The Botanical Kitchen
Recipes, travel and the occasional rant
The great thing about having young children is that they ask you a lot of questions. Usually these can be explained easily or even answered by themselves with a little return questioning from me. Lately though my girls have been asking questions that need a little research or even an “I don’t know”. Let’s take advent calendars […]
Praline is wonderfully simple to make and you can use it to decorate so many dishes – instead of a wafer on ice cream, crumbled onto a chocolate mousse…Or you can simply eat it on its own. I made these hearts for our little advent calender as an alternative to chocolate. You’ll need 150g caster […]
I made these simple macaroons for Vanessa Kimbell’s Let’s Make Christmas. They were taken home by Laura of Craftstorming. As it was Christmas I used a little edible glitter for some extra glitter but you could also drizzle on top some chocolate like on these Pistachio Macaroons or add some popping crystals like these Orange […]
The Chocolate Festival returned to Southbank Centre to celebrate all things chocolate. It was a lovely event in a beautiful part of London and there were lots of opportunities to get stuck into all sorts of chocolatey delights AND see me do a demo of delicious chocolate canapés ready for the festive party season. I was there on Sunday 11 December at 3pm – which […]
About the author Laura Santini won the Guild of Food Writers’ Jeremy Round Award for Best First Book in 2010. She describes herself as a Cognitive Cook because her work explores links between flavours and feelings recognising ingredients that flavour life in and outside of the kitchen. I’m really inspired by all the things she […]
A whole 3 days dedicated to tea and coffee? How fabulous I thought and indeed it was! Tucked away on London’s Southbank was a maze of boutique coffee and tea companies all with their stories to tell. First off, the gorgeous light, nutty coffee from The Ethiopian Coffee Company which I used in my Hazelnut and Coffee Biscotti. (Sssssh don’t tell […]
Biscotti is know to have come from the Tuscan region of Italy but the word is derived from Latin. Biscotto derives from “bis,” Latin for twice, and “coctum” or baked (which became “cotto,” or cooked). The first bake is in a loaf, then sliced and toasted. This second trip to the oven draws off moisture, and leaves […]
I have never smoked anything before. Seriously. Not as in cigarettes, naughty things or food so this was a real challenge in my head. It was beaututifully simple though and filled my kitchen with the most amazing smells. First from the tea smoking, then the buttery walnuts and then the beautiful tarragon leaves. The recipe […]
Have you ever had a little pipe dream about running your own restaurant? Or opening your own deli or tea shop? I have these dreams every day in some way or another but I know now is not the right time for me and my young family to start on this path. One day…. In […]
This recipe is from Diana Henry’s Roast Figs Sugar Snow. It reminded me of the amazing pastries I ate in Austria once and indeed it’s based on on they use at Cafe Sperl in Vienna. If you like Danish Pastries then you’ll love these for breakfast and they are much, much quicker to make. […]
About the author This book is by Diana Henry who is one of my favourite cookery and food writers. She writes for so many publications but most notably The Sunday Telegraph. My review This book is as much a travel memoire and a poetry collection as it is a recipe book. It is the perfect […]
If you like Tart Au Citron you will love this and it’s much much easier to make. This is a fabulous ‘bung-it-all-the-in-the-processor’ recipe. Literally! I have made this in a pie dish and 25cm cake tin. Either works well. What you’ll end up with is a soft, thin pastry layer, a lemon flavoured tart filling […]