The full royal moniker of this creation is Raw Vegan Macadamia & Coconut Banana Cream Pie, but in the interest of daily conversation, a shortened version was necessary for public appearances.

Yeah, I just compared Price William Arthur Philip Louis Windsor – aka Wills – to a Banana Cream Pie, it happens. And honestly, this luscious creation should be the future king of Pie-land, so it works.

In any case, few months back I discovered that Banana Cream Pie is apparently the favourite dessert of one of my favourite uncles. Alas, he is no longer allowed to eat pretty much anything in the traditional version, so of course my mind has been ticking over ever since.

The May Sweet Adventures Blog Hop ‘Raw’ theme was the perfect opportunity to flex my invention muscles and whip up a version that pretty much anyone can eat. Good lord it is good.

In the past I’ve used cashews to create a Raw Vegan Cheesecake so this time figured I’d give it a twist and use buttery Australian Macadamias instead.

Macadamias have been a regular visitor round these parts, appearing in everything from an Aussie-Nutella to Sour Cherry Cake to Vegan Chocolate Fudge, so it wasn’t too big a leap to make them into a cream pie filling. I love it when a plan comes together.

Oh, I must mention my top macadamia eating tip… salt. Kind of like with chocolate, a pinch of sea salt on the raw nuts completely transforms them and makes the flavour pop brilliantly, try it some time.

In the meantime, keep an eye out for the Raw Salted Caramel Macadamia Pie Crust recipe later in the week, and then go make this pie.

       Print Recipe    

The development of this recipe was sponsored by Australian Macadamias. As always any opinions, random facts, and ingredient obsessions are all mine.

~~~

       Print Recipe    

~~~
This post is part of the May Sweet Adventures Blog Hop – Sweets without Heat (RAW) – hosted by Nic of Dining with a Stud.

SABH is a monthly blog hop brought to you by your hostesses –  Dining With a Stud, The Capers of the Kitchen Crusader, and me – 84th & 3rd.

Make sure to check out all the other RAW creations that have been linked-up below!

When we were in Buenos Aires last year RJ ate more steak in five days than he had in the five previous months. He was in heaven.

I managed to locate the grilled veggies hidden in the bottom of the sides section of menus and discovered the most amazing potato and artichoke tortilla ever.

Both of us doused everything in large dollops of Chimichurri Sauce and washed it all down with stunning claret Malbec.

Sigh.

I could label this ’5 minute Friday’ and pretend that this insanely quick recipe is all part of the master plan…

I could claim that I’m getting back to the recap of our trip last year…

But in reality these were the only fully edited photos on my computer and after spending an insane amount of time finishing up the artwork for my MCA Zines these past two weeks I simply needed a quick fix.

Don’t get me wrong though, I do adore this sauce and have been spreading it on everything from toasted cheese sandwiches to eggs. I recommend you whip up a batch this weekend and do the same.

So with that I leave you until next week. It’s a big weekend with some Voices 2013 blogging events on Saturday, and a lazy brunch for my birthday on Sunday. As always it will all be streaming through my Instagram feed. Have a great weekend!

       Print Recipe    

Tea Time Tuesday on a Friday because that’s about how things look around here these days.

This time it is the warm and comforting Clipper Organic Green Chai, drunk from a pint glass purchased in Montana at the Occidental Hotel. It says Budweiser on one side and has a bison on the other. It is just large enough to keep me happy.

And just to keep it real, a quick peek into where I’ve been spending most of my time lately…

Yes, I work on an iPad and computer at the same time, I still write everything in a notebook, and that is our Christmas tree in the background (at least we took the ornaments off and packed them away last week … ahem). I think I may have RJ put my birthday presents under it because, well, why not.

On the screen? These:

If you are in Sydney on 26 May pop by to see Swah and I at the 2013 MCA Zine Fair and pick up some of these pretty little creations.

Stay tuned later this afternoon for a quick 5 minute Chimichurri Sauce, just because.

Can someone please tell me how on earth we ended up a week into May, remind me what day it is, hire a cleaning lady and get me a cup of tea?

I’ve been racing like a maniac to finish the artwork for the MCA Zine Fair so things may stay a bit quiet around these parts for a little while but we all still need to eat.

A while back I shared a pic of the goodie bag from an event I attended. Creating this recipe not only gave me an opportunity to use the saltbush leaves but I finally worked out the perfect ratio of ingredients for fritters.

