I know I promised Nancy croissant for the weekend, but I am afraid I just got too busy with an unexpected trip into work and helping some friends move house. Since croissant are time consuming to make I really needed a free weekend to make them. So I’ll keep my fingers crossed that next weekend will be croissant!

So I present to you a fairly typical weekend quick baking project with a twist! Lemonade scones. They are not made with old fashioned lemonade, they are made with soda, like sprite, 7UP or what ever your local brand of clear mostly flavourless soda is.

These are so simple that initial thoughts are that they cannot possibly be good. But they are light and sweet and the cream in them adds the fat that is so important for scones. I doubled the recipe to make a large number for the hungry people that I knew would be lifting furniture and boxes. I had a lovely jar of bright orange home-made apricot jam from my mother that I teamed up with these.

These scones are best eaten on the day they are made, they really do not keep well, but it does not seem to be a problem to get rid of a batch fairly quickly!

Lemonade Scones

• 3 cups of self raising flour
• 1 cup of cream
• 1 cup of lemonade soda (Sprite/7UP etc)

If you measure your cream first, then your soda and use the same measuring cup - beware .. this is what you’ll get! Personally I think this is quite fun and like to do it this way- but be ready for it! Isaac was most amused by the soda mushroom.

Mix all ingredients together gently to make a soft dough, either add more liquid or flour a little at a time if your dough is too dry or too wet.

Shape into a rectangle roughly an inch to an inch and a half thick and cut into circles with a 3 inch cookie cutter or the rim of a glass. I’ve even been known to use the rim of a vase or jar rims if that’s all I can find. Really most things can be improvised and there is not a lot of need to have fancy stuff in the kitchen.

Place on a lightly floured tray, brush the tops with a little milk and bake at 220C/428F for 10-15 minutes. You can put them fairly close together - this will help them rise up and give good height to your scones.

Yep that is all there is to it!

This recipe makes roughly 12-14 light and sweet scones.

Snuggle your scones up in a clean tea towel or cloth and serve them with some butter and jam. Scones are always best slightly warm, but not straight out of the oven.

I promise I’ll get to the croissant next weekend - although I suspect I might have to get another lot of chocolate for them, it seems to have mysteriously vanished….

Kids in the Kitchen is my semi-regular post on including children in your kitchen activities. There are all kinds of learning opportunities for kids when they get to take part in food preparation. If you want to avoid having a picky eater - this is the way to go!

Isaac saw a cartoon on TV, where they made a smoothie. Being the budding foodie that he is, he took a mental note of the recipe for the smoothie and decided that we should make it because it was “quick and healthy” according to him. I asked him what the ingredients were and I was a little dubious - it was milk, lemon and “nice bananas good for eating”.

I suggested that we put some other things in it to make it taste a little better, but no, it had to be just as the cartoon said it should be. I suggested that we taste test the cartoon version and see if we liked it, and then decide if we wanted to put other things in it. Isaac also told me that I had to put it up on my food website for people to learn from - so I’m doing as I was told.

So we went off to the kitchen and set about making the smoothie.

Tip in about 2 cups of milk and add two bananas - (good for eating bananas)

Squeeze some lemon - squeeze HARD

Show Mummy where you think the milk should go up to on the blender- because that’s where they filled it up to on the cartoon.

Put your hands on the lid of the blender while it goes around - because that’s what your mother does.

The Result:

The Taste Test:

The Verdict:

“This actually does not taste that good!”

So - we made a couple of modifications to the recipe

We added

• 1/2 cup of boysenberries
• 1 Tblspn of honey
• 1/4 cup of yoghurt

and gave it another whirl in the blender

The Result:

The Taste Test:

The Verdict:

“This is really REALLY good!”

Things Isaac learned making the smoothie

1. You cannot rely on cartoon recipes to give you a good smoothie experience

2. Mummy knows how to make good smoothies

3. Boysenberries sink when you put them in milk because they are heavy

4. Boysenberries make milk go purple and not black like you thought they would.

5. Lemons are really hard to squeeze with your fingers

6. Smoothies make you feel really full

Isaac loved making the smoothie and was so proud of himself for memorising the recipe from the TV. It’s a shame that the TV recipe was not so great, but good that we could make a delicious smoothie anyway.

Grab your kids and find something to cook with them and don’t worry about the mess they leave behind knowing that you taught them something important and they got to spend some quality time with you.

I’ve put off posting this recipe for some time, because I simply could not get a photo that even made this look edible. It just looked like a big brown murky mess. It looked more like somewhere a frog would live, than something you would eat.

But this soup despite it’s appearance is really a great soup in almost every way. It’s not likely to be the type of soup that you would serve to a dinner party, but it is the kind of soup that you would ladle out big hearty servings of to your family with crusty warm bread at the end of a cold day. My kids call it mud soup - because honestly that’s what it looks like if it’s blended up a bit.

