Cakes & Bakes: Wild garlic & goats cheese soda bread

Wild garlic & goats cheese soda bread

We’re lucky enough to have lots of wild garlic growing in parts of our garden. Before moving, we used to carefully forage in the wild for a few leaves to make pesto and garlic butter. Now that we have so much of it, we’ll be using it to make so much more… beginning with this wild garlic & goats cheese soda bread.

Dry ingredients in a mixing bowl Wet and dry ingredients in a mixing bowl

This year, for some reason, we’ve left it a little late to harvest. Leaves should be picked before the flowers come into bloom; which generally happens in early May. If you’re picking in the wild, try to pick only a couple of leaves from each plant. Don’t exhaust the plant or leave massive bald patches in the woodland floor; don’t pick more than you need. For this recipe, you only need a handful… only about a dozen or so leaves.

Chopped wild garlic and goats cheese on wooden chopping boards Wild garlic & goats cheese soda bread before being cooked

The goats cheese I used was quite a wet, gooey one, but you could always use a more crumbly-textured kind. The flavours of the wild garlic and goats cheese really complement each other. While it was cooking, the cheesy, garlicky smell engulfing the kitchen was mouth-watering!

I like it still warm from the oven, with just a bit of butter spread over – melting into the crumb. Justin thinks it’s delicious as an accompaniment to poached eggs, bacon or cooked ham.

Cooked wild garlic & goats cheese soda bread boule

Click here or on the image below to save my wild garlic & goats cheese soda bread recipe to Pinterest

Homemade wild garlic and goats cheese soda bread recipe

Wild garlic & goats cheese soda bread

Wild garlic & goats cheese soda bread

Cook Time 25 minutes
Course Bread
Cuisine British
Servings 1 loaf

Ingredients
  

  • 350 ml/12fl oz buttermilk or 330ml/11½fl oz full cream milk with the juice of a lemon stirred in
  • 200 g/7oz wholemeal flour
  • 200 g/7 oz plain flour
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 100 g/3½oz goats cheese cubed
  • handful of wild garlic leaves finely chopped

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/Gas mark 5
  • Grease & line a baking sheet with parchment paper
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, bicarb and salt
  • Add the cubed goats cheese and chopped wild garlic leaves and toss to combine. Make a well in the middle
  • Pour in the buttermilk and bring the dough together. Don't overwork
  • Empty the dough out on to a well-floured work surface and form into a ball. Again don't overwork
  • Put the dough ball on to the prepared baking sheet. Score with a deep cross on top
  • Bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is a lovely golden brown
  • Take off the baking sheet on to a wire rack and allow to cool for a few minutes
  • Slice and serve warm
Wild garlic & goats cheese soda bread ingredients
If you don't have buttermilk, make something similar by stirring the juice of a lemon into full fat milk and allowing it to sit for about ½ an hour before use
Keyword bread, cheese,, forage, goats cheese, soda bread

Cakes & Bakes: Tea-soaked sultana buttermilk pancakes

Tea-soaked sultana buttermilk pancakes with mug of coffee

These tea-soaked sultana buttermilk pancakes are a great weekend recipe. It’s when you have the time to hang around waiting for your dried fruit to rehydrate and plump up. It’s a drawn out process; frying off a stack of twelve, one at a time. We have three, identical little frying pans; so I juggle with cooking and flipping three at a time.

buttermilk pancake batter in a large Pyrex measuring jug

The secret to successful buttermilk pancake batter is to not over-mix it; a few lumps of flour here and there is a good thing. It should be thick and clumpy as it falls from your ladle or spout.

Pouring pancake batter into a hot frying pan

Letting the batter rest for half an hour or so before cooking allows for the buttermilk, bicarb and baking powder to interact which produces the light, airy, puffed up pancakes.

Pancake cooking in a frying pan Pancake cooking in a frying pan

My recipe produces a dozen, 10cm/4-inch diameter pancakes – that should be enough for breakfast or brunch for three… or a pair of ravenous people. Serve with a sprinkling of sugar, lemon & sugar or drizzle of maple syrup over the top.

Click here or on the image below to save my tea-soaked sultana buttermilk pancakes recipe to Pinterest

Tea-soaked sultana buttermilk pancakes recipe | H is for Home #buttermilk #buttermilkpancakes #pancake #pancakes #recipe #sultana #sultanas #cooking #cookery

Tea-soaked sultana buttermilk pancakes with mug of coffee

Tea-soaked sultana buttermilk pancakes

Course Breakfast
Cuisine British
Servings 3

Ingredients
  

  • 250 ml strong hot tea
  • 75 g/2½oz sultanas
  • 125 g/4½oz plain flour
  • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 20 g/¾oz sugar
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 300 g/10½oz buttermilk
  • 1 medium egg lightly beaten
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter melted (and a little extra for the frying pan)

