Beetroot finds its groove

 

I thought I’d planted red chard but when I got back from holiday, I discovered the red shiny leaves and stems rising up in my raised bed were actually a small crop of beetroot.

I looked up beetroot recipes in my collection of old recipe books, but wasn’t tempted to bake, boil or pickle this rather flavourless vegetable, which I’d never really liked, and which, according to all the old traditional cooks, seemed best eaten soaked in vinegar.

Seeking inspiration

Fortunately, inspiration came when I leafed through Grandma Abson’s chutney recipes. Grandma had always found a good way to use up gluts of fruits and vegetables – apples, green tomatoes, elderberries – to make jams and chutneys. 

Ingredients

·        500g beetroot (boiled)

·        2 apples (fallen apples from a neighbour’s garden), peeled and chopped

·        2 finely chopped red onions

·        2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

·        250ml red wine vinegar (I had this already, but could have used white wine vinegar)

·        3 tbsp balsamic vinegar (to add a tang to the mixture)

·        2 tsp allspice (the usual spice for chutneys)

·        250g Demerara sugar (usual for apple chutney)

·        1 tsp fennel seeds (I’d just collected and dried these, and thought they would add flavour)

·        A splash of lemon juice (always improves a recipe!)

Method :

1.      Wash and dry the beetroots and boil for about 30 minutes until tender – test with a fork. Drain and allow to cool.

2.     Peel the beetroots and place in a large pan with the chopped apples, red onions and garlic.

3.     Add the vinegars, allspice, fennel seeds and sugar to the pan, bring to the boil, then simmer for about 45 minutes until all the ingredients are tender.

4.    Check for flavour and add lemon juice if you wish.

5.     The mixture should be thickened and sticky. Allow to cool, then put into sterilised jars. This amount made 2 small jars.

From unloved vegetable to red ruby jewel

I am very pleased with my Beetroot Chutney and, even better, I’d used up some “old” ingredients from my store cupboard just like Grandma Abson’s mantra “waste not, want not”.

I’m saving the Beetroot chutney for autumn treats when the nights draw in, as a reminder of finding this ruby-red jewel of a vegetable in my garden when I got back from holiday[TN1] !

This is a shorter version of the piece I wrote for Yorkshire Bylines.

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 [TN1]Just to be consistent with para 1

Fizz, farewell and black forest gateau

 

We all love Chocolate cake and I’ve made many for special family events, birthdays, Valentines or charity fundraising so it’s a great opportunity to bake a special one for a retirement ‘do’ at our local primary school.

I got the inspiration to make a Black Forest traybake at an Art Gallery café, where I’d been treated to a slab of this famous cake. Ubiquitous in the 1970s. this chocolate and cherries combo seems to be making a comeback, especially when luscious cherries are in season. There are so many variations for ‘Black Forest gateau’ but I used Grandma Abson’s easy Chocolate Cake as a basis to make a traybake version. Her ‘secret’ ingredient is to add warmed black treacle to the mixture.

What you need

200g dark brown sugar

200g butter

200g self-raising flour

3 tbsps cocoa powder

3 large eggs

2 tbsps black treacle (slightly warmed)

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup milk

How to bake

Preheat the oven to 180 C (160C Fan), 350F, Mark 4). Grease and line a tin (approx. 20 x 30 cms/8 x 12 ins).

Cream the butter and sugar together. Mix the cocoa and flour together. Beat the eggs. Add alternately to the mixture with the flour and mix gently. Add the black treacle and vanilla. Add enough milk to give a soft consistency. Bake in a moderate oven for approximately 30 minutes.

Topping

Fresh cherries

Butter

Icing Sugar

Milk

Or Double cream (small tub)

Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack before making the topping. Make the butter cream by mixing the icing sugar and butter together and adding a little milk to give a soft texture. Pipe or spread the top of the cake with butter cream or fresh cream and decorate with grated or shaved chocolate as you wish. 

Serve with more cream and a glass of fizz and it’s a proper celebration. It’s a piece of cake really!

 

Sweet Success: Celebrating young talent

 

Honey and Orange Cake.

Being a Yorkshire lass, born and bred, ‘awesome’ is not a word which frequently forms part of my vocabulary but I could use it to describe the week I spent 15 years ago in San Francisco at the University of California, Berkeley Haas school of Business.

 

It was there I met a baking aficionado from Canada who, like me, was inspired by her grandmother’s cookery. She gave me an interesting recipe for Honey and Orange Cake.

 

I haven’t made this cake for a few years now but I’d been asked to provide a ‘little cake’ for a musical recital event I attended recently. The charity organising the event supports young musicians from all over the world, in particular through the inspiration of Feliz Mendelssohn Barthold. The recital was given by a talented young 18-year old violinist from Albania, whom the