Recipe | Lemon Powder Puffs

The macaron’s casual cousin, resembling a make-up compact. Best made and eaten on the same day. Now there's a challenge...

Makes 12

4 egg whites
250g caster sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
250ml double cream
100g lemon curd
Icing sugar, to dust

1 Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/ Gas 4. Draw 24 5cm circles onto two pieces of baking paper with plenty of space around each circle. Place these drawing-side down onto two baking sheets

2 Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Add the sugar and continue beating until glossy, then slowly add the lemon zest and vanilla to the meringue mixture, taking care not to over mix. Meanwhile sieve together the flour and baking powder, then fold carefully but thoroughly into the meringue mix.

3 Transfer to a large plastic bag and snip off a small corner ready to pipe. Pipe the mixture onto the baking paper using the circles as a guide to create neat(ish) rounds. Bake in the oven for 10-12 mins, or until golden brown and risen. Allow to cool on the baking tray for 5 mins before transferring to a wire rack to fully cool.

4 While the puffs cool, whip the double cream to a spreadable consistency. Spread 12 puffs with cream, then top each with a teaspoon of lemon curd and place a plain puff on the top. Dust with icing sugar and serve

This recipe is just one of the classic bakes and surprising sandwiches featured in our April issue in our ‘bring-a-bake afternoon tea party’ menu by Lottie Storey. You can find the rest of the recipes and ideas, including Jamaican Ginger Cake, Gin Thyme Lemonade, Pistachio and Chocolate Pinwheels, Earl Grey Tea Loaf, Strawberry Sandos, Curried Egg Mayo Sandwiches and more beginning on page 32.

Buy this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

More from our April issue…

More ideas for afternoon tea…

Recipe | raspberry macarons with lady grey tea

Photography: Isobel Wield

Is there a finer pairing than tea and cake? Tea and macarons, perhaps

Named in honour of Mary Elizabeth Grey, the wife of the original Earl Grey, Lady Grey is a black tea scented with oil of bergamot as well as lemon and orange oils. Invented in the 1990s, it is great served alongside these moreish raspberry macarons.

Makes about 30
220g icing sugar
160g ground almonds
4 large egg whites
A pinch of salt
95g caster sugar
Red food colouring gel
200g high fruit content raspberry jam

How to make

1 Line 2 or 3 baking sheets with baking parchment and draw 4cm circles (spaced a little apart) as templates so that all the macarons come out the same size.
2 Blitz the icing sugar and almonds in a food processor until very fine, then push the mixture through a fine meshed sieve. Set aside.
3 Whisk the egg whites and salt together until stiff and glossy. Add the sugar, about a third at a time, beating each time until the eggs are stiff and glossy and all the sugar has been incorporated.
4 Carefully, but thoroughly, fold the almond mixture into the egg whites, until fully incorporated but still light. Fold in enough food colouring to achieve the desired pink colour.
5 Spoon the mixture into a large piping bag and pipe circles onto the parchment, following the circles you drew earlier.
6 When all the macarons have been piped, take hold of the baking sheet and tap it firmly on the work surface 2 or 3 times to knock out any air bubbles.
7 Preheat the oven to 140C/120C Fan/Gas 1-2 and leave the baking sheets to stand for 30 mins.
8 Bake the macarons for about 15 minutes, until the shells are crisp and they have grown little ‘feet’ underneath. Remove them from the oven and set aside to cool. Once completely cool, sandwich with the raspberry jam and serve. For one pot of tea Use 5 tsp of Lady Grey tea and allow to brew for 5 minutes. Serve with a slice of lemon.

This recipe is taken from Tea & Cake by Liz Franklin (Ryland, Peters & Small). Photography: Isobel Wield. It’s one of several tea and cake pairings we have featured in our April issue.

Buy this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

More our April issue…

More cake for you…

Recipe: Ploughman's scones

Cheesy scones. With cheese… What? This is fine.

We’re big fans of a Ploughman’s Lunch here at The Simple Things. And, while you might think the story of The Ploughman’s would be something of a pastoral, in fact it’s something more prosaic altogether.

