09/08/2010

Sunday Evening Treats

Sometimes on a Sunday evening after dinner, I just want something nice. Well actually, every evening after dinner I want something nice but I will generally act on it on a Sunday. Monday to Saturday I tend to be “good” and watch what I eat. Anyone who tells you other wise is lying!

Since I was little at every gathering, family party, neighbourhood birthday, anniversary, christening and everything in between, my mum would, with complete ease, throw together a couple of pavlovas which would then be covered with fresh cream, fruit or chocolate.

I have had mums recipe for a couple of years in the back of my recipe book but had put off trying until now as my last attempt was a disaster! I decided that last night, I would try again. And this time – Success!!!

It took me about 5 minutes to throw together but the baking takes just over an hour and the pavlova needs to be left in the oven until completey cold. Without opening the door! So probably best to make these ahead, and just fill them before you want to serve.

To make them you will need to cut a sheet of baking paper to place on a large baking sheet. As a guide for size, use a dinner plate as a template and trace around it onto the baking paper with pencil. Then place the baking sheet, with the pencil side down on the baking sheet.

Preheat your oven to 150C.

You will need;

6 egg whites, 2 cups of caster sugar, pinch of salt, 2 tbsp custard powder, 2 tsp vinegar.

Beat the egg whites together with the salt until fluffy. Add 1&1/2 cups of the sugar to the egg mixture spoon by spoon while the beater is still on. When sugar is mixed in well add the vinegar (again with the beater still on)

In a separate cup, mix the remaining sugar and custard powder. Turn off the beater and with a metal spoon fold gently into the mixture.

Spread the mixture onto the baking sheet using the pencil mark as a template. Using a spatula, spread the mixture so that the edges are a little higher than the centre.

Place the baking sheet into the centre of the oven and immediately turn down the heat to 135C.  Bake the pavlova for one hour and 15 minutes. THen turn off the oven and leave to cool in the oven.

Once the pavlova has cooled completely, carefully transfer to your serving dish, peeling off the baking sheet. There will be little shards and bits that will fall off as you are doing this and I find that with mums, there will always be parts of the edge that will crack. It adds to the look of the finished product!

Now, the fun part.

To fill the pavlova, take 2 x 250ml containers of cream whipped to soft peaks. Spread this into the main body of the pavlova bringing it level with the sides.  After this, what you put on top is up to you!

Usually, I use the lovely containers of frozen fruits that you can find in the supermarket. In summer, use fresh strawberries, with rasperries, kiwis, plums – the possibilities are endless.

If you are feeling particularly indulgent, you can use chocolate. Before you place the cream onto the pavlova, take 2 bags of maltesers and a crunchie. Reserve 10 maltesers for the top and place the rest in a freezer bag with the crunchie. Crush them with a wooden spoon or rolling pin until chunky and bashed, but not powdered! Pour them into the cream mix and stir in well. Place this mix onto the pavlova and use the reserved maltesers to decorate.

For this Sunday evening treat, I mixed the maltesers in with the cream and them topped it all with strawberries. Slightly healthy, but more indulgent.

If you wanted to you could use a low fat greet yoghurt as the filling but to be honest any of the alternatives I have tried are just not the same. And the best thing about this is that as it uses fresh cream, it has to be eaten within 2 days.

You will be delighted to hear that I had no such problems. Mr. C very kindly stepped in and offered to take most of it home on a visit to his parents. I later found out that he ate it all himself. All of it. All three quarters of it. Still, waste not, want not.

Now, I am off to watch America’s Next Top Model with a cup of Laduree leaf tea that I “found” at the back of the press. mmmmm treats!

So what is your favourite Sunday (or any day) evening treat? Do you need something sweet after dinner everyday or just once every now and then?

 

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02/08/2010

How do you eat yours????

How do you eat yours?

Scones. Fruit or Plain? Butter or Clotted Cream? Warm or cold?

It is an age old debate.

Okay, so maybe not that old. Or important in the greater scheme of things. But a hot topic none the less!

I eat my scones, (fruit preferably with no sugar topping) cold, with no condiments. If I do decide to have it with something, it would have to be butter (salted) with jam (strawberry or raspberry) Simple.

Now scones are something, like the meaning of life, that I have struggled with over the past couple of years. All the recipes I tried would result in small, flat rock hard scones with no flavour and no joy.

