Anise, Almond and Lemon Biscuits

The humble biscuit.

It brightens up teatime, is happily dunked in all manner of hot beverages and sustained the entire Royal Navy for many an intrepid voyage. 

This months Tea Time Treats blogging challenge, hosted by Karen, is, you guessed it, biscuits. I deliberated for some time (the entire final episode of MasterChef infact) what to bake. I toyed with the idea of baking an All-American Cookie. For a while, a fancy iced biccie was on the cards. Then I thought to recreate one of those paper-tasting Pink Wafers that everyone always leaves behind in biscuit selection tins. 

Then I stumbled upon a very popular biscuit recipe by the Hairy Bikers for Lemon and Cardamom Biscuits. A trip to Norway inspired the Hairy Bikers to bake these biscuits. The addition of cardamom provides a warm sweet-spicy flavour. 
I decided to experiment. 

While I wouldn't got as far as saying it was an experiment that changed the world (I'm certainly not comparing my experiment to Darwin's Orchid or the Smallpox vaccination, for example). But it was a terrifically tasty biscuit. 

Anise, Almond and Lemon Biscuits

225g butter softened

125g caster sugar

1 lemon, zest only

250g plain flour

100g ground almond

1 heaped tsp ground anise seeds (dry fried; see below)

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas Mark 5. Line two large baking sheets

2. Beat the butter, sugar and zest together for at least a few minutes until pale and fluffy

3. Beat in the flour, almonds and anise until well combined. The mixture will begin to form a stiff dough

4. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and place in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes

5. Roll the dough into 20-24 small balls and place, well separated, onto the prepared baking sheets. Using the back of a large spoon or upturned glass press down and flatten the balls of dough

6. Bake for 12-15 minutes, a tray at a time, until golden. The biscuits should still be soft upon removing from the oven and will harden as they cool

Baker's notes...

To obtain a stronger flavour, dry-fry the anise seeds in a hot frying pan for a few minutes until the aroma is released
The biscuits last up to seven days. Try seven minutes at our place. 
I'm not the only fan of BBC's Hairy Bikers, Dave and Simon. Delia, in a recent interview with the Radio Times, said they made cooking not only funny but made viewers want to make the dishes they cooked. Here's one converted viewer for certain. 

Rhubarb Eton Mess

Everything I've learnt about boarding schools were from the well thumbed pages of Enid Blyton's 'Mallory Towers' and 'St Clare's'.

'Prep'...'lacrosse'...'tuck'... these exotic words meant very little. Our school dinner puddings would involve, largely, semolina. Or on a special occasion, Jam Roly Poly with that peculiar school-dinner-issue thick custard that always left a trail of custard-skin on the spoon. Custard-skin that would be carefully, with almost surgical precision, be extracted and discarded.

It seemed pupils at boarding schools had way nicer puds. Take Eton for example. They've an entire, classic, delicious, summery dessert named after the College. Traditionally served at the annual cricket match against Harrow School, Eton Mess is a marvellous mix of strawberries, meringue and cream. Not a semolina rice in sight.

Nigella adds pomegranate juice to her version. Heston makes his with bananas. Me? I've made a roasted rhubarb Eton Mess. Lovely.

Roasted Rhubarb Eton Mess
(six individual servings)

For the meringue:
4 large egg whites
115g caster sugar
115g icing sugar, sifted

For the roasted rhubarb:
550-600g rhubarb, washed, trimmed and roughly cut into 1 inch pieces
85g golden caster sugar

To serve:
250ml double cream
A sprig or two of mint

1. Firstly make the meringue: preheat the oven to 110C/ 100C fan/Gas Mark 1⁄4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
2. Beat the egg whites on a medium speed until the egg whites become cloud-like and foamy and the stiff peak stage is reached. Turn up the mixer speed and gradually add the caster sugar, a spoonful at a time, beating between each addition. The mixture will be thick and glossy when all the caster sugar has been added. 

3. Fold in the icing sugar, a third at a time. The mixture should be smooth with a satin sheen

4. Gently spoon the meringue onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 1 hr 15 minutes to 1 hr 45 minutes until the meringues are coffee coloured and they sound crisp when tapped underneath.  Turn off the oven and leave the meringues inside, undisturbed, until the oven is completely cold. Set the meringue aside.
5. To roast the rhubarb: Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Place the trimmed rhubarb in an ovenproof dish and evenly sprinkle over the golden caster sugar. Cover with foil and roast for 20 minutes, checking half way through and giving the dish a gentle shake to distribute the sugar. The rhubarb should be soft but still retain their shape
6. To assemble: Whip the cream in a large bowl. Crush the meringue into small pieces and mix in with the cream. Divide the cooled roasted rhubarb between the serving glasses and spoon over the meringue. Decorate with the mint

Bakers notes...