Of course, farming types have been slinging a cloth filled with bread, a hunk of cheese and an apple in their bags for centuries. But it was The Cheese Bureau which first germinated the idea. The Bureau wrote in its monthly bulletin in 1956 that it “exists for the admirable purpose of popularising cheese and, as a corollary, the public house lunch of bread, beer, cheese and pickle. This traditional combination was broken by rationing; the Cheese Bureau hopes, by demonstrating the natural affinity of the two parties, to effect a remarriage”. To be honest, we’re just thrilled to hear there is such a thing as The Cheese Bureau and we’re wondering if we can arrange some work experience with them… We digress.

The Cheese Bureau clearly made sterling efforts to put the component part of a Ploughman’s back on the pub table. But it was The Milk Marketing Board which picked up the idea in the 1960s and ran with it, coining the phrase ‘Ploughman’s Lunch’ to describe this combination of bread, cheese, apple (and, one hopes, a huge brown pickled onion and a stick of crunchy celery). The Ploughman’s Lunch was hoped to boost the sale of cheese, particularly through pubs and it worked a treat. We’re still eating Ploughman’s Lunches with gusto half a century later.

So, in the spirit of entrepeneurship, in our April issue’s Gathering, we have this jolly little recipe for Ploughman’s Scones. We recommend you serve them stuffed with cheese and chutney alongside an apple and a pickled onion or two.

The Ploughman’s Scones are part of our Any-Time Tea Party feature by Catherine Frawley, which also includes recipes for Hot Cross Bun Loaf, Mini Egg Rocky Road, Mini Victoria Sponges and Marshmallow Pops. Make it for an Easter treat or just, you know, any time. The recipes are in our April issue, which is in the shops now.

Makes 10–12

225g self-raising flour, plus extra to dust

1 tsp baking powder 55g butter, cubed

125g cheddar, grated

60ml milk, plus extra to glaze to serve

Cheddar cheese

Branston pickle

1 Preheat oven to 200C/Fan 180C/ Gas 6 and line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

2 Sift the flour, baking power and a pinch of salt into a bowl. Add the butter and rub with your fingertips until you have a breadcrumb mixture.

3 Gently mix in 100g grated cheese, make a well in the centre, then pour in the milk slowly, mixing until you have a soft but firm dough.

4 Dust the work surface with flour and roll the dough to about 2cm thick. Using a 5cm cutter, cut out your scones, re-rolling and cutting the remaining dough, until it’s all used.

5 Place the scones on the baking tray, brush with milk and sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese. Bake for 12–15 mins or until golden brown. Leave to cool on a rack, then serve with slices of cheddar and pickle.

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

More from our April issue…

More afternoon tea recipes…

Recipe | Peachy lemon verbena iced tea

A thirst-quenching cooler with fresh fruit and herbs

Peachy lemon verbena iced tea

Serves 4–6
1 ripe peach
A handful of lemon verbena
A drop of honey (optional) 
A handful of ice

Slice your peaches. Add to a large jug of water along with the lemon verbena. Swirl in a little honey, if you want a touch of sweetness. Let it infuse for 15 mins in the fridge. Add a handful of ice before serving.

This recipe is from our modern afternoon tea feature on page 24 of June’s The Simple Things. Other recipes include:
Rhubarb fizz
Curried egg & chive sandwiches
Crab, chilli & fennel sandwiches
Broad bean, goat’s curd & mint open sandwiches
Dark chocolate chip scones
Jammy raspberries
Cardamom, rose & strawberry cake
Cherry & elderflower cheesecake tartlets

More from the June issue:

More summer recipe ideas:

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

View the sampler here.

Recipe | Dark chocolate chip scones

Afternoon tea is brazenly frivolous. Not only does it flagrantly flout traditional meal times, but also its ingredients read like a roll-call of treats: fizz, finger sandwiches, elegant tarts and cream-laden cakes. Modern treats, too. This menu of cardamom cake, spiced crab sandwiches and chocolate-pimped scones is moreish, memorable and anything but chintzy.

Why have fruit scones when you can have chocolate!

