Category: Recipes

You will find quick and easy, made-from-scratch recipes made from seasonal ingredients. There are some healthy recipes and quite a few treat recipes too. I cook the food that I love so this is not a comprehensive guide to cookery.

My focus is on Baking (particularly Cakes, Muffins and Biscuits and Cookies), Desserts (particularly Ice Cream, Meringue, Roulades and Sweet Tarts), Soups, Salads, Simple Suppers (particularly Pasta and Savoury Tarts) plus a few Snacks, Sauces and Preserves. I also have a few Drink recipes with a particular focus on home-made Gin. These are the kind of goodies that you might get a great local independent cafe or coffee shop – perhaps minus the gin!

All of these dishes are aimed at those who either have basic cooking skills or, like me, just don’t have the time to spend hours in the kitchen but want to produce something tasty and delicious.

Dandelion Syrup and Dandelion Jelly

Dandelions and waffles — Dandelion syrup and waffles

Dandelion Syrup and Dandelion Jelly

If your garden, like mine, is currently over-run with dandelions, stop a minute before uprooting them and consider how they might be used more constructively.

At this time of year, I spend a lot of my gardening time trying to clear the unwanted crop of dandelions. They seem to pop up overnight and, where the previous evening I have a bed of beautiful and elegant spring flowers, the next morning they have been joined by a number of shaggy yellow interlopers. It is as if several cast members from EastEnders have stumbled onto the set of Downton Abbey!

Dandelions are actually both nutritious and delicious and all parts – roots, stems and flowers – have culinary and therapeutic uses. The roots are traditionally used to make tea and as a basis for Dandelion and Burdock, a beverage produced since the Middle Ages and still consumed by those who wish to reinforce their hipster credentials. The stems and leaves can be used raw in salads or cooked, and combined with other spring greens, add a refreshing bitterness to stuffings and pies. The flowers do not taste bitter and have a lovely, floral, spring-like flavour – matching their cheerful colouring and feisty attitude – which can be captured in syrup or jelly or used as a baking ingredient.

I have provided recipes for Dandelion Syrup and Dandelion Jelly below. They both start off with the same process of creating a “dandelion tea” by steeping the flower petals overnight in water, and are excellent ways of using all those pesky intruders in your garden. If you can’t beat them, eat them!

Soaking dandelion flowers — Wash your dandelions

Dandelion Syrup

Author: Tastebotanical
Prep Time: 15
Cook Time: 30
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 2 jam-jars 1x
Category: Baking ingredients
Cuisine: English

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Description

This is a beautiful, fresh, floral tasting syrup, flavoured with dandelions, which can be used on waffles, ice-cream or as a base for cocktails.

Ingredients

Scale

100 dandelion flowers – make sure that these have been grown somewhere that has not been treated with pesticides or fertilisers
500 ml water
300 g caster sugar
Juice of half a lemon (optional)

Instructions

Wash your dandelion flowers in a bowl of cold water to remove dirt and small insects.
Cut the petals off the flowers just above the green sepals. You do not want to include the green bits as these will be bitter.
Put the petals into a heavy pan with 500 ml of water and heat to simmering point and then remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool. Then place the pan containing the water and petals in the fridge overnight.
The next day, strain the liquid through a sieve to remove the petals and return it to your heavy pan.
Add the sugar and lemon juice and simmer gently uncovered for around half an hour until the liquid is thick and syrupy.
Then transfer the syrup to a sterilised jar or bottle.

Notes

You can sterilise your jam-jar by washing it in warm, soapy water, rinsing well and then drying off for 15 minutes in an oven set at 140C/120C fan/gas 1.

Uses for Dandelion Syrup include: Pour over pancakes or waffles; Use to make soft drinks (one part syrup to four parts water); Use as a basis for alcoholic cocktails.

