SERIAL KILLER ESCAPES AND SERIOUSLY GOOD BISCUITS

When you have a child you realise you are graced with the opportunity to practice the unlikely event of escaping the clutches of a serial killer. 

This may sound somewhat confusing but bare with me.

To creep out of a child's room in the middle of the night is EXACTLY the same as those nail biting thriller movies. You, the parent play the victim trying to breakout of the room of the killer ie: your beloved child -they are the killer of your sleep, destroyer of dreams (as in r.e.m, not your hopes and dreams). So when I am in the predicament of bum shuffling my way towards the door of freedom, trying to navigate my clumsy overtired body in complete darkness I have always envisioned Jodie Foster in Silence of the Lambs when she is in Buffalo Bill's dark dungeon. You've got creaky floorboards that are like landmines at 4 am in the morning, a cat that always ALWAYS meows and scratches at the door as if to say "Hey what are you guys doing in there" (FYI: cats do not understand mime or whisper yelling at these crucial moments). Because you are half asleep your body is completely uncoordinated and once you are standing (because you have been sitting on the floor, arm through cot, patting/stroking/tickling/twinkle twinkling etc) you lose balance, stumble and kick a piece of duplo across the floor and so you freeze, hold your breath and pray that you get out alive!

So why not make it somewhat exciting and practice how well you are at surviving the thriller movie?

I was very pleased that I did quite a lot of baking on Saturday morning because the week so far has not gone to plan. Sleep issues being a major cause of the kerfuffle. I will not bore you, so lets talk about baking instead.

These golden pillows of soft biscuit-y pastry enveloping sweet and juicy white nectarines are pretty special. Their shelf life is really only one day (you could re-heat the following day) because they become quite soft due to using fresh fruit. The original recipe is based on Delia Smith's Garibaldi Biscuits from the cookbook Delia's Cakes which I have been baking from for the past month. Raisins, sultanas, dried cranberries etc are in high rotation when it comes to Clementine so I decided to replace the currants in the original recipe and use white nectarines. I'm sure if you use currants or any other dried fruit the biscuits will keep for more than 24 hours because they wont get all damp! But it did get me thinking about using grated apple or thinly sliced pear, and then I started thinking savoury, adding cheddar to the pastry with an apple filling....list is endless my friends.

For now they are wonderful with a cup of tea and if you can manage a sleeping toddler - then you win the Jodie Foster Award of parenting.

Garibaldi Biscuits w/ Nectarines

recipe adapted from Delia's Cakes

110grams self ­raising flour
pinch of salt
25grams spreadable butter
25grams golden caster sugar (optional)
2 tablespoons milk
50grams thinly sliced nectarine (approx 2-3)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
a little egg white, lightly beaten (I used milk)
Raw Sugar

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C
Line a baking tray with baking paper
In a food processor add flour, salt and butter and whizz until the mixture looks like wet sand.
Add the sugar if using and blitz again
Gradually add the milk pulsing until the mixture can be squished together into a firm ball.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and roll it out to a rectangle roughly 20cm x 30cm.
Layer the nectarine in two rows so it covers half the dough
Fold the other half on top and roll everything again (I forgot to do this!) 
Trim  neatly using a sharp knife
Cut into fingers approximately 3cm by 7cm.
Place the biscuits on the baking sheet, brush with a little egg white (or milk) and sprinkle with granulated sugar (optional).
Bake for 12–15 minutes, then cool on a wire tray and store in an airtight tin.