Bread and Butter Fruit Cake

• Our traditional pudding, only slightly different and much easier. No fiddly layering, easier to serve too. Use any dried fruit you have left over and the [any] bread must be stale. Keep the crusts on too. You will need 3 large, very thick slices of bread from a whole farmhouse type loaf, cut into chunks. Or some stale large bread rolls. Whatever. When a friend gave me this recipe I could hardly believe the amazing result! A scrumptious, easy dessert for this wintry weather! Serve warm, but we thought it was equally yummy cold, left over next day.

  
  

  You will need a 9 inch, tight fitting, spring form cake tin, generously buttered, the tin lined with parchment, going up the sides, also buttered, then another separate buttered circle of parchment for the base.  It is easier to lift out and “unwrap” if you do.  Pre heat your fan oven to 170C.

  
  

  Bread chunks, as above

  2 pints whole milk

  5 large eggs, whisked

  1 teaspoonful vanilla extract or bean paste

  4 oz caster sugar - I used golden caster

  4 oz melted butter

  6 oz prunes and sultanas, but see note

  
  

  
  

  In a large bowl, place the bread chunks and pour over the milk, then leave to soak for 15 mins.

  Tip over the sugar, butter, vanilla and eggs, that have been mixed together in a medium jug. Mix well then add your fruit.

  
  

  Place the baking tin on a baking sheet in case any of the eggy mix seeps through, before it sets. [although it should not if you have done the prep]  Tip into your prepared tin and bake for about 50-55 mins, until set and nicely browed.

  
  

  Allow to cool for a short while before transferring to a serving dish. [keep the base lining on] Sprinkle over a little more sugar if you wish. Cut into slices. Serve with clotted cream, but it is so delicious, you really do not need extra!!

  
  

  Yum Yum.

  
  

  Note: any fruit can be used. I used dried chopped apricots the other day. I have contemplated using chocolate chips…… next time I have stale left over bread.

  
  

  Another note: I have not used Wholemeal bread yet, especially as my husband, being a very traditional Cornishman, does not like it. Hey ho.

  

 

Orange, Almond and Semolina Cake

Here is the most super delicious, moist cake. A friend gave this to me and after making it, could hardly believe how good it was. Great for a dessert, if eaten warm too, I have been told. It keeps well for a few days as well.

I have made this in a bundt [ring] tin but you can use an ordinary one if you wish, of course.

The cake is so delicious it really needs no topping except a light dusting of icing sugar. But you could easily drizzle over some water icing and decorate. Best to use unwaxed fruit if you can.

Generously butter your bundt tin and pre heat your fan oven to 140C

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6 oz softened butter

7 oz golden caster sugar

the grated zest of two large oranges [3 smaller] and 1 small lemon

1 teaspoonful vanilla extract

Place the above in a large mixing bowl and whisk until creamy.

4 medium eggs

9 oz semolina 

5 oz ground almonds

1½ teaspoonfuls of baking powder

Beat in the eggs, one by one then stir in the semolina, almonds and bp.

Tip into your prepared tin and bake for around an hour. Cool in the tin for a short while then place on a cooing rack.

OH MY!!! Yum yum.

Note: The mixture is fairly stiff so spoon it into your tin carefully, taking care not to not disturb the butter on the sides of the bundt tin. Roughly level off. It will mostly level itself off as it heats up.

As you can see, I drizzled over some icing, the icing sugar mixed with some fresh orange juice, then grated over zest.

I have another very usual orange cake for you in a few weeks!! Made with fizzy orange drink!

 

Bacon and Potato Bake

You all know how I love old recipes! Do you remember when there were booklets in butcher shops and often freebies, if you sent off for them, tips for cooking bacon and suchlike? Did you have a copy of “The Best of British Bacon? Well, I do, from the 1970s and my copy is well thumbed and all the pages are brown. But it is full of little gems. And here is one of them. I have adapted it slightly, but please read the note at the bottom. 

You will need a small pie tin. Preferably metal, as pictured. It will brown the bake nicely.

Pre heat your fan oven to 180C. This is for two generous portions.

8 oz streaky bacon [plus extra rashers for topping]

8 oz potatoes

a small onion or large banana shallot, finely chopped

2 large eggs

3 fl oz pref whole milk

1 oz plain flour

Fresh ground black pepper and sea salt flakes

¼ oz lard

These days we do not have to de rind the bacon, as the recipe suggests!!

Chop the bacon into small pieces. Peel the potatoes and grate them onto a piece of kitchen paper to absorb the liquid. and squeeze out most of the liquid. [I used Maris Piper] In a medium bowl, mix the bacon, onion and potato.

Mix the flour with a little milk until smooth, then add the rest of the milk, the eggs and seasonings. I also added some chopped parsley - but then I am Cornish through and through, and everything benefits from some chopped parsley!  Combine the eggy and bacon mixtures.

Place pie dish in a hot oven with the lard until it is melted and hot. Tip in your mixture and roughly level off and bake for about 45 mins.

