They're cherries Jim but not as we know them!! - French Glace Cherries

When I think of Provence in France or the wine producing region of The Languedoc I do not immediately think of glace cherries!  Until today that is!

I was invited to a French Glace Cherry MasterClass and really couldn't think of that many things to use them for - how could you have a masterclass on adding glace cherries to fruit cake, mincemeat or topping cupcakes?  I usually have a pot in my baking box and that is really all I use them for.

We had a great morning, being introduced to the history, region, production of French Glace Cherries and learned how we owe it all to Sir Winston Churchill's love for these little preserved cherries and his insistence on importing them into Britain.   In fact the majority of French Glace Cherries produced in Provence, are imported into Britain for us avid bakers.

We tasted some recipes already made for us - Can you imagine French Glace Cherry Chutney?! I am most definitely making that, and it was served on top of blue cheese and oat cakes.

Or how about French Glace Cherries smoothies?

Then the fun started, divided into teams of two but somehow we made a team of three and got on with making our two recipes!

First was a Jaffa Cake inspired Cherry Jelly Cake which was a revelation for me.  I don't like Jaffa Cakes because I don't like the orange jelly but had never thought of using a different fruit middle.

First we made the jelly so it could set, then the cake bottom followed by the assembly and topping with melted chocolate and in honour of the forthcoming Valentine's day we decorated them with hearts.

Our second recipe of the morning was a quick and easy cake called 'Financiers' which was so simple to make and armed with the items in our goodie pack I will certainly be making these on a regular basis.

The production of French Glacé Cherries consists of replacing the fruit’s natural water content with sugar.  There are no artificial colours or preservatives in these cherries. The bright colour comes from natural fruit colours.  It takes about 10 days for a tray of fresh cherries to become glacé cherries.

Finally, at home with a lovely cup of coffee and sharing them with Mr R and FIL.

Thanks to French Glace Cherries for inviting me to take part in the masterclass.  I did not receive any payment for attending or for writing up the account of the session.

Yeo Valley Visit - Blogger Day

I was recently lucky enough to be invited by Yeo Valley Yoghurt to visit their gardens and farm in Somerset for the day.  That's a long way to go for a day so I thought I could take the train.  To get the train and be in Somerset for 10:00 am I would have to leave St Albans station about 06:30 am and change up to three times in London.  Liking my sleep as I do that plan didn't exactly appeal (up at 06:00 for Barbados but for yoghurt - perhaps not).  Mr R has a cousin who lives in Somerset and as it turns out only about 20 minutes from the Yeo Valley farm which presented an ideal opportunity to drive down the night before, stay over and have a good visit with family.

Boy do you get a lot of more house in Somerset than you do in St Albans!

Mr R's cousin in her beautiful kitchen

I left the house about 09:20 and a quick trip straight up Cheddar Gorge (!!) I arrived at Yeo Valley Farm and was greeted warmly with coffee and handmade cookies.

Gilded garden knomes make a unique frame!

As soon as everyone had arrived we got a quick talk about Yeo Valley and an outline of the day before we went off with the head gardener for an extensive tour of the gardens and grounds.  The scenery was majestic with lovely verdant green fields everywhere we looked. 

The view from the visitor refreshment centre

We even met 'the girls' who make the lovely milk that is made into the lush yogurts and rice puddings and all their other creamy products.

When we got back from the grounds tour there was a yoghurt tasting session by Ben (in charge of marketing and more - as this is a small family business everyone does their job and whatever else needs to be done!) giving us the chance to sample all the flavours of yoghurt including Raspberry and Passion Fruit, rhubarb, Blueberry, Lemon Curd and loads more and small pots of greek yoghurt with honey and rice puddings. 

Ben showed us how to taste the yoghurt hygienically

Then we were let loose to try all the flavours and varieties

Chef Jamie showed us some great recipes featuring yogurt, cream, milk etc like a homemade ricotta cheese that is simple to make and ultra useful in tarts and more.  We watched as trout fillets were tea smoked in a homemade smoker and sourdough bread was made. 

As soon as the cookery demonstration was over we sat down to a sumptuous lunch of tomato salad, mixed greens (all from the property) tea smoked lake trout, ricotta and spinach tart, sourdough bread,

and for dessert a simple yoghurt based cheesecake - absolutely yummm.

Easy cheesecakes in jars perfect for a pic-nic

A further talk about the kitchen garden,

including the perfect compost

followed by a cup of tea and then it was time to wend our way home.  I would have liked to spend a couple more days there but instead started the long 3 hour drive home.  The plus point being the very generous goodie bag we were given filled with all flavours of yoghurts.

A sample of the yoghurt we were given to take home

I look forward to visiting Yeo Valley Yoghurts again soon!