Blue sky thinking in the Cote d'Azur

Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall was fresh from a party to celebrate the success of Divas & Dictators: The Secrets to Having a Much Better Behaved Child, when Blog Angels & Urchins caught up with her at a do for Descent. Britain’s favourite granny (and mother of Hugh, Britain’s favourite cook-everything daddy), is children’s menu consultant to the ultra-luxe  ski chalet company. The group is famed for its piste-to-pillow service, offering hot tubs on ice, Jo Malone goodies, in-chalet Wellness centres and Perrier-Jouet champagne on tap. Their summer villas are just as special, in case you still haven’t booked for the holidays.  Jane is taking the group’s chefs through their paces devising recipes to tame even the stroppiest diminutive diva or dictator. We wangled a few secrets, and discovered she’s a mistress of disguise. ‘Grate beetroot into brownies, whizz raspberries into coulis, and slice apples into pancakes. Five a day? Five a meal, if you do it well’. We’re already fans of Jane’s bestselling tomes (The Good Granny Guide and The Good Granny Cookbook), and discovered son Hugh’s love for food started early on. A much asked for early Christmas presents was a sugar thermometer, and he started making fudge ice cream which he’d sell to local mums. Suddenly all becomes clear. We’ll have a longer interview with Jane in a future blog. Until then, here’s a recipe for  her delicious fork biscuits.

Ingredients
140g Self-raising flour
15g Butter, softened
50g Castor sugar
Grated rind of 1/2 a lemon or orange

Set oven to 175c. Beat sugar into the butter. Add the citrus rind, then gradually work in the flour. Make the mixture into balls the size of a walnut and place on a greased baking sheet. Flatten each ball using a fork dipped in water. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Delicious! We’ve just enjoyed one with a cup of Lapsang.