Postcard from Edinburgh and a Fluffernutter Cookie

a trip to the fringe and a favourite cookie

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Happy Friday!

I am back in London and already in need of a relaxing weekend away, to recover from the weekend that was the Edinburgh Fringe. We spent a just over 4 days at the worlds biggest arts festival and came back to London completely shattered. Creatively refreshed but very very tired. I lost track of the number of shows we saw but it was well over 20, we basically got up and spent the entire day walking between venues, eating in between shows and drinking the perfect balance of coffee and alcohol to keep ourselves awake and energised. This being my first visit to the fringe, I assumed we would have plenty of time to explore, time to check out the bustling bakery scene in the city, time to dine out at some great restaurants and generally enjoy the city. It turned out we went to two bakeries and one really good restaurant, the rest of the time we were grabbing street food, or something quick as we had a show to get to. I also wouldn’t change it, we had the absolute best time and I cant wait to go again next year.

Before we get to this weeks recipe here is a very quick rundown on the few places we visited which I would recommend. As mentioned above this is a very short list.

Edinburgh Bakeries

Lannan Bakery

I was very excited that, just two weeks before our trip, Lannan Bakery opened its doors. Helmed by Darcie Maher, whose journey I have followed for the past few years over on Instagram, and what a beautiful job she has done. The building was previously a beauty salon but they striped everything back to reveal the buildings original period details, decorated it elegantly and filled it with the most beautiful of baking. We visited on my boyfriends birthday and as there was four of us on the trip we only got 8 pastries, we didn’t want to be too greedy! We carried them across town, with the care normally given when carrying a baby, and sat in a completely empty Bristo Square and ate the lot, fuelling us for the day ahead. The baking on offer at Lannan is fantastic and it would be hard to choose a favourite; the cardamom bun was perfect, the nduja pastry packed a punch of flavour and the lemon curd brûlée tart was a star. A must visit when in the city. I cant wait to visit again.

Twelve Triangles

When we booked our, sadly ill-fated, hotel it was pure coincidence that it was right next door to Twelve Triangles, a local bakery coffee shop chain. This is absolutely the sort of bakery you want in your neighbourhood, they sell everything from cookies, to sandwiches, pastries, to loaves of bread. They also make a mean coffee, and after the miles upon miles we walked each day, a coffee from here to start the day was very welcome. Of the pastries we tried, the pistachio bramble croissant was my favourite, so much so I was too busy eating to take a picture. This is a take on a classic almond croissant, a twice baked affair, which was filled with a pistachio frangipane and blackberries. Brighter than a classic almond croissant I actually think this has a better balance of flavours and has much more going on.

Moo Pie Gelato

A last minute visit on our final day, I wish we had discovered this place earlier so we could have tried more of their offering. They are a small batch soft serve and gelato shop who also serve ice cream sandwiches. On the day we visited they were down to their last couple of flavours and had no soft serve or cookies available, not that this was a problem, their fabulous pumpkin seed gelato more than made up for the lack of choice.

Restaurants

The Palmerston

As it was Mikes birthday he chose the restaurant for his birthday and as he is a man of good taste he chose The Palmerston. Set in a former bank the room has all the grandeur you’d expect of a victorian bank, a gorgeous setting and thankfully the food was more than a match for the decor. After a round of cocktails we had the best meal of our trip, and one the best I’ve had in quite a while. I had a starter of textbook duck rilletes served with house made sourdough toast and cornichons, followed by an incredibly flavourful piece of pork and finished with a wonderfully classic custard tart. Not only was the food excellent the service was also top notch. I will certainly be returning for a second visit next time I am in Edinburgh.

Ting Thai Caravan

If you are visiting the Fringe and need a quick meal which packs a punch but doesn’t cost the earth, Ting Thai Caravan is well worth a visit. Incredibly close to the heart of the fringe it was packed every time we walked past, they even opened an overflow pop-up a few doors down to handle increased demand during the fringe. We were still seated quickly when we turned up without a reservation and the food is punchy and really hit the spot.

Fluffernutter Cookies
Makes 9

I recently had a peanut butter cookie that was so good I wanted to play around with my existing recipes and make something a bit special. I wanted to make a cookie inspired by the American fluffernutter, a sandwich made of peanut butter and marshmallow fluff. Now as a sandwich, it seems a bit much, but as a cookie it sounds positively perfect. I wanted the cookie to be chewy and textural with plenty of peanut butter flavour and I wanted a generous ratio of cookie to marshmallow. The resulting cookie is fabulous and a lot of fun to make. Instead of using the jarred fluff, which can be hard to find here in the UK, I went with marshmallows and to really boost the peanut butter flavour not only is each cookie hiding a single marshmallow it is also hiding a small dollop of peanut butter.

200g white bread flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp fine sea salt

150g light brown sugar

50g caster sugar

125g unsalted butter, diced

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg

120g smooth peanut butter

50g salted peanuts, roughly chopped

To Fill

9 white marshmallows (I used (Haribo Chamallows)

75g smooth peanut butter

Before you start making the cookie dough, take the peanut butter for the filling and spoon into 9 small dollops onto a parchment lined baking tray, and freeze until firm.

To make the cookie dough place the flour (I am using bread flour to make the cookies nice and chewy), bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add the butter to a small saucepan and place over medium heat and cook until the butter is browned. The butter will melt and then splutter and then foam, once it is foaming you want to watch very carefully until the flecks of milk solids have browned. Pour the browned butter into a large bowl with the two sugars. Add the vanilla extract and mix to combine. Allow the butter mixture to cool down for a couple minutes before adding the egg and peanut butter and mixing together until a smooth batter is formed. Add the flour mixture and the peanuts and mix until a stiff cookie dough is formed.

Using a 60ml / 1/4 cup cookie scoop to form the dough into balls of dough. Press each piece of dough into a flat disc and place in the centre a single marshmallow and one of the frozen pieces of peanut butter. Wrap the cookie dough over the fillings and use your hands to seal together and form into a smooth ball. Place the finished cookies onto two parchment lined baking tray and chill for 15 minutes whilst you preheat the oven.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC (160ºC Fan). Bake in the preheated oven for 17-18 minutes, rotating halfway through baking. The cookies are finished when the edges of the cookies are lightly browned. As the cookies bake the marshmallows will expand, cracking the cookies, and then collapse. When the cookies come out of the oven they can be a little irregularly shaped so if you would like them a little more rounded you can use a large cookie cutter to scoot them and round out the shape a little. Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

These cookies will keep for up to two days.