Let’s begin with the cheese. I did not make the cheese, even though it’s been a life long ambition of mine. OK, I have dabbled a bit with making butter and making soft fresh curd cheese, but I have never got as far as making a rind- washed or hard cheese. One day perhaps I will when I am old and grey (ha, the joke is on me as I am already grey, but there is still enough life in my old bones to give cheese-making a good go at some point!).

That was short and sweet about the cheese, but actually I should give credit to two of the best Suffolk cheese makers I know. I adore Shipcord cheese made by the folk at Rodwell Farm Dairy, Baylham, Suffolk; the cheese is an alpine-style cheese and if you’re lucky enough to get an extra mature piece, then you can taste the salt crystal formations in tiny little pockets captured in the cheese. Delicious! You can tell I have tasted enough of this cheese to know its exact characteristics.

The other one is Baron Bigod cheese, a soft rind-washed cheese from Fen Farm Dairy near Bungay, Suffolk; I am truly excited about this cheese. It’s got a really unique taste and a wonderful texture and is amazingly rich and creamy. I like to leave this cheese at room temperature for at least an hour before serving, so the rich interior of the cheese starts to soften. The contrasting taste of the rind and the creamy centre is very unique – the perfect match for my whole wheat crackers!

Last year, Adrian Eatwell, our good friend and neighbour, brought us some fabulous seasonal treats, medlars. On receiving them they were hard and had to be bletted; bletting the medlars is when you leave them to ripen in a cool, dark place (such as a shed) for about a month, until they become very ripe, and almost squidgy jelly-like – you might think they have gone rotten, but they haven’t (although do turn them every so often as you do not want them to go mouldy, they just need to soften and ripen). It’s a long process, but if you can control your patience, it’s a very rewarding one indeed. I am well pleased with this year’s batch of medlar jelly, although sadly I ran out of jars and could only jar half of the batch. However, the rest is used on the cheese board and served with last Sunday’s roast pork, so it is enjoyed by some very lucky diners indeed.

The wheat crackers are simplicity in their own right, but I find that these crackers work best with the types of cheese we serve. I use half whole wheat flour and half white flour for this recipe; the whole wheat gives the crackers a nutty taste. They last for a long time if you keep them in an airtight container in a cool, dark cupboard. I usually make a double batch of the crackers, as they are not only tasty with cheese but are great to serve with pâtés and rillettes.

I also have a special place in my tummy for mince pies, so in this case the two go perfectly hand in hand. We have over 80 people booked in on Christmas day and I volunteered this year to make the mince pies and fudge for afters.

The mincemeat was made months ago and to be honest I have two very specials jars left from last season’s blend, which I will keep for those really special moments. I cannot wait to open the jars and have a secret taste, as I know it’s going to be super delicious and extra matured.

For these little fudge drops, I used a small half moon-shaped flexible rubber mould, you can buy it from the infusions4chefs website, they are pretty good and will deliver quickly. It’s inexpensive and you can use it for plenty of other great ideas afterwards. https://www.infusions4chefs.co.uk/shop/apparatus/silicon-mould-hemisphere-mini-x-24s.html.

If you do not want to buy these moulds, then I suggest you shape the fudge into long thin logs, wrap in clingfilm and chill until set, then cut into bite-size mini logs and roll them in cocoa powder – they’ll be just as good.

You can make these drops up to 2 weeks in advance and keep them chilled in the fridge until needed. They make a delicious after dinner treat or they can be served instead of mince pies. They also make the perfect Christmas gift – simply pile a few into cellophane bags, tie with pretty ribbon or raffia and give as homemade gifts over the festive season. Enjoy! I did.

We sell jars of homemade jams, pickles and chutneys from the bar counter, along with a biscuit to nibble with a cup of tea or an indulging chocolate brownie.

These jam drops remind me of when I was a child during our summer school holidays, when Gran used to make jars of biscuits for us to nibble on and enjoy. They are good memories and when I make biscuits I always remember those joyful summer holidays.

Use any jam of your choice, and remember to make the hole large enough in the centre of each biscuit so that the jam does not run out of the hole – be generous with the jam and don’t be scared to add a bit extra, because as the biscuits bake, the jam reduces.

I sprinkle the biscuits with caster sugar as soon as they come out of the oven, as it gives a bit of extra texture and looks pretty too.

Rhubarb is such an easy vegetable to work with and pairs beautifully with many wonderful ingredients. The combination of the white chocolate and ginger cheesecake and rhubarb works wonderfully together. The cheesecake is a set cheesecake rather than a baked one. By making an Italian meringue before adding the cream cheese and leaving it to rest makes this cheesecake light and mousse like instead of dense and heavy set. I have not lined the rings with a biscuit base as you might expect. I have a slight personal problem with cheesecake bases, they are nine out of ten times soggy and for that reason I tried something different with this recipe. I made ginger brittle biscuits separately and broke them into shards, then demoulded the individual cheesecakes, sandwiching a ginger brittle shard at each end. Not only do you have an amazing textural contrast, but it also looks amazing and is very different to the same old cheesecake recipes.

