Bristol Living Oct - Nov 2023

BEAUTIFUL Baking
We sample some delicious recipes from the new Two Magpies Bakery recipe book, written by the
bakery’s founder, Rebecca Bishop. The book aims to teach how to make all your favourite breads,
pastries and pizzas, as well as recipes for celebrations cakes, bakes, bars and savoury dishes
BERRY FRIANDS
Fruity little almond cakes with a
dollop of jam in the centre – a great
afternoon pick-me-up and a longstanding
favourite. Choose seasonal
fruit such as sharp summer berries,
juicy plums or autumnal figs and
blackberries. This recipe also works
well with gluten-free flour.
Make the friand mix a couple of
hours ahead (or even the day
before) to allow the ground almonds
to absorb the liquid egg white and
melted butter – the firm batter will
rise more evenly.
Makes: 10
INGREDIENTS
130g unsalted butter
160g caster sugar
80g ground almonds
50g plain (or gluten-free) flour
130g egg whites
150g seasonal berries (or stone
fruits, figs, rhubarb, chopped)
100g Raspberry Vanilla Jam
50g apricot jam, sieved
50g pistachios, chopped
Brown the butter by bringing it to
the boil in a pan. Allow it to bubble
fiercely for 5–8 minutes, scraping
the bottom of the pan with a spatula
regularly. When the butter starts to
smell sweet and nutty and the boiling
foam rises up in the pan, pour the
hot liquid (including the brown flecks
and scrapings from the bottom of the
pan) into a heatproof bowl. Allow the
butter to cool, stirring occasionally
as it firms up.
fan/gas 4. Grease your mini cake
moulds or muffin tin. Place half the
fruit at the bottom of the moulds,
then pipe or scoop your friand mix
to come a third of the way up the
sides. Use a small spoon to place
the jam into the middle of each cake
before topping with a dollop of the
remaining batter. Your moulds will be
about two-thirds full. Decorate with
more fruit on top.
Bake for 20–25 minutes, turning the
moulds or tin after 15 minutes. Use
a skewer to check the cakes – it
should come out clean. Cool for 5
minutes before removing from the
moulds/tin and cooling on a rack.
Warm the sieved apricot jam and
brush over the top of each cake,
then sprinkle with the chopped
pistachio nuts.
CARDOMOM
KNOTS
Makes: 12
INGREDIENTS
Cardamom dough
450g strong white bread flour
80g icing sugar
12g ground cardamom
8g fine sea salt
75g cold unsalted butter, cubed
260g full-fat milk
7g active dried yeast
Cardamom butter
100g soft unsalted butter
80g caster sugar
10g ground cardamom
10g lemon juice
½ tsp fine sea salt
Try and source black cardamom
seeds for this, grinding them fresh for
every bake. The intense, astringent
Weigh the sugar, almonds and
flour into a bowl and whisk until
combined. Still using the whisk,
gradually add the egg whites, then
the cooled browned butter in three
stages until absorbed and no longer
oily-looking. Cover the mix and
leave to rest for a couple of hours or
in the fridge overnight.
Preheat your oven to 180°C/160°C
Two Magpies Bakery is published by Headline Home and is
available from all good bookshops and online
14 | www.minervamagazines.co.uk