Dark chocolate chip scones

Makes 8 scones

350g plain flour
A pinch of sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
85g cold, unsalted butter, cubed
3 tbsp caster sugar
75g dark chocolate, finely chopped
175ml milk
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
A squeeze of lemon juice
1 beaten egg, to glaze

1 Preheat oven to 220C/Fan 200C/ 425F. Mix the flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Add the butter. Rub it in with your fingers until the mix resembles fine crumbs. Fold in the sugar and chopped chocolate.
2 Gently warm the milk until warm but not hot. Add the vanilla (if using) and lemon juice. Set aside for a moment. Put a baking sheet in the oven.
3 Make a well in the dry mix and add the warmed milk. Combine it quickly with a cutlery knife – it will seem pretty wet at first. Scatter some flour on a clean work surface. Tip the dough out.
4 Dredge the dough and your hands with a little more flour. Fold the dough over 2–3 times until it’s a little smoother. Pat into a round, about 4cm thick.
5 Dip a 5cm cutter (smooth-edged cutters tend to cut more cleanly, giving a better rise) into some flour. Plunge into the dough. Repeat until you have four scones. Press what’s left of the dough back into a round to cut out another four. Brush the tops with the beaten egg and transfer carefully onto the preheated baking tray.
6 Bake for 10 mins until risen and golden on the top. Eat just warm or cold on the day of baking. If freezing, freeze once cool. Defrost, then put in a low oven (about 160C/Fan 140C/ 325F) for a few mins to refresh.

Turn to page 25 of June's The Simple Things for more of our afternoon tea menu, including:

Rhubarb fizz
Curried egg & chive sandwiches
Crab, chilli & fennel sandwiches
Broad bean, goat’s curd & mint open sandwiches
Jammy raspberries
Cardamom, rose & strawberry cake
Cherry & elderflower cheesecake tartlets
Peachy lemon verbena iced tea

More from the June issue:

More cake recipes:

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

View the sampler here

Recipe: Apricot, almond, cardamom and honey Chelsea buns

Warming cardamom plus golden apricots equal autumn in a bun

Makes 10

300ml milk
40g butter
500g strong white flour
1 tsp salt
7g sachet fast-action dried yeast
1 egg, beaten
20 cardamom pods
60ml runny honey
250g dried apricots, chopped
100g almonds, roughly chopped For the glaze
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp caster sugar

For the icing
2 tbsp icing sugar

1 Gently warm the milk and butter in a pan until the butter has melted. Set aside to cool a little. Put the flour, salt and yeast in a bowl. Pour in the warm milk mixture and beaten egg, and mix to a dough with your hands.

2 Start kneading in the bowl to bring the dough together, then transfer to a floured surface and knead for a further 5–10 minutes. Return the dough to the bowl and set aside to rise for 20 minutes.

3 Knead the dough again briefly in the bowl to knock it back to its original size, then tip it onto a floured surface. Stretch and push it into a rectangle, pulling and pushing until the dough is about 1cm thick all over.

4 Using a pestle and mortar, lightly bash the cardamom pods until they crack and release the seeds. Remove the papery cases and grind the seeds to a powder.

5 Turn the rectangle so the long edges lie widthways. Drizzle honey over the rectangle of dough, then sprinkle over the cardamom, apricots and almonds evenly.

6 Put both hands at the bottom of the longer side and roll away from you. Cut the roll into ten even pieces with a sharp knife, and place on a baking tray, space a little apart. Cover with
a tea towel and leave to rise for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 190C/Fan 170C/375F. Bake the buns for 20–25 minutes, until golden brown.

7 Meanwhile, make the glaze by heating the milk and sugar in a pan until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is starting to bubble. Paint the buns with the glaze as soon as they come out of the oven, then leave to cool.

8 To make the icing, mix the icing sugar with 1 tbsp water. Drizzle over the cooled buns and tear apart to eat. 

For the rest of our afternoon tea menu – including Lapsang souchong tea bread, Crumpets, Smoked cheddar and chocolate stout rarebits, Coffee and walnut cake, and Orange and lemon battenberg – turn to page 24 of November's The Simple Things. 