Keywords: dandelion syrup

Dandelion Syrup and Dandelion Jelly

Author: Tastebotanical
Prep Time: 20
Cook Time: 10
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 2 jam-jars 1x
Category: Baking ingredients
Cuisine: English

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Description

This is an unusual jelly which is flavoured with the fresh, floral scent of dandelions.

Ingredients

Scale

150 dandelion flowers – make sure that these have been grown somewhere that has not been treated with pesticides or fertilisers
500 ml water
500 g jam sugar (this is caster sugar with added pectin)

Instructions

Wash your dandelion flowers in a bowl of cold water to remove dirt and small insects.
Cut the petals off the flowers just above the green sepals. You do not want to include the green bits as these will be bitter.
Put the petals into a heavy pan with 500 ml of water and heat to simmering point and then remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool. Then place the pan containing the water and petals in the fridge overnight.
The next day, strain the liquid through a sieve to remove the petals and return it to your heavy pan.
Add the jam sugar and bring to the boil. Then allow to continue boiling for 10 minutes until the setting point is reached. (You can judge the setting point by putting a saucer in your freezer before making the jelly. Spoon some of the jelly onto the cold saucer and leave to cool. If the surface of the jelly crinkles when you push it with your finger, it is ready. If not, continue boiling and try again after a few more minutes).
Remove from the heat and then pour into a sterilised jar.

Notes

Although preparation time is only 30 minutes, you will need to leave the mixture overnight (see step 3) to allow the flavour to infuse.

You can sterilise your jam-jar by washing it in warm, soapy water, rinsing well and then drying off for 15 minutes in an oven set at 140C/120C fan/gas 1.

Uses for Dandelion Jelly: Spread on crusty buttered bread; Use as cake filling.

Keywords: dandelion jelly

Yellow, shaggy dandelions — Dandelion flowers

Rhubarb Curd and Rose Ice-cream

Rhubarb Curd and Rose Ice Cream

This Rhubarb Ice Cream is made from rhubarb curd flavoured with rosewater. It is a really quick and easy ice-cream which manages to taste both familiar and exotic and its soft pink colour looks wonderful! Rhubarb and rose go very well together and each enhances the flavour of the other. The sharpness of the rhubarb, the sweet floweriness of the rose plus soft billowing cream is a winning combination. Don’t overdo the rose flavouring as you want it to balance and not over-power the taste of the rhubarb. The ice-cream should make you think of an English summer garden – with a whisper of rose-water giving a hint of exotic Arabian Nights rather than a full-on Fry’s Turkish Delight flashback!

What you need to know about this recipe

You can make this recipe with home-made Rhubarb Curd or with the shop-bought variety. If you have never made Rhubarb Curd, it is very easy and a lot cheaper than buying ready-made!
Although you can make this recipe without an ice cream maker, it is a lot easier if you have one. You can buy a basic ice cream maker fairly cheaply.
It is best to start this recipe the day before you eat it. This will mean that once you have made the basic custard, it will have time to chill down before you put it in the ice cream maker the next day.
You can also make this ice cream well in advance if that is more convenient. I generally make double the quantity and keep it in the freezer where it will last for up to three months.
As with most home-made ice creams, it helps to remove the container from the freezer about ten minutes before serving as this will make it easier to scoop.

Other home-made ice cream recipes

I am a great home-made ice cream enthusiast. I make it in the summer, of course, but am happy to eat it in winter too! There are some brilliant, shop-bought ice creams available but it is so easy to make your own. I like to experiment with flavours and some of my other ice cream recipes are listed below.

Apple Ice Cream with Salted Caramel – basically a toffee apple in the form of ice cream
Blackberry and Bay Ice Cream – foraged blackberries with an underlying note of warm, spicy bay
Roasted Cherry Ice Cream – juicy fresh cherries with a bit of booze make this a rich and indulgent dessert (you can leave out the alcohol if you really want to)
Coffee Ice Cream – quick and easy, store-cupboard recipe using instant coffee which has an amazingly rich coffee flavour
Cranberry Ice Cream – if you have any left-over cranberry sauce, you know what to do with it
Elderflower Ice-cream – easy recipe using elderflower cordial – delicious floral taste of summer!
Lavender Ice-cream – another gorgeous floral ice cream (bit of a theme here at tastebotanical…) made with fresh or dried culinary lavender
Lemon Curd Ice Cream – this tangy, three-ingredient recipe is probably the simplest ice cream recipe you will find
Rose Ice-cream – made with culinary rosewater, this ice cream is the essence of an English summer garden
Strawberry Balsamic Ice-cream – strawberry ice cream given a lift with a dash of balsamic vinegar to bring out the sweetness
Thyme ice-cream with honey and mascarpone – thyme, honey and mascarpone…. in an ice cream – what’s not to like?

Other rhubarb recipes

I love rhubarb and have lots of other rhubarb recipes. It makes a great jam, compote or fruit curd. It is also great in a crumble. Rhubarb is also good in many home-baking recipes such as Rhubarb Upside-down Cake, Rhubarb Crumble Cake, Rhubarb Bread and Butter Pudding, Rhubarb Victoria Sandwich Cake and Rhubarb Roulade. It also makes a good basis for cold desserts such as Rhubarb Curd and Rose Ice Cream or Rhubarb Fool. You can also use it to make Rhubarb Cordial and a pretty good Rhubarb Gin liqueur!

Loved this recipe? Checkout the Recipe Index.

Rhubarb Curd and Rose Ice Cream recipe

Rhubarb Curd and Rose Ice-cream

Author: Tastebotanical
Prep Time: 30
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: for 6 people 1x
Category: Ice-cream
Cuisine: English

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Description

This is a lovely ice-cream to make in early summer which combines the flavours of rhubarb and rose.

Ingredients

Scale

600 g (1.5 lbs) Rhubarb Curd – you can either make your own (See my recipe for homemade Rhubarb Curd) or you can buy it in good supermarkets or food stores
300 ml (Half a pint) double cream
A teaspoon of rosewater
A few drops of pink food colouring (optional)

Instructions

Whisk the cream until it forms soft peaks.
Stir in the Rhubarb Curd.
Add a teaspoon of rose-water.
Add a few drops of pink food colouring if you feel the mixture needs to be pinker! This won’t be necessary if you have already added colouring to home-made Curd.
Put the ice-cream mixture in your ice-cream maker, process until thickened and transfer to a freezer-proof container and store in your freezer until required. Alternatively, as outlined above, you can put the ice-cream mixture straight into the freezer if you don’t have an ice-cream maker.

Keywords: rhubarb ice-cream, rhubarb and rose ice-cream

Filo Triangles with two fillings – “Feta Cheese and Mixed Herb” and “Roasted Butternut Squash, Chilli and Pinenut”

Filo and edible flowers — Filo Triangles and edible flower salad

Filo Triangles with two fillings – “Feta Cheese and Mixed Herb” and “Roasted Butternut Squash, Chilli and Pinenut”

These filo triangles are really easy to make and can be served hot or cold. I generally make a batch of 14 filo Triangles – half with each filling as they complement each other. The “Feta Cheese and Mixed Herb” filling is creamy, salty and allows the flavour of your chosen herbs to sing out. The “Roasted Butternut Squash, Chilli and Pinenut” filling is rich and sweet with a buzz of heat with texture provided by the pinenuts.

Both versions make a great lunch or supper, and are really good in lunch boxes and on picnics. They are also fancy enough to be served for dinner parties or more formal occasions. If I am trying to impress, I serve them with a Green Salad with Edible Flowers. This is easy (and beautiful!). Just take salad leaves such as lambs lettuce, maybe add additional bits such as cucumber or avocado – I tend to stick to green things so flowers are obvious – and dress with vinaigrette. Scatter edible flowers, such as violas or primroses, on top.

Ingredients for Filo Triangles — Butternut Squash, Red Onion, Feta and Chilli

Equipment

Baking tray, Pastry brush, Bowls

Filling for Filo Triangles — Mixed herbs – Parsley, Chives, Basil and Fennel

Filo Triangles with two fillings – “Feta Cheese and Mixed Herb” and “Roasted Butternut Squash, Chilli and Pinenut”

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews

Author: Tastebotanical
Prep Time: 20
Cook Time: 55
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Yield: 14 triangles 1x
Category: Tart
Cuisine: English

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Description

These crispy filo triangles, filled with tasty vegetarian fillings, make a great lunch or supper.

Ingredients

Scale

Ingredients: Filo Triangles

1 packet of filo pastry (270 g or 7 sheets)
100 g butter (melted)

Filling: Roasted Butternut Squash, Chilli and Pinenut

Half a butternut squash
1 red onion
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
75 g feta cheese
Half a fresh red chilli (finely chopped)
1 clove of garlic (crushed)
50 g pinenuts (roasted)

Filling: Feta Cheese and Mixed Herb

75 g feta cheese
75 g cream cheese
A large bunch of mixed, fresh herbs to taste (parsley, basil, chives, fennel fronds)
I spring onion
Black pepper to taste

Instructions

Method – Feta Cheese and Mixed Herb filling

Crumble the feta into a mixing bowl, add the cream cheese and mix thoroughly.
Finely chop the mixed herbs and spring onion and add to the cheese mixture. Season with black pepper (no need for salt as feta is very salty).

Method – Roasted Butternut Squash, Chilli and Pinenut filling

Set your oven to 180 C, 350 F or Gas Mark 4.
Peel your butternut squash and chop into small chunks (around 2 cm). (You will only need half of the squash for the filling but I generally roast it all and serve the other half of the chunks as an accompaniment.) Cut the red onion into quarters leaving the skin on. Put the squash chunks and onion pieces on a baking tray, sprinkle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast the vegetables in the oven for 30 minutes until soft and slightly browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.
Roughly mash the butternut squash. Remove the skin from the onion and roughly chop and combine with the butternut squash in a mixing bowl. Crumble the feta cheese into the bowl with the vegetables. Add the finely chopped red chilli, the crushed garlic and the roasted pinenuts.

Method – Assembling the Filo Triangles

Cut each filo sheet in half lengthways and brush all over with melted butter. Put a spoonful of the filling at one end of the filo strip, and fold into triangles so that it is encased in several layers of filo.
Put the filled filo triangles on a baking sheet and brush the top of each with melted butter.
When you have made all your filo triangles, return the baking tray to the oven and cook at 180 C, 350 F or Gas Mark 4 for 25 minutes.
Remove the filo triangles from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. They can be eaten hot, warm or at room temperature.

Keywords: filo pastry triangles, butternut squash, feta, chilli

Filo triangles, feta cheese and butternut squash — Filo Triangles and edible flower salad

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Rhubarb and Vanilla Victoria Sandwich cake

Rhubarb and Vanilla Victoria Sandwich cake

This is a simple Victoria Sandwich cake, flavoured with vanilla, and filled with a mixture of Rhubarb Curd and whipped cream. It is very easy to make and can be used as a pudding or eaten at tea-time or with morning coffee. The tartness of the rhubarb goes very well with the buttery cake and the smooth, rich taste of vanilla. I also have another recipe for a very different kind of rhubarb cake, Rhubarb Upside Down Cake, which uses fresh rhubarb.

Other rhubarb recipes

I love rhubarb and have lots of other rhubarb recipes in addition to . It makes a great jam, compote or fruit curd. It is also great in a crumble. Rhubarb is also good in many home-baking recipes such as Rhubarb Crumble Cake, Rhubarb Bread and Butter Pudding, Rhubarb Upside Down Cake and Rhubarb Roulade. It also makes a good basis for cold desserts such as Rhubarb Curd and Rose Ice Cream or Rhubarb Fool. You can also use it to make Rhubarb Cordial and a pretty good Rhubarb Gin liqueur!

Other baking recipes

I love home-baking and make a lot of easy, traditional cakes, biscuits (cookies) and desserts.

Other easy cake recipes

I am a big cheerleader for home-made cakes. My cakes tend to be simple and use seasonal ingredients. They do not require advanced baking skills or complicated decoration. My goal is to make cakes that taste delicious and look attractive but which anyone can make. One of the reasons I love home-baking is that I get to experiment with different flavours and flavour combinations. Here are some of my favourites.

Recipe for Rhubarb and Vanilla Victoria Sandwich cake

Rhubarb and Vanilla Victoria Sandwich cake

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews

Author: Tastebotanical
Prep Time: 30
Cook Time: 30
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: for 6 people 1x
Category: Cake
Cuisine: English

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Description

Creamy with a zip of fruity flavour, this rhubarb cake is a winner at tea-time!

Ingredients

Scale

For the cake:

225 g butter (softened)
225 g caster sugar
4 eggs
225 g self-raising flour
4 tablespoons of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
Icing sugar (to dust the top of the finished cake)

For the filling:

Around 200 g Rhubarb Curd
Around 200 g double cream (whipped to soft peaks)

Instructions

Set your oven to 180 degrees centigrade or Gas Mark 4.
Cream the butter with the caster sugar. (I usually soften the butter for about 30 seconds in the microwave first as it makes it much easier!)
Gradually add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture. If it looks as if it is going to curdle, add some of the self-raising flour.
Once the eggs have been incorporated add the rest of the self-raising flour.
Add the milk and the vanilla extract. It really makes a difference if you use a good quality vanilla extract – as opposed to vanilla essence – as this will give it a much more intense flavour.
Grease your Victoria Sandwich tin or container and then add the cake mixture.
Bake your cake in the oven for around 30 minutes. It is done when it is golden brown, springy to the touch and has shrunk away from the edge of the tin. You can test it by inserting a skewer in the middle of the cake – if it comes out cleanly with no mixture attached, your cake is done.
Allow your cake to cool on a rack before removing it from the tin or container.
Once the cake is cool, slice it in half horizontally (I find a bread knife is good for doing this).
Spread the Rhubarb Curd on one half of the cake followed by the whipped cream and then put the other half of the cake on top.
Dust the cake with icing sugar by shaking a small amount through a sieve onto the top.
You will need to keep the cake in the fridge if not using immediately as it contains cream and Rhubarb Curd. If stored in the fridge, remove it around half an hour before eating to allow it to come up to room temperature.

Keywords: rhubarb cake

Rhubarb Curd

Home-made Rhubarb Curd

This home-made Rhubarb Curd is really easy to make and tastes delicious. It is creamy and buttery with a zing of sharpness from the rhubarb.

Fruit curds are a great way of capturing the flavour of a wide range of fruits and work best with strong-tasting ingredients – such as lemon, lime, passion fruit or rhubarb – where the sharpness is softened by the butter and eggs. The method and ingredients for a fruit curd are very similar to those for making custard – so when you make this recipe you are making a kind or rhubarb and custard combination which is a taste classic.

You can make Curd from a number of other tropical fruit such as lime, orange, mango and passion fruit. I think it works best with strongly flavoured fruit – if you are a fan of rhubarb, have a look at my recipe for Lemon Curd

What you need to know about this recipe

You do not need to add too much water (step 2) as the rhubarb will produce liquid as it cooks.
You can either strain your cooked rhubarb to remove the fibres or process it in a blender (step 2). If you choose to blend it, you curd will be slightly thicker. It is important to either strain or blend the mixture otherwise your curd will not have a lovely smooth texture.
Allowing the rhubarb mixture to cool slightly before adding it to the eggs (step 3) and adding cornflour to the mixture will prevent the eggs scrambling when it is re-heated.
You can add a few drops of colouring (step 5) which will make your curd pink. If you don’t do this, it will still taste just as good!
You must put your curd in a sterilised jar and keep it in the fridge. It does not keep as long as jam and must be eaten within a week.

How to use Rhubarb Curd

So what can you do with Rhubarb Curd? Well, lots and lots of things, actually! First off, it is great as a spread on bread as an alternative to jam or honey. It is also great stirred into plain yogurt or spooned over vanilla ice cream. However, in my opinion, it really comes into its own as a cooking ingredient. Its punch of rhubarb flavour is fantastic in all kinds of sweet dishes. It is particularly useful as a filling for cakes and in all kinds of puddings. I use it as a cake filling in my Rhubarb and Vanilla Victoria Sandwich cake and also to make my easy Rhubarb Curd and Rose Ice Cream.

Other rhubarb recipes

I love rhubarb and have lots of other rhubarb recipes in addition to . It makes a great jam or compote. It is also great in a crumble. Rhubarb is also good in many home-baking recipes such as Rhubarb Crumble Cake, Rhubarb Bread and Butter Pudding, Rhubarb Upside Down Cake and Rhubarb Roulade. It also makes a good basis for cold desserts such as Rhubarb Fool. You can also use it to make Rhubarb Cordial and a pretty good Rhubarb Gin liqueur!

Other jam and preserve recipes

Making your own jam and preserves is really easy. They taste delicious, keep for a long time and also you know exactly what is in them. You can moderate the sugar content and also be sure that there are no artificial preservatives. It is also a great way to use a seasonal over-supply of a particular fruit.

My home-made jam recipes use seasonal ingredients and often have a bit of a flavour twist. For example, my Strawberry Jam is flavoured with rose geranium and my Rhubarb Jam is flavoured with vanilla. I have some simple jams such as my classic Gooseberry Jam.

Some of my other preserve recipes are a bit more unusual. I make a delectable Rose Petal Jam which can be used in lots of different ways. I also have a Chilli Jam which is fantastic as a dip or with savoury dishes.

Loved this recipe? Checkout the Recipe Index.

Recipe for easy Rhubarb Curd

Rhubarb Curd

Author: Tastebotanical
Prep Time: 15
Cook Time: 20
Total Time: 35 minutes
Yield: 2 jam-jars 1x
Category: Preserves
Cuisine: English

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Description

Creamy Rhubarb Curd is fantastic spread on bread or as an ingredient in cakes and puddings.

Ingredients

Scale

800 g (1 and a half pounds) rhubarb
100 ml (3.5 fluid oz) water
4 eggs
300 g (10 oz) caster sugar
4 teaspoons cornflour
50 g (2 oz) butter
A few drops of pink food colouring (optional)

Instructions

Wash the rhubarb stalks thoroughly. Cut into pieces of around 2 cm.
Put the rhubarb pieces into your heavy saucepan with 100 ml of water. Heat until the mixture is simmering and cook for around 5 minutes until the rhubarb is soft and mushy.
Now you can either strain the rhubarb mixture through a sieve to remove the fibres and use the strained juice to make your curd. Alternatively, you can blend the mixture in a blender or with a stick blender and use the thicker puree to make your curd. Allow the rhubarb mixture to cool slightly.
Beat the eggs in a bowl and then add the caster sugar and cornflour which should stop the mixture curdling and turning into scrambled eggs!
Now, gradually pour the rhubarb mixture into the bowl and combine it with the egg mixture. Add a few drops of pink food colouring if you wish – if you don’t do this, your curd will not look so pretty but will taste just as good!
Put the mixture back into your heavy saucepan, add the butter and heat very gently for around 10-15 minutes until it has thickened to a custard-like consistency. You will need to stir it often and keep an eye on it.
Remove the mixture from the saucepan and pour into sterilised jam jars – it will fill two medium-sized jars. It must be kept in the fridge once cooled and will last for around a week.

Notes

You can sterilise your jam-jar by washing it in warm, soapy water, rinsing well and then drying off for 15 minutes in an oven set at 140C/120C fan/gas 1.

Keywords: rhubarb curd