Bumbleberry Pie Traybake

What is a Bumbleberry? Ahhh . . . I think I might know the answer to that. A bumbleberry is a Burple and Binkel berry (amazing colours you know), one berry being sweet and the other tart. The two colours, when cooked together, creating a flavour that is fantastically gloriously delicious! (of course!)



It is largely rumoured that they grow on Giggle Bushes in the Bumbleberry Valley . . . a closely hidden secret spot of beauty, I think. I've never been able to find it on a map, per se . . .



Apparently you cannot grow them under anything because they must have the warmth of the sun in order to proliferate . . . tis also rumoured that they cannot grow over anything because that would keep the warmth of the sun off what ever it was growing over, for Bumbleberries are very large. Bumbleberries grow in places where nothing else grows . . . which means that they are seldom ever seen, as most people won't look where nothing else grows, or so they say . . .



From what I understand, there are four different kinds of bumbleberry bushes, each one flowering at a different time of the year. One blossoms only in the spring and bears berries in the fall in the quiet time of the day, early in the morning, just before dawn. Another blossoms only in the summer and bears berries in winter during the pleasant mid-day hours. A third blossoms only in the fall and bears berries in the spring in the quiet of an afternoon. The fourth kind blossoms in the winter and bears berries in the summer at midnight, because of course summer days are far too warm for it.



The end result of course is that these wondrous Bumbleberries are available all year round! Which is very good news indeed. Bearing only one berry at a time, and giggling at the precise moment that they become ripe, makes these berries the most delicious and cherished berries of all . . .



Just perfect for being baked into a lovely traybake such as this one I have baked here today. With a sweet shortbread cookie crust . . . topped with a lucious sweet/tart rich bumbleberry filling, and topped with shortbread cookie streusel crumbles . . . mmmm . . . mmmm . . . scrummy good.




Of course that is a lot of old codswallop . . . but shhh . . . don't tell anyone. It's awfully hard to giggle when you're mouth is full . . . and why burst the bubble . . . a little bit of fantasy never hurt anyone, and as we all know anything baked with Bumbleberries is automatically calorie free!



*Bumbleberry Pie Traybake*
Makes one 9 by 13 inch pan

With it's crunchy shortbread cookie crust, rich berry filling and crisp streusel topping this traybake is sure to become a fast favourite!

For the crust and topping:
298g plain flour (3 cups)
290g granulated sugar (1 1/2 cups)
1/4 tsp salt
345g of cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

For the filling:
4 large free range eggs
384g granulated sugar
120g of dairy sour cream
75g of plain flour (3/4 cup)
pinch salt
2 pounds of berries (I like to use raspberries, blackberries and blueberries)
(Thaw if frozen, and drain)



Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F. gas mark 4. Butter a 9 by 13 inch baking pan. Set aside.

Whisk together the flour, sugar and salt for the crust in a large bowl. Drop in the butter and rub it into the flour with your fingertips, working quickly, until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Alternately you can use a pastry blender, or cut it in using the metal blade in your food processor.

Reserve 1/4 of the crumb mixture for the topping. Press the remainder into the bottom of the buttered baking pan, pressing it in evenly. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before proceeding.

Whisk the eggs and sugar together for the topping. Whisk in the flour, sour cream and salt until smooth. Gently fold in the berries. Pour this mixture evenly over top of the crust. Sprinkle the reserved crumbs evenly over top. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned. Allow to cool for at least an hour before cutting into squares to serve.

(Ideally you should get about 24 squares, which makes it ideal for a large crowd. You can also have the recipe quite successfully.)

The World's best Banana, Chocolate Chip and Oat Streusel Muffins

Now, I am not a person that will normally sit down and just eat a banana. They are not my favourite fruits to eat in that way . . . although once in a while I do crave some sliced banana on my rice crispies in the morning, or in a banana cream pie . . . but that is about the only way you will ever see me eating a banana . . . oh yeh, I'll eat them sliced with warm custard or cold ice cream as well . . . but I promise, that's IT!



I do love, however . . . baked goodies made with banana . . . banana loaf, banana cookies, banana muffins, banana cake . . . and . . . the blacker the banana the better (in my opinion) for these lovely treats! In fact Todd often curls his nose up in digust when he sees the bananas that I use for my baked goodies . . . however, once they are done, I have never seen him turn his nose up at the finished product! Ahem . . .



I had some real doozies today, black as black as could be on the outside. One might almost have been tempted to pitch them into the bin . . . but I knew they would be perfect for baking with and so I baked some scrummy Banana Muffins for our elevenses.



