wide, cut them in half lengthways first)
1 First, make the pastry. Place the flour and icing sugar in a medium-sized bowl. Rub in the butter, then add most of the egg (you probably won’t need it all) to make the dough come together. Add a tablespoon of water to the remaining egg to make egg wash, and reserve. Slightly flatten the pastry, cover and place in the fridge for about 30 minutes (or 10 minutes in the freezer), until chilled.
2 Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas mark 4. Grease a 23cm (9in) shallow tart tin with a removable base with a little butter.
3 When you are ready to roll out the pastry, remove it from the fridge and place between two sheets of cling film that are larger than your tart tin. Using a rolling pin, roll out the pastry until it’s about 5mm (1/4in) thick and large enough to line the base and sides of the prepared tin. Remove the top layer of cling film and place the pastry upside down (cling film side facing up) in the tart tin. Press into the edges, cling film still attached, and, using your thumb, ‘cut’ the pastry on the edge of the tin to give a neat finish. Remove the cling film and pop the pastry in the freezer for at least 10 minutes.
4 Next, ‘blind bake’ the pastry case to partially cook it before adding its filling. Line the pastry with greaseproof paper (leaving plenty to come up the sides), fill with baking beans or dried pulses (you can use these over and over), and bake for about 10 minutes in the oven, until the pastry feels dry. Remove the paper and beans, brush with a little egg white and return to the oven for 4–5 minutes. Take out of the oven and put to one side while you prepare the filling.
5 In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the yolks with the honey, add the cream and mix. Pour the custard into the case almost to the top, then arrange the rhubarb on top. It can be easier to do all this while the case is sitting on a rack in the oven to avoid spilling the mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until just set. Let cool to room temperature.
So many of our own memories of childhood often centre around the kitchen. One of the joys of being an adult is sharing those experiences with our own children and teaching them new skills that they will hopefully pass on to their own children. Even simple tasks, such as mashing potatoes, can plant the seeds for future memories. It’s more about spending time together and helping children gain confidence which will carry over into so many other parts of their lives. It helps to choose recipes in which they can take an active part or get creative so they can be proud of their work. Have fun and enjoy!
All children love playing with dough, and with this Irish soda bread dough you can be as creative as you like. I often leave out the herbs; sometimes I leave out the cheese and replace the herbs with a handful of chopped milk or dark chocolate, or even raisins or dried cranberries. These scones can be cut into any shapes that your little ones like, though if handled and kneaded too much they will get slightly tough.
MAKES ABOUT 16 SCONES VEGETARIAN
450g (1lb) plain white flour
1 level tsp salt
1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp chopped fresh herbs, such as rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley or chives
400ml (14fl oz) buttermilk or sour milk (to sour milk, add 3 generous tbsp natural yoghurt or juice from 1/2 lemon to 400ml/14fl oz fresh milk)
About 75g (3oz) Cheddar or Gruyère cheese, grated
1 Preheat the oven to 250°C (475°F), Gas mark 9.
2 Sieve the dry ingredients into a bowl, then mix in the chopped herbs. Make a well in the centre. Pour in all the milk at once. Using one hand, with your fingers outstretched like a claw, stir in a full circular movement from the centre to the outside of the bowl. The dough should be softish, though not too wet and sticky.
3 When the dough comes together, turn it out onto a well-floured surface. Pat the dough until it is about 2cm (3/4in) thick. Cut into round or square shapes about the size of a scone, then place on a floured baking tray. Generously sprinkle each sodabread scone with the grated cheese.
4 Place the tray in the oven. Cook for 10-20 minutes (depending on size) until golden and sounding hollow when tapped on the bottom. Turn the oven down to 200°C (400°F), Gas mark 6 after 10 minutes if they are already golden.
Variations
To make chocolate chip sodabread, omit the cheese and replace the herbs with 75-100g (3-4oz) of chopped dark or milk chocolate or chocolate chips. You could also add an egg to the buttermilk and 1 tablespoon of caster sugar to increase the richness. It’s also delicious with 100g (4oz) of raisins or dried cranberries.
Making yeast bread from scratch is becoming a lost art, but it is the perfect thing both for teaching new skills and for having fun with your children. Even if you’ve never made bread before, why not spend the time together as a family learning to get it right? Children always have such fun watching and waiting for the dough to rise and then punching it down. Although you should put aside a whole morning or afternoon for this, you’ll be able to get on with plenty of other things while the bread is rising. This is a simple and tasty bread, and once you have mastered it you’ll want to move on to other flavours and combinations (see variations, opposite).
MAKES 2 X 900G (2LB)
LOAVES
VEGETARIAN
450ml (16fl oz) warm water
3 tbsp honey
3 tsp dried or fast-acting yeast or 40g (13/4oz) fresh yeast
600g (1lb 7oz) strong white flour
300g (11oz) wholemeal flour
2 tsp salt
100g (4oz) butter, cut
into cubes
1 In a small bowl, mix the warm water with the honey, add the yeast and leave to stand for 5 minutes until slightly frothy.
2
