Lunettes . . .

The rain is bucketing down today.  It's not a great day to go out and do much of anything.  How fitting for the first day of the summer school holidays. I hope it's not a portent of things to come!




 

Rainy Days make me want to get in the kitchen and bake.  I had made the dough for these lovely biscuits (cookies) earlier in the week and today was the perfect day to crank on the oven and roll them out.



Lunettes is the French word for spectacles and with their two peep holes in the centre, these lovely biscuits certainly resemble a pair of spectacles.   You will want a fluted oval cutter about 4 inches in width for these, but never fear if you don't have an oval cutter, you can use a round one as well . . . they just won't look like spectacles!



Crisp buttery shortbreads . . .  the tops cut out with two peep holes, baked and then dusted liberally with icing sugar . . . .  tops and bottoms sandwiched together with some seedless jam and pressed together just so . . .  with some of the jam squishing up in the holes to tempt you.   Sophistic-ally moreish is all I can say.  Sophistic-ally moreish.    Perfect tea party fare.  C'est tres magnique!

*Lunettes*

Makes 10 to 12 double

 jam filled biscuits 

Printable Recipe  

 

If you like shortbread biscuits and jam, then you will adore these.   Lunettes is the French word for spectacles and these oval cookies resemble a pair of spectacles with their two jammy holes. You can use whichever jam you prefer to use.  Today I used seedless raspberry.  Just make sure you run it through with a fork several times to "loosen" it.  Best to dust and fill just prior to serving.  The baked biscuits will keep for up to a week in advance in an airtight container and you can make the dough a few days in advance of baking and also freeze it if you want.    

220g unsalted butter, cut into bits (scant cup)

120g icing sugar (scant cup)

the finely grated zest of one lemon

2 medium free range egg yolks

300g plain flour (2 1/4 cups)

seedless jam, worked until smooth

icing sugar to dust  

Put the butter, lemon zest and icing sugar into a food processor.  Blitz until they are well creamed together.  Add the egg yolks and blitz to combine.   Add the flour and once again blitz to combine.  You should have a soft and sticky dough.   Shape it into a flattened block on some cling film, wrap tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least several hours, but preferably overnight.

When you are ready to bake them remove the dough from the fridge.   Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F. gas mark 4.  Have ready several baking sheets which you have lined with baking paper.

Roll out half of the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness, using a lightly floured rolling pin.   Cut into 4 inch ovals with a fluted oval cutter.  (alternately you can cut them into 4 inch rounds with a fluted round cutter) Cut two small circles from the centres of half of the ovals to resemble glasses.  (If you are using a round cutter, you need only cut one.)  Place all the whole ovals on one baking sheet and the cut out ovals on the other, spacing them a bit apart for spreading.

Place the ones with the holes cut out on the lower rack in your oven and the whole ones on the top rack.  Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, just until they are beginning to colour.  Remove and allow to cool for several minutes on the pans before carefully lifting off to a wire rack to cool completely.

At this point you can store them in an airtight container.   When you are ready to serve them, loosen your jam and spread about a teaspoon into the centre areas of the bottom sides of the whole ovals, spreading it out a bit, to within about 1/3 of an inch from the edge.   Dredge the cut out ovals with icing sugar using a fine sieve.   Carefully press the dredged ovals on top of the jam covered bottoms, letting some of the jam ooze up in the cut out holes.   Serve immediately.

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Celebrating the Royal Birth with PG Tips and some Scrummy Crisp Lemon Biscuits

To celebrate the birth of the latest heir apparent to the British throne, PG tips has developed a new take on the traditional cuppa to wet the baby’s head – a ‘royal-tea cup’ cocktail.

Working with Rebecca Seal, drinks expert from Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch, the Fruit Cup style cocktail takes inspiration straight from the royal wedding day to combine details from the pair’s nuptials with quintessentially English ingredients, resulting in a rich and refreshing PG tipple packed full of Britishness and served in dainty tea cups.



Ingredients in a PG tips ‘royal-tea cup’ include:

• Strawberries – as a major crop in Cambridgeshire, these summery English berries are perfect to include as part of a royal celebration
• Rose petals – two new rose bushes were named after the happy couple and planted in the grounds of Windsor Castle and sugar roses were used to decorate their eight-tier wedding cake
• Sparkling wine – English sparkling wine was served to guests at the bride and groom’s wedding breakfast
• PG tips The Rich One – like red wine, all tea contains tannins, which gives drinks a wonderfully rich flavour.  We’ve used PG tips The Rich One for its full-bodied taste
• Gin – a quintessentially British ingredient and, according to Rebecca Seal, the botanicals used to make gin (like juniper) perfectly complement the flavours in tea
• Cucumber – from a dainty finger sandwich at traditional afternoon tea
• Apple juice -  from the fruit trees of the great British orchards
• Elderflower – from the hedgerows that line England’s green and pleasant land
• Mint - from English country gardens

A ‘royal-tea cup’ cocktail can be made either with or without alcohol and is perfect for a sunny garden party, to have with afternoon tea or as an aperitif before a barbecue.




