SOPHIE SMITH from BakeHouse in the Barn and suggests two picnic treats for spring

I’ve always been a lark, up at dawn, but I’ve been rising especially early to get my bakes through the oven so I can make the most of these spring days.

I have a boxer dog, a rescue Roxy, the love of my life, but a bit of a village idiot. We walk for miles across the parkland that surrounds our Hovingham home and over the Howardian Hills. Other favourite walks include Kirkdale and moor-side treks past the Quaker graveyard at Lowna (with the added bonus of a coffee stop off at the fabulous Graze on the Green in Rosedale Abbey).

What is a walk without a picnic? This month I’m sharing two of my tuck-box treats.

Happy hiking!

Granola bar

300g Oats

325g mixed nuts and seeds; I use pumpkin, sunflower and flax seeds, almonds, hazelnuts and pecans.

60g ground almonds

100g mixed fruit; I use apricots, figs, raisins and sour cherries

2tsp ground cinnamon

150g soft light brown sugar

200g honey

190g butter

Line an 8-inch square baking tin with baking parchment.

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Pop the butter, honey and brown sugar into a pan and heat gently until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved.

Combine all the other ingredients in a large bowl. Pour the hot honey mixture over the granola mix. Stir with gusto before tipping the sticky mass into the tin.

With the back of a spoon, or your hands, level and compress the mixture, ensuring the corners of the tin are filled.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes, until the granola bar is golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin for ten minutes before pressing the baked bar with your hands again to compress the bar. Leave to cool completely.

Once the bar is cool, pop the tin in the fridge for an hour or so before turning out. Slice into hunky chunks.

Lemon crumble bar

For the base

170g butter

285g plain flour

75g caster sugar

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking powder

1 large free-range egg

1 lemon, zested

For the crumble layer

50g butter

20g demerara sugar

25g oats

25g flaked almonds

25g broken pecan pieces

For the lemon curd*

4 eggs

120g caster sugar

190g lemon juice

120g butter at room temperature

2 lemons, zested

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line an 8-inch square baking tin with parchment.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter, flour, baking powder, caster sugar and salt until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg and mix again until the mix starts to come together. Remove 1/3 of the mixture and set aside.

Tip the 2/3 mixture into the baking tin. Push the biscuit dough into the corners of the tin. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin.

Meanwhile, make the curd.

Break the eggs into a pan, whisk gently before adding the juice and sugar.

Slowly heat the curd, stirring constantly with a spatula to make sure it doesn’t curdle. The curd will thicken, remove from the heat once it’s thick enough to cover the back of the spatula. If you have a sugar thermometer the temperature will be 80°C, note that it will turn to scrambled egg at 84°C, so keep an eye on it!

Pass the curd through a sieve, leave to cool for five minutes before stirring in the butter gradually. Add the zest.

Prepare the crumble layer, add the crumble ingredients to the remaining 1/3 of the base recipe. Either with the stand mixer or your hands, rub the crumble together.

Pour the curd over the baked biscuit base. Sprinkle the crumble mixture over the top. Bake for 20 minutes at 180°C until the crumble is golden brown.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin before slicing into squares

*If you don’t have time (or patience) to make the curd, you can use a jar of good quality shop bought curd.

Sophie Smith runs BakeHouse in the Barn from her home in Hovingham, preparing an indulgent selection of tarts, cakes and pastries to order. Sophie attends Hovingham Village Market on the first Saturday of each month. Both the granola and lemon bar are available to buy from Hunters of Helmsley.

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