It turns out juggling school holidays, visiting family and the general pandemonium of summer is proving a little more time consuming than I expected. It’s glorious and I love spending time with Charlie it just isn’t leaving room for much else. Whilst Iain is currently the breadwinner, allowing me the space to rebuild a career, being mummy is my full time job. Writing, cooking and developing has become a game of negotiation whilst he is off school. Iain has taken Charlie swimming so I have a couple of hours to try to get this written. Although I currently keep procrastinating, eating cheese and watching a little wren out the window sneak up on flies gobbling them for lunch.

For this week’s recipe I am taking inspiration from my garden adapting a few recipes from my cookbook Kitchen Table to make this delicious no churn ice cream. The recipes I took inspiration from were the Damson Curd, Walnut Praline & Brown Butter Semifreddo and the Blackcurrant & Crème Fraîche Ice Cream. When we came home from Margate there were a handful of deep maroon gooseberries left on the bush. I battled Charlie and the thorns to claim them for myself and you. I bargained with Charlie in the end, he gets a jar of the gooseberry curd to himself in thanks for sharing the spoils of the bush. I am using these jewel toned delights to make curd to ripple through this week’s brown butter and crème fraîche ice cream.

Welcome to Moments through food. Here I write to you weekly from my steading in the Scottish borders. Telling stories about food and ingredients alongside my slightly obsessive recipe development. I am here to give you the tools to understand how or why things work in recipes. This is to help you build confidence in the kitchen as well as being able to alter recipes to suit your own time schedules and tastes. I believe cooking and baking need to work for you.

I am a sourdough baker, recipe developer, cook and mum. Formerly of Twelve Triangles an award winning bakery in Edinburgh as well as author of Kitchen Table - simple things made well.

If you would like to join my community please subscribe for free or else consider a paid subscription. This will get you full access to all my recipes/writing, a live monthly baking Q&A as well as exclusive updates on the renovation and build of my bakery school and mill. Everyone will receive weekly emails with stories and recipes. For free subscribers my posts will go behind a paywall after four weeks.

Subscribe now

The Ice cream base

This recipe has a semifreddo base which involves whisking eggs separately to make a light mousse like base, to this you add cream, some sugar and in this case butter. It means that even when it begins melting it doesn’t slide into a puddle which is a win for everyone. I love the depth of flavour and silky richness you get from the browned butter, I use salted for a little savoury edge. I find when something is so creamy I crave that savoury note even more, balancing salt and acid to cut through the fat. I have chosen not to use a condensed milk base here even though this adds some extra dishes, sorry! I find the clawing sweetness of condensed milk a little much especially with the addition of the brown butter. I have also added crème fraîche into the base alongside double cream, the fat content of both ensures that your ice cream stays smooth but I find the sourness of the crème fraîche once agains helps to layer acidity in the final scoop.

The Curd

I used to make curds every week at Twelve Triangles, especially in the early days. We used them regularly for doughnut fillings folded through homemade ricotta before being piped into soft fluffy doughnuts rolled in sugar. I loved working my way through the seasons becoming more confident over time in how to adapt them. Most people think of lemon curd. The mix of sharp citrus juice alongside butter, sugar and eggs to make a creamy preserve that allows the seasons to live a little longer. You need something sharp to cut through the other ingredients so citrus is the obvious choice. Lime, grapefruit, blood oranges at a push but I wanted to see if I could use other sour fruits. I began with kumquats staying within citrus but working with something which couldn’t be juiced. I blended them down to a puree sieved this then proceeded as normal working out the proportions needed to sweeten and preserve the fruit. From there I began experimenting with rhubarb, blackcurrants, damsons, gooseberries and quince. For some fruits they needed citrus adding I would pair quince puree with plenty of lemon for a hybrid floral curd. Damsons so puckeringly sour didn’t need any help. It makes a deep purple spread, I love it.

Curds seemed to fall out of fashion over the last few years, or I certainly haven’t seen them as much as custards, gels and ganaches take centre stage.

Curd’s are always a little matt, they don’t share the clear sparkling clarity of a jam, the egg yolks always tinting the colour so it doesn’t stay true to it’s fruit. There seems something a little 70’s to them, burnt umber, Sienna, ochre’s the yellowed hue’s of frantic patterns from the era. I used red gooseberries for this curd which have been dampened to a pretty in pink creamy concoction.

Gooseberry curd

Recipe

Makes 2 jars (about 450g total)

Ingredients

• 380g gooseberries

• 100g water

• 1 whole large egg + 1 yolk

• 55g cubed butter

• 250g caster sugar

• juice of half a lemon

Method

• Begin by making your puree. I wash the gooseberries but because I am sieving them I don’t bother topping and tailing them (hurrah! it is one of my most hated kitchen jobs, manageable for a few hundred grams but when you hit kgs its pretty tedious.)

• Add them to a pan, ideally one with a lid alongside the water, bring this to a simmer and allow the fruit to cook until it’s broken down. I do about five minutes with the lid on then take it off for another five minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t stick.

• Once the fruit has become mushy pass it through a sieve, I do this by using a wooden spoon to enthusiastically rub it against the mesh until what’s left is dry. I got 270g of puree 30g either side of this is totally fine.

• To make the curd add the puree and sugar into pan putting it on a low heat, stirring it until the sugar is dissolved. Take it off the heat and add in the butter allowing it to melt. ( this lowers the temperature so that when you add the egg it doesn’t immediately scramble it)

• Whisk your egg and egg yolk, pour this through a sieve into your fruit, sugar and butter mix. I use a spatula or wooden spoon to stir the curd, I'm not a fan of whisking it as I don’t want any air in it.

• Keep this on a very low heat stirring constantly paying particular attention to the bottom and edges of the pan. Once it reaches 82c the egg is cooked out and your curd will be thickened. Take it off the heat and pour it into something to cool, or into sterilised jars. ( if jarring do not put into jars straight out the oven or you will cook the egg, let them cool a little first.)

Notes

1. If you are of a nervous or cautious disposition do this in a bain-marie which is a bowl suspended over a pan of gently simmering water, it is far more gentle and forgiving.

2. Any coloured gooseberries are fine.

Brown butter & crème fraîche ice cream with a gooseberry ripple.

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Recipe

Makes 1 litre

Ingredients

• 65g salted butter

• 125g double cream

• 50g crème fraîche

• 2 large eggs

• 65g caster sugar

• pinch of salt

• good squeeze of lemon juice roughly 20g

• As much curd as you want, I went for around 200g

Method

• Start by browning you butter, melt it in a small pan then cook stirring occasionally until it foams then starts turning golden and smelling nutty. Take it off the heat and pour it into a heat proof bowl or jug, allow it to cool.