More from the November issue:

More afternoon tea recipes:

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

View the sampler here

Afternoon Tea Week: Violet scones with honeyed cream recipe

Celebrate Afternoon Tea Week 2015 with a recipe for Violet scones with honeyed cream

Parma Violets can taste soapy, but violet flowers, used sparingly and baked, are far subtler.
The honeyed cream is what provides the real sweetness here. It’s thick and indulgent and removes the need for jam or butter, although a dollop of lemon curd goes well if you have a really sweet tooth. If you don’t have violets, use lavender, rosemary or rose petals.

Makes 12 scones

50g butter, plus extra for greasing
225g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
25g sugar
150ml milk, plus extra for glazing 1 tsp vanilla extract
3 violet flowers, chopped, plus extra for serving
100g clotted cream
2 tbsp runny honey

1 Preheat the oven to 225C/Fan 205/435F and grease and line a large baking tray. In a food processor, mix together flour, butter and sugar until it resembles breadcrumbs. Pour in the milk and vanilla extract and beat to a stiff dough. Add the violets and give a final few pulses of the processor to combine them into the mixture.

2 Lightly dust your worktop with flour, and place the dough in the middle, sprinkling a little flour over the top. Roll out the dough to about 2cm thick. Take a 5cm round cutter and cut out discs, placing them on the baking tray. Roll the leftover dough out again and cut out more rounds, repeating until the dough is used. Try not to roll the dough too many times as this will lead to tough scones. Brush the top of each with a dab of milk and place the tray in the oven for 12-15 mins until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

3 Just before serving, put the cream in a bowl and fold in the honey – you want a ripple effect – and top with a few violet petals. Cut the scones and spread a bit of cream on top.

Recipes from The Herb & Flower Cookbook: Plant, Grow and Eat by Pip McCormac (Quadrille). Photography by Yuki Sugiura 

And if you're inspired to eat more flowers, head to our Petal Power Pinterest board for a sweet and beautiful selection of ideas:

Follow The Simple Things's board Edible flowers | Petal power on Pinterest.

Read more:

Afternoon tea posts

More from the August 2015 issue

Three more edible flower recipes

---

August's The Simple Things is on sale - buy, download, subscribe or look inside now!

Recipe: Homemade crumpets

The most important thing when making crumpets is getting enough holes into them. Flat crumpets have nowhere for the butter to sink into! Make sure you beat the butter sufficiently, don’t overfill the rings with butter and cook them very slowly so that the bubbles have enough time to form and then pop.

Makes 12

70g strong white bread flour
70g plain white flour
1 sachet (7g) fast-action dried yeast 
1⁄2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp caster sugar
275l milk, warm (not hot)
1⁄4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
75–100ml warm water
Melted unsalted butter, for greasing 

Lots of salty butter, for spreading! 

Equipment

Cast-iron or good-quality heavy- based frying pan (or griddle)
At least 4 metal crumpet or egg rings or plain metal pastry cutters about 7.5cm in diameter
Heatproof pastry brush

Method

1 Mix together the flours, yeast and salt. Add the sugar and milk and beat until you have a smooth batter. Cover and leave to rise for 45 mins.

2 Combine the bicarbonate of soda with the warm water and mix it into the batter. Cover again and rest for 20 mins. 

3 Heat the pan, then butter it and sufficiently grease the insides of the rings or cutters with the pastry brush. Allow the rings to heat up in the pan, then fill each one with about 2cm batter. Don’t overfill them as the crumpets will take too long to cook and the holes won’t have time to form.

4 Wait. Be patient. Turn your crumpets over only once you can see holes starting to poke through the batter. Then lift away the rings and flip over the crumpets to continue cooking.

5 Brush the empty rings with more butter and ladle in more batter.

6 To keep the crumpets hot, lay them one by one in a large ‘envelope’ of tin foil and keep them in the oven on its lowest heat. Or butter them copiously and rush them out to your guests, piping hot. 

Recipe by Kerstin Rodgers from her book MsMarmiteLover’s Secret Tea Party (Random House, £20). Turn to page 24 of April's The Simple Things for the rest of her high tea menu, including recipes for: 

Rachael’s Secret Tea Room Muffins, Hobbit Seed Cake, Lemon, Almond and Pistachio Cake with Lemon Cream Frosting, Homemade Nutella, and Cupcakes baked in a cup.

 April's The Simple Things is out now - buy, download or subscribe today.