The Botanical Kitchen
Recipes, travel and the occasional rant
Today, people across Mexico will be celebrating ‘Dia de los Muertos’ – a festival dedicated to their ancestors. Literally translated as ‘the day of the dead’ it honours both death and the cycle of life. In Mexico, neighbours gather in local cemeteries to share food, music, and fun with their extended community, both living and […]
This recipe is from Mexican Food Made Simple by Thomasina Miers. I think it’s a complex version of a creme brulee really but well worth a try even if it is to lick the saucepan of tequila flavoured sugar syrup! I’ve explained the recipe in my words. You’ll need 250g caster sugar 1 tbsp golden […]
This recipe is taken from The Gentle Art of Cookery. It does have raisins, currants and maraschino which I left out because I’m not a fan of them at all. This stores really well in the freezer. I only made half of the recipe in the book so the measures below will give you 4 […]
Every now and then I have a canape craze – especially when we have people over for dinner. I make mini food. ‘Pick-up-and-pop-me-in-your-mouth’ food. I suppose it’s an extra challenge to my patience but it’s so satisfying when the results are good. These little pies are a great example and are really very quick to […]
Whenever I have left over egg whites, I whizz up some macaroons. I know that sounds rather pretentious but once you’ve made macaroons a few times, you’ll get into the swing of it. I made these with the leftover egg whites from my Blackberry Curd recipe. YOU’LL NEED 250g icing sugar 250g ground almonds 220g […]
Ginger is one of those wierd and wonderful foods that works well in savoury and sweet. This is a super easy biscuit. Especially if you do what I do and don’t bother with the rolling! I made these to eat with Lemon Posset from Valentine Warner’s book ‘The Good Table’. You’ll need 100g soft unsalted […]
This recipe is taken from Valentine Warner’s book ‘The Good Table’. His measures but the mthod in my words. It’s super quick and super simple. In his book he recommends eating this with Ginger Thins but I made some Ginger Sable Biscuits instead. He says this serves 12 in 125ml ramekins. You’ll need 1.2 litres […]
I think pavlova is one of those glorious desserts which gives a lot for such little effort. My girls like pink everything at the moment, so I made this pink version using powdered food colour. You also don’t have to top with compote as I have done – just plonk the cream and blackberries on top […]
OK so I have to confess that I did not make the Damson jam. I started and then just ran out of patience! I did try it with some Damson compote but it was a bit too runny and gloopy. This combination of flavours is so autumnal and goes perfectly with a strong latte or espresso. […]
As a university student in Aix-En-Provence, I used to order profiteroles every time I went to one of the posh cafes on the Cours Mirabeau. I went back there a few summers ago with my daughters and ordered the same thing – they were hooked! I get a plea at least once a month to […]
I love the flavour of Rose. I think it’s the ultimate in feminine charm and so was a must make for the Naming Ceremony of my friend whose daughter’s name is India Rose. I’ve used a simple Rose flavoured buttercream in this recipe because I made some Rose Cupcakes on the same day but […]
This recipe uses ground pistachio nuts instead of almonds. It works just as well as long as you grind the nuts quite finely and remove any unground flakes. I’ve used a simple chocolate flavoured double cream filling but you could also use white or dark chocolate ganache, a buttercream or even Nutella. If you prefer […]