It also has the bonus of being very economical to make. Leah and I worked out that it cost roughly $1 a serve and a serve is complete meal in itself. Destitute students take note - this soup is cheap and good! You’ll make your mothers happy if you eat this soup. It’s nutritious and filling and like most soups low in fat. I tend to make a vegetarian version, but you could make this with beef or chicken stock if you preferred.

Have you ever really looked at a lentil? I love looking at green lentils, each one is like a little painting in it’s own right, swirls of green, blue, brown, orange, black and yellow, no two alike. Small, unique works of art. I love to make this soup, not just because it tastes good, but because I get to look at the lentils - yes .. I know .. slightly odd - but we’ll keep that between you and me.

French Green Lentil Soup

This quantity makes enough for roughly 12 good serves - I always make this amount and freeze half of it. It freezes well - but you will need to add a little more stock to the thawed soup when you reheat it. You can halve the recipe easily

It’s also quite delicious with slow roasted tomatoes plopped on the top to serve, if you want to make them bake the tomatoes in a 120C/250F oven for 2 hours with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and a light dash of balsamic vinegar.

• 4 cups french green lentils (De puy)
• 1 medium carrot diced
• 1 medium onion diced
• 1 large leek diced
• 1 Tblspn ground cumin
• 2 Tblspns garlic chopped very finely
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 3L/roughly 3 quarts vegetable stock
• Salt to taste
• pepper to taste

Soak lentils in cold water for 2 hours.

Place in a large saucepan olive oil, carrots, leeks, onion, cumin and garlic on medium heat. Sauté until leeks and onions are transparent.

Add in drained lentils and mix through - add roughly 3/4 of the stock stock, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.

Put the lid on and stir every now and then add in more stock if needed if the soup is looking very thick. It normally takes roughly an hour to an hour and a half - it will depend on the lentils though, I’ve found they will vary in cooking time. So you need to test the lentils for doneness periodically.

Soup is done when lentils are tender and have a smooth texture - add salt and pepper to taste.

You can cook the soup past this slightly chunky texture and toss some of it in the blender if you prefer a smoother soup.

But I love it like this, full of texture and hearty.

Do give this one a try, it’s been a family favourite for a very long time and is a great cold day recipe.

Roughly 200 calories per serve - excellent nutritional value for calorie count!

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

Thanks Deeba and Aparna for choosing such an interesting challenge, I’ve never made any of these components before - except for the pastry cream, I really enjoyed putting it together!

Before I get started on the Tiramisu don’t forget about the Giveaway - tomorrow is the last day for entries to win either the Edmonds Cookbook or the eggcups.

To make the Tiramisu we had to make each individual component. Starting with the Mascarpone and Savoiardi, then Zabaglione and pastry cream.  I chose to make mine a traditional version since I had not made it before, minus the alcohol. I knew Isaac would be tasting this and I thought the coffee would be enough to keep him climbing the walls for about 24 hours on it’s own.

The Mascarpone

The mascarpone was surprisingly simple,  it’s one of those things that you would get better at the more often you made it. Cheese making is one of those things that you need to get a feel for I think.

The Mascarpone recipe is here over at Baking Obsession. The recipe is nice and clear and was easy to follow. I had no issues making it at all. I do think that using a stainless steel bowl was helpful since the cream came up to temperature easily, and also plenty of layers of cheesecloth - because the mixture is still very liquid when you pour it in after cooling.

You get roughly 3/4 of your cream turning into beautiful fresh and creamy mascarpone and all it takes is a little lemon juice and a thermometer. I’ll be doing this rather than buying mascarpone in future, it was much less expensive and really not that difficult to make.

The Savoiardi - Lady Finger Biscuits

The next step was the Savoiardi. I’m going to give you the recipe here, because I think it’s fantastic and I want to make sure I have it at my fingertips for the future.

(Source: Recipe from Cordon Bleu At Home)
This recipe makes approximately 24 big ladyfingers or 45 small (2 1/2” to 3” long) ladyfingers.

Ingredients:
3 eggs, separated
6 tablespoons /75gms granulated sugar
3/4 cup/95gms cake flour, sifted (or 3/4 cup all purpose flour + 2 tbsp corn starch)
6 tablespoons /50gms confectioner’s sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C) degrees, then lightly brush 2 baking sheets with oil or softened butter and line with parchment paper.

Beat the egg whites using a hand held electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gradually add granulate sugar and continue beating until the egg whites become stiff again, glossy and smooth.
In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly with a fork and fold them into the meringue, using a wooden spoon.

