My flapjacks recipe

For me, flapjacks are such an English treat. I have images of Quaker oats, golden syrup and good English butter. And tea, of course. You can't eat them without a steaming cup of tea. 

Luckily, and despite living in France, I always keep a can of Lyles Golden Syrup in my supply cupboard. The organic oats I buy for porridge are probably better than Quaker, and French butter is almost as good as its English counterpart. The resulting flapjacks are crispy, sweet and buttery. They're best if your let them go completely cold before eating them, though more than half of the ones I made were consumed while still warm. They aren't for dieters but they are sooooo delicious. And so even easy a (supervised) child could make them. 

Here's the recipe. Simple and quick.

Ingredients

125g salted butter

125g soft brown sugar

2 tbsp golden syrup

350g rolled oats

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add the sugar and golden syrup. Heat until it just starts to boil, then add it to a mixing bowl where you'll have placed the rolled oats.

Using a wooden spoon, mix well until all the oats are covered with the syrupy mixture. 

Press into a shallow baking tray and bake at 200 degrees C for 15 minutes or until golden.

While it's still warm, mark into squares with a wooden or heat-proof spatula. Leave to cool completely before eating (if you can wait that long!)

Recommneded: Drink with tea poured from a real a teapot.

Choco-banana loaf

I found the recipe for this cake online, but I've made a few changes so here's my English version. I hope you enjoy it!

3 eggs
150g sugar
160g plain flour (I prefer to use brown)
1 teaspoon baking powder
150g salted butter
2 bananas
100g dark chocolate

Start by melting 30g of the butter in a frying pan and fry the sliced bananas until they have started to brown. Add a tablespoon of the sugar and continue to cook until it is nicely caramelised. Remove the pan from the heat and leave it to cool.

Heat the oven to 180°

Place the eggs and the rest of the sugar in a mixing bowl. Mix them using an electric whisk until the mixture is pale yellow and doubled in volume. Fold in the flour, sifted with the baking powder.  Melt the rest of the butter and fold it in to the mixture. Now add the caramelised bananas (and the accompanying caramel) and chopped chocolate. Pour the mixture into a loaf tin that you have greased and floured, and cook for 45 minutes.

Even though it may be difficult to wait (it smells so good when it comes out of the oven!), leave to cool fully before serving. The chocolate will remain nice and melted for quite a while. If you don't eat it all immediately, keep it in an airtight tin, it tastes just as good, if not better, the next day.

Bon appetit!

Croissants again!

Hmmm I'd not made croissants for a long, long time. But new flat, new kitchen, new oven. I just had to try them all out. And what better recipe than my old favourite? So on Sunday morning I got up bright and early and set to. Flour, butter, yeast, salt, milk... I had all the ingredients for some buttery, flaky decadance.

And just look how they came out! Absolutely deelish.

Bon appetit!

Lemon and almond tart

This recipe is very scrumptious and quite quick and easy too. It has a shortcrust pastry base and a nice tangy lemony topping. I usually add flaked almonds too, but I didn't have any in my cupboard this time and it was still just as delicious. I use only organic ingredients and local mineral water in my pastries.

For the pastry:

200g plain white flour
80g butter
a pinch of salt
very cold water

Pre-heat the oven to 190°C.

Sieve the flour into a mixing bowl and add the salt/
Cut the butter into small pieces and rub it into the flour/salt mix, until it's all rubbed in and you have a crumbly texture.
Add very cold water a small amount at a time, until you can roll the pastry into a ball and it leaves the sides of the mixing bowl clean.
Wrap the ball of pastry and leave it in the fridge for about 15 minutes, then roll it out and cook it "blind" for about 15 minutes, until it's a bit hard but not yet browned.

For the filling:

2 eggs
125g sugar
80g melted butter
zest and juice of 2 lemons
100g ground almonds
a few flaked almonds for decoration (optional)

Whisk together the eggs and sugar until you obtain a pale, creamy mixture.
Add the melted butter, lemon zest and juice and ground almonds.
Pour the mixture into the pre-cooked pastry case.
Sprinkle with flaked almonds.
Transfer carefully to the oven (it will be quite full and the lemon mixture is rather liquid at this stage).
Let it cook for about 20 minutes, until the top is risen and golden.

You can eat it warm or cold.

