biscuits

Mary Berry’s Cornish Fairings

- Alex Prichard 1 Comment

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Last Friday the small child and I were heading out for an afternoon play date so I decided that we should make something to take along. As there was no way I was going to the shops in the morning (in my defence, we’d been shopping on Thursday afternoon) I had to make do with what was in the house. So what follows is a genuine store cupboard recipe.

I first made Cornish fairings a few years ago but never blogged the recipe and, of course, couldn’t for the life of me remember which one I’d used. However, Mary Berry’s 100 Cakes and Bakes offered a recipe and one for which I had all the ingredients. I was a bit concerned because her biscuits looked nothing like Cornish fairings (in my opinion) should.

However, you can never really go wrong with a ginger biscuit, can you?

My biscuits turned out looking exactly like Berry’s, so a big tick there. However, I’ve done some research and have some ideas what needs to be done differently to get a much more distinctive cracking pattern on the biscuits. Disappointing, because last time I made them they were picture perfect … but it’s provided me with an excuse to make more.

These biscuits are full of ginger spice and are hard and crunchy, so they’re perfect for dunking. A big hit at home, with the small child demanding a biscuit for breakfast on Saturday.

Rest assured, he didn’t get it!

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Mary Berry’s Cornish Fairings

Ingredients

  • 100g plain flour
  • ¼ tsp ground ginger
  • ¼ tsp allspice
  • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 50g butter (I used salted as that's what I had)
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 75g (roughly 2 generous tablespoons) golden syrup

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 160°C fan.
  2. Mix the dry ingredients with the butter until crumbly. Add the golden syrup (warmed, if it is very cold weather) and mix to a soft dough.
  3. Either divide into 24 or, using a teaspoon, scoop out small walnut sized portions, roll and gently flatten on a baking sheet (lined with baking paper).
  4. Cook for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, remove and tap the tray firmly on the bench before returning to the oven for a further 5 minutes.
  5. The biscuits should be golden.
  6. Cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container. They will easily last 3-4 days.
https://eatingadelaide.com/mary-berrys-cornish-fairings/

ANZAC Biscuits

- Alex 2 Comments

ANZAC Biscuits

Today (25 April) is ANZAC Day. Alongside Australia Day it is easily the most important national holiday here. It commemorates the first military action fought by Australian (and New Zealand troops). Australia was only federated in 1901 so when the First World War broke out the nation was a baby. In 1915, Australian and New Zealand troops were deployed to Turkey and they landed at Gallipoli on this day.

In theory, it was going to be a quick strike, but that single campaign was to last eight months and by the end of the year the allied troops had to be evacuated. Over 8000 Australians had been killed.

Today, ANZAC Day commemorates all Australian servicemen and women, and the national holiday and dawn services give everyone an opportunity to reflect on the commitment that those who serve give to their fellow countrymen.

Anyway, history lesson over. Let’s get to the biscuits (note, biscuits, NOT cookies). The story goes that these egg free biscuits were sent to troops by loved ones back in Australia. Food historians may wish to argue this point, and while I am normally a really tedious stickler for facts, in this instance I think we should let accuracy slide and just go with the collective wisdom.

This is my recipe for ANZAC biscuits. It’s not a tried and tested family recipe but one I created back in 2006. It is egg free but not dairy or gluten free. Apologies in advance for the imperial measurements and the mix of volume and weight measurements!

It’s a really simple recipe – so simple in fact that I made these biscuits this afternoon with my toddler.

Just remember – these are ALWAYS biscuits!

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ANZAC Biscuits

Ingredients

    Dry Ingredients
  • ¾ cup dessicated coconut
  • ½ cup caster sugar
  • 1 cup oats
  • 1 cup plain flour
  • pinch of salt
    • Wet Ingredients
  • 4 oz unsalted butter
  • 2 tbsp golden syrup
  • 1 tsp bicarb
  • 2 tbsp boiling water

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C (convention).
  2. Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
  3. On the stove, melt the butter and the golden syrup. Then add the bicarb and boiling water. The mixture will froth a little.
  4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well. You may need to add a little extra boiling water.
  5. Make large walnut sized balls of mixture and flatten on baking trays (lined with baking paper). The biscuits will spread as they cook, so ensure you leave ample space between them.
  6. Cook for 10-15 minutes. Less cooking leads to chewy biscuits, more cooking: crunchier biscuits.
  7. Makes approximately 18 biscuits.
https://eatingadelaide.com/anzac-biscuits/

 

Dan Lepard’s Toll House Yo-Yos

- Alex Leave a comment

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One of my Christmas presents was Dan Lepard‘s new book Short and Sweet. I’m a huge fan of his thanks to his column in the Guardian – his recipes never seem to go wrong.

I’ve made these toll house yo-yos before and I have mucked around with the recipe a bit – mainly because the original makes use of custard powder and this is something we never have in the house.

These are easy to make and you can pretend they’re healthy, as they contain oats. In addition, you can make the mixture up, wrap it in cling film and freeze it for when you need it.

Grind 75g of rolled oats to a powder.

Then beat 150g unsalted butter with 175g of icing sugar, until light and creamy. Add 175g of plain flour, the ground oats, 2 tsp vanilla essence and 2-4 tbsp of milk (enough to bring the mixture together). Finish by adding 150g of dark chocolate, broken up. Lepard says to cut the chocolate into ½ cm chips. I am way too impatient for that type of thing. Typically, I roughly chop the chocolate and then throw it into the MagiMix. However, I think this is the wrong approach. You are better off using a stand mixer to make the biscuits (yes, you’ll need to make sure you butter is slightly soft and not rock hard out of the fridge) and mixing in good quality dark chocolate chips/buttons at the end.

Why?

Because if you use my slap dash approach, you end up with biscuits that have a kind of uniform brown background to them, and if you take a bit more time, you’ll have cream biscuits attractively studded with chocolate.

However you get there, roll your dough into a log approximately 5cm in diameter, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for around ½ an hour.

When you’re ready to cook, preheat your oven to 180°C, line a baking sheet with baking paper and simply cut your log into discs 1-1½ cm thick.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden and cool on a baking rack. Dan Lepard sandwiches the biscuits together with an icing made from icing sugar, vanilla essence and milk. I am FAR too lazy health conscious for that! The biscuits are perfectly good to eat without sandwiching!