• Lightly whip your cream, I do this by hand to keep control, you want trailing ribbons, not something stiff or dry. Once the cream is thickened add in the crème fraîche and fold through with your whisk.

• Separate the eggs, whisk the yolks with the caster sugar for around 3-5 minutes in a mixer or with a handheld mixer until it is thick and pale. You can do this by hand it will take around 10 minutes.

• Once the yolks are thick and pale stream in the browned butter whisking as you go. Once all the butter is incorporated pour this mixture into the cream and use your whisk to combine.

• Add the whites into the mixer with the salt and lemon juice and whisk until you get just past the soft peaks stage. Not dry but holding their shape.

• Add a spoonful of egg whites to the cream mix and fold through with your whisk once combined add the rest of the whites in two goes folding in-between.

• Once it is all together taste it to check to see if you would like anymore salt or lemon.

• To assemble find a tub with a lid which seals well and begin to layer. Start with around a 1/3 of the base mix then add 1/3 of your curd in dollops. Use a knife to drag through the curd swirling it into the base. Then repeat this more base with more dollops of curd until your tub is full. I finish on curd so you have a pretty pattern on top. Put it in the freezer, ideally leave it overnight. Allow it around 5 minutes at room temperature before serving.

Notes

1. You can use all double cream if you want/that’s what’s in your house.

2. The curd recipe makes more than you need and happened to be the amount I picked off the my bush. Feel free to scale it up or down depending on your haul. If you put it into sterilised jars and keep it in the fridge you will have 3 months on it, once opened eat within two weeks.

3. If you want this for a fancy dessert you can make it in loaf tin to then turn out and present at the table serving in slices. Drape the loaf tin with lots of clingfilm before adding the ice cream.

4. If you can’t get hold of gooseberries you can use another curd. The original recipe in Kitchen Table is with a walnut praline which is also incredible.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, I have been grabbing a teaspoon each time I pass the freezer which is a dangerous game considering it’s in the middle of the house and I can’t get anywhere without doing so.

I have finally got around to creating a Recipe Index with everything I have published here so far. It includes sourdough tutorials, cakes, custards, pastry and even some savoury dishes. There shall be 40 recipes once I update it to include this one. Paid subscribers will have access to them all and free subscribers will still receive all new posts plus you can see the last four weeks posts before they are archived.

I am excited to announce our very first baking Q&A session which will be on Tuesday 11th August at 7pm. It will be hosted on zoom, a relaxed and informal affair, Charlie may well come and say hello. You can ask anything baking related nothing is too small, you can bring things to show me or problems to diagnose or we can just chat if everyone feels a little shy to begin with. I’ll send out an email to paid subscribers the week before with the invitation and link in, I hope to see you there.

I have run out of child sitting time and am needed so I will say goodbye for now.

Emily

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You can buy my debut cookbook Kitchen Table- simple things made well

It is a recipe book focused on some of my favourite suppliers telling their stories. It is filled with recipes to make the most of these beautiful ingredients as well as minimising waste. Chapters are split into ingredients like olive oil, butter, fruit, milk & cream etc. You will find recipes for baking, cooking and fermenting.

I wanted to make looking for a recipes a little easier as I write more here. My posts are paywalled after four weeks so you need to become a paying subscriber to have access to the full index.

I am a sourdough baker, recipe developer, cook and mum. Formerly of Twelve Triangles an award winning bakery in Edinburgh as well as author of Kitchen Table - simple things made well.

If you would like to join my community please subscribe for free or else consider a paid subscription. This will get you full access to all my recipes/writing, a live monthly baking Q&A as well as exclusive updates on the renovation and build of my bakery school and mill. Everyone will receive weekly emails with stories and recipes. For free subscribers my posts will go behind a paywall after four weeks.

Subscribe now

Sourdough

My Fundamental Guide to Beginners Sourdough Including a Recipe - The only guide you will need to make get started and make your first sourdough loaf. It includes step by step video tutorials to guide you through mixing, fermenting, shaping, scoring and baking.

An Exploration of High Hydration Sourdough and a Basic Recipe - This is a long read including video tutorials.

Sourdough Flatbreads - The dough can live in your fridge for days, then rolled and turned into flatbreads, Naan bread or pita bread.

Sourdough Hot Cross Buns + A Version using a Biga - This is a recipe I have developed over 10 years to make the perfect soft spiced hot cross buns. I make these using a sweet sourdough start. There is also a conversion for a yeasted recipe using a biga.

Porridge Sourdough Loaves - This is the loaf I make multiple times a week for my neighbours and family. Cooked porridge and some wholemeal flour give this the most beautiful custardy texture.

Sourdough Discard Pickelets - A hybrid between a pancake and a crumpet using leftover sourdough.

Baking with Sourdough or Leftover Bread

Leftover Bread Granola - Our morning staple using up the odds and ends of bread we collect through the week.

Apricot & Breadcrumb Frangipane tart - This is a collaboration with with her beautiful wholemeal and breadcrumb pate sucre filled with a brown butter and honey breadcrumb frangipane.

Sourdough Simnel Cake - This is a beautifully scented fruit cake fermented overnight with sourdough starter

Galette De Rois with Brown Butter, Walnut & Breadcrumb Frangipane

Cakes

Banana & Peanut Butter Cake - This cake is made using a caramel as the base of the sponge with wholemeal flour and crème fraîche for the most beautiful flavour.

Coconut & Jam School Cake - This is a nostalgic tray cake, I’ve added a thick coconut milk to the sponge which keeps it incredibly soft. I made it in spring blitzing blackcurrant leaves into the sponge, you can just leave these out at other times of the year.

Blood Orange, Ricotta & Olive Oil Cake

Arguably the BEST Carrot Cake

Marzipan & Chocolate Chip Emergency Cakes

Marsala Bread & Butter Pudding

Charlie's Perfect Lemon Cake - This is my dream lemon drizzle cake with clotted cream in the sponge mix and that classic crunchy granulated sugar topping.

Tray Bakes & Biscuits

Millionaires Shortbread - This is my ultimate version updated from. my cookbook. It has wholemeal flour through the shortbread base made with melted butter. Topped with a crème fraîche butterscotch finished with dark chocolate.

Brown Butter Madeleines - All the information you ever needed to understand how to get the perfect hump, it’s not all about the recipe!

Grasemere Style Gingerbread & Rhubarb Bar

Brown Butter Oat Sandwich Biscuits

Soft Glazed Gingerbread

Scones, Pancakes, Pastry & Tarts

Wild Garlic Scones

Rhubarb Pie & Burnt Honey Custard - This includes a recipe for a wonderful flaky pastry made with lard which melts as you eat it.