So I decided that I would revert to the home of amazing scones. The Avoca Cafe cookbook. The Avoca Cafe’s are a lovely place to mis-spend an afternoon, or a morning. Or even a whole day if you have the chance. Their baked goods are delicious, but their scones are something to behold.

Now I am not for a second suggesting that my attempt at their recipe hits the very high bar they have set, but they are pretty good if I do say so myself.

You Will need to preheat your oven to 180C and grease a baking tray.

450g self raising flour, a pinch of baking powder, a generous pinch of salt, 50g sugar, 110g unsalted butter at room temperature, 1 egg lightly beaten, 50ml double cream, 200ml milk (you may need a touch more)

1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water to glaze.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and add the sugar and stir completely. Add the butter and rub the mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the cream, egg and enough milk to moisten the mixture and combine until it has a soft doughy texture. You may need a little more milk but do not make the mix too wet.

Bring the dough together into a ball and turn out onto a floured surface and roll out to 2.5cm/1 inch thick.Cut out using a round cutter (as big or as small as you like) and transfer to the baking tray. Leave about a 2 inch space between the scones.

Using the glaze, brush all the scones before placing in the oven for 15-20 minutes. I found that 16 minutes was enough to get them golden brown.

Allow to cook for a couple minutes beefore placing on a wire rack to cool. You can eat these still warm from the oven if you like. You can also store them in an airtight container for up to 4 days. To reheat, simply place in a warm oven for 3-5 minutes. I am afraid I can’t advise on microwave timings as I do not have one in the house!

You can also freeze the scones for up to 3 months in a completely airtight freezer bag. If you are freezing a couple of them in the same bag, be sure that you reseal it properly before placing back in the freezer, otherwise your goods will end up with freezer burn.

You can also use this basic recipe to make fruit scones. Simply add a handful (approx 100g of raisins, cranberries, currants whatever you wish) when you have rubbed in the butter and before you add the cream, milk and egg.

Butter and Jam. mmmmm

So whatever way you eat yours, use this simple recipe to find out.

I am off to discover whether thick cream and fresh strawberries would really be a taste combination I could recommend on a scone.

Enjoy.

xx

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26/07/2010

Buckwheat Pancakes – Easy on a Sunday Morning

Every second Sunday, Mr C heads off in his car early in the morning and I don’t see him again until the late afternoon. Most of these Sunday’s I will get up early, head to the shops, grab the papers and settle down with breakfast and coffee. I was in such a habit that I even had people waiting for my facebook update that stated I was reading the papers and drinking coffee.

A couple of weeks ago, I knew that I wanted something a little different. It had rained all day on Saturday and even though it was the middle of summer, it was more like October. Sunday was a glory with sunshine, a light sea breeze and a nice little bit of warmth.

So I hopped out of bed about an hour after Mr C left, threw on my running gear and headed off for a run with the dog. 4 miles later, I was back, papers under my arm with a want for a different breakfast. I had fresh strawberries in the fridge and greek yoghurt and a bottle of maple syrup caught my eye in the press. I knew exactly what I would make.

Easy on a Sunday Morning - You Bet!

Buckwheat pancakes with fresh strawberries and peach, with greek yoghurt, maple syrup. And some very strong coffee.

These pancakes are super simple to make and the recipe has come from Rachel Allen’s book Favourite Food for Friends.

You will need;

75g white flour, 40g buckwheat flour, a pinch of salt, 1/8 tsp of baking powder, 1 egg, a scant 100ml of milk.

Place the flours, salt and baking powder in a bowl and mix together. Form a well in the centre and add the beaten egg and the milk and whisk briskly until the mixture is smooth and with no lumps.

Cook the pancakes on a hot frying pan. If it is a regular pan, add a little oil and wipe off with a paper towel. If the pan is non stick you will not need to do this.

This mixture will make 2 pancakes the size of your head, or 4 the size of a childs head! Not that I am suggesting eating peoples heads….

Anyway, I digress. Cook on a medium heat until golden brown on one side, turn over and cook again until golden on the other side.

Serve up with a scoop of greek yoghurt, freshly cut strawberries, or the fruit of your choice and some maple syrup.

Strawberries from Wexford, Peaches from Aldi !

Waiter, there is a balloon in my maple syrup. Can you see it?

