IT demands a steely determination.
From just across the kitchen is a shiny cooling rack, adorned with freshly baked biscuits, still basking in their warmth from the oven. My wife has already remarked that there are no crumbs or morsels under the rack; how long until she twigs that this is because I have already wolfed them down? Maybe my iron will is cracking after all.
It's a far cry from where the humble biscuit began. Twice-baked until hard, dry as cardboard and about as appealing, biscuits were designed for long boat voyages and had to be soaked, often in gravy, to become passably edible. Even my will could hold fast in the face of that. Now, our biscuits are luxurious and melting, not an ordeal. Cooking your own is a simple introduction to baking, uplifting you with the deeply satisfying glow that smug home-makers exude. There is that added bonus that you know exactly what has gone into them - and what unspeakable ingredients are excluded.
From there, it's a short hop to making a dessert. Shortbread layered with cream and berries is a classic, as is an elegant brandy snap oozing with cream. An Italian cantucci served with a warming marsala, or the cool sweetness of vin santo, makes an indulgent mid-afternoon treat or a delightful conclusion to dinner.
Brandy snaps filled with vanilla and rum cream
55g butter
55g demerara sugar
55g golden syrup
50g plain flour
½ level tsp ground ginger
½ tsp lemon juice
300ml double cream
1 dstsp rum
1 tsp icing sugar
Vanilla essence (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line two baking trays with parchment then, with vegetable oil and paper towel, oil the handle of a wooden spoon and lay it on a cooling rack.
2. Measure the butter, sugar and syrup into a small, heavy-based pan.
3. Heat gently until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved (around 15 minutes). Don't let the mixture boil as it may crystallise. To check when the sugar has dissolved, stir occasionally, pulling the spoon across the bottom of the pan until you can no longer detect gritty granules.
4. Cool for 2-3 minutes, then sieve in the flour and ginger. Pour in the lemon juice and stir well to mix thoroughly. Drop four tsps of the mixture onto each of the prepared baking trays to make neat circles, about 10cm apart.
5. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 10-15 minutes, or until the mixture is well spread out, looks lacy and is a dark golden colour. Once baked, you need to work fast to shape the brandy snaps, so its easier if you bake one tray at a time. Remove each tray from the oven and leave for a minute or so to firm up slightly, then lift from the parchment using a fish slice. The mixture needs to be just firm enough to remove, but pliable enough to shape.
6. Quickly roll a circle of the warm mixture around the handle of the wooden spoon, having the join underneath. Press the join lightly together to seal, then slide the brandy snap off the spoon and leave to firm up on the wire rack (with the join underneath). If any of the circles harden too much to work with, return to the oven for a few seconds to resoften. Work quickly so you shape each one before it cools. Repeat until all the mixture has been used. If the mixture in the pan becomes too firm to drop in neat spoonfuls, roll a tsp of it into a small smooth ball in your hands, sit it on the baking tray and flatten slightly with your fingers. When cold, store the brandy snaps in an airtight tin or container; they will keep for 2-3days.
7. To make the filling: place the cream in the mixer bowl and add the icing sugar and a dash of vanilla essence, if using. Stir in the icing sugar, then whisk the cream until soft peaks form. Add the rum and give one final whisk to incorporate. Don't over-whip. Transfer to a piping bag with a fluted nozzle and refrigerate until needed.
8. Carefully pipe cream in to each end of the brandy snaps and stack them on a serving plate. Serve at once.
Italian cantucci biscuits
200g caster sugar
85g egg white (from about 4 eggs)
150g toasted hazelnuts
100g toasted pistachios
200g soft four
Zest of 1 orange
2 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp baking powder
1. Mix the eg white and sugar gently.
2. Sift flour and baking powder into a separate bowl; fold in the egg white mixture.
3. Fold in the nuts, fennel seeds and orange zest and work gently until a dough forms.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; preheat the oven to 125C.
5. Form the mixture into long loaves, 6-8cm wide and 3-4cm high and place on the baking tray, allowing a little space between to rise slightly.
6. Bake until gold and firm (90-100 minutes), then remove form oven to stand for a few minutes. Once just cool enough to handle, lift on to a chopping board and slice across the face of the biscuit "loaf" into fingers then return, spread out, on the baking tray. Return to oven until firm and crisp. Cool completely then store in an airtight container
Geoffrey Smeddle is chef patron of The Peat Inn, by St Andrews, Fife, KY15 5LH 01334 840206 www.thepeatinn.co.uk
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