Lemon Polenta Cake with Rosemary Syrup

Photo: © childsdesign

Is it a cake or is it a pudding? I’ll let you decide, but it is so moist and delicious and you need a fork to eat it… or a spoon so I’m electing it for pudding. Aside from the obvious chocolate cake, this is another baked delight that has the ability to assuage any intense cravings for comfort food. In my case, anyway.

Juicy with the full flavour of refreshing lemons and a texture which is pleasingly crumbly, moist and sticky, all at the same time, I can never refuse a slice. And there’s the temptation to lick the plate! 

Rosemary may seem an unusual ingredient in a sweet cake, but I can assure you that it really works.
Do use fresh rosemary though, for a real fragrant flavour.

Rosemary seems to be the only herb in the garden that can survive the ravages of winter. The others have died back and gone to sleep, or look forlorn and lack the essential oils of the summer season.
So if like me, you can’t wait for the return of the full flow of spring, rosemary will always be at the rescue.

Ingredients
For the cake
175g polenta
50g plain flour
11/2 tsp baking powder
good pinch salt
5 tbsp natural yogurt
5 tbsp rapeseed oil (use extra virgin cold pressed)
2 lemons, juice and grated zest (see my tip on how to get more juice from your lemon)
3 eggs
200g caster sugar

For the syrup
200g caster sugar
200ml cold water
2 sprigs fresh rosemary

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C / Gas 4. Prepare a 20cm round cake tin by oiling it and lining with baking paper.

Sift together the polenta, flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl.

Put the yogurt, oil, lemon zest and 2 tbsp lemon juice into a jug and stir well to combine.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until they achieve a creamy consistency. Then beat in the yogurt mixture until smooth. Stir in the dry ingredients until just combined being careful not to over-mix.

Pour the batter into the cake tin and place in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes. The best way to tell if the cake is cooked all the way through is too insert a skewer into the centre which should come out clean when you pull it out.

Meanwhile make the syrup. Put the sugar in a saucepan with 200ml water and the rosemary sprigs. Heat gently until the sugar completely dissolves and simmer for 10 minutes. Allow to cool and then strain through a sieve into a jug.

When the cake is cooked, place it on a cooling rack for 15 minutes, then invert and remove the baking paper.
Place the cake on a plate and prick all over using a skewer. Drizzle over half of the rosemary syrup and allow the cake to cool completely.

To serve, slice the cake and drizzle over more syrup You can also serve with a scattering of raspberries and a dollop of Greek yogurt.

Ginger & Apricot Tiffin

Photo: © childsdesign

Tiffin is a sweet treat that requires no baking and is quick and easy to make. It is often made with digestive biscuits but as I like to experiment with flavours, I tried using ginger nuts instead which made the tiffin taste quite indulgent. Actually this recipe is very indulgent as I used rich chocolate. Many tiffin recipes contain nuts too, but this one is rather simpler but the end result is luxurious and almost truffle-like without any nutty intrusions that I sometimes find can give a rather dry texture.

Ingredients
200g unsalted butter
200g plain chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)
1tbsp runny honey
225g ginger nut biscuits
150g dried ready-to-eat apricots

Method
Grease a loaf tin or square dish with butter and line with baking parchment.
Place a large bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Put in the butter, chocolate and honey and allow to melt and stir briefly to combine.
Crush the biscuits coarsely. It is good to have a mixture of more finely crushed to just broken biscuit pieces.
Chop the apricots coarsely.
Add the biscuits and apricots to the now melted chocolate and butter mixture and stir really well, making sure the biscuit and apricot pieces are well coated and evenly distributed.
Pour the mixture into the tin and spread out evenly. Leave to cool then place in the fridge to set.
When set, turn out the tiffin on to a board and cut into slices.

Fit to Burst before Lent

Perhaps I'm a little late posting something long after the event, but I ate too much on Shrove Tuesday and was too stuffed to move anywhere near a computer keyboard!
Deciding to indulge my passion for Scandinavian/Icelandic food I put together some jam and cream-filled buns. They're just like choux buns but have the very naughty but nice filling combination plus they're topped in chocolate.

