As nice as these turned out, I’m betting that eating one at Betty’s itself with a nice cup of tea is so much better. And I do urge anyone able to do so, to take a trip. The recipe was sent on to me by one of my lovely sister-in-laws. My last encounter with anything Betty’s was a gift a few Christmases ago from one of our neice and nephews from the Betty’s in York. That was a hamper of delicious goodies – something else to check out Betty’s for!
Anyway, I’m rambling. Let’s get to baking, and before I start, I’ll preface this post with an apology – in the video I use a tablespoon instead of a teaspoon when adding the milk! This made my dough very sticky so I had to add in extra flour to compensate. Just ensure you use the correct measuring spoon and your dough will be fine.
Ingredients
- 150g plain flour, sieved
- 150g self-raising flour, sieved
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 125g cold spread (or butter)
- 100g caster sugar
- Grated zest of 1 orange
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon ground sweet cinnamon (regular is fine, I just prefer sweet where possible! Try it in apple pie, nom!!)
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 150g dried mixed fruit
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 4 to 5 tablespoons milk
- 1 medium egg yolk (for eggwash)
- 1 tablespoon water (for eggwash)
- Glacé cherries and blanched almonds (to add the iconic face features!)
Instructions
- Sieve the flours and baking powder together.
- Add the spread (you can use butter, but spread is all I had).
- Using your fingers, rub together to form breadcrumbs.
- Add the caster sugar, mixed fruit, lemon and orange zests and mix together.
- Beat 1 large egg.
- Add the egg and 4-5 TEASPOONS of milk to form a soft dough.
- Separate the mixture into 6 and make each into a round shape.
- Add to a baking tray and pat down a little (they will rise in the oven).
- Pre-heat your oven to 200C (see note below)
- Beat together 1 egg york and 1 tablespoon of water.
- Brush that over the top of each round.
- Chop 6 Glacé cherries in half and use two on each round to form eyes.
- Add three almonds to each round to form a mouth.
- Place in the pre-heated oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a rack (if you can resist).
Notes
Preheating the oven at the start of a recipe has always annoyed me. This has been even more annoying since the price of gas and electricity has skyrocketed! If you use your oven regularly, you’ll have an idea of how long it takes yours to heat to a certain temperature. Read through a recipes steps and make a judgement on when to pre-heat. Don’t just automatically turn it on and waste the energy while you’re still making what’s meant to go in there.
The original recipe sent to me was on the Lavender and Lovage website here. There are some truly delicious looking recipes on their website!
Here’s the Video
Products used in this video
Affiliate links
Mason Cash Mixing Bowl: https://amzn.to/4aQfL4p – Available in lots of sizes, we have an enormous one, but the one in the video is the 21cm (which is also not small!)
Mason Cash Wooden Spoon: https://amzn.to/3R7uSPn – Part of a set.
Green Silicone Baking Mat: https://amzn.to/3vM2ZVO
