The Botanical Kitchen
Recipes, travel and the occasional rant
If you’re a bit sick of mince pies and stodgy pastry at Christmas, this is a nice light version is super easy to rustle up for unexpected guests. You’ll need About 8 sheets of filo pastry 100g mincemeat/mince pie filling 1 apple – grated Zest of 1 orange 50g melted butter Icing sugar for dusting […]
I used to be put off by making madelines because many recipes call for leaving the batter to rest and I never usually have the time or I am never organised enough. This recipe is quick to rustle up and makes a nice gift too. I’ve paired these mini versions with Caramel Dipping Sauce. You […]
I love this basic cookie mix. It’s a good one for using up odd nuts or pieces of fruit. Pour over some custard and you have an instant dessert More apple recipes
Practising for The Great British Bake Off meant making a lot of macarons! My girls are now obsessed and requested these for Halloween. The black colour needs a lot of the food colouring so I use the gel variety so as not to dilute the mixture and make it overly runny. The filling in this […]
These are virtuous and easy to make. You would never know these have courgettes in them. They are chocolately and you feel no guilt in eating them. If you don’t fancy the frosting, you can serve these with warm baobab and blueberry sauce. I’ve given a recipe for this below too. You’ll need 3 […]
This is the ultimate dessert cum snack on a hot and sultry summer’s evening. You really don’t need to make the biscuits or the ice cream either for that matter – Good quality, thick set shop bought ice cream and Oreo Cookies with the filling licked out works well. You’ll need For the biscuits 125g […]
I never understood the whole ‘allotment thing’ until a few weeks ago when my raspberries started coming up. Well, technically they are not ‘my’ raspberries as the straggly bush was already on our plot when we received the key in March. I was all ready to pull it out and burn it because I wanted […]
Since my trip to Kentwell Manor a few weeks ago, when the lovely lady in The Still Room treated my eyes for hayfever and itchiness, I have been reading about elderflowers and their healing properties. She used mint leaves which had been dipped in water steeped with elderflowers and it really was one of the […]
I really love millefeuille but I find the shop bought versions and even patisserie versions just far too sweet. I don’t like the iced topping and I also don’t tend to have time for the steps involved to make these perfect. So here is an easy recipe that you can throw together very quickly. I’ve […]
I wanted to share with you the story of Draupadi. She’s a mum like me. She’s also a grandmother that I aspire to be one day. She lives in a remote village in Uttarkhand in Northern India. She’s part of a unique, tribal community that sadly suffers from discrimination, violence and exploitation because of this […]
This is one of Anjum Anand’s recipes kindly shared at the launch of Curry for Change. A campaign to raise funds for the wonderful Find Your Feet charity. I’ve adapted the method in my own words. I’m not a huge fan of soufflés as I can usually taste over eggy-ness. But there is not one […]
Every now and then I do crave a cupcake. A nice hot cup of tea, my latest issue of Red magazine and a cupcake. Just perfect for a lazy Saturday afternoon. This recipe uses frozen strawberries so as not to make the mixture curdle and you could substitute with any fruit. I’ve topped this with […]