Put your feet up, coffee within supping distance, and enjoy your breakfast.

See if you can do better than I did. I was defeated by the second pancake, but if you look closely at the top photo, you will notice who was waiting in the wings for me to fail!!!

Defeated.

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19/07/2010

Fancy Filo

I have recently developed an addiction to magazines. Now not the usual fashion or celebrity gossip mags. No I have an addiction to running magazines. You know the ones with the super fit individual on the front who looks ridiculously happy and has headlines like “Drink Beer and Run Better – Yes Really” and “You Need Speed – Fartlek for Beginners”. My hits of choice are Runners World and Womens Running. So I was studying one of the mags recently and came across this delicious looking recipe for Beetroot and Feta on filo pastry and thought – well if Runners World says its okay, its okay.

A Little Pastry Pillow

Now I don’t eat that much filo. I suppose I am a little bit of a snob in that I rather make my own breads, pastry, pizza base. It is as much as a control thing as anything else. I like to know exactly what goes into my food. But this particular recipe spoke to me! So much that I went straight to the supermarket and bought a pack of filo pastry. Lets face it, if you are going to use filo pastry for anything, life is too short to make your own. Even I know that!

I have, yet again, adapted this recipe subbing mozzarella for the feta, into what I must say is a really lovely, healthy and quite light dinner. Perfect for a summer evening. You could also serve this as part of a tapas style dinner for friends with a number of other dishes. Just cut it up smaller than if serving it as a main part of dinner.

Preheat your oven to 200C and roll out your sheet of filo on a greased baking sheet.

You will need 3 red onions to start and 3 tbsp of a good olive oil, and 1 tsp of dry thyme.

Heat your oil and thinly slice the onions, and add to the pan with your thyme. Allow the onions to sweat and soften down for about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally and make sure that they don’t start to burn. Keep them on a low-med heat.

In the meantime you will need;

One yellow pepper, thinly sliced, 5 mushrooms sliced, one ball of mozarella cheese torn or sliced, 2 bulbs of cooked beetroot quartered, a handful of asparagus spears.

When you have laid out the filo pastry on your baking sheet and the onions are ready, place the onions onto the pastry, leaving about 2cm around the edges. Next, place your mozzarella over the onions, followed by the mushrooms, peppers, beetroot and asparagus. Season ever so lightly and place in the preheated oven for approx 20 minutes.

Take out of the oven and allow to cool for a minute or two before transferring to a chopping board or large plate.

Cut into as many, or as few pieces and serve with a fresh rocket salad, tomatoes cucumber and a little dressing.

Enjoy with a nice chilled glass of white wine on a summers evening. It doesn’t get much better.

Orls xx

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12/07/2010

Pack a Protein Punch – with a date!

I had a personal trainer once. Well in fact twice but the last time I had one was before Christmas in an attempt to strengthen my legs and core muscles to make me run for longer and with better form. Part of the session each week was to analyse my diet to make sure that I was fueling my training properly. The one thing that my trainer told me over and over was that I hadn’t nearly enough protein in my diet.

Ready to Run thanks to the Trainer!

Did you know that the first 30g of protein you put into your body each day goes to power your immune system? I was surprised and made a mental note to try to up my protein. Eggs for breakfast every day sounds lovely but isn’t really that practical when trying to rush out the door for work. As I am also a vegetarian I am conscious that I need to eat smarter to get my protein each day. And then I remembered that Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wah) , the wonder grain of the aztecs packs a protein punch like no other! Also available as a flake as well as a grain, I decided that to help me up my protein, something sweet was the only way to go.

A nice date with protein.

The following recipe for Date Bars has been adapted from Rachel Allen’s Bake book, which I keep going back to. As well as subbing out some of the oats for quinoa flakes, I have also reduced the butter and sugar to make it a little better for your waistlines!

You will need to grease and line an 8x8inch tin and preheat the oven to 180C.

250ml water, 200g dates pitted and chopped, 50g plain flour, 125g wholewheat flour, 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 80g soft dark sugar, 90g butter diced, 50g each of porridge oats and quinoa flakes, and a good pinch of salt.

Place the water and the dates in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes uncovered on a low heat until the mixture is thick and soft. Stir occasionally. Remove from the heat and allow to come to room temperature. Do not think that still fairly warm is okay. Be patient. Have a cup of tea before you start the next phase allowing some extra cooling time!

