As the weather warms up (finally) it’s nice to indulge a little in refreshing flavours. My last recipe, Springtime Minestrone – which came almost a week ago (sorry) – explored spring in vegetable form, using fennel, peas and spring onions. Instead, this cake – a classic lemon drizzle – seeks to refresh your palette on a much tangier, more indulgent note. It may not be quintessentially spring-like, but it does evoke similar culinary ideas and images of tea-time treats.
As their name suggests, Florentines are an Italian “biscuit” that originally hail from Florence, Tuscany. In their most basic form they are essentially a group of nut and cherries set in caramel and coated on one side with dark chocolate. However, as with most concepts, there are a million-and-one variations on the classic (check out Wuthering Bites’ sterling recipe). As you can see, these are a little less fancy than her’s – mine are strictly flower free – though they remain mightily delicious. Though I must admit that the infamous Katherine should take full credit for these biscuits – she made them!
Dundee Cake is a light fruit cake, first made by the Scottish marmalade company, Keiller’s, in the nineteenth century. It is the perfect bake for those who yearn for a treat somewhere between a Christmas cake and a sponge – not too rich, but not overly light and airy. As with most of my creations, this recipe stays true to tradition and is decorated with concentric circles of blanched almonds (laboriously peeled by my fair hands) – simple yet effective. Indeed, it seems the ideal bake with which to celebrate two years of FrugalFeeding, Katherine’s birthday and our anniversary, all of which happen to fall in the same week – let the celebrations commence!
There are certain things in life that one considers to be truly delightful – they are different for us all. For me, a strong cup of 11 oz colombian whole bean coffee coupled with a crunchy biscuit or flaky pastry, preferably of Italian extraction, is one such delight. However, since moving away from my favourite coffee shop in Aberystwyth, obtaining such a treat has proved a little trickier. Happily, almond biscotti, the traditional Italian biscuit, are jolly simple to make – so there are no excuses not to follow this frugal recipe!