Elderflower Fritters - version 2

It's elderflower season!

Well strictly speaking it isn't but the whether has been so warm lately that elderflowers are blooming nearly more than a month early. I know this because I made fritters in late June last year. 

They were so good that I couldn't wait to get my hands on some more this year, so I am glad they are early.

Elderflowers grow almost everywhere so you shouldn't have too much trouble finding your own in the countryside.  I am lucky, I have a tree in my garden!

I am waiting for some more to bloom so I can make cordial too. So check back for a post on that.

Last time I made fritters they were nice but the batter was a little dense and my technique wasn't so great so they weren't all that pretty. I replaced some of the milk for sparkling water this time around, giving them a light batter, much like you would use for tempura.

Elderflower Fritters - serves 2 / makes 6 fritters

6 heads of elderflower - checked for bugs

50ml of milk
100ml of sparkling water
100g of self raising flour
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 egg

ground nut or sunflower oil for frying

Use your elderflowers as soon as you've picked them, if left too long they start to smell strange and lose their floral scent. Check them for any bugs but do not wash them otherwise you'll lose all the lovely pollen, which is where the flavour is.

To make your batter mix together the milk, water and then the egg. Slowly whisk in your flour, salt and baking powder until you have a loose batter - the consistency of single cream. Add more water if necessary.

Heat about 2-3 inches of oil in a large saucepan. Pop a bit of batter in after about 2 minutes to check if it is hot enough.

Dip your elderflower head in and twist slowly to make sure it is fully battered, then pull out and let the excess batter drip off. Carefully put into the hot oil - if you keep the stems long when picking you will have something to hold on to. Fry in batches for a few minutes until golden brown, drain on kitchen paper.

I like to serve them drizzled with honey and with a scoop of ice cream.

how my garden is growing..

We've been growing our own for a few years now and we are getting the hang of it with things we have grown before. This year our sucesses are purple basil, oregano, the chili plant, rhubarb, courgettes and hopefully the tomatoes - no harvest of those yet.

Super fail has been the beans (just leaves, no buds?), spuds (too dry, very small spuds) and raspberries (just super duper fail, birds aren't even eating the meagre fruits).

Also our plum trees are doing really really well, we'll have lots of them in a couple of weeks (hopefully the wasps won't get there first), and blackberries are looking well for the Autumn. I'll be making more jam again!

We are hoping to grow into autumn too, with some leeks going in this week, and I need to research whether I am too late for autumn squashes.

Blackcurrant & Gooseberry Cupcakes

I do like this time of year, so many things are in season and it is so hard to choose what to cook with and eat next. Also the best thing is little garden gifts from relatives - their homegrown produce. We have been growing rhubarb this year and we exchanged a few stalks with my in laws for some of their lovely gooseberries and blackcurrants.

I am terrible for hardly ever just enjoying fruit as it is, I want to bake it or put it in jam or vodka, or something interesting. Rather than enjoying it in season as it is. Blackcurrants and gooseberries are different though, they do need to be cooked as they can be quite tart on their own, especially the gooseberries.

I have a shiny new cupcake/muffin pan this week and it was sitting there looking all new, so clearly - it was cupcake time!

I have a favourite basic sponge cake base that I nearly always use for cupcakes, and believe it or not it is from a book of student recipes, entitled 'Student Grub,' I don't really use many of the other recipes (you know the one for beans on toast..) but this one is quite good for adding things to.

I wanted colourful cupcakes so I pureed half the blackcurrants and put the rest in whole. The whole ones burst slightly in the cupcakes during cooking so you get lovely bursts of pure colour in the cupcakes. The gooseberries were cooked down in a saucepan with some sugar and also a stick of rhubarb I had and spooned into hollowed out cupcakes once they were cool. And obviously some of them had frosting too, yum!

