It's raining berry much!
What in earth is with this weather?..one minute we are basking in tropical temperatures, the next it's wetsuits and wellies. Welcome to a typical British summer and it is of course Wimbledon fortnight, so rain was a foregone conclusion!
I'm not a fan of tennis...but you can't mention Wimbledon without thinking of strawberries and cream! Yum!! I love them, although I love all kinds of berries! Here are some of my favourite berry recipes I've indulged in this Sunday!
Berry banana breakfast pancakes
(Our Sunday morning treat!)
Basic recipe for Nana's scotch pancake mix for 4 (or two in our case 😂)
4 oz (125gms) plain flour
1/4 tspn of bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tspn of cream of tartar
2 desert spns caster sugar (I like the golden variety, but it doesn't have to be
1 large egg
I dessert spoon golden syrup (optional- I do it because Nan did, and I get all reminiscent about opening thee syrup tin)
1oz (25g) butter melted
Milk to smooth batter. This is tricky to measure, you don't need much but it's a bit of an experiment I would say 2-3 tablespoons, you learn to know what's right for you texture-wise
Melted butter to just coat pan for cooking
Tina's top tip Warm plates!
Mix all dry ingrediants then add in beaten egg and add milk to get a smooth batter.
Heat pan and coat pan with butter. Spoon in batter. 1-2 minutes on each side...again a guesstimate you are looking for a nice golden brown colour on both sides. I usually do four 3inch pancakes at a go. That's the right size for a portion! (And my pan)
I prepare berries beforehand our favourites are_
Strawberries quartered
Blackberries
Blueberries
(But use your favourites...)
Pile prepared berries on hot pancakes and add Half a sliced banana
Add a generous dollop of full-fat vanilla yougurt (our favourite is from the co-op), don't skimp here, this is a sumptuous Sunday treat and there is something about creamy ice cream flavoured yogurt that's is both luxuriant and righteous ... it's the ultimate in feel good!
Drizzle with your favourite syrup, whether that be golden, maple or even honey. Breakfast heaven!
Eton Mess with Cheats strawberry sauce
We had strawberries leftover, So for after dinner dessert we had another is our faves, my cheats Eton mess ...quick and easy...and ridiculously delicious!
Shop bought Meringue nests, 1 per person, crushed. if I'm having guests I usually crush an extra one to sprinkle on top
Whip 75-100 ml of double cream per person add in the crushed meringue
Hull and quarter strawberries, put them in a bo and sprinkle on some caster sugar, (to taste) and microwave for no more than 20 seconds. Refridgerate.
Tina's cheats strawberry sauce
2 tablespoons of good strawberry conserve add four tablespoons of boiled water and stir until conserve has melted. You can sieve it at thus point but I usually don't bother 😂 don't refridgerate just let it get to room temperature. I usually find that the strawberries have created their own sauce , I drain that off and add it to the melted conserve!
In some nice dessert dishes, layer the strawberries, sauce and cream/meringue mix. Finishing with a drizzled sauce over strawberries and topped with some crushed meringue.
Enjoy!
Pimping your pancakes!
Add a pinch of cinnamon to the batter and a dusting of icing sugar when cooked for a warming treat...mmmm.
Add tea soaked sultanas to the batter and spread lashings of best butter hot from the pan at tea time!
Instead of putting sliced bananas on pancakes, put them in the batter...do the same with blue berries.
You can also add chocolate chips, but make them the baking variety...they have a higher melting point and will keep their shape, avoiding a gooey mess in the pan.
