Jammy baking

 



























I used raspberry jam to make a little feast of pretty edible treats, as a kind of last hurrah to summer. All floral, pink and light, before autumn begins properly and I get stuck into squashes and gingerbread lattes and pies.

The first thing I made were jammy dodgers. These are like the ones you can buy, except better because they taste homemade. An alternative is to make shortbread biscuits and sandwich them together with jam, but this biscuit is made with milk and is a little bit smoother and creamier. I essentially made up the recipe after failing to find anything suitable online. Somehow it worked!

I also made raspberry cupcakes from 'Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery' (a wonderful book for all cake lovers). You lightly swirl raspberry jam into the cake mixture, meaning you get the odd really jammy bit of cake - it's good. I didn't go all out and spoon jam inside the cake after baking, then ice the cakes with white chocolate buttercream, as the recipe instructs, but that extra effort does transform them from good to brilliant. It was just white water icing and pink glitter for lazy old me. They were still delicious though.


Recipe - Jammy dodgers

Makes 12 jammy dodgers (i.e. 24 biscuits sandwiched together)

150g butter
75g sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
225g plain flour, sifted
3 tbsp milk
100g raspberry jam

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees celsius and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
Rub together the butter, sugar, vanilla and flour (or use an electric mixer) until sticky breadcrumbs are formed.
Add the milk a tbsp at a time, until a dough forms - don't let it get too sticky.
Wrap the ball of dough in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least half an hour.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface to about 5-6mm thick. Use a 3 inch round cutter to cut 12 circles, then use a 1.5 inch round cutter to cut out smaller circles from the centres. Gather all scraps, roll out again and cut 12 more whole 3 inch circles.
Bake everything on a lined tray for 12-15 minutes until pale gold and fairly crisp.
When cool, sandwich together with 1-1.5 tsp of jam, then leave in the fridge to set a little before eating. If you can resist.


Recipe - Raspberry cupcakes

Makes 12 regular cupcakes

110g butter, softened
180g caster sugar
2 large eggs
125g self raising flour, sifted
120g plain flour, sifted
125ml semi skimmed milk, at room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp raspberry jam

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius (160 for fan ovens). Line a 12 hole muffin tray with cases.
In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar until pale and smooth, which should take about 3-5 minutes using an electric mixer.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Combine the two flours in a separate bowl.
Mix the milk in a jug with the vanilla extract.
Add one third of the flours to the creamed butter and sugar mixture, and beat well. Pour in a third of the milk and beat again. Repeat until all the flour and milk have been added.
Gently fold in the raspberry jam until it's mostly combined. You want streaks of jam through the mixture, rather than an evenly coloured batter.
Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, filling them to about two thirds full.
Bake in the oven for 25 minutes until slightly raised and golden brown.
Leave the cakes in the tin for about 10 minutes before cooling on a wire rack.
(Optional:)
Once they are cooled, cut a small hole in the centre of each cake and carefully place a teaspoon of jam inside. Ice the cakes with buttercream.

An awfully lovely day at Corfe Castle

During our sojourn to Dorset a very happy few hours were spent in the town of Corfe Castle, a village nestled in the Purbeck Hills. A picturesque home to said castle, the village is also famous for being the inspiration behind Enid Blyton's Famous Five books. Stories I will always love. (And the reason for the very cheesy title of this blog.)

It was one of the most English places I've ever visited. A paintpot blue sky with perfect white fluffy clouds, quaint stone cottage buildings clustered around a church. Sweetshops, bookshops, a deli selling pork pies & cheese, National Trust tearooms with low ceilings, wonky staircases and a garden sitting right at the very edge of the castle. After stopping for tea in the garden - and getting rather hot in the sun - we explored the village station. It's full of gorgeous retro railway ephemera and there's a fully functional steam train running through to Swanage - I felt like I was in a scene from the Railway Children, or Goodnight Mr Tom, or about to board the Hogwarts Express.

We then roamed around the castle, taking in its wild beauty - crumbling stone walls, gorse bushes, hidden walkways and panoramic views of the Dorset countryside. You can easily see the resemblance to Blyton's books. A picnic was eaten sitting amongst the ruins - almost like the Famous Five themselves. If only we'd had a dog, jam sandwiches, fruit cake and lashings of ginger beer!

Gone camping

I am a fairweather camper. When the sun's out, as it was for the whole of our stay, the tent is dry, the nights are clear and starry, and there are solar powered hot showers not so far away, I'm in love with the idea of life outdoors. The mornings and evenings are my favourite. There is something special about those times; early morning dew and sea mist creeping sleepily around the bottoms of tents, taking in lungfuls of clear air as soon as you wake, the smell of the first bacon rasher frying. Then in the evening, as the sunlight fades, it's replaced by little campfires watched wide-eyed by small children, the lighting of lanterns and candles marking out pitches, stars - so many - and the moon.

The campsite we stayed on was part of a working farm on the coast of Dorset. Being surrounded by the sea and the countryside was lovely. We clambered down to the private beach, sampled rolls, pastries and flapjacks from the onsite bakery, drank local beer and ate the best pizza ever, made in front of our eyes in a pizza van with a traditional stone oven. Watched children having the time of their lives playing on hay bales. We cooked pasta and bacon, drank hot chocolate as night fell, played endless rounds of cards. Our waking and sleeping patterns started to follow those of the sun. And round every corner were mischevious, funny farm animals to interact with. Newborn puppies with milky eyes. A grumpy pig who needed braces. Three proud roosters. Goats playing hide and seek around the farm buildings.

The best things I found about camping were the constant supply of fresh air, feeling so much better for the earlier bedtimes and mornings, and the complete change of routine. Change is invigorating and sometimes you forget how much you need it.