The Homemade Heart

gestalt buns.

Many years ago, I attended a two day course in a musty basement office in the beautiful  Georgian New Town of Edinburgh.The purpose, content and usefulness (or lack thereof) of the course is now lost to memory; clearly it didn't make much of an impression on my twenty-something self, but I do have a couple of memories of those two rather lengthy, summer days.

The first was a distinct, prickling discomfort at my comparative youth and inexperience comapared to the other attendees; the second was hearing the word 'Gestalt' for the first time. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I haven't heard it dropped into everyday conversation often in the intervening years, but the basic principle of 'The whole being greater than the sum of its parts' did come to mind this week when I made several batches of plain, simple, yet undeniably delicious cherry buns.

 

There is something about the ratio of sightly crisp outside, to soft cakey inside, that makes it almost impossible to eat only one. Studded with bright glace cherries (none of your natural dye cherries here, please), piled on a plate, these are lovely at any time of day. Derek has eaten a few with coffee for breakfast, and the rest of us have enjoyed them with tea or cold milk any time of the day or night. The boys have also had them with custard as a pudding. A batch of twelve will disappear in half an hour in our house, but if there are any left the following day, a slighty stale bun dipped in a cup of cold milk is a real treat. Much more so than it should be. Very Gestalt in fact.

The recipe is taken from the curious but highly appealing 'Taste Ye Back' by Sue Lawrence

Cherry Buns.

55g Lurpak Spreadable (the original recipe calls for margarine: the choice is yours)

55g Caster Sugar

1 Large Egg

110g Self Raising Flour, sifted

100g Glace Cherries, quartered (unwashed)

Lightly brush a 12 hole bun tin with melted butter and dust with self raising flour. Shake out excess. (Please use a bun tin or fairy cake tin, anything deeper will not give the lovely outside/inside ratio that makes these so delicious).

Preheat oven to Gas 4/180c.

Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy.

Break in the egg and mix well.

Add the sifted flour and mix well until fully combined.

Add the cherries and mix until well distributed.

Divide the mixture evenly between the bun holes. 

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on your oven, until golden brown.

Tip the buns onto a cooling rack. If you prepared your tin well they should drop out easily, with a tap on the tray from an oven-gloved hand if necessary.

Allow to cool before eating or storing in an airtight tin.

 

 

Business Biscuits.

Sometimes Derek asks me for some baking to take to business meetings. Even the most focused business person relaxes a little when presented with a tea or coffee and some home baking, and it is a good ice breaker.

I thought a batch of neat, sweet, crisp butter biscuits sprinkled with demerara sugar would be suitable. The recipe has been adapted from the wonderfully atmospheric 'Scandanavian Christmas' by Trine Hahnemann, where she calls these biscuits 'Crisp Cinnamon Cookies' but as I didn't sprinkle them with cinnamon, I have temporarily renamed them 'Crisp Demerara Cookies', though they are much more a biscuit (crisp) than a cookie (soft). 

Ingredients

375g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

Grated zest of 1 small lemon

125g light soft brown sugar

250g cold slightly salted butter, cut into small pieces.

1 large egg, beaten.

Topping

50-60g demerara sugar

1 egg, beaten together with 1 tsp cold water.

Method

In the bowl of a Kitchenaid or similar stand mixer, beat together the butter and light soft brown sugar until well combined and creamy.

Add the grated lemon zest and egg and beat until amalgamated; scraping down the sides to ensure thorough mixing. (The mixture may look a little lumpy at this stage)

Add the sieved flour and baking powder with the mixer running at low speed and beat until the mixture comes together in clumps.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly.

Divide into two or three sausage shapes approx  6cm in diameter, wrap securely in cling film and chill in the fridge for 50-60 minutes or overnight. (Or put into a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months or until required, defrosting to fridge temp before slicing)

Preheat oven to Gas 6/200 c/400 f. and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper (no need to grease)  

Cut into thinnish slices, 2-3 mm thick, and place a few cms apart on the tray (they do spread a little, despite the dough being chilled).

Brush sparingly with the beaten egg and water, and sprinkle with demerara sugar. 

Bake for 10-14 minutes, depending on your oven, until they are golden; check the underside is also golden to give an indication of done-ness.

Remove to a cooling rack and ensure they are cold before storing in an airtight tin, or bag neatly with a suitably smart ribbon.

 

old clothes and porridge

After a christmas holiday characterised by so much rich food; wine, champagne, and a happy evening with friends sipping  Poinsettia Cocktail, not to mention the house being awash with cheese, chocolates and salted and sweet nuts of every description, it was with a distinct sense of relief that I made my customary winter breakfast of porridge with berries and semi skimmed milk this morning. The house was very quiet, with Derek back at work, and the boys back at school, but far from feeling sad, I felt full of busy intent, and what had been hard to imagine yesterday; everyone back in the work-a-day routine, now seemed familiar and right.

As my redoutable Nana said after various celebrations and outings to celebrate her 93rd birthday last summer 'Back to old clothes and porridge', which seems to me the perfect motto for January: accepting with grace and a little relief the  comfort and familiarity of our busy, homely, daily routines, simpler food, frugal habits and a quiet month to reflect upon and appreciate the celebrations gone, and look forward to the busy months of spring ahead.

  

a little sentimental.

There's always some sadness when christmas comes to an end in our house; I start looking fondly at our tree and decorations, feeling a little sentimental about the christmas just gone, knowing that in a few days everything will be packed away for another year.

So many decorations have happy associations, or have been collected over the years, each going in its alloted place in the house every christmas; a reassuring ritual.

Who knows what 2014 will hold? Hopefully by next christmas I will be mistress of this shiny new blog and be sharing friendly posts a couple of times a week, blogging about the joys and trials of family life, baking,and general homey stuff. I do hope you'll join me.