Raspberry and White Chocolate Shortbread Sandwich

I don’t know about you guys but, for me, sometimes recipes are just kind of guidelines. Especially when it comes to flavour combinations. Obviously baking requires a little precision, a little science, but I think you should definitely take a wee bit of artistic license once in a while. Recipes are what I tend to use for inspiration, rather than instruction; I browse through blogs and books and wait for a little light bulb to ping above my head. I take a little of this, a little of that and throw in my own tastes – et voilà! Dinner/dessert/lunch/unnecessary but tasty indulgence is served.

With regards to this particular recipe – because I’m not the biggest fan of overtly sweet foods – I’d probably use a really nice dark chocolate next time instead of the white. Whilst I love white chocolate and raspberry together, I think the tartness and sweetness of the raspberry/lemon filling requires the bitterness of dark chocolate. But, you know, guidelines. Personal preference. All that jazz. Smother this wee treat in any kind of chocolate you prefer.

Recipe

4 egg yolks

400g sugar

300g plain flour

300g self raising flour

1 tsp salt

450g butter

300g raspberries

3 tbsp sugar

Juice and rind of a lemon

1. Preheat oven to 180.

2. Pop your raspberries, sugar and lemon juice/rind in a saucepan over a low heat. Just let the raspberries fall apart and turn syrupy, then take off the heat and pop to one side to cool.

3. Shortbread; cream the butter until it’s soft and fluffy then stir in the egg yolks.

4. Stir in the flours, sugar and salt to the egg and butter mixture. Get your hands in there and knead for a little – don’t overwork the dough though.

5. Take half the dough and flatten it into a tray then slather on the raspberry mixture.

6. With the other half of the dough create an almost breadcrumb-like consistency and sprinkle on top of the raspberry.

7. Pop in the oven for thirty minutes until it’s nice and golden then leave to cool.

8. Melt your chocolate, drizzle on top of your shortbread and enjoy!

 

Zesty Energizing Summer Smoothie

 

Yes, yes – another smoothie. Now don’t worry I won’t be posting every single one I make, just when I feel like I’ve hit upon a piece of fruity genius. And this, this is definitely fruity genius that tastes exactly how a summer’s day should. Now, I am an absolute addict for sharp flavours – lemon, lime, raspberries…I can’t resist for them – so this recipe is just absolutely perfect for me (and in fact you could blend it all together, pour it into a container and freeze for a gorgeously refreshing sorbet too!).

What’s more, not only is this beautifully tasty, it is possibly the most stunning bright reddish-pinky raspberry colour you could ask for – who could resist that?!

 

Recipe

1 Mango

1 Lime

A generous handful of frozen raspberries (or fresh ones with a few ice cubes!)

100ml cold water

 

1. Remove all the mango pulp and pop in the blender (I made the mistake of putting the frozen raspberries in first and it made a horrendous racket and refused to blend for an age!).
2. Add the raspberries and pulp from your lime and blend until at your desired texture. Pour into a nice big glass and enjoy!

Fruity Breakfast Smoothie

So, smoothies have been creeping back into my diet since the weather turned a little nicer (who am I kidding, I’ve been pretending it’s summer for at least three weeks now) and then this morning I realised I hadn’t put a single recipe for one on this wee blog of mine. Now this is my basic fall back smoothie – nothing too fancy but filling and tasty – and I generally have all the ingredients knocking about the house. If you want to add a little more texture/sustenance to this maybe add a small handful of oats.

Recipe

1 banana

1 handful of raspberries

1 handful of blueberries

1 tbsp natural yoghurt

2 tsp honey

100ml milk

Tip; I tend to add frozen fruit as then I won’t need to use ice!

There’s no great mystery to this one, my darlings, pop all ingredients in your blender and blitz until it’s a consistency you’re happy with. Easy flipping peasy.

Zingy Spring-time Raspberry Lemonade Cake

It was a friend’s birthday earlier this week and I decided – as usual – that this was a perfect opportunity to bake a cake. Not that I often need an excuse but, you know, it’s nice to have a reason once in a while. Inspired by the recent explosion of spring – seriously; daffodils, sunshine and ice lolly territory – I felt it appropriate to whip up a light, fresh and zingy tasting cake based on raspberry lemonade.

Now – quick tip – because of the acidic nature of the buttercreams really make sure your sponge is cool before you decorate or you’ll have a calamity like me where the top slips off the bottom and the entire thing starts to resemble crumbling remains. Absolute tragedy for aesthetics but still tasted excellent!

Recipe

Cake

220g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

A pinch of salt

200g butter

2 eggs

50ml milk

200g caster sugar

The juice and rind of one lemon

A punnet of raspberries to decorate

Raspberry Buttercream (for the middle of your cake)

50g butter

150g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

50g fresh raspberries

Lemon Buttercream

75g butter

200g icing sugar

The juice of one lemon

 

1. Preheat your oven to 175 and grease two round cake tins.
2. Cream together butter and sugar.
3. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and then add to the butter and sugar.
4. Pour in the milk and the lemon juice and rind.
5. Slowly add in the flour, baking powder and salt and beat together until light and fluffy. Pop into the oven for 25 minutes until nice and golden. Leave to cool in the tins.
6. Raspberry Buttercream; beat together butter and vanilla. Add in icing sugar and mush in the raspberries – you don’t want them completely smushed up, a little texture is good for you. Pop this into the fridge right up until you need to use it again as it has a wee tendency to curdle.
7. Lemon Buttercream; beat together the butter and lemon juice and add in icing sugar. This should have a super tangy, lemony flavour.
8. Construction time! Slather the raspberry on top of one sponge and place the other on top of that. Then decorate the top with a healthy layer of lemon buttercream and pop on oodles of raspberries.

Utterly Scrummy Raspberry and Almond Clafoutis

     I have to honestly admit that I thought this recipe might take a few attempts – I expected all manner of things to go horrendously wrong. Why, you ask? Goodness knows, I’ll answer. Something in my bones was yelling at me that this tasty French tart was going to be a flop. However. It was flipping marvellous. My family nearly consumed a good three quarters of it before dinner had even been put on the table!

     Technically because I used raspberries instead of cherries, as is traditional, this is a flaugnarde. Neither name is particularly attractive, however and most people seem to umbrella them all under “clafoutis” these days which definitely needs to be said with a French accent. That’s klah-foo-tee!

     This recipe is quick and simple and makes a beautiful dessert that looks absolutely gorgeous and way more impressive than it should considering it’s simplicity!

Recipe

80g ground almonds

4 tbsp plain flour

150g caster sugar

2 eggs

25ml chambord/or some sort of berry liqueur

275ml milk

300g raspberries (doesn’t have to be fresh, frozen can work just as well, you just may need to cook a little longer)

1 tsp almond extract

30g butter (melted) plus a little for greasing the pan

Icing sugar

1.                  Preheat oven to 180.

2.                  Grease a round cake tin and empty out the raspberries into it.

3.                  Pop all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Then add the milk, eggs, butter and almond extract and beat on high speed until all is combined.

4.                  Pour the batter on top of the raspberries and cook for 30 minutes until the top is golden brown and still a little wobbly – you want a nice little jiggle on the surface still.

5.                  When it’s just out of the oven, dust with icing sugar and enjoy!