Sift the flour over this mixture and fold gently until just mixed. It is important to fold very gently and not overdo the folding. Otherwise the batter would deflate and lose volume resulting in ladyfingers which are flat and not spongy.

Fit a pastry bag with a plain tip (or just snip the end off; you could also use a Ziploc bag) and fill with the batter. Pipe the batter into 5” long and 3/4” wide strips leaving about 1” space in between the strips.

Sprinkle half the confectioner’s sugar over the ladyfingers and wait for 5 minutes. The sugar will pearl or look wet and glisten. Now sprinkle the remaining sugar. This helps to give the ladyfingers their characteristic crispness.
Hold the parchment paper in place with your thumb and lift one side of the baking sheet and gently tap it on the work surface to remove excess sprinkled sugar. ( I could not get any excess to fall off at all - so I left it there and it was fine.

Bake the ladyfingers for 10 minutes, then rotate the sheets and bake for another 5 minutes or so until they puff up, turn lightly golden brown and are still soft.
Allow them to cool slightly on the sheets for about 5 minutes and then remove the ladyfingers from the baking sheet with a metal spatula while still hot, and cool on a rack.

Store them in an airtight container till required. They should keep for 2 to 3 weeks.

I absolutely loved these, so easy to make and they took no time at all. Much more flavourful than store bought and a more pleasant texture. I’ll be making these on a regular basis.

The Zabaglione

Honestly, I could have sat down and eaten the whole lot, I’m surprised I actually managed to restrain myself. It did in fact make it into the Tiramisu, but it did require some serious self discipline on my part. This is worth just making on it’s own really. But of course you would need to make a much larger quantity.

2 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar/50gms
1/4 cup/60ml Marsala wine (or port or coffee)
1/4 teaspoon/ 1.25ml vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Heat water in a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, place a pot with about an inch of water in it on the stove. Place a heat-proof bowl in the pot making sure the bottom does not touch the water.
In a large mixing bowl (or stainless steel mixing bowl), mix together the egg yolks, sugar, the Marsala (or espresso/ coffee), vanilla extract and lemon zest. Whisk together until the yolks are fully blended and the mixture looks smooth.
Transfer the mixture to the top of a double boiler or place your bowl over the pan/ pot with simmering water. Cook the egg mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 8 minutes or until it resembles thick custard. It may bubble a bit as it reaches that consistency.
Let cool to room temperature and transfer the zabaglione to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

The Crème Patisserie

I just used my standard Crème Patisserie recipe from here to make this, with the milk increased slightly to 3/4 of a cup.

Chill until completely cool.

Whipped Cream

1 cup/235ml chilled cream
1/4 cup/55gms sugar
1/2 teaspoon/ 2.5ml vanilla extract

Whisk together until stiff peaks form - do not overwhip.

Putting it all together

2 cups/470ml brewed espresso, warmed
1 teaspoon/5ml rum extract (optional)
1/2 cup/110gms sugar
1/3 cup/75gms mascarpone cheese
36 savoiardi/ ladyfinger biscuits (you may use less)
2 tablespoons/30gms unsweetened cocoa powder

Have ready a rectangular serving dish (about 8” by 8” should do) or one of your choice.
Mix together the warm espresso, rum extract and sugar in a shallow dish, whisking to mix well. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese with a spoon to break down the lumps and make it smooth. This will make it easier to fold. Add the prepared and chilled zabaglione and pastry cream, blending until just combined. Gently fold in the whipped cream. Set this cream mixture aside.

Now to start assembling the tiramisu.
Working quickly, dip 12 of the ladyfingers in the sweetened espresso, about 1 second per side. They should be moist but not soggy. Immediately transfer each ladyfinger to the platter, placing them side by side in a single row. You may break a lady finger into two, if necessary, to ensure the base of your dish is completely covered.
Spoon one-third of the cream mixture on top of the ladyfingers, then use a rubber spatula or spreading knife to cover the top evenly, all the way to the edges.
Repeat to create 2 more layers, using 12 ladyfingers and the cream mixture for each layer. Clean any spilled cream mixture; cover carefully with plastic wrap and refrigerate the tiramisu overnight.
To serve, carefully remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the tiramisu with cocoa powder using a fine-mesh strainer or decorate as you please. Cut into individual portions and serve.

I have to admit I did not feel all that confident putting it together, the cream mixture, while it tasted absolutely delicious seemed very loose to me. So I decided since I was making a tiramisu that would stand alone (it was not going to be in a glass) I would freeze it for a little bit instead of putting it in the fridge to firm up.

Traditionally Tiramisu is served in a glass and not as a cake, so I am sure usually it would be fine just chilled in the fridge and not in the freezer.

