FLOWER POT KITCHEN: SUMPTIOUS ALMOND FRANGIPANE AND MARZIPAN SLICES

16 Nov 2012

SUMPTIOUS ALMOND FRANGIPANE AND MARZIPAN SLICES

LOVELY MOIST SOFT ALMOND FINGERS LAYERED WITH MARZIPAN & JAM

(makes 12 large fingers)

Ingredients
For the pastry (you can freeze what you don't use)
450g plain flour
110g butter cold & grated
100g lard cold diced
1 pinch salt
180ml ice cold water

For the almond butter
115g butter melted
115g caster sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
115g plain flour
75g ground almonds
toasted flaked almonds
1 tsp almond essence
2 tbsp raspberry jam
100g marzipan

METHOD

Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees/fan 180, beat the eggs, egg yolks and sugar together until thick, creamy and light in colour, slowly pour in the melted butter and mix in with the ground almonds and almond essence.

TO MAKE THE PASTRY

Place the flour in a large bowl with the salt, grate the butter into the flour and cut in with a knife. Mix in the diced lard, then make a well in the centre and add the water, using your hand mix the water into the pastry to form a ball. Turn out onto a lightly floured board and finish bring the dough together, wrap in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes. There is more pastry than you need for this recipe, so I like to roll out the spare pastry to a baking dish sizes, cover in baking paper and roll up and place in the freezer for when I need it next. Roll out the pastry to cover just the base of your baking tin. I used a 2lb loaf tin, greased with butter and the bottom lined with baking paper.

Place the pastry on the bottom of your lined tin, spread the jam evenly over the base. My husband likes me to then place a sheet of rolled out marzipan on top of the pastry base, pour the almond frangipane on top and finish off with a generous handful of toasted almonds. Bake for approx 30 minutes until set and slightly springy. Leave to cool and once cooled slice in to fingers and enjoy.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.