Tea and Cake

So, this time last year I said I would try and cover more of the books that I like by not always making three or four recipes from each book – maybe just one or two, and this year I am going to actually try doing that! Well at least some of the time! I have so many books I’d like to cover, especially baking books which I have such a passion for. I’ll try…

Tea and Cake Recipes for the Perfect Afternoon Tea illustrated by Emma Block published in 2011 by Hardie Grant Books, with thanks for my copy to the publishers.

This is a very sweet little book. No photographs, but beautifully illustrated in an old fashioned and classic way, with paintings of pretty cups and saucers as well as the food. Chapters are: *P is for Planning* Making the Perfect Cuppa* Tea Strength a Guide for the Hostess* Sandwiches and Savouries* Cake to Share* Baby Cakes, Cupcakes and Scones* Biscuits, Buns and Slices* Petite Pastries* Cake Pops, Whoopie Pies and Macaroons* and *Grown-up Drinks*.

The tea strength guide for a hostess is fun and amusing. It’s a clever little book this one, it covers something very traditional and updates it for a modern palate. For tasters how about: Caramelised Leek and Artichoke Scones, Peking Duck Pancakes, Choc Mint Whoopie Pies with Marshmallow Frosting, Blood Orange Macaroons , Warm Apple Pie Bites or Banana Daiquiri Cupcakes? There are classics too though like Fool Proof Sponge and Creamy Egg and Cress Sandwiches.

The recipe I was drawn to for my first bake was Passion Fruit Yoyo Biscuits. Now, if you are in the UK the yoyo biscuits here are not like the ones that used to be sold in packets wrapped in foil when I was little. These are a fruity take on a melting moment. I’ll still make the melting moments I’ve made for years, but these are a little different, and I have room in my baking repertoire for these yummy little bites. Melt in the mouth biscuits and a fruity filling. My notes: I let my filling firm up a little while before sandwiching the biscuits. I cook them for 10 minutes in my 170^oc fan oven. Recipe halves perfectly too.

Passion Fruit Yoyo Biscuits

Posted here from Tea & Cake Illustrated by Emma Block with kind permission from Hardie Grant Books, thank you.

300g (10 ½ oz / 2 Cups) plain flour

300g (10 ½ oz) soft butter

100g (3 ½ oz / 2/3 cup) icing (confectioners) sugar

100g (3 ½ oz / ¾ cup) custard powder

Pinch of salt

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling

2 passion fruit

60g (2 oz) melted butter

250g (9 oz / 1 ½ cups icing (confectioners) sugar (additional)

1. Preheat the oven to 180^oc (350^oF / Gas 4).

2. Beat together the flour, butter, icing sugar, custard powder, salt and vanilla. Roll into 36 small balls and place on a greased baking tray. Press down on each ball with the prongs of a fork to form a round biscuit. Bake in a preheated oven for 10 – 15 minutes, until cooked, but not coloured. Allow to cool completely.

3. Strain the pulp from the passion fruit and remove the seeds. Mix with the butter and icing sugar until smooth. Spoon a small amount of passion fruit butter onto one biscuit half and top with another biscuit. Continue until all the biscuits are ready.

Makes 18

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