SUE
LAWRENCE’S
BOOK OF BAKING
Glorious
breads, biscuits, cakes and tarts from a Scottish Kitchen
Sue
Lawrence, who lives in Edinburgh, is known as the 'Queen of Baking' in
Scotland and is an award winning food writer of note.
Sue
has written for the Sunday Times Style magazine, Sainsbury's magazine,
Woman & Home, Country Living and BBC Good Food magazine. She is seen
regularly of British and Australian television talking about Scottish food
and tradition and in 2003 won the Regional Writer Glenfiddich Food &
Drink Award for her work in Scotland on Sunday.
In
her Book of Baking Sue Lawrence stresses that nowadays priorities seemed
to have shifted in some homes and good old fashioned baking is
supplemented by so-called low fat processed food with dubious
ingredients. Sue says, "I understand that the effort - and the
time factor- worries some people, but consider just how long it takes to
produce a scone: five minutes to rustle up and ten minutes to
bake!"
"By
baking yourself, you avoid commercial additives, it is hugely
therapeutic: madly knead a batch of bread dough and the stresses and
strains of life will disappear! Your cake might look rather more rustic
than shop bought, but that is the point; it has the intrinsic allure of
homemade. To use the old fashioned term, it is handcrafted - lovingly
and happily - and you have made something in an utterly selfless frame
of mind."
HOT
CROSS BUNS
Traditionally,
these buns are served on Good Friday, with the symbolic cross on the top.
This is a really easy recipe that can be prepared in a flash. Then of
course you have to leave the dough to rise twice, but that waiting time
somehow makes them all the more delicious! Instead of baking 12 separate
buns, you can place the buns together before they bake, and then gently
tear them apart. Eat warm, just as they are – or cold with a tiny smear
of butter, freshly baked. Or, after a couple of days, they are wonderful
split and toasted.
Makes
12
500
g/1 lb 2 oz/4 ½ cups unbleached strong white flour, sifted
1 teaspoon salt
40 g/1 ½ oz /¼ cup light muscovado sugar
½ teaspoon mixed spice
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
55 g/2 oz/½ stick unsalted butter, chilled, diced
100 g/3 ½ oz/2/3 cup raisins and currants
25 g/1 oz/2 tablespoons chopped mixed peel
7 g/¼ oz sachet of fast-action/easy-blend dried yeast
300 ml/ ½ pint/ 1 1/3 cups mixed milk and water, heated to tepid
For
the Pastry and Glaze
70 g/2 ½ oz/ 2/3 cup plain flour
40 g/1 ½ oz/ ½ stick unsalted butter, chilled, diced
1 tablespoon golden syrup
Place
the flour in a bowl, then stir in the salt, sugar and spices. Rub in the
butter until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the dried fruits and peel,
then stir in the yeast. Slowly stir in the tepid liquid and bring the
mixture together in your hands to form a ball. Turn out on to a floured
surface and knead for 10 minutes.
Place
in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with oiled clingfilm. Leave for about 2
hours (or 1 ½ if your house is warmer than mine!) until well risen.
Lightly
oil a baking sheet. Knock back the dough and divide into 12 pieces. Roll
into balls and place on the prepared baking sheet. Put in a warm place for
about 45 minutes or until well risen again. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to
220°C/425°F/Gas 7.
To
make the pastry, place the flour in a bowl and rub in the butter. Slowly
add enough cold water (1 – 1 ½ tablespoons) to combine to a stiff
dough. Break into 24 pieces and roll out into long sausage shapes. Join
two together to form 12 crosses. Place a cross over each risen bun, then
bake for 18 – 20 minutes or until puffed up and golden brown.
While
the buns are baking, gently melt the syrup in a microwave or a small pan
over a low heat. Lift the buns on to a wire rack and brush tops with the
syrup. Leave to cool.
NEW
YORK CHEESECAKE
I
prefer to use light cream cheese for this recipe: normally I eschew all
‘low fat’, ‘low-cal’ etc. options but in this case, the light
version does make this dense creamy cheesecake just slightly less rich,
which means I can opt for my hefty generous slab instead of a dainty
sliver.
