Almond Crescents

A good friend of mine had a knee replacement done about a week and a half ago.  We were going to visit her today to see how she is doing and help break the monotony of being largely immobile and so I decided I wanted to bring her some little treat. 

 

At first I was going to bake her some muffins and then I thought . . . maybe muffins would be too much . . . or they would get all squished in the car, or not be at their best by the time we got there.  I love muffins best when they are fresh out of the oven.



That's when I decided to bake her some cookies.  Not kid cookies.  Grown up cookies.   Cookies meant for dunking.   Out of the ordinary cookies.  Not a chocolate chip in sight.  (Although I am a big fan of those myself!)

 

I decided to make these lovely almond crescents.  They're buttery and crisp  and stogged full of almonds. . . with a crunchy sugar coating of granulated sugar, which bakes on whilst they are in the oven . . . but that is not all . . . no . . . that is not all.



They are deliciously rolled in vanilla flavoured icing sugar when they come out of the oven and are still hot, so that the sugar kinds of melts into them.   Another layer of scrum.  Then, there is a final dusting of plain icing sugar that makes them all pretty and nice.   Let's just say they were very much welcomed!

   

*Almond Crescents*
Makes about 2 dozen

Printable Recipe  

Buttery and crisp, with a crisp granulated sugar coating and almost shortbread-like texture.  Nutty and sweet.  

65g of ground almonds (1/2 cup almond meal)

65g of sifted icing sugar (1/2 cup)

115g of unsalted butter, room temperature (1/2 cup)

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp pure almond extract

pinch salt

140g plain flour (1 cup)

95g granulated sugar

vanilla icing sugar

plain icing sugar to dust  

Cream the butter with a wooden spoon until light and creamy.   Mix the ground almonds and icing sugar together and stir this into the creamed butter until well combined.   Beat in the extracts and salt until well combined.   Add the flour and mix it in thoroughly and the dough begins to clump together.  

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.  Line a couple of baking sheets with some baking parchment.     

Put the granulated sugar into a bowl.   Scoop out cookie dough and shape into 1 inch balls.   Roll the balls into even cylinders and then shape into crescents, tapered at the ends.   Roll them in the granulated sugar and then place them on the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between each.  

Bake for  8 to 10 minutes, flipping the baking sheets halfway through the baking time.   The edges should be light brown when done.   Remove from the oven.  Have a small bowl of the vanilla icing sugar read and roll the still warm cookies in this.  Place them on a wire rack to cool completely.   Dust lightly with plain icing sugar.  Store in an airtight container. 

The recipe only makes about 2 dozen . . . but taste one and you will realize how very dangerous it would be to have more than that around.  Absolute scrum!

Chocolate Tiffin Cake

   

One last indulgence which I made over the Christmas Hols.  It doesn't have to be a holiday to enjoy this tasty cake however, as it goes down a real treat at any time!    

This is a recipe I adapted from a cookbook I picked up at one of those Garden/Gift centres one time.  It's entitled Mum's Favourite Recipes.   They usually have a great variety of books to choose from in those places and they're not very expensive.   Most don't cost more than a magazine, and they have some really good recipes in them.    

This is a common cake you see in the shops over here in the UK.  Basically it is melted chocolate, butter and syrup with crushed biscuits and dried fruit thrown in.  It can vary from recipe to recipe.  

This one uses crumbled digestive biscuits as well as dates and sultanas.   The fruit is soaked in rum first which makes it a bit boozy.   I don't do alcohol so I used rum extract and water, and they came out tasting really nice.  You could add candied cherries, or dried apricots, maybe even some toasted nuts.   The main idea of this cake is mixing the stuff with the melted chocolate mixture and then letting it set up in the fridge.    

  

There is a final topping of melted dark chocolate and white chocolate swirled together.  It also called for crushed malteasers on top.  I didn't have any white chocolate, so I just mixed milk chocolate and dark in the same quanitities, which worked well.  I also didn't have any malteasers, and so I used cripsy cake sprinkles which are chocolate covered rice crisps.   

All in all it was quite nice.   The original recipe called for a 7 inch square pan.  I also didn't have one of those so I used a loaf tin and just cut it into slabs and cut each slab in half to serve.   Scrummy yummy!  

