Mince Pies

www.shropshirebreakfast.co.uk

I'm not a keen pastry cook and, every year, have always searched in vain for a decent mince pie pastry recipe. However a couple of years I was recommended a recipe by Darren ( @urdygurdy on Twitter ) and chef at the Minfford Hotel near Tal-y-llyn in North Wales ( a stunning part of the country if you've never visited ).

The ingredients are from Darren but I can't blame him for the recipe. Also the orange zest is my own addition.

I couldn't decide whether to put the mince pies or the lemon drizzle in the guest rooms so I've put both in in the run up to Christmas.

5oz cold butter, cut into cubes
8oz plain flour
1oz sugar
zest of half an orange
1 egg
1 jar of mincemeat
a little water
1 small beaten egg

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C or Fan oven to 180 degrees C.

Rub the butter into flour until it resembles breadcrumbs ( I use the food mixer ), add the sugar and orange zest and mix well. Add the egg and mix well until it forms a stiff dough. You made need a few drops of water but not a lot.

I put the pastry wrapped in clingfilm for at least 30 mins.

Cut the pastry into 2 then roll out quite thinly on a floured surface. I use a large and medium pastry cutter to cut out 16 large and 16 medium sized circles. You'll probably need to pull together the trimmings of pastry and reroll them a few times.

Take a mincepie tin and line with the large circles. ( My mincepie tin only has 12 holes so I do it in 2 batches ). Put about a teaspoon of mincemeat in each ( be careful not to overfill ). Brush the edges with water and then put the smaller circles of pastry on top. Crimp the edges together. Brush with beaten egg and put in the oven for 20 minutes. My oven isn't very even so I time for 10 minutes then turn round the tin and cook for another 10 minutes..

Put on a cooling tray and dust with icing sugar.

Spiced Plums

www.shropshirebreakfast.co.uk

This dish is very popular on the breakfast buffet table. The plums go very well with granola and yoghurt, bircher muesli and even porridge.

It improves in taste overnight and will last a couple of days in the fridge. It's great for using up a surplus of plums and is also good with those rock hard plums you buy in the supermarket to "ripen at home"

It's been a bad year for plums here but, when I do have a glut, I cut the plums in half and freeze on a tray before putting into a bag in the freezer. I then cook them straight from the freezer.

It's also good as a base for a plum crumble or with rice pudding.

I've used ground cinnamon here but you could use a cinnamon stick instead and put in a star anise.

7 or 8 plums cut in half with stone removed
3 tbs soft brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
water

Preheat oven to 200 degrees ( 180 for fan oven ) or use the top oven in the AGA. Take a medium sized baking dish and pour in about 1/2 cm water. Add the sugar and cinnamon and stir around. Add the plums, cut side up.

Put in the oven for about 30 minutes. You need the plums soft but, preferably, not falling apart.

Apricot Almond Mini Cakes

www.shropshirebreakfast.co.uk

I have another lovely virtual Twitter friend, Deanna Morauski, who runs the Old Hen B&B in Snoqualmie Valley in Washington. Deanna and her husband have recently been featured on the Live Well Network in the USA ( details below ). I watched the video of it the other evening and it was great to see her in "real life"

Here Deanna shares her recipe for Apricot Almond Mini Cakes Recipe.

Apricot Almond Mini Cakes Recipe

Preheat oven to 350F.

CAKE INGREDIENTS:

• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cup apricot jelly (for topping)
• 1 cup sliced almonds (for topping)
• 2 cups (or 16 ounces) high quality semi-sweet chocolate (for dipping)

Place eggs in mixing bowl. Add sugar and beat on high setting for about 3 minutes or until well combined and frothy. Lower setting on mixer and add flour slowly. Add butter. Mix until butter is completely mixed into batter. Add almond extract, baking powder and salt. Place cake in two 9X13 baking pans that have been sprayed with non-stick baking spray. Bake until fork poked into center of each cake comes out clean - start checking at about 20 minutes.

When cake done baking, remove from oven and allow to cool. Heat apricot jam for about 45 seconds in microwave (not necessary but helpful for spreading). Spread jelly evenly on top of cakes. Chill cakes in fridge for about 20 minutes to firm up jelly and make cake easier to dip into chocolate. Make mini cakes but cutting with a 1 1/2 inch circle cookie cutter. Push the cookie cutter into the apricot topped cake and gently push the cake up through the top to remove from cookie cutter so that the jelly topping stays nice. Place on a parchment paper on a baking sheet.

