Friday, July 30, 2010




They look classier over at Bakerella's beautiful blog, but i chose to shorten the process for almost immediate satisfaction.

1 cup peanut butter
½ cup sugar
1 egg
approximately 18 chips of chocolate

Preheat oven to 325ºF/ 160ºC
Mix peanut butter, sugar and egg until well blended.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Pinch into 18 pieces and roll mixture into small balls.
Place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart.
Place a chip of chocolate in the centre of each cookie ball and flatten with a fork to make a criss-cross pattern.
Bake 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned.
Cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheet and then cool completely on a wire rack.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010


Happy Birthday Baby Boy


Being a single parent (or at least, the only parent at home) brings an extra responsibility on birthdays and christmases. I have felt anxious about this one in particular - his first in double figures, the significant 10.

I've been a mum for a decade, and i still feel like a total novice.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Rhubarb & Fresh Ginger Crumble Cake, Adapted from Tamasin Day Lewis' Kitchen Classics.



Crumble
110g plain flour
4 tablespoons light muscovado sugar
85g unsalted butter

Pulse the ingredients together briefly until they stick together in a gravelly fashion.





Fruit
750g rhubarb, cut into 1cm chunks
2 tablespoons vanilla caster sugar
1 inch (thumb knuckle size) of dried ginger root, finely grated.

Toss the rhubarb, sugar and ginger pulp together. Use ground ginger if you wish - a teaspoon or so - but the dried root, with its papery skin which i don't bother to peel, has a particular fresh flavour that works best.


Cake
170g softened, unsalted butter
170g vanilla caster sugar
3 eggs, beaten
170g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tablespoon milk

Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and adding a spoon of sifted flour if the mixture looks like curdling. Sift in the rest of the flour and baking powder, folding carefully and firmly. Fold in the milk.




Scrape the mixture into a 25cm springform cake tin, base lined with baking parchment. Pile the rhubarb on the batter, then sprinkle the crumble over the top. Bake for an hour at 190ºC.





The crumble will be golden, crunchy and smelling of sweet butter.

Leave to cool for 15 minutes and eat warm with cream, although just as delicious cold, later.