Easy peasy pancakes

Yes I know pancakes are never very difficult, but this recipe removes the need to measure out ingredients, and considerably reduces the amount of washing up at the end - always a good idea, in my opinion!  You will need:

1 mixing bowl
1 sieve
1 teacup
1 tablespoon
1 frying pan
1 whisk

Plain white flour
1 large egg or 2 small
milk
water
salt
light oil

Makes about eight big pancakes

I start this recipe by gently heating my frying pan on the hob. However, if you use gas it's probably better to heat the pan just before cooking the pancakes.

Using the teacup as a measure, sift two cupfuls of flour into the mixing bowl. Add a pinch of salt, then break the egg(s) into the middle of the flour and start to mix with the whisk. Graduallly add 1 cupful of water, then 1 1/2 cupfuls of milk, mixing all the time so that you obtain a (hopefully) lump-free mixture. Now stir in one tablespoon of light oil (sunflower oil or similar).

Turn up the heat under the frying pan, add a little oil (I use a wedge of kitchen roll paper to spread it around the pan) and pour in about half a cup of pancake mixture, tilting the pan to spread it evenly around.

Leave it to cook for a few minutes. You can lift up the edge slightly with a fish slice or spatula to check if the first side is cooked and golden. Then flip it over and cook the other side for a few moments before sliding it onto a plate.

For the next pancake add a little more oil to your pan, and continue until you've used up all the mixture.

Eat with lemon and sugar, or honey and melted butter, or jam, or whatever takes your fancy.

Bon appetit!

Scones

Well today we had scones for breakfast. They are, along with scotch pancakes, the easiest and quickest breakfast treats. I have got it down to a fine art:  turn on the oven first, then by the time you've prepared the scones the oven is warm enough, and once they're in the oven, lay the table and make the tea. In theory, everything will be ready in time for breakfast!

You will need:

225g white flour
1 sachet baking powder
40g butter (at room temperature)
150ml milk
2 tbsp caster sugar
pinch of salt

a mixing bowl
a metal tablespoon
a round fluted pastry-cutter
a rolling pin

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder together in a bowl, rub in the butter with your fingertips.
Stir in the sugar, then add the milk little by little, using the metal tablespoon. Finish off with your hands, kneading it together gently to a soft dough (you might not need all the milk).
Roll the dough out on to a floured surface, but keep it thick (around 2 cm).
Use the pastry cutter to cut out your scones. Be careful to tap it straight down, don't twist it or your scones will have a strange shape.
Place the scones on a lined baking sheet, place in the oven for about 12 minutes, until they are crisp and golden.

I like to eat them as is, but you can add butter, jam, clotted cream... If you have any left over, freeze them straight away because they quickly go stale.

Tresses au beurre

I actually made these on Sunday (which is my baking day) but have only just got around to writing up the recipe.

I love to make these because they are so pretty. On Sunday morning I made one for each of the three of us, and a larger one which I put in the freezer for another day. Here's the recipe. Bon appetit!

Makes 2 medium or 6 small tresses

500g flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

75g butter

300 ml milk

20g fresh yeast

1 egg for glazing

Preheat the oven to 180°C

Mix the flour, salt and sugar and rub in the butter.

Heat the milk to body temperature and add the yeast, mix until it has "melted".

Pour the milk/yeast into the flour and knead for 5-10 minutes until you have a soft springy dough.

Cover and leave to rise for 1 hour.

Knock back the dough and knead briefly again.

Separate the dough in two parts (and each again in three parts if you're making the small tresses)

Separate again each part in three parts, which you should roll with you hands to a long sausage shape.

Take the three sausage shapes and make them into a plait, making sure you tuck in the two ends well.

Do the same with the remaining pieces of dough.

Lay them onto a baking sheet, cover and leave to rise for 30 minutes approx.

Brush with beaten egg and cook in the preheated oven at 180° for 20 minutes (small size) or 30 minutes (medium size) until nicely golden.

Leave to cool. They are nice and buttery so you really don't need to add anything to them, though I must admit I like them with just a little bit of jam.

Scotch pancakes with apples

Scotch pancakes are one of my favourite breakfast recipes. They are quick and easy to prepare and appreciated by everyone I know. To make them a bit more special, I like to fry up some apple slices in butter and sugar and add put them between two pancakes, and top them with fromage frais. You could also use whipped cream but I do try to avoid too much fat (do you really believe me?) And this time I had some melted chocolate so I put a drop of that on the top too.