The rhubarb that’s served with the cheesecakes is simply poached, then half the poached rhubarb is made into little rhubarb pearls that are ever so easy to re-create. You do not need fancy ingredients apart from the usual store cupboard items and a syringe that you can buy from the pharmacy. I use a large one with a wide spout. To make these pearls you require a tasteless oil such as groundnut oil or sunflower oil. Let the oil cool in the freezer for at least two hours or overnight - it will not freeze, it just becomes super cold. Then use half of the poached rhubarb to make a puree and add gelatine. Using the syringe, drop the puree  into the very cold oil which will suspend each droplet – the chill will set the gelatine. How clever is that?! Once they are set, retrieve the rhubarb pearls using a spoon and drain them on kitchen paper before using. These pearls will not have a liquid center, they will be set all the way through (thought I’d better manage everyone’s expectations). For a liquid center chemicals are required and then that becomes a bit tricky and more technical. This method is simple and easy to recreate.

I can hear the question already - what is a koeksister? When I started making these the team were enthusiastic and everyone asked what they are, I think they all just wanted a taster. To define something in a different language and also to describe it in comparison to what they would recognise challenged me slightly. The explanation is as follow. It’s a soft dough (including butter, flour, milk and raising agents) almost like a doughnut dough without yeast that is shaped in long spiral fingers, deep-fried till golden brown and crisp and immediately dunked in super ice cold acidulated spice infused sugar syrup. It’s best eaten after a few days and is traditionally served with tea in the afternoon. If you could make them small enough they could effectively make great petit-fours, but mine ended up a tad on the larger side.

I must say following mum’s advice and a recipe from my grandmother’s book with a few additions of my own, I was impressed with my efforts. Mum and I had a giggle whilst translating the recipe. We always get stuck on two ingredients and that is cream of tartar and citric acid, the translation causes us confusion. When she reads the recipes she always mixes the two up and after a panic and a hissyfit we always realise that she has given me the incorrect information. They are two completely different things, and in baking deliver different results. Well after a few disasters we have wised up to the errors we previously made, hence having a laugh this time round.

For this recipe you need both cream of tartar and citric acid. Cream of tartar is acidic however it also provides a creamy texture to the syrup, when the hot crispy fried koeksister is dunked into the cold syrup the cream of tartar will provide the creamy luxurious velvety texture to the syrup. The citric acid on the other hand prevents crystallization of the sugar syrup and provides the required acidity. Citric acid is also used for making elderflower cordial (acting as a preservative and preventing crystallization). If you do not have citric acid to hand use extra lemon juice instead.

Cook’s Notes:

1. Always make the syrup first, even a day in advance, and ensure it’s very cold, refrigerated and keep it over ice while frying the koeksisters.
2. Divide the syrup in two and alternate keeping it as cold as possible for the entire cooking and dunking time of the koeksisters.
3. Even though you might feel that the quantity of raising agent is a bit too much for your liking please do not alter the recipe, it is correct and will result into a light koeksister – the dough can easily become tough and heavy.
4. Leave the dough to rest for 10 minutes before starting to shape them.
5. Once cooked and dunked let them rest for one day – if you can resist temptation!
6. The cooked and dunked koeksisters will keep for up to 7 days in the fridge and even freeze well.

I made these for Mother’s Day, I know it has been and gone but I’m sure that there are plenty of other occasions and reasons to make these fabulous little morsels. I have flavoured mine with mint, however if you like it plain then exchange the mint for vanilla extract instead.

The key to success is that you must make this recipe in two stages as the coconut ice must rest for at least 8 hours (overnight will do) to set and harden. The following day cut the coconut ice into small bite size pieces before dipping them into tempered chocolate. I dipped mine only halfway into the chocolate as I liked the contrasting effect of the chocolate and white, the choice is yours if you want to cover yours completely, you will just need more chocolate.

Now the subject of tempering chocolate, well I’m not very good at it as I’m usually in a hurry and then before I even realise the chocolate is getting too warm. If you have patience and want to give it a go then follow these guidelines. To temper chocolate correctly you will need a thermometer. Start by melting half the chocolate at first to about 48 – 50 °C  then add the non-melted chocolate and stir to melt, incorporating it into the already melted chocolate. Bring the temperature down to 32 °C; the chocolate is then ready to be used.

Then lastly after all the effort keep the chocolates in a cool dark well ventilated space, avoid keeping them in the fridge or near a radiator (during the winter).

We have been fortunate enough this season to have been inundated with the most glorious varieties of apples from our lovely customers. It’s great, they come in spits and spades over the season, from Lottie Lin’s apples early in the season to Mrs. Sangster’s crop in the middle, and the most recent delivery came from Charlie, Darcy and Hector’s vet’s parent’s garden all the way from Kent. They are all different varieties – some local Suffolk varieties and some the more mainstream bramleys. We don’t mind as it’s an apple taste sensation and educates us, giving us the inspiration and ultimate cooking pleasure and we long for.