For years I was essentially making pancakes with extra stuff added in and they never quite hit the mark. These cut way back on the batter part, using only enough to just hold the other ingredients together, and are exactly what I’ve been searching for.

If you can’t get your hands on saltbush just use finely sliced rocket/arugula, kale, chard or even extra zucchini. For those who have never heard of saltbush it is a plant that grows on very inhospitable land around Australia and is traditionally used to graze animals – saltbush fed lamb is a very prized product.

The folks at Outback Pride worked out a way to cultivate a culinary version of the plant and the result is a tender leaf with a salty bite. Traditional ‘bush tucker’ is becoming very popular these days and is showing up on restaurants all around Australia. There is some pretty cool stuff out there and I’ll be sharing a bit more about samphire and finger limes in the coming months too.

For now it’s back to the design and layout grind for me, but if you are in Sydney on Sunday May 26 make sure to stop by the MCA to say hi to Swah and I, and browse the Zines!

Oh, also, I just ran out of Pumpkin Spice Cake so a cookie to go with that tea would be nice too… What are you working on these days?

       Print Recipe    

Afternoon Tea has evolved in modern times. A tradition started by the British to bridge the gap between lunch and a late dinner, it is now more synonymous with a special outing or occasion than an every day indulgence.

Afternoon Tea is labeled as High Tea in many instances, a moniker that purists stamp their feet at due to, from what I can gather, the nature of the seating arrangement more than anything else.

In the simplest of terms however there is tea, there are sandwiches, there are scones and cakes, there are often bubbles. No mater what you call it, Afternoon High Tea is a terribly civilized event that should be lingered over and enjoyed to the fullest.

With this in mind I met up with a girlfriend a few weeks ago to indulge in the Afternoon High Tea at Soiree in the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth Hotel.

Up until the end of April the Sofitel was promoting its ‘Addams Family High Tea’ so the lounge was done up in suitably ghoulish black and red decor for our visit. However it has no doubt now been returned to the swish sophistication of its recent 60′s era referb.

Soiree fills up with the after-work suited-set each evening but during the day it is both cosmopolitan and refined, perfect for taking tea.  As the Addams Family theme was coming to an end we instead enjoyed a more traditional version, the recently reintroduced ‘Wentworth High Tea’.

Inspired by contemporary French cuisine, there are plenty of sweet and savoury treats to keep you busy, including the hotel’s signature cheesecake which has been resurrected from an original recipe created around the time the Wentworth opened in 1966.

Light as air cheesecake filling is layered between fluffy sponge cake, the fact that it is not at all what you would expect from cheesecake makes it no less luscious. The savory treats were filling and varied, and while the scones were a bit on the dry side, the dainty and classic top tier will satiate any sweet-tooth.

It is #TeaTimeTuesday so I must mention the tea. All the teas on the Soiree lounge menu and the High Tea menu are from Ronnefeldt. I chose the Pai Mu Tan Silver and it was quite possibly the most delicate White Tea I’ve ever experienced, simply sublime.  I did try the Jasmine Pearls Green Tea too but found it a bit too fragrant. Jen mentioned that her Splendid Earl Grey was lovely.

I always forget what a treat it is to sip from a delicate china cup. I must get one for my daily addiction ritual.

       Print Recipe    

With its convenient CBD location, proper service and towers of treats, the Soiree lounge at the Sofitel Wentworth is certainly a lovely location for a lazy afternoon.

