Back to the British baking book- biscuits for cheese. These have whole oats and poppy seeds. They are crumbly and tender and perfect with cheese.
Preheat oven to 400 F., Gas Mark 6
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
175 g. flour
4 tbsp. oats
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp. caster sugar ( I used brown sugar)
2 tsp. poppy seeds
100 g. butter. well chilled and cut into cubes
2 tsp milk
Place dry ingredients in bowl. Add well butter and make a coarse meal. Add the milk and beat until it comes together in a nice dough ball. Roll out on a floured board about 5mm thick. arrange on the baking sheets.
Bake in the heated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on a rack. Serve with cheese!
Showing off another mug, and the gossip is, I've broken all the rules. I've made a dessert from India with a British cuppa (PG Tips) and an Austrian wafer biscuit. It also isn't baking. I did serve this after a good, hot Vindaloo. A saving grace? It certainly was!
I've been wanting to use these delicious wafer biscuits in a food photo shoot for awhile now. A gift from Lucie! These really are light textured and delicious with ice cream. They are addictive on their own, as well.
History of Carlsbad Oblaten
Discovery of the Year, 1787
Two centuries ago, when the United States was putting together a government of the people, European aristocrats, in their gilded world, were flocking to the "pearl" of the international spas at Carlsbad and discovering a new pastry phenomenon The Original Carlsbad Oblaten. It quickly became the favorite treat of continental high society.
The wafer's delicate crispness and subtle almond flavor proved to be a taste sensation in itself and a flavor complement to ice cream, fruit, coffee, tea, or milk. Its savor found favor as an elegant counterpoint to champagne, wine or liqueurs.
The wafers themselves are a compliment to their birthplace. Each one bears a relief design of the famous Carlsbad geyser, discovered in 1349 by no less a personage than Roman Emperor and Bohemian (Czech) King, Charles IV. The town was named in his honor; Carlsbad translates to "Carl's Bath".
For 200 years The Original Carlsbad Oblaten recipe has been a jealously guarded secret, held closely by one family in each generation.
The ingredients are all natural and all the same as when the Carlsbad Oblaten was first perfected. Two thin wafer rounds, exactly 17.5 centimeters across, fused and filled with a delicate confection of pounded almonds, unsalted butter, powdered sugar, and natural flavorings. No preservatives are used or needed.
The Original Carlsbad Oblaten remains a dessert delicacy whose flavor is as singular and distinctive as its history.
The legend, "ORIGINAL CARLSBAD OBLATEN" and the geyser design on every wafer are proof of authenticity. Every taste confirms that, even after 200 years, some things are very hard to improve upon.
I managed to make what was supposed to be an easy recipe into a less easy one. I like it better......It isn't that much more difficult.
Mango Kulfi (ice cream)
5 mangos, prepared into puree
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 egg yolks
1 c. half and half
Make a quick creme anglaise with the milky ingredients and the egg yolks. The basic method is below in a video, adapt it to this recipe. Pour through a sieve, Cool. Whiz the mango in a blender with the creme anglaise. You can run it through a sieve at this point or not, your choice. Process in your ice cream maker.
Any excuse to use the fun mugs I purchased on a visit to Britain. Any excuse to make chocolate for my family that loves it, all the while getting some banana into them. I'm not a chocolate addict myself, but I hear some are! This recipe is from the British baking book, with a few twists of my own. Would you expect anything else?
Of course, it has to be dark chocolate for me. Broken into pretty fine pieces for this recipe.
Some fairly ripe bananas.
Preheat oven to 350 deg. F, or Gas Mark 4
Have a prepared loaf pan on the ready.
250 g. self- rising flour
pinch of salt
150 g. caster sugar (For American's that means baker's sugar, it is ground finer)
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder (this is strange to now use cup measurements at this point, but this is my added twist to the recipe and I didn't measure the cocoa by weight)
100 g. butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs, beaten
250 g. bananas (about 2 lrg. bananas)
dash of vanilla extract
74 g. dark chocolate, chopped
100 g. pecans (this is one of my twists, some in this family are allergic to walnuts)
Add dry ingredients to a bowl. Stir in the cooled, melted butter and the beaten eggs. Mash the bananas and incorporate, lumpy bits are okay. Fold in the nuts and the chocolate bits. Transfer to your loaf pan. Bake for 55 minutes. Cool for 5 before turning out onto a wire rack.
I have access to my photos back! Here is the start of a British Baking book inspired series of blogs.
Flapjacks in Britain are not the same thing as in America. British flapjacks are a bit like granola bars.
I couldn't find the famous Scottish oats with the strong bloke flexing his muscle in the package. These did fine.
I added a bit of this style for layers of texture.
Flapjacks come in all kinds of flavours. This time mine is pecan and maple.
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F., or Gas Mark 2.
Prepare a 8x8 baking pan, with butter and a light sprinkling of flour.
150 g. unsalted butter
125 g. dark brown sugar
2 tsp. maple syrup
175 g. porridge oats
25 g. steel cut oats
75 g. chopped pecans
pinch of salt
dash of vanilla extract
Heat the butter and sugars together in a pot, until the butter melts. Pour in the oats and salt. Add the chopped pecans and dash in the vanilla. Mix well and pour into baking pan. Bake for 25 until golden. Cool 10 minutes Run a knife around the edge, then score into 12 pieces. Leave to cool completely until cutting all the way through.
Due to computer troubles, I can't access most of my pictures. Happy New Year, right? I also can't download/upload new photos. This puts the kibosh on my blog for the moment, it could be a few weeks until tech support arrives to help. I didn't want to leave the blog status forever in Crimbo 2012.
I have a few pictures on the desktop of my computer so, here are a few images that reflect where I would like to be for 2013. Dreaming.....
I will being posting new blogs, as soon as possible. There are many baking subjects in the pipeline!
