I read a lot of foodie blogs and chat to a lot of lovely foodie writers here in the UK and around the world. Everyone operates using clever little blog names (mine is derived from the very first block of flats I lived in when I moved to the UK, Baker Court, which seemed fitting at the time of starting this blog!) or titles, and sometimes you come across one that really stands apart from the rest.
There is one blog title that I love, the aptly-named Baker Street which is full of lovely recipes and has lots of quirky design elements that draw inspiration from the London Underground transport system. Baker Street is a stop on the Circle and Hammersmith & City line, and is full of Sherlock Holmes regalia (plus, I can't help singing Gerry Rafferty every time I hear the name announced when going there).
Right-o, so that's a big long roundabout story about how I happened upon a recipe that was just calling out to be made. Cinnamon Hazelnut Shortbread. Yum. After reading the blog post I printed it out and stuck it on my fridge in anticipation.
Here's a link to the recipe on Baker Street which she has adapted from Beth Lipton's book, You Made That Dessert. The book, by the way, looks incredible and utterly fool-proof, which makes it a winner in my book. I'm a sucker for can't-be-broken recipes, ideal for when you're having a bad day and want to bang a few pots around in the kitchen.
It's a good biscuit recipe that is very simple to make, and produces some tasty results. After seeing it day-in and day-out on the front of my fridge, I gave in. I doubled the cinnamon content because I fully believe that you can't have too much cinnamon with your hazelnuts, and I chopped up a handful of hazelnuts instead of using store-chopped nuts so the chunks were a bit uneven in size but equally delicious in taste.
The biscuits didn't have a particularly 'shortbread-y' texture, although the cornflour went a long way to giving it a starchy crumble. I would have increased the baking time by a few extra minutes - just keep an eye on the biscuits and catch them before they go brown.
The end result was an ideal comfort-eating kind of biscuit, which is exactly what I wanted them for. For interest's sake, I halved the recipe which worked fine, and I baked them in a round tin which was the only thing I had on hand. They came out rather well as tall, shortbread chunks with plenty of nutty goodness to go around.
There is one blog title that I love, the aptly-named Baker Street which is full of lovely recipes and has lots of quirky design elements that draw inspiration from the London Underground transport system. Baker Street is a stop on the Circle and Hammersmith & City line, and is full of Sherlock Holmes regalia (plus, I can't help singing Gerry Rafferty every time I hear the name announced when going there).
Right-o, so that's a big long roundabout story about how I happened upon a recipe that was just calling out to be made. Cinnamon Hazelnut Shortbread. Yum. After reading the blog post I printed it out and stuck it on my fridge in anticipation.
Here's a link to the recipe on Baker Street which she has adapted from Beth Lipton's book, You Made That Dessert. The book, by the way, looks incredible and utterly fool-proof, which makes it a winner in my book. I'm a sucker for can't-be-broken recipes, ideal for when you're having a bad day and want to bang a few pots around in the kitchen.
It's a good biscuit recipe that is very simple to make, and produces some tasty results. After seeing it day-in and day-out on the front of my fridge, I gave in. I doubled the cinnamon content because I fully believe that you can't have too much cinnamon with your hazelnuts, and I chopped up a handful of hazelnuts instead of using store-chopped nuts so the chunks were a bit uneven in size but equally delicious in taste.
The biscuits didn't have a particularly 'shortbread-y' texture, although the cornflour went a long way to giving it a starchy crumble. I would have increased the baking time by a few extra minutes - just keep an eye on the biscuits and catch them before they go brown.
The end result was an ideal comfort-eating kind of biscuit, which is exactly what I wanted them for. For interest's sake, I halved the recipe which worked fine, and I baked them in a round tin which was the only thing I had on hand. They came out rather well as tall, shortbread chunks with plenty of nutty goodness to go around.
