e Little Teashop of Lost and Found by Trisha Ashley follows the story of Alice Rose who is on a mission to find her real mother after she was abandoned on the Oldstone Moors. Along with the support of friends she meets along the way, Alice is able to open up her dream teashop, her most famed dish being the Fat Rascal. I felt as though the book was a little bit of a slow burner, I only truly found it gripping my attention about two thirds of the way in. However, if you need an easy read to help you escape the stresses of life, you would find it enjoyable. There is an unexpected twist at the end of the novel, but one that is heartwarming. Along with running her teashop, Alice is a budding author and there are excerpts of her fairy-tale novels within the book, however I found these didn't add to the story and I actually gave up reading them about half way through. At the end of the book are some recipes for you to make some teashop favourites at home, I thought this was a lovely touch and is where I got the Fat Rascal Recipe from.
Fat Rascal Recipe
Ingredients
75g Butter or Margarine
200g Self Raising Flour
1/4 teaspoon each of Ground Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Mixed Spice
Pinch of Salt
75g Mixed Dried Fruit with Peel
50g Raisins
75g Caster Sugar
One Large Egg, lightly beaten with two tablespoons of milk
Method
1) Preheat the oven to gas mark 6, 200 degrees Celsius or 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line an oven tray with baking paper.
2) Put the butter into a large mixing bowl and sift in the flour and spices. Add the pinch of salt.
3) Mix together using the rubbing-in method until it looks like very fine breadcrumbs. When you are rubbing-in only use your finger tips as you don't want to melt the butter too much.
4) Add the dried fruit and sugar and mix well with a spoon.
5) Stir in the egg and milk mixture, one spoonful at a time. You are aiming to create a stiff dough that isn't too sticky, however if you accidentally add too much you can just add in some more flour until you reach the desired texture.
6) Divide the mixture up into small rounds on the baking tray. It is up to you how big you'd like them to be. Just adjust the cooking time accordingly if you make larger Fat Rascals.
7) Bake for around 15-18 minutes or until golden brown, then remove from the oven and place the Fat Rascals on a cooling tray.
8) A Fat Rascal is a mixture between a scone and a rock cake, and you can eat it either way. They are great served warm, but you can store them in a cake tin once they have cooled down. You can eat a Fat Rascal as it is, or you can cover it with butter or lashings of jam if you prefer.
This is my first time making Fat Rascals and I really enjoyed the process. I sprinkled mine with extra sugar just to give them an extra sweet flavour.
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