Dip each mini cake into chocolate up to jelly (coating bottom and sides) using a fork or a chocolate dipping tool. Place dipped cakes back onto the tray covered with parchment paper to cool. When finished will all the cakes, place tray in fridge to set for about a half an hour.

Place in mini cupcake liners or candy liners on a pretty platter to serve.

This recipe makes about 60-70 mini cakes.

About Deanna:

You can see Deanna on Joey Fatone's new show "My Family Recipe Rocks" on the Live Well Network this month on October 27th. You can watch her episode here: http://livewellnetwork.com/My-Family-Recipe-Rocks/8432939 She will be making four scrumptious recipes throughout an entire episode filmed at her B&B, The Old Hen. Follow along on her Facebook page or on Twitter for updates .

Deanna’s love for baking and cooking began as she sat upon a baker’s stool as a little girl. Her love for people grew in the midst of church potlucks. She expresses her loves today creatively through speaking, writing for her foodie blog, television appearances as well as hosting guests, including celebrities, at her award-winning inn, The Old Hen Bed & Breakfast http://theoldhen.com in Snoqualmie Valley, Washington.

Gluten Free Banana Bread

www.shropshirebreakfast.co.uk

I often have guests with specific dietary requirements staying & am always looking for suitable alternatives to dish up for breakfast.

I've learned a bit about a gluten free diet from various guests over the years. Catering specifically for a coeliac diet can be a bit tricky as you can't let any wheat flour contaminate the food you're preparing.

Gluten free bread has to be toasted separately & you have to ensure that items like butter, jams etc haven't accidently got bread crumbs in them.

I buy brand new bags of gluten free, flour, sugar etc when I have to bake gluten free.

I made this banana bread for breakfast this morning - it worked very well and was almost indistinguishable from that which I make with normal flour.

I would have added a tablespoon of honey & 1 teaspoon of cinnamon instead of the mixed spice but both were open & I couldn't guarantee no random flour particles!

( BTW I forgot to take a photo of the bread so this is picture of my normal banana bread - looked exactly the same ;0)

50g softened butter
90g caster sugar
1 large egg
1 ripe banana
110g gluten free self raising flour
1 level tsp gluten free baking powder
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tbsp milk

Put all the ingredients in a mixer and beat for 2 minutes.
Put into a 1lb loaf tin lined with a paper liner and baked at 180 degrees ( fan oven ) for about 40 minutes until golden & firm.
Leave to cool a bit before slicing.

Three Fruit Marmalade

www.shropshirebreakfast.co.uk

It's about this time of the year that I start to run low on the Seville Orange Marmalade I made back in January. I do have some frozen seville oranges in the freezer for this but last last week I decided to make three fruit marmalade as it does seem very popular with the guests.

I need to confess that I don't like marmalade so I have no idea if it's good or not. I put the first pot on the breakfast buffet table this weekend and have just had a request to buy some so it must be OK :)

1 Large Orange
1 Red Grapefruit
1 large lemon
1 Kg sugar ( not Jam sugar, granulated, preserving or caster sugar is fine )
1.5 litres water
1 knob of butter
1 muslin bag
1 large pan
6 x 454g jam jars with lids

Scrub the fruit well. Halve the fruit and juice, retaining all the bits of flesh & pips that accumulate in the juicer. Scrape out all of the flesh from the fruit & put into the muslin bag along with the rest of the flesh & pips. Tie the top of the muslin bag securely.

Cut the peel as finely as possible and put in the large pan with the juice,water and the muslin bag. Bring to the boil then simmer very gently for 2 hours ( if you have an AGA the ideal place to do this is in the simmering oven ). You need to reduce the liquid by half so I use my Maslin pan that has a scale on it.

Put a couple of saucers in the freezer.

Whilst you're doing this put the jam jars and lids through the dishwasher on a hot cycle to sterilise them. Take them out and ensure they are completely dry then put the jars on a tray in a low oven to keep warm.

