Tuesday, 9 July 2013

Spider-man, jam and lavender for ma'am


Ever since I first made Dan Lepard's rosewater delight tarts, or Turkish jam tarts as I like to call them, I've felt like Edmund in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I remember reading the passage where he first meets the White Witch and she gives him enchanted Turkish Delight, and trying to imagine what it must have tasted like to be so addictive. Well, if you wondered that too, then make these jam tarts! They are not the rubbery, sticky affairs that I remember eating as a child, but something soft and scented and sparkling red. I use less rosewater than the recipe asks for - usually about 3 tsp - as everyone doesn't love very strong rose flavour as much as I do. But it still tastes like a Turkish Delight-jam tart hybrid. And although I've tried it with apricot and blackcurrant jams, strawberry or raspberry seem to work best with the rosewater, to me.


Having made them about ten times in the last year, there didn't seem to be anything new to do with them. But then I thought of something: Spider-man cases and a berry on the top. And mini cases for mini jam tarts; but I only had ones with snowmen. From the sublime to the ridiculous.

I would have made another batch later in the week, but I wanted to make lavender cakes and decorate them with organic flower heads from Mayfield Lavender. I thought I would try to mix flavours, so I made raspberry and lavender cakes in floral cases, and also made peppermint cakes in more Spider-man ones. I needed stronger lavender sugar or fewer raspberries as the berries took over. But the icing was more lavender-scented, and they looked prettier than the baby blue lavender cakes I made a few years ago. The peppermint cakes rose so much they spilled out of the top. They tasted good, but I forgot to pipe a web on top; I'll have to remember for next time. I have piped webs on top of Spider-man fairy cakes to take into work; we had a vote on whether I should make the cakes Spider-man blue or Green Goblin green. Good prevailed over evil, I am pleased to say!


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