• There are three great things about Eton Mess. Firstly, it's delicious. Secondly, it's ever so easy to make. And thirdly, there's no worrying about fancy presentation. Pop it in a nice glass and decorate with a sprig of mint.
• To make the perfect meringues: make sure all equipment is scrupulously clean, ensure the eggs are fresh and the oven temperature is low- an oven thermometer is a worthwhile investment for dodgy ovens. They can be stored in an airtight tin for up to two weeks. The meringue recipe above is based upon Good Food Magazine's Ultimate Meringue recipe. Felicity Cloake, in her brilliant 'Perfect..' series explores lots of different meringue recipes right here

The Best Jobs in Food and Chocolate and Lime Loaf Cake

Masterchef drew to a close this week, with Natalie being crowned the winner.

Following several weeks of judging the best amateur cooking in the whole country, surely Greg Wallace and John Torrode have the best job in food?

Or do they?!

Here's the What Kate Baked Top 10 Best Jobs in Food!

(Cue old-skool chart run down music...)

10. Straight in at Ten is Judge of the National Pie Championships. Elastic jogging trousers at the ready folks, judges for this US competition attend training before they begin the judging. That's right, training. Apparently, it isn't just a simple case of pie-spoon-mouth-tummy-score.

9. In at 9: London Fashion Week Chef. Lets be honest, models don't really eat stuff, right? Think of all those glorious leftovers!

8. Chocolate Shop Owner. Just imagine owning your very own chocolate shop! You'd wake up each day thinking 'I AM Willy Wonka!'...except, hopefully, record-breaking gum-chewing customers won't end up blowing up into blueberries (see Violet Beauregarde)

7. Steady at Seven, it's....Mary Berry. Queen of Prime-Time Baking Shows! Nation's Nicest Judge! Friend of Mel-n-Sue!

6. At six: The Coffee Master Roaster. Just think how cheerful you'd be each morning as you wake to the smell of some of the World's best coffee beans roasting merrily. 

5. And the Top five! Master Brewer...Gin Queen... Champagne Buyer... cocktail Maestro... Pimms Secret-Keeper...Its the Best Boozy Jobs!

4. Fortune Cookie Fortune Writer. Just imagine the dinner party conversations:

'So, what do you do for a living?'

'I'm a Fortune Cookie Fortune Writer'

'I'm sorry, what?'

'I'm a Fortune Cookie Fortune Writer'

'Oh. Wow....So, erm...house prices are rising again aren't they?'

3. Its the Top Three! In at 3: Primal Ice Cream Therapist. I'm sorry, what? This, folks, is the name given to the 'Flavour Guru' at a well-known Ice Cream company. The job involves eating up to a whooping five pints of ice cream a week.

2. Father Christmas- just think, how many mince pies does he get to eat on Christmas Eve? Exactly. 

1. Food Blogger. I have to bake a cake each week. For 'the blog'. For example, this week I baked this Chocolate and Lime Loaf Cake. Lush:

As for the Worst Job in Food...surely that goes to the 'Garbage Anthropologist'?

Chocolate and Lime Loaf Cake

Ingredients
175g softened butter
150g caster sugar
3 eggs
175g self-raising flour
half a teaspoon baking powder
100ml milk
5 tbsps cocoa powder
Zest 1 lime
3-4 tbsps Lime Curd
1 tsp icing sugar to decorate


1. Heat the oven to 160C/140C fan/Gas Mark 3. Grease and line a 2lb/900g loaf tin with a strip of baking parchment
2. Beat the butter and sugar with an electrical whisk until nicely light and fluffy
3. Beat in the eggs, flour, almonds, baking powder, milk, cocoa and lime zest until smooth
4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin
5. Bake for 45-50 minutes until golden, risen and a skewer poked into the very centre of the cake comes out clean
6. Cool in the tin and once cooled lift out and place on a wire rack
7. Slice the loaf horizontally in two and spread the lime curd on the bottom layer. Sandwich the two layers back together
8. Sieve over a little icing sugar to decorate

Baker's notes...

• The kind folk at Mackays sent me a few jars of their zesty Lime Curd to incorporate into my baking. Once I'd stopped generously slathering it on my toast each morning with glee, I choose to combine the creamy curd with sweet chocolate in this loaf cake
• For extra chocolatey-goodness, stir in a handful of chocolate chips into the mixture before popping in the oven
• If you haven't the ground almonds to hand, simply replace with plain flour

Children With Cancer UK: Bake Club Month

Reading Clubs, Sewing Clubs, Gardening Clubs, Baking Clubs...

There are Clubs for pretty much every single activity you can think of. 

