fattest part and check for any pink. If you are using chops on the bone, they might take closer to 8-10 mins each side.

Plate up, sprinkle more parsley on top and serve up with your green beans and spuds. 

Enjoy. A delicious tasty meal. 

A tea time classic. Coffee and Walnut Cake

'Coffee and Walnut cake'

This is a real teatime classic.
A cake my Mum used to make lots when I was a child and charmingly I would turn my nose up at it because I didn't like coffee. I had no problem with picking the walnuts off the top and eating them whilst nobody was looking though!

It is a delicious cake with a very subtle flavour and perfect with a cup of tea or coffee!

I use exactly the same recipe she has always followed, I haven't changed a thing. It is a simple 'all in one' sponge method and really doesn't require much effort, but always pleases!

It was a favourite of my grandparents and sadly, they both passed away recently, so making this cake always makes me think of them.

Ingredients:

6oz Self raising flour
6oz stork baking margarine or soft unsalted butter
6oz caster sugar
3 medium free range eggs
1 level tsp baking powder

100ml hot water with 4 tsp instant coffee powder

8oz icing sugar
3oz soft unsalted butter/margarine.
100g walnut halves or pieces to decorate. I say 100g because that is how many you get in a small bag. But you don't need to use that many. I would say half a bag is plenty.


Method:

• Pre heat oven to 160c (fan)

• Line two sandwich tins with greaseproof paper. Or *cheat buy pre cut out circle. Pound land have now introduced them to their Twickenham branch. £1 very well spent!

• Boil the kettle. Fill a measuring jug with 100ml hot water. Add 4 tsp instant coffee and stir. Leave this to cool whilst you mix your sponge.

• This is yet another all in one sponge. 'Minimal effort' all the way. So finding a large roomy mixing bowl. Weigh the flour and sieve into the bowl. Weigh out the sugar and butter and add to bowl. Break in the eggs and the tsp of baking powder and mix.

• Then pour in approx half (or 2 tbsp) of the coffee mix. (you will need the rest for the icing)

• Mix well it will only alter the colour slightly (see below) and then equally divide the mix into the two sandwich tins. Bake in oven for 20 mins.

Whilst the cake is in the oven prepare the icing:

Measure out the icing sugar and (soft) butter and mix slowly together in a bowl together with a tbsp remaining coffee (keep the rest just in case you want to make the flavour stronger) 

Put the bowl of butter icing in the fridge to firm up. 

*please note - if you ended up using more of the coffee, the liquid will make the buttercream more runny. So add a little extra icing sugar to compensate.

Once sponge is cool. Sandwich the two cakes together with the butter icing. 

Save half to spread on the top of the cake then decorate how you choose with walnuts. 

I like to also dust the top with cocoa powder. 

Put the kettle on and enjoy! :-)

Chocolate and Almond Brownies

The ultimate Chocolate and Almond Brownie recipe - with a little help from Nigella.

Since starting this blog, this is the recipe I have been most asked to post. So here it is.

I am often requested to make brownies by friends and I can safely say that this is the easiest and yummiest recipe. Trust me I have tried loads of other recipes. Plus they keep well and can easily be made a couple of days in advance.

This recipe and method is from Nigella Lawson's 'How to be a domestic goddess book' (one of my fave cook books). But because I am incapable of ever following a recipe exactly, I have substituted walnuts for roasted almonds because I think they are my preferred nut!

I have also reduced the amount of sugar she suggests, as I think they are richer and more chocolatey that way.

I have also reduced the quantities slightly to fit a more general size brownie tin. My tin is 13"by 9".
If your tin is slightly smaller don't worry, the brownies will be slightly deeper which is never a bad thing. Just cook them for 3-5 mins longer. 

Ingredients:

250g soft unsalted butter
250g good quality dark chocolate (off the shelf chocolate not cooking chocolate)
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
300g caster sugar
150g plain flour
200g blanched whole almonds (roasted in oven and then chopped/halved or put in whole!)
* Walnuts/pecans are more traditional and also lovely. Or I have tried hazelnuts which work a treat. So I would suggest using your favourite. 

Makes approx 20 large brownies. Or a minimum of 30 little ones. 

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180c fan. Line your brownie tin, greaseproof paper is best. 

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a large saucepan on a very low heat. 

Whilst the butter/choc is melting find a large measuring jug or mixing bowl and beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla extract.

                                     

When the chocolate mixture has melted, leave to cool slightly to avoid scrambled eggs. 

Then beat in the eggs/sugar. When all combined, mix in the flour and roasted nuts of your choice.
Beat to combine smoothly and then scrape mix out of the saucepan into your lined tin.

Bake for approx 16 mins. It doesn't seem very long, but the difference between dry and gooey brownies is minutes. You will know when it is ready as the top will seem paler but the middle still gooey. 

Keep them in the tin to cool as they continue to cook whilst in the tin. 
You really need to wait until they are completely cool before cutting. Or you will end up with a gooey mess. 
Once cool turn the brownies onto a solid chopping board. Trim the edges off and devourer secretly or give to the kiddies. 
Then use a very sharp knife to cut into squares.
Once cut, I like to dust with cocoa powder to serve. Lush 

Dorset Apple Cake

Classic Dorset Apple Cake

This is a delicious moist cake. Very simple. An all in one sponge and a cake that is usually demolished very quickly in our house. I love the tartness of the apples with the sweet sponge.

Bramley Apples are in season at the moment, so if you want an alternative to a crumble or a pie, I would definitely give this recipe a try. Its works well as a pudding and tastes great warm with ice cream or custard.
But also tastes just as good cold and keeps well for a few days in a tin.

We love a Roast dinner every Sunday, but unless we have guests I don't normally make a pud.
However this last Sunday I was kindly given a bag of home grown Bramleys, so it seemed a good enough excuse to make this.

Ingredients:

6oz Self raising flour
6oz Caster sugar
6oz margarine (or unsalted soft butter)
3 free range eggs
1/2 tsp baking powder

8oz (about 2 medium apples) washed/peeled and sliced Bramley apples. (You can use eating apples, which does work, but it will lack the tartness that you get from cooking apples - plus the cake will then be very sweet)

Method:

Pre heat your oven to 160c degrees (fan).
Line a round 8/9 inch tin. Or use a liner (like below), if you are a cheat like me.

Minimal effort, its another simple all in one sponge recipe:

Weigh out all the ingredients and place into a large roomy mixing bowl. Please ensure you sieve the flour and baking powder into the bowl.

Give it a good mix, an electric hand whisk is my favoured method. But a wooden spoon does the job.

Peel and slice the apples (2 apples should be fine) Add to the cake batter and mix in.

Spoon the mix into your lined tin.

* Option. I sometimes sprinkle the top with demerara sugar to give a nice crunchy topping.

Place on the middle shelf of your oven and set the timer for approx 50 mins.

Take out of the oven and leave in the tin to cool slightly. Then turn onto a wire cooling rack.

There are many variations with this cake:

• You can add a tsp of cinnamon and some raisins.

• Or you can substitute caster sugar for light brown sugar for a more fudgy colour and taste.

• Or often, I add a few fresh raspberries or blackberries or both. I think berries go so well with Apple. If you choose to do this, add them at the end and don't stir too vigorously or (as I know from experience) you will end up with a pink cake.