Instructions
 

  • Soak the sultanas in the tea for at least an hour
  • In a large measuring jug, combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, sugar and salt
  • Gently mix in the buttermilk, beaten egg and melted butter. Don't overmix
  • Fold in the soaked sultanas
  • Allow the mixture to stand for about ½ an hour
  • Heat a frying pan or skillet on a medium flame, add a little butter and pour/ladle about 115ml /4 fl oz to form each pancake
  • Allow to cook on one side for about a minute before flipping and cooking the other side
  • Repeat until all the batter has been used
  • Sprinkle with a little sugar and serve
Tea-soaked sultana buttermilk pancakes ingredients
Drizzle over a little maple syrup or honey & lemon
Keyword buttermilk, pancakes

Cakes & Bakes: Hazelnut & chocolate chip scones

Hazelnut & chocolate chip scones with Nutella

Which do you prefer, sweet or savoury scones? My favourite has to be a classic Devon (or is it Cornish?) cream tea scone with butter, jam and clotted cream. I wanted to try another sweet version that was a little bit different, so came up with hazelnut & chocolate chip scones.

Scone dough with chopped hazelnuts and chocolate chips Scone dough being cut into round shapes

As they contain lots of filling chocolate and nuts, I used a smaller cutter than normal to make the scones. The recipe quantities made 18 of this size. Needless to say, if you use a larger cutter, you’ll probably get about a dozen instead.

Uncooked scones on lined baking sheet

Sweet scones are usually split in half and spread with butter, jam and cream. These really suit being smeared with Nutella.

Cooked scones on a wire cooling rack

Click here or on the image below to save my hazelnut & chocolate chip scones recipe to Pinterest

Hazelnut & chocolate chip scones recipe | H is for Home

Hazelnut & chocolate chip scones with Nutella

Hazelnut & chocolate chip scones

Cook Time 15 minutes
Course Snack
Cuisine British
Servings 12

Ingredients
  

  • 375 g self-raising flour
  • ½ tsp cream of tartar
  • pinch of salt
  • 20 g cold butter cubed
  • 50 g caster sugar
  • 300 ml buttermilk
  • 50 g hazelnuts roughly chopped
  • 50 g milk chocolate chips

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 225ºC/440ºF/gas mark 7
  • Grease & line a baking sheet with parchment paper
  • Into a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cream of tartar and salt
  • Rub in the cubes of butter
  • Stir in the sugar
  • Make a well in the centre and pour in the buttermilk
  • Bring the mixture together until it forms a ragged ball of dough. Don't over mix
  • Fold in the chopped hazelnuts and chocolate chips
  • Turn the mixture out on to a well-floured work surface and flatten the dough to about 5cm high
  • Use a circular cutter to form the scones. Bring together the remaining bits of dough to form a solid ball. Gently flatten again so that you can cut out more circles
  • Put the scones on the prepared baking sheet and brush the top of each with a little milk or egg-wash
  • Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the tops are a lovely golden brown
  • Allow to cool completely on a wire rack
Halve & spread with Nutella to serve
Keyword chocolate, hazelnut, scones

Cakes & Bakes: Coconut sultana oat cookies

Coconut sultana oat cookies

Justin often cooks porridge with added coconut and sultanas for breakfast. He thought it would be a great idea to use the same ingredients to make coconut sultana oat cookies.

Sifting flour and bicarb into a mixing bowl

The number of cookies my recipe yields really depends on the size of your dough balls. Mine were somewhere between the size of a large marble and a ping-pong ball.

cookie dough balls on a lined baking sheet

I made 16, largish cookies; don’t forget to give each ball lots of space away from its neighbours, they spread quite a bit during the cooking process.

Coconut sultana oat cookies cooling on a wire rack

They turned out beautifully – they looked delicious, smelled delicious and – you guessed it – tasted delicious!

Cookies cooling on a wire rack

Just the right amount of sweetness and crunch, the addition of the small amount of medium oats gave a lovely bite to the consistency.

Click here or on the image below to save my coconut sultana oat cookies recipe to Pinterest

Coconut sultana oat cookies recipe

Coconut sultana oat cookies

Coconut sultana oat cookies

Cook Time 10 minutes
Course Snack
Cuisine British
Servings 16

Ingredients
  

  • 135 g/4¾oz butter softened
  • 125 g/4½oz sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 medium egg
  • 125 g/4½oz plain flour
  • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 25 g/¾oz medium oats
  • 35 g/1¼oz sultanas
  • 25 g/¾oz desiccated coconut

Instructions
 

  • Preheat your oven to 175ºC/350ºF/Gas mark 4
  • Grease & line a large baking sheet
  • In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
  • Add the vanilla extract and egg to the mixture and combine well
  • Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda into the mixture, add the medium oats and fold in using a flexible spatula
  • Add the sultanas and desiccated coconut and fold in until well mixed
  • Form spoonfuls of the cookie dough into balls in the palms of your hands and place them well apart on the lined baking sheet. Press the tops of them down ever so slightly
  • Put the tray into the centre of your oven and cook for 10-12 minutes until the cookies are a golden brown
  • Remove from the oven, leaving the cookies on the tray for a couple of minutes. Transfer the cookies on to a wire rack to cool completely
  • Follow stages until all the cookie dough has been used
Coconut sultana oat cookies ingredients
They can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days
Keyword coconut, cookies, oats, sultanas