Wentworth High Tea

• Where: Soiree lounge, Sofitel Sydney Wentworth Hotel, 61-101 Phillip St, Sydney NSW, Australia
• When: from 2pm – 5pm weekends only
• How much: $49 per person, or $59 per person with a glass of sparkling
• Bookings essential on 02 9228 9188

~~~

JJ and guest attended The Wentworth High Tea as a guest of the Sofitel in accordance with the 84th & 3rd editorial policy. All opinions, as always, are my own.

The entry way of each store beckons you from the footpath, only to stop you in your tracks with stunning displays just inside the door. The ceiling-high shelves and multi-layered vignettes pull you from side to side, deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole of design and colour and light.

This past Wednesday, I had the opportunity to tour the Williams-Sonoma, West Elm, Pottery Barn & Pottery Barn Kids stores in Bondi Junction before they officially opened to the public. I have been waiting years for this day!

I took lots of photos – shocker – and even managed to catch a chat with a few people from San Francisco and NYC who were here for the launch. Grab a cup of tea and get ready for some seriously gorgeous inspiration.

The Brand

Sydney retail may need to prepare for a bit of a revolution. It starts with the best bits of American customer service and training, stunning visual merchandising and products curated from around the world, and continues with solid e-commerce and reasonable prices. The big box stores won’t know what hit them.

All the brands in the Williams-Sonoma portfolio operate like a well oiled machine. There is a firm focus on both curating the best products from around the world and designing in-house to ensure unique ranges exclusive to the stores. Store managers have been brought over from the US for the first year of trading, and they are the personification of friendly customer service.

Michelle, the West Elm manager, shared with me that, while it may be difficult during the first few weeks of trading, the ethos of ‘no customer waiting at checkout’ is a primary focus. With all the pretty things to catch your eye and cups of cucumber-infused ‘spa water’ at the counter I can’t imagine too many people will complain if they have to wait for a few minutes.

Although the Creative Directors of both Williams-Sonoma and West Elm are Aussie ex-pats the decision to open in Australia was a business one made due to Australians being the biggest online customers after the US. A true example of business responding to the consumers – and the power of consumers for that matter…

So are you ready for the tour? Here we go!

West Elm

“West Elm is about bringing your best style to life, about discovering what you want and making it happen.” – Vanessa Holden, Creative Director, West Elm.

Based in Brooklyn NY, and the only one of the four brands to be headquartered outside of San Francisco, West Elm is a homewares store with a broad design esthetic ranging from contemporary to rustic. You can expect reclaimed wood mixed with painted silk, natural fibers, slightly hipster industrial chic, and lots of artisan craft.

According to Vanessa, “collaboration with artists and support of local community groups is a cornerstone of West Elm”, the pieces and overall vibe have a global and travel inspired view encouraging “armchair travel through objects in home”.

Green – the global kind not the colour – is also very important with a majority of bedding and table-top materials being organic and ethically sourced. Vanessa shared that it is important for West Elm stores to reflect the talents of the community. In-line with their other locations, the Sydney store includes products from hand-picked local etsy designers.

The visual display are inspirational, providing solid design ideas as well as a touch of fantasy. Displays change regularly and West Elm is probably the most trend focused of the four brands.

‘Home Stylist’ is a complimentary in-home and in-store design service, yes, really. While they of course hope that people will include West Elm products in their interiors, the service is just another way of demonstrating that the customer really does come first.

I must admit, while I was at the preview as food media for Williams-Sonoma, West Elm is easily my favourite. Blame it on the suppressed interior designer in me! Oh and those measuring cups and spoon sets in that last picture – um, goodness yes I adore them, although all I purchased on the day was these Weck jars, so very restrained.

Williams-Sonoma

From the moment Chuck Williams took a trip to France in the early 1950′s and discovered superior European cookware and baking equipment, Williams-Sonoma has been synonymous with high quality kitchen and homewares from around the world.

Anna Last, Creative Director of Williams-Sonoma, shared with me that while many items in the store are being brought over from the US there is a company focus “all about curating items from around the world, so we are always on the lookout for interesting things. We are really thankful to Simon Johnson for helping out with products for the opening, and we certainly want to keep a local element in-store.”

Anna is an Aussie who, only weeks after starting in the role, was asked if she would like to name the next custom Le Creuset colour for Williams-Sonoma. The answer was of course a resounding yes and the range, which could have been called curry or mustard or, god forbid, burnt-yellow, suddenly had the fragrant and slightly mysterious moniker of ‘Quince’, how very perfect.

Arriving a bit before my tour began I had an opportunity to chat with Tom Radtke, Director of Visual Merchandising, who is in town from San Francisco for the store fit-out and launch. He shared that launching in a new country was a perfect opportunity to push the boundaries of the store while keeping with the overall esthetic of the company.