Try
to remember to make this the day before serving, to give it a chance to
firm up. It will also decant from the tin more easily. If you can, leave
in the oven overnight to ensure a crack free surface. Should any of the
biscuit crumbs be left on the tin once decanted, do not despair –
sprinkle them purposefully over the top of the cheesecake for an impromptu
decoration. Serve with either a sharp fruit purée of raspberries,
blackcurrants or brambles (blackberries) or with fresh fruit.
200
g/7oz digestive biscuits, crushed
70 g/2 ½ oz/¾ stick unsalted butter, melted
1 kg/2 lb 4 oz cream cheese (I use Philadelphia Light)
200 g/7 oz/1 scant cup golden caster sugar
1 rounded tablespoon plain flour, sifted
4 large free-range eggs
grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon
2 teaspoons pure vanilla essence or pure vanilla-bean paste
150 ml/5 fl oz soured cream
(Serves
12)
Preheat
the oven to 180°C/350°F /Gas 4, and lightly butter a deep 24 cm/9 ½ in
springform cake tin. Combine the biscuits and butter, and press into the
base and a little way up the sides of the prepared tin. Chill for an hour
or so. Place the cream cheese, 175 g/6 oz/¾ cup of the sugar and the
flour in a food mixer and beat well until smooth. (Alternatively, place in
a large bowl and beat using electric beaters.)
Add
the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Then add the lemon
zest and juice and the vanilla. Once thoroughly combined, pour into the
crust and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 150°C/300°/Gas
2 and cook for a further 45 minutes.
Beat
the sour cream and remaining sugar together. Remove the cheesecake from
the oven and very carefully and slowly spoon the sour cream over the top,
taking care not to break up the surface. Return to the oven to bake for a
further 15 minutes, then switch off the oven but leave the cheesecake in
for at least 1 hour (or overnight if possible). Remove and allow to become
completely cold before chilling then carefully removing from tin.
PASSION
CAKE
This
is one of those cakes that are terrific standbys if you asked to bake a
cake to take to a friend’s birthday, school fete or church fair, as
everyone loves it. I baked a large passion cake to take to my friend
Mary-An’s house the night before her wedding to be shared among her many
Dutch relatives. As chief bridesmaid, I thought the wedding eve should
also be memorable, and so a delicious cake was in order. My then
two-year-old son Euan had helped me make the cake and although I had been
aware that when he was cracking the eggs into the cake a tiny piece of egg
shell might have gone into the mixture, I had no idea that there was in
fact a great deal of shell; although the cake was moist, it was also
decidedly crunchy. Memorable indeed.
250 g/9 oz/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
200 g/7 oz/1 cup light muscavado sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large free-range eggs
200 ml/7 fl oz/1 scant cup sunflower oil
2 small bananas, mashed
125 g/4 ½ oz finely grated carrot (this is the grated weight – you’ll
need 2 large carrots)
50 g/1 ¾ oz/1/3 cup desiccated coconut
50 g/1 ¾ oz/½ cup walnuts, chopped
50 g/1 ¾ oz/ ½ cup raisins
50 g/1 ¾ oz/ ½ cup macadamia nuts, chopped
(Serves
8 – 10)
FOR
THE FILLING AND TOPPING
100 g/3 ½ oz/1 stick unsalted butter, softened
100 g/3 ½ oz cream cheese (I use Philadelphia Light)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
250 g/9 oz/2 cups golden icing sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon walnuts, chopped
Preheat
the oven to 180°C/350°C/Gas 4, and lightly butter two 20 cm/8 sandwich
tins. Mix the flour, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl, then gently stir in the
eggs and oil. Gently fold in the bananas, carrot and coconut with the
walnuts, raisins and nuts. Divide between the prepared tins, smoothing the
surface. Bake for 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle
comes out clean. Place
the tins on a wire rack to cool for about 20 minutes, then carefully
invert and leave the cakes to cool completely on the rack.
To
make the filling and topping, place the butter, cream cheese and vanilla
in a food mixer and beat until smooth. Add the icing sugar and beat again
until smooth. Alternatively, beat madly by hand, until thick and smooth.
Use
half the mixture to cover one half of the cake and place the other cake on
top. Carefully spread the remaining icing on top. Scatter over the nuts.
SHORTBREAD
I
am unashamedly proud of the fact that I was brought up on shortbread. Like
so many other young Scots, a good piece of ‘shortie’ was a treat worth
being good for – even worth enduring visits to deaf great-aunts or
waiting in long queues at church fêtes. And in the halcyon days when
everyone baked their own, there was as much talk about the difference
between Mrs Kerr’s and Miss McLeod’s shortie as there is now between
an oaked and unoaked chardonnay.