PG tips Royal-tea Cup Cocktail Recipe:
To enjoy a very British punch in celebration of a potential future king, the below recipe makes 10-12 teacups or 6-8 longer drinks -

Ingredients:

• 6 British strawberries with the core removed
• A handful of fresh mint leaves, ripped
• 100ml freshly boiled water
• 1 PG tips The Rich One teabag
• 75g sugar
• 50ml freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 ½ lemons)
• ½ an unwaxed lemon’s rind, peeled and chopped
• 15ml elderflower cordial
• 100ml English apple juice
• 200-400ml gin
• 350ml soda water or sparkling water
• 350ml English sparkling wine (or cava)

For non-alcoholic punch:
Omit the gin and sparkling wine and use 150ml apple juice and 550ml soda water instead

 

Garnish:

• Lots of fresh ice in big chunks
• Slices of cucumber skin
• Rose petals
• Slices of strawberries  

 

Method:

Step 1: In a pestle and mortar, roughly crush the strawberries and mint leaves together

Step 2: Mix the crushed mint and strawberries with the hot water, PG tips The Rich One teabag, sugar, lemon juice and rind then stir until all the sugar has dissolved. Leave to stand for 8-10 minutes, then strain, reserving the syrup

Step 3: In a large bowl or jug, mix the syrup with the elderflower, apple juice and gin to taste. (The mix can be chilled for a few hours at this point until ready to serve.)

Step 4: When ready to serve, add large blocks of ice, the soda water and sparkling wine. Stir gently to combine

Step 5: To serve, line teacups with a sliver of cucumber skin, shaved using a potato peeler, then fill the cup with fresh ice. Serve using a ladle

Step 6: Garnish with a red rose petal and a slice of strawberry in the shape of a heart



I did the non-alcoholic version of this delightful little tipple and we quite enjoyed! Except for the cucumber skins . . . I thought they added a bitter touch which I didn't like very much, so I got rid of mine . . . so did the Toddster.

Of course, you know we did more than drink.  I had to make something to eat along with our little "tipple," and I baked some beautifully crisp lemon crisp biscuits!  Celebrations always call for something  REALLY special don't they?   And these crisp little biscuits are just perfect for that!



This is a very, verrrrrry old recipe, gleaned from the cardboard covering of a package of margarine many years ago.  My mother had ripped it off and it lay hidden in her red Co-op cookbook for many years.  I cannot remember my mother ever baking these, but I have  baked them many times.



The original recipe called for hard margarine, but I have always used butter.  I figure if they add stuff and chemicals to make margarine hard etc., . . . I don't need it in my veins.   I'd prefer to have natural vein cloggers.



These are a slice and bake cookie.  I've never been able to get them to come out perfectly round, but that doesn't matter.  They are crisp and sweet and buttery . . . with a hint of lemon as well as ginger, which is a perfect combination I think.  I added the lemon sugar garnish a while back.  It just made sense and was the nicest addition I thought.

So, what are you waiting for?    Let's get baking!

*Lemon Crisps*

Makes 5 dozen

Printable Recipe  

A crisp and buttery slice and bake cookie flavoured with lemon and ginger and sprinkled with lemon sugar before baking.  Delicious! 

115g of unsalted butter, softened (1/2 cup)

190g of golden caster sugar (1 cup)

1 medium free range egg

1 TBS finely grated lemon zest

2 TBS lemon juice

245g of plain flour (1 3/4 cup)

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp ground ginger 

To top:

2 dessertspoons of granulated sugar

1 tsp finely grated lemon zest 

Rub the sugar and lemon zest together until very fragrant. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg and lemon juice to combine.  Whisk together the flour, salt, soda and ginger.   Stir this into the wet ingredients, blending in well.   Shape into two 1 1/2 inch in diameter cylinders.  Wrap well and chill until very firm.

When ready to bake rub the topping ingredients together until fragrant and preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5.  Line several baking sheets with baking paper.   Set aside.

Cut the rolls with a very sharp knife into 1/4 inch thick slices.   Place these on the baking trays.  Sprinkle each with a bit of the lemon sugar.   Bake for 6 to 8 minutes until crisp and golden around the edges.   Allow to cool on the baking sheets for several minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. 

Store in an airtight container.

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