Good morning everyone! Just a quick list today as we’re busy getting ready for Orange Wine Week event here at the farm on Sunday (ps there are a scant few places still available for this venison pie and See Saw Wine lunch so…flick me an email if keen sophie_hansen@me.com). Plus we are having a little birthday do after school today for Tom and a friend who shares the same birthday week, it’s just a few treats and sausages in a roll etc etc, nice and simple, but still. There is cake to make.
So, wishing you all a great weekend ahead and happy reading! And because I’ve only now remembered about the above cranberry and orange friands I made a couple of weeks ago, here’s the recipe for these little sweethearts too.
The Friday List
But first…let me take a felfie…
The food free diet – so simple. So funny.
One of the most beautiful, interesting and inspiring blogs I’ve come across in ages. I LURVE every single post on We You They Ate.
Am definitely going to try and visit this wildflower, vegetable and heirloom fruit farm in Tuscany when there next May for our art and food workshop***** – yessssss! How beautiful does it look. Thanks Emiko Davies for the tip off!
Soil and Stem’s blog is the place to go when you need a quiet five minutes of pure floral beauty. It’s so pretty here.
The Curious Pear – how have I only now discovered this hub of inspiration from amazing chefs, food writers and lovely people all served up with a side of beautiful imagery?
Have a bit of a food crush on the very beautiful Eleonara Galasso, oh and her upcoming book shooting in Rome right now with David Loftus looks pretty incredible too.
Cranberry and orange friands
Days before last Christmas Mum and Dad roped all of us visiting kids and grandchildren into picking the red cranberries that grow alongside the vegetable garden at their place near Rydal (just over the Blue Mountains). We did pretty well I think, and came away with a good bucket-full, most of which was used in sauces, salads and cakes shortly afterwards. But a couple of weeks ago I found one last container lurking at the back of the freezer, it was brimming with these little red jewels, and so, I thought it might be time to have a little preview and a reminder of why we go to so much effort every year to pick the buggers.
Mum thought these cakes looked a bit like little bosoms. And yes she’s right. But I also think they are a pretty little harbinger of the rapidly approaching festive season, and can tell you that they taste fantastic. Use any small cake tin/mould you have handy for this recipe – a friand or fancy one is great but a good old muffin tin will do perfectly well too. Makes about 12-18 depending on the size of your cake tin.
2/3 cup (110g) natural almonds
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2/3 cup (185g) caster sugar
125g butter, melted
Zest of one orange
1 tbsp natural yogurt
3 egg whites, at room temperature
1 cup cranberries (or any other fresh berries)
1 cup icing sugar, sifted
1 cup cranberries or any other berry you fancy.
Preheat oven to 180C and grease and lightly flour your friand or small cake tin then pop in the freezer. Pop the almonds in the oven for 15 minutes or until toasted and aromatic. Let cool for 10 minutes then tip into the bowl of your food processor, add the cinnamon and sugar and blitz until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Tip into a large mixing bowl, then add the melted butter, orange zest and yogurt.
Whisk the egg whites until they hold firm peaks (about five minutes) then gently fold half into the almond mixture, keeping as much air in the mixture as possible. Repeat with remaining eggwhites and fold in the cranberries. Divide the batter among your nicely chilled friand, cake or muffin tin, filling each mould up about 2/3 of the way then place in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden and firm to touch.
Let cool in the tin for five minutes then gently turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. For the glaze, mix the icing sugar with the juice of the orange you zested before, adding it a little at a time until you have a thick glaze. Pour this over the cooled friands and top each, if you like, with an extra cranberry and a little finely chopped almond.
**** As this workshop filled up so quickly, we are now opening a second week from the 21st to the 28th May, please get in touch via email (annieherron@bigpond.com) if keen for more information about this!
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