As if life isn’t confusing enough, these past couple of August days have been so warm, I have been wondering if we aren’t being set up for an early Spring. I almost wish Winter wasn’t disappearing so quickly. Not a single chestnut or perfumed quince managed to pass through my kitchen this season and the thin film of dust on my favourite braising pot remains.. undisturbed. Besides, I still haven’t made a decision on which slow cooker to get and don’t think I’m ready for the smell of sun screen lotion or the sight of people walking to their city offices in business suits and flip flops.

But the great advantage of living in a country with temperate weather is this is often the best time of the year to be expecting luscious strawberries. They aren’t exceptionally cheap at the moment (but then again, berries rarely are), however I did manage to buy enough recently to make a very delicious strawberry and vanilla pie.

This weekend, I wanted something a little simpler, hence these little cakes which are like bite-sized nuggets of brown butter, vanilla and juicy strawberries. A plateful of these and you know what, I think I’m almost ready to give up Winter.

Mini Strawberry Buckwheat Cakes :

125g butter
150g icing sugar, sifted
55g plain flour
90g buckwheat flour
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
4 egg whites

1 x 250g punnet of strawberries (eat the extras while you work!)

Cook the butter in a pan on medium heat until it turns a nut-brown colour. Carefully strain through a sieve into a bowl and allow to cool to room temperature.

Sift the icing sugar and flours into a bowl. Lightly whisk the egg whites and vanilla essence together to combine. Whisk this into the sugar and flours, then add the cooled browned butter.

Line a mini muffin tin with little squares of baking paper (or grease the tin well and dust with a light sprinkling of flour). Spoon the mixture (or pour with the help of a jug) into each muffin hole. Top with half a strawberry (or quarter the strawberries, if they are especially large). Bake in a preheated 205’C oven until a skewer inserted into a little cake comes out clean, about 15-18 minutes.

Dust with extra icing sugar and eat while they’re still warm.

While making these Finnish cookies the other day, I was reminded of the butter cookies of my childhood. It’s funny to think about it now, but when we were growing up, there was nothing more chic than receiving a gift of store-bought Danish butter cookies in their trademark round blue tin. Each type of cookie was stacked in little paper cups and my favourites were the plain round ones studded with very dry, chewy currants and a piped cookie topped with granulated sugar.

I was never really good at pacing myself when it came to munching cookies, so if you were in the house at the time, you may have caught me making many sneaky trips into the kitchen to pinch just one more snack from the tin. And if you were really clever (unlike me), you’d take a different cookie each time so the stacks of cookies always appeared unchanged, thus preventing you from getting into trouble for pilfering.

But I never was wily enough in that regard. Instead, I resolved to learn how to bake, so I could eat more cookies!

These Finnish teaspoon cookies are as homely looking as they are memorable. Very, in both regards. Make a batch of these and sneak at least one from the kitchen per day.

Finnish Teaspoon Cookies (Lusikkaleivät) :
(makes 4 dozen cookies; the measurements are in US cup measures; from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book by Beatrice Ojakangas)

1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg yolk
strawberry jam [I used cherry jam]
icing sugar

In a small heavy saucepan, brown the butter over medium to low heat until it is a pale tan colour. Cool. Pour into a mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar and vanilla. Combine flour and baking soda and gradually add to the butter mixture. Stir until the mixture is uniformly crumbly. Blend in the egg yolk and knead until dough is smooth.

Preheat oven to 160’C. To shape a cookie, press dough firmly into a teaspoon. Tap side of spoon onto a lined baking sheet to gently remove the shaped cookie. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes until just barely browned. Allow to cool right on the baking sheet.

Spread jam on the flat side of each cookie. Add a second cookie to form an almond-shaped sandwich. Using a sieve, dust the cookies with powdered sugar. The flavor improves after the cookies have been stored at least 2 days, and they can be frozen.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t make biscotti often. Something about that double baking requirement, often leaves me a bit too impatient. If I crave chocolate, I want it now, not two bakes later.

There are several exceptions to the rule, and Claudia Fleming’s recipe for chocolate biscotti is one of them. The pictures probably don’t do the recipe much justice. So perhaps I could offer a few words of advice instead.

1. I’ve actually made this recipe repeatedly, but I don’t think many (or any) of my friends are aware of it. It’s so good, it’s like a reclusive celebrity that rarely leaves the house.
2. It’s like a crispy brownie.
3. It’s the only version of hard tack that I’d ever want to take into a battle field. A baking battle field, that is.
4. If you can’t be bothered to bake it the second time, it actually tastes pretty darn awesome already, after the first bake.

And with that, cue recipe.

Chocolate and cranberry biscotti :
(based on a recipe from The Last Course by Claudia Fleming)

130g dried cranberries
290g whole unblanched almonds
325g plain flour
360g dark brown sugar
100g caster sugar
100g cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 large eggs
60g unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 tablespoons coffee extract
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
210g 70% chocolate chips

Place the cranberries in a bowl. Pour enough boiling water over to cover. Allow to cool then drain.

Preheat oven to 160’C.

Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and set on low speed, mix together the flour, sugars, cocoa, salt and baking soda. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the butter and extracts, mixing to combine. Stir in the almonds, chocolate and cranberries. Allow the dough to rest for 5 minutes.

With wet hands, divide the dough into 2 logs, each 2 inches in diameter. Place them on lined baking trays and bake until firm. 30-35 minutes. Cool completely on rack. At this point, I prefer to chill the logs in the fridge for a few hours to make it easier to slice.

Using a serrated knife, slice each log on the diagonal into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange on lined baking sheets and dry in a 95’C oven for 1 to 1/2 hours until firm and crisp. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.