Kemp Kitchen

Home
Kemp Kitchen

Kemp Kitchen specialise in seasonal, healthy and energizing catering for events across London

21/12/2025

I’m planning on making a batch of tahini florentines for Christmas, delicious little chewy chocolate dipped biscuits with nuts and seeds. The tahini gives a welcome savoury note, as does the pinch of salt. I can’t find a picture of them on my phone but here they are in 2020 when I was making hamoers, I’ll never forgot all those hand written labels 🫠

Here’s the recipe

100g butter
150g light brown sugar
100g golden syrup
2 tbsp tahini
40g plain flour
300g nuts, I use a mix of flaked almonds, pecans & pistachios
40g sesame seeds
150g raisins, could swap for cranberries
100g 70% dark chocolate

Preheat the oven to 160°C fan /gas 4.
Heat the butter, sugar and syrup in a saucepan on low until melted. Remove from the heat, stir in the tahini and a pinch of salt. Weigh out the flour, nuts, sesame seeds and raisins in a mixing bowl. Pour the melted butter mixture into the bowl and give it a good stir. It may be quite stiff but persevere until completely combined. Shape 20 small balls and place them on 2 lined trays with lots of space in between. Bake for 8–10 minutes, or until golden-brown.Remove from the oven and reshape into rounds as they will have spread – be very careful as the florentines will be hot. A round cookie cutter is a good tool to use. Sprinkle each florentine with sea salt flakes while still warm. Melt the chocolate and dip the bottom of each florentine, leave to set upside down on a wire rack.

12/12/2025

When I saw make a cinnamon, bay & brown sugar ice cream I knew I had to try it. I love cinnamon ice cream and adding bay is a real master stroke. I used panela -unrefined & minimally processed raw cane sugar - which gives the ice cream a really deep caramely flavour. Pretty good plonked on top of a mince pie.

04/12/2025

Baked my first tray of mincers this week and won’t be stopping until Christmas. Here’s the recipe again for my crumble topped version with almond pastry and bergamot infused mincemeat.

For the pastry / crumble
250g cold unsalted butter, cubed
250g plain flour
90g caster sugar
130g ground almonds
1 orange, zest only
pinch of salt
2 tbsp light muscovado sugar (or soft brown sugar will do)
80g flaked almonds
2 tbsp icing sugar

Mix the butter, flour, caster sugar, ground almonds, zest and salt together in a large bowl with your fingertips (or use a food processor). Once you have a chunky crumble texture, remove a quarter of the mixture and put to one side, this will become your crumble topping. Continue to mix until the pastry comes together into a ball. Wrap & chill for an hour or overnight. Mix the muscovado sugar with the crumble topping and refrigerate too.

Once chilled, roll out the pastry to roughly 3mm thickness and use a round cutter to make circles that will fit your tray. I usually chill again at this point but it’s not completely necessary. Add the mincemeat to each pie, top with the crumble topping followed by the flaked almonds. Bake at 180c fan for 30-35 minutes or until golden. Wait to cool before removing from the trays, sift over icing sugar. You should make 18-24 pies depending on tray size, I use a slightly deeper bun tray but use what you have. I’ve also used this recipe to make one larger mince pie using a 22cm loose bottomed fluted tart tin.

No mincemeat recipe, I’ve never weighed the ingredients or written it down. But if you are making your own it’s a great way to use up any packets of dried fruit in your cupboards and add lots of grated apple or quince is also delicious. Otherwise buy a jar and add 1 bergamot, zest and juice and a generous slosh of brandy. Bergamot (looks like a lemon/ lime)is the citrus that gives earl grey tea its unique flavour and if you can find one you should definitely add it to your mince pies. If not try soaking your fruit in earl grey tea over night before making your mincemeat.

These reheat well in the oven and are best served with a big dollop of thick brandy cream.

28/11/2025

A version of ribollita with roasted squash, chickpeas and bread submerged just before you serve. Garlic & crispy rosemary oil and some parm on top.

19/11/2025

I’ve made this spiced carrot cake twice in a week, it’s the cake i want in cold weather. Freshly ground whole spices (cinnamon, cardamom, clove and black pepper) with ginger and orange to spike the cream cheese icing. Lots of toasted chopped pecans and a big ratio of carrot. I don’t like the icing too sweet and have started using half icing sugar/ half brown sugar to sweeten. It’s a good en.

15/10/2025

🍒

02/10/2025

Have plums been extra good this year? It’s feels like they’ve been better than ever. I’ve been eating these big juicy ruby red ones as much as possible, never known plums so good. With pancakes and salted maple pistachio butter sauce was a winner. We turned 3kg of plums from a neighbour’s tree into jam in the summer, then somehow ran out within a couple of weeks. With home laminated croissants (more on that another day, but what a ride, especially in a heat wave). Last year’s plum & vanilla ice cream, and a plum hazelnut crumble cake, jammy edges the best bit. Any other plum recipes I’m missing ?

25/09/2025

Saved the pear poaching liquid and mixed it with apple cider vinegar to make a shrub. Cardamom, ginger, lemon & cinnamon. A sweet and spicy pick me up with sparkling water.

04/08/2025

Shallots cooked down until jammy and starting to caramelise. Stirred through chopped pink bulls heart tomatoes (while still abit warm) with all their buttery oil. A splash sherry vinegar and lots of thai basil.

18/07/2025

Roasted peach oolong iced tea. I don’t drink hot tea (never have, never will) but I really love it iced.

16/07/2025

Jammy roast strawberries & fig leaf semifreddo. I’m only roasting strawbs if they aren’t at their best. These were abit flavourless (nearing end of season / heatwave collateral?) so cooked simply with sugar, lemon & served cold with their syrup (the best bit), over ice cream.

12/07/2025

Haven’t been anywhere near the oven at home this week. After a day of cooking at work I’ve been coming home to cold melon, sometimes straight up & sometimes chopped into a salad. Loose term for a salad as this is just juicy melon, juicy toms, cucumber, basil & a really light zingy ginger & lime dressing. Hats off to everyone on the pots and pans in this weather.

Address

Telephone

+447841402038

Website

http://www.kempkitchen.co.uk/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Kemp Kitchen posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Kemp Kitchen:

Shortcuts

Want your business to be the top-listed Event Planning Service?

Country:

City: