What food did you last make

Pompeyexile Is there one missing!

Pompeyexile

The important question is, are they fully crunchy or are they still a little chewy in the middle?

I had some potatoes and veg too. I’m not an animal

Lamb curry, cauli rice

Dusk

First batch had a slight chew in the middle but I cooked the second batch a little longer and they are lovely and crunchy all the way through… can’t be a proper Ginger Nut otherwise as far as I’m concerned.

Pompeyexile

We’ll have to agree to disagree, I love a bit of chewiness in the middle!

Pompeyexile Any chance of sharing the recipe for the gingernuts please?

Dusk

Not wishing to be pedantic but the clue is in the name…Ginger NUTS. Mind you, I do like them with a slightly chewy centre too. In fact, what I call the posh ginger buscuits, those with actual pieces of stem ginger in them… lovely!

A very easy straight forward recipe…

The Molases was my idea as I had some and thought I’d give it a try, makes them darker but they did turn out a bit more chewy in the centre, so for the second batch I stuck to the golden syrup. As for the amount of ginger, of course the more you add the more gingery they will be… Hands up, I did also add a smidgen of ginger syrup from a jar of stem ginger for even more gingeryness. Next time I will try some of the stem ginger finely chopped too but then I guess they can’t be called Ginger Nuts as it may effect the texture and make them a bit chewy too.

100g plain flour, sifted

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

3 tsp ground ginger

20g granulated sugar or Demerara Sugar

20g golden caster sugar

2 tbsp golden syrup or ½ Molasses ½ Golden Syrup (optional)

50g unsalted butter, melted

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C and line two large baking sheets with baking paper.

Combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, ground ginger, granulated and golden caster sugar in a bowl.

Create a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the melted butter and golden syrup.

Stir everything with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together into a dough (you might want to use your hands to bring it together in the end).

Roll the dough into 16 balls (about 15g each if you want to be precise) and place them onto the prepared baking sheets. Leave a bit of space between each biscuit to allow for some spread in the oven.

Press the dough gently to the flatten the balls a little, then bake in the preheated oven for 12-14 minutes until firm and golden. Don´t worry if they still seem a little soft, they will harden as they cool. 

Leave the ginger nut biscuits to cool on the tray for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

I also make what I think is a killer ginger cake using Stem ginger plus the syrup and some Belvoire Ginger Cordial.

Had a small amount of leftovers in the fridge…mashed spud, peas, carrots, so I fried up some chopped smoked pancetta cooked some leek in the residue fat and mixed that in. Then made some herby wholemeal short crust and voila! some very untraditional pasties for a lunch time snack or still being a big kid at heart, would go nice with some chips and beans.

WASTE NOT WANT NOT is the motto in our house 👍

Stilton and sourdough crumbs and a little sauce

Two buttered rum Christmas cakes (small square one for the father-in-law) ready for feeding. Had a bit of an accident when taking the round one out of the tin and thought I had lost her, but I think I managed to salvage her. After all, I wouldn’t want to have to eat that one now and make another now would I?…😉

Some old fashioned Bread Pudding…Lovely with a cuppa.😋

Fancied having a go at making butter but put off by the supposed faff involved - having to buy a butter churner and crank it for an eternity. Came across couple of Youtube videos using a mixer so thought I’d give it a go. This is the result. Took less than ten minutes start to finish.

Double cream (600ml) cost £2.10. Ended up with a block weighing 305grms so it’s considerably cheaper than even the budget butters on sale. There’s an added bonus that you also get buttermilk. I was left with 240grms which would cost about 75p in supermarkets.

Best of all, the taste is fantastic - velvety, creamy and morish. What’s weird is the butter is goes naturally yellow at the stage where it separates from the buttermilk. Added around 3grms of sea salt crystals. That might need adjusting for next batch. Butter will keep in freezer for months as will the buttermilk. For so little effort, think I will be making more homemade butter.

This is the point where the buttermilk separates. You pop the butter solids into a bowl of ice cold water and squidge to get rid of any buttermilk. This is to ensure the butter keeps for going rancid.

What cream did you use? There’s some really nice double cream you can buy that’s much better than standard supermarket stuff and I bet it would make great butter, wouldn’t be very cheap though.

I used Sainsbury’s double cream - nothing special but even with this, the result was very good. I am trying to source some double cream from local farms. You’d think it would be easy around here, Cheshire, as there are loads of dairy farms. So far, drawn a blank.

Longley Farm is the stuff I often get, it’s not local to me but quite a few of my local independent shops sell it. It’s got a much higher fat content and is noticeably more yellow than supermarket double cream. You can make whipped cream with a hand whisk in no time with it!

Lancashire Parkin

Peanuts roasted in Gene Cafe coffee bean roaster. I have a drum reserved for peanuts as the inside of the drum gets coated in peanut oil which may taint the coffee beans.

Some pillow soft Italian style sub rolls just waiting to cool down then filled with some smoked bacon and tomato.

Like you Systemic I too have made my own butter in the same way and I couldn’t beleive how easy it was. As for the buttermilk squeezed out, I use that for making soda bread…nothing gets wasted in our house.

Me too, make butter all the time, but I buy cream

Hmm, I might have to give butter making a go. I do tend to buy more expensive butter for the taste so it’s probably worth my while

Workman, tools🤣

Seriously, what’s wrong with it? Not a hint of browning.

Bet his Thermomix did

I made some butter this morning. All the recipes seem to be much of a muchness, but in the end I chose this guy as he is just up the road from me and does lots of good old fashioned grub. I added salt, but not enough. I beat the cream on high and it only started to splatter when the buttermilk appeared. The mixer I was using, that took less than 6 minutes. It really is dead easy with 2 ingredients……cream and salt

40 hours water fast then this at 9 am this morning

Jony can I ask how many eggs?

Uncletits was supposed to be 6 got a double.

I think I’ve tried rough puff pastry before but nothing more than that, I’m not sure if I have the patience to make those!

Dusk I’m not sure if I have the patience to make those!

It does take time but the results are rewarding. Most of the work is done in the afternoon of day one when you make the dough and do the laminations with the butter. After the final folds, the dough goes into the oven overnight. The following morning, all that’s needed is to roll out the dough into a rectangle, cut up the pieces and roll into the traditional croissant shape.

Most croissants you buy are mass produced frozen then baked off in supermarket ovens and, IMO, are disappointing - flaky and no substance. Some independent bakeries hand make croissants and the difference is substantial. Given that butter is key to a good croissant using inferior quality in the mass produced ones is a big reason supermarket ones are poor.

Came across The Two Magpies bakery in Blakeney Norfolk - their croissants were first class - so was the price.