Back in the days of black and white TV’s, when I was a child and Dinosaurs possibly still wandered the earth, tins of condensed milk were much smaller and fifteens got the name because you used fifteen of everything plus a small tin of condensed milk. So today I decided just to use packets!
To create these little luxury home bakes, as a nod to the cost of living crisis I used own brand and budget brand ingredients. They honestly taste just fine. My friend Jane swears there’s less calories in the cheaper ones too, so every ones a winner!
Budget Brands
Ingredients
1 Packet (400g) Digestive Biscuits
1 tub (200g) Glacé Cherries
1 bag (100g) Mini Marshmallows
I tin 397g Condensed Milk
Coconut to sprinkle
Method
Crush the biscuits to fine crumbs using a food processor or rolling pin and place in a large mixing bowl
If cherries aren’t already sliced or chopped, slice them into about quarters. There’s no need to rinse off any syrup. Add to the mixing bowl and stir through
Add packet off mini marshmallows to the bowl and mix them through
Tip the entire tin of condensed milk into the bowl and mix thoroughly to combine everything together. You are aiming for a slightly sticky mix with no loose crumbs
Place a length of kitchen foil, approx 50cm, on a clean worktop, sprinkle with coconut
Place mix onto the kitchen foil and form into a log shape. There’s quite a lot of mix so you might need to do this in sections, sprinkle more coconut over the top and sides then wrap the tinfoil around the log and chill.
If you are struggling to get the log shape you can line a cake tin or roasting dish with tinfoil, sprinkle with coconut and press the mix into that. Sprinkle more coconut over the top before chilling
Once the mix has firmed up in the fridge, simply slice and enjoy
This is based on a very old recipe, so the filling is a little tricky, but it’s my favourite version of this classic dessert
For the pastry base I have used my Pate Sucree, or French sweet pastry that I also used for the German Biscuits- very continental
It’s one of the more complicated recipes I do, I like simple home cooking but it is so worth it\
PATE SUCREE (sweet pastry)
100g Softened Butter
75g Caster Sugar
3 free range egg yolks
230g plain flour
Cream butter & Sugar
Mix in egg yolks one at a time
Beat in flour until all combined
Chill for 30 minutes
Roll on a floured work surface and use to line a deep 20cm sandwich tin. You can use a quiche type dish but I find a metal tin gives a crisper base – no soggy bottoms!
Bake blind at 160 for approx 15 minutes. You should have some pastry left over so you can whip up a couple of German biscuits at the same time if the mood takes you
Allow to cool and make the filling
FILLING
280 ml water
5 level tablespoons of cornflour
25g butter
Grated zest and juice of 2 large lemons
3 egg yolks
100g Caster Sugar
Blend the cornflour to a smooth paste with a little water. This is best done in stages as it gets very thick at times. I find this the trickiest part of the whole recipe
Melt the butter in remaining water and lemon juice in a saucepan, bring to the boil then remove from heat
Add blended cornflour to pot along with lemon zest and caster sugar. I find a balloon whisk really helpful to prevent lumps forming. You could use an electric whisk but take care as you have boiling liquid
Add in the 3 egg yolks and whisk thoroughly
Return to heat and cook slightly to thicken, whisking all the time. You are trying to get a custard consistency
Pour into the prepared pastry base
MERINGUE TOPPING
3 egg whites
130g Caster Sugar
Whisk egg whites using an electric whisk until really stiff
Gradually whisk in the caster sugar a spoonful at a time
Spoon over the top of the pie and bake at 130 for 30 minutes or until lightly browned
You can use more of the egg whites and more sugar. For 4 egg whites I’d add about 170g sugar
We have been very much missing our Sausage Rolls from our favourite cafe/bakery The Jolly Sandwich in Enniskillen, so decided to have a go at making our own
We took a trip to the local butcher for some proper sausage meat, Dohertys or Kennedy Bacon have their own herds of pigs so you know exactly what you are getting, quality local pork, but I try not to think about that bit
We also used Asda own brand ready rolled puff pastry, our own BBQ Chutney and Cavanagh Eggs as again I know they are well cared for, free range local hens
So here’s how we did it
Ingredients
400g Proper Sausage Meat
1 pack Puff Pastry
1 Free Range Egg beaten
1 Jar BBQ Chutney
Oven Temp 170
Sprinkle flour on a plastic chopping board & your hands
Roll the sausage meat into long sausage shapes. You decide how far you want them, but ours were roughly 10 pence piece size
Place the sausage meat on the pastry and cut a strip wide enough to wrap round and overlap
Roll the sausage meat to one side and slather BBQ Chutney along the middle of the pastry
Brush one edge of the pastry in beaten egg then wrap the pastry around the sausage meat using the beaten egg to join the overlap pastry edges together
Cut sausage rolls to your desired length and place on baking tray joined edge to the bottom
You can cut a little slit in each Sausage Roll if you like
Brush over with beaten egg and bake at 170 for 15-20 minutes until brown and puffy
Ensure Sausage Meat is thoroughly cooked through before eating. Thicker Sausage rolls will take longer to cook
Eat & enjoy
Baked in Belfast BBQ Chutney
Our Chutney is available in a six jar special offer on our Etsy shop https://etsy.me/2BbgXUF
I love the Coconut Macaroons stall at the Christmas Continental Market at the City Hall. I look forward to it every year!