Next, sift the plain flour and the bicarb of soda into a large bowl and add the wholewheat flour, sugar, oats and quinoa flakes and salt and mix well. Add the diced butter and using your hands, rub in until moist clumps form.

Press half of the mixture into the base of the tin and firm in. Take the cooled date mixture and pour over the base of the tin. Loosely spread the rest of the flour and oat mixture onto the top of the dates and place into the middle of the preheated oven for about 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Allow to cool completely before gently cutting into 16 squares and serve.

The result of these bars is a nutty and crunchy topping, that gives way to a creamy and caramel like centre that screams MORE!!!

When eating, enjoy and know that you are helping your immune system and your muscles which will in turn make you a better runner – if that is your poison!

Enjoy,

Orls xx

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28/06/2010

Just Doodle It.

I have been doing a lot of running recently. Slowly, after London I have been getting back into what keeps me sane and makes my jeans fit properly!

I had a terrible time with injury after the marathon and as well as suffering from dehydration I developed plantar fascitis – a horrible injury that affect the muscles and tendon on the arch of your foot and makes even walking painful. My lovely physio has made me better, and along with a very complicated pair of moulded insoles, I am back pounding the pavements with my rather large dog in tow each day.

When I am running, I always like to have something nice in the house to have a nibble on with a cuppa so that I don’t feel completely deprived. However, I do like to know exactly what goes into the treats I eat as I feel that then I have a little more control of my day to day eating.

When I stumbled on the recipe for Snickerdoodles in Rachel Allen’s Bake book I almost turned the page as I assumed they were named after the branded chocolate bar that is laden down with peanuts, caramel and chocolate. But on second look I realised that the recipe wasn’t really bad, and could be adapted to make it a little healthier. I have substituted some of the plain flour with wholewheat flour so that it is not all bad. And there is actually not a huge amount of butter in them as you get about 30 biscuits from the batter.

Preheat your oven to 180C and get 2 baking sheets ready. There is no need to grease or line them.

You will need,

125 g butter softened, 110g caster sugar (plus 1 dessert spoon for rolling) 1 egg lightly beaten, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 150g plain flour, 100g wholewheat flour, one half tsp nutmeg, 3/4tsp baking powder, pinch of salt, 1 dessertspoon of ground cinnamon.

Cream the butter in a mixer until softened and add the 110g sugar and beat until fluffy. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl a couple of times. Add the egg and vanilla and beat again.

Gently and gradually add the flours, nutmeg, baking powder and salt and mix to a dough.

In a separate bowl add the remaining caster sugar and cinnamon together. I have to confess that I halved the amount of cinnamon as I have a very careful relationship with cinnamon. I can tolerate a certain amount but once I cross that line, I start to feel unwell. Mad I know, but there you are!

Using your hand, take a teaspoon of dough and roll to a walnut sized ball. Roll in the cinnamon and sugar and place on the baking trays about an inch apart. Once you have rolled out the approx 30 balls flatten gently with the ball of your hand or a fork.

Bake for about 15 mins in the oven until hard around the edges. This will depend on your oven so just keep an eye on them.  Allow to cool for a couple of minutes on the tray before moving to a wire rack.

These biscuits are fab. A crystallized coat of sugar and cinnamon gives way to a crumbling soft biscuit that hints of butter and nutmeg. The wholewheat flour gives it a slightly nutty flavour and almost makes them a health food in my eyes! I believe they would soak up the froth on a latte just lovely!

A strong coffee and a Just Doodle It (as I will be calling them) while sitting on the sofa post run will certainly make me feel like I deserve it.

Enjoy,

Orls xx

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21/06/2010

Red Velvet Rocks

I had a couple of problems making red velvet cakes over the past couple of years. Every time I made it, the cake ended up too dry. Then I came across a recipe that seemed simpler than a lot of the other recipes – not as many ingredients or elements.

I made this cake a couple of weeks ago for my friends wedding – along with a chocolate biscuit cake which was a special request from the groom, and a fruit cake. I also made one last weekend for my cousin Gracies 4th birthday.  I must confess that her cake was more of a pink velvet though! But I think it suited her.

This cake is very simple to make and you will need to preheat your oven to 160c and grease and flour 2 8inch cake tins.

