Country Life My Style

Country Life My Style Countryside Dweller with a love of Homes & Interiors, Gardens, Baking, Entertaining and anything pre

Apple, Raspberry & White Chocolate Crumble🍏I love baking at this time of year and there is nothing easier or tastier tha...
19/10/2025

Apple, Raspberry & White Chocolate Crumble🍏I love baking at this time of year and there is nothing easier or tastier than a crumbleđŸ„° I had a bag of frozen raspberries and also some crumble mix in the freezer which I put over the top (no need to defrost)
Peel and chop 500g of Bramley apple (prepared weight) and place in a saucepan. Add in 50g sugar. Cook for 6 - 8 mins until apples start to go soft. Tip into a baking dish. Scatter the Raspberries and 30g white chocolate drops over the apple and then sprinkle over your crumble mixture.

Bake for 30 mins at fan 160oC until golden. You may need longer depending on your oven
Crumble - whizz together (or rub together) 75g butter and 150g plain flour. Mix in 75g light brown sugar and use away. Why not make double and freeze half so you’ll have it to hand next time 👌
I came across this ice-cream from during the week in Tesco and it is delicious and so creamy đŸ€Œ

Plum & Apple Crumble - Some years are just better than others for home grown fruit and this has been a good year! For a ...
31/08/2025

Plum & Apple Crumble - Some years are just better than others for home grown fruit and this has been a good year! For a change to my usual Bramley apples I’ve used some beautifully sweet eating apples from our garden along with the last of our Victoria plums. (Weights for fruit are appropriate.. use more or less depending on your own preference)

250g Plums, stoned and cut into 8s
700g Eating Apples, peeled, chopped & diced
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
30ml Water
2 tablespoons sugar

100g plain flour
90g light brown sugar
125g butter
100g porridge oats
40g pecans, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 180oC. Put prepared apples and plums into a saucepan with water and cook gently until apples start to soften - 5 to 10 mins. Add vanilla and sugar and mix through before adding to pie dish.
Place flour, sugar and butter in a bowl and rub in butter until it looks like breadcrumbs (I do this in a food processor) add oats and nuts and mix.
Pour crumble over fruit and bake until golden brown - approx 30mins
Serve with whipped cream or custard

Strawberry Shortcake🍓This is a one bowl cake which you can make in a matter of minutes and is absolutely DIVINE❀❀ 175g...
24/08/2025

Strawberry Shortcake🍓This is a one bowl cake which you can make in a matter of minutes and is absolutely DIVINE❀❀
175g Unsalted Butter, softened
225g Caster Sugar
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
175g Plain Flour
3/4 teaspoon Baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
80ml Buttermilk

115g Cream Cheese
40g Icing Sugar
330ml Double Cream
375g Strawberries
Lemon juice

Preheat fan oven to 150oC. Grease a 20cm cake tin and line base with parchment paper.
Sieve together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside
Mix sugar and butter in a food mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time.
Add flour and buttermilk alternately to the bowl. Mix until just combined.
Pour into tin and bake for 40 - 45 minutes or until lightly golden and skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Cool in tin on a wire rack for 10 mins before removing from tin and leaving until cold

Slice strawberries (reserving 3 - 4 for the top). Place sliced strawberries in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of caster sugar and half teaspoon of lemon juice and leave for 30 mins to macerate
To make topping place cream cheese and icing sugar in a bowl and whisk until smooth and creamy. Add cream and whisk again until mixture forms soft peaks
Place cake on a large plate and top with cream and slices strawberries. Top with the whole strawberries and serve!

Traditional baking is my thing! I love Coffee cake and this recipe is so goodđŸ„° I used (If you can’t find this in the sh...
01/08/2025

Traditional baking is my thing! I love Coffee cake and this recipe is so goodđŸ„° I used (If you can’t find this in the shops then mix 2 tbsp. instant espresso powder with 1 tablesp boiling water)

Sponges:
225g Caster Sugar
225g Unsalted Butter at room temperature
225g Self-Raising Flour
4 Eggs
1.5 Teaspoons Baking Powder
30ml Camp Coffee Essence

Icing:
350g Icing Sugar
175g Unsalted Butter at room temperature
30ml Camp Coffee Essence (or coffee as above for the sponges)

Preheat oven to 160oC Fan oven. Grease 2 x 20cm/8” sponge tins and line the bases with baking parchment.
Beat sugar and butter until pale and fluffy. Add in eggs one at a time to the mixture. Sift flour and baking powder into the bowl along with the coffee essence and mix one last time until well combined. Divide equally between the tins and bake for 20 - 25 mins until sponges are golden and the are starting to come away from the sides of the tins. (They took 20 mins in my oven). Leave to cool in the tins for 10mins before removing and placing on a wire rack to go cold.
Meanwhile, beat the icing ingredients together until smooth. Sandwich the sponges with the icing and sprinkle some finely chopped walnuts on top.