Here's what it looks like. And here's the recipe:

Scotch pancakes 

To make scotch pancakes with apple filling, you'll need (for 3 or 4 servings):

For the pancakes:

120 g flour
30 g sugar
1 sachet baking powder
1 sachet vanilla sugar
1 pinch salt
150 ml milk
1 egg
Oil for cooking

For the apple filling:

4 or 5 apples
30 g butter
1 tblspn  brown sugar

1 measuring jug
1 mixing bowl
2 frying pans


Start by preparing the apples, peel them and cut into slices.
Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the apples.
Cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally to ensure even cooking
When they are nearly ready add the brown sugar and cook until it is slightly caramelised. Leave to cool

For the pancakes, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, vanilla sugar and salt in a bowl.
In a measuring jug, measure out the milk and break the egg into the milk, mix the egg in with a hand whisk
Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients, mix well and then pour the mixture back into the measuring jug (it is easier to pour it than to spoon it out)
Warm the second frying pan, add a small amount of cooking oil and use some kitchen roll to remove the excess and spread it evenly over the pan.
Gently pour small quantities of the mixture in the pan to make the pancakes, keeping them at about 8cm in diameter.
When bubbles appear on the surface, gently turn them over using a fish slice or a palette knife. They should be golden with a distinctive "lacy" pattern. Do not over-cook.

Once you have finished making the pancakes, make a sandwich with the apples in the middle (see photo).
You can top with whipped cream or fromage frais, if you wish. A drop of maple syrup would also go very well with these pancakes. Bon appetit!

Sunday is baking day

I got up early and decided to make croissants and pains au chocolate for breakfast.

I've lived in France for 27 years now, but only discovered the secret of croissant-making about five years ago. They do take a long time to prepare, about four hours from start to finish, but much of that is time waiting for the dough to rise, or the time they spend in the oven. I love to make them because they make me feel creative and all that work really is worth it when you bite into the delicious flaky, butteriness of them.

If there are any left over, they freeze very well and can be gently heated in a warm oven.

I make my croissants with organic flour, butter, milk, yeast, salt and a small amount of sugar.

Here's the recipe:

Croissants 

500g flour

200g butter

300 ml milk

20g fresh yeast

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 egg for glazing

Mix the flour, salt and sugar in a large shallow bowl/plate or directly on a work surface. 

Cut 50g of butter in to small pieces and rub into the flour.

Heat the milk to hand temperature and add the yeast, mix until it has "melted".

Pour the milk/yeast into the flour and knead for 5 minutes until you have a soft springy dough.

Cover and leave it to rise for about 30 minutes, then knock it back and fold in three to make a rectangle, and roll it out on a floured surface.

Cut the remaining butter in two pieces and, using plenty of flour and a rolling pin, start by bashing it and then roll it in the flour until you have a large flat "leaf" of butter. Do the same with the second piece of butter.

Now cover the lower 2/3 of the dough rectangle with the butter, fold down the top 1/3 downwards and the bottom 1/3 upwards. 

Tuck in the edges to stop the butter from escaping, then put the open side to the right and roll out the dough again.

Fold and roll the dough in the same way two more times.

Now put the dough in a floured plastic bag, in the refrigerator and leave it to rise for one hour.

Roll the dough out again into a rectangle, which you will cut down the middle lengthwise.

Cut each length into several triangles (for the croissants) and rectangles (for the pains au chocolate).

For the croissants, roll the triangles up from the long base towards the point of the triangle, keeping it fairly tight. Then turn the ends towards each other to make a croissant shape.

For the pains au chocolat, place a smallish piece of chocolate at the short end of the rectangle and roll up, making sure you leave the "seam" on the underside.

Cover and leave your croissants and pains au chocolat to rise again for about 20 minutes.

Brush them with beaten egg, and place them in a pre-heated oven at 200°C for around 20 minutes or until nicely golden.

Best eaten warm!

Then in the afternoon here's what I made: an apple tart. The pastry looks a bit over-cooked but it was nice and crispy lol. I cheated a bit because I lined my pastry with apple sauce, it keeps the whole thing nice and moist.This was for afternoon tea. That's a lot of butter in one day - maybe it's a good job I only have time to make patisseries at the weekend!