(Probably even Club Biscuits Clubs [Ohhh, imagine sitting around discussing the merits of the Orange one versus the Fruit one. And they even have a theme tune]).

It may not come as a huge surprise to you to hear I am, a big fan of Bake Clubs. And while tucking into slice after glorious slice of cake in a Baking Club is a rather marvellous way to spend a couple of hours, raising money for a very good cause while doing so is even better.

May marks the launch of Bake Club Month for the charity Children with Cancer UK. The charity funds life-saving research into the causes, prevention and treatment of childhood cancer and works to protect young lives through essential welfare and campaigning programmes including supporting hospices. At work, our Children's Wards are organizing a Bake Club event this month to celebrate and raise vital money... And I can promise you I will be first in line.

If you too would like to get involved with Bake Club month, you can find more details here.

Giveaway! Belvoir Fruit Farms Hamper!

Today is my birthday. And while I treat myself with cake, cake and more, erm, cake here's a treat for you lovely What Kate Baked readers: The opportunity to win this glorious Belvoir Cordials Picnic Hamper.

Belvoir Fruit Farms make naturally delicious Cordials, Pressés and Fruit Crushes. The winner of this glorious hamper can enjoy two of their signature Cordials as well as a lovely selection of sweet treats. 

All you have to do is leave a comment below answering the following:

'My favourite place in the whole wide world to enjoy a picnic is...'

Good luck y 'all!

The Small Print..

• The giveaway will close 12:00 Sunday 12th May 2013
• The winner will be chosen at random from the comments left below
• All decisions are final, no correspondence will be entered into and there is no cash alternative
• The winner will be contacted by email and the prize sent directly by Belvoir Fruit Farms

April Tea Time Treats: The Roundup

This month's Tea Time Treats theme was super-popular! Thank you very much to all those who entered. So plonk yourself in a comfy chair, grab a cuppa and settle back to enjoy a glorious selection of Muffin, Cupcake and Fairy Cake recipes!

To kick off proceedings The Taste Space created these marvellous Mango Cupcakes with Mango Buttercream. Sweet, moist cakes with a twist of spicy cardamom and suitable for vegans

Dann Good Cakes baked these Cheerful Wedding Cupcakes- all 200 of them! With the help of a friend's super-sized kitchen and A LOT of buttercream...

Over at the Peachicks Bakery, between feeding a very hungry six week old baby peachick, amazingly there has been time to bake these Mummy's Midnight Muffins. Full of oaty goodness, dried fruit, seeds and sweet honey they sound just the thing for those 3am feeds!

Whether you wish to name them mad-uffins, madeluffins or simply mighty delicious Honey Madeleine Muffins, head over to Tales of Pigling Bland for this lovely, dainty recipe!

Baking in Franglais describes these next tasty sweet bakes, Banana Muffins as perfect for 'an afternoon in early spring, sitting by the wood burning stove and enjoying a cup of tea because it’s wet and chilly outside'. Lovely!

How cute do these cheeky, chubby fairies look on Blissfully Scrumptious' Fairies on Fairy Cakes? Such an inspired and fun bake!

I loved Michelle's description of her ravenous children as 'looking like delicate little flowers but they eating like a front row of prop forwards'- sure to satisfy ANY hungry soul are these Mother Hubbard Savoury Muffins. Pop along to Utterly Scrummy Food for Families for the full recipe

Maple Bacon Muffins? Breakfast in a muffin from Fuss Free Flavours? Don't mind if I do! With crispy bacon and a generous pouring of maple syrup, alongside a cup or two of coffee and the papers these muffins are sure to get you leaping out of bed each Sunday morning!

Meanwhile, Caroline Makes has baked not one, not two, but three Tea Time Treats bakes! Firstly, this lovely little collection of Flower, Ladybird and Bee Cupcakes. Secondly, a pond full of Duck Cupcakes! And also these rather super USA-inspired Popcorn Cupcakes, complete with the fab little Popcorn container cases!

Over in Denmark, the British 'Fairy Cake' caused Kiki some puzzlement - how I do wish Kiki's guess that a Fairy Cake is simply a cake with a fairy in it was true! Kiki has baked the Tea Time Treats table a Picnic Muffin-  a delicious savoury cheese, onion and squash muffin. Now if only we had the good weather to enjoy these outside...

Don't these floral Rhubarb Fairy Cakes just look so pretty and perfect? Baked by Chocolate Log Blog with rhubarb, rose, white chocolate and decorated with edible primroses

Attempting to recreate a favourite muffin from childhood led A Piece of Cake to bake these Corn Muffins.

A Working Mum's Cookbook has baked my favourite muffins- Carrot Cake Muffins. With a delicious hint of orange and sweet, creamy cheese icing- do you do mail order Annie?!

