Tag Archives: Pudding

A royal picnic: Rhubarb & cardamom compote

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Posted in: DF, LF, S, SF, V, WF

Rhubarb & cardamom compote with shortbread hearts & clotted cream
British, tick. Seasonal, tick. Seductive, tick. Instead of shortbread, you can use scones. We like the heart touch though.

Not exclusive to royal weddings, this compote goes with just about anything: Put it on porridge, pop it in yoghurt or serve it with pancakes. Add it to cheesecake or eat it with ice cream. But don’t limit yourself to the sweet stuff; try it with mackerel or pork belly.

Ingredients
500g rhubarb, peeled and cut into 1.5 inch pieces
2 tbsp maple syrup or 1 tbsp agave
1 dsp butter
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 cinnamon stick
1 pod, split length ways or ½ tsp vanilla extract
1 orange, zest only

Method

  1. Melt butter in a pan and lightly toast cardamom, cinnamon stick and vanilla.
  2. Add rhubarb, maple syrup or agave and orange zest and stew till soft, aprox 10 mins.
  3. Cool and transfer to Kilner jar or airtight container. Store in fridge for up to 3 days.

Try with crushed digestive biscuits and cream, a la Granny Macintyre.

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A royal picnic: Shortbread hearts

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Posted in: V

Makes 20 (ish)

Plenty of seduction, not a lot of wholesome (although this version’s impressively low in sugar). But some things are best savoured exactly as they are, butter included. And would you mess with an age old Scottish family recipe?

Ingredients
150g plain flour
30g semolina
120g unsalted butter, softened
30g caster sugar – lavender sugar’s also good, or the zest of a lemon

Method

  1. In a bowl or blender, mix butter and sugar until light and creamy. Beat in flour and semolina until you get to a smooth dough. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30mins.
  2. On a floured surface, roll to aprox 1cm thick and cut into heart shapes with a 1 – 2 inch cookie cutter.
  3. Place on baking trays lined with baking paper and chill in the fridge for a further 15 mins. Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas 4.
  4. Bake for 15 – 20 mins, until lightly browned. Transfer to wire rack (carefully!), sprinkle with sugar and leave to cool. Store in an airtight container until picnic time.

Wrap in greaseproof paper and tie in place with some Union Jack ribbon. Serve alongside jars of the Rhubarb & cardamom compote with clotted cream.

A couple of teaspoons, and let everyone dig in for sweet and tangy bite sized Britishness.

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Maple roast banana

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Posted in: DF, SF, V, WF

Tired of our tasteless bananas picked while green for export, we decided to take matters into our own hands. The result, we think, is surprisingly reminiscent of those bursting with sweetness we gorge on in India and Sri Lanka. Ours have the added sticky tang magic that comes from heating butter and lemon.

Maple roast banana. Wholesome Seduction

Ingredients

Small knob of butter, approx. 2 tsp
2 bananas, sliced into lengthways – we do strips
1 dsp agave, maple syrup or honey
1/2 lemon, juice of

Method

  1. Set butter to heat in a frying pan on a high heat.
  2. Add banana, lemon juice and agave and fry till soft in the middle and sticky and charred on the outside. Roughly 3 minutes on the first side and 2 on the second.
  3. Keeps for 3 days in the fridge.

Serve with yoghurt or creme fraiche, on top of porridge or even with bacon. Anywhere you’d use bananas basically. They’re also delicious mixed into creme fraiche with a dash of vanilla extract as a banana cream to go with cake.

 

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