Minnie's Soup Kitchen

Blue July, bright July,  Honey flapjacks Month of storms and gorgeous blue;  Violet lightnings o'er thy sky,  Heavy falls of drenching dew; ... So wrote George Meredith.  I certainly saw some lightning in July but not here in Ireland. The spouse, the younger offspring and I were on the continent. Despite the time away from my own hob and oven, I still managed to get some baking done.  Pecan toffee shortbread: a favourite My first offering consisted of honey flapjacks from a recipe in the Irish Times . You'll see that the basic recipe can be varied: butter can be replaced by coconut oil and honey by maple syrup. Four days later I made pecan toffee shortbread - a personal favourite.  Prize-winners: apple crumble cake and plum and amaretti tray-bake Shortly afterwards I entered the local baking competition, making plum and amaretti cake for the tray-bake section and apple crumble cake for the miscellaneous section. Much to ...

June: my favourite month. Not least because my birthday falls in June. This year I spent my birthday across the water with my siblings but my absence didn't hold me back from baking at home. I tried five new recipes and repeated Bronte Aurell's banana cake recipe from Hygge and Fika . I made it to bring in to work for a departing colleague and it had the best reception of practically everything I've ever brought in. You'll find the recipe here .  Strawberry flan Blondies with lavender and lemon My other June bakes were a strawberry flan with rich sweet flan pastry, banana flapjacks, walnut biscuits, lavender cupcakes (from Norfolk's Own Cookbook ) and blondies with lavender and lemon (another Hygge and Fika recipe). The blondies went down well with the younger offspring's friends.  Words to the wise: (1) strawberries dipped in hot melted chocolate seem to start fermenting and (2) when you have whizzed lavender sprigs to make lavender sugar, d...

Fruited teabread and pear and cardamom teabread My kitchen was very productive this May. The doyennes of the fete cake stall retired last year and so the new stall holders were looking for donations. I girded my loins, reviewed my recipes for cakes that I could make and freeze, and set to. Nine different cakes and teabreads resulted: apple and ginger teabread, cherry and apple streusel cake, fruited teabread, pear and cardamom teabread, amaretti plum cake, rippled date and banana loaf, glazed rosemary cake, spiced fruit parkin, and prune, walnut and molasses teabread. I'm a legend in my own kitchen! And I had to make fudge for the stall I was working on.  Later on in the month I made panforte from a Good Housekeeping recipe and a mushroom and onion quiche from Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course  for domestic use. 

Over the land is April  Coconut and pine nut cookies Over the land is April, Over my heart a rose; Over the high, brown mountain The sound of singing goes. Thanks to Robert Louis Stevenson for the title of this entry. April activity This month I made Chetna Makan's coconut and pine nut cookies. Distracted by something, I left them in the oven a little too long. Even so, I quite liked them but I'm not sure that my tasting audience was hugely impressed. Easter bark with Smarties I haven't bought a copy of Good Housekeeping for a long time so I treated myself to the April 2017 issue. There were lots of tempting chocolate cake recipes but I opted for the fairly straightforward Easter bark recipe . I made two batches: one with the suggested chopped mini eggs, the other with chopped up Smarties. These were very much appreciated by my tasting audience. Sometimes I have to remind myself of why I started writing this blog: to encourage...

Raspberry mousse gateau in progress Last month (March 2017) I forayed into a couple of my older cook books for recipes. My aunt and uncle came for lunch at the beginning of the month, so I used Bridget Jones' recipes for boeuf bourguignon and raspberry mousse gateau. The latter was accompanied by mango kulfi (recipe from the Kaul sisters' The Three Sisters Indian Cookbook .  Brunswick bun My favourite bake of last month was Bronte Aurell's Brunswick bun ( Hygge and Fykke ). It was my first attempt at baking with yeast and took nearly all day. The flavour and aroma of warm cardamom - oh, pure delight! I was inspired to write a poem about cardamom and it was well received by a small audience.  Blueberry stud muffins Other recipes of Bronte's that I tried were the blueberry stud muffins (okay) and the saffron bundt with pears. The latter was not a success (too much batter for the size of my ring-tin) and I realised I don't like the ...

A Sliver of Silvia Silvia cake My first bake of February was the Silvia cake from Hygge and Fika . Buttery batter and coconut topping: it had to be good. I was rather disappointed by the cake's blandness. I've checked a couple of other recipes for this cake, none of which stand out as making it more interesting or flavoursome. Spinach and Spice Loaf Spinach and spice loaf This is more like it. Spinach, chilli, cumin, garlic and pinenuts provide rich flavours and texture. Definitely to be made again.  Rabbitting On A new recipe from an old book was Dorset rabbit from Doreen Fulleylove's Country Fare . Our butcher had a couple of rabbits for less than €10, so why not have a go? Jointed and covered with a layer of breadcrumbs and suet, this was a tasty meal.  All Square  Hazelnut squares One weekend I made raspberry squares from Hygge and Fika and hazelnut squares from Martha Day's Baking . I've had my eye on the hazelnut s...

Butternut squash and shallots roasted with smoked paprika and caraway seeds Puffed Up with Pride My first new recipe of 2017 was from Norfolk's Own Cookbook: Everything Stops for Tea . The book practically fell open at "Sausage rolls with roasted vegetables." There were some unused shallots and carrots in the fridge, smoked paprika, and a few of the other listed ingredients in our cupboard. At the butcher's I asked for sausagemeat and was given the choice of having the meat removed from prepared sausages or a lump of frozen meat. I chose the former but not happily.  Sausage and roasted vegetable rolls Butternut squash - the tough nut of vegetables. You have to batter through the skin with a sharp knife. Then the dicing begins. Carrots are grated. Oh, the anxiety! Will I sever a finger or break a nail? Phew! I got through the prep work with no mishaps.  I can't remember when I last used puff pastry. I thawed out a packet for the sausage rolls - ...

Review of 2016 Berries and cream celebration cake for New Year's Day, 2017 Last year was a bonanza year for baking. I made a total of fifty different baked items, including a berries and cream celebration cake on New Year's Eve for a special lunch on New Year's Day. This total was achieved because of the baking competition I entered in July, a fund-raising coffee morning I co-hosted in November, and various other occasions during the year. Some items didn't work out well or didn't taste as good as I'd anticipated, while others were ambrosia! Here's the big list for 2016: Ale fruit loaf 17-Jan2016 Broccoli & Gruyere tart 23 Jan2016 Fig and apricot scones 30-Jan2016 Marbled peanut butter brownies 3-Feb2016 Cup cakes 3-Feb2016 Spicy biscuits 13-Feb2016 Lemony cookies 13-Feb2016 Blondies 18-Feb2016 Apple crumble cake 18-Feb2016 Vintage cheddar & walnut scones 18 Feb16 Morning muffins 3 Mar16 Pistachio & white chocolate shortbr...