Amaretti

Anything almond flavoured is a bit of an obsession of mine. My favourite drink is an amaretto sours and I absolutely adore soft, squidgy almond macaroons - just like these 'amaretti morbidi'.

In the past I have had to learn to curb my enthusiasm for treats such as these, for two reasons. Firstly, I have found it rare for shops to stock the truly 'soft' amaretti that I prefer. Secondly, when I have chanced to happen upon them, my delight has usually been dampened by the expensive price. 

So, when a friend made  some of these for me as a Christmas gift last year, I begged her to give me the recipe, in order to put an end to my amaretti embargo. You will need the following:

* 180g ground almonds

*120g caster sugar

* Grated zest of one lemon

*1/2 tsp natural almond extract

* 1 pinch of salt

* 2 egg whites

* 1 tbsp honey

* Flaked almonds for rolling

* Icing sugar for rolling

Firstly, preheat the oven to 160 degrees C and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

Grate the zest of one lemon and mix this together with the ground almonds, caster sugar, salt and almond extract. Rub the mixture together with your finger tips.

In a separate bowl, mix the egg whites and honey and whisk until soft peaks form, like so...

You will now need to combine both your wet and dry mixtures. Fold the wet into the dry with a large metal spoon until you get a paste.

Roll the paste into small round balls of about 20grams in weight. Roll each ball on a plate of flaked almonds and then a plate of icing sugar.

Place the amaretti on the tray lined with greaseproof paper and bake for 12-16 minutes in the oven.

When you remove the amaretti from the oven they should be a light golden colour and still be chewy on the inside. This may take a bit of experimentation to perfect - my first attempt were browned on the base, although still tasted delicious.

Enjoy!

The Good and the Not-So-Good

Never mind that I have students swearing at me on what feels like a daily basis at the moment...

...I have beautiful flowers in my garden. 

And never mind that I have a pile of marking which reaches higher than my waist....

....I have sunshine and a spot of grass to sit outside on. 

And never mind that I don't get to see my boy this week...

...I had a bag of 'indulgence' treats in my pigeon-hole today. 

Thank you Secret Buddy!

I will sit and enjoy my wine, biscuits and magazine in the sunshine, with my flowers blooming around me and enjoy the good. 

The 'not-so-good' can wait until tomorrow. 

A little piece of heaven

lus·cious [luhsh-uhs]

Etymology
1375–1425; late ME lucius, unexplained var. of licius, aph. poss. variant of delicious

-Adjective 

1. highly pleasing to the taste or smell: luscious peaches.

2. richly satisfying to the senses or the mind: the luscious style of his poetry.

3. richly adorned; luxurious: luscious furnishings.

4. arousing physical, or sexual, desire; voluptuous: a luscious figure.

5. sweet to excess; cloying

Alt. – lushious 

1. Originating from ‘Lush’

2. Having the qualities of a ‘Lush’ product

3. Created from the ‘Lush’ values

This treat made me squeal with glee. Not only is it from LUSH, a shop with which I am obsessed (both for its sumptuous smelling products and ethical merchandising) but it is shaped like.a.spring.flower!

Buddy, I may not know who you are, but you clearly know me. 

One small problem though: I find myself torn. It smells so delicious I cannot wait to have a bath with it; yet it is so pretty-pretty I don’t want to use it! What to do?!

Escapism

Secret buddy you are an angel! Not only did I have a little packet of treats at the start of the week but today I found a copy of 'Country Living' in my pigeon-hole with a little note telling me to enjoy my weekend.

Which I undoubtedly will. Earl Grey tea, chocolate chip cookies and a magazine filled with gorgeous images of cheerful Spring gardens and beautiful country kitchens. Bliss.*

* What cheers me most is the fact that this doesn't really count as 'escapism' any more as my current surroundings are so quaint they may have been torn right out of this magazine's pages.

A love letter

Dearest B,

A small selection from the multitude of reasons why I love you...

Ahem.

One. You don’t think I’m insane for believing what I believe in. You understand what I mean when I say, ‘I’m a witch’.

Two. You nurture my creativity and inspire me to write. This blog would still be a zygote without your encouragement.

Three. You empathise with children.

Four. You take time out of your day to talk about my work with me.

Five. Your thoughtfulness and consideration: for me, for your family and friends and for the wonder of everyday things around you.

Thank you for my surprise treats today.  xx

A Taste of Elizabethan England

This fantastic recipe has supposedly been passed down from the fifteenth century and is the simplest of sweet-treats to make. To me, these honey-roasted almonds taste of Christmas markets in Prague, the warmth of the hearth and traditional sweet shops, all rolled into one deliciously sticky, nutty package.

You will need:
450g whole almonds (with the skin left on)
50g sugar
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp Water
2 tsp almond oil
½ tsp salt

Spread the almonds in a single layer in a shallow ungreased baking tray and place in a cold oven.
Bake at 180°C (Gas mark 4) for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the nuts are light brown in colour.
Set aside the roasted almonds.
Thoroughly mix the sugar and salt in a bowl.
In a saucepan, mix the honey, water and oil and bring to the boil over a medium heat.
Add the roast almonds to the honey mixture and stir constantly on the heat until all of the liquid has been absorbed. This should take about five minutes.
Transfer the almonds to a medium-size bowl into which some sugar mixture has been sprinkled.
Sprinkle the remaining sugar mixture over the almonds and toss until they are evenly coated.
Spread the almonds out onto baking paper to absorb any excess moisture.
When cool, store at room temperature, in an air-tight container.

These honey-roasted nuts should keep for up to two weeks but I can guarantee, if your friends and families are anything like mine, they won’t last that long!

"In this house we have chocolate cake for breakfast" (Practical Magic)

And why on Earth not?! I thought I would share with you my recipe for triple chocolate brownies. These are absolutely delicious but come with a health warning: always make sure you have plenty of people around to share them with!

Ingredients:

275g plain chocolate

275g unsalted butter

325g unrefined caster sugar

4 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

175g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

85g milk chocolate chunks

85g white chocolate chunks

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170˚c and find a baking tin that is around 4cm deep and roughly 25cm by 30cm. Line the baking tin with greaseproof paper and grease lightly with margarine or butter.

Melt the butter and plain chocolate together in a bowl (I usually do this over a pan of boiling water).  When they are melted, add the sugar and mix well. Break the eggs into a small bowl and beat lightly with the vanilla essence. Add this to the chocolate mixture and stir. Add the flour and baking powder to the mixture and fold in thoroughly. Stir in the milk and white chocolate chunks. Pour the mixture into the baking tray and bake for around 25-30 minutes.

When you take the brownies out of the oven, check with a knife that the middle is still sticky but not molten. It can take some experimenting but you are aiming for brownies that are still gooey in the middle, rather than cake-like. Leave to cool before removing from the tray and cut into small squares.  Well, you can cut into large squares if you like, but somehow eating them in smaller pieces seems to make it feel less naughty. Enjoy for breakfast, elevenses, lunch, afternoon tea and supper. *Wink*