A selection of our favourite 'tin-fillers' , perfect with a cup of tea, a hit of coffee, or the perfectly made nightly cocoa. The next day, wrap them in paper, fill a thermos with whatever you fancy, hop on the bike, and head for the hills.
Whitcombe's Oatmeal Biscuits.
½ lb. Flour ½ tsp. Cinnamon
4 oz Oatmeal 4 oz Butter or Dripping
4oz. Sugar 1 tsp. Baking Powder
½ tsp. Ginger 1 Egg
Mix as you would scones. I put the whole lot into my food processor and blast till it forms large, moist crumbs. Roll out into a very thin sheet - as if you were making crackers, cut into circles and bake in a moderate oven about 10 minutes, till just coloured.
I've taken to adding a pinch of salt, as I do with porridge, it seems to give the flavour a wee boost. These are a sweet biscuit, but if you make them thin enough they also go well with cheese.
Rind of two lemons 3 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
2 Eggs 2 Cups Flour
1 Cup Oil - Rice Bran's good 2 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp. Salt
Mix sugar, lemon rind, eggs, oil and salt together until smooth. Add yoghurt and lemon juice. Blend together and fold in flour sifted with baking powder. Bake at 180 C for 40 minutes.
I sometimes find this sticks in the tin, but a circle of baking paper on the bottom of the greased and floured tin seems to help.
Serve with cream, and little coils of lemon rind....and feel free to increase the lemon rind and juice quantities to taste.
Lemon Cake.
1 3/4 Cups Sugar 1 Cup Plain Unsweetened Yoghurt
Rind of two lemons 3 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
2 Eggs 2 Cups Flour
1 Cup Oil - Rice Bran's good 2 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp. Salt
Mix sugar, lemon rind, eggs, oil and salt together until smooth. Add yoghurt and lemon juice. Blend together and fold in flour sifted with baking powder. Bake at 180 C for 40 minutes.
I sometimes find this sticks in the tin, but a circle of baking paper on the bottom of the greased and floured tin seems to help.
Serve with cream, and little coils of lemon rind....and feel free to increase the lemon rind and juice quantities to taste.
Scones
3 cups flour 75g butter
6 teaspoons baking powder 1 - 1½ cups milk, approximately
¼ teaspoon salt
Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a
bowl. Cut butter in until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.Add 1 cup milk and mix quickly with a knife to a soft dough, adding more milk if needed. Use your fingers, or put the whole mixture, including milk, into the food processor-but only a quick blast. Knead a few times, just to smooth it out.
Lightly dust an oven tray with flour. Press scone mix out on floured bench or the cooking tray, cut into 12 even-sized pieces. Place on oven tray, brush tops with milk and place in top half of oven to bake
Bake scones for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Cooling on a rack will give you crisp crusts, while covering them with a clean tea towel will give a soft scone.
To eat pull apart, don't cut!
This is the classic Edmonds recipe, which is required reading for New Zealanders, and I know it's almost impossible to eat hot scones and read at the same time without getting jam and cream all over the place, but everyone should make scones at least once a year.
125g melted butter 1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 C raw sugar ½ tsp allspice
1 egg - lightly beaten ½ tsp ground ginger
1½ C flour 2 Tbsp chopped crystallized ginger*
1 tsp baking soda
Mix Feijoas, melted bitter, egg and sugar. Sift dry ingredients and gently mix. Pour into lined tin (atleast on the bottom). Cook as usual.
This recipe comes from The Playcentre Kitchen Book, Food for Funky Families.
(Possibly the worst cake name ever, 'Crazy' meaning 'Vegan' I guess, but a very nice, and slightly unusual variation when you want cake rather than a chocolate brownie). BUT only make this when you have some really nice super dark, Dutch-processed cocoa, normal supermarket brands make a rather pale cake. This is taken from her book "Kitchen Diary".
1½ cups standard (plain) flour 2 Tbsp cocoa
1 cup sugar 1 tsp each cinnamon and ginger
½ cup oil 1 tsp baking soda
¾ cup water 1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla essence
Heat oven to 190°C. Line the bottom and two opposite sides of a 20cm square pan with
baking paper. Butter and flour the uncovered sides of the pan.
Sift the dry ingredients, Stir in the sugar with a fork, leaving a depression in the centre. Add oil to the dry ingredients, without stirring. Add the vinegar and vanilla to the measured water, then tip them into the flour-oil mixture. Stir with the fork until the mixture is smooth and no dry lumps remain.
Pour pan and bake for 30 - 40 minutes, until the centre of the cake springs back when pressed, or skewer comes out clean. Leave cake in the pan for five minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool. Dust with sieved icing sugar if you like that sort of thing.
Lightly dust an oven tray with flour. Press scone mix out on floured bench or the cooking tray, cut into 12 even-sized pieces. Place on oven tray, brush tops with milk and place in top half of oven to bake
Bake scones for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Cooling on a rack will give you crisp crusts, while covering them with a clean tea towel will give a soft scone.
To eat pull apart, don't cut!
This is the classic Edmonds recipe, which is required reading for New Zealanders, and I know it's almost impossible to eat hot scones and read at the same time without getting jam and cream all over the place, but everyone should make scones at least once a year.
Spicy Feijoa Cake
500g feijoas, peeled and chopped 1 tsp baking powder
125g melted butter 1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 C raw sugar ½ tsp allspice
1 egg - lightly beaten ½ tsp ground ginger
1½ C flour 2 Tbsp chopped crystallized ginger*
1 tsp baking soda
Mix Feijoas, melted bitter, egg and sugar. Sift dry ingredients and gently mix. Pour into lined tin (atleast on the bottom). Cook as usual.
This recipe comes from The Playcentre Kitchen Book, Food for Funky Families.
Alison Holst's Crazy Cake
(Possibly the worst cake name ever, 'Crazy' meaning 'Vegan' I guess, but a very nice, and slightly unusual variation when you want cake rather than a chocolate brownie). BUT only make this when you have some really nice super dark, Dutch-processed cocoa, normal supermarket brands make a rather pale cake. This is taken from her book "Kitchen Diary".
1½ cups standard (plain) flour 2 Tbsp cocoa
1 cup sugar 1 tsp each cinnamon and ginger
½ cup oil 1 tsp baking soda
¾ cup water 1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla essence
Heat oven to 190°C. Line the bottom and two opposite sides of a 20cm square pan with
baking paper. Butter and flour the uncovered sides of the pan.Sift the dry ingredients, Stir in the sugar with a fork, leaving a depression in the centre. Add oil to the dry ingredients, without stirring. Add the vinegar and vanilla to the measured water, then tip them into the flour-oil mixture. Stir with the fork until the mixture is smooth and no dry lumps remain.
Pour pan and bake for 30 - 40 minutes, until the centre of the cake springs back when pressed, or skewer comes out clean. Leave cake in the pan for five minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool. Dust with sieved icing sugar if you like that sort of thing.
