Coconut almond macaroons

• 2 egg whites
• 115g (4 oz) icing sugar or caster sugar.  
• I do 1oz only for Richard
• 115g (4 oz) ground almonds.  
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 115g (4 oz) dessicated coconut

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Method
Prep:20min  ›  Cook:25min  ›  Ready in:45min 

1. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees C (Gas 2). Grease two baking trays.
2. Use an electric beater to whisk the egg whites until stiff but moist. Sift in the icing sugar and gently fold into the egg whites. Gently fold in the almonds, vanilla extract and dessicated coconut until the mixture is combined, forming a sticky dough.
3. Spoon walnut-sized pieces of the mixture onto the baking trays.
4. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until the macaroons are crisp and golden on the outside.
5. Transfer to a cooling rack.

Almond stars

Ingredients 
Makes: 50 biscuits, depending on size

• 4 egg whites
• 250g icing sugar
• 250g ground almonds
• 1/2 lemon, zest grated and juiced
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground cloves

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Method
Prep:30min  ›  Cook:20min  ›  Extra time:1hr chilling  › Ready in:1hr50min 

1. Beat egg whites until stiff. Gradually beat in icing sugar, then fold in lemon juice, lemon zest, cinnamon and cloves.
2. Reserve and chill 8 tablespoons of mixture. Fold almonds into the remaining mixture; chill for 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 150 C / Gas 2.
4. Sprinkle sugar on work surface. Roll batches of dough to 1cm thick and cut out stars. If the dough is too sticky to handle, add a little more ground almonds.
5. Place stars onto a greased baking tray and brush with the reserved egg whites.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes in the preheated oven.

Gingerbread

This recipe is from Delia's Cakes

Ingredients
175g plain flour, sifted
1 level tablespoon ground ginger
1 level dessertspoon ground cinnamon
¼ nutmeg, grated
½ level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 tablespoons milk
75g black treacle
75g golden syrup
75g dark brown soft sugar
75g block butter
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Pre-heat the oven to 170C, gas mark 3

Equipment: A Silverwood loaf tin (or a standard 2lb loaf tin), lined with a 2lb traditional loaf tin liner

Method

Begin by placing the tin of black treacle (without a lid) in a saucepan of barely simmering water to warm it and make it easier to measure (see this recipe for weighing treacle).

Sift the flour and spices into a large bowl, then mix the bicarbonate of soda with the milk and set it on one side.

Now measure the black treacle, golden syrup, sugar and butter into a saucepan with 75ml of water, heat and gently stir until thoroughly melted and blended – don’t let it come anywhere near the boil and don’t go off and leave it!

Next add the syrup mixture to the flour and spices, beating vigorously with a wooden spoon, and when the mixture is smooth, beat in the egg a little at a time, followed by the bicarbonate of soda and milk.

Now pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake on a lower shelf so that the top of the tin is aligned with the centre of the oven for 1¼–1½ hours until it’s well-risen and firm to the touch.

Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out.

If possible, store it in a cake tin, still in its lining, for 24 hours before eating, and serve it cut in thick slices spread with butter.

Norfolk Shortcake

Ingredients 455g (1lb) self-raising flour  170g (6oz) sugar  285g (10oz) currants or sultanas (whichever you prefer)  170g (6oz) butter or margarine (or 10oz if omitting egg) 1 egg (beaten) (keep a little for glazing)  A little milk to bind  You can add mixed spice if you like!
Method 1. Rub butter in flour.  2. Add sugar sultanas and egg.  3. Bind with milk and form dough ball  4. Roll out to about 1/2 inch thick, cut to shape/size you'd like to munch!  5. Glaze with the little bit of beaten egg you remembered to put aside. Sprinkle with sugar and bake at 190C or gas mark 5 for approx 20 mins.

Lemon sandwich cookies

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
• FILLING:
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 4-1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 3/4 teaspoon grated orange peel
• 1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 drops yellow food coloring, optional
• Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla. Gradually add flour and mix well.
2. Shape into two 14-in. rolls; reshape each roll into a 14-in. x 1-1/8-in. x 1-1/8-in. block. Wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
3. Unwrap and cut into 1/4-in. slices. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Sprinkle half of the cookies with nuts, gently pressing into dough.
4. Bake at 400° for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Remove to wire racks to cool.
5. In a small bowl, cream the butter, lemon juice and orange peel until fluffy. Gradually add confectioners' sugar until smooth. Tint yellow if desired. Spread about 1 teaspoon on bottoms of the plain cookies; place nut topped cookies over filling. Yield: about 4-1/2 dozen.

Recipe index

Browsing through recipe sites, I find several I want to bookmark:

Easter recipes at Good Cheap Eats: quiche, spinach dip, carrot cake, scalloped potatoes...

and then LifeAsMom has lots of good shortcuts, chicken marinades, and so on.

Noted. Indexed. Bookmarked.

Belinda's Baked Lemon Cheesecake

Belinda, Richard and Issy came to lunch today. Lovely to catch up with them and trade news, and lovely to eat this delicious cheesecake which Bel brought with her.

Baked lemon cheesecake.

Crust: Mix 85g flour, 40g fine polenta, 50g sugar and 85g butter (melted) all together. I also added a few drips of Sicilian lemon essence. Press into 9"/20cm springform tin. Bake at 150 fan oven for 35 mins til pale gold colour. Cool.



Filling Put these into a blender: 350g cream cheese,150g caster sugar, 4 med eggs,grated zest and juice of 2 lemons, 1 tsp vanilla extract. This will come out bigger than the one I made as I reduced quantities by a third. (200g cream cheese, 100g sugar, 2 large eggs, still 2 lemons - lovely lemony deliciousness.)

Pour over base. Bake for 30-40 mins until slightly risen and just set.

Heat some lemon curd (about 1/3 jar) and pour over cheese cake. Chill overnight.

(The recipe actually says bake for 30 mins, then cool for a few mins, then add 300ml soured cream to the top and bake for 10 more minutes. I didn't do this, as I preferred the lemon curd topping - up to you!)

The crust was quite hard... could try baking this without any crust at all for the gluten-free option.