Lemon Drizzle Squares and Easy Peanut Biscuits

Here's my definitive recipe for lemon drizzle squares soaked in a sharp lemon syrup, and one for peanut biscuits. Both are easy to make, but while the biscuits are, as it were, a piece of cake, the squares may need a little effort if you are beating the ingredients by hand.

Lemon Drizzle Squares

I make these so that each square is about two bites, and this quantity of ingredients makes 20-24. They can be frozen if (by chance) there are any left over. The recipe fits a baking tin about 4cm deep and base 24x17cm; it should be fully lined with baking parchment.

Ingredients

150g butter (room temp), chopped into small pieces

150g caster sugar

2 free-range eggs

100ml milk

150g self-raising flour

1 heaped teaspoon baking powder

juice and finely grated rind of 2 large lemons

80g granulated sugar

The oven should be at 170C if fan type, otherwise slightly higher, and shelf in the middle.

Method

1  In a large bowl, beat the butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy, without lumps. 

        (Best with an electric mixer but can be done by hand with a wooden spoon.)

2  Beat the eggs into the mixture gradually. Don't worry if it looks slightly curdled.

3  Add the milk and beat again until well mixed.

4  Stir in the flour, baking powder and grated lemon rind.

5  Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tin and smooth over.

6  Bake for about 25 minutes until golden. (It's ready if a skewer inserted into the centre

        comes out clean.)

7  Meanwhile, in a bowl mix the lemon juice and granulated sugar. 

8  When the cake is ready, leave it in the pan and prick all over the top with the skewer,

        maybe 40-50 times. Give the juice/sugar mix a stir and drizzle it over slowly so that

        it seeps into the cake.

9  When cool, cut into squares of the size you want. They may be a little gooey!

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Peanut Biscuits

These are quicker and easier to make - the recipe is for about 16 biscuits. As long as they are completely cooled, they can be stored in a tin. A large baking tray, lined with baking parchment, is needed and maybe a smaller one too, as they have to be spaced apart so they can spread during cooking. 

Ingredients

75g demerara sugar

100g granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

50g soft butter or spread such as Flora

100g peanut butter (preferably crunchy type)

50ml milk

160g plain flour

50g chopped plain chocolate (optional but nice)

The oven should be at around 180C for fan type, otherwise 200C. Shelves not too near the top.

Method

1  Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix them thoroughly (a wooden spoon 

        should be OK), making sure the butter is well distributed.

2  Mix in the chocolate pieces if used.

3  Take pieces of the dough about the size of a walnut shell and place on the baking tray,

        leaving maybe 6cm between them. Flatten slightly.

4  Bake until the biscuits are golden but don't allow them to darken or the chocolate

        pieces to burn - this may take 15 minutes but check after 13.

5  Slide the biscuits, still on the parchment, onto a wire rack to cool.

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I hope you enjoy reading about these treats and - especially - eating them!

Thanks for visiting.

Three Great Dessert Sauces - definitive recipes

Although it's easy - and lovely - to serve ice cream or fruit tart unadorned, or stick to lemon or maple syrup for pancakes, adding a home-made sauce magically lifts desserts to the memorable. My absolute favourite is the butterscotch sauce poured over home-made or bought tiny meringues which are built into a pyramid held together with whipped cream. Children love to help make the pyramid and then pour on the warm sauce.


Here are three of my favourite recipes for dessert sauces, each very easy and making enough for 6 or for a meringue cream pyramid. They can be made in advance and warmed through later.


Chocolate

By Lee McCoy

Ingredients
220g good quality plain chocolate
55g butter
8 tbsp single cream
4 tbsp golden syrup


Method
1  Break the chocolate into chunks, and place in a small pan with the other ingredients.
2  Heat gently, stirring, until the chocolate is melted, but don't allow the mixture to boil.
3  Best served warm.


Butterscotch
Ingredients
300ml single cream
8 tbsp golden syrup
110g soft brown sugar
50g butter
1 tsp vanilla extract (otherwise vanilla essence)


Method
1  Place the cream, syrup and sugar in a small pan.
2  Bring to the boil, and simmer gently for about 3 minutes.
3  Add the butter and vanilla and stir over a gentle heat until the butter melts and blends in.


