Displaying items by tag: baking

Ooh, Easter Biscuits. These have been on the tea table in our house since I was a little girl. This is my mother's recipe which probably came from one of those 1950's Good Housekeeping recipe books. A buttery shortbread style biscuit with spice and currants. Easter is not the same without them. Makes about 24 biscuits.

I'm a sucker for a Wooster's malt loaf and often buy one with my weekend bread order. I was reminded recently, via Twiitter, about my Malted Fruit Loaf recipe from the Chalice Recipe Book, written by me in the 80's. It's an old faithful recipe which is best made with wholemeal flour and Suffolk honey. It's quick and easy, is fat and sugar free and doesn't need yeast. Why not give it a try?

There's a baking frenzy at the moment and many people are making their own sourdough bread. I'm a fan of traditional yeasted breads and always use fresh yeast for my bread. I generally pick some up from the bakery department at the supermarket (just ask, they'll always give you a piece.)  Lot's of people have been asking me about the different types of yeast available; how to know what and how much to use in recipes. There are three main types but you bet your life that you will have a different type than specified in the recipe

Fresh yeast which must be kept chilled, will store for a couple of weeks in the fridge and also freezes nicely. Fresh yeast needs to be activated in liquid with a little sugar in order to start the fermentation. If a recipe asks for active dried yeast and you only have fresh yeast then you must double the quantity. See below.

Active dried yeast is a dried form of fresh yeast and will also need activating in the same way as fresh yeast. Active dried yeast does not need to be refrigerated.

Instant or Quick dried yeast can be added directly to the dry ingredients in a recipe and does not need activating. It is best to check the manufacturers instructions if using this.

Amount to use - 20g of fresh yeast = 10g of active dried = 5g of instant dried.                       

1 tsp of Active dried yeast is 3.5g.

Bored and enjoy baking bread? Try your hand at Focaccia Art. #focacciaart

Jam tarts are going to be on trend this year apparently. Get your scraps of pastry out and start baking everyone!

I just made this delicious squidgy lemon and lime curd shortbread. It's for pudding tonight but Scarlett and I can't stop ourselves, so maybe there'll be none left by then.

Zumba Josie celebrated 7 years of fitness and fun by having a party and a great Zumba Bake Off at Norton Village Hall. I hadn't quite expected the level of competition when I was asked to judge. Here's the winner! Chocolate Heaven. A tower of chocolate sponge with layers of buttercream, mountains of chocolate and a secret stash of smarties in the middle. Made by mother and daughter team Sue and Grace.

• runner up - Black Forest Gateau
• cakes
• more cakes!
• runner up - Fruit Mousse Tower
• winner - Chocolate Heaven
• runner up - Zumba cake
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When your oldest daughter wants a pair of Hunter wellies and a proper home-made afternoon tea for her birthday ...

• mini Easter coffee cakes
• salted caramel and banoffee eclairs
• herb cheese and quail egg tartlets
• roasted hazelnut Genoise with dark chocolate ganache
• mini lemon posset with brandy snaps
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With the help of my amazing niece Afiya Frank (pictured) I'm in full swing with my Little House of Cooking Cafe. For those of you that don't know I get stuck in for a couple of months from the end of October until Christmas running the cafe during the Christmas Festival at Blackthorpe Barn, Rougham. It's been so busy, baking madly with no time to blog and hardly time to sleep. Come and visit us if you get time, we are open from 10am until 4pm everyday up until and including 22nd December. It's not just cakes, we serve a very good Welsh Rarebit too!

• Home made soup every day
• Citrus almond and polenta cake ( no gluten)
• Pecan tarts
• Hot chocolate ... the works
• Al fresco on craft weekends
• Mulled wine caravan for craft weekends
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Lady Bakewell-Park (aka Becky Sebright-King) produces baked goods using locally sourced ingredients wherever possible. Find her in the Cookhouse at Suffolk Food Hall. Order your own personalised, hand-made biscuits online.