Crostata is a traditional Italian tart, usually filled with jam, but sometimes with ricotta cheese, nuts and poached fruit. The pastry is silky smooth, and the jam filling sweet and fruity. We make dried apricot conserve at our place as the filling, but you can use any not-too-sweet, good quality jam. Don’t be put off by the…
Read MoreBoth my husband’s family and mine have a long tradition of growing citrus trees and making mouth puckeringly tart lemon and lime curd. The limes I used for this recipe were picked from the tree just before I made the curd. I have toned the amount of juice down a little in this recipe because…
Read MoreScrumptious is the word I would use to describe this cake. It is rich and buttery but not heavy or stodgy, and the lemon and almond give subtle but distinctive flavour overtones. Cranberries are one of my favourite dried fruits because although they are sweetened they still have lots of tang. The cake keeps well and…
Read MoreAs I was making these scones I remembered with love all the women who have had input into my scone recipe over many years. I thought of my grandmother who made a beautifully light pumpkin scone and taught me how to use just the right amount of flour when cutting out scones. I saw my friend…
Read MoreI confess that I have a love/hate relationship with muffins. A good muffin is a beautiful thing and I have eaten some spectacular ones. But a bad muffin is pretty disappointing. Case in point – most cafes serve muffins – but they are usually enormous, either dry or stodgy, and the flavourings, be they blueberries,…
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Shortbread is a traditional Christmas-time treat and always makes an appearance at our place. I wanted to try something a little different this year, so I added lemon zest and some fresh thyme to my usual recipe and sprinkled the shortbread with demerrara sugar before baking. The thyme and lemon might seem odd flavours to…
Read MoreSalted caramel seems to be the flavour of the moment and there’s a reason why – it tastes so astoundingly good. If you have never tried it before you simply must, although it is really addictive and you might not be able to resist once you acquire a taste for it. These salted caramel pecans…
Read MoreThe first recipe I ever cooked was pikelets*. I was about ten and eager to help out in the kitchen, sensing even then that the kitchen was where all the action was. My mother was a good, plain cook; hospitable and always concerned that there might not be enough food to feed her guests. Her…
Read MoreI won’t say that these brownies are the best ever. I would never say that anyone’s brownies are the best ever. I think that the world has room enough for a truckload of spectacular brownies, and I’m writing as one who has tried a comprehensive range; nutty, chewy, studded with white chocolate, or milk chocolate,…
Read MoreWhen I was growing up cupcakes were called patty cakes and strictly for children’s birthday parties. Now it seems as if the formerly humble patty cake is everywhere, and dressed up in all manner of adornments. No matter if they have a new name and fancy schmancy decoration, they are still a universal…
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Simple food 