Raspberry and lemon cloud biscuits (from Miranda Gore Browne’s Biscuit; Ebury 2012)
For Mothering Sunday this year I decided to try the following recipe, adapted from Redcurrant and lemon cloud biscuits found in Miranda Gore Browne’s Biscuit (Ebury Publishing 2012). I used raspberries rather than redcurrants.
Raspberry and lemon cloud biscuits
100g unsalted butter, softened
50g icing sugar
50g caster sugar (I use golden)
zest of a small lemon
1 egg yolk
150g self raising flour
50g cornflour
2 tsp lemon juice
TOPPING
2 egg whites125g caster sugar
2 tsp cornflour
c 150 g raspberries
Cream together the butter, sugars and lemon zest until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk. Sift in the flour and cornflour, add the lemon juice and mix until a dough starts to from. Using your hands, shape the dough into two large flat discs. Wrap tightly in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/160 degrees C for a fan oven/Gas Mark 4 and line 2-4 baking trays with non stick baking paper (I use 2 trays in two batches as I prefer my biscuits smallish – under 5cm in diameter). Stamp out circles of dough with a cutter or a glass of the desired diameter and place on baking trays at least 3cm apart. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden. Take out of the oven but leave on the baking sheet.
While the base is cooking prepare the topping. Whisk egg whites into alpine peaks. Add sugar and cornflour and whisk on a fast speed for about 4 minutes.
Redcurrant and lemon cloud biscuits as shown in Miranda Gore Browne’s Biscuit; Ebury 2012
If you are using redcurrants (200g) as in the original recipe gently fold these in now, taking care not to squash too many. (See what these look like pictured in Miranda’s book above.)
If you are using raspberries (which are more readily available all year round) the approach is a bit more time consuming. First put a dollop of the meringue onto the biscuit, then chop a raspberry into 4 and put these pieces on to the meringue. Now cover the raspberries with more meringue and give the top a smooth over and return to the oven for another 10 (or more, as I found) minutes. You could put one uncut raspberry per biscuit in which case the biscuit becomes more of a volcano and less a soft bosomy foothill but I thought the former a bit too difficult to handle with coffee in the other hand and no plate. Let the biscuits cool briefly on the tray before transferring them to a wire rack.
The recipe suggests that you eat them on the day they are made. Instructions like this stop me in my tracks. Could I make the dough the night before and complete the process before 9 am on Sunday? Definitely not as I am not a morning person. Instead I made the dough Saturday late afternoon and let it chill until BBC 4′ s ‘Hostages’ had concluded at 11pm. Physically rested, though emotionally tested by the violence of the Israeli drama I resumed kitchen duties and completed the biscuits just after midnight – so after all we would be eating them on the same day. As it happens I think they would have been fine made on Saturday and eaten on Sunday.
Raspberry and lemon cloud biscuits (from Miranda Gore Browne’s Biscuit; Ebury 2012)
With the dough chilling in the fridge I had time to assemble little posies for Mothering Sunday – a sprig of fresias, a yellow tulip and a few bits of twiggy greenery from a not very promising vicarage garden. Briefly I toyed with the cotton wool and tin foil approach but instead I went for speed and elegance and bound everything around a few times with a nice bit of hairy string tied in a bow. All posies sat in one pot of water until distributed at the end of the service. Now 6 days later the one I brought home is still flourishing on the table in front of me. So often less is more .
The biscuits were greatly enjoyed, the lemony biscuit base contrasting delightfully with the raspberry meringue pillows. Even men who usually turn their backs on sweet things came back and had a second – there can be no praise greater than that. Miranda’s look prettier. I must remember to try the redcurrant version in a few months times and see how the taste measures up to the raspberries.
A vase of posies for Mothering Sunday
A brief note on Mothering Sunday and Mother’s Day. Mothering Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent, was traditionally the day families made a special outing together to the mother church or Cathedral for a service of dedication. The day became even more important in Victorian times as it was a day that people in service in big houses and those serving apprenticeships in the towns were given a day off to go back to see their own families and to go to church with them. Young women often went home bearing Simnel Cakes.
Mother’s Day was the inspiration Ann Jarvis of Philadelphia who, grief stricken by the death of her own mother, campaigned for a day to be allocated for the celebration of mothers. This falls on the second Sunday in May.
For more about Mothering Sunday & Mother’s day see here, towards the end of the post for 2013.
For Mothering Sunday 2014 see here.
8 Comments
I like the idea of the meringue topping, they look very celebratory. Like you, I am often made anxious by instructions to eat on the same day; if you are not baking for the immediate family sometimes it is not possible without complex feats of time-tabling! X
Thanks Penny, always glad to hear words of support from someone who bakes as beautifully as you.
Your “…soft bosomy foothill…” description veered me off-track, Mary, as did Sylvia Townsend Warner’s “Mr. Fortune’s Maggot” that I finished last night. He studies clouds, noticing the “cauliflower curves” of some while others resemble swans nestling with their heads under their wings. Now back on track, I shall make those cushioned biscuit clouds next week for granddaughters to nibble while we’re playing Monopoly.
Have almost finished the lace-edged cardigan but went off track to experiment with 4-ply self-striping sock wool for the edging and am thrilled with the rainbow result. Each lacy trianglur piece inhabits one colour space, almost as if I were clever enough to anticipate that.
Apropos nothing at all – again – for the last fortnight I’ve been searching for inspiration for a design to hand-quilt an intricate patchwork top, double bed size, that I began on Boxing Day. The under layer is in three sections: a plain central panel, partly embroidered with text and flowers, is sandwiched between a sprigged, dimity print (you’d be amazed what my predictive text wanted to substitute for that word). Last night I found “Amish Waves” and feel satisfied that this will do very nicely. I hope to revisit more examples of Amish Waves at The American Museum at Bath in a fortnight (where Selvedge will also have a Spring Fair) and see that unfinished embroidered World War Two tablecloth in the new exhibition.
‘Mr Fortune’s Maggot’ is high on my reading list and I think you’ve just made me push it higher. Thanks for reminding me of it.
Do email me a picture of your cardigan and quilt when finished – I’m fascinated by you descriptions.
They do look festive, don’t they!
Thank you for saying they look festive, which has buoyed me up as I felt they looked a bit anaemic on that milk white platter.
Thank you for a lovely post. I know exactly what you mean about being able to make things ahead of time. My favourite recipes are those that say ‘keeps well in a tin’! I agree about less being more with flowers. I have hardly anything worth cutting in my garden, so often buy big bunches from the supermarket, but my friend creates the prettiest little posies from her garden, often using herbs such as Rosemary for the greenery (and the lovely smells!) and they are so much nicer.
I have friends like that who appear with wonderful little bunches of mixed garden flowers which are so difficult to emulate. You feel you should sit down and paint them immediately as they don’t last long.