Not just Banana Muffins though . . . moist banana muffins, crammed full of lovely milk chocolate chips . . . but I didn't stop there . . . no, no . . . I didn't stop there.



I topped them with an incredibly scrummy topping of an oat and brown sugar, buttery streusel, lightly flavoured with ground cinnamon.



Oh my . . . these are the best, the ABSOLUTE best, if I don't say so myself.



But don't take my word for it. Bake some for yourself. You'll see that I am quite . . . simply . . . right, once again! From the infamous Big Blue Binder . . . Banana Chocolate Chip and Oat Streusel Muffins.



*Banana Chocolate Chip and Oat Streusel Muffins*
Makes 10 medium muffinsPrintable Recipe

Moist and delicious, stogged full of chocolate chips, with a moreish oaty brown sugar topping!

For the muffins:
190g plain flour (1 1/2 cups)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 medium over ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
150g of golden caster sugar
1 large free range egg, beaten
75g of butter, melted (1/3 cup)
7 ounces milk chocolate chips (about a cup)

For the topping:
75g of soft light brown sugar (1/3 cup packed)
2 TBS plain flour
40g old fashioned large flaked oats (1/2 cup)
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1 TBS butter

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Line 10 muffin cups with paper liners or butter really well. Set aside.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and golden caster sugar together in a large bowl. Stir in the chocolate chips. Whisk the mashed banana, egg and butter together.

Make the topping by rubbing the flour, cinnamon and sugar together with the butter until the mixture resembles cornmeal. Stir in the oats.

Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture, mixing only until the dry ingredients are evenly moistened. Divide equally amongst the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle a heaped tsp of streusel topping over each. (You will have more than you need most likely, but put the rest in a small container in the freezer for another day.)

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until well risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre of one comes out clean. Let sit in the pan for 5 minutes, then tip out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

You do KNOW of course, that adding oats to something automatically makes it good for you. Tis true. Tis wisdom according to Marie. ☺

Toasted Teacakes

Teacakes are not something I never even knew existed before I moved over here to the UK. I had never heard of them before. There used to be a bakeshop on North Gate street in Chester where you could get thick slabs of toast, and toasted teacakes, slathered in butter along with a hot drink. I was so disappointed when we moved back here and found out it had closed down.



Teacakes are not cakes. They are puffy fruited and lightly spiced sweet yeasted buns . . . you split them in half through the middle and then pop them under a grill, so that they get toasted on the cut side only . . . and then you spread them with oodles of cold butter . . . at least in most of England at any rate. In East Lancashire a teacake is a round bread roll which is cut in half to make sandwiches. They do not contain any sort of dried fruit. They can be made with either white, brown, wholemeal or granary flour. I've never had one of those . . .



I like the fruited ones. Oh my . . . they speak to my soul . . .



The outsides stay all soft and puffy . . . the cut edges get all crisp and golden . . . stogged full of lovely mixed raisins, sultanas and currants . . . and then slathered in butter . . . all that golden richness melting down into all the crags and crust of that toasted surface . . .



Nothing is more satisfying . . . or comforting . . . for elevenses . . . for tea . . . for an impromptu evening snack.



You can toast them under the grill . . . but a purist lucky enough to have an open fire might like to toast them over the fire using a long fork . . . I can only imagine how lovely they would be done that way.



I am not usually that good at yeast breads, but I am getting better each time I try. Today I made these scrummy (tired of that word yet?) teacakes that we toasted for our mid afternoon tea break. They were luverly . . . just luverly.



Come on . . . just a little nibble . . . I promise you, you'll be totally smitten . . . totally . . . mmmmm . . . mmmmm . . . . mmmmm!!



*Toasted Teacakes*
Makes 8
Printable Recipe

Satisfying and deliciously comforting any time of day, but especially nice in the late afternoon or evening.

