Tag: recipes

Cakes & Bakes: Peanut Butter Cookies

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Home-made peanut butter cookies with small vintage milk bottle and glass of milk | H is for Home

The weather’s been too hot for baking & eating full-on cake this week. All we fancy eating at the moment is salad and have been finishing an evening meal with a bowl of ice cream or a couple of biscuits instead.

Justin bought a jar of peanut butter last week not realising I’d already bought one the day before – so I decided to solve our mini-glut by baking a batch of peanut butter cookies.

The recipe was taken from The Great Big Cookie Book by Hilaire Walden.

Home-made peanut butter cookies with small vintage milk bottle and glass of milk | H is for Home

Peanut Butter Cookies

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Cook Time 15 minutes
Course Snack

Ingredients
  

  • 115 g/4oz/1 cup plain flour
  • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • pinch of salt
  • 115 g/4oz/½ cup butter
  • 125 g/4½oz/¾ cup firmly packed light brown sugar*
  • 1 egg
  • 5 ml/1 tsp vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt
  • 225 g/8oz/1 cup crunchy peanut butter

Instructions
 

  • Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt and set aside
  • Cream together the butter and sugar until light & fluffy
  • In another bowl, mix the egg and vanilla extract then gradually beat into the butter mixture
  • Stir in the peanut butter and blend thoroughly
  • Stir in the dry ingredients
  • Chill for at least 30 minutes until firm
  • Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Grease 2 baking sheets
  • Spoon out rounded teaspoonfuls of the cookie mixture and roll into balls
  • Place the balls on the prepared baking sheets and press flat with a fork into circles about 6cm/2½ ins in diameter, making a criss-cross pattern
  • Bake for 12-15 minutes until lightly browned
  • Transfer to a wire rack to cool
For extra crunch add 50g/2oz/½ cup chopped peanuts with the peanut butter
*The next time I make these I'd use half & half light brown sugar and Muscavado sugar to give the cookies more depth of flavour.
Keyword cookies, peanut butter, peanuts

Cakes & Bakes: Carrot cake

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slice of carrot cake with tea in a vintage Staffordshire Potteries mug

Carrot cake with frosting is one of our favourite cakes.

carrot cake ingredients

The recipe I prefer to use is one I found in Baking – Simple Cookery Series.

carrot cake recipe from "Baking - Simple Cookery Series" cookbook

Each of the cookbook’s recipes are in an easy-to-follow layout with a trio of images illustrating different stages of preparation then a full-page sized photograph on the facing page of the finished item. There are also “tasty tips”, “food facts” or “helpful hints” distributed throughout.

carrot cake batter mix

The recipe is really easy – basically just mix all the dry ingredients, mix the wet ingredients then stir in the carrots and walnuts.

carrot cake frosting mix

The accompanying icing recipe contains orange zest and juice which I’m not a big fan of, so I use the frosting recipe that goes with the “Luxury Carrot Cake” recipe that’s a few pages further on in the book.

slice of carrot cake

It has a really good texture – moist yet light, with a hint of spice and the frosting adds a touch of decadence! Just one question I hear you ask, does the carrot count as one of my five-a-day?

Carrot Cake

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Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine British
Servings 8 slices

Ingredients
  

For the cake

  • 200 g/7oz plain flour
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 150 g/5oz dark muscovado sugar
  • 200 ml/7 fl oz vegetable oil
  • 3 medium eggs
  • 225 g/8oz carrots peeled and roughly grated
  • 50 g/2oz chopped walnuts

For the frosting

  • 175 g/6oz cream cheese softened
  • 50 g/2oz butter softened
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 225 g/8oz icing sugar sifted
  • 1-2 tbsp milk

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/Gas Mark 2, 10 minutes before baking. Lightly oil & line the base of a 15cm/6 inch deep square cake tin with greaseproof or baking paper
  • Sift the flour, spices, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda together into a large bowl
  • Stir in the dark muscovado sugar and mix together
  • Lightly whisk the oil and eggs together, then gradually stir into the flour & sugar mixture. Stir well
  • Add the carrots and walnuts. Mix thoroughly, then pour into the prepared cake tin. Bake in the preheated oven for 1¼ hours, or until light & springy to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
  • Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack. Reserve until cold
  • For the frosting, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla essence together until smooth, then gradually beat in the icing sugar until icing is smooth. Add a little milk, if necessary. Spread the frosting over the top. Refrigerate for about 1 hour to set the frosting, then cut into squares and serve
Tasty tip: For a fruitier cake, add 1 grated apple and 50g/2oz of dried sultanas in step 5. To plump up the dried sultanas, soak for an hour or overnight in 300ml/½ pint of cold tea
Keyword cake, carrot, carrot cake

Go wild for ramsons!

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Handful of bright green, spear-shaped leaves of ramsons in a aluminium colander | H is for Home

The bright green, spear-shaped leaves of ramsons start poking through the earth in early spring. They’re often found in ancient woodland, thickly carpeting the floor and exuding a pungent, garlicky odour into the air.

ramson butter in a mini food processor and small glass bowl

There’s a small patch near our house from where we occasionally pick a handful leaves. After a quick rinse under a cold tap and a pat on some kitchen roll, a couple of thinly sliced leaves add an extra zing to a plain omelette or a warm, grilled cheese croissant.

slices of crusty bread grilled with ramson butter

Try whizzing half a pack of softened butter (125g) with about a dozen or so leaves in a mini food processor. It’s really quick and is perfect for adding to sauces, pan fried mushrooms or spreading on slices of a crusty loaf to make an alternative version of garlic bread!

Use your loaf

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Freshly-baked sourdough loaf still in its tin | H is for Home

We’ve been experimenting with bread recently…

Sliced wholemeal sourdough loaf on a bread board

…in particular, sourdough bread.

Sourdough starter with its ingredients: flour, milk & yoghurt

It begins with making a starter. This is a living, breathing culture. There are various methods of making a starter – flour & water, flour & apple juice – ours is a mixture of flour, milk & natural yoghurt. No extra yeast is added, it relies on naturally occurring yeast in the flour and air. The starter is ‘fed’ daily – we feed ours with:

  • 4 tablespoons strong white bread flour
  • 3 tablespoons milk
  • 1 tablespoon natural yoghurt

Some bakers have nurtured the same starter for decades… even centuries!

vintage bowl with sourdough dough

A portion of starter is added to flour & water for each new loaf – along with any additional ingredients such as seeds, cheese, honey etc.

freshly-baked wholemeal sourdough loaf on a cooling rack

We’ve been very pleased with the results!

sliced sourdough loaf showing the crumb

The bread has a lovely open texture and distinctive sourdough smell & taste.

Ploughman's platter with slices of sourdough bread

It’s great with all kinds of food – it’s particularly good with different cheeses, cooked meats, pickles etc – it was, in fact, ideal as part of this traditional Ploughman’s lunch.

And when it’s past its best, it makes great breadcrumbs for future use!

If you fancy having a go yourself, here are a few links to websites & books that we’ve found helpful:

The Handmade Loaf, Dan Lepard

Bread: River Cottage Handbook No 3, Daniel Stevens

Bread Matters: Why and How to Make Your Own, Andrew Whitley

Dough, Richard Bertinet

Crust: Bread to Get Your Teeth into, Richard Bertinet

ARTISAN BREAD IN 5 MINUTES A DAY: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking, Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois