CAFFI FLORENCE RECIPES
Elderflower Fizz Posted 16 June 2010
We have recently held a Food from the Wild workshop and this was one of our most popular recipes. It is a very refreshing drink that is perfect for a lazy summer evening.
Our lanes and hedgerows have a lot of Elder and late June /early July is peak flowering time.This recipe only needs 4 flower heads so there will be plenty left for my bees and other insects. Do pick away from main roads and you will get better fermentation if you collect flowers on a dry sunny day.
Makes about 6x 75cl bottles
4 elderflower heads
1 lemon
650g granulated sugar
2 tbs white wine vinegar
4.5 litres water
Dissolve sugar in 1 litre of warm water and add remaining water. Squeeze lemon into sugared water and roughly chop rind and add to mix with vinegar and flower heads.
Cover and leave to steep for 4 days. Strain and bottle. It should be ready in 6 – 10 days. Check after 6 days to ensure it is not too fizzy. Serve with ice and a slice of lemon.
Bara Brith Posted 18 March 2010
I guess our bara brith might be described as one of our 'signature cakes'. It is certainly one of our best sellers and is actually pretty healthy, so long as you don't laddle a load on butter on the top!
There are probably as many recipes for Bara Brith in Wales as there are Jones', Davies' and Williams'. Some are made with yeast and are more of a fruited tea bread. This recipe doesn't use yeast, has no added fat but eggs and baking powder to help it rise. The demerara sugar and wholemeal flour give it a dark colour.
The real key to making this recipe delicious rather than just nice is making sure it is moist enough. It should definitely be sloppier than a sponge mix. It is incredibly quick and easy, you just need to remember to put the sultanas to soak in advance.
450g Sultanas
325ml Tea
2 Eggs
225g Wholemeal flour
225g Plain flour
275g Demerara sugar
4tsp Baking powder
2 tsp Mixed spice
Milk
Make tea and pour into bowl with sultanas. Soak for several hours or preferably overnight.
Add all other ingredients apart from milk to sultanas and tea and mix. Add milk to obtain a soft dropping consistency.
Add to prepared tins: 3 x 1lb
Bake for approximately 1 hour 10 minutes at 160oC, or at 140oC in a fan assisted oven (gas mark 2).
Welsh Rarebit
posted 7 Jan 2010
375g grated cheese
75 ml beer or milk
15g plain flour
25g bread crumbs
2tsp mustard
1 egg
1 egg yolk
Melt cheese in beer in saucepan over gentle heat. Mix in flour, breadcrumbs and mustard and cook gently. Remove from heat and add egg and stir well. Spread over toast and place under grill until brown and bubbling.
Cranberry Sauce
posted 4 December 2009 for Jane's Mum and others we hope!
Nothing quite beats freshly made cranberry sauce rather than the jam like sauce that comes ready prepared. It is incredibly easy to do and can be made in advance and frozen or kept in the fridge for several days.
Ingredients
200g cranberries
1 large cooking apple
100g castor sugar
1 orange
50ml port
Zest the orange and add to cranberries with 100ml water. Bring to the boil in a pan and simmer for about 5 minutes until fruit has softened. Add juice from the orange, sugar and port and stir until sugar has dissolved.
Cool and refrigerate or freeze. This can be served warm or cold with your turkey and is great cold with your cold meats.
CAFFI FLORENCE’s Bilberry Muffins
Posted 6 August 2009
We made this recipe last week with 30+ people who had been on a bilberry day with the Countryside Service. They spent the morning on the hills picking and then came back to the cafe to make the Muffins.
This recipe makes 10 - 12 muffins.
They are delicious eaten warm but keep for several days in a tin or plastic container with a lid
375g Self Raising flour
330g castor sugar
90g butter or margarine
310ml milk
1 egg
75g bilberries
Demarara sugar
Rub fat into flour.
Add the sugar and mix.
Add milk and beaten egg and mix lightly.
Add bilberries and mix in gently.
Place muffin cases inside a muffin tin
Spoon mix to fill cases to about 2/3
Sprinkle a small teaspoon of demarara sugar on top of each muffin
Place in a preheated oven at 180C gas mark 4 for about 20 mins until soft and spongy when pressed and lightly brown. Avoid opening oven until nearly done
Carrot and Butterbean Soup
Posted 21 January 2009
During the winter we really enjoy making soups – just making them seems to stave off the worst of winter. A bowl of soup at lunch time with some good quality bread is often all that is needed to beat mid day hunger, especially if you use pulses as in this recipe
Carrots are a great vegetable to use in soup, they add colour, flavour and taste. We use a lot of pulses to thicken soups. Red lentils are our favourite and we use them instead of flour or cornflour. Butterbeans are another good pulse for soup as they thicken the soup and give it a wonderful creamy taste and texture without the wickedness of cream.