My pancakes went down the savoury route and I made the batter with a good slosh of cider. It's not uncommon to use beer, so why not cider?
I mixed together some flaked smoked mackerel, prawns, creme fraiche and horseradish, filled the pancakes. I drizzled them with a little cream, grated some cheddar and parmesan cheese over the top and baked them in the oven until hot and bubbling.
To offset the stodge and pangs of guilt I served them with a salad.

For those intrigued by what the Icelandic people do at this time of year read on...

Bolludagur: Bun Day
Bolludagur is a Lenten festival and takes place on the Monday, just before what we'd call Shrove Tuesday and Icelanders traditionally stuff themselves with cream-filled buns.

The custom dates from the late nineteenth century and was probably introduced by Danish or Norwegian bakers, although some edible treats would have been eaten on this day much earlier.

Much of the bun eating now takes place on Sunday, however, since Monday is a workday and there's less time for baking, well at least for those inclined to do a spot of home baking. Although, these days it is very easy to buy ready-made ones from the shops.

This day also used to be called flengingardagur (Spanking Day). In earlier and exceptionally devout times, Catholic people would flagellate themselves, to be reminded of the pain endured by Jesus. Later, this practice evolved into a comical parody of sorts and people began spanking each other!
The aim of the 'game' is try and catch someone still in bed and give them a good beating, using a special wand. Children give their parents a merciless wake-up call using their brightly decorated sticks, and for every whack of the wand and shouts of Bolla! bolla! bolla, they expect to be rewarded with a bun.

Bun Day is big business for Icelandic bakeries. It is estimated that they sell around one million buns on or around the day, which means almost four buns for every Icelander!

Sprengidagur: Bursting Day
On Shrove Tuesday (the day before Lent) every Icelandic home and most restaurants flood with the aroma of salted meat (usually lamb) and peas. The name Sprengidagur refers to the idea that the individual feasts on this hearty dish to the point of bursting.



Photos: ©childsdesign 2011

Bread Pudding

As there's just the two of us in our household, we invariably end up with left over bread that becomes a sorry state for sandwiches, or even too stale to be enjoyed as toast. I often just blitz it in the food processor, bag it up and put it in the freezer, as breadcrumbs are useful for coating and binding.

One day, I remembered how my Mum used to make bread pudding from her bread remnants. It was a long time ago and I don't actually recall her using a written recipe, it was undoubtedly kept in her head as a passed down tradition from her own mother.

Bread pudding should not be confused with bread and butter pudding, the two are quite different concoctions. Harking back to the days of a "waste not, want not" culture, this pudding is far from boring and austere. It is satisfyingly stodgy and well spiced and has a fruitiness and aroma reminiscent of Christmas cake or pudding.

There aren't any real fixed rules as to what bread you should use, brown or white, it doesn't matter. The same goes for the fruit and sugar. The general idea is to use what you have to hand and not make a special trip to buy any ingredients.

Who would have thought frugal food could be so delicious? 

Ingredients

8oz stale bread, crusts removed

6oz dried fruit like raisins, sultanas or currants or a mixture of all of them

2oz sugar

grated zest 1 lemon

2oz suet

half teaspoon mixed spice

1 egg, lightly beaten

milk to mix

caster sugar to finish

Method

Tear up the bread into small pieces and put into a bowl. 

Pour on some cold water to thoroughly soak the bread. Leave stand for up to an hour. 

Depending on how soft or dry your bread is, the length of time will vary. The drier the bread the longer it needs to soak, but do be careful if your bread is soft to start with, as you'll want to avoid it turning into a mushy mess.

Once the bread has moistened, tip it into a large sieve and press down well to squeeze out the excess water.

Put the bread into a large bowl and add the dried fruit, sugar, lemon zest, suet and spice and mix well to combine. Then stir in the egg and enough milk to give the mixture a soft dropping consistency.

Tip into a tin greased with butter and bake in a preheated (Gas 5 / 190C / 375F) oven until firm to the touch and golden brown.

Turn out on to a plate and sprinkle liberally with caster sugar. Eat warm or cold.

Photo: ©childsdesign 2010

National Honey Week – 3rd-10th May and recipe for Persian Honey Cakes

The sun is shining, spring flowers are in full bloom and the warm air is already buzzing with the sound of industrious bees – what a perfect start to celebrate Britain's National Honey Week.

Now in its 12th year, the celebration, originally held in February has a more appropriate date in May, which seems much more fitting, as this is the time when the bees can really get to work, making that delicious sweet sticky stuff.