This is a great year for Hydrangeas. These are ‘Hydrangea Macrophylla’ or as they are more commonly known.. mophead💙 ...
03/07/2025

This is a great year for Hydrangeas. These are ‘Hydrangea Macrophylla’ or as they are more commonly known.. mophead💙

Traditional Madeira Cake.. My earliest memory of this cake was as a child when my Dad was a member of the local cricket ...
24/06/2025

Traditional Madeira Cake.. My earliest memory of this cake was as a child when my Dad was a member of the local cricket club and for us kids the biggest treat on a Sunday was discovering what treats were laid on for the tea afterwards! I can’t remember if the madeira cakes were shop bought or homemade but it was that close crumb texture which I always remember!
The ingredients are very simple and I promise you, the most amateur of baker could make this😊
175g Butter (Softened)
175g Caster Sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 Lemon
3 Large Eggs (beaten)
115g Plain Flour
115g Self-Raising Flour
30ml Milk
Butter a 2lb Loaf Tin and line with parchment paper.
(I use cake tin liners which are so handy).
Preheat oven to 160oC Fan
Sift both flours together and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy and then add the lemon zest.
Add the eggs (one at a time) along with a tablespoon of flour.
Finally add the remaining flour and the milk and mix. You should have a batter with a soft dropping consistency.
Spoon into the prepared tin and level with the back of the tablespoon you’ve been using for the flour
Bake for one hour until golden and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean (check after 45 mins as all ovens vary).
Leave in the tin for 10 minutes before removing and placing on a rack to cool completely
Dust with icing sugar and serve!

We built our house in 2006 before ‘Boot Rooms’ were a thing! While our utility room wasn’t small, we had also underestim...
11/06/2025

We built our house in 2006 before ‘Boot Rooms’ were a thing! While our utility room wasn’t small, we had also underestimated the space our geothermal heat pump and all its paperwork would take upđŸ˜© As a result, we had a lot less space in the utility than we’d planned. I’d wanted a little area to keep our wellies so came up with a plan!!
This space is 98cm (almost 39 inches) wide so not very big at all but we’ve still managed to fit in a seat, 3 coat hooks, an area for our boots and even a little shelf. It just goes to show that with a little thought, you can create something from nothing đŸ„°

This sponge takes no time at all but looks like you’ve spent ages at it
 also great to take as a gift when visiting
My u...
08/06/2025

This sponge takes no time at all but looks like you’ve spent ages at it
 also great to take as a gift when visiting


My usual filling is jam and cream but you could also use lemon curd in place of the jam or even thinly sliced strawberries or mandarin orange segments.

Believe it or not, this sponge is made up of just 3 ingredients plus your filling so most likely you already have everything you need without a trip to the shops!

The sponges themselves also freeze very well so if you’re like me, and need to use up surplus eggs on occasion, this is an excellent way to do so – just defrost and sandwich with your filling before serving

4 Eggs‹4oz Caster Sugar‹3oz Plain Flour‹Jam & Whipped Double Cream (or filling of your choice)

Grease 2 x 8 inch Sandwich Tins and line the bases with greaseproof paper
Preheat your oven to 180ÂșC, (160ÂșC Fan) 350ÂșF.
Using a food mixer or electric hand whisk, mix the eggs and sugar together until double in size and the mixture reaches the ribbon stage (this means that when you remove the whisk attachment from your mixer and make the figure 8 over the bowl, the number will sit on the top of the batter for a couple of seconds)
Sieve the flour into the bowl and fold quickly with a metal spoon ensuring there are no lumps. Do not bang the spoon on the side of the bowl as this will remove some of the air you are trying to create to make your sponge light.
Divide mixture evenly between the 2 cake tins and bake for between 18 to 20 mins – you will know the cakes are ready when the tops are golden and spongy to the touch (there should be absolutely no wobble!!)
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tins for 5 mins before removing and allowing to cool fully on a wire rack.
Sandwich together with the whipped cream and jam or your choice of filling.  Dust the top with icing sugar

Just because we all love a scone!! Fill with fresh whipped cream or clotted cream (if you can get it) and jam đŸ„° Please m...
04/06/2025