Tattie Scones

Blood Orange & Ricotta Pancakes

Hand Laminated Puff Pastry

Ice Cream / Custard / Sauces

Christmas Pudding & Brown Butter Semifreddo

Brandy Butter

Pouring Vanila Custard

Brown Butter & Crème Fraîche No Churn Ice Cream with a Gooseberry Ripple

Preserves

Raspberry & Blackcurrant Leaf Jam

Rhubarb & Roasted Vanilla Jam

Seville Orange & Bergamot Marmalade

Brandy Marzipan

Gooseberry Curd

Savoury

My Perfect Scrambled Eggs

Paneer & Wild Garlic & Paneer Stuffed Parathas

Blood Orange, Shaved Sprout & Manouri Salad

Hazelnut & Prune Sprout Salad

Chicken Soup with Pasta Stars - If you are ever sick or in need of comfort this is my go to dish.

I will continue to update this as we go.

Emily

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Normally I have a plan for where these will go, they are most often thought up or crafted from the bath. Today I am going to sit, write and see where we end up.

This week I have been on Holiday with Charlie, Iain and my sister, I have two. This one lives in LA, we hadn’t seen her for a year. We live incredibly different lives. Apart from the obvious LA/Scotland location she works as a creative director, a job I still struggle to define. The most direct explanation which may give you a glimpse of the magnitude of her work is she was the creative director/show director of Bad Bunnies half time Super Bowl show earlier this year. It has just received 9 Emmy nominations and in what feels like the most absurd and cruel twist of fate her name is on none of them. We have come from our different worlds meeting for the week in Birchington on Sea, a five minute train journey along the Kentish coast from Margate.

Creativity and our path in life.

I hadn’t fully realised until this week how much I have kept myself physically, mentally and emotionally locked up this year. I have not ventured outside of my kitchen or my little world of Charlie, Iain and the sausages. I shrunk everything to manageable bite size pieces, keeping myself away from situations where people could ask me questions. The school run, the food shopping, dinner, creating recipes and writing to you all this felt safe.

Welcome to Moments through food. Here I write to you weekly from my steading in the Scottish borders. Telling stories about food and ingredients alongside my slightly obsessive recipe development. I am here to give you the tools to understand how or why things work in recipes. This is to help you build confidence in the kitchen as well as being able to alter recipes to suit your own time schedules and tastes. I believe cooking and baking need to work for you.

I am a sourdough baker, recipe developer, cook and mum. Formerly of Twelve Triangles an award winning bakery in Edinburgh as well as author of Kitchen Table - simple things made well.

If you would like to join my community please subscribe for free or else consider a paid subscription. This will get you full access to all my recipes/writing, a live monthly baking Q&A as well as exclusive updates on the renovation and build of my bakery school and mill. Everyone will receive weekly emails with stories and recipes. For free subscribers my posts will go behind a paywall after four weeks.

Subscribe now

I used to live in Brighton, I went to university there studying painting. A studio to call my own and five days a week to paint. I spent my days soaked in turps, oil paint smeared across my arms and a rather unforgettable time when I managed to smear burnt umber so completely across my face it seemed as if I had joined the cult of fake tan. Hours spent trawling vintage shops, a fascination with 80’s prom dresses and taxidermy, an ever revolving door of hair colours and styles. Hungover breakfasts in greasy spoons, pick n mix sugar highs to keep me soaring through the day before other highs were discovered. Underground club scenes, burlesque, all night house parties and frequent trips to London. It all seems like another life, another me. I don’t often think of that time living by the sea.

Arriving off the train in Margate, Charlie’s small hot sticky hand clutching my fingers. I am hit with a flood of memories of the coast, of idea’s, individuality, celebration, community, poverty, squats and outdoor living. Day’s rolling into nights, structure unheard of anything is possible. It’s all on the surface, tangible. I feel a little skittish at first a sort of muscle memory kicking in, my body remembers this sort of place, this way of living. It’s intoxicating. Being here with my child my brain is faltering to fit these pieces of the puzzle together, I am not the Emily who lived at the seaside before. Now my days are bookend with breakfasts and bedtimes. Structure and routine the steady beat to my life. A fear of the unknown has crept in and taken hold. I lack flexibility.

As the week has passed those boundaries have gently eased, elongated. I have tried to quiet the whispers of rigour used to soothe. I realise I am a controlling mum, not perhaps in the sense most would think when you hear that phrase. He eats lemon sorbet for lunch, makes friends with strangers and often wanders to the edge of my field of vision. I am the conductor. I weigh up and analyse each decision we make based off Charlie’s needs, my predictions of them. Will going out for dinner after a day on the beach push him too far? How will he feel when other family members come to visit will he be okay to share his aunty? I am used to our steading, our space, freedom and long days. Now to judge a half hour wait for a train, the squeeze to board when you’re hot after a day on the beach a little sun scorched and fractious. I am always trying to stay one step ahead, to manage, to smooth the path to ensure everyone has the best time and meltdowns/overwhelm are avoided. There is a good chance this is for me not Charlie.

The longer I have been here the more I begin to wonder about the choices we make in our lives, how do we know what is right for us or our children? I was certain before I came here that building my life at the steading was the right course for my family and I. Building a business where people came to me, removing my need to inch my way away from the steading, for the first time I am doubting that. Am I making Charlie’s life too organised, too contained before he has the time to experience anything else.

Turner contemporary

We went to the Turner in Margate, it’s the first time he has been to an art gallery. I used to live in this world. There is colour, expression, it feels vast billowing with space and possibilities. There is a huge room with floor to ceiling windows looking out over the sea, an Anthony Gormley statue facing away from us searching the sea. Appearing and disappearing with the tides. This room has easels, drawing boards, tables, large corduroy modular sofas and bookcases filed with children’s books on artists, drawing and culture. You are invited to spend time in this room using it as you wish.

On the first day I read to Charlie for two hours, we began by sitting on the thick cord sofa, the fabric soft against my flushed skin, the room and sofa cool from the air conditioning, a respite from the clawing heat outside. As I read Charlie slowly crumples until he lays against me on the sofa yawning, finally a moment of calm after days of endless sweaty excitement. The next day we went back with his cousin who had come to visit. They were high as kites lifting and bating each other, the screams got louder, the play more intense before we peeled them off the beach. The wind had finally arrived leaving us shivering even though my back and arms were hot radiating heat from the throb of sunburn (I know). They ran up the stairs in the gallery chasing and shrieking at each other as I desperately tried to quieten them. They entered the room instantly their demeanour beginning to shift. I collected drawing boards taking them over to the paper so they could choose, finally sourcing crayons. Charlie took himself to the window curling himself over his paper his cousin a little more hesitant as he was new to the space. Gradually we all joined them, my sister and I both drawing portraits, Iain making origami everyone finding a little peace through concentration and expression.

