a variation on a theme...

This weeks TWD recipe is for madeleines, the little shell shaped cakes...but as these need a special mould to be baked in (and specialist bakeware stores are a little thin on the ground in this part of the country - that is, non existent!) there was the option to choose a recipe already baked by other members of the group.

The most appealing recipe of those baked before I joined TWD would have to be Snickery squares - they look like, as the name suggests, a homemade and far superior version of a snickers bar, or a deluxe caramel square. Both of which I am partial to. However with only two mouths to feed this week (mine included) a batch of Snickery squares simply seemed too excessive.

Instead I made a more modest choice, the Pecan sour cream biscuits (scones in NZ speak) and decided to use the dough to make a cobbler topping, and serve it as a pudding. Possessing no pecans but several kilograms of sliced almonds, I substituted a handful of the latter. The fruit base was sliced braeburn apples and some boysenberries I had frozen in summer.

I had read good things about this recipe on other TWDer's blogs, however my cobbler version of this recipe failed to impress. This is probably due to the variations I made (such as cooking it over a base of hot fruit!) and a bit of heavy handedness with the mixing, and possibly undercooking it slightly, but I found the dough to be quite dense and a little stodgy. Too rib sticking for my liking. The crunchy part on top was quite nice though, especially with whipped cream and the fruit.

I ended up picking the topping off the leftovers and feeding it to the compost, the fruit at the bottom was salvaged and made a pleasant addition to my muesli this morning.

Bring on the Snickery Squares!! Should have followed my instincts. Check out the rest of the recipes made this week here.