225g strong white bread flour (2 1/3 cup)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp fast action dried yeast
15g soft light brown sugar (generous TBS)
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
75g mixed dried vine fruits (raisins, currants, sultanas) ( 1/2 cup)
40g butter, melted (2 3/4 TBS)
120ml full fat milk, plus extra for brushing (generous 1/2 cup)
Cold butter to serve



Sift the flour, salt, yeast, sugar and nutmeg into a large bowl. Stir in the dried fruits and make a well in the centre. Put the milk and butter into a saucepan and heat just until warm to the touch. Pour into the flour mixture and work together to make a soft dough.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for about 5 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Shape into a ball and place into a lightly buttered bowl. cover with cling film and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and punch down. Divide into 8 portions of equal size. Shape each portion into a ball. Flatten slightly and arrange on a large nonstick baking sheet. Cover lightly with a large tea towel and leave to rise again until double in size, about 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Brush the tops with some milk. Bake for 15 minutes until risen and golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

To serve, split in half and toaste under a heated grill on the cut sides. (Leave the other side as normal) Spread generously with butter and serve immediately. (If you are really keen you can toast them using an old fashioned toasting fork over an open fire!)

Banana, Cranberry & Walnut Loaf

One day last year I was baking this lovely loaf and I went out the front door to check on something and the wind from the back door blew the front door shut. This was somewhat of a disaster as if the front door closes and you don't have a key . . . you can't get back in. There I was stuck in the front garden, with a loaf in the oven, a small puppy at large inside, no cell phone on my person . . . and a padlocked 10 foot tall back gate that I had no hope of scaling. Thank goodness it wasn't raining.



I knew the back door was open but I was so worried about Mitzie, who wasn't very old at that point and also the cake in the oven. What to do . . . what to do . . .



In the end, I did what anyone would do . . . I knocked on the next door neighbor's front door and asked him if he had a ladder I could use to get over the back gate. He had a ladder of course, but better than that, he did the climbing! Then he just walked through the house to the front door and let me in. Whew!! You cannot imagine how grateful I was.



Once the cake was finished, and cooled . . . I packaged it up and took it over to him and his wife as a thankyou. I think they were somewhat surprised . . . I don't think it's something that a lot of people over here do, but in North America we are always taking casseroles, cakes and other baked goodies to neighbours as welcome to the neighbourhood gifts, thank you's, helping out when someone has a new baby or has been sick, or when someone in the family has passed away. It's just a neighbourly thing to do.



They must have really liked it because just before Christmas this year he asked Todd if I would be willing to bake them another one that they could take to their sons. They said they would pay for the ingredients, etc. I baked one and gave it to them as a thankyou for all the nice things they do for us through the year . . . keep an eye on our house when we are away, take in mail and other deliveries when we are out, etc. I was quite happy to bake them one and then I thought to myself . . . sometime I better bake one for myself, if it's so delicious!



Today was the day. I had enough ripe bananas and I was in a baking mood.




The recipes comes from a cookbook I have had for quite a while, called Everyday Easy, Cakes & Cupcakes by DK publishing. Everything I have baked from this book has been just fabulous and this beautiful banana loaf is no exception!



It's moist and filled with flavour . . . lovely banana, sweet dried cranberries, toasty chopped walnuts. I'm not surprised that the man next door fell in love with it, for I have too. This has become my favourite banana loaf of all time, and I don't say that lightly! I made two small loaves today and I am struggling with the thoughts of giving one away . . .



The recipe does state that you can freeze it up to 3 months . . . hmmmm . . . should I be selfish and keep them both??? Nahh . . . I have an elderly friend who will just adore this and I think she deserves a bit of a treat! (We all need a little pick me up from time to time.)

I really DO hope you will bake this too. I think you'll find that my claims about it's scrumminess are NOT exaggerated in the least!



*Banana, Cranberry & Walnut Loaf*
Makes 1 large loaf, or 2 small loaves
(one for keeping and one for giving!)
Printable Recipe

A moist banana loaf chock full of sweet cranberries and crunchy walnuts.

4 ounces butter, at room temp (1/2 cup)
175g of caster sugar (3/4 cup)
2 large free range eggs, beaten
1 tsp milk
300g of plain flour (scant 3 cups)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp mixed spice (see my recipe in the side bar on the right side
of the page)
3 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
85g dried cranberries (generous 1/2 cup)
60g toasted walnuts, chopped (scant 1/2 cup)

Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Butter 2 small loaf tins, or 1 large loaf tin and line with baking parchment.

Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until pale and creamy. Beat in the eggs and the milk, mixing all together well.

Whisk together the flour, salt, soda and spice. Stir this mixture into the creamed mixture. Stir in the bananas, cranberries and walnuts. Divide the mixture between the two small tins or spread into the large tin. Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes for small loaves, or 1 to 1/1/2 hours for the large tin, until well risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then lift out onto a wire rack to cool completely. This cake will keep for up to 1 week when stored in an airtight tin.