For thousands of years, man has gathered honey to use in food and medicine, it was also held in such high regard, that the ancient Egyptians offered it as a gift to the gods.

Throughout history it had long been used as a sweetener in cooking, until sugar took over. Because honey has a more complex flavour than sugar, I think it imparts quite a special taste to food and is particularly good in baking as the recipe, later on, demonstrates.

When we eat honey, we should always remember the bees that made it – they are the only insect that produce a food that we consume and they are very important to the survival of our planet and the human race. That sounds like a lot hanging on a seemingly small creature, but without bees, it would be very difficult to grow food, as we rely on them to pollinate our crops. Just think about it for a moment…

Currently, bees are under threat from viruses, parasites and the mysterious colony collapse disorder, which could prove devastating to their species. Sorry if this sounds all doom and gloom, but it's something that I care strongly about. Have a look at The British Beekeeper's website to learn more.

Bad news aside, I have decided to include a recipe from The Josceline Dimbleby Collection cookbook, for Persian Honey Cakes, that really celebrates the beauty of honey at it's best. I used Scottish heather honey, which is extremely fragrant.

It's an adaptation of an old Persian recipe. The nutty orange-flavoured cakes are left to absorb a scented honey syrup. You can serve them either for tea, with coffee, or as an after-dinner sweetmeat. As a dessert they are excellent with natural yoghurt.

Persian Honey Cakes

Makes approximately 16

Ingredients

8 oz fine semolina

2 oz icing sugar, sifted

4 fl oz sunflower oil

grated rind and juice of 1 orange

2 oz self-raising flour

half teaspoon baking powder

half teaspoon ground cinnamon

for the syrup

4 oz sugar

4 tablespoons honey

5 tablespoons triple strength orange flower water

quarter pint water

Method

Put the semolina and icing sugar in a bowl.

Heat the oil in a saucepan and pour it over the semolina. Stir well and mix in the orange rind and juice and then the flour sifted with the baking powder and cinnamon.

Heat the oven to Gas 3 / 325F / 170C.

Take up pieces of the mixture about the size of a ping-pong ball and form short sausage shapes, about 2 inches long. Arrange slightly apart on a large oiled baking sheet.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 35-50 minutes.

While the cakes are baking, make the syrup.

Put the sugar, honey, flower water and water in a saucepan.

Dissolve the sugar and honey over a low heat and then boil fiercely for 4-5 minutes.

When the cakes are baked, lift them out with a spatula and arrange closely together in a large shallow dish. Pour the syrup over them and leave for several hours, spooning the syrup over them occasionally. Then carefully pile the cakes on a plate, scraping up any remaining syrup and spooning over.
Product image from Rowse website

Plum Crumble

You just can’t beat English plums for great flavour. They’re in season now, and if you’re like me, and can’t resist the lure of a Victoria or Marjorie Seedling, this is the best and really only time to find them.

Plums can have quite an astringent taste, but I find that this is one of their best qualities. Much of that special plummy flavour is in the skin, which I like to leave on for maximum taste.
On my visit to Whitstable, I ate at a restaurant named Samphire and ended the meal with a lovely pudding, made with apples, plums and topped with crumble containing Kent cob nuts. It was so delicious that I was inspired to recreate my own version.
Letting the plums take centre stage, I opted to leave out the apple altogether and just have more plums.
I personally think that this should be served with a good crème anglais (if you want to be posh) or custard if you’re traditional like me!

Ingredients
For the plums
1 1/2 lbs plums
2 tablespoons water
sugar to taste
grated zest of half an orange
half teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the crumble topping
4 oz whole blanched hazelnuts
3 oz unsalted butter, cubed
3 oz sugar
4 oz plain flour

Method 

Preheat the oven to at 180 C, gas mark 4.
Halve the plums and remove the stones. Place a large frying pan over a moderate heat and add a knob of butter. Put in the plums and add the water.

Add the orange zest and cinnamon and stir gently to combine.
Cook the plums on a low heat until they start to soften and let out some of their juices.

Now add some sugar, just taste the juice to check whether it's to your liking.
Remove from the heat and tip them into an ovenproof dish.