I have been toying with the idea of making apple snow for quite some time now. It’s a traditional recipe, one that is very simplistic however the quality of the apple is what makes this recipe a taste sensation. Choose your apple carefully, remember the apple must be the hero - I recommend a fairly acidic apple as the “snow” is sweet, adjust the sugar levels to compliment  your choice of apple’s natural sweetness.

The warm honey madeleine is a delicate but lovely touch to set this pudding off nicely. I love a madeleine, I think it’s the rich nutty flavour from the burnt butter along with almonds, honey and lemon that makes me go all googly eyed over these little cakes. I do refer to them as mini me, and while I do not think the world could cope with more than one Madalene, a freshly baked honey madeleine is a different matter all together.

They are simple and easy to make however do not make them if you are in a rush! The secret to the success of a perfect madeleine is that it must rest at least 12 hours. If you try and fast track this process you’re in for a disaster. This recipe is the proven practice and is the definition of patience as a virtue! To make a madeleine into a true madeleine not only involves the preparation of the batter, but it’s all about the all important shell shape. You can get different sizes, please note that I have used a standard size, for mini madeleines reduce the cooking time accordingly. The perfect cooked madeleine has a crisp, even, golden brown exterior with a fluffy fine crumbed interior. They are best eaten from freshly baked. I make the batter and cook them fresh every day for the best results here at the restaurant.

They are on a special puppy diet and I made these fabulous dog biscuits especially for them. I know exactly what is inside, no additives or preservatives, and they contain ingredients that I would personally eat.

When we moved to Suffolk we wanted to get a dog – well now we have two. I also had great intentions to bake special doggy biscuits to sell from the bar… well those intentions took 9 months to materialise and finally here we are. Scrumptious Sutton Hoo Chicken Liver, Carrot and Oaty Biscuits; yes they are rather posh, but then only the best for these uber cute doggies!

This takes me back to our last visit to the States. We stayed near Time Warner Center, New York, home to the fantastic Bouchon Bakery. We were obsessed with Bouchon and every morning went there for a cup of coffee and a pastry. It’s also the perfect place to people watch, and one of the items they sell is dog biscuits laced with foie grass and chicken stock, very posh! We got chatting with the lady behind the counter who told us how some dog owners not only buy a biscuit for their dogs but that the owners are rather partial to a doggy biscuit too! Well it made me giggle and remained in my memory.

There is no foie grass for our pups but instead, the best chicken livers our money can buy! The chicken hearts could also be a great substitute or addition to use alongside the chicken livers. I have chosen carrots as these two boys love carrots and a carrot has entertained them for hours on end, so I thought it better make its way into their yummy treats. Remember not to add any salt or sugar! Even though these biscuits are technically good for them remember not to feed your dog too many, it’s only a treat.

These biscuits are perfectly good for human consumption too if you wish, however if you are baking them for your own enjoyment add a salt to the mixture otherwise it’s a bit bland. I thought they would be super delicious as a canape with a bit of chicken liver parfait on top…. more ideas.

I teamed up with Twinings Tea to bake these two delicious afternoon tea delights – Royal Wedding Blend of White Earl Grey & Rose Victoria Sponge, and Twinings Royal Wedding Blend of White Earl Grey and Rose, Rhubarb Cupcakes with a White Chocolate Frosting, to celebrate Kate and William’s special day.

These recipes are perfect if you plan to host a traditional British street party. Here at the British Larder Suffolk we will definitely be baking both recipes and will serve them with this delicious Royal Wedding Commemorative Blend. My objective was to create two interesting recipes using the Royal Wedding Tea Blend, combining it with a traditional recipe with a slight British Larder twist.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

All credit for the images and videos goes to Twinings Tea Shop and I would like to thank Twinings for this fantastic opportunity to bake with this wonderful Royal Wedding Commemorative Blend Tea.

Most of the time medlars are mixed with apples to be turned into wine or jellies. As we had a large quantity of quinces donated to us I thought I’d give it a go mixing the two, and actually, the result is perfect. When you cook quinces for a long period of time the syrup turns pink which gives this jelly an attractive colour.

The theme of the quinces continue by turning more quinces into a curd, the buttery curd compliments the sweetness of the jelly and the acidity of the crème fraîche balances the dish.

This garibaldi recipe has been with me for many years. It can be fairly temperamental and behaves best during the winter. If the dough gets a bit warm it sticks and makes a bit of a mess. My top tip is to wrap it into sausages and let it chill well for a minimum of 6 hours. Then, take it from the fridge when you’re ready, cut it into disks and bake immediately. Do not hesitate or leave it to come to room temperature, it might just misbehave. I know I had a few “sticky” moments in the past. If you have baked a few too many of these delicious biscuits keep the baked biscuits in an air tight container, or alternatively, bake what you need and keep the remaining dough in the freezer. Defrost the dough in the fridge overnight and bake as per the recipe below. I sprinkle the warm baked biscuits with caster sugar to give it even more of a homemade look.