Syrup Pudding

This recipe is Maple Chomeur, however I'm not really the biggest fan of maple syrup so substituted this for ordinary golden syrup. This dish is so easy to make and is great for anyone with a sweat tooth. Personally, I think it's a great desert to have in the colder months - though you don't have to wait for cold weather to enjoy this pudding! 

To prepare the sauce, in a medium sized pot simmer for 3 or 4 minutes:

3/4 cup golden syrup

3/4 cup brown sugar
½ cup water
3 tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

Set aside to cool to lukewarm.

For the cake, begin by greasing a baking pan

1 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar

Place these dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix them together.

Then add 2/3 cup of butter into the mixture and mix, the mixture will be coarse - almost like a crumble.

To this mixture you then add 

3/4 cup milk

1tsp Vanilla extract 

Blend them in until the mixture becomes a batter.  Then pour the mixture into the greased baking pan. Once you have done this, take the syrup mixture and pour this over the cake 
batter and bake for around 35 minutes at 350 F.

Serve in small portions if you can't handle the sweetness and add ice cream for a delicious desert!  

Jam tarts

Apologies for the picture quality

I made these huge jam tarts yesterday! I wasn't planning on posting them, hence the lack of photos but they went down a treat so I figured I'd let you know my secrets. 

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 15/20 mins

Yield: Approx 18 tarts /

or 4 if you use a large tart mould tray. 

Ingredients: 

• 8oz/250g plain flour
• Pinch of salt
• 4oz/100g butter
• 2-3 tbsp cold water 
• Fruit jam of your choice, or lemon curd. 
• A little extra butter for greasing

Preparation: 

Preheat oven to 350 F/180 C/Gas 4 

Lightly grease 12 hole tart mould with a little butter. 

Making the Pastry

• Place the flour, butter and salt into a large bowl. 
• Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, working as quickly as possible to prevent the dough becoming warm. 
• Add the water to the mixture, and stir until the dough binds together - add more cold water teaspoon at a time if the mixture is too dry. 
• Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for a 15-30 mins. 

Assemble the Tarts

• Take your chilled pastry and roll it out to a thickness of 0.5cm. Then cut out circles from the pastry just slightly bigger than the holes in the prepared tart mould. Gently press one disk into each hole. 
• Place a heaped teaspoon of jam/lemon curd into the pastry lined tins. Be careful not to overfill!
• Bake in the preheated oven for 15/20 mins - until golden brown. Leave them to cool completely before eating as Jam stays very hot for a long time and will burn your mouth! 

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

These tasty cupcakes are easy to make & even easier to eat! Like a portion of lemon meringue pie, they are just the right size to battle the hunger between lunch & dinner.

The Cupcakes

What you're going to need;

100g caster sugar

100g butter

2 eggs

Zest & Juice of 2 lemons (I didn't have any so cheated with lemon flavouring!)

100g self raising flour

Lemon Curd (Not pictured)

Cupcake Cases

Beat 100g caster sugar & 100g butter until pale. Add 2 eggs & the zest and juice of 2 lemons (or lemon flavouring). Fold in 100g self raising flour.

Divide mixture between 12 cupcake cases. Smooth then make a little dip in the centre - I used two teaspoons for this bit. Take out a scoop of mix from the centre of a cupcake, spoon in 1tsp of lemon curd. Cover over with the mix you took out. Bake at 180°C (Gas mark 4) for 10 minutes. 

While the cakes are in the oven...

The Meringue Topping

2 egg whites

100g caster sugar

Place 2 egg whites into a clean bowl & whisk into stiff peaks. 

When the whites are at a stiff peak, fold in 100 caster sugar, 1tbsp at a time.

Keep whisking until the mixture looks glossy and thick - if it's looking a little flat give it another whisking. (Mine weren't airy enough so came out a bit flat, be warned!) 

Take the cakes out of the oven & swirl the cupcakes in the meringue topping, adding a little peak on top. Return to the oven for 10-15 minutes until cooked through, & meringue lightly browned. Leave to cool, then enjoy!