I’d like to pretend someone will remember my post of almost two years ago about fern tarts, but I’m not holding my breath.
Back then I had my first encounter with a fern tart, and as it was a rather unglamourous supermarket version I was hoping to find one in a bakery some time.
Fast-forward to my Maybole sweet treat hunt, and on scanning the shelves in Bakery Bites (11 – 13 High Street, Maybole), I spied an old chum.
I’ve often thought that if I worked in food production in any way, making cheese would be the thing for me. That or baking cakes for a teashop where presentation was low on the list of priorities.
I’ve been to cheese festivals, seen umpteen programmes about how cheese is made, eaten I have no idea how many different cheeses, and even wasted a couple of hours messing around and making a song about it (I know…I’m not sure what came over me). However I’ve never actually made any.
I have recipes for soft cheeses kicking around, and keep meaning to try them, but until I do, I’m going to content myself by supporting the industry and eating yet more cheese.
That’s why I was thrilled to come across a new local cheesemaker earlier in the year: Barwheys Dairy.
I live not too far from the Turnberry Resort, which is beautifully situated on the Ayrshire coast overlooking the Ailsa golf course.
It is a very luxurious place, with room prices retailing outside the reach of normal man. Now that H is working, I selflessly thought it would be the perfect place for him to take me on a date, and luckily for me, he agreed.
As most of the wonderful-sounding restaurants fall into the same “you don’t have to be rich to come here, but…oh who are we kidding, you do” bracket as the rooms, I felt the noble thing to do was to opt for afternoon tea, which was still pretty jaw-dropping at £26 a head.
I am a big fan of French macarons. The stunning colours, delicate flavourings and chewy textures… the only thing I don’t like is the price. Seriously. Considering the price just one of those tiny little delights retails for, I almost expect them to be diamond-encrusted.
Of course I appreciate they are a fiddle to make. I’ve had my fair share of cracked tops, sandy textures and uneven splodges to contend with, and after watching a recent episode of one of my favourite tv programmes “The Great British Bake Off”, I can see I am not alone.
Coconut macaroons are a very different beast, and something that are strangely Scottish. I say strangely, because coconut palms don’t line the shores here, but perhaps they come from the same tropical stable as pineapple tarts.
Continue reading Scottish Food Analysis: Macaroon Bars and Coconut Macaroons
H’s mum T, myself and H were having a conversation about something or other, and tablet came up. “Tablet?”, H queried.
T and I hastened to try to explain what tablet was. If you’ve never come across it before, it’s a traditional Scottish sweet normally made from sugar, condensed milk and butter, which has a firm texture, like Kendal mint cake. It isn’t chewy like toffee or soft like fudge, but has a similar caramel taste.
When we saw some tablet for sale the next week in the supermarket, T picked up a bar, and then at a later stop on our trip, bought another for comparison. Things spiralled from there.
