Biscottini di Prato

Posted on 30 June 2008 under Baking Recipes | No Comments

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Chocolate peanut cookies

Posted on 29 June 2008 under Baking Recipes | No Comments

Sean Moran’s Let It Simmer reminds me that the best cooking is local and a reflection of its territory. It is a record of authentic modern Australian cooking.

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Vanilla shortbread fingers

Posted on 28 June 2008 under Baking Recipes | No Comments

For me, vanilla’s perfume is among my favourite smells. Its intoxicating scent can go too far, however: workers who handle lots of vanilla daily are exposed to a mite that can induce headaches, lassitude and allergic skin reactions. This reaction is called vanillism.

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Sugarplums

Posted on 27 June 2008 under Baking Recipes | No Comments

I have never been sure what a sugarplum was, but they sounded luscious and exciting. So when I found an American recipe for “sugarplums” in an old issue of Saveur magazine, I had to try them.

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Saffron spice biscuits

Posted on 26 June 2008 under Baking Recipes | No Comments

The sweet baking spices seduce you into thinking these are just cute, normal biscuits, until the slightly bitter saffron kicks in.

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Parmesan biscuits

Posted on 25 June 2008 under Baking Recipes | No Comments

Though grana padano and parmigiano reggiano are produced in a similar way, there are differences between them that go beyond price. Generally, reggiano is more expensive because it is aged longer - typically three years or more but, for some great wheels, more than a decade. Both cheeses use a combination of evening and morning milk. For grana padano, both milk batches are skimmed. For reggiano, the evening milk is allowed to separate, skimmed the next day and added to the full-cream morning milk.

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Orange jumbles

Posted on 24 June 2008 under Baking Recipes | No Comments

The orange jumbles came from the chapter, “In the cook’s absence”. Lady Jekyll advises that the biscuits should be “faintly pink as the underneath of a young mushroom”. In her recipe she uses a drop of cochineal, but in my case I use blood-orange juice.
I have changed the imperial measures to metric and adjusted the method for modern practices.

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Persimmon biscuits

Posted on 23 June 2008 under Baking Recipes | No Comments

Of the fruit, there are two distinct types. The non-astringent variety, which is flat and almost boxy in shape, can be eaten while it is still as crisp as an apple. The astringent type, however, which looks more like an acorn-shaped tomato, contains tannic acid, and must ripen fully, until the flesh is jelly-like and very sweet, before it can be eaten.

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Borrachuelos

Posted on 22 June 2008 under Baking Recipes | No Comments

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Barquette aux marrons

Posted on 21 June 2008 under Baking Recipes | No Comments

Delicious boat-shaped pastries filled first with an almond frangipane cream, then a mound of chestnut butter cream and topped with a thin white icing

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