Orange

By 'The Ewan'

Ingredients
75g butter
150g sugar (preferably caster)
1 large orange - finely grated zest and the juice
1 large lemon  - finely grated zest and the juice
2 level tsp cornflour, mixed to a thin paste with a little water


Method
1  Melt the butter in a small pan.
2  Add the sugar and the orange and lemon zest and juices.
3  Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 4-5 minutes.
4  Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cornflour paste.
5  Return to a medium heat and stir continuously until the sauce comes to the boil and
         thickens. It will thicken further as it cools.
6  Adding about 75ml of basic orange liqueur before the sauce cools is an option!
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As above, these sauces can be poured over ice cream, meringues or pancakes. The orange sauce would also go well with crumbed and fried Quorn fillets or with slices of madeira cake. The butterscotch could be poured over banoffee pie or sliced fresh fruit such as peaches or mandarins. And as for the chocolate sauce ... how about a little on an orange sorbet, or drizzled over or around a fruit tart (strawberry, apple, lemon, lime)?
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Easy Pasta Recipe, and Shallot Tarte Tatin

Two recipes. The first is for a great pasta dish, easy and quite cheap to make, with full instructions for uncertain cooks. (I shall never post a recipe for the dreaded 'pasta with tomato slop' which restaurants often offer as the 'vegetarian option' but which is extremely easy and cheap to produce and often offensively bland. For anyone cooking this, I beg you to add lots of onions and herbs at least!)

The second is for a tarte tatin, one of my favourites - it's not hard to make but takes a while and needs a steady hand for flipping the tarte at the end. Instructions are briefer for this one.

Penne Pasta with Peas & Lemon Cream - to serve 2 good portions. Needs 35-40 mins.

Yep, this has beans but I lost my pea pic!

Ingredients - best to prepare before cooking starts:
  200g dried penne pasta (ribbed tubes cut
       slantwise)
  150g frozen peas
  1 tablespoon of vegetable/olive oil
  1 large clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
       (optional)
  200ml single cream (preferably organic)
  Juice and grated zest (rind) of half a large lemon
  1 teaspoon dried oregano (or parsley or coriander)
  60g grated veg Italian hard cheese (e.g. Sainsbury)
                                                           Black pepper

Also 2 saucepans (1 small, 1 medium). Put the oven on fairly low (about 125C), and warm up an oven-proof serving dish.

Method:
1  Boil a good quantity of water in the larger pan, then add the pasta and cook as
       instructions on pack.
2  Meanwhile, boil water in the other pan, put in the peas, bring back to the boil and cook
       5 minutes.
3  Drain pasta and peas and put in the serving dish and back in the oven.
4  Heat the oil in the smaller pan, then fry the garlic gently for 2 minutes.
5  Add the cream and bring gently to the boil, stirring occasionally.
6  Add the lemon rind and juice, the oregano and cheese, and about half a teaspoon of
       black pepper.
7  Mix well and stir over the heat for another minute or so to make sure it's all hot.
8  Pile this into the serving dish and mix it all. Either serve straight away, or keep hot in
       the oven.

Shallot Tarte Tatin with Thyme and Balsamic - serves 4, about 75 mins

Crispy puff pastry base covered with shallots gooey with balsamic and sugar. Would serve 4 if there are side vegetables (e.g.tenderstem & baby sweetcorn, not potatoes), or 3 with a decent side salad. When serving, the shallots will be soft and maybe slippery, so a very sharp knife, used boldly, is best to cut wedges. (She says from experience.)

Ingredients:
  500 shallots, round or elongated
  3 tbsp olive oil
  2 tbsp dark balsamic vinegar
  1 tbsp soft dark brown sugar
  2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves (or 1 tbsp dried)
  60g vegetarian Emmental cheese (e.g. President, otherwise Cheddar), grated
  180g puff pastry (rolled fairly thinly from a block, or most of
       one ready-rolled sheet)

Also needed: bowl, large frying pan, baking parchment, 20cm diameter non-stick shallow (about 4-5cm deep) cake tin.
After stage 3 below, set oven to 180C if fan, otherwise 200C.

Method:
1  Place shallots in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave 6 mins then peel
       (carefully if still hot). If they don't fall naturally into two pieces, halve them.
2  Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry shallots gently for 10 mins, stirring occasionally.
3  Add vinegar, sugar, thyme + 2 tbsp water. Fry gently a further 5 mins, stirring at times.
4  Line the base of the cake tin with a circle of parchment, then tip in the shallot mixture
      and smooth over to cover the base completely. Leave 10 mins to cool a little.
5  Spread the cheese evenly over the shallots.
6  Lay the pastry over the tin, and trim to leave a 5cm overlap all round. Tuck the overlap
      down inside the edges of the tin to seal in the filling.
7  Bake in the top half of the oven for 25 mins or until the pastry is well browned.
8  Allow to cool 5 mins, then run a non-stick knife/spatula gently around the edge to loosen.
9  The good bit: place a large plate over the tarte, hold both firmly, and quickly invert them.
      Carefully peel off the parchment.

Hope these recipes appeal, and please let me know if there are any 'requests' (preferably of a polite nature).