Sally's yumyums

• Ingredients

  110g (4 oz) Rice Krispies

  • 110g (4 oz) toffee
  • 110g (4 oz) marshmallows
  • 110g (4 oz) butter or margarine

  ---

  Method

  Prep:10min  ›  Cook:10min  ›  Extra time:1hr setting  ›  Ready in:1hr20min 

  1. Melt the butter, toffee and marshmallows. Then add the Rice Krispies. Tip into a buttered or parchment lined tin and spread out to edges. Leave to set. Cut when ready and serve.

Trina's carrot and lentil soup

This is the soup we had at Trina's a couple of Christmasses ago, I think she found the recipe somewhere on the net.

I'll give you the original version then I'll give you my lazy adjustments!

I always make soup (and casseroles) a day in advance as the flavours mature and improve

Freezes well, reheats easily either in the microwave or a pan

Probably serves 4-5 adults (depending on the adults)

1 litre vegetable stock
2 large carrots (peeled)
1 medium potato (peeled)
1 medium onion (peeled)
1 cup of red lentils soaked and/or part cooked according to the packet (I cooked them in the stock)
2 teaspoons of cumin
Grind of pepper

The lentils may get foamy whilst cooking so you may have to skim

Chop and fry the veg then simmer with the lentils in the stock until cooked (veg needs to be soft enough to liquidise and lentils need to be soft)

I usually liquidise when it is cool as boiling some can fly a long way during liquidising!

Trina noted that her cumin was quite old and therefore not as powerful as it might be.  If you don't like things too spicy then use it with caution, I found half a teaspoon from a new jar was enough for me, but I don't like spicy.

If you want to use frozen carrots I found 190-200 grams was about right, you could probably use tinned carrots if that is all you have, they won't need to be cooked, just added to the soup before you liquidize

I didn't bother frying the veg and no-one has complained!

Well that went well... not!

Plainly I am unfit to be in charge of a blog!  That boy I was baking for is now in his second year at university ho hum!
So I'm just going to post my recipes here for the convenience of family and friends who request them.  If you drop by and you like them you are most welcome, there probably won't be many photos, the recipes will be sporadic, but they will appear now and then.

Lemon Drizzle

I've just realised that I haven't given you the details of how to make the lemon drizzle topping for the Baker's Dozen cakes I made.  They were made with my Victoria Sandwich recipe, but flavoured with natural lemon rather than vanilla.

Whilst your cake is in the oven measure out 90 grams of granulated sugar and 4 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice, but don't mix them yet.  Yes shock horror I did say bottled lemon juice!  Unless you always have a fridge full of lemons just in case you want to make lemon drizzle, it is much more practical to use the bottled stuff.   The little Jif lemons are OK but expensive, look for the supermarket own brand bottles or unfamiliar brands in the continental food section.

As soon as you take your cake out of the oven stab it all over with a cocktail stick or skewer (if your skewer is metal be careful not to damage yoiur tin!)  Quickly but thoroughly mix your sugar and lemon and gently pour it over your cake, it usually works best to pour it in the middle and let it gently flow to the edge of the cake, filling in any bare patches you see.  It doesn't have to be perfect.  If you think there is too much syrup you don't have to use it all.  We are aiming to get a crunchy sugary crust and the juice soaked into the cake.  If you don't use a paper cake tin liner it can get a bit messy.  Allow the cake to cool for a few minutes, then use the paper liner to carefully lift the cake out onto a rack to cool completely.

 If you want to decorate you cake with jelly slices or rice paper flowers like the one in my picture then quckly press them onto the top of the cake as soon you have poured on the the drizzle.

Enjoy
Karen Lizzie
xxx

Normal Service Will Be Resumed As Soon As Possible!

My fibromyalgia is currently making me feel quite ridiculously tired at the moment.  Baking the batch of cookies in the last post has left me exhausted!  Yes it is pathetic isn't it?

So I won't be posting pictures of current baking unfortunately, but hopefully I will still be posting recipes, tips and suggestions of useful equipment and products.

Karen Lizzie
xxx

Almond Drops

I think these would probably call themselves St Clements Drops as they are flavoured with both orange and lemon.  I made them as a little something to take to a friend's barbecue.