*Chocolate Tiffin Cake*

Serves 8

Printable Recipe  

Quick, easy and delicious.  What more could you want in a chocolate indulgence! 

50g of sultanas (5 1/2 TBS)

75g of dates, chopped (14 pitted dates)

4 TBS rum (I used 1 tsp rum extract and water to make up the 4 TBS)

200g plain dark chocolate (7 ounces)

125g of butter (1/2 cup)

150g golden syrup (3 1/2 fluid ounces corn syrup)

250g of digestive biscuits, roughly crushed (14 1/2 3 inch biscuits, or 2 3/4 cups coarsely cushed graham crackers)

the finely grated zest of one orange

To top:

100g plain dark chocolate (3 1/2 ounces)

100g white chocolate (3 1/2 ounces)

a large handful of crushed malteasers to sprinkle on top (Malted milk balls)

Butter a 7 inch square cake tin and line the bottom with paper.  Butter the paper.  Set aside.

Place the sultanas, dates and rum in a bowl.  Leave to infuse for half an hour.  Melt the chocolate, butter and golden syrup together in a saucepan.  Remove from the heat.  Stir in the soaked fruit and crushed biscuits, along with the orange zest.  Scrape the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top.  Place into the refrigerator to chill for an hour. 

Melt the plain dark and white chocolates separately in bowls set over simmering water.   Pour the melted dark chocolate over top of the biscuit base.  Drizzle over the white chocolate.   Drag a cocktail stick through the chocolates to swirl together.  Sprinkle the crushed malteasers over top.   Return to the refrigerator and allow to chill for a further 2 hours before cutting into wedges to serve.

Raisin Puff

If you don't like raisins, you best look away now because today is all about Raisins!  I just adore raisins.  I love eating them out of hand, baking them into cookies and cakes, pies . . . and tasty squares like these Raisin Puff ones here today.  



This is an old recipe that my ex mother in law gave to me about 34 or 35 years ago now. It was always my ex's favourite and one of my favourites too.  And, I'm happy to say . . . tis also a favourite of the Toddsters!  



I think I get my love of everything raisin from my father.  He adored raisin pie.  I think to this day it is one of his favourite pies.  I wish I lived close enough to him to be able to make one for him now.  I used to make him one every now and again when I did live closer.  



I can 't remember if my mom likes raisin pie or not, but I know my sister does.  We were talking about it just today and then I remembered these tasty bars and thought I would share them with you, because I just no that whilst there may be some raisin haters  amongst you, there are sure to also be some raisin lovers just like me!  



These are so easy to make.  You simply make a cooked filling and then bake it in a square pan between two sheets of pastry.  I like to brush the top with a bit of milk and dust with some Turbinado sugar for a bit of sweet crunch.  



I do hope that you will bake them and that when you do you come back to tell me just how much you loved them!  Now, that would make me very happy indeed!    These are also great cut up, wrapped rightly and stogged into lunch boxes!

    



*Raisin Puff*
makes one 8 inch square pan, about 12 squares
Printable Recipe

Another gem from my big blue binder.  Crisp pastry filled with a lovely raisin filling, brushed with milk and glazed with sugar. Delicious.

For the filling:
200g of soft light brown sugar (1 cup packed)
3 TBS cornflour
300g of raisins (2 cups)
295 ml cold water (1 1/4 cups)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp of lemon extract

To finish:
Shortcrust pastry enough for two layers
to fit in an 8 inch square pan
milk
demerara sugar to sprinkle (turbinado sugar)





First make the filling.  Whisk together the brown sugar and cornflour in a saucepan.  Stir in the water and raisins.  Bring to the boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Cook for one minute after it boils, stirring, until you have a thick and glossy mixture.  Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and lemon extracts.  Set aside to cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 230*C/450*F/ gas mark 8.  Roll out half of the pastry our large enough to line an  8 inch square pan.  Top with the raisin filling.  Roll the remaining pastry large enough to to fit over the top.  Place on top of the raisins.  Seal the edges.  Brush with milk and sprinkle with demerara sugar.

Place in the heated oven to bake.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Reduce the temperature to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.  Bake for a further 20 to 25 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and cooked top and bottom, and lightly browned.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before cutting into squares to serve.