Summer Make & Bakes with Kids
Summer holidays can seem daunting. How to keep kids occupied? Two of the foodie experts involved in the Dundee Food Festival shared their favourite summer makes that are ideal for creating with the kids helping/licking the spoons (delete as appropriate).
Leftover Cake Tiffin
Recipe by Jeni Iannetta of Bad Girl Bakery
“This is my sister Vicky’s recipe. It’s a great way to use up all sorts of bits and bobs, especially leftover cake. Any leftover un-iced cake will do: chocolate works well, as does coffee and walnut. You can basically add anything you want to the melted mixture – Vicky’s suggestions are below, but whatever you add, you want the texture to be like sand – moist enough to make a sandcastle. This is a good way to use up the sliced-off domes left over after making a layer cake. Add whatever you like to the melted mix. Vicky suggests you try any or all of the following: vanilla extract, rum, chopped marshmallows, toffee pieces, jelly beans, amaretti biscuits, glacé cherries. It!s also nice with extra chocolate drizzled on top.
“Instead of pressing the tiffin into a tin, you can shape it into a fat sausage. Wrap it tightly in cling film and firm it up in the fridge, then slice like salami. This tiffin will keep for two to three days covered in the fridge.”
Ingredients
(Serves 12)
450g (approx.) of leftover cake
200g good quality 70% dark chocolate
250g unsalted butter, cubed
6 biscuits, bashed into chunks
couple of handfuls of sultanas or chopped dates, apricots or cranberries
To finish (optional): icing sugar
Method
Use a 32 x 21cm traybake tin, lined
Break the cake into crumbs or whizz it in a processor. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a big bowl over a pan of simmering water, then stir in the cake crumbs, biscuits and dried fruit (and anything else you!re adding) and press it into the lined tin.
Chill in the fridge for a couple of hours to set and dust with icing sugar to serve.
Jeni’s Book
Enjoy recipes that are do-able, fast, with simple steps and tricks that yield the tastiest results and look great without hours and hours of work.
Granola
Recipe by Gillian Veal of Cambo House in Fife
“There is granola and then there is GRANOLA. If you!re a fan then this is a must-do recipe – not only is it super easy and delicious, but it!ll cost you a fraction of the store-bought variety. Making your own granola also provides a great opportunity to use up leftovers. I add the scrapings of jam, marmalade or honey jars and the last drops from maple syrup bottles. Save them up over the week, release the contents with a splash of boiling water and pour them into your granola. I!m all about zero waste.”
Ingredients
Base recipe for 12 portions but it keeps well so it can be scaled up
4 tbsp coconut oil
200ml maple syrup or honey, or a mix
1/2 tsp salt
300g rolled jumbo oats
200g mixed seeds such as pumpkin, sunflower and linseed
100g nuts such as almonds, Brazils, cashews, walnuts and hazelnuts, roughly chopped
100g coconut shavings
200g dried fruit such as raisins, cherries or chopped apricots
Method
Preheat oven to 170oC (150oC fan).
In a saucepan, gently warm the coconut oil with the maple syrup and/or honey and salt until combined. Put the oats, mixed seeds and chopped nuts in a large bowl and pour over the sweet syrup. Stir until everything is well coated.
Line two baking trays with parchment and roughly spread the mixture over each one in an even layer. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove from the oven, give it a little stir and add the coconut. Bake for a further 10 minutes until golden, then remove from the oven, sprinkle over the dried fruit and leave to cool completely. Break the granola up with your hands, being sure to keep some clumps, and store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
Summer Berry & Peppercorn Compote
By Gillian Veal
“You can freeze excess seasonal fruit for compote-making at a later date, and the compotes themselves freeze beautifully too so there’s really no excuse for letting fruit go to waste!”
Ingredients
500g summer berries such as strawberries, raspberries or blueberries 50g caster sugar
1/2 tsp mixed peppercorns, roughly ground
1 tsp lemon or lime juice
Method
If using strawberries, hull them. Add all the ingredients to a heavy-bottomed pan
along with 50ml water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for five to 10 minutes, stirring from time to time, until a jammy consistency is reached. Add a little more water if desired to prevent it thickening too much. Allow to cool and store in the fridge for up to a week.
Gillian’s Book
This new, updated edition transports us to the lush Georgian walled garden at Cambo House in Fife where Gillian now runs the café and takes inspiration from the abundant supply of wonderful fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers that grow there.