You will need:

2.5 cups plain flour, 2 cups soft light brown sugar, 1tbsp cocoa, 1tsp salt, 1tsp baking soda, 2 eggs, 1.5cups sunflower oil, 1 cup buttermilk, 1tbsp vinegar, 1tsp vanilla, 2oz red food colouring

Lightly stir the eggs in a bowl with a wire whisk. Add the remaining liquid ingredients and stir together with the whisk until blended together and set to one side.

In a mixer, place all the dry ingredients into the bowl and stir until completely combined. The add all the wet ingredients and turn the mixer onto a low speed until the batter comes together. Gradually turn speed up to med-high and mix for a couple of minutes, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides of the bowl and the bottom.

Pour the batter into the pans and drop on the counter a couple of times to get rid of all the air bubbles. Place in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks. Allow to cool completely before icing.

Now the only way to ice a red velvet is with a crisp white American frosting and this is super simple to make*.

Place 2 egg whites in a spotlessly clean bowl with a couple of drops of lemon juice. Whisk the egg whites until frothy, about 2 mins on a med high speed. Gradually add 500g icing sugar, a tablespoon at a time. Remember when you add the sugar to keep the mixer on a low speed until incorporated or it will be all over the kitchen – we have all been there!

Add the sugar until the mix is frothy and forms still peaks in the mixing bowl.

Spread over the top of one cake and sandwich the second cake on top. Use the remaining icing to frost the top of the cake. Don’t worry about making it look nice and perfect. Mess it up a little with lots of peaks.

Allow to sit for about 30 mins before serving.

Most importantly ENJOY!!! This cake is not just for a birthday or wedding. It is for any celebration – whether good news, a good week at work or even just the visit of a good friend.

Enjoy,

Orls xxx

*Note that the icing contains uncooked egg whites. People who have a known sensitivity should steer clear. An alternative icing is 400g soft butter beaten until softened with 300g of icing sugar sifted into it. It will not be as white as the other but will be just as nice.

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02/06/2010

My Bad….

I have been MIA recently. As some of you may or may not have noticed.

Things have been super busy with work, life, and pretty much everything else.

Good news – I ran the London Marathon in April. On the 25th to be exact. And it was awesome. It hurt like nothing else I have ever done. But it was the most amazing experience ever. I crossed the line and told Mr C that if he ever again heard me talking about entering a marathon, he had my permission to tie my hands behind my back rendering me unbalanced. (Don’t tell him – I sent off my entry to Dublin last week!) Thanks to everyong who sponsored me. I am still collecting some of the funds and will be giving them to my charity of choice in a couple of weeks.

Other news- I have been baking like a crazy woman this week as my friends get married on June 4th and I am making their cakes. They have to be baked and iced at the last minute so that is what has been going on.

Future news – I promise that semi normal activity will return in the coming weeks. Mr C and I are headed to Cork next week on our holliers with our dog and once I return I will resume posting.

To be completely honest, it has been really nice to take some time off from the blog and just not worry about it. However, I have been thinking more and more about the site in the last week and I will be back with a vengeance!

Have an amazing weekend. THe weather is meant to be amazing so fingers crossed that it is!

Enjoy whatever you get up to!

Orls

xx

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03/04/2010

Easter Muffins

When I was a little girl I loved chocolate. Any chocolate at all. I was known on a Saturday morning before the rest of the house woke up to climb to the highest shelf in the cupboard where the cooking chocolate was kept. I was that bad!!!

It is funny that now, I really don’t enjoy regular chocolate. I do like dark, rich chocolate with a very high cocoa content. Sometimes with a kick of Black Pepper and Lime, sometimes with hint of orange spice. So while Easter used to be all about the chocolate eggs and just how many of them I could start to eat before my parents got up and sense prevailed, I much prefer having a few days off work and a couple of lie ins instead. However, it is nice to have a little something sweet in the house for making a coffee seem a little better. These Easter Muffins, with jam and coconut, are just the trick. Simple and easy to make, they keep for about a week.

You will need ;

175g Self Raising Flour, 125g butter softened, 125g golden caster sugar, 2 large eggs, 6 tbsp milk, couple of drops of vanilla extract, 3 tablespoons desiccated coconut.

