New Lemon Curd - Hogan's from Wales

Sometimes in life, simple is best. With that in mind, we brought in this great lemon curd from Hogan's in Wales.

It's all natural, with just 7 ingredients; sugar, eggs, lemon juice, butter, fruit pectin, citric acid, and lemon oil. It's great on toast, pancakes, waffles, scones, in desserts, or on just about anything else you can think of.

Come by the shop and pick up a jar (or two, since it'll disappear faster than you think!)

ECCLES CAKES ARE BACK!

I try to avoid using all caps for anything, but I think this blog post warrants it.

Eccles Cakes, everyone's favorite raisin-and-currant-filled Lancashire pastry is finally back in stock! For real this time! We've been trying to get these back in the shop for the better part of a year, so we're super excited to be offering them once more.



For those who are unfamiliar with this delicious English treat, it's a small flaky pastry filled with raisins and currants. Here's a closer cross-section to give you an idea.



I'm not ashamed to say that I've eaten three of them since we got them in this morning. They're good right out of the package, but they're even better if you warm them up slightly. Just stick them in the microwave for about 15 seconds. I also have it on good authority that they're quite tasty when heated up and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

You can pick them up in the shop or online. They come in packages of 4 cakes (each cake is just under 3" in diameter).

Come get them before we eat them all ourselves!

Digestive Biscuit Review

There's a certain time of day in between breakfast and lunch where I can't quite wait until lunch to have something to eat. A cup of tea and some biscuits fits the bill quite nicely, so today around that time I decided to do a review of a classic biscuit, the Digestive.



This was also a great time to test the new "%50 less saturated fat, same great taste" claim on the package.

First, a little history about the Digestive. It was invented by Alexander Grant at McVitie's in 1892. McVitie's is still one of the largest biscuit brands in the UK, now owned by United Biscuits.

The name "Digestive" came from the high amount of baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, used in the biscuit. Sodium bicarbonate has antacid properties, so it was thought that the biscuits would aid in digestion.

But enough history, let's taste some biscuits. As said in the book Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down, "Tea without biscuits is a missed opportunity". I would assume that the reverse is true as well, so I made a cup of tea to go with my biscuits. Since the Digestive is considered the "quintessential" English biscuit, it seemed only right to have the classic English tea, PG Tips.

Now, let's take a closer look at our biscuit.



McVitie's is very fond of stamping their name on biscuits, and this is no exception. Since the Digestive is copied by so many other biscuit companies, this serves as a sort of "certificate of authenticity".

The Digestive is also a rather large biscuit, measuring about 2 3/4" in diameter. This can pose a bit of a problem when dunking in a small cup, as you tend to get a situation like this:



So make sure you have a good size cup if you plan on dunking. Speaking of dunking, the light, crispy texture facilitates rapid tea absorption, so don't leave it in too long or you'll end up with a cup of biscuit sludge.

The flavor of the Digestive biscuit is probably best described as being very similar to a graham cracker. It has just a touch of sweetness, so it goes great with a wide variety of toppings, from lemon curd and jam to sliced cheese. They're also great to use in recipes. Try using them in place of graham crackers for a cheesecake crust, or make s'mores with them!



Truly, the Digestive is a versatile biscuit, and a wonderful accompaniment to any cup of tea.

You can find them in our shop in Seattle, or online here.

Happy dunking!