Author Archive: My Kitchen Wand
Tempering Chocolate
Tempering is the process of cooling something in order to gain strength for that product. It happens in glass and steel and chocolate. If chocolate is just melted and used to make a chocolate, the ingredients will melt in your hands before it can get to your mouth. Now please bare in mind I am talking […]
Continue readingRosemary Ginger Shortbread Stars
Well lucky me! I have discovered that I didn’t take very many pictures for these but I am sure we will be able to muddle through. (Update 10/14/2018, pictures found! What’s three years in the scheme of things?) I used my Scottish grandmother’s brown sugar shortbread with some tweaks. I will give you the original […]
Continue readingPort Truffles
Truffles are a wonderful way to get a soft creamy chocolate without having to get out the marble and temper. Four ingredients and you are off to the races. I chose port for the fall tea because I have always considered it more of a cooler season item. Port is a fortified wine which means it […]
Continue readingApricot Almond Cardamon Cake
The top layer of a tea tray contains the “sweets”. In this case cake, cookies and chocolates. I used a recipe posted in March as a starting point, Apricot Almond Whipping Cream Cake. The full post is here. To the recipe I added, 1 teaspoon of nice, warming ground cardamon and baked the cake in the 11 […]
Continue readingEarl of Raspberry Plum Jam
I am really hoping you can still find plums somewhere in your part of the world. If not just pop this someplace safe for five or ten months from now when they are back in season, depending where in the world you call home. Italian prune plums are a favourite of mine and always mean fall […]
Continue readingWalnut Cranberry Scones and Frosted Grapes
You just can not have an afternoon tea without scones, especially a cream tea as the Devonshire cream has to have something to go on. The frosted grapes and candied nuts on this plate are an added bonus, as is the homemade Earl of Raspberry Plum Jam . I mentioned the other day there were […]
Continue readingSmoked Salmon and Asparagus Sandwiches & Havarti on Pumpernickel
With the two warm items complete, it is time to move on to cold sandwiches. Rolled sandwiches are really easy to make and I would very much recommend going to your local bakery and pre-ordering a sandwich loaf sliced lengthwise. Having the crust on while adding the filling gives the bread slices more stability and there is […]
Continue readingProsciutto Persimmon Tarts
The second pastry on the menu of the fall high tea is this simple quiche style tart. One half recipe of the puff pastry dough posted previously was enough to make these and the pockets posted yesterday. This is just a reminder that the small ingredient amounts can be easily increased for projects larger than […]
Continue readingChicken Mushroom Pockets
Okay, let’s get on to the fun stuff. You have the recipe for the pastry and the pesto via previous posts. Now let’s put it all together. Yes, I used chicken but left over turkey will do the job as well and as many of you still have Thanksgiving to look forward to, having a supply […]
Continue readingPuff Pastry by Food Processor
High teas are generally divided into three sections, the savoury options were often “finger” sandwiches (small enough to eat cleanly with two fingers). They were filled with cucumber slices, watercress, tuna and similar light fillings. I think I have shared the story of my grandfather as a boy, who regularly won MVP when playing soccer. The […]
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