Meanwhile grill or fry the other bacon rashers and place on top. Serve with a side of baked beans! My husbands fave. 

How delicious does that look? Yum, great for an easy lunch or simple supper.

Note: easily doubled, but add some cooking time.

Note: I decided to quickly fry the bacon bits in a very hot pan to brown them. Then I quickly took them out and followed with the onion to lightly brown that. Does not really affect the taste but I like the colour of the browed bacon. I also placed a couple of pieces of back bacon on the top instead of streaky slices. But whatever! 

 

 

A Winter Crumble

Here is an unusual Crumble, from the pages of an old recipe booklet, dated around the 1960s, when many fresh fruits were unavailable of course and few had freezers. The minute I read the recipe I knew I just had to make it, although I have adapted it very slightly. What a find! My family loved it and I served it with cream - and, dare I say it, custard too. My husband has such a sweet tooth. But note that the crumble mix is not as we would make it these days and is not as fine, but super delicious. We all loved it!

The quantities below make a crumble for 5-6. Pre heat your fan oven to 180C. Generously butter a medium sized shallow ish oven proof serving dish.

12-14 oz any dried fruit - e.g. raisins, apricots, prunes, cranberries

3 tablespoonfuls rum

grated zest of a large or two smaller oranges

the juice of the orange

sugar to taste - I used 2 tablespoonfuls of golden caster

Topping

6 oz softened butter

3 oz demerara sugar

6 oz self raising flour

6 oz rolled oats

chopped nuts for extra topping - I used walnuts [I also added a few in my crumble mix]

In a small saucepan stew the fruits gently in the rum and the orange juices, along with the orange zest. You will need a small amount of water too [or a little more rum?] Add the sugar of choice and simmer very gently for about 15 mins. [Not in the original recipe but I added a teaspoonful of mixed spice and a pinch of ground cloves]. Set aside to cool a little then place in your dish.

In a mixing bowl, cream the softened butter and sugar then work in the flour and oats to form the crumble.  After making sure it is well combined, sprinkle over the fruit and level off with a little pressing. You will need to sprinkle a little at a time, breaking up any little buttery lumps.

Bake for about 35-40 mins but halfway though sprinkle over your choice of nuts.

Yum yum. Absolutely wonderful!!  A lovely easy winter dessert. You can prep the fruit in the morning or day before, ditto the crumble mix and leave in the fridge until baking.

Note: I did not cut the larger fruits up too much, only into 2 or 3 smaller pieces. I also added an ounce of crystallised ginger, chopped. For no other reason than I love it!

I also lightly toasted the oats beforehand, placing them on a baking sheet in a medium oven, turning once or twice for about 25-30 mins. Brings out the nutty flavour! But not absolutely necessary.

 

Strawberry and Almond Tart

A dessert for the summer months in bygone days, but now we have the fruit all year round and it is a taste of the sun for now, when we need cheering up in these unprecedented times. Very easy to make, especially if you buy some ready made shortcrust pastry. 

I did not use my crumbly rich shortcrust, but made a simple shortcrust of half cold butter to plain flour [6 oz], along with a tablespoonful of icing sugar and binding with a medium egg and perhaps a few drops of cold water if needed. Chill for a short time before use.

Roll out the pastry and line a [metal preferably] 8 or 9 inch fluted, loose bottomed flan tin with the pastry, prick the base lightly with a fork and cover with some crumpled parchment then fill with baking beans. 

Bake in your pre heated fan oven, 180C for 15 mins. Take the beans and parchment out and return to the oven for another 5 mins.

Meanwhile…. so easy….

About 1lb of strawberries

4 egg yolks

2 oz white breadcrumbs

5 oz ground almonds

1 teaspoonful vanilla extract

4 oz caster sugar

2 oz melted butter

Put 8 oz of the fruit in a food processor or mash until liquid. Force through a sieve and place this and the rest of the ingredients into a large jug and mix well.  Taste for sweetness at this stage, you might need a tad more sugar. Add the remaining whole strawberries [I halved these as they were quite large] Then tip into your part baked pastry case.

Bake for about 20-25 mins until the filling is firm and the pastry nicely golden.

Cool for a while and set, then slide onto a wire rack.

Serve with lashings of clotted cream for a scrummy dessert after a leisurely Sunday roast.

Notes: if assorted size fruit, keep the evenly small ones whole, and blitz the larger ones.

If using a food processor, as I do, make the pastry, wipe a little, then whizz the bread for crumbs, then blitz the strawberries. No need to clean in between. Easy peasy.

My son in law describes this as a strawberry flavoured frangipani!! Which of course is what it is!

