Bake of the Month September - Lunchbox 'Flapjack'

It’s been a while since my last blog entry. August turned out to be a very busy month, starting with the pop up shop. I also went away to visit family, had a lot of tea parties to cater for and I am also very pregnant so everything takes twice as long as usual! Anyway, this bake, even though it’s a little late may have actually come about at the right time. The kids have been back to school for a couple of weeks now, but I’m already hearing parents complaining that they’re fresh out of ideas when it comes to lunch boxes. This recipe comes for Annabel Karmel’s ‘You Can Cook’, which shows you step by step ways to cook with your kids. I haven’t followed her recipe to the letter (I seem to have an inability to follow any recipe in this way) and adapted it to what the kids like and what was in the cupboard at the time. To be honest, I think this is what any parent does right? These ‘flapjacks’ last long enough in the fridge and they’re more likely to eat them if they’ve helped to make them themselves. I had two helpers with mine, my daughter Molly and her best friend Xavvi. Needless to say, the flapjacks didn’t last the week.

Ingredients:

3oz butter

3 oz brown sugar

3 tablespoons of syrup, maple or golden, it doesn’t matter

½ tsp salt

2 ½ oz dried fruit, we used apricots and blueberries.

4oz oats

1oz rice crispies

1 oz desiccated coconut

1 oz sultanas (we didn’t put these in, we don’t like them, we just added more coconut instead)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170C / Gas Mark 3. Line an 8 inch square tin with baking parchment, and make sure that the paper comes up the sides of the tin so you can lift it out at the end.

Put the butter, sugar, syrup and salt into a saucepan. Heat gently and stir until it’s all melted and mixed in, then leave to cool while you do the other stuff

Chop the dried fruit into little bits and put into a bowl with oat, rice crispies, coconut and sultanas. Then pour over the butter mixture.

Stir well to combine and then spoon into your tin. Press down evenly. We used a potato masher to do this. Bake for about 30 minutes making sure it’s golden around the edges; wait till it’s cooled before slicing up. It has a tendency to fall apart if you don’t!

Bake of the Month - July - Lavender Biscuits

Finally! Summer’s here. We can use our overgrown gardens and take stock of our losses to the slugs (a whole row of celeriac which I nurtured from seed and were eaten within days of planting out). The lavender flowers in my garden have almost gone already so I had to get in quick to bake a batch of my favourite biscuits. This recipe comes from Alys Fowlers ‘The Edible Garden’ a truly inspiring book which is easy to read and follow for novice gardeners like myself. The back of the book contains several recipes showing you how to make the most of your labours (including sloe gin – Christmas sorted) and this is the most used recipe in the book. The lavender flavour comes from the leaves and so is very delicate.  You can also keep half the mixture in the fridge for a few days, this way your biscuits are always fresh. Makes 10-12 biscuits.

Ingredients:

5oz butter

3 ½ oz caster sugar

8oz plain flour

1 eggs yolk

1 tablespoon of fresh lavender leaves, chopped

Some lavender flowers (about three per biscuit)

Method:

Preheat oven to 160C / Gas mark 3

Cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Sift in the flour, then put in egg yolk and lavender leaves. Mix well.

If you’re using a large bowl you can mix together in the bowl with your hands. If not turn it out onto a floured surface and knead into a smooth ball. Shape into a cylinder about 3-4 inches in diameter and cut into 10-12 sections.

Lay these out onto greased baking trays (remember to leave enough space between them as biscuits spread) and press about three lavender flowers into each.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, they should be firm but not brown. Leave on the tray once they come out of the oven for about 5 mins. If you try to move them straight away they’ll crumble. Transfer to a baking tray to cool completely. Eat in the garden with a cup of tea in between tackling the weeds.