In another frying pan, dry roast the hazelnuts over medium heat, stirring all the time, until they take on a golden colour.
When they’re ready, remove from the heat and leave to cool, before chopping them roughly.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour and sugar. Add the butter and then gently work in the butter using your fingertips, rubbing and lifting, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Add the chopped hazelnuts and stir in.

Spoon the crumble topping over the fruit and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until the top is golden brown.

From Foraging to Fritters

I knew there was a good reason to let part of the front garden to be given over to nature.

We haven't intentionally neglected to maintain its upkeep, but there never seems to be enough time to tackle the enormous task of clearing the undergrowth and clipping the hedges, As a result a rather large elder bush has grown up through the hornbeam hedge

It is now in full flower, and not wanting to miss the opportunity to eat some it's blossom, I battled my way past the prickly brambles to pick its headily scented blooms.

They are best gathered in the morning after some sun has shone on them - this is when the flowers pack out the most scent and flavour.

Avoid washing the blooms as this will just make them soggy and lose their gorgeous Muscat flavour. It's best to simply shake them to dislodge any creepy-crawlies, unless of course you fancy some added protein!

I make a light tempura style batter, dipping in the elderflower heads and deep fry for a couple of minutes until they are golden and crispy. A sprinkling of caster sugar to finish and then eat.

I have decided to leave the elder bush to go on to produce berries later in the year, these being very useful for jams and jellies.

"It's Puddings, Not Tarts!"

We found ourselves in Bakewell by accident, much like the famed puddings made in the town. The day trip to the Derbyshire Peak District, yes, I did say day trip, had another purpose – to meet up with family members, on a visit from abroad, whom we hadn’t seen for quite sometime.

We would have been perfectly happy to wander around Ashbourne, the town in which they were staying, but suggestions for some kind of day trip were made. Not exactly high on our agenda, as we’d already got up at stupid o’clock and driven for nearly three hours, much of it on the M1, through torrential rain and mucky spray.
Thankfully, the weather did not follow us all the way and it was dry, although very windy by the time we got there.

Not wanting to cause a fuss by making protests against any planned gallivanting, it was back in the car for the 17-mile drive, taking about 40 minutes, to Bakewell.
Don’t feel sorry for me; direct your sympathies towards my poor husband. I can’t drive, you see. I have tried a couple of times and taken tests, but I don’t think it’s for me – neither does the examiner.

We’ve been to this part of Derbyshire on a number of occasions and I still love the countryside with its lush rolling hills with fields full of rugged sheep and multi coloured cattle, and the rocky crags, valleys and rivers. But what I find most refreshing is that nearly all of the houses are built of stone. I find red brick so uninspiring and there’s a lot of it where I come from.

Bakewell seems to have been scrubbed up since our last visit, more than five years ago and a few things have changed, but despite it being a touristy town it still has plenty of old character and remains faithful to its historical roots. Around 924AD Edward the Elder who was the son of Alfred the Great established a military post or burgh at Badecanwyllan (bath well). This was probably the true beginning of the town. In the Domesday Book of 1085 the settlement was described as Badequella, from which the current name of Bakewell has evolved.
Obviously not only has the town evolved by name but by nature too as it grew over the centuries to become the Bakewell of today.

Access to the main car parks took us over the 13th century bridge that crosses the river Wye. It’s fine mediaeval arches reflected in the clear water where ducks, swans and geese were paddling, and if you looked closely you could even see huge trout swimming against the current – amazing! Why is it when I should be marvelling at the wonders of nature that a tasty fish recipe pops into my head? Seeing that trout hovering in the shallow water, almost made me want to jump in and catch it with my bare hands. The idea works in my head, but I doubt it would in reality! Slippery things, fish.

I would advise anyone intending on a trip to Bakewell that they plan to get there early, if visiting at weekends and especially so on Bank Holidays. It was Sunday and there were lots of people, which for me doesn’t seem quite right, in what I think should be a sleepy town. The place does tend to fill up very quickly with cars too, and on the downside, that makes for a lot of noise and dust. I imagine the source of the dust to be from the many nearby limestone quarries. Bikers can also be seen gathering and zipping up and down the main street in preparation for their blast up Snake Pass further into the Peak.

What’s with all the dogs too? I’ve never seen so many in one town all at the same time! To amuse myself I took a few sneaky photos of said pooches and hounds. . .