Blackcurrant & Gooseberry Cupcakes

For gooseberry sauce:
100g gooseberries
1/2 stick of rhubarb (mine was quite thin so use 1/2 a normal size stick)
3-4 tablespoons of sugar

Top and tail your gooseberries and cut your rhubarb into 1 inch long pieces. Add to a non stick saucepan with the sugar and a very small splash of water. Cook on a medium heat, stirring occasionally until the gooseberries are soft and the skins collapsed. Cool slightly and taste for sweetness, if it is too tart, add a little more and cook on a low heat and stir til the sugar is dissolved. Puree with a blender. Set aside for filling the cupcakes later.

For cupcakes:
100g unsalted butter
100g granulated or caster sugar
100g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 medium free range or organic eggs
150g blackcurrants - 75g pureed in a food processor, 75g whole.
2 tsp vanilla extract


Preheat your oven to gas mark 6 / 200c / 400f.
Cream together the butter and sugar, then beat in your eggs one by one. Then add in your pureed blackcurrants, and vanilla. Stir lightly to combine, then add in your flour and baking powder slowly and fold in. Finally add in the rest of the blackcurrants and stir lightly to combine.

Line your cupcake pan with cases. Spoon in about 2 tablespoons into each cup, enough to fill them about 2/3 full. My mixture actually made 11 because I was a bit generous on some and less on others, but that is ok!

Bake for 10-15 minutes until tops are golden brown, and a knife comes out clean when inserted into the cake (look they are purple inside!).

Leave to cool for about half an hour, then for the fun bit! Cut little circles out the top of the cakes, go in about 1cm down and pop the top off the cake. Fill with about a heaped teaspoon of the gooseberry puree and pop the lid back on. Now you can leave them as they are or add some buttercream.

I frosted a few of mine with the rest of my butter, think a ratio of 1 part butter to 3 parts icing sugar, and I added some vanilla extract too, real vanilla bean would have been lovely though. Or you can flavour them with more pureed blackcurrant or mix in some of the gooseberry puree.

Eat immediately!

Weekend in pictures

Black Forest gateau, Mr's birthday cake :)
recipe adapted from here, I used a lot less cream though!

Second haul of fresh cherries for black forest gateau

Dunes and seafront at Walberswick

Sweet red gooseberries (you can eat these raw, unlike their sharp green counterparts) and little blackcurrants. Bought from a little cart at the side of the road, with an honesty money box.

We had a lovely Sunday in Suffolk, spent some time walking on the beach and then a drink in a local pub on the way back - which had ales made just around the corner! I do like the Suffolk countryside, and its just on our doorstep.

Day in the sun

I probably talk about the weather too much on here, or at least refer to it too much, but that is an ingrained British thing really! Anyway, we've had some gorgeous weather this weekend and I was able to indulge myself with a whole day beading out in the garden.

The garden bench works a lot better than my actual studio desk, it is much bigger and I can really space out - and I can make more of a mess without having to worry about hoovering up tiny chips of metal ;)

I've been working away on new designs and also a very special custom order which I shall be blogging about more when I am finished.

I have a new pair of earrings my Etsy shop, Summer Fruit earrings - lovely juicy red and delicate peach earrings with silver - inspired a little by the Eton Mess pudding I made yesterday.

I have also got another bracelet to add to my Tropics Collection, pictures to be added later in the week when I am finished.

For now I am hoping the good weather lasts until next weekend, we are hoping for a little wander around the Suffolk coast.

Lots of news!

I've been working on another new piece for the shop which has inspired me to create a new collection for the summer. My new Tahiti Bracelet is part of my 'Tropics Collection' - this collection also includes my 'Sienna Earrings.' Lots of new pieces will be added all the way through the Summer!

I also have a special running in my Etsy shop this weekend, 10% off all purchases, see my shop for more details.

Happy weekend everyone!

Deepa
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Colour

Just received a new addition, lots of beautiful beads ready for my colourful summer designs.

I have a pair of eyecatching earrings made with the teal filigrees and the rust lucite beads above in the shop right now.

Sienna Earrings - in my Etsy shop.

I'll be listing a beautiful magenta and blue filigree bracelet later on today too!

PS - my spring sale ends today, all of my sale items are a wonderful 50% off normal price. Mention 'blog' in the 'message to seller' box and I'll give you free shipping!


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