Autumn
has arrived, the leaves are falling, the weather is uncertain, and our ladies
are venturing into the kitchen for another exciting evening of baking. On the
menu this month is a nutty shortbread and some petits Monts Blancs. Let us
start with the shortbread, theses were made with Brazil nuts, which I personally
feel are the more decadent nuts to be used for a rich biscuit, that is destined
to be dunked into a cup of tea. On my list of things that I feel I ought to
have had a go at in life, making shortbread is one of them, more as a nod to my
distant Scottish roots if anything; and the combination of the decadent nut may
set me off on the final leg of my biscuit journey. These Brazil nut shortbreads
look like the perfect treat to include into a mini Christmas hamper or to take
round to a neighbour in need of some biscuit heaven, a brew, and some company.
For whatever your reason for making these, let’s face it, biscuits we all love
but should never have more than one in a single sitting, have a go - apparently
they are yummy.
Next
comes the petits Monts Blancs, these are posh meringues that are supposed to
resemble the snow-capped mountain peaks of Monts Blancs. Now apparently, que
the baking club polishing their horns so that they could blow them, they worked
perfectly. Despite their horn blowing and back slapping, they felt that the
jury was out on the chestnut purée and found it a little bland. So, if anyone can
enlighten our ladies how put the joie de vivre back into the purée please let us
know. I did suggest that they, to all the French people out there, please cover
you eyes and ears .. substitute the chestnut purée for some Nutella or similar
spread. The response was that they were thinking raspberries and liquor! Hmm I
see, if in doubt head for the drink cabinet – I think we are getting the measure
of our ladies. What else is going on in baking club, I mean are they even having
tea with their biscuits? When I commented on their predilection for rich foods,
smothering weight watcher’s recipes in cheese and butter and alcohol being the saviour
of all things bland – they said there were trying to be good! When one is
trying, one still has not achieved! Our saintly baking group in all good conscience
have decided to scoff the lot and not share … sounds familiar.
So, if you
are looking for new biscuit ideas or wanting to impress the dinner guest, click
here for the recipes.
