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Teasses Recipes

Recipe: Christmas Cantucci

By Teasses Recipes

Introducing Giada, our new Business Development Manager here at Teasses.

Giada is originally Italian and has a huge passion for cooking and baking; and eating – it was only therefore fitting that we’d introduce her by sharing one of her recipes! This is a Christmas twist on a traditional Italian biscuit called “Cantucci”, which is typical of the region of Tuscany. The addition of cinnamon and orange zest , will make your kitchen smell like Christmas morning! These biscuits are also perfect as a small Christmas homemade gift!

Happy baking!

Wild Garlic Recipe Video

By Teasses Recipes

One of the several pleasures of living in the countryside is the opportunity to forage wild flora to add to your culinary repertoire. To accompany the recipe in the Recipes section of the Blog, Craig has put together this short video. https://teasses.com/recipe-wild-garlic-pesto/

Wild Garlic Pesto Recipe

Craig's wild garlic pesto recipe is simple and easy to follow. Find the recipe in the comments below.

Geplaatst door Teasses Estate op Woensdag 15 april 2020

Recipe: Wild Garlic Pesto

By Teasses Recipes

The woods here at Teasses are abundant in Wild Garlic which rears its pungent head in March and continues to the end of the April. As the plant matures the strength of the flavour reduces so if you don’t want a fiery strong garlic taste then hold off until the second half of April. In this recipe I use the leaves of the plant but the flowers are edible too and can be used in salads or as. garnish on top of  soups such as Sorrel or Pea. Unlike its namesake Wild Garlic doesn’t produce a bulb so you need to use it when it’s available.

Note that if you intend to cook with the pesto – for example roasted Mediterranean vegetables coated in pesto – that the flavour becomes less powerful when cooked. I like to add another couple of tablespoons of the pesto once the vegetables come out of the oven, it also helps with the colour. Also, a delicious pairing with this is fresh lamb so try to keep some for when the Scottish lamb season abounds.

Recipe:

This will easily make one large jar.

You’ll need;

  • a bunch of fresh, washed and roughly torn wild garlic – enough to almost fill a mixing bowl.
  • 200g organic pine nuts – the more you add the thicker the pesto and less pungent the garlic.
  • 500 ml organic olive oil
  • 100g organic parmesan – or other hard cheese
  • 1 organic lemon
  • water
  • salt and pepper

Step One: Gently heat a dry shallow pan, when almost too hot to touch throw in your pine nuts and lightly toast.

Step Two: In a food processor put the roughly torn wild garlic leaves with the lightly toasted pine nuts, cheese, a pinch of salt and the juice from the lemon and a little oil.

Step Three: While blitzing the contents of the food processor drizzle in the remaining oil.

Step Four: Continue to blitz until you are happy with the consistency. If it is too thick add some water. The best pesto is slightly chunky. Add more salt and some pepper to taste.

If you want truly authentic pesto remove the food processor and pound the ingredients in a mortar and pestle.

Once sealed in a clean glass jar this pesto lasts approximately one month when refrigerated or three months if frozen.

Recipe: Housekeeper’s Tablet

By Teasses Recipes

Traditional Scottish Tablet is a real treat to enjoy with a cup of coffee or a wee dram of whisky after dinner. Kate has put together this recipe for her own take on the familiar sweet treat and it makes delicious tablet which is rich, sweet and creamy – everything you could ask for from tablet.

This recipe makes a tray of tablet which is enough for around 35 portions. As everything starts to pick up in preparation for Christmas meals and New Year parties get ahead with this recipe, make your tablet now and you’ll be able to store it throughout the festive season, to the delight of your guests.

 

You will need;

  • 900g Caster Sugar
  • 125g Unsalted Butter
  • 150ml Full Fat Milk
  • 1 tin of Condensed Milk

Step One: Place all of the ingredients into a deep pan and allow everything to melt slowly together over a medium heat. This might take some time so feel free to stir occasionally to prevent sticking. Allow the mixture to simmer for approximately thirty-five minutes. The mixture will gradually darken. Just when you think it is dark enough, the thirty-five minutes are up.

Step Two: Bring the mixture to the boil and start beating with a wooden spoon. You’ll notice that the colour and texture of the mixture changes. Continue to beat the mixture by hand until it begins to resemble a loose cake batter. You can test this stage by dropping a small drip of tablet mixture into a glass of cold water. You are looking for it to make a soft ball and not to discolour the water by making it cloudy.

You need to be very careful when mixing tablet as boiling sugar is very, very hot. 

Step Three: When your mixture resembles a loose cake batter pour it into a baking tray. Allow it to semi-set and then score portion sizes into the hardening mixture. This will make it much easier to break neatly when it is completely set.

Recipe: Plum and Raspberry Cake

By Teasses Recipes
Teasses; Estate; Recipe: Organic:; Plum Cake

This recipe and is from the early autumn but a great way to use up some of your frozen plums and raspberries from the summer if you haven’t got fresh. Thanks to Lucy for this recipe and of course the cake(!).

Best to enjoy this with a hot cup of tea in the potting shed on a crisp bright autumn morning. The cake can be frozen and brought out in time to share with guests or as delicious treat after a chilly morning in the garden. Also tasty warmed and served with Chantilly Cream as a real indulgence –  it just depends how hard you’ve been working.

