Viennese Shortbread Fingers

Every now and again, I like to make a big batch of biscuits to have on hand in the biscuit tin… something nice to nibble on with my beloved cup of tea. These days there are many varieties of biscuit for sale in the shops and supermarkets, but ultimately, I prefer something homemade, if at all possible. Making your own biscuits/cookies is usually a very quick and easy thing to do and they really do taste so much better than their mass-produced cousins.

 

When I was a child there wasn’t the choice that there is nowadays in the shops and the most decadent biscuits we ever bought were chocolate-covered digestives… and we only had those when guests were expected! Other than that it was plain Digestives or Rich Tea. Interestingly, my grandmother who played a huge role in influencing my love of cookery, never really baked biscuits… the only thing I can ever recall her making was shortbread or flapjacks, but nothing more adventurous than that, though both of these tasted wonderful. I thought my friend Sara who lived across the road was so lucky, because her mum used to make Millionaire’s Shortbread….which to me, at that age, seemed like the ultimate in hedonistic home-baking. To this day whenever I make Millionaire’s Shortbread, I always think of how envious I felt of Sara and her brother and sisters! See my recipe for Millionaire’s Shortbread here.

 

Most home-baked biscuits can be stored quite successfully in an air-tight tin for a few days, unlike those that are commercially produced which seem to stay crisp and crunchy for a far longer time, courtesy of the preservatives and anti-humectants that tend to be included. Yes; biscuits are an indulgence, and by no stretch of the imagination could they be considered a dietary necessity, but if I’m going to treat myself, I’d far prefer to eat something that contains the best of ingredients and where I know exactly what has been used. On that basis, I don’t mind that homemade biscuits may not last long as store-bought versions, because they just taste far superior and usually far more delicious!

 

This is a great recipe; really simple to make and results in a short and buttery biscuits. Rather than use caster or granulated sugar for sweetness, powdery icing sugar is used. This along with the inclusion of some cornflour makes a biscuit that just melts in the mouth. The baked biscuits can be sandwiched together with vanilla flavoured buttercream or a splodge of jam if desired, but I like them just dipped in some melted dark chocolate.

 

The key thing when making these biscuits is to allow the butter to soften to room temperature so that all the other ingredients can be incorporated easily to create a soft dough that can be piped. I used a star nozzle fitted to a disposable piping bag to create ‘fingers’, but you could also pipe rosettes, about 5cms in diameter if preferred.
 

Ingredients:

250g butter, very soft but not melted
60g icing sugar

225g plain flour

70g cornflour

½ tsp vanilla extract/paste

To finish:

100g dark chocolate, melted
 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 160C/Fan Oven 140C/Gas Mark 3. Line two large baking trays with non-stick baking parchment and set aside.

2. Place the butter and icing sugar into a large mixing bowl and cream together until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes) with a hand-held electric mixer.

3. Sift the plain flour and cornflour together and gradually mix into the butter mixture along with the vanilla extract/paste to create a soft dough. Do not over-mix as this will result in ‘tougher’ biscuits.

4. Spoon the dough into a disposable piping bag fitted with a 1cm star nozzle. Pipe out 6-7cm long fingers onto the line baking trays leaving about 2cms between each ‘finger’. You should get about 30 biscuits. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-17 minutes until barely coloured. Remove the trays from the oven and allow the biscuits to cool for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

To finish:

5. Dip one end of each biscuit into the melted chocolate and lay on baking parchment to harden.

Makes approximately 30 biscuits.
 

Lemon & Raspberry Friands

Looking back through my blog posts, I see that I have previously included a number of recipes for friands and financiers – moist little almond and fruit sponge-cakes, but this one is so good, that I felt that I had to post it despite the fact that it is a variation on the theme.

I love anything lemony and I also love raspberries, so it was inevitable that these little cakes would really find favour with me. The friands are glazed with a runny glacé icing flavoured with fresh lemon juice, which serves to really accentuate the overall lemon flavour. I find that the inclusion of raspberries is crucial, because along with the lemon they add a fruity tartness against the sweetness of the sponge cakes. I used frozen raspberries, but you could, of course use fresh raspberries. Ironically, although I generally tend to favour fresh ingredients in my cooking and baking, this is one time that I actually prefer using frozen berries as they seem to keep their shape a little better than their fresh counterparts. Ultimately, both work well and if you happen to grow your own fruit and berries, this would be a wonderful recipe to try. Also, although I have used raspberries here, this recipe also works well by substituting them for blueberries (again either fresh or frozen).

 

What really appeals about this recipe is that other than weighing out the ingredients, there really is very little technical expertise required or complex procedures involved. The only thing that is absolutely crucial is that you prepare your tins well. I used a specialist friand tin, which is like a muffin/cupcake tin but with oval shaped ‘holes’. The inside of each hole must be brushed with melted butter and then placed in the fridge for 5 minutes to give the butter a chance to harden. Then you need to lightly dust the inside of each hole with some plain flour and shake out any excess. If you don’t do this, you risk the friands sticking and being impossible to remove. Traditionally, friands are baked directly in the tins without paper cases, so it is worthwhile spending the time to prepare the tin. If you don’t have a friand tin, use an ordinary, well-greased and floured muffin/cupcake tin instead.
 

