Pecan paprenjaci // The Dinner Bell

Pecan paprenjaci

I’ve been sitting on this recipe for a while, since my enthusiasm for festive food got the best of me far before it was acceptable, but the tightness of my jeans indicates it is time.

These little darlings are based on traditional Croatian Christmas biscuits –  the inclusion of black pepper sounds a little odd but it gives a subtle warmth to the biscuits, which are similar to gingerbread and have a comforting softness to them.

As I inherited a slight walnut allergy from my mother, along with sturdy thighs and a love of food, I switched out the traditional walnuts in favour of pecans. I also used a tiny squirrel cutter instead of the wooden moulds they’d be made with in Croatia, because the tiny squirrel was too cute to resist.

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Pear & cinnamon crumble cake

Pear and cinnamon crumble cake // The Dinner Bell

I might call this “Surprise Victory Cake”, instead of its actual descriptive name, because I did not expect this to work, and my god, it did. It really did.

I just about half-followed a recipe: made the topping up as I went along; tasted and guessed at the spice quantities; set to work bringing it all together with bowls strewn around the kitchen. The mixing stage was nerve-wracking, and for a split second, I wondered if it was a a waste of time and ingredients.

But then I put it in the oven and the kitchen filled with the smell of autumn. Cut into it and found it had the perfect level of springiness,  just the right amount of cinnamon and nutmeg flavour.

It turned out to be a cake that you take into the office and ten minutes later start getting “Oh yes 10/10” messages. A cake that might make your flatmate mutter, “Marry me,” as they take a bite. Maybe a couple of “I feel all warm and cosy inside”s. Continue reading

Honey-roasted peach and cinnamon muffins

Sometimes, the things you love most are the things you fear. I adore enormous bookstores but sometimes when I walk into them my heart beats faster, because Oh, excellent, there are so many books! but also Oh no. There are so many books and there’s no way I’ll ever be able to read even a small percentage of them all, why isn’t there more time in the day? 

PeachportI love holding my niece, who is six months old and squishy, with big blue eyes and very little hair, and she is wriggly and I. Must. Not. Drop. The. Squirmy. Baby. I stand her on my lap, one tiny, ticklish foot on each thigh, and I do not know what to say to her. Small talk is hard enough with a fully-grown human.

I will always want crispy bacon on my burgers, but if I grill it, I will watch it, cross-legged and unblinking on the floor like I’m on the Bake Off, just in case the fat catches and bursts into flames like it did that one time when I was a kid.

There’s a big place in my heart for huge, fluffy muffins – the properly craggy-topped ones, not supermarket double chocolates, all sticky on top and dry at the bottom – and I am convinced that I can’t make them. Continue reading

Pumpkin pie spice mix

Just because I refer back to this mix often!

Pumpkin pie spice

Ingredients

Below is the ratio of spices – it’s easily scaled up to make a jar full.
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground cloves

Mix ’em up and store in an airtight container!

Cinnamon rugelach

One of the things I love about  warmer weather is that you get to eat with your hands more. Lunchtime no longer means miserably slurping down soup; dessert doesn’t mean cradling a bowl of hot crumble. Instead, it’s all about barbecue food and ice cream cones. It’s nibbles and bitesize morsels, and food on sticks.

But I’m not quite ready to leave the smells of the cooler months behind, to abandon sweet spicy aromas in favour of the freshness of greener food.

Cinnamon Rugelach // The Dinner Bell

So these pastries are a decent compromise: a little bit of winter, a little bit of spring. I’m pretty sure you can’t go far wrong with a pastry that’s made with cream cheese, but the cinnamon sugar really shows it off, creating a mouthful that’s like the lovechild of cinnamon bread and baklava.

Adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

Makes 32 pastries

Notes
Using a sharp knife to cut the dough into slices (step 8) will work, but for less drag use a pizza cutter.
For the cream cheese, low fat works absolutely fine and helps to balance out all that butter guilt!
When it comes to spreading browned butter over the dough, a gentle touch is best – otherwise the warm butter can make the dough go a bit soupy.

Ingredients

150g butter, plus 40g for filling
150g cream cheese
160g plain flour
1tbsp icing sugar
4tbsp light brown sugar, plus a tbsp to sprinkle
3tsp ground cinnamon
1 egg yolk

Method

1) To make the dough, using an electric whisk, beat together 150g butter and the cream cheese until light and fluffy.
2) In a small bowl, combine the flour and icing sugar, and add to the cream cheese and butter mixture, beating on the lowest speed until just combined. If your whisk’s lowest speed is still pretty fast (mine is) do this by hand with a metal spoon – you might need to get your fingers in there to fully bring the dough together. 
3) Scrap the dough into a large piece of clingfilm, wrap well and chill in the fridge for two hours.
4) Mix together the sugar and cinnamon, and, in a separate bowl, mix the egg yolk with about a tablespoon of water to thin it slightly. Cover two baking trays with baking parchment. Set aside. (What’s the difference between greaseproof paper and baking parchment?)
5) When the dough has chilled, divide it into to halves and pop one back into the fridge while you prepare the other.
6) On a well-floured surface, roll out the dough into a circle (squircles also allowed) about 30cm in diameter.
7) Brown the remaining butter over medium heat, then pour onto the dough. Use the back of a tablespoon to gently spread the butter over the dough, to about 1cm from the edge. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the top.
8) Cut the dough into 16 slices (like a pizza!). Starting from the outside edge, roll each slice tightly inwards and transfer to the baking tray, spacing them about 1 inch apart, taking care to tuck the point underneath.
9) When all the slices have been rolled, pop the tray into the freezer for 15 minutes, or fridge for 30, and repeat using the second piece of dough. Preheat the oven to 160C.
10) When all the pastries are rolled and chilled, brush them with the egg wash and sprinkle the remaining sugar on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden and puffed up.

Apple cake with pecan and cinnamon crumble topping

I have a confession to make: I’m one of those really annoying people who just will not follow a recipe. I can’t help it. There’s creativity in my bones, and I’m drawn to changing things in an effort to make them even better.

So naturally, I couldn’t leave this apple cake recipe alone. It could have swum on through the internet, living out a successful life on the Pinterest boards of many, untouched by my meddling fingers. But thank goodness it didn’t. Continue reading