This space is such an incredible gift to Margate, it’s free with everything provided no questions asked. It offers education in a soft way. An older couple came in on our first trip collapsing onto the sofas exhausted from the heat. After a while of merely lying recovering they began to search the library leafing through the children’s art books. It is a space for everyone. We don’t have these types of spaces where we live, there is not a lot of emphasis or support for the arts or creativity. Being back in a town that emanates creativity and originality has sparked a part of me I wasn’t sure was there anymore.

I think of Charlie, all the different facets of him. His love of colour, pattern, expression, he loves people and is wildly open to anything which comes his way. He also loves farming, tractors and the place we call home. I took him into a vintage shop, he tried on a pair of pale pink heart sunglasses with a straw bonnet and pink bow instantly striking a pose. Before I had put my phone back in my bag from taking a quick photo he had disappeared off down the narrow racks packed with luridly patterned 60’s & 70’s dresses. When I caught up with him I found him precariously wobbling trying to stand in a pair of 5” stiletto Jimmy Choo’s determined to have his moment in this lofty prize. He encouraged me to leave my usual tonal uniform helping to zip me into a 70’s lurex knit coloured dress as I kneeled in the velvet leopard print adorned dressing room so he could zip me in. We were partners in crime. I wonder if he fits a town like this better, if he feels more comfortable and able to express himself.

Costa del paddling pool

We spent a day at a place we dubbed costa del paddling pool (disclaimer I have never been to the Spanish coast, it’s just what I imagine of Brits abroad). It is hard to paint you a picture which truly depicts this space. In the UK a lot of farms or estates with big houses have turned to building children’s adventure centre’s in the hopes of generating money. These normally feature some kind of woodland walk with a rotating cast of fairies or dinosaurs depending on the time of year, a flying fox and other adventure playground equipment, the now ubiquitous giant pillows for children (and adults) to bounce on. There is often some level of animal involvement, from your typical farmyard goats, sheep and cows - goats are always a firm favourite with their constant quest to nibble they are always happy to come towards desperate little hands, their love of swings and children’s playground equipment a bonus. Who doesn’t love a baby goat lackadaisically twirling on a roundabout. Some go for alpacas, meerkats are also a favourite. This place didn’t have the best selection, there will little goats but no playground for them, a promise of brushing a piglet for a mere £20/per person with a minimum of two involved to book, the piglets in question where now indistinguishable in size from their mothers. So far a little disappointing.

The main reason we had come was the promise of a splash park, being unused to the heat staying near water seemed the safest way to spend our days with Charlie. It consisted of two vast blue inflatable paddling pools side by side surrounded by deck chairs, a tiki bar and parasols. At the end of each paddling pool they had built a ‘water fountain’ which was a simple frame made of 2x4 with a piece of plastic plumbing pipe in an L which water poured from. I loved it. We haven’t left the UK yet with Charlie. Sitting here in 30c heat, a slush puppy in hand and Charlie zooming round in an inflatable unicorn filled with glitter, making friends whilst a goat bleats behind me was bliss. My sister thinks I'm crazy and need to get out more (these things are all true) but it was so silly and joyful. We were there for over 6 hours my sister wildly underestimating how long Charlie will stay put once he has zoned in on something. We left hot and exhausted having made a new friend, Charlies eyes blood shot from chlorine but oh so happy.

This holiday has been filled with unexpected pleasures and childlike happiness a constant supply of fizzy water and ice creams. I have mostly been off my phone and even away from the kitchen making only a few dinners. Most days have been spent on the beach watching with wonder at the seeming unpredictability of the changing tides.

I’m going to finish with a few recommendations from us if you ever find yourself on this part of the Kentish coast.

Food

Oast bakery - This is run by Will and his wife, Will trained with me at Twelve Triangles before moving back down south. It’s a gorgeous bakery in Cliftonville Margate, their seeded loaf and buns were a particular highlight.

Staple Stores - A little series of bakeries and cafes dotted along the coast, I went to both Ramsgate and Westgate-on-Sea. The focaccia was delicious we took it home for lunch with leftover roast chicken and fennel. The almond pain au chocolate was also divinely gooey.

Palms Pizzaria- This New York style slice shop in Margate has fantastic pizza which is a huge treat for us it isn’t often found in the Scottish Borders unless we make our own. You can either grab a slice or two in town or do what we did and ordered a whole 20” pie for the family to share back home. A few classic toppings and the most delicious crust.

Sargasso - This is a sibling restaurant to the famous Brawn in London. It is situated on the sea front at the main beach in Margate. We went for dinner which with Charlie is a little rogue as he normally eats earlier and is fussy. They were incredibly kind and accommodating as I enquired if they would be able to do us a plate of sourdough, plain cucumber and strawberries for him so the rest of us could eat. The highlights were fried calamari and aioli the thinnest whisper of crunchy batter laced around tentacles and soft slippery squid. Chickpeas with yoghurt and pine nuts was incredible they appeared in a deep terracotta dish with a sort of broth underneath, they tasted slightly meaty and were so soft. We were informed afterwards the liquid below came from the yoghurt some excellent EVOO and lemon, It was divine. We finished with soft serve and meringue with raspberries, chilled custard and lemon cream.

Angelas - We went to their ice cream shop, they also have a restaurant and a newly opened bar. I had banana, miso and caramel ice cream and dark chocolate sorbet which was incredible. There were little chunks of banana sponge in the ice cream which added some texture. The sorbet was silky and rich. Charlie has lived off their lemon sorbet which is intensely sharp. My sister tried their white chocolate and blue cheese ice cream which I fear is a little too far.

Forts - A great local brunch/lunch spot big tables spilling out onto a deck opposite the sea. It’s in the more local area of Cliftonville just round the corner from the old Lido. You can eat scrambled eggs with fennel sausage, green chilli, pesto and sourdough to give you an idea of their flavour.

Little Swift - A cocktail bar on the main strip with a takeaway hatch. You can collect frozen slushies to take to the beach. They have a selection of alcoholic slushies, my sister had a spicy pineapple margarita with pickle and slushy aperlo. I had a Brazilian lemonade which was incredible.

The Bus Cafe - Straight off the main beach of Margate stands an old red bus converted into a kitchen for breakfast and brunch. The hash browns with kimchi and poached eggs was my favourite. They also did kids rolls to keep everyone happy.

Dive - A little taco spot on the stone pier in Margate it’s only open at the weekends. We had tortilla’s with their own chilli oil crunch and sour cream followed by quesadillas with tomatillo salsa and string cheese in a blue corn tortilla. My sister had a fish taco with pickled radish and pink pickled onions. It was all exceptional, Charlie sat under the table reading a comic and eating chips. It was also fantastic service.