I also remember these as a child and more recently when ‘Big Ron’ had his chocolate stall at St George’s where he dipped the bottoms in chocolate!
They are really simple & straightforward to make though. I’ve put half a cherry on top but you can leave those off if you prefer
Ingredients
2 Free Range Egg Whites
100g Caster Sugar
225g Dessicated Coconut
Glacé Cherries if liked
Line a large baking sheet with baking or greaseproof paper
In a large bowl whisk the egg whites until really stiff and pesky. I use my kenwood for nearly everything but find the hand whisk better for egg whites
Whisk in the Caster Sugar. It’s important not to have any lumps in the sugar so sieve if necessary
Stir in the coconut until well combined
Spoon large dessert spoons of the mixture onto the prepared baking tray and top with half a glacé cherry if desired
Bake at 170 for approximately 15 minutes until lightly browned
German Biscuits, that’s what we call them here in Northern Ireland, everywhere else in the UK they are Empire Biscuits. Either way they are delicious whatever you call them
This recipe was a bit of a taste challenge in our house as I normally make them using my own shortbread recipe, however we discovered they should traditionally be made from ‘Pate Sucree’ a traditional sweet French pastry so we thought we’d give this a go
Typically in our house no agreement was reached lol. Rebecca really liked this recipe but Keith & I preferred my usual recipe, anyway here’s this one if anyone wants to try
Pate Sucree
100g Butter softened
75g Caster Sugar
3 large Free Range Egg Yolks
230g Plain Flour
Cream the butter & sugar until lighter in colour
Mix in the egg yolks one at a time
Slowly add the flour until fully combined and a soft pastry ball is formed
Chill for 30 minutes
Dust work surface and rolling pin with flour and roll pastry out thinly
Cut rounds and place on a baking sheet lightly dusted with flour
Bake at 170 for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned
Cool slightly on baking tray to allow biscuits to firm up before removing to a wire rack to cool completely
Raspberry Apple & Lime Jam
Sandwich the biscuits together with your favourite jam. We like our own Raspberry Apple & Lime Jam but you can use any smooth jam or jelly. We sandwich together the sides that were on the baking tray so you have a smooth bottom & top. Everyone likes a smooth bottom…
Decorate the top as you like, we used plain icing, icing sugar &water, but you can top them with ready roll icing or jam & coconut. We added sprinkles, jelly tots (Keith’s favourite) or more traditionally a cherry on top, that one didn’t quite make it to photo stage…..
We use a traditional recipe with just 4 ingredients, butter, sugar, cornflour and plain flour
They are absolutely delicious just sprinkled with sugar, but you can also smother or drizzle them with chocolate or cover in icing
We used to sell shamrock shaped ones at St Patrick’s day and at Christmas I love making shortbread snowmen, we’ve also had the odd Halloween Skeleton
The secret for me is to have really soft butter, and it must be butter, you can even soften it a bit in the microwave to make life easier
Traditional Shortbread on an Owl Friends Plate
Ingredients
200g Butter
110g Caster Sugar
130g Cornflour
180g Plain Flour
Cream the butter & Sugar together
Add in the flours until thoroughly combined. I just let my big old Kenwood Chef do all the work here but if you are using a hand held mixer you might need to combine the last of it by hand
Roll out to your desired thickness
Bake at 170 for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned
Sprinkle with sugar* and allow to cool slightly on the baking tray before moving to a wire rack
Store in an airtight container. Always store shortbread on its own as it will make anything else in the tin go soft
*If you want to add icing or chocolate don’t sprinkle with sugar, just leave them plain
Baked in Belfast 