Most Williams-Sonoma stores in the US are, on entry, an explosion of metal – all silver and copper cookware. While shiny is always a winner, the Sydney store has taken a more lifestyle approach playing with colour and theme-based displays. It is most definitely working and the Moroccan-inspired table at the front simply stopped me in my tracks.

Another change – which seems so logical to me I can’t imagine it not rolling out in their other stores – was a move to bring French table-ware and glass-ware together on one wall. Now customers can imagine how the elements will work on a table and mix-and-match however they’d like. I may be a little bit in love with this “shades of grey” collection.

All Williams-Sonoma associates (that’s what they call people who work there if you were wondering) are culinary experts and customer service is paramount. There is a juice bar in-store, and more appliances and gadgets than you could imagine.

I was excited to learn that after 50 years Williams-Sonoma has just released their own range of cookware, a fact that leads perfectly into the next announcement…

Williams-Sonoma has opened their first cooking school, globally, and it’s in the Sydney store!

Vladimir Niza – aka Vlad, Vice President of Williams-Sonoma’s culinary program, has been setting up cooking schools around the world for years and is currently assembling a group of passionate chefs to run the program in Sydney.

It was uplifting speaking to someone so passionate about sustainability and seasonality as well as cooking education and skills.

As Vlad said to me in a hypnotic accent, “it isn’t just about how to make a roast chicken, it is about looking at an ethically raised sustainable animal, seeing the difference in size against a mass-produced one, and then understanding why it tastes so much better when it is cooked.” Exactly. Maybe we should host a Seasonal Sunday Lunch in the cooking school – nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

There was a cooking demo during the dinner session of the preview day and I am completely gutted that I changed last minute to go during the afternoon instead! While there is no schedule or cost info yet, hopefully I can share more about the Williams-Sonoma Cooking School classes soon. In the meantime there’s more than enough in the store to keep your attention.

Pottery Barn

Pottery Barn is known for its comfortable, casual, Americana inspired core range. It is inviting and classic with a polish yet very liveable feel.

This base is injected with regularly changing seasonal designs, and displays like the current coastal range in store now. The collections are supplemented with collateral containing ideas such as how to use the pieces as accents and even themed recipes.

Pottery Barn also offer regular classes in the store and according to Leigh Oshirak, Vice President of Public Relations, “it is not always about big changes or replacing everything in a room. Sometimes all you need is an update, integrating new elements can really refresh your home”.

As with the other brands, items are all designed in-house in San Fransisco then sourced and made by artisans worldwide. Pottery Barn offers the same ‘Home Stylist’ service as West Elm.

Pottery Barn Kids

If you have kids get ready to swoon. From the gorgeous bedding to the miniature appliances, signature ‘Anywhere Chair’ and adorable tableware this place is kid heaven.

Pretty much anything can be monogrammed, on-site while you wait, too.

Very shortly there will be tea parties for little girls (or boys) and their dolls, as well as a Tuesday morning book club.

The trick is getting the kids home without one of everything in the store. Also, I want an Anywhere Chair in my size, preferably the faux fur one – just saying.

A few bits and pieces…

Where are the stores?

Sprawling over 3 levels of the Exchange Building in Bondi Junction, Sydney, they are just across from Westfields at the corner of Grosvenor and Oxford Street. All brands opened their doors to the public on Thursday 2 May.

Is it insanely expensive?

Surprisingly, no. The brands are on the higher end in the US and I was afraid that the prices would be exorbitant in Sydney but they are really reasonable, especially when compared to other homewares stores in the city.

I don’t live in Sydney…

No problem, the Australian e-commerce sites launched along with the bricks and mortar store and they deliver Australia wide.

• westelm.com.au
• williams-sonoma.com.au
• potterybarn.com.au
• potterybarnkids.com.au

There are plans for more stores in Melbourne by the end of the year.

Hope you enjoyed the tour! What do you think will be your favourite store, and will you brave the crowds with elbows swinging and credit card blazing this weekend?

Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea is a yearly event held by the Cancer Council to raise funds for cancer treatment, prevention, research and support. You can read more about it here, and enter to win a signed copy of Ambassador Sarah Wilson’s I Quit Sugar cookbook.

You are invited to a virtual Morning tea!

Link up your favourite morning tea treats below and join the party.

• Old or new posts are fine, please limit to 3 per blog
• No need to link back to this post although you are welcome to
• Click here to enter your links or scroll down to the bottom of the list and click from there

Thanks for joining me to support Cancer Council NSW and Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea! There is no requirement to donate but if you’d like to my profile can be found here.

The first rule of gatherings is ‘always promise food‘, even better if you are promising cake. You know it’s true – book clubs, catch-ups, training sessions and even dreaded Friday afternoon meetings are made better with the anticipation of treats.

However once your audience is there what do you do with them? The casual catch up is an easy one, get out the food early, brew the tea and simply kick-back with friends, but when there is a agenda things need to be approached a bit differently…