CORNISH TEA BISCUITS

You all know I am a traditionalist and love the history of our small part of the world, where so many left to seek another life as the mining industry began to fail, especially in the mid 1800s. Well here is a recipe that began in Gimblets Mill, near Launceston and travelled to Wisconsin. The full name of the recipe is Grandma Rule’s Cornish Tea Biscuits and the parents of “Grandma”, William and Elizabeth Jewell arrived in WI in 1859 and settled, where so many did, in Mineral Point [twinned with Redruth] where I also have quite a few rellies [understatement]! Grandma Luella married Nicholas John Rule [also from Cornwall] in 1895 and the recipe below is from her grand daughter, Judy Rule Vivian.

Judy writes that she has adapted the recipe slightly over the years, often making it for funerals, functions and family gatherings. Adding more nutmeg and changing from lard to Crisco - over here it would be Trex. She mentions butter flavoured Crisco and I am not sure we have an equivalent, so I am following the original recipe, substituting a quarter of the lard for butter.

When using recipes from the US we always have the problems of translation from their “language” to ours. Americans call biscuits cookies. They call scones biscuits. From the texture and taste these little goodies are about half way between the two! Serve buttered, warm. Yum, when cold they can be frozen and reheated for a few seconds in a microwave.

The original recipe is below: With my attempt at translation beside it. Makes 24 x 2” biscuits. I made half the quantity.

One quart of flour - Judy says 4 cups ….. 1lb 4oz plain flour

One big cup of sugar…… 9-10 oz. I used caster sugar 

a teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons Baking Powder rounded

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 heaping cup of lard….. 8 oz  [or part of that substituted with butter]

1 cup of raisins

2 eggs

1 cup of whole milk…. about 6 fl oz 

You will need a 2 inch cutter and lightly buttered baking sheets. Pre heat your fan oven to 170C [350F]

In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients together. Cut in the fat with a pastry blender [D shaped cutter - or rub in] until it is the size of small peas. Add the raisins. Beat the eggs and add the milk then blend together. Mix the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and turn out onto a floured board and lightly knead. Roll out to about ½ inch thick and cut with the cookie cutter. Place on greased cookie sheets and sprinkle with sugar. For 2 inch biscuits bake for 20 minutes if using a 3 inch cutter, longer. 

Note: use a plain cutter rather than fluted. Cutting though the raisins would be a bit messy.

 

Mincemeat Xmas Tree

I am leaving you with this giant mince pie Tree as I sign off for about three weeks or so, with so much baking and cooking for my family and friends, I have no time for extra! Doesn’t it look festive? Such a simple idea for a Christmas tea centre piece! Not my idea I am afraid, I found it in an old Echo baking book. Not that I would use marge. You need shortcrust, crumbly, buttery pastry. To make this super easy, you could nip to Sainsbury’s and buy some all butter shortcrust pastry!!! But you could make your own and my version of easy shortcrust will be at the bottom. Have a great Christmas everyone, with hopes you have a super time and a Happy New Year. 2021 must get better. Stay safe and well. Laurie x

Make a simple template of a Xmas Tree. I went to Google and printed one out, then transferred it to a light card. Or perhaps you are arty [not me!] and can draw one freehand.

You will need about 1lb, or a tad more, of pastry depending on the size of your Tree. Mine was 12 inches from tip to bottom and 9 inches at its widest branches.

Mincemeat - about three-four large tablespoonfuls 

some beaten egg for the edges

icing sugar to make a little icing

coloured shiny balls, 

a little red and green fondant icing for the shiny balls

Place a piece of parchment on a baking sheet and pre heat your fan oven to 190C

Roll our your chilled pastry into 2 oblongs of just over 9 x 12 inches. Of course you can go bigger if you wish.

Place your template over the pastry oblongs and cut two Tree shapes. Place one onto your baking sheet, on top of the parchment and pop it into the oven for ten mins. Allow to cool for a few moments then brush the edges with the beaten egg and cover almost to the edges with the mincemeat.

Cover with the second Tree and make sure you seal the edges securely. I lightly pressed with a fork.

Bake for about 20-25 mins. Remove from the oven when nicely brown and allow to cool, keeping it on the parchment. I slid it carefully onto a wire rack.

Make a simple water icing - or use lemon juice.

Transfer to a serving serving dish, keeping the parchment underneath but cutting it neatly to the shape of your Tree. Spread over the icing, almost to the edges OR using a piping bag go back and forth mimicking a garland. Whatever you fancy!

Now decorate. Well, what can I suggest, feel free to do whatever you like!! Mine is a bit rough and ready, I am not artistic at all!

Enjoy!! Please forgive me if I take a few days to reply to any messages. It is a busy time of year.

My best shortcrust. here it its again……

¾ butter to plain flour. So - 8 oz flour to 5 oz COLD cubed butter. Place in a food processor, along with a tablespoonful of icing sugar and pulse a few times, until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add an egg yolk and perhaps a teaspoonful of COLD water. Pulse a few times more. Tip onto a lightly floured surface and bring together, then chill for at least 15-20 mins. This should be enough for the Trees.

I use this recipe for so much. If savoury e.g. quiche, leave out the icing sugar and add salt and pepper and perhaps a little mustard powder.