This recipe requires 6 egg whites which seems like quite a lot. Although the white are briefly whisked, you do not need to whisk them as much as you would when creating a meringue; what you really want is just to break up their almost gelatinous quality so that they mix in easily with the other ingredients. The problem with any recipe that requires a number of egg whites is that you invariable have the equivalent number of egg yolks leftover. To be honest, this is not really a problem in my kitchen as I am quite happy to use the egg yolks to make a custard base for ice cream, crème Anglaise, lemon curd or homemade mayonnaise.

 

Here are links to some of my other friend and financier recipes:

• Blackberry & Walnut Friands
• Redcurrant Financiers
• Matcha Financiers with Redcurrants

 

Ingredients:

165g butter, melted
100g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
250g icing sugar

125g ground almonds

6 egg whites, lightly beaten
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

100g frozen/fresh raspberries

Lemon glaze:

150g icing sugar

Juice of ½ lemon
 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C/Fan Oven 160C/Gas Mark 4. Lightly grease the inside of each hole of the friand tin with a little of the melted butter using a pastry brush. Set the rest of the melted butter aside for later use. Refrigerate the friand tin for 5-10 minutes to allow the butter to harden up. Remove from the fridge and lightly dust with plain flour, shaking out any excess. Set aside.

2. Sift the flour and icing sugar together into a large mixing bowl. Add the ground almonds and mix with a wooden spoon until well distributed.

3. Add the egg whites to the flour along with the lemon zest and mix well with a wooden spoon to combine. Next add the melted butter and mix in well. Spoon the mixture evenly into the holes of the friand tin so that each is about ¾ full. Place 2 or 3 raspberries on top of each friand pressing them down so that they are gently embedded in the batter without being completely engulfed. Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes until well risen, light golden brown and a thin skewer inserted in one comes out clean.

4. Allow to cool in the tin for 10-15 minutes, before removing gently to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

To finish:

5. Mix the icing sugar and lemon juice together to create a slightly runny glaze. Spoon this over the friands, letting it dribble naturally down the sides of each. Allow the glaze to dry and harden and then serve.
 

Makes 12.
 

 

Cinnamon Spiced Apple & Walnut Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce

Yep… here’s ANOTHER walnut recipe, but they really are such a versatile nut and can be used in so many ways in both sweet and savoury dishes that I think it’s worth posting this recipe! Here they have been used alongside apples in a cinnamon spiced cake which is then topped with a salted caramel sauce!!! This may be a slightly sinful cake, but it tastes heavenly.

 

This cake is made by melting the butter and adding it along with the eggs and brown sugar to the dry ingredients. This along with the inclusion of apple slices makes for a beautifully moist cake which can be served as it is cut into slices as a teatime treat or with some extra salted caramel sauce and a small dollop of lightly whipped cream as a dessert. A couple of days after I made it, I heated some up and served it in a bowl with some warm custard which was absolutely delicious and strongly recommended.  As I have suggested, this cake keeps extremely well; as the cake contains quite a lot of apple in it, I stored it in the fridge after the first day – you can warm it up again in a low oven or heat for 30 seconds in a microwave and serve it with the aforementioned custard, or some vanilla ice-cream!

 

I love the crunch of the almonds in this cake and think that they taste wonderful against the sweetness of the apples. Although I have not tried it yet, you could always substitute sliced pears for the apples which would also taste fab with the walnuts.

 

Initially I had decided not to include any spices in the cake, but on a whim changed my mind and opted to add some ground cinnamon. I am really glad that I did as the cinnamon really made the walnuts seem more intensely flavoured. Although the cinnamon also makes the cake appear sweeter, I decided that I would top the cake off with some salted caramel sauce. Caramel when brought to the right stage of caramelization has a perfect balance between being sweet but with a slightly bitter edge. The addition of salt further balances out the sweetness and really excites the taste buds.

 

I baked this cake in a deep 27cm ring cake tin, but you could bake it in a 22cm-23.5cm round cake tin.
 

Ingredients:

325g plain flour
2tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

2 tsp ground cinnamon

225g butter, melted and allowed to cool

200g caster sugar

125g light brown muscovado sugar

4 large eggs

6 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

100g walnuts, roughly chopped

Salted caramel sauce:

250g caster sugar

80ml water

1tsp vanilla extract

125ml double cream

25g butter

½ tsp sea salt flakes
 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C/Fan Oven 160C/Gas Mark 4. Grease a deep 27cm ring tin with butter and then sprinkle with flour shaking out the excess. Set aside.

2. Sieve the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon together into a large mixing bowl. Separately mix the melted butter, caster and muscovado sugar together and add the eggs, whisking together to combine.

3. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and slowly mix in the butter mixture, with a balloon whisk, making sure that there are no pockets of the dry mixture remaining. Add the sliced apples and chopped walnuts and mix them through the batter with a wooden spoon making sure that they are well distributed.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and even out the surface with a spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 50 minutes or until the cake is well risen and a thin skewer inserted into the cake come outs clean of any batter. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack to finish cooling completely before topping with the salted caramel sauce.

Salted caramel sauce:

5. Place the water and sugar in a heavy-based, medium sized saucepan and bring up to the boil over a moderate to high heat. Do not stir the mixture as this can cause it to crystalize, but gently swirl the saucepan every now and again.

6. Allow a caramel to develop which will take about 4 to 5 minutes. When you have reached this stage, pour in the double cream carefully – the mixture will splutter – and stir with a wooden spoon. Cook the mixture over a moderate heat for a further 2 minutes and then remove from the heat.

7. Add the butter, vanilla extract and salt flakes and stir well. The sauce is ready.

To finish:

8. Pour the sauce, whilst still warm, over the cake. This makes more sauce than you will need, but believe me, you will find loads of uses for the extra!

Serves 10-12.
 

Chicken with Walnut & Pomegranate Sauce

To be completely honest, this is the type of dish that I would never have considered making at home, if it had not been for the fact that I am currently trying out a whole load of different ways of using walnuts in my cooking and baking. Now, whilst I do love walnuts, I had mostly eaten them as an ‘added’ ingredient in cakes or breads, but not really in many dishes where they were the main focus. One of my New Year’s resolutions for 2015 was that I would be more adventurous and really try to extend my culinary horizons – this dish resulted from that. I was also really pleased with the Roast Chicken and Walnut Pesto dish that I made recently and loved the flavour combination of the walnuts with the chicken so was keen to try other recipes that married these two ingredients together.

 

This dish has its origins in Middle Eastern cookery where walnuts and other nuts are regularly teamed with meat. The inclusion of pomegranate, in the form of pomegranate molasses and the ‘seeds’ of the fresh fruit is also a nod to the cooking of this region.

 

I really wanted to highlight the flavour of the walnuts so placed the shelled nuts on a baking tray and roasted them in a moderate oven for ten minutes. When they cooled, I ground them in my food processor. Roasting the nuts really intensified the flavour and leant the dish a faint background smokiness, which I found very pleasant.

 

I looked at many Middle Eastern recipes and noted that they usually contain added spices but that these are intended to be subtle rather than in-your-face. I added a tiny amount of ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, a little cumin and some turmeric and was really pleased with the results.

 

It’s hard to describe the flavours of this dish; there is an underlying sweetness from the pomegranate molasses and inclusion of a little sugar, but this tempers the slight bitterness of the walnuts. As it cooks, the walnuts emulsify to form a thick sauce. Chopped fresh leaf parsley and fresh pomegranate seeds add liveliness to the finished dish, which tastes wonderful and really awakens the palate.

 

This is a dish full of complex and unusual flavours and it is one that I will definitely be making again. I served this dish with a side salad but you could also serve it alongside some steamed rice where it would make a substantial meal.

 

NOTE: Pomegranate molasses can be a little difficult to source in ordinary supermarkets and is an essential ingredient in this recipe. It can be obtained in many Asia markets and also online where I obtained mine.
 

Ingredients:

225g walnuts, shelled weight
500g skinless chicken thighs or breasts

1tblsp olive oil

25g butter

2 large onions, chopped

Large pinch of ground cinnamon

Large pinch of grated nutmeg

½ tsp ground turmeric

½ tsp ground cumin

Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

500ml chicken stock

60ml pomegranate molasses

1tblsp sugar

To serve:

Seeds from ½ pomegranate

Handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped
 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C/Fan Oven 160C/Gas Mark 4. Place the walnuts in a single layer in a roasting dish and roast in the oven for approximately 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them and give them a shake after 5 minutes. Do not allow to burn as this will ruin the taste. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
2. When the walnuts have cooled, place in a food processor and pulse them until they are fairly fine but still retain some texture. Do not over-process as this will release their oil.

3. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large sauté pan over a moderate heat. Add the chicken breasts and fry on all sides until golden brown. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the onions to the pan, adding a little more oil if necessary and sweat over a moderate heat for 5-7 minutes until softened. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric and cumin to the onions and fry, stirring all the time, for a further 2 minutes.
4. Return the chicken to the pan and add the stock. Bring everything up to the boil and then reduce so that it is simmering very gently. Do not cover the pan at this stage. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes.

5. Next add the ground walnuts, the pomegranate molasses and the sugar to the pan and give everything a good stir. Cover with a lid and allow to simmer for a further 25 minutes, during which time the sauce will thicken.

To serve:

6. Add the fresh pomegranate seeds and chopped parsley just before serving. 

 

Serves 4-6.