First, make them wait for the cake. Second, get through your information efficiently with clear messages and calls to action because you can’t have cake until the end either – and remember to always start by telling the audience what you will be talking about.

Today at 84th I’ll be:

• talking about Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea including what Cancer Council NSW actually does for families effected by cancer
• giving away two copies of Biggest Morning Tea Ambassador Sarah Wilson’s #IQS I Quit Sugar Cookbook
• inviting you to link up recipes perfect for a virtual or physical morning tea
• serving cake – well at least a recipe for a gorgeous Pumpkin Spice Cake!

Ready? Here we go!

Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea

Cancer Council’s Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea event has reached huge milestone this year. They are proudly celebrating their 20th anniversary of raising awareness and funds for cancer research, prevention programs and support services. This year will see over a million Australians get together during May to share a cuppa and show their support for the estimated 110,000 Australians who will be diagnosed with cancer this year.

I was honoured to attend a special morning tea event at Chez Dee in Sydney with Cancer Council NSW. We heard from ambassadors Barry DuBois who shared his own store about his ongoing battle with cancer, and Sarah Wilson who made us pause by opening with the thought that “people coming together is what really matters”, and I learned a bit more about what Cancer Council does.

Cancer Council NSW is the fifth largest charity in Australia and is 97% fundraising supported. This means they are not at the mercy of government budgets but it also means that events such as Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea are pretty important to keep it all running.

What does Cancer Council NSW do with the money raised from Biggest Morning Tea events?

• Patient and carer support services: having witnessed first hand how hard cancer is on the families and friends of those with the disease, services such as nationwide support groups, legal and financial advice, home help and life after cancer programs are invaluable.
• Research: the number of people who die from cancer has fallen 13% in the past 10 years, much of this is due to breakthroughs made in cancer research projects.
• Treatment and Prevention campaigns: to “ensure that the NSW community acts to prevent cancer wherever possible, or detect it as a preventable stage.”

What can we all do to help?

• Register to host a physical or virtual Biggest Morning Tea event and raise funds for Cancer Council NSW to help people whose lives have been affected by cancer. The official date is Thursday 23 May but you can hold an event any time in May and June
• Donate to Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea. I’ve registered and you can donate via my event page by clicking here. I’m not one to door-knock or pressure for donations but if you are so inclined, thank you in advance for supporting the work of Cancer Council NSW.
• Raise awareness of the research, prevention and support services provided by the Cancer Council by telling others about Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea.

I Quit Sugar Cookbook Giveaway

Many years ago we cut sugar [along with about a dozen other things] out of our diet so I’ve followed Sarah Wilson’s I Quit Sugar initiative [crusade?] with interest since it launched. After her I Quit Sugar program was so successful, she decided to release a cookbook of low-fructose and fructose-free recipes to support readers on their IQS journey.

Sarah is an ambassador for Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea, and thanks to Cancer Council NSW I have two signed copies of her I Quit Sugar Cookbook to giveaway to readers. I only recently got my hands on a copy of the e-book version so I’m a bit jealous that you’ll have copies of the printed one!

With meal and snack ideas for all times of the day and all sorts of diets – including many gluten and dairy free options – the book is a great resource for anyone, whether you are quitting sugar or not.

Enter to win a copy of Sarah Wilson’s I Quit Sugar Cookbook:

[UPDATE this giveaway is now closed, winners to be announced shortly, thank you to all who entered!]

Remember, you can sill purchase an e-book version of the IQS Cookbook by clicking here!

• See that little entry tool just below? It lists all sorts of ways you can enter – like leaving a comment about anything in this post, tweeting about the giveaway, liking 84th & 3rd on Facebook, and subscribing to receive new posts via email.
• Just remember, only entries recorded in the little tool will count! Giveaway open from Wednesday 1 May – 11.59pm Tuesday 7 May [Sydney time].
• Prize includes a signed copy of the I Quit Sugar Cookbook, there are two copies to be won.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway open to readers with an Australian mailing address.

In other news Sarah is releasing a brand new IQS Chocolate e-cookbook shortly and I have a recipe appearing in it, stay tuned for a special – worldwide – giveaway soon!

Morning Tea linkup

So if you are going to hold a Morning Tea you’ll need recipes – remember what I said about food and gatherings?

The Biggest Morning Tea Ambassadors have shared some of their own recipes but in the name of a virtual morning tea I figured I’d open a bit of a linky list for everyone.

Link up your favourite morning tea treats

• Old or new posts are fine, just please limit to 3 per blog
• No need to link back to this post although you are welcome to
• Click here to go to the list!

Remember, morning tea treats can be sweet or savoury, and while everyone loves cupcakes, we all need a mini fritter or salmon sandwich too. I’ve started the link up with Pumpkin Spice Cake, Vegan Chocolate Fudge and Pear, Caramelised Onion & Goat Cheese Sandwich which would make perfect bruschetta bites.

And now, as a reward for making it this far, you’ve more than earned some cake!

       Print Recipe    