As I mentioned earlier Bakewell is famed for its puddings. The Bakewell pudding (please note NOT tart) was created by way of a culinary mistake and is nothing like what Mr Kipling will have you believe. It’s not spongy, there’s no icing and definitely no cherry!

The story goes (there are many versions) that the pudding was invented by accident, over 200 years ago. Mrs Greaves, landlady of The White Lion Inn in 1860, (now the site of The Rutland Arms) asked one of her kitchen maids to make a strawberry tart. The maid, instead of making a sweet pastry base, using eggs and sugar, left them out and instead, she mixed them together to fill the plain pastry case which was coated with strawberry jam. Apparently there was also reported to be a 'secret ingredient'! My guess is that it may have something to do with the almond flavouring. There doesn't seem to be a record of the maid’s name, so Mrs Greaves takes the credit for inventing the dish! Mrs Greaves left the recipe to a Mr Radford, who in turn passed the 'secret recipe' to a Mr Bloomer.

I rather like this version from the author Alison Uttley, mostly known for her Little Grey Rabbit books – I enjoyed her stories as a child too. This is taken from Recipes from an Old Farmhouse: “Cover a wide shallow dish with thin puff paste. Put in it a layer of jam, preferably raspberry, but any kind will do. It should be half an inch thick. Take the yolks of eight eggs and beat the whites of two. Add half a pound of melted butter and half a pound each of sugar and ground bitter almonds. Mix all well together, and pour into the pastry case over the jam. Bake for half an hour and serve nearly cold." There are three establishments in the town claiming to be the home of the original pudding but I think this shop really is the one: Bloomers, in Water Street.

Piled right up to the old low ceiling beams are cakes, puddings, pies and various other delectable pastries made from good local ingredients with no undesirable unnatural additives. Meats, cheeses and preserves are available too.

We bought two traditional Bakewell Puddings and a jar of local organic honey, which we later enjoyed on spelt bread toast. I can never resist buying a pot of good honey wherever I go! Although we didn’t buy one this time, I can highly recommend their pork pies too. On our last holiday visit, we had one and no other pork pie has been able to stand up to it since*. Oh and their lamb and mint pasties are incredible.

It may have been a whirlwind visit, but somehow it almost seems worth it to travel half way up England just for the puddings! I think we’ll be going back when the one in the freezer is finally devoured! In the meantime I found my little book of Favourite Peak District Recipes, that I bought on our last visit, so that will keep me busy in the kitchen testing out the delights of Derbyshire. * Since writing this post I discovered another pork pie which has won me over – sorry folks in Bakewell!

Rich Buttermilk Fruit Scones

The month of May has arrived with a full flourish of summer weather (well it has in the south eastern part of the UK, apologies to those who live elsewhere!). Normally we wouldn't be expecting this amount of hot sunshine until June.
In honour of the promise of more great summer days to come, here is my scone recipe, ideal for eating out in the garden at teatime.
I even found some British strawberries, grown in Kent! These are very early by tradition, so I can only assume they are from protected crops, but they tasted just as good as the seasonal summer ones.

Clotted cream is also essential, I just love its almost toffee-like texture and the crusty bit on top. Yes, I know it's naughty, but as an occasional treat, it's just fine.

Makes approximately 8-10 scones

Ingredients
2-3 tablespoons buttermilk, plus a little extra for brushing
8 oz self-raising flour, plus a little extra for dusting
pinch of salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
3 oz butter
1½ oz caster sugar
3 oz raisins or sultanas
1 large egg, beaten

To serve:
clotted cream
good quality strawberry jam
fresh strawberries

Method
Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 7 / 425F / 220C.
Lightly grease a baking tray and lightly dust with flour.

To make the scones, sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl, lightly rub in the butter with your fingertips, into the mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs, then add the sugar and raisins or sultanas.

In a jug, beat the egg and 2 tablespoons of the buttermilk together and gradually add this to the dry ingredients, mixing the dough with a fork. When it begins to come together, finish off with your hands – it should be soft but not sticky (if the dough seems too dry, add a little more buttermilk, a teaspoon at a time).

Form the dough into a ball and place it on to a lightly floured surface. Roll it out to at least 1 inch thick – try not to roll it any thinner. To make sure that your scones turn out to be well-risen you should make sure you start out with a thickness of no less than an inch.