(Not sure why, but there seems to be an issue with some of my cooking photos. They have disappeared and I can't get them to show up. Finger's crossed that these ones do!! Computers can be so frustrating at times!)

Valentine Berry Cutie Pies

February being the month of love and all, I've had my mind very much on baking treats for the man of my dreams hubster this weekend.



I do like to spoil him from time to time.



It's not all pasta and chocolate which he just adores hates . . . I do try to cook to please him now and then . . . well . . . if I am being honest, pretty much most of the time. They do say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach!



These little strawberry tarts are fabulously easy and look so impressive when done. Especially if you use my method of lining the tins, which I stole borrowed from my friend Julie, the PC consultant. It works really well with all sorts of things . . . cookie doughs, pastry, etc. (You haven't lived until you have made little chocolate chip cookie dough tartlettes, filled with dulce de leche and topped with a dab of chocolate buttercream icing. Scrummo!)



Anyways, I digress.

Little strawberry tarts. Butter pastry. Sweet strawberry, jam and lime filling. Topped with a cute little heart.



The Toddster loved them! (with some squirtie cream) I am thinking though that a bit of clotted cream would not have gone amiss . . .



*Valentine Berry Cutie Pies*
Makes 24 mini muffin sized pies
Printable Recipe

Dainty delicious little pies, perfect for a little tete a tete with the one you love.

butter for buttering the pan
12 ounces strawberries
2 tsp cornflour
2 TBS strawberry jam
the finely grated zest of 2 limes (I use my microplane fine grater)
1 pound of all butter pastry, or ready made sweet shortcrust pastry, chilled
a little plain flour for dusting


Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Lightly butter a 24 section mini muffin tin (pampered chef makes one) or two 12 hole mini muffin pans. Set aside.

Roughly chop the strawberries. Put them in a mixing bowl and then gently stir in the cornflour, jam and lime zest.



This is how I do it: I pinch off walnut sized pieces of dough. Roll into balls and then press the balls into the muffin tins with my Pampered Chef Pastry press thingie, but you could also use the end of a rolling pin, or wooden spoon, floured, or in a real pinch, your thumbs.) Fill each little shell with a bit of the strawberry mixture. Roll out the remaining pastry to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into little shapes as you wish. (I cut mine into hearts) Place one shape on top of each tart.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool in the tins for about 10 minutes before loosening with the tip of a knife and transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

If desired dust with some icing sugar to serve. (I forgot to do this before I took the pictures!) Share them with your honeybun.



No Mitzie . . . I'm afraid they are not good for little dog's waistlines . . . no matter how cute the little dog may be.



Baking in The Cottage today, some delicious Vanilla Glazed Apple Bars.

Breakfast Oatmeal Muffins

Here's an oldie but a goodie gleaned from the depths of my Big Blue Binder. I've been making these tasty muffins for years and years.



Hands down they have to be my absolute favourite Oatmeal Muffin of all time. I've tried lots of different ones . . . but I always come back to this recipe. These muffins are moist and stogged full of raisins and nuts, with just enough spice and vanilla to make them oh so scrummy delish.
They make great use of leftover oatmeal so you need never throw out any that's left in the pot after the family has eaten ever, ever again.



In fact . . . I dare say that after you try these tasty little babies, you'll make sure you always have enough oatmeal leftover just so that you can treat yourself and your family!!



Do make sure you butter the pan well though . . . as they do stick. I don't like to use paper liners with them either as they stick to them too and I want to have all that muffin scrumminess in my tumminess! (haha . . . I know . . . don't quit my day job!)



*Breakfast Oatmeal Muffins*
Makes 12
Printable Recipe

These muffins are a great way of using up leftover cooked oatmeal. I often cook extra oatmeal for breakfast so that I can treat us to a batch of these the day after!

100g of plain flour (1 cup)
200g of soft light brown sugar (1 cup packed)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
125ml of vegetable oil (1/2 cup)
2 large free range eggs beaten
180g of leftover cooked oatmeal cereal (about 1 cup)
150g of raisins (1 cup)
1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans (optional)
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Grease a 12 cup medium muffin tin very well. Set aside.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Whisk together the leftover oatmeal, eggs, and vanilla. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients only to moisten. Fold in the raisins and nuts (if using). Spoon into the greased muffin cups, dividing the batter evenly amongst them.

Bake for 18 minutes, until well risen and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let sit in the pan for about 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool somewhat before eating.



Cooking in The Cottage today, some delicious Light and Crispy Fish Fillets.