Not quite sure why these are described as a drop cookie, as drop cookies are quite literally spoonfuls of dough dropped straight onto the baking sheet, whilst these are gently rolled into balls like my basic cookies although you wouldn't always flatten them.  Despite being called almond drops they are made with ground almonds rather than being flavoured with almond, although you can choose to flavour them with almond if you like!  You will often find this recipe called lemon drops or raspberry drops, because they are made by pushing the end of a wooden spoon into the ball of dough and filling the hole with lemon curd or raspberry jam.  Recipes often also have them topped with a few flaked almonds.  I tend not to bother as using the flaked almonds as they are quite expensive and the ground almonds already make these a more expensive than average cookie.  You can sprinkle the tops with granulated sugar or those pretty little sugar shapes to add colour and a nice crunch.  You can make them plain if you choose, in which case you would want to flatten them a little before baking, then you could make a buttercream to sandwich them in pairs to make a sondwich biscuit, although if you do they are probably best eaten the same day as the buttercream will soften them if they are left too long.

The recipe uses egg yolk, which means you have an egg white leftover, which you can use to make meringue - the white will keep in the fridge for a couple of days, or you can even freeze it.  Pop it into a little pot and put it straight in the freezer.

I once tried a recipe which made another type of almond cookie, which conveniently used an egg white.  However the recipe used so much ground almonds I concluded that it would have been cheaper to throw away the leftover egg white!

I usually find that the cheapest source of ground almonds, and several other types of nuts is Aldi.

Ingredients
90 grams butter or full fat spread
75 grams caster sugar
1 Egg yolk
A little natural flavouring to suit, I used lemon
30 grams ground almonds
120 grams self raising flour
I used orange curd for the filling
I sprinkled the top with orange crunch pieces which I found amongst the bakery bits and bobs, but you could crush some boiled sweets

Set the oven to
gas mark 3
electric 170°
fan probably 150°

Line a baking tray with baking paper (not ordinary greaseproof) or use a non-stick reusable liner

Method
Beat the butter and sugar until it is well combined and looks lighter in colour

Beat in the egg yolk

Mix in with a round bladed knife or spatula the ground almonds then the flour

Divide the mixture into 10 equal pieces and gently shape into balls

Place the balls on the baking tray, spacing them to give room to spread. If you are leaving them plain flatten them a little but don't make them too thin.

If you are filling them then don't flatten them quite so much, use the handle of a wooden spoon to make an indentation in the dough, make it quite deep but be careful not to go through the bottom.  Wiggle the spoon around a bit to widen the hole you have made.

Fill the indentation with the jam or curd of your choice, (I use Orange Curd) less than half a teaspoon, you don't want it too full or it gets messy.

Put your almonds or sprinkles round the edge of the cookies

Bake in the centre of the oven for 15-20 minutes rotating the trays half way through to ensure even baking.  They should be golden rather than brown.

If your baking tray isn't quite big enough to hold 10 cookies then use two trays and swap the shelves half way through cooking as well asd rotating the trays.

Allow the cookies to cool on the tray for 10 minutes, then use a spatula to transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

These will store in a tin for a couple of days.

Enjoy

Karen Lizzie
xxx

Brownies with added Oreos

Little Girl has been baking!  It's her and Handy Boy's second wedding anniversary today so she decide to bake these lovely looking brownies.  I'm glad she was baking today as I'm still not really feeling up to baking myself.  Normal service will resume as soon as possible.

She was inspired by a recipe from Lorraine Pascal, but chose use my basic brownie recipe as it is cheaper because it uses cocoa rather than chocolate, and because it uses store cupboard ingredients, with the only addition being Oreos.  The Oreos were broken into chunks and just dropped into the mixture just before baking, simple but delicious.

You could give it another twist by making the cakes in paper bun cases and using a single mini Oreo on top of each one.  It does mean a special hunt for the mini Oreos though.  I'm sure you can think of your own ideas of things to add to the brownie mixture to make what appeals to you.  If it is something that is already in your store cupboard, so much the better.

Enjoy

Karen Lizzie
xxx