Katherine from Lemons and Limoni wasn't initially tempted to make Ina Garten's German Chocolate Cupcakes. Fate, in the form of half a tub of sourcream and a tub of buttermilk, intervened and these cupcakes were a resounding success: intensely chocolately and an instant favourite!

Fancy cupcakes bursting with flavour and a trip down memory lane? Then head over to Belleau Kitchen for Dom's Lime Sherbet and Rose Cupcakes!

JibberJabber UK has combined two classic flavours with her Chocolate Orange Muffins, born through a forgetful accident - these cupcakes are eggless - nevertheless the lucky recipients described them as  'dee-lish'

Leeks and Limoni has combined a delicious few flavours- sure to get your taste buds tingling are these Honey, Almond and White Chocolate Cupcakes

I've always wondered how to put together a Bouquet of Cupcakes- and Gary from Exploits of a Food Nut has explained exactly how to do so in his Bouquet of Cupcakes post. Gary made an impressive 150 cupcakes for a wedding- now there's a lot of icing sugar!

These Dairy Free Yogurt Pot Cakes were entered by Makey-Cakey, a recipe from a French parenting book that suggests using yogurt pots as measuring containers for each of the ingredients. Excellently practical and extra sparkly cupcakes!

Celebrating the first day of Spring (at last!) Karen from Lavender and Lovage baked these glorious Strawberry Fair Yogurt Cupcakes- aren't they so, so SO pretty?

Just wait til you hear the name of this next entry, salivating taste buds at the ready folks as SuperGolden Bakes has created these Black Magic Cupcakes with Baileys Salted Caramel Italian Meringue Buttercream. Wow!

Susie has baked these her Amazingly Chocolaty Cupcakes, describing them as 'a soft, fluffy sponge, with a hidden chocolate sauce centre, covered in rich chocolate buttercream'. Susie adds that chocolate is universally popular amongst her boys- with these cupcakes I can completely understand just why that might be the case!

More chocolate- themed cupcake greatness from A Kick At The Pantry Door with these sweet fruity Black Forest Gateau Cupcakes

The great thing about this month's Tea Time Treats theme is discovering some really unique and inventive Cupcake flavourings- these Chocolate Cupcakes with Avacado Frosting from Elizabeth's Kitchen are a case in point!

These rather marvellous Rhubarb Streusel Cupcakes have been baked by Suelle from Mainly Baking- light, moist cakes with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg in the crunchy topping. Delicious!

Baked as a big thank you for lots of lovely acts of kindness Cupcake Crazy Gem has entered these Double Chocolate Vanilla Bean and Malted Chocolate Cupcakes. And such a lovely egg-box presentation!

Inspired by the good ol' U S of A, The More Than Occasional Baker created these Peanut Butter, Honey and Chocolate Cupcakes. Using fragrant leatherwood honey from Australia plus honey peanut butter ensured these little delights were super sweet!

Using an entire orange, skin, pith and all, plus a generous handful of raisins and chocolate chips, Life Can Be Simple baked these Chocolate-Orange Muffins- thank you for baking such a tasty treat for the TTT table! Life Can Be Simple also entered these Lemon Almond Streamliner Cakes

Using one of my favourite confectionery items, Under the Blue Gum Tree has baked these marvellous Malteser Cupcakes- I just know if I attempted this recipe I'll have eaten the entire pack of chocolates before getting anywhere near the mixing bowl!

Jazz up your breakfast tomorrow with this next entry. Indeed, sure to beat a couple of slices of cold toast are these delicious fruity Honey and Apricot Breakfast Muffins baked by Janice from FarmersGirl Kitchen

Is it a cake or a biscuit? Its the eternal question... and while we decide exactly what a Jaffa Cake is, I'm sure Laura from Laura Loves Cakes will not mind us feasting on a few of these lush Jaffa Cupcakes, complete with a mini Jaff on top!

Mummy Arvi from I am a Blogger in Apron has baked these Tres Leche Cupcakes, complete with Dulce de Leche buttercream and thoroughly enjoyed by her family



How do you make White Chocolate ...better?! Hungry Hinny shows you how in her fabulous Coffee and Caramelised White Chocolate Cupcakes post. The white chocolate is gently roasted providing a new depth of flavour and a little salt is added at the end ... perfect!

And here's my entry, Honey and Orange Blossom Fairy Cakes and why I can't pipe icing for love, money or all the piping bags in the entire world...

Hope you've enjoyed a whistle stop tour of all the lovely entries for April's Tea Time Treats table. And if you haven't yet popped the oven on to start baking one of these recipes, get to it! Meanwhile, head over to Karen's blog, Lavender and Lovage for May's theme. Happy Baking!