Preheat your oven to 180c/160c fan and line a large muffin tray with 8 American style muffin cases, or if you want, 12 regular cases.

Cream the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth. Add the eggs bit at a time and half the flour. Mix well and ensure it is all incorporated and creamy. Add the remaining flour as well as the milk, vanilla extract and finally the coconut. (if you are not find of coconut, you can leave it out or reduce it. I actually added 5 tbsb as I love the stuff!!!)

Spoon the mixture into the cases and bake for about 20 minutes until risen and golden. Test with a skewer. Lift the muffins out of the tin and cool on a wire tray.

Now here comes the fun part!!! To top the buns, heat 4 tablespoons of raspberry (or blackberry and apple) jam until smooth. Brush the top of the muffins and sprinkle toasted Desiccated coconut. Two tablespoons of coconut will more than cover the tops but again if you want more, go for it.

For an extra decadence (maybe just for grown ups) take a couple of squares of your favourite chocolate and melt gently in a double boiler. Sprinkle gently over the top of the muffins, sit back and enjoy. I haven’t tried the chocolate yet, but will be doing in at some stage over the weekend.

You could always do what I do… and have a plate of them!

Happy Easter everyone!

Orls xx

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31/03/2010

Hot Cross Buns

“Are they only cross when they are hot?” Mr. C asked me last week when I mentioned that I was going to bake some hot cross buns for Easter. I had to laugh. When I was younger I was never a fan of things like currants or raisins in food. Or in general actually. While I don’t ever remember there being hot cross buns in the house growing up, I am sure that there were. As they weren’t made of chocolate I wasn’t interested. After 8 weeks of lent as a child, all I was interested in was how I could manage to eat the average 8 easter eggs a year my brother and I would get.

Now, I would much rather a hot cross bun, still warm from the oven with melted butter than a chocolate egg. How times have changed!!!

This year, I am making these to take to a house party that is happening on good Friday. In Ireland, it is prohibited to sell alcohol on Good Friday (or Christmas day) which is a throw back to the Catholic church’s hold over the Irish government. Hence the fact that Good Friday is the best day for a house party as you know that everyone will show up! However, the prohibition to sell alcohol  is changing as there has just been a court ruling that publicans in Limerick can serve alcohol on Good Friday as there is a rugby match taking place, Munster v Leinster. The game is a big one and all I have to say is “Come on Munster”.

Anyway, I digress… To make Hot Cross Buns, as well as the ingredients, you will need time. If you want to bring them as a gift, you should make them a day in advance.

You will need;

500g strong white flour, 1&1/2 tsp salt, 75g caster sugar, 7g pack of dried yeast, 150 milk, 150g sultanas, zest of 2 oranges, 40g mixed peel, 40g mix of currants, raisins & sultanas, 2tsp cinnamon.

Combine the flour, salt, yeast and sugar in a bowl and mix well. Add the cinnamon, fruit and zest and mix again. In a separate bowl mix the milk with equal amounts of water and slowly add to the flour mixture to form a dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Place the dough back in the bowl, cover with cling and leave in a warm place for an hour to rise. I put mine in the airing cupboard as it is the only place that is consistantly warm.

After an hour, turn the dough onto a floured surface again and punch the air out, and knead again for 5 minutes. place in bowl again, cover and place back in the airing cupboard again for 30 mins.

Divide the dough into 75g balls and place on an oiled baking tray. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise for an hour. Preheat the oven to 220C.

While waiting for the oven to heat up, mix 75g flour, 4 tsp caster sugar and 4 tbsp of water to form a thick paste. However, you don’t want it so thick that it will be cloggy. Put into a clean freezer bag and cut a tiny tip off the corner. Before the buns go into the oven, pipe a cross on them.

Place in the oven for 18-20 minutes until ready.

As soon as they come out of the oven, brush them with a glaze made by heating 1 tbsp smooth marmalade,1 tbsp soft dark brown sugar and 2 tbsp water.

They are best served warm from the oven with butter melting into it. The only way.

While I was taking my pictures, I noticed that I had a very well behaved fan. He was very well behaved as he knew the possible rewards…..

And the close up….

I hope that you all have a wonderful good Friday whatever you do or wherever you are. If you are in Ireland and heading for a house party, remember to buy your poison on Thursday…. or make friends with someone who has more than they need!!!

Enjoy,

Orls

xxx

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