~~~

I am working with Cancer Council NSW and Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea because I believe in what they do. I have in no way received compensation for this post.

Click here to visit the Morning Tea linky post!

(I had to move the list as it was causing issues with the giveaway tool so it has it’s own page now, as it should – heehee)

While sorting out my tea cupboard the other day I shared this picture on Instagram, the rediculous thing is that it doesn’t even include every box of tea I own.

Most varieties are on a regular rotation however so I figured why not share them here with you! Welcome to the first installment of ‘Tea Time Tuesday’.

First up is my go-to cuppa, Green Jasmine.

This version is a loose-leaf blend from a local Sydney company – The Rabbit Hole Organic Tea Bar - and is gentle and fragrant.

I brewed a cup to go with Claire’s Anzac Banana Muffins. The muffins sounded so perfect that I went and made them the very morning she posted the recipe. Stunning.

China check: Maxwell Williams tea cup from a White Basics set we’ve had for a decade, Maxwell Williams oval plate picked up at a prop stylist’s garage sale.

Tell me, what’s in your cup?

I just thought it would be best to warn you up front, these are spectacular. Crunchy, salty, cheesy, savoury, addictive. I’m one of those people who is usually quite satisfied with a small handful of chips or a single spoonful of ice cream or one slice of cake but with these crackers all bets are off. I’m not even kidding.

It’s the last Monday of the month and therefore time once again for a Secret Recipe Club post. This month I was assigned the lovely blog Fearless Homemaker, and talk about making it difficult to decide, Amy has so many wonderful sounding treats to choose from!

A number of different apple muffin recipes called out to me as did her buttermilk biscuits and pumpkin spice cookies but it was the Homemade Cheez-Its that had me at hello.

You may have noticed however that these don’t exactly look like Cheez-Its. For starters I don’t have an adorable little fluted roller-cutter thingy, and I may have tweaked the recipe every so slightly, ahem…

Shocker, I know, but the result is still the same – little crunchy bites of cheezy-with-a-Z goodness that take every last ounce of control not to eat them all at once.

——

Gluten-Free Cheezy Rosemary & Black Pepper Crackers

These are dangerous, very dangerous. Especially with beer. Just saying…

Adapted from: Fearless Homemaker
Serves: makes 7 or 8 dozen

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup coarsely grated semi-hard cheese [100g/3.5oz]
• 1 1/2 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces [21g]
• 1/2 c buckwheat flour
• 1 1/2 tsp chopped rosemary
• 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
• big pinch sea salt

• extra sea salt to sprinkle before baking

METHOD:

Combine all ingredients except extra salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Run the processor for about a minute and a half until the mixture resembles couscous. Turn out onto plastic wrap, press together and shape into two flat-ish disks, wrap in the plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180C [350F] and line a baking tray with baking [parchment] paper. Place chilled dough between two pieces of baking paper and roll very thin – to approx a milliliter or two.

Cut the dough – still on the paper – into 1 inch strips using a pizza cutter or sharp knife. Cut again on an angle to create diamonds. Use a toothpick to make a hole into the center of each square. Slide parchment paper with cut dough onto a tray and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

Transfer the individual pieces of dough onto your previously prepared tray leaving a tiny bit of space between crackers. Sprinkle with a pinch of extra salt if you wish. Refrigerate on tray for 5 minutes.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 9-10 minutes, until crispy and just golden, turning tray halfway through baking. Briefly cool on tray then move to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat as necessary to bake all crackers.

COOK’S NOTES:

• Cheese: I used a cheddar-style goat cheese, but traditional cheddar or a semi-hard sheep cheese would work well too
• Trays: if you have a couple trays you can use one to keep the dough cool, and one or two for baking the crackers in batches.
• Refrigerating: if the dough gets too soft while rolling and cutting slide the paper onto a tray and pop into the fridge for 5 mins before continuing. Baking the crackers straight from the fridge means they stay flat and don’t puff much.
• Cutting: yes, you could bake them as they are cut, right up next to each other. They will snap apart after they cool but they look better if separated beforehand.

——