Yogurt Scones

We made some scones  today from the recipe we usually use from a lovely book we have Short & Sweet by Dan Lepard. As usual, we amended the recipe just a little to use the ingredients we have in our larder.

Ingredients

• 200g plain flour
• 50g wholemeal/buckwheat flour
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder 
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 40g unsalted butter
• 100g raisins
• 1 egg
• 75g plain yogurt
• 2 tbsp of milk (for brushing)

Method

• Preheat oven to 220°C/200°C fan.
• In a bowl rub the flour, baking powder, sugar and butter with your fingertips into crumbs.
• Add the raisins.
• Beat the egg and yogurt together and stir in the flour.
• Combine to a firm ball of dough and knead lightly for 10 seconds.
• Flour the work surface, roll or press out to 4cm thick.
• Cut into 4cm squares so you have a cube.
• Place on non-stick baking paper, brush with milk, and place in oven.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes until risen.

Sourdough bread and butter pudding

We make bread almost every week and sometimes we don't finish it all before the next fresh load arrives so we sometimes do toss little ends away - which is such a waste! We did previously whizzed them into breadcrumbs but ended up not using them for months. But one day, wanting a slight change from our family favourite Apple crumble, we thought, why not try a bread and butter pudding since we did have quite a bit of bread to finish up.

We never did make it before because we always had in mind it was quite a heavy dessert, needing a lot of ingredients which we would normally want to use in our other dishes. Most recipes used quite a few eggs and we only had one we had to do a good hunt but we found a good simple one in the end! Which was anothergood thing because I never like using too many eggs in a dessert as I prefer to save them for my savoury dishes.

A serving of bread and butter pudding with a side of yogurt

As usual we adapted the original recipe just a little.

Ingredients

• 300-400g of stale sourdough bread, sliced
• 275ml milk
• 55g butter, melted
• 55g soft brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• a handful of raisins
• 1 apple, sliced or grated

Method

• Preheat oven to 180C.
• Sprinkle some raisins at the bottom of your tray. Place the sliced bread over the top to make a layer. Repeat this process to make at least 2 layers. If using sliced apple, distribute the slices.between the layers as well. Try not to have the fruit on the top as it will burn more easily.
• Mix all the other ingredients in a bowl. If using grated apple, this can be incorporated here as well.
• Pour the mixture over the bread and fruit.



Pouring in the wet mixture

• Leave to soak for about 30 minutes.
• Place in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes until the top is crispy and dark brown.
• Serve whilst hot.

Buckwheat pancakes

Is there anything better for breakfast than pancakes? Probably not, and by using buckwheat flour instead of normal flour the pancakes gain a nutty and delicious flavour. Also some say it is healthier.

Buckwheat pancakes served with blood oranges and bananas

This recipe makes four pancakes.

Ingredients:

• 125g buckwheat flour
• 1tsp backing powder
• 1/4tsp salt
• 50g plain yogurt
• 75g milk or water
• 1 egg
• 1tbsp agave nectar or maple syrup or honey
• 1tbsp olive oil

Method:

• In a bowl, mix together the flour, backing powder and salt.
• In a different bowl whisk together the yogurt, water, egg, agave and olive oil.
• Add the wet mix to the flour and mix together until well incorporated. Let it rest for a couple of minutes.
• Pre-heat a frying pan on low heat and drop a ladle fill of batter into the pan. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Once done transfer to a plate and cover with a cloth to keep warm, while making the rest of the pancakes.
• Enjoy with fresh cut fruit and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Those little tasty Portuguese egg tarts (Pastéis de nata)

Pastéis de nata (Portuguese egg tarts) are one of our favourite Portuguese pastries. During our last visit to Portugal we tried to find a recipe so we could finally have a go at making them. They didn't come out as desired and they don't look like the real thing, because we had to make a few changes due to the items available in our pantry. But they still tasted delicious, and we will definitely make them again.

Pastéis de nata, sprinkled with cinnamon

The recipe we followed is in Youtube in Portuguese, but it should be clear enough to follow. We only made half of the recipe, and because we didn't have caster sugar, we used light brown sugar instead, and reduced the amount by 50 grams. They were still very sweet.

Bolo de arroz (Rice cakes)

Today the temperature went up a few degrees and the sun was out so finally, for the first time, we were about to have breakfast on the terrace!

First meal on our terrace

We made a traditional Portuguese pastry called "bolo de arroz" which translates to rice cake. Not the usual crispy buscuit like ones on sale here in UK supermarkets. These are proper cakes with sugar, eggs, rice flour, plain flour, butter, and lemon zest. We made them in muffin trays but traditionally they are made in narrow tall paper containers, a bit like panettone.

Bolos de arroz

And they tasted like the real thing! 

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Simple Apple Oatmeal Crumble - no buttery fingers!

I've always loved a good crumble but always didn't like the rubbing in part where you had to rub the butter and flour together to make the crumble. My fingers and fingernails would always ended up with sticky clumps and would take a long time to scrub them clean. 

So when I came across this recipe that showed just a good stir to make a crumble, I was all up for trying it out. It's also a great way to use up bruised and slightly old apples. Sure, the published image didn't look appealing but I knew better than to judge a recipe just by its photo. Another thing I liked about it was the fact it had oats which I thought added a good addition of texture, taste, and made it just that little bit healthier - which we love. Any excuse to justify eating pudding!

Individual portion of apple crumble with a dollop of yoghurt.

Of course, with most recipes we do jig them here and there to make them more suitable for our household so we reduced the amount of sugar, increased the amount of oats and flour, and we never found that there was enough crumble for the top and bottom so we just have it on the top. So this is our version.

Ingredients

• 4/5 apples cored and chopped/sliced (we never bother to peel them)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 3/4 cup wholemeal flour
• 1/2 cup butter, melted (about 115g - I find it hard to measure butter in cups)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method

• Preheat to 175 degrees C
• If you are using a metal tray, line it with baking parchment. If you use a ceramic one, there is no need to.
• Spread the chopped/sliced apples at the bottom of the tray. Sprinkle cinnamon over the apples. If you like cinnamon, you can add more to the crumble mixture.
• In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, oats, flour and butter. Mix until crumbly.
• Spread the crumble even over the apples.
• Put into the tray in the oven for about 40 minutes under golden brown.
• Serve with a dollop of yogurt, or if you deserve it, a scoop of ice cream!

Apple Crumble straight out of the oven.

Apple crumble with yogurt and a swirl of vanilla paste

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