And
with home-baked, there are plenty of differences in taste and texture,
with so many factors contributing to memorable shortbread. First, there is
the light touch. There is no use attempting shortbread if you have hot,
eager fingers ready to knead rather than gently tease out your shortbread
dough. Probably because many Scottish kitchens resemble freezers in
winter, refrigerators in summer (or is that just mine?), the resulting
cold hands could account for our light-fingered skills essential for
shortbread is its buttery taste. A dough of all plain flour makes good
shortbread but vary this by incorporating some rice flour (for a good
crunchy texture), cornflour for a melt-in-the-mouth feel, or farola (fine
semolina) for a texture between the two.
Variations
on shortbread are endless – from modern-day Millionaire’s Shortbread
(with caramel and chocolate) to old-fashioned Pitcaithly bannock (with
almonds and peel), Tantallon cakes (with grated lemon) and of course
petticoat tails, shaped in a segmented round with a small circle in the
middle. And serving suggestions are also various: plain with tea, as
pudding with a bowl of fresh berries and ice cream, or Scottish Hogmanay
classic – served with a wedge of cheese (I recommend Isle of Mull
Cheddar).
225
g/8 oz/ 2 ¼ sticks slightly salted butter, softened
100 g/3 ½ oz/½ cup golden caster sugar, plus extra for dredging
225 g/8 oz/2 scant cups plain flour
100 g/3 ½ oz/1 scant cup cornflour, or farola or rice flour
(Makes
24 - 30)
Preheat
the oven to 150°C/300 F/Gas 2. Lightly butter a 23 x 33 cm/9x13 in Swiss
roll tin. Place the butter in a food mixer with the sugar and beat
together until pale; this will take at least 3 – 5 minutes.
Alternatively, beat by hand for double the time. Sift in the flours and
process very briefly until the mixture is just brought together. Do not
overprocess.
Tip
into the prepared tin. Using floured hands, press down to level the
surface. Prick all over with a fork, then bake for 45 – 50 minutes or
until uniformly a pale golden brown.
Shake
over some sugar from a dredger, then cut into squares or fingers. Leave
for 5 – 10 minutes, then carefully remove to a wire rack to cool
completely.
A
CLASSIC LOAF
A
basic loaf made with nothing other than unbleached flour, yeast and
water - and a little bit of time - can be utterly memorable. We may not
be able to live on bread alone, but I for one could not live without
it.
This
basic recipe can be modified depending on taste, with different flours
or the addition of nuts or seeds. But it is so fabulous as it is, made
with quality ingredients, I prefer to keep this one as it is: simple and
delicious.
700
g/1lb 9oz/6 cups unbleached strong white flour, sifted
7g/¼ oz sachet of fast-action/easy blend dried yeast
2 teaspoons salt
(Makes 2 loaves)
Mix
the flour and yeast in a bowl with the salt. Make a well in the centre
and slowly pour in enough tepid water (about 450 ml/16fl oz/2 cups) to
make a fairly soft dough.
Using
floured hands, bring the dough together and turn out on to a floured
surface. Knead for 10 minutes until smooth, regularly sprinkling lightly
with flour (I use a flour shaker). The dough should be soft and shiny
but not too sticky.
Place
in an oiled bowl and cover with clingfilm. Leave in a warm place for 1 -
2 hours until almost doubled.
Oil
two baking sheets. Knock back the dough, divide into two and shape into
loaves. Place on the baking sheets and cover with oiled clingfilm. Leave
to rise again in a warm place for about 45 minutes. The dough is ready
when it does not spring back when gently pressed with your finger.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 230ºC/450ºF/Gas 8
Slash
the top lightly with a knife to form slits then dust lightly with flour
and bake for 20 - 25 minutes, or until the base sounds hollow when
tapped. Alternatively, use the loweroven method: preheat the oven to
180C/350F/Gas 4. Place the bread in the oven and immediately increase
the temperature to 220ºC/425ºF/Gas 7. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, then
remove to a wire rack to cool.
SUE
LAWRENCE'S
BOOK OF BAKING
Photography by Siân Irvine
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