Shops/Activities

Turner Contemporary - This gallery is incredible, the exhibition on whilst we were there was the Hulda Guzman a female artist from the Dominican Republic.

Hulda Guzmán’s paintings open portals into vibrant, dreamlike worlds, where the artist, her family, animals and mythical beings exist in close dialogue with nature. Spanning a decade of work and featuring new, large-scale works, Turner Contemporary presents the first European institutional exhibition of the Dominican artist.

The vibrancy of her paintings were so generous inviting you into her world and the jungle. Creatures and deities littered across the canvas playful yet otherworldly.

Dulsie - An ethical skincare, scent and candle brand using seaweed for the local coast. My sister very kindly took me here and bought some treats for my up and coming birthday. I got the most enticing perfume from them with notes of fir, star anise, cedar wood and resin. The house we are staying at has their bladderwrack and fennel hand soap which we have been enjoying daily I'm waiting for this to come back in stock.

Madam Popoff - The site of our whimsical vintage shopping and Jimmy Choo finds. This place is packed with gorgeous dresses, shoes and accessories.

The Margate Bookshop - We found this absolute treasure where we all left with bundles of books, Charlie sat on the staircase in the shop reading through their whole children’s section whilst Iain and I picked up some new reads. They have a thoughtful curated selection where we could happily have left with most of it. Small but perfectly formed with friends popping in and everyone happy to give recommendations.

Walpole Bay Tidal Pool - This is a little way down the coast from the main beach, quieter with residents coming for their daily swim and families setting up camp for the day.

Minnie-Mae Studio - A ceramic studio in Ramsgate filled with the most incredible kitsch food based ceramics, imagine radicchio plates, pea candles and fried egg plates. Everything is gorgeous and you can’t help but smile.

Dreamland - This was actually a little disappointing, possibly because Charlie is a little risk averse so not massively into rides. My sister had been here about a decade ago when it still had more of its vintage roots. If you are into rides then it is probably worth it.

Thank you for reading, recipes will restart next week when I am back in my kitchen if I haven’t run off and relocated to Margate.

Emily

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Hello,

This week has felt a little like chaos. We are coming to the end of term with a very tired Charlie and some slightly overwhelmed parents. W are preparing to go away with all the excitement and planning that brings as well as making bread and cakes for a couple of orders. It doesn’t feel like there has been much calm. Today I need to go and pick up my final sacks of flour from Scotland The Bread which is a bittersweet moment. They will last me a few months at the volume I make but then that will be the end of the flour milled by Andrew and his team. There are a few goodbye’s being had right now.

Welcome to Moments through food. Here I write to you weekly from my steading in the Scottish borders. Telling stories about food and ingredients alongside my slightly obsessive recipe development. I am here to give you the tools to understand how or why things work in recipes. This is to help you build confidence in the kitchen as well as being able to alter recipes to suit your own time schedules and tastes. I believe cooking and baking need to work for you.

I am a sourdough baker, recipe developer, cook and mum. Formerly of Twelve Triangles an award winning bakery in Edinburgh as well as author of Kitchen Table - simple things made well.

If you would like to join my community please subscribe for free or else consider a paid subscription. This will get you full access to all my recipes/writing, a live monthly baking Q&A as well as exclusive updates on the renovation and build of my bakery school and mill. Everyone will receive weekly emails with stories and recipes. For free subscribers you have access to all my posts for four weeks then they will go behind a paywall..

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The Trials & Tribulations of Fudge

One evening whilst putting Charlie to bed he asked if we could go to the old fashioned sweetie shop in Berwick so he could get some fudge. It seemed a little far to drive ( 1hr 45mins) so I fatally told him we could make it. This has been the most humbling and infuriating of tasks. I can confidently say I cannot make fudge, anyone who says it’s easy is lying. There are few food related things that I completely fail at but this emulsion of sugar and fat appears to be one of them. I have spent a collective 10 hours standing stirring various mixes of sugar and cream at my cooker. Let me tell you every single batch has split or turned grainy at varying points of the process. I have mined the internet and my contacts for help. Anna from Quince bakery very kindly sent me her recipe, I still managed to ruin that. I slowly cooked it until it was luscious and shiny then left it for its cooling period, when I came back the whole mass had became spontaneously granular, don’t ask me why. Not to be defeated for what felt like the 100th time I slowly remelted it adding milk, I allowed the sugar to completely dissolve patiently stirring before reboiling. As it cooled I ran out to get Charlie from school, a quick trip to the library for holiday books then back home to beat the fudge.

Charlie by this point is pleading with me to stop, he says the fudge is fine, why won’t I listen to him. It is not fine, the fudge he speaks of is a different batch which is pooling on the table at home, he doesn’t even know about Anna’s yet. I had removed it from its tin in the morning, it has been gently relaxing back into a puddle ever since. Charlie needs to learn this about his mother, if you ask me to do something it needs to be done perfectly or I will not stop.

I HATE fudge, I wasn’t a huge fan before but oh my god I vehemently hate it now. It has become a personal nemesis mocking me from the pan, the counter and the bin.

When I returned home to Anna’s fudge, is wasn’t grainy, excellent I say to Charlie I think we might have fudge… It looks a little shiny but I hope once beaten it will become dull and thicken. I begin to beat, the unmistakable sheen of fat separating starts to mock me. Soon the mass of caramel hued sugar is laughing at me. It slides around the bowl, puddles of clear oil now sloshing as it mixes. The occasional slapping noise as the fudge hits the side of the bowl. This has not gone to plan. I send Anna a photo. To say she is shocked is being polite, she has never seen it split so bad. I seem to have a talent for ruining fudge. I have run out of cream so I can’t beat some heated back into the mix in the hopes of emulsifying the fats back together, I cannot bare to remelt it and start again. Anna suggests an immersion blender as a last ditch. I try this but the slick oil stubbornly stays apart, the sugary mass though starts to thicken. I decide to pour the oil off and try whisking it in my mixer, this feels like the closest I have got to fudge over the last few days, I cannot give up.

Frankly at this point I need it done.

Oil poured off, there is a lot of it, I whisk the remaining fudge. It finally begins to do what’s its meant to loosing its shine becoming a thicker mass with ribbons left trailing from the whisk.

I look at the bowl of oil, this is flavour. I feel hesitant to throw it away unsure of the best way to dispose of it, fearing fat seeping through the bin bag whilst also knowing our septic tank isn’t the healthiest. I go rogue and decide to try whipping it back into the fudge, streaming it back in, in the hopes it will emulsify like a mayonnaise. By some absolute miracle, perhaps there is a god who knew I couldn’t take anymore, it works. I manage to get all the oil back into the fudge, it has thickened, it is dull. I have made fudge. Perhaps in the most bastardised way possible but I have made it. I quickly decant it into a tin and contort myself like a pretzel crossing as much of me as I can in the hopes it sets.