Just because we all love a scone!!
Fill with fresh whipped cream or clotted cream (if you can get it) and jam đŸ„° Please make these if you get a chance.. they are delicious!
Makes 12 approx
450g Self-Raising Flour
Pinch of Salt
Pinch of Baking Powder
50g Caster Sugar
110g Unsalted Butter, diced
1 Egg, lightly beaten
50ml Cream
200ml Milk (or Buttermilk if you have it)
Preheat oven to 180°C Fan (350ÂșF), Gas Mark 4
Sift flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl and then stir in the sugar.  Rub in the butter using your fingertips or whizz in the food processor until your mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
Mix the beaten egg, cream and milk in a separate bowl and add into the dried flour mixture.  Mix until it all comes together – it should be soft but not sticky!
Lightly flour your work surface. Turn the dough out onto it and pat into a circle about 2.5cm (1 inch) thick.  Use a 5cm (2 inch) cutter to stamp out your scones and arrange on a baking sheet lined with parchment making sure to allow space between them to rise during baking.
There is usually a small amount of the beaten egg/milk/cream mixture in the bottom of the bowl I used to mix the wet ingredients – I add another small drop of milk to this, mix and then use it to brush the tops of the scones so that they will be nice and shiny and golden top when they come out of the oven.
Bake for 15 – 20 minutes until well risen and golden brown. Leave to cool for at least 10 minutes on a wire rack.
These scones are best enjoyed when eaten on the day they are made
TIP: scones can be frozen unbaked and then cooked straight from the freezer

Chocolate & Crunchie Mousse.. Here’s one for you to try next weekend, or whenever 😆 These were absolutely DIVINE💕They ar...
02/06/2025

Chocolate & Crunchie Mousse.. Here’s one for you to try next weekend, or whenever 😆 These were absolutely DIVINE💕
They are so easy and there’s no baking Involved!
(Note: this recipe uses raw eggs)
Makes 4
3 Eggs (separate yolks into a small bowl and whites into a larger one)
125g Quality Plain Chocolate
15g Unsalted Butter
120ml Double Cream
40g Caster Sugar
1 Crunchie, broken up (optional)
130ml Double Cream
Grated Chocolate (optional)
1. Melt butter and chocolate until smooth and set aside to cool
2. Whip Cream until it forms soft peaks.
3. Break up the egg yolks with a fork and then add to the cream. Mix until there are no yellow streaks
4. Add the sugar into the egg whites bowl and whisk until they form stiff peaks.
5. Add about one third of the egg whites to the egg yolks/cream and fold in. Add the remaining egg whites and fold in again quickly and gently to prevent loss of volume. There should be no egg white visible. Mix in the Crunchie.
6. Divide between 4 glasses and place in the fridge until set, 6-8 hours but preferably overnight
7. When ready to serve, whip cream and dollop or pipe onto each mousse before sprinkling with chocolate, if using
8 Enjoy x

Keep it simple when setting the table for guests and family .. use what you already have (you’ll be surprised what you f...
31/05/2025

Keep it simple when setting the table for guests and family .. use what you already have (you’ll be surprised what you find in your cupboards) and if you are starting off in a new home and are building up your collection, make sure it’s good quality without going over the top. I always use white dinner plates and then mix it up for starters or desserts. My white set is the Ripple pattern from which I’ve had for about 10 years now.

Rather than buying flowers take a walk around your garden and use what you can find.. keep it simple and seasonal 🌾đŸŒș.
I don’t like tables with too much ‘stuff’.. like where do you put all of your serving dishes?
I love pretty napkins and in bright colours for this time of year. Linen is my favourite! Our ‘good’ cutlery is all second hand silver which we bought on EBay and at auctions over the years💕

Caprese Salad with Gridled SourdoughI absolutely love caprese salad and with life being so busy prefer dishes which are ...
30/05/2025

Caprese Salad with Gridled Sourdough
I absolutely love caprese salad and with life being so busy prefer dishes which are quick and easy! This is perfect for a weekend lunch along with a glass of white wine or a limoncello spritzđŸ„°
All you need is some good quality buffalo mozzarella, fresh tomatoes and basil. Layer it out on a platter as shown. Thinly slice some sourdough bread and brush it with olive oil. Heat a griddle pan (or whatever frying pan you have) and place the bread directly on it. Cook one side until golden and then flip over and do the other. Place on the plate with the salad. Sprinkle over some sea salt and drizzle the salad with extra virgin olive oil. Enjoy with some cured meats and olives or just eat it on its own. FabđŸ„°

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