Cakes & Bakes: Nettle loaf

Foraging season is upon us again. A fortnight ago I made a batch of wild garlic butter. This week, the stinging nettles are just right for picking. We had a patch in a corner of our allotment that was looking lush and healthy. It’s now had a little pruning session – and is the star ingredient in a nettle loaf.

Don’t forget, if you’re going to try this recipe, take a pair of gloves and only pick the tips and first two leaves – much like tea-picking, I reckon!

The nettles make for a rustic, flavoursome and attractive loaf.

I’ve used a basic white loaf recipe; but a half & half mixture of white and wholemeal will enhance the earthy, nutty flavour of the nettles. And nettles are SO good for you!

Click here to pin this nettle loaf recipe for later!

Nettle loaf

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Cook Time 35

Course Bread

Cuisine British

Ingredients

5 g/⅙oz active dried yeast
300 ml/10.5 fl oz warm water
500 g/18oz plain flour
10 g/⅓oz salt
handful of nettle leaves

Instructions

Add the yeast to the water and stir to remove any lumps. Add a teaspoon of sugar (optional) to help it along if the yeast is a bit old. Set aside for 15 minutes until it forms a foam
In a colander, rinse & drain the nettle leaves removing any thick stalks. Set aside 4 or 5 of the leaves before roughly ripping the remainder
Add the flour to a large mixing bowl and make a well in the middle
Pour the yeast liquid into the well in the flour
Bring the flour into the centre and combine
Add the salt to the dough and knead to form a ball
On a lightly floured work surface, knead the dough for 10-15 minutes
Put the dough back into the bowl, cover with clingfilm and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about an hour)
Lay the reserved nettle leaves, smooth side down, into a well-floured banneton if you have one. If not, lay them into a well-greased loaf tin
Once proved, empty the dough out on to a lightly floured work surface and knead in the nettles (this is best done wearing a pair of clean rubber gloves)
Form the dough into a ball and place into the banneton (or oblong if using a loaf tin)
Put the banneton/loaf tin into the large mixing bowl and cover with clingfilm and leave to prove, again until doubled in size, in a warm place
Preheat the oven to 240ºC/465ºF/Gas mark 9, put an empty roasting dish on the bottom shelf of the oven and fill a cup with cold water and set aside
Once the loaf has risen, if using a banneton, grease a baking sheet and gently decant the loaf on to it, trying not to knock any air out of it
Quickly & carefully pour the cup of water into the roasting dish before putting the loaf into the oven
After 10 minutes, turn the oven down to 200ºC/ 400ºF/Gas mark 6
Bake for a further 20-25 minutes before taking it out of the oven
Leave to cool on a wire rack for at least half an hour before use

Keyword boule, bread, loaf, nettles

Mixed berry jelly

There’s been a bumper crop of big, juicy wild blackberries this summer. We had a 2-hour long session of picking last Sunday and returned home with around 3 kilos of fruit – not counting the half kilo that Fudge picked & ate on the spot. We were sure he was going to make himself sick!

We planted a few fruit bushes in our garden this spring – one each of blackcurrant, redcurrant, whitecurrant and raspberry.

They looked like beautiful little jewels drooping from the branches.

Our garden hauls weren’t great, but we put everything in the freezer with the view to using them later in the year.

We added them to the wild berries gathered on our dog walks and ended up with an interesting mix of berries.

I’d already made some wild raspberry jelly last month which was absolutely delicious – especially spread between sponge cake layers. Justin requested a mixed berry jelly rather than jam – neither of us care to get seeds stuck in our teeth! We got 6 nice jars of jelly which is enough to last the winter. We’ll gift a couple of jars and still have plenty left for cake making, fruit sauces, toast etc…

…and probably our favourite way to eat it – a lazy weekend breakfast with newspapers, strong coffee and fresh croissants!

Cakes & Bakes: Elderflower crunch cake

I was out foraging for elderflowers this week – something I do every summer. We’ve blogged in the past about making elderflower cordial (and how good it is in gin & tonic!). A little of this year’s batch has been used in a cake.