Cut out the scones by placing a 2 inch cutter on to the dough and pushing down quickly – whatever you do, you must resist the urge to twist it, as this will compress the dough at the sides and will impede the rising process. Just lift it up and push the dough out. Keep going until you are left with the trimmings, then bring these back together, roll out again and repeat until you can cut out the last scone.

Place the scones on the baking tray and brush them lightly with the buttermilk. Now bake on the top shelf of the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until they are well risen and golden brown.

Remove them from the tray and place them on a wire rack to cool.

Serve the scones with generous amounts of strawberry jam, clotted cream and top them off with fresh strawberries.

Easter Cupcakes

I usually like to make something in the form of a cake for Easter, but rather than make a big cake as usual, I opted for some pretty cupcakes instead. To celebrate the joy of Spring (although it has been snowing this weekend!) I chose to decorate them with fragrant crystallised violets.

Makes 12

Ingredients
125g caster sugar
125g unsalted butter, softened
125g self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons milk

For the icing
250g icing sugar, sifted

1-2 tablespoons lemon juice, warmed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
yellow and pink food colouring
crystallised violets

crystallised angelica

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C Gas 6 and line a 12-hole deep muffin tin with cases.

Beat together all of the cake ingredients for a couple of minutes in a food processor until you have a smooth batter. Divide between the muffin cases and bake for about 15 minutes, until risen and golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.

To make the icing, mix the icing sugar with 1-2 tablespoons of the warmed lemon juice (add 1 first and then add the other if it's needed) to make a smooth spreadable paste, mix in the vanilla extract. Put half of the mixture in another bowl. In the first bowl mix in a little of the yellow colouring. In the second bowl mix in a litle of pink colouring. You want your colors to be soft pastel spring shades, the yellow reminiscent of primroses and the pink like cherry blossom. Try to avoid lurid psychedelic colours by adding a drop at a time from a skewer dipped into the dye.

Slice off any peaks from the top of the cupcakes, to give a flattish surface, and then spoon over the icing and smooth to the edges using the back of the spoon. Leave for a couple of minutes and then put some crystallised violets and angelica in the middle of each one. Leave to set completely.

Piparkökur: Icelandic Pepper Cookies

This is my version of an Icelandic recipe that I have in my collection for some extremely moreish spiced biscuits. Traditionally they are made for Christmas, but they're so good with their crispy honeycomb texture and warm fragrance, they'd go well with a cup of freshly brewed coffee, anytime.

You could decorate them with icing, if making them for a festive occasion, but they're perfectly fine left plain. In fact, I tend to find the icing can eventually make the biscuits go a little soft, which, perhaps, is not so desirable.





The recipe is sufficient to make a lot of biscuits ( I didn't count the final number – sorry) so you will have to bake them in several batches. Just store them in an airtight container and they'll keep fresh for quite a long time – that's if they're not eaten in a flash!

Ingredients
250g plain flour
2 and half teaspoons baking powder
1 and half teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
half teaspoon ground cinnamon
half teaspoon ground cardamom
quarter teaspoon ground nutmeg
quarter teaspoon ground cloves
quarter teaspoon ground black pepper
eighth teaspoon paprika
250g light brown muscovado sugar
125g butter, softened
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Method

Sieve together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices into a bowl and then mix in the sugar.

Add the butter and rub it through the flour mixture with your fingers until it becomes completely combined and sandy in texture.

Add the beaten egg and work in to form a dough. If the mixture seems too dry and doesn't want to come together, you'll have to crack another egg and add some more beaten egg, a little at a time. You may only need half the egg.

Wrap the dough in some cling film and put it in the fridge overnight to firm up.

To roll out the dough, place a large piece of cling film on your work surface and lightly dust with flour, put a quarter of the dough on it and place another sheet of cling film over the top, now roll out quite thinly. Peel back the cling film and use a cutter to cut into cookies shapes. Use a cutter that you think will be slightly smaller than you need as the dough spreads as it heats up in the oven.

Carefully peel off the cut pieces and place on to a flat, lightly greased, non-stick baking sheet. The cookies need to be well spaced to allow for them to grow.

Repeat with the other three pieces of dough and continue to cook in batches.

Bake at Gas 6 / 200C / 400F until dark brown.