On a low heat, add the sugar to the pan. Wait for it to dissolve completely, stiring whilst you do this.
When the sugar is dissolved then increase the heat until you get a fast rolling boil ( one you can't stir down with a wooden spoon ). Boil for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and test for set - put the marmalade on a saucer from the freezer and draw your finger across it - if it wrinkles it's ready. If not boil for another 5 minutes. Repeat this process until you get a set.

Once it's ready take off the heat and add a knob of butter to remove the accumulated scum. Stir.
Leave for 15 minutes, then pour into the hot jam jars. Screw on the lids - hey presto-marmalade :0)

Apricot and Vanilla Compote

www.shropshirebreakfast.co.uk

It's getting to the time of year when strawberries aren't as sweet as they were and fruit compotes start to make their way onto the breakfast buffet table.

Today I had some leftover apricots from preserve making so decided to test a new recipe for apricot compote. I suspect, like most compotes, this is going to taste better the next day, though it's still tastes pretty good freshly cooked.

500g fresh apricots ( halved and stoned )
75g caster sugar
200ml water
a vanilla pod ( I used a rum soaked one out of my homemade vanilla extract )

Dissolve the sugar in the water over a low heat. Add the apricots and vanilla pod and simmer gently for 20-30 minutes until the apricots are soft.

Leave to cool and put in the fridge and serve next day for breakfast, or, this would taste fabulous with some rice pudding for dessert.

Lee House Cherry Almond Yoghurt Cake

www.shropshirebreakfast.co.uk

One of the things I love about social media is how it's created connections and friendships with other B&Bs all over the country. We share recipes and ideas and commiserate when things go wrong.

I was alerted to this cake recipe by Pauline at Lilac Tree Lodge in Sussex http://www.lilactreelodge.com/ who was given the recipe by Caroline of Lee House in Lynton in North Devon http://www.leehouse-lynton.co.uk/

The photo is by Pauline and the recipe by Caroline

Lee House Cherry Almond Yoghurt Cake

Ingredients

*1 x Stapleton Strawberry & Clotted Cream yogurt

1 x tub ground almonds

2 x tubs of sugar (granulated or caster)

2 x tubs of self-raising flour

1 x 200g carton of glace cherries

½ tsp baking powder; 1 x tub sunflower oil

3 x large eggs; ½

1 capful of almond essence

1-2 tbsp icing sugar for dusting (optional)

margarine and extra flour preparing the tin

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and flour a 24cm Bundt tin/Savarin cake tin (at Stapleton we did not have either of these so we just used a regular round 20cm cake tin which has worked well too). To measure ingredients, pour straight from the packet into the empty yogurt pot. Ingredients should be uniformly level with the top of the pot for each ‘tub’ measure required.

1) Cut cherries into quarters. Empty the yogurt into a large bowl; use a flexible spatula to ensure you get every last drop of yogurt out of the pot.

2) Measure the ground almonds and pour onto the yogurt in the mixing bowl; repeat this process with the sugar. Measure out one tub of self-raising flour (no need to sift) and pour half the tub into the bowl. Drop in a few cherries, then alternate layers of flour and cherries until the remaining one and a half tubs of flour and cherries have been added to the bowl. Lightly mix cherries and flour together with your fingers to coat the cherries. Add the remaining ingredients (up to and including the almond essence) in the order listed above. Stir ingredients together with a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined.

3) Spoon mixture evenly around the prepared tin and spread the top level. Bake at 180°C for approximately 45–60 minutes (the shorter time for fan assisted ovens), until well risen and golden brown (if using a round cake tin, you may need to place some baking paper over the top of the cake to prevent it from getting too brown!). Test for ‘doneness’ with a metal skewer.

4) Leaving the cake in its tin, place on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes. Ease the cake away from the edges of the tin with your fingers and then carefully turn the cake out onto the wire rack. Dust with icing sugar when cool if liked.

 Pauline's note *I couldn’t find that make so bought another make of strawberry and cream yoghurt in 150 g tub (large individual size) and this is the tub you use for other measurements.  There is a lot of mixture so if you cook in normal tin I would suggest lowering temp a bit and cooking for longer to make sure cooked through in middle.  It is a very moist cake when first cooked and we preferred it a few days later when not so moist. Freezes well