Recipes

Apricot and Walnut Scones

8oz SR Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
2oz Butter or Marg
1 med egg beaten
Handful of chopped Apricots
Handful of chopped walnuts
Extra beaten Egg
Caster Sugar

Oven 200 C
Mix flour and b powder together and rub in butter to fine breadcrumbs, stir in fruit and nuts,add lightly beaten egg and gently bring together. Roll dough out gently to about 2cm and cut out scones with round cutter - makes 6-8 depending on size of cutter used. Brush tops with beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown on top. I like to decorate with a piece of walnut.
Delicious served with butter or eaten as they are straight from the oven.

Lemoncello Cake

225g Butter softened
225g Caster sugar
4 Eggs
60ml Limoncello liqueur
Finely grated zest 1 lemon ( I prefer 2)
225g Self raising flour
Icing:
Juice 1-2 Lemons (to taste) 
85g Caster sugar
3tbsp Lemon liqueur (opt)

Oven 180 C
Grease and line a loaf tin. Beat butter and sugar, add eggs separately and mix well . Mix  in liqueur. Sift in flour , add zest and mix well. Spoon mixture into tin, level and bake for 45-50 mins. Check with skewer.
While cake is cooling in tin make icing - mix lemon juice, sugar and liqueur together well, prick cake all over with skewer and pour top of cake. Leave in tin to cool completely, serve and enjoy!

Christmas Cake

250g Butter
125g Light muscovado sugar
125g Dark muscovado sugar
650g Dried fruits - I like to use apricots, glace cherries, figs
3 Large eggs
65g ground almonds
100g Walnuts ( or other nuts)
350g Raisins,sultanas, cranberries combined ( could also use currants)
3tbsp Brandy plus extra to 'feed' the cake
Zest and juice of an orange
Zest of a lemon
Half tsp Baking powder
250g Plain flour

20cm cake tin with removable base - fully line with a double layer of lightly buttered greaseproof or parchment, make sure it comes 5cm above the top of the tin. Oven 160 C
Beat butter and sugar until light.
Cut dried fruits into small pieces, remove any stalks.
Add eggs to mixture one at a time, gradually add gr almonds, nuts, dried fruit, brandy, citrus zest and juice.
Mix the flour and baking powder together then fold carefully into the mixture. Spoon into the tin, smooth top gently and place in oven.
Bake for 1 hour, lower heat to 150 C and now bake for a further 1 hr 30 mins.
Check with a skewer in middle of cake. Make sure ther is no trace of raw cake mixture.
When cake is cool remove from tin.
Prick cake all over with a skewer. Feed cake by pouring 1-2 tb sp brandy over top of cake every few days in the run up to Christmas - once a week at least.
Keep cake covered well and in an airtight container until Chri
stmas.
Traditionally Christmas cake is coverd in aprcot jam, almond paste and topped with icing but sometimes I prefer the cake just as it is or covered in almond paste and baked a second time to give a lovely golden topping to the cake!

Kiwi and Oat Loaf

4 oz Butter or marg
4oz Caster sugar
2 Eggs beaten
4 oz SR flour
Handful of oats plus extra for topping
4 or 5 Kiwis - chopped into small pieces

Oven 170 C
Line a loaf tin
Cream butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time, sieve in flour, add oats and combine thoroughly, now gently fold in fuit - if the mixture is dry add a little milk to the mix before spooning into the tin, smooth out top of mixture gently and sprinkle over the oats - you could also sprinkle a little sugar to give a crunchy topping when baked.
Bake for 40 -50 mins, check with skewer, leave to cool before removing from tin.

Raspberry Buns

8 oz Plain flour
2 level tsp Baking powder
4 oz Caster sugar
3 oz Butter or marg
4 tbsps Milk
Raspberry jam

Sieve flour and b powder together, add sugar, rub in the butter until it looks like fine breadcrumbs.
Add the milk, using a palate knife bring together into a 'not too wet' dough.
Knead gently on a floured surface until smooth.
Roll out the dough to approx. 1/4 '' in thickness. Cut into circles, place a spoonnful of raspberry jam on each circle. damp the edges of each circle , fold the edges inwards to cover the jam. Place the buns on a greased tray - joined face down. Slit the top of each bun.
Bake at 190 C for 20 mins, cool on a rack until cool enough to eat.

Beautiful Biscuits

4 oz Caster Sugar
4 oz Butter
8 oz SR flour
1 tb sp Golden syrup

Cream butter and sugar, add flour and syrup - bring to a soft dough.
Roll into 18 balls, place on a lined baking sheet (give roon to spread).
Bake at 170C until golden - after 5 mins of baking flaten balls with a fork and replace in oven.

Drop Scones

4 oz SR flour
1 tsp Baking powder
1 oz Caster sugar
pinch salt
1 Egg
4 fl oz Milk
A drop of sunflower oil- greasing

Sift flour and b powder into a large bowl, add sugar and salt, mix. Make a well in the centre, crack in an egg and whisk, gradually drawing in the flour from the edge. Add the milk gradually, whisking all the time to form a smooth batter.
Lightly grease a frying pan and warm over a medium heat. Drop individual tablespoons of the mixture into the pan - 3 or 4 in the pan at a time. Keep them well apart to prevent them sticking together.
Cook for approx. 2mins or until bubbles appear on the surface and begin to burst, flip the scones over and cook until golden on both sides, serve with butter and eat straight away- also good with homemade jam or golden syrup.

Simple Flatbreads
Makes 8

250g Plain Flour plus extra for dusting
1 tsp Salt
1 tbl sp Olive Oil
approx 150 ml warm water

Sift flour and salt together. Spoon the oil into the jug of water and pour over flour in a thin stream, mix with hand as you do so. Bring into a soft, sticky dough. Place dough on floured surface, knead for 5 mins until smooth. Cover with upturned bowl and rest for 15 mins.
Roll dough into a sausage shape, divide into 8 and roll each into a ball. Place on floured surface and roll each ball into a thin round about the size of a side plate.
Heat up a heavy based frying pan, when pan is very hot turn down heat to medium - shake off loose flour from flatbread and place in pan for approx 1 min until white spots form on surface, flip with spatula - should be patched with brown on underside- when cooked both sides remove and wrap in tea towel to keep warm.
Delicious eaten with melted butter straight away or rolled with your favourite filling.
Also good - sandwich two flatbreads together with cheese and tomato, return to the hot pan and heat for 30 seconds each side until filling has melted!