I made a handful of chocolate leaves for the top, I went down to the vege garden and pulled off a few leaves from the raspberry canes to paint chocolate on to; they have a beautiful shape and the veins on the foliage are well defined. I was pretty happy with the leaves, although not perfect I thought they were pretty good for a first attempt.

Well I did have all good intentions about leaving it to chill so that I would get a nice shot of the tiramisu all firm and lovely - but .. I could not wait to eat it. Not the kids, me; I was desperate to try it.

So when it looked close to firm enough I whipped it out of the freezer and cut a slice, so it’s still a little on the soft side in this shot but.. it was fantastic, creamy mouthfuls with a rich coffee flavour and I had a second helping without telling anyone.hmm I guess they know now….

This dessert was a bit of a mammoth undertaking to make each part of it from scratch, I am not sure that I would do the same again if I had to make a Tiramisu, just because of the time involved. But it was completely utterly delicious!

Don’t forget the Giveaway!

Ciao for now!

PS - the little straws around the edge are cappucino filled chocolates

PPS- Isaac helped me cut them to the right length - hence the ..errmm rustic nature of them.

That is an Apricot Tart with Honey and Almonds; for those of you that do not speak french - like me. This is a long standing recipe in our house; one that I just love. I don’t make it all that often, not because there is anything wrong with the recipe, but because I like to wait for apricots to be at their best, fat and ripe and in season. You can make this with canned apricots,which are a good substitute, just not quite the same as fresh.

I know most places in the northern hemisphere will not have apricots just yet, but perhaps you can tuck this away for the longer sunny days when the apricots are juicy and ready to be picked. It’s not far away now for you, even though I know many of you are still in your winter woollens and have snowy views out your windows.

It does take a little time to make this tart, but it’s absolutely worth every minute spent on it. A creamy almond crème patisserie filling dimpled with plump apricots in a crisp light pastry. What more could you want on a summer day?

Before I give you the recipe - just a reminder about the Giveaway, I’m really enjoying seeing the comments and suggestions for a recipe - I really don’t mind how creative you are with your suggestions - test my cooking skills and be adventurous!

Apricot Tart with Honey and Almonds

Pastry cream

• 2/3 cup of whole milk
• 1- 2 inch piece of vanilla bean
• 2 large egg yolks
• 3 Tbspns sugar
• 1 Tblspn of cornflour/cornstarch

One quantity of sweet shortcrust pastry -see pastry recipe here

Filling ingredients

• 1/2 cup of whole blanched almonds
• 1/3 cup of icing sugar
• 1/4 cup of butter - room temperature
• 1 large egg
• 1 tspn almond extract
• pinch of salt
• 6 to 8 apricots halved and stones removed

• 3 Tblspns of honey - to drizzle over

Pour milk into a small saucepan, scrape in the seeds from the vanilla bean and toss in the bean as well. Bring up to a simmer. Remove from the heat.

In a small bowl whisk together the egg yolks, 3 Tblspns of sugar and the cornflour. Gradually add the hot milk to the yolk mixture in a small and steady stream whisking continuously.

Add the mixture back into the saucepan and heat gently until it thickens.

It should look something like this.

Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap pressed directly on the surface and cool in the fridge.

Roll out your pastry to fit your tart tin chill until firm, I often toss mine in the freezer for about 20 minutes to speed things up.

Preheat the oven to 220C/400F bake your tart crust blind until golden.

For those of you unfamiliar with this term, it just means to place some baking paper on top of your pastry and fill it with beans or pie weights and bake for roughly 10 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and bake for another 5. This is just to ensure that the pastry is crisp and does not absorb the tart filling when you pour it in. It’s a really common method to use when you are baking a tart that has a wet filling.

Cool your pastry crust.

Preheat oven to 180C/350F

Finely grind your almonds and icing sugar in the food processor.

Add this into your cooled pastry cream, stir in your room temperature butter and the egg, extract and salt.

Pour into your cooled crust and arrange your apricots halves on the top

Bake until set and golden- this takes roughly 40 minutes. You might find you need to tent the edges of the crust with foil if they are looking a little brown.

Drizzle with honey while warm, serve at room temperature.

This is a really lovely tart and one that looks so pretty. If you are using canned apricots do drain them well, you do not want a lot of additional moisture from the apricots going into the filling.

I can imagine this working well with peaches,pears or plums as well.

We are getting into late summer here. Sunsets are earlier and the winter clothing stocks are coming into the shops and they are finished with the end of summer sales. I’m starting to keep my eyes open for mushrooms in the forests that are near our house and Isaac is making the most of his waterslide while he still can.

That means apricot season is almost over here, and I’ll put my apricot tart recipe away until next summer when the stone fruit is hanging on the trees and the apricots are ripe again.