Amaretti biscuits

It’s very nearly December, so time to start practising a few recipes that I like to do for little Christmas presents for friends and family. I’m meeting up with some friends tomorrow so I decided to have a go at one of my easiest Christmas recipes – amaretti biscuits. This is a Gino D’Acampo recipe taken from the BBC website – the only changes that I have made is that I roll the biscuits rather than spooning them onto the trays; I use parchment rather than greaseproof paper (and so don’t need to butter the paper) and I make them much smaller than suggested. The original recipe suggested that it made 20 biscuits – I make about 70! I also find that they tend to take longer to bake than suggested (although this could be my oven) – I suggest turning the trays after about 12 minutes so that they bake evenly and leaving them in until they are golden brown all over.

These taste great but I'm still not completely convinced about this recipe - they don't rise or crack across the top in the way I would expect - and they are a bit chewier rather than crisp. Not sure if this is down to the way that I mix in the sugar and almonds - maybe I knock out too much of the air - I'm not sure. May give another recipe a go at some point soon.  

Amaretti biscuits

Ingredients

1. 340g/12oz ground almonds
2. 340g/12oz caster sugar
3. 4 eggs, whites only
4. 30ml/1fl oz amaretto liquor

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.
2. Line two tins with baking parchment.
3. In a large bowl beat the egg whites until firm.
4. Mix the sugar and the almonds gently into it.
5. Add the amaretto liquor and fold in gently until you have a smooth paste.
6. Roll small balls of the paste and place on the baking trays – leaving at least 2cm between each as they will expand, whilst cooking.
7. Bake in the oven for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Leave to cool for a couple of minutes and then remove from baking trays and cool on a wire rack.

Prior Park Garden Centre: Secret Garden Cafe

We decided to make the most of the beautiful autumn weather  on Saturday and walk around part of the Bath Skyline Walk. Needing a bit of sustenance first, we headed to the Secret Garden Cafe at Prior Park Garden Centre for a bite of lunch.

We’ve been here several times before and have always enjoyed the food and cake. It’s just out of the city centre and has free parking outside (although this is very carefully monitored and they will fine you if you are found to have left your car here and gone off site). It is also one of my favourite places to buy Christmas decorations as they always have a lovely selection of really tasteful decorations – I’d definitely recommend a look. The gift shop also has some lovely bits and pieces and the farm shop has a fantastic selection of foods.

We arrived just after 14.00 and it was fairly quiet in the cafe, which was surprising as it has always been busy when we have visited before – although this has generally been in the week. It may well have been because we arrived just after lunch but before the afternoon tea crowds.The cafe itself is fairly simple, with metal table and chairs and a few comfy sofas. There's a nice little outside patio, fab on a warm, sunny day. The cafe provides a good selection of magazines and offers free wi-fi, making it a nice place to sit, drink tea, eat cake and chill.

The menu includes home-made soup (the day’s version was Roasted Vegetable – which sounded tempting); salads; jacket potatoes, wraps and toasties – with a range of fillings. There were 3 specials: a chilli, a burger and a delicious sounding tart – but I can’t now remember what it was! We weren’t incredibly hungry and I was going out for dinner that night, so I convinced the EHH to go halves with me on a brie and bacon toasty (£6.50), which came with a choice of fries or side salad. The toasty was delicious and the portion of fries was generous and lovely and crispy.

I had a pot of tea and EHH had a latte. The tea came in a little metal tea pot and did about 2.5 small cups of tea. EHH’s latte was in a medium-sized coffee cup (which I’m always disappointed to see – I strongly believe that lattes should always come in a glass!), which was, in EHH’s own words “Alright – not the best I’ve ever had, but certainly not the worst!”. Both drinks did, however, come with a delicious little amaretti biscuit – which reminded me how much I love these! Must make some soon!  

My half-portion of toasty and chips was plenty for me, but unsurprisingly, the EHH was still hungry and so decided to peruse the cake offerings. There was a choice of two large cakes – looked like carrot and lemon – which looked delicious with generous servings (I think these were about £2.60 a slice – which I think is very reasonable). There were also scones, muffins, doughnuts, and a number of traybakes, including a couple of different flapjacks, an almond slice, Millionaire’s shortbread and others, as well as a couple of gluten–free choices. EHH opted for an almond slice, which was a bit like a Bakewell slice, but without the raspberry/cherry layer. The pastry layer was a little thick on this and it was a little dry, but it was tasty overall – a little sweet for me – I felt it missed the jam layer!

Overall, a good lunch – service was friendly and efficient and the food was good. We’ll definitely visit again – fairly soon I imagine – so that I can buy the Christmas decorations that EHH dragged me away from this time! 

Views on the Bath Skyline Walk