Rhoda’s Cheese Straws
This highly coveted recipe from my Great Aunt is a lovely savoury addition to any tea time. Would be perfect in lunch boxes or part of a tea time spread.
My great aunt’s name as Rhoda and she had a very close relationship with my grandmother (that I called Nanny). As my mother tells is they got together a bought a ream of fabric and sewed pajamas for all the children (6 girls collectively). As a child I have many happy memories of visiting their house with my Nanny.
Rhoda taught me the true value of a homemade gift. For our birthdays she would bake either a batch of her excellent meringues or these cheese straws, lovingly packed between layers of paper towel in an ice-cream container.
I always loved receiving them for my birthday, because that meant they were ALL MINE, and any sharing would be an act of selfless generosity. As I recall them they were thinly cut and flaky. So flaky and light.
In the first lockdown I make a “bake along video” because in times of stress we all resort to our most familiar and nostalgic favourites. But looking back on the video, I now have a second layer of nostalgia. My children look so much younger and even though I know just how stressed and anxious we all were, when I look back on the time with a trick of memory that gilds even the most terrible memories by plucking out the golden threads of happiness.
Rhoda's Cheese Straws
Ingredients
- 85 g flour
- 85 g cheese grated
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 60 g butter
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tsp ice water
Instructions
- Mix flour, cheese, salt and spice. Rub in cold butter and add egg yolk and water
- Knead well and roll out to 5mm thickness, and cut into straws
- Bake at 180°C for 5-7 minutes until light golden colour (straw colour)
Notes
