Tag: biscuit

Ginger and lime cookies, perfect for Christmas
19Dec

Ginger and lime cookies

I fell in love with ginger not so long ago. My husband urged me to try the famous Mcvitie’s Jamaican Ginger Cake and I was unable to stop at one slice only. It has since become my second favourite cake after the carrot cake from the Hummingbird Bakery which we had our wedding. After the Jamaican cake my views of baking with ginger changed dramatically, before I would never venture out of savoury dishes when using ginger. This recipe calls for ginger in syrup, don’t even try to use powdered ginger or any other form of ginger, you just wouldn’t get the fiery kick rounded up by chewy sweetness. And don’t be scared by the icing, it’s super easy, you only need 3 ingredients and a piping bag. It flows easily onto the biscuit and any mistakes on the design can be rubbed off with a dab of water on your fingers. Ginger and lime cookies (yields 20-25 cookies) Biscuit base: 200g butter 100g caster sugar zest of 3 limes 360g plain flour 180g stem ginger in syrup (drained), grated 1. Beat sugar and butter with an electric mixer, add grated ginger and zest. 2. Using a paddle attachment add
3 mins read
913 Views
15Mar

Dainty pistachio and rose shortbread

    It is not easy to make friends as an adult. It seems that by the time people get to their 30s they have an established, close knit group of friends and no more need apply. For some reason any new acquaintances are nice to have a chit-chat with but it’s hard to get deeper than that. Do we get lazier as we get older? You know when someone cancels a coffee or a meeting at the bar and you actually feel relief? Not because you don’t like that person, but because you don’t have to make the effort to get dressed up and venture out, you can instead stay in and watch Real Housewives in your pyjamas. As children we go to school, we see our friends everyday, whether we want to or not, and the relationships blossom from that daily contact. As adults is a lot easier to hide from social relationships, even at work. Effort is needed to build meaningful relationships. My good, old friends are all in Brazil. Or Abu Dabi, or Germany and I miss the closeness that I developed with them. My work is so social, there are a lot of girls that
3 mins read
769 Views
14Dec

Orange, honey and pistachio biscuits

I am not embarrassed to say that a lot of my Christmas shopping has been done online. It has been hard to put off chores and to be able to do things that I want to, such as blow drying my hair or going for a run. I guess that’s adulthood. Adulthood also means more and more of my friends are now having kids, and my lack of time really holds no comparison to what all the mammas I know have to juggle on a daily basis. Karla, my co-blogger, told be that being a mum and being with her family did not leave her with a lot of time to dedicate to the blog. I visited her last month and she cooked me some amazing stuff: creamy soups and quinoa patties which were to die for. She is a pro at seasoning, and one of the most creative people I have ever met. Obviously I am sad that our partnership has come to an end, but our friendship is strong even with the Channel between us. This recipe is for her. Karla loves Christmas biscuits I bought the cutters that I used for this recipe whilst in Germany with
3 mins read
1062 Views
18Mar

Honey Chai Easter cookies

The first time I listened to Nirvana was in my cousin’s bedroom. My cousins were quite a few years older and the coolest kids I knew. I got hooked listening to Nevermid and listened to Come As You Are on a loop. I wanted to tell everyone about it. I was a little late to the party though, this was in 98, so my enthusiasm received a lot of eye rolling because Nevermid was so last year, or so the cool kids told me. Eighteen years later I receive somewhat the same reaction when a mere few months ago I expressed my love for Chai lattes. Chai tea, according to snobs around me, was old news. Chai was out, turmeric was in. Although as a teenager I liked to imitate my cousins, these days I no longer feel embarrassed for not having tried all the latest trends. So better late than ever, I have started to experiment with chai spices.  I am no expert, but I played with the spices combination in this recipe at least 10 times now, and it is truly addictive. I am not moving on to turmeric any time soon, I am truly in love with
3 mins read
1012 Views
25Jan

Maize thumbprint biscuits [GF]

You may say that these biscuits look Christmassy but they are actually a childhood favourite of mine. I did come across the original recipe whilst on Christmas break at my parents house and I was so happy I did.  In Brazil they are often sold as little balls that melt in your mouth, I remember like it was yesterday eating them at my grandma’s house.  The original recipe belongs to my aunt, but I modified it as it asked for margarine and I never, ever buy margarine. So I tested it 3 times and settled on this recipe. Easy, quick, inexpensive and gluten free. It’s best served with a cup of milky coffee. Maize thumbprint biscuits (makes 36 biscuits) 150g coconut oil 1 egg 200g condensed milk 350g cornflour Seedless raspberry jam Icing sugar to dust 1. Preheat the oven to 170C (fan). With an electric whisk beat together the coconut oil, egg and condensed milk until all ingredients are well incorporated. 2. Slowly add the cornflour, folding with a spoon between additions. 3. Make little balls with the dough and place them on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper. At this point do your thumb print right in
2 mins read
608 Views
15Sep

White chocolate mousse tart

I look forward to the weekend when you get the door-stopper version of the paper and my favourite bit are the supplement magazines. They are a great source of food inspiration for me. On the other hand some of their food articles can also cause me great annoyance. Thing is I am quite naive when it comes to health, I will believe in what the professionals say and the papers and magazines have all sorts of professionals giving a whole lot of conflicting information. It’s all too much for my fickle mind. This revolt started when I read about the owner of the hottest new green juice bar in London in one magazine and then in the next there were big, fat quotes by Tracy Anderson saying that juicing vegetables get rid of all the nutrients and fibre. Last week carbs were bad, this week sugar is the devil and I am reading about this lady with a complete sugar-free diet. Completely free. I don’t know what I admire the most, her motivation or her ability to find the strangest spreads for her rice cakes. I know they are not telling you to do anything but I feel that we’ve become a little too obsessed with
4 mins read
737 Views