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Reaching the final of Masterchef 2007 was a rollercoaster of emotion, with huge highs and lows, but I loved every minute and learnt a huge amount. I owe a great deal to John and Gregg who had faith in my ability when I did not believe in myself. Since competing on the programme my life has changed considerably. I now write cookery columns for two magazines, give cookery demonstrations and am just working on my 13th cook book - unlucky number for some but not for me!!! I love all forms of country cooking, using seasonal and locally sourced produce. This blog is to enable me to share with you a few of my recipes and baking ideas. Enjoy Hannah xxxx

Thursday 31 May 2007


I have to confess that I have developed a bit of a violet obsession - it all came about when my friend Jess and I were discussing different fillings for profiteroles after the white chocolate and lavender profiteroles and she wondered whether we could make rose and violet profiteroles like the chocolates - I know that rose and violet creams are a "love them or hate them" kind of thing but we are definitely in the love camp. I also had violet tea recently and it was just delicious. So I set about on the Internet and have now amassed quite a collection of culinary violet - violet syrup and jam from France, violet liquor from a company in Scotland and a giant bag of crystallised violets! In the process I also managed to find rose and gingerbread liquor too....can't wait to have time at the weekend to experiment. If anyone knows where you can buy violet tea I would love to know as I have failed to find any so far on my quest!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Violet tea - direct from France - is available here:

http://www.regals.fr/order.htm

:)

Hannah said...

Oh my word - thank you "anonymous poster" for that link - I nearly fell off my chair with excitement at all the wonderful violet things! Orange chocolates with violet - yum yum! Will be placing an order straight away
THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!

Twelfthknit said...

HI Hannah - where did you get the various liquors from?
India

Anonymous said...

You can also dry violets (flowers and leaves) and make your own tea from scratch:

Place the leaves and petals on a baking tray in a preheated oven at 150ÂșC, leave there until all the natural moisture has gone. Then place in a sealable bag or airtight container until required.

Violet Tea

1 cup boiling water
1 tsp. dried violet leaves
1 tsp. dried violet petals

Bring water to a boil, add violet leaves and petals, and steep for 10 minutes. Sweeten as desired with honey.

Caroline

Anonymous said...

I am really looking forward to seeing what you come up with! I used candied violets alot when I am decorating petit fours or cupcakes, also the rosepetals. I make a really nice sponge cake with a clotted cream and raspberry filling that I sugar my own rose petals for decorating the top with. It looks lovely and tastes pretty good too! Now that ginger liquor sounds especially delicious, wherever did you get it?

Hannah said...

The lovely liquors are from www.drinkon.com/Lists/Liqueur/List/Spirit
There are so many that I want to try and originally I had 10 bottles in my basket before deciding that was a bit too ridiculous! I can't see the Pain d'Epice (gingerbread) one on there this morning - it might be out of stock but am sure they will be able to get more if you call!
Hannah
xxx

Anonymous said...

Have you tried good old Fortnum and Mason? They do rose, violet and lavender jellies and I think they may also have the flavoured teas, albeit not on the website. You could always try ringing them (020 7734 8040). I'm quite excited about the idea of a pain d'epice liqueur, so thank you very much! x

Anonymous said...

Hi Hannah, found your blog via David's, really enjoyed watching you on MC and this purple post (my fave colour) has inspired me to stop lurking!

I bought a bottle of rose liqueur from the A.V.Wees tasting room when I was in Amsterdam this winter - it translates as 'Rose without thorns' - and I adore it:
http://www.de-ooievaar.nl/english/liquors.php?id=71
I've wowed a lot of people with it too! The other flavours I sampled are highly recommended too :)

Best wishes and keep baking your fab treats - you make me drool during my lunch hour surfing...