I found this elderflower crunch cake recipe on the BBC Good Food website and, like many of the other comments posted there, I found it needed a cooking time of an hour before the skewer came out cleanly – so I’ve made this change in my recipe instructions.

Click here to save the recipe to Pinterest!

Elderflower almond cake with sprig of elderflowers | H is for Home

Elderflower crunch cake

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Ingredients

For the cake batter
175 g softened butter plus extra for greasing
175 g golden caster sugar
3 eggs
140 g self-raising flour
85 g ground almonds
½ tsp baking powder
100 ml milk
For the elderflower drizzle
4 tbsp elderflower cordial
4 tbsp white or golden granulated sugar

Instructions

Heat oven to 160°C/320°F/Gas Mark 3. Grease & line a 900g/2lb loaf tin with a long strip of baking parchment. To make the loaf cake batter, beat the butter and sugar with an electric whisk until light & fluffy
Beat in the eggs, flour, almonds, baking powder and milk until smooth
Pour into the tin and bake for 55-60 minutes until golden, risen and a skewer poked in the centre comes out clean
As soon as the cake has come out of the oven, prick it all over with a skewer
Mix together the cordial and extra sugar, then pour all over the cake
Cool in the tin, then carefully lift out to slice

Berry Delicious!

Our wild berry picking has started early this year. We were out foraging bilberries at the weekend. They love acid soil and are found on low-growing bushes in the surrounding area. The berries are small and picking them is quite time consuming – but, be patient, they’re well worth the effort!

We put some in the freezer for future jam making and used the rest of our crop to make this bilberry custard tart. Here’s the recipe:

Bilberry custard tart

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Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Ingredients

For the shortcrust pastry

125 g/4oz plain flour
pinch of salt
55 g/2oz butter cubed
30-45 ml/2-3 tbsp cold water
(or you can buy a pack of ready-made in the chilled section of most supermarkets)

For the custard

4 eggs
2 egg yolks
475 ml/1pt milk
55 g/2oz caster sugar

Instructions

You’ll need to collect about 225g/8oz bilberries. Remove stalks and stray leaves and rinse in a sieve.
Dry carefully on some kitchen towel (Don’t use a tea towel unless you don’t mind it getting stained purple).

For the shortcrust pastry

Put the flour and salt in a large bowl and add the cubes of butter
Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until you have a mixture that resembles coarse breadcrumbs with no large lumps of butter remaining
Using a knife, stir in just enough of the cold water to bind the dough together
Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill for 10-15 minutes before rolling out
Flour the worktop and roll out the pastry to about 1/2cm thick and 25cm/10inches in diameter (or large enough to fit over the dish you’re using)
Carefully lift the pastry and lay it over your dish, moulding it to the bottom & sides
Cut off any excess bits using a sharp knife
Pour in the washed & dried fresh bilberries

For the custard

Heat the milk gently in a pan
Whisk the eggs & egg yolks
Slowly add the milk to the egg mixture whisking continuously (make sure the milk’s not too hot or the eggs will scramble!)
Pour the mixture carefully through a sieve on to the bilberries in the dish
Preheat the oven to 175ºC/350ºF/Gas Mark 4. Cook the flan for 45 minutes or until the top begins to brown nicely. When cool, sprinkle a tablespoon of caster sugar over the top

Keyword bilberries, custard tart, tart

The tart looks fabulous with the deep purple juice seeping into the creamy custard…

…and it tasted great too!

H is for Home Harbinger

Tag: foraging

Cakes & Bakes: Nettle loaf

Nettle loaf

Ingredients

Instructions

Mixed berry jelly

Cakes & Bakes: Elderflower crunch cake

Elderflower crunch cake

Ingredients

Instructions

Berry Delicious!

Bilberry custard tart

Ingredients

For the shortcrust pastry

For the custard

Instructions

For the shortcrust pastry

For the custard