We use dried beans but you can easily use a tin to avoid the soaking and boiling process.
To serve 4
225g butterbeans
1 litre vegetable stock
2 onions
500g carrots
salt & pepper
If you are using dry butterbeans, soak in cold water for at least 12 hours. Drain the beans, rinse and place in a large pan with the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 1 hour until soft.
Chop onions, peel and chop carrots and add to butter beans and stock. Continue to cook for a further 30 minutes until vegetables and beans are soft.
Puree soup, taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
Rhubarb and Ginger Muffins
Posted 18 June 2008
We have recently recorded a feature for the Radio Cymru programme Blas, here at CAFFI FLORENCE. As part of this feature we cooked these fantastic muffins with their presenter.
Rhubarb is wonderful at this time of year and lots of people have a clump in their garden. It makes lovely moist cakes and as with all muffins these are quick and easy.
450g self raising flour
200g soft brown sugar
125g butter
2 eggs
254 ml tub of buttermilk
200g rhubarb (chopped into cubes of about 1cm)
ginger - we use 2 pieces of chopped stem ginger but 1 teaspoon dried ginger will do
1 teaspoon sugar(demarara is best but any will do) + 1 teaspoon cinnamon to sprinkle over top (optional)
Sieve flour and mix with sugar. Rub in butter to create a crumbed mixture
Add rhubarb and ginger and mix
Combine eggs & buttermilk in bowl and add to dry mixture. Stir carefully - it is important not to over stir muffin mix - stop as soon as ingredients are mixed. It should look lumpy.
Spoon into paper cases in muffin tin.
Bake at 190 C, 170C fan oven gas mark 6 for about 20 minutes. Muffins should be soft and bouncy when touched lightly.
Rhubarb and strawberry cake
Posted 18 June 2008
We have been serving a delicious rhubarb and strawberry cake over the last few weeks and here by popular demand is the recipe. Basically a victoria sponge with the fruit added.
125 g butter or margarine
125g castor sugar
125g self raising flour
2 eggs
2 medium sticks of rhubarb
6 - 8 large strawberries chopped into 4 pieces each
Lightly stew the rhubarb with a sprinkle of sugar.
Beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy
Beat in eggs
Lightly fold in sieved flour
Fold in rhubarb and strawberries
Place in lined cake tin - we use either a round sandwich tin or sometime a 1lb loaf tin.
Bake at 190 C 170C fan oven gas mark 5 for 25 - 30 minutes. When done cake should spring back when lightly pressed. Avoid opening oven door until you think it is nearly done.
Wild Garlic Soup
Posted 10 March 2008
We had this on the menu yesterday served with our homemade olive bread and cheesy focaccia. It was delicious.
Early March has seen the emergence of the first leaves of wild garlic that grow throughout the Loggerheads Country Park and surrounding area. It is also know as ramson or bears garlic or its latin name Allium ursinumas and grows in wet shady areas.
The name bears garlic is said to come from North American bears waking from hibernation eating it to cleanse their metabolism and regain their strength.
All parts of the plant are edible and can be eaten raw or cooked. It is claimed to have great health benefits, especially the leaves.
The young leaves are the very best for picking. You only need a small handful - it is very powerful. Remember don't pick anything in the countryside if there is only a few sprigs. Also, take care to pick well away from footpaths and potential dog weeing areas!!!!
Recipe to serve 4
450g (1lb) potatoes
1 large onion
2 tbs olive oil
850ml vegetable stock
about 8 - 10 leaves of wild garlic
splash of cream if you're feeling extravagant
salt and pepper to taste
Heat the oil in a large pan and sweat the potatoes and onion for 10 - 15 minutes. Sweating means covering the pan to soften, taking care they do not stick.
Add roughly chopped or torn garlic leaves and stir to avoid sticking. The garlic should quickly turn limp.
Add stock and bring to boil and simmer gently for 15 mins or until potatoes are soft.
At this stage you can puree to create a smooth velvety soup or we tend to puree until just a few larger pieces are left and the garlic pieces are left intact.
Taste (very important!!) and season with salt and pepper.