For this cake you will need;

  • 200g Organic unsalted butter (plus some for greasing the cake tin),
  • 3 large free range organic eggs (preferably from your own hens of course),
  • 300g light muscovado sugar,
  • 1 tsp mixed spice (try heating it in a warm pan before adding – you’ll release much more flavour),
  • 150ml of organic whole milk,
  • 8 plums – sliced and stones removed,
  • 150g of raspberries (we used Autumn Bliss)
  • A little icing sugar for dusting

Step One: To start get your oven preheated to 160oC, gas mark 3. Thinly butter and line a cake tin (we are using a round 22cm tin for this recipe) with parchment.

Step Two: Mix eggs and muscovado sugar and whisk for 15 minutes to produce a thick mixture. Mix together your flour and spices and add slowly to your egg & sugar mixture. Add about a third at a time with milk in between. Finally whisk in the melted butter. Beat together to produce a thick whipped cream like texture.

Step Three: Spoon half of your cake batter into the cake tin and scatter half of your plums and raspberries over it. Top up with the remaining mixture and place the remaining fruit on top. Pop your cake into the oven and bake for 1 – 1 1/2 hours. Keep an eye on it, this amount of fruit and sugar may burn quickly.

Step Four: Remove your cake from the oven when it is done. You can test this by sticking a clean skewer into the cake while its still in the oven. If the skewer comes out clean it ready to remove from the oven. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for ten minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.

Teasses; Estate; Walled; Garden; Organic; Fruit

Recipe: Plum Wine

By Teasses Recipes

The formulation of this recipe was more trial and error than a regimented step-by-step instruction but it appears to have worked incredibly well. We have half a dozen establish plum trees here in the Walled garden and therefore a bountiful supply of plums. This recipe makes around twelve litres of plum wine and produces a beautiful Rosé coloured drink and a satisfying pop once bottled.

You will need;

  • 15L Fermenting Bucket with an Airlock with Rubber Stopper
  • 5kg fresh plums (I’m using a variety called Edwards)
  • 2kg of golden caster sugar
  • 10L of Boiling Water
  • 1 lemon
  • 5g Cider yeast

Step One: Wash the plums; discard any which are too soft, rotten or mouldy. Avoid using wind-fallen fruits. The process of fermentation relies on clean and sterile fruits and equipment.

Step Two: In the clean fermenting bucket, crush the plums as best you can to break the skin and release some of the juices. I did this using a metal potato-masher, but use any utensil you have at hand (so long as it is clean – dip in boiling water for a minute or two to sterilise it).

Step Three: Pour into the fermenting bucket 10L of boiling water. Give it all a good mix and pop the lid on the bucket. Store the bucket in a dark, warm space for three/four days. This allows the plums to imbibe in the water, releasing their sweet juices. Swirl the bucket everyday to ensure mixing.

Step Four: Add 2kg of sugar, the juice of a lemon and mix. Then sprinkle the yeast over the surface of the liquid. It will float on the top. Allow it to sit undisturbed for ten minutes before mixing everything together.

Step Five: Return the lid ensuring the Airlock is securely fitted. Leave the bucket in a warm, dark room for 3 – 4 weeks, swirling the bucket daily to ensure mixing. You’ll start to hear and see air bubbles coming through the Airlock when fermentation begins.

Step Six: If you are looking for a dry, sparkling Plum wine bottle the liquid into secure bottles with a swing-top cap. The wine will continue to develop it is still a very active and young wine, the carbon dioxide produced through the slower rate of fermentation will provide a very welcome fizz in the wine and pop when opening the bottle. If however you’d prefer a still wine syphon into Demi-Johns with Airlocks. Rack the Demi-Johns for a further few months, keep tasting until you find the wine to suit your taste.

Recipe: Elderflower Infused Gin

By Teasses Recipes

We all like to use the natural ingredients our local wild larder provides us. This month has seen an abundance of elderflower blossom at Teasses and in my opinion you can’t go wrong with a quick Elderflower Infused Gin recipe, something to enjoy on these long hot summer days.

This recipe makes one litre of flavoured gin.

You’ll need;

  • a Large heavy bottom pot
  • 2 tablespoons of caster sugar
  • 2 strips of Lemon Peel
  • a dozen elderflower heads (de-bugged – to do this simply suspend the bunches of flower heads over white paper, the bugs will fall from the flowers while being attracted to the white paper)
  • 1 Litre of Gin (quantity over quality is fine here)
  • Bottles of your choice – sterilised.
  • fine Sieve or Muslin

Step One: Pour the gin and sugar into a gently heating pot. Allow the sugar to slowly dissolve into the mixture. Don’t boil.

Step Two: Add the lemon strips and the elderflowers to the mixture. Be careful to ensure that all of the flowerhead are submerged.

Step Three: Allow the mixture to infuse in a dark spot for up to 24 hours. This will allow the flavours of the flowers to develop. If you aren’t looking for a very strong elderflower taste adjust your timings to suit. Less infusion time will create a less pungent infusion. I tend to soak little more than overnight.

Step Four: Strain the mixture through a fine sieve or cotton muslin and pour into your desired bottles. Put an additional strip of lemon into the bottle. This prevents the liquid from darkening too much.

 

Once sealed you can store your Elderflower Infused Gin for as long as you like, but be warned the longer you leave it the stronger the taste. Be warned; natural yeasts on the Elderflowers can interact with any remaining sugars leading to further fermentation and more potent a concoction. Store in a dark place.

Prior to serving allow your Elderflower Infused Gin an overnight experience in the refrigerator, as with most gin drinks, this is served best with heaps of ice and tonic water.