The next morning I am up before Charlie to check the fudge, it is a solid block. I pull it from the tin and slice a row chopping it into little cubes. I taste it. A moment of joy, it melts, it’s smooth, the taste of sweetened dairy soothing my tastebuds, my frustration from the last few days slipping away on a sea of cream, a blanket of milky calm. We have fudge. I have not failed Charlie. I tiptoe to his room telling him to follow me, I have a surprise. He holds my hand looking up at me expectantly not sure what is going on. I lead him to the kitchen and proudly present my firm cubes of fudge. I can finally announce it is done. He asks to taste it, normally not the ideal breakfast for an already ‘busy’ five year old but this was a hard won victory and frankly I want the praise. A moment of quiet ecstasy as the fudge melts and sugar rushes his blood stream, eyes dilating, a soft murmur of pleasure is emitted.

The next morning we package the fudge into little parcels for his teachers a thank you present for the end of the year. Wrapping in hessian then securing with string, a jar of strawberry jam added to the bags. I want to teach Charlie the joy of giving, not in the sense of a quick rush round the nearest shop with a £10 budget but taking time to make something. The act of giving can be so much more than the moment you hand it over or the money spent. When you give something homemade you have given them time and thought, there has been discussions of the person whilst you gather and produce what you are going to make them, you take them into your home. I often think that time is much more precious than money or the item being given, the act of giving thanks feels more tangible.

I hope he feels proud as he goes in and hands them over, he can tell tales of strawberry picking, the process of cleaning and hulling them. The joy he had playing with the vibrant pink foam I had skimmed from the top of the jam as it cooked. This is what we can give to his teachers the memories and excitement of a little boy they are helping to shape. I hope he doesn’t tell them the tale of him mummy and the fudge but who am I kidding it’s Charlie that’s what he will lead with.

At the end of this Charlie declares I am resilient, this is part of their school motto. I did not give up on the fudge even when it made me very cross, he’s now happy to tell me this is a good thing as he carries the multicoloured bags of treats into school. I think this is true although there is a very thin line between resilient and stubborn. I am glad that Charlie recognises this quality, the battle to keep going when everything around you tells you to stop. The subsequent joy and satisfaction you feel when you make it. You may not have got to the end result the same way as everyone else, it may have felt hard but the rush you get at the end is greater because of it. He has now helpfully told me I need to apply the same resilience to gardening as I am also bad at that, “not to worry though mum you have next year to get better”.

I am forever humbled.

Sourdough Pikelets

This week’s recipe is obviously not fudge, that is quite clearly something I am not qualified to teach. Instead I am sharing the recipe for these very simple pikelets using discard. If you are wondering what discard is, it is what’s left of your sourdough or leaven once you have made your bread. In an ideal universe you only mix as much as you need for baking with a little leftover for the next feed. Sometimes though you calculate wrong or even decide you can’t be bothered to bake that day rendering you with leftovers. There are plenty of things you can add this into. For the pikelets we want a little of its leavening power but we also have bicarb hence it doesn’t have to be full strength. You can use discard or sourdough that hasn’t been fed for around 3 days in this recipe, after that its starts to taste pretty funky.

I had never eaten pikelets or given them much thought before reading Midnight Chicken. She has a recipe for imperfect pikelets which seemed about right for where I am in my life. As is often the way with me I tinkered adding sourdough discard and some wholemeal flour. I wake up and mix these then leave them in my office covered with a tea towel for an hour or two before heading down to the kitchen and heating a cast iron pan. It took me a few tries to get these right, they are a little chewy which I love, less fluffy than a scotch pancake yet not as robust as a crumpet. The little holes remind me of the surface of the moon, pockmarked and waiting to hold warm pools of melted butter.

The Recipe

Ingredients

Makes around 8

• 80g sourdough discard

• 130g milk

• 120g warm water/ water from a recently boiled kettle

• 100g plain flour

• 30g wholemeal flour (any grain variety you want)

• 1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda

• Good pinch of flakey sea salt

• 10g caster sugar

• 10g butter

Method

• Weigh the milk and water together, you are aiming for a mixture which is warm but not hot.

• Add the discard to this and whisk to combine.

• Add the dry ingredients into a bowl and whisk, then whisk in the wet mixture.

• Whisk enthusiastically for a few minutes to help get the bubbles in.

• Cover with a tea towel and leave somewhere warm for an hour to two. When you check back it will seem foamy and a little puffy on top.

• Heat a frying pan or cast iron skillet, add a little butter and wipe off the excess with some kitchen roll. When it is hot to hold you hand over pour half a ladle of batter onto the pan. Depending on the size of your pan you may be able to do a few at a time.

• Let the mixture cook and bubble for a minute or two, once the surface is matt and the bubbles are set flip it over for another minute on the second side. Wrap them in a tea towel and keep cooking until all your mix is gone.

• Either eat immediately smothered in butter, jam or anything else which takes your fancy. I also found you could keep them wrapped for a day or two then pop in the toaster.

Notes

1. The discard amount doesn’t have to be specific anywhere from 30g up it will change the flavour and volume but nothing else disastrous.

2. Use any type of wholegrain flour you want, spelt, emmer, rye etc

3. It doesn’t water what hydration your starter is the one I use is 60% if yours is really liquid hold back 20g of water.

4. These are delicious with butter, jam, or any other spread which takes your fancy. They are also a great savoury base. I had them covered in grated cheese, popped until the grill until the cheese was bubbling then topped with a fried egg, avocado, lime and chilli oil

Thank you for reading this week, I hope you have enjoyed my tales of woe and if anyone has a foolproof method for making fudge or knowledge to share please share it. Disappointingly the finished fudge was delicious, I tried to fix another failed attempt after my strange emulsification thinking perhaps I had found my own unique way but I couldn’t save it. I continue to fail at fudge making. Let me know if you try the pikelets and what you think they really are delicious I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to try them.

Mid July I will begin archiving posts older than 4 weeks which paid subscribers will continue to have access to, I will also announce the first live baking Q&A for August. I am so excited to have a space to talk to you all about baking. I have been trying to think of a name for it, sourdough surgery? Baking agony aunt? Any suggestions let me know.

I am off to the seaside today with the family, keep me in your thought with a seven and a half hour drive down south. I am armed with snacks and audio books.

Emily

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This week I am excited to share with you the collaboration between and I. Allegra approached me with the idea of working on a recipe together based around my particular penchant for wholegrain and reusing old bread. This is an idea you know I have been working on for a while, finding ways to make sure I use all my sourdough leftovers. First was my sourdough granola, now you have the recipe for this beautiful apricot frangipane tart which uses sourdough breadcrumbs in both Allegra’s pastry and the frangipane filling. I hope you enjoy.

Welcome to Moments through food. Here I write to you weekly from my steading in the Scottish borders. Telling stories about food and ingredients alongside my slightly obsessive recipe development. I am here to give you the tools to understand how or why things work in recipes. This is to help you build confidence in the kitchen as well as being able to alter recipes to suit your own time schedules and tastes. I believe cooking and baking need to work for you.

I am a sourdough baker, recipe developer, cook and mum. Formerly of Twelve Triangles an award winning bakery in Edinburgh as well as author of Kitchen Table - simple things made well.

If you would like to join my community please subscribe below for free. You will receive weekly emails with stories and recipes as well as having access to my archive and subscriber chat.

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Allegra: My love for working with whole grain flour began in the early days of my job as a cook. The head baker of one of the first restaurants I worked for was passionate about baking bread and uncompromising in his desire to make loaves that floored both diners and chefs alike.

To do so, he used the best possible ingredient for the job: regeneratively farmed, stone-milled whole grain flour. On top of his busy work schedule, he would drive for several hours every couple of weeks to pick up 25kg sacks of incredible flour from farmers around Ontario and haul them back to the restaurant. His effort made all the difference, in fact, I don’t think I truly understood how good sourdough, or bread generally, could be until I tasted his. Nutty and nuanced from the grain with a custardy crumb from the high hydration dough he worked with and a dark crust that cracked under a knife, these loaves were exceptional. Whenever I imagine perfect bread, this is what comes to mind.

I’ve since learned to appreciate not only the flavour potential of whole grains, but, just as important, the health benefits of consuming them. The endosperm of a grain of wheat is what is used to make white (plain) flour. Sweet, consistent, and full of protein, this is the stuff of fluffy, palatable, easy to make loaves of bread, cakes, and cookies. The big problem with white flour however is that all of the nutritional value and fibre available in wheat is found in the bran and germ of the kernel, not the endosperm. When we sift out these key components, we are essentially sifting out everything that is good for us and creating a depleted product that has been linked to all sorts of negative health outcomes (check out our further reading/listening list at the bottom for more on this).

When Emily Cuddeford and I were trying to decide on a recipe to develop together, her interest in whole grains stood out to me. Emily is an incredible bread baker and has been writing about sourdough and testing recipes a lot these days with beautiful British flours. With odds and ends of loaves of bread piling up, she has been trying to come up with creative ways of baking with them, lest these delicious bits go to waste. Some of my favourite foods were born out of necessity to use up bits of stale bread in this way: pain perdu, panzanella, ribollita, and I’m just scratching the surface. Emily had a brilliant idea: why don’t we use breadcrumbs to make frangipane? I instantly loved the idea and proposed a frangipane tart, with leftover bread integrated in both the frangipane and the pâte sucrée. It seemed like a worthwhile project with the potential to reduce food waste, introduce interesting flavours/textures, and help us understand and develop creative ways of working with old bread.

Emily decided to tackle the frangipane component, and I, the pastry. Initially, I tried to work with my standard pâte sucrée, replacing the almond meal with finely ground breadcrumbs. I quickly found that the breadcrumbs soaked up so much extra moisture that the pastry was super dry and nearly impossible to roll out into an even, thin crust and. In my first test, I ended up having to press the dough together in my tart tin piece by piece like a jigsaw puzzle and it baked into a crust that, although it worked and was delicious, was fissured. In the next round, I reworked it, adding more egg and butter to help counter the hydrophilic nature of bread, and tried again. The second round was softer and much easier to work with, baking into a brittle, biscuity crust that provides a nice textural contrast paired with the frangipane.

Emily: A little terminology: depending where you are in the world, wholemeal, wholegrain, and wholewheat all essentially mean the same thing. If you are buying flour under any of these terms, the bran, germ, and endosperm of a wheat berry are all included in your bag of flour. This gives the most nutritionally dense and flavourful flour to work with.

Beyond whole grain flour, you have the choice of stoneground or roller milled flour. The main difference between stoneground and roller milled flour is:

1. Stoneground flour is produced when the whole wheat berry is fed between two large stones with grooves cut into them. These grind together breaking down the grain into finer particles. This means that as the grain is crushed, the oils ( a lot of the beneficial nutrition is in these) leak out and stay within the flour you are buying.

2. Roller milled flour is produced by cracking the wheat and separating it into its three components before sifting them and processing each part of the grain separately.

To make roller milled wholemeal flour, the bran and germ are added back into the finely milled white flour produced from the endosperm. There is some argument that you lose flavour and, more importantly, nutrition this way as the white flour doesn’t come into contact with their oils from the bran and germ as the wheat is processed.

This is particularly handy to remember even when buying white flours: if you buy a stoneground white flour, it will likely contain more nutrition and flavour than its roller milled counterpart. You will notice this if you buy a bag of each, stoneground flour is generally creamy with a pink or beige hue as opposed to being startlingly white. Colour = flavour.

As I get older and further into my baking journey, my love of grains, flour and flavour is deepening. I am spending more time getting to know my local millers and grain producers and am even at the point of hoping to get my own mill in the not too distant future. My baking is not about things looking perfect, it is about flavour, the origin of ingredients, and the integrity of the food chain. I want to respect ingredients, making use of it all and reducing waste.

When you either buy or make a loaf of bread, especially if it is sourdough and made with good grain, not only has the time and expertise been invested in growing and milling the grain, but a whole load of extra flavour has been added when it is fermented and turned into bread. Great food is about layering flavour at every level, it doesn’t have to be complicated, just considered. If you have an amazing tasting loaf that is past its prime, you won’t want to waste it. The good news is that its flavour can be harnessed into further baking. For this frangipane, I decided to enhance the toasty, caramel notes from the dark crust of my loaf with brown butter and balance the complex sourness with a floral honey and sweet apricots. It has the most glorious flavour alongside Allegra’s biscuity pastry. I have also added an extra egg into this frangipane as we lose a little moisture when browning the butter and the breadcrumbs absorb more moisture compared to the traditionally used almond flour. This keeps the frangipane soft and a little squidgy.

I love sourdough baking and bread but I understand that this is a time commitment and interest that not everyone has. When Allegra approached me about doing a collaboration based on whole grains, I thought this was a great opportunity to help show how you can use both wholegrain and, more importantly, leftover bread in your everyday baking. Whether you are baking your own bread or buying it from your local bakery, it is a commitment either time wise or financially. This recipe, and hopefully this newsletter, can start to introduce the idea to you that good bread and flour never need to go to waste. A little time spent drying the ends of loaves and processing them into breadcrumbs means you can store them for months and add them into your baking.

The process of making breadcrumbs:

Firstly, the main thing we need to do is remove all the moisture from the bread. Moisture is what causes mold and if you try to grind your breadcrumbs when they are still damp or containing moisture they could 1. possibly break your blender as it all gums together and/or 2. start to grow mold over a period of time.

I make bread a lot, for my family, for my neighbours and to develop recipes for my Substack, so I have plenty kicking around. As I get towards the end of the loaf or a new one has come along and taken over as the loaf of choice, I slice the last of it. This is where you now have two options. I mostly follow option two as I have a constant cycle of bread in my house but if you are making crumbs to follow this recipe, I would go for option one.

1. Turn your oven to 120°C fan / 140°C / 285°F and spread the slices of bread across the racks. After 10 minutes, check to see if they are feeling dry, then flip. Once the bread feels light and dry but not coloured, it is ready. Allow it to cool on a rack out of the oven so steam doesn’t build up and soften it again.

2. Slice the bread and leave it drying on racks in your house for a few days until completely dry/brittle.

Once the bread is completely dry, chop it up with a knife into smaller pieces then put it in a high powered blender or a spice grinder. Let it run until you have as close to a semolina texture as possible. If you need to, give your blender breaks to cool down. It should be sandy by the end. This can stay in a sealed tub for 3 months or you can also freeze them if you have loads. I add a small portion into a lot of loaf cakes, use them in dumplings, or use them to garnish pasta with parmesan and herbs. There are endless uses for leftover bread.

Breadcrumb Apricot Frangipane Tart

Breadcrumb Pâte Sucrée

• 50g icing sugar

• 70g butter, room temperature

• 150g whole grain flour

• 23g breadcrumbs

• ⅓ tsp fine salt

• 40g egg (whisked and weighed), room temperature

1. Add the icing sugar and butter to a mixing bowl and beat together until light and fluffy. Whisk the flour, breadcrumbs, and salt together in a separate bowl, then add to the butter mixture and mix until coarse crumbs form. Add the 40g of egg and mix again until hydrated and the mixture can be formed into a cohesive ball. Wrap in baking paper and rest for 30 minutes in the fridge.

2. Once chilled, preheat the oven to 160°fan/180°C/350°F and grease a 10” wide x 1.5” high tart tin. On a well-floured work surface, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to be 1/3 cm thick, then transfer to your tart tin, allowing it to settle into the corners and pressing it gently into the grooves of your tin. Then trim any overhanging dough with a paring knife and bake for 15 minutes until golden. Meanwhile, make your frangipane filling:

Breadcrumb Frangipane:

Ingredients

• 250g butter

• 180g light brown sugar

• 40g honey

• 3g flakey sea salt

• 4 large eggs

• 1 lemon zested

• 120g fine breadcrumbs (ideally from a sourdough with wholegrain, inc the crusts)

• 100g ground almonds

• 1 punnet, around 6-7 apricots, pits removed and quartered

• Crème fraîche (or yogurt/pouring cream), to serve

1. First brown the butter: place it in a pan over medium heat and let it melt, bubble and foam, stirring once in a while so that the milk solids don’t burn on the bottom. When it begins to smell nutty and turn golden, it’s ready. Pour it into a heat-proof bowl and allow it to cool to room temperature. To speed this up, you can refrigerate it. ( I would suggest browning the butter before you make the pastry so it has time to set.)

2. Once the butter is set but still soft, weigh it into the bowl, you need 200g. You can either do this by hand or in a mixer. Cream together the butter, sugar, honey, salt and lemon zest. It doesn’t need to be super light and fluffy as we aren’t aiming for airy in a frangipane.

3. Mix the almonds and breadcrumbs together (I often grind my own skin on almonds to make sure it’s fresh and for extra flavour. If you are doing this, I blitz the almonds with the breadcrumbs to stop it turning into nut butter). Whisk the eggs in a jug.

4. Pour around a ¼ of the egg into your butter mixture and beat to combine, then ¼ of your dry mix and repeat this until it’s all incorporated. I am always in the habit of tasting the mix at this point to check my seasoning. Adjust with more salt or lemon zest if necessary, then spoon the mix into your blind-baked pastry case and smooth it over.

5. Arrange your apricots over top, then bake at 170°C fan / 190°C / 375°Ffor around 40 minutes. It should be golden and no longer wobbling and the top will feel soft with a little resistance. Allow it to cool, then take it out of the tart ring and serve with crème fraîche.

Emily’s beautiful tart

Emily’s frangipane was very soft as her butter hadn’t set fully when she made her frangipane, which meant her apricots sunk! It was still delicious and she dusted it with icing sugar to serve.

Further reading/listening:

Cooked - Michael Pollan

Gastropod: White vs Wheat

The Third Plate - Dan Barber

Cereal from Farmara

Thank you for reading. Next week I am off to Margate to see my sister who lives in LA for a little family holiday by the sea. I’ll get the newsletter ready before I head off then the following week might be tales of the seaside and bakeries we visited.

I have just got back from the pick your own fruit farm which for me is the official start of summer. I have been taking Charlie here since he was one. It is our yearly tradition to spend the summer trawling the fruit canes emerging stained in blushes of pink and red. There will certainly be a week dedicated to this place and all the fruits and things I make from it. I am off to make a lot of jam before we go away. I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Emily

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You can buy my debut cookbook Kitchen Table- simple things made well

It is a recipe book focused on some of my favourite suppliers telling their stories. It is filled with recipes to make the most of these beautiful ingredients as well as minimising waste. Chapters are split into ingredients like olive oil, butter, fruit, milk & cream etc. You will find recipes for baking, cooking and fermenting.

I just wanted to send a small update. As you all know I have left Twelve Triangles. I am starting my new career which I am a little giddy about, writing and Substack I hope is going to be an important part of my journey. In my last newsletter I spoke about my hopes for the future building a mill and bakery studio to teach at alongside tea…

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Hello,

I hope you have had a good week. It has been a somewhat muddled week at the steading, I feel a little in limbo and it’s not just because I can’t sit down. This has called for comfort and the greatest comfort I know comes in the form of millionaire’s shortbread the recipe for which is at the bottom of this article.

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Hello,

How has your week been? I hope you had a good bank holiday weekend. This week I have a recipe for the most crunchy moreish granola made with chunky sourdough breadcrumbs, toasted seeds, coconut flakes, olive oil and local honey. It has a slightly savoury flavour which when paired with yoghurt and some roasted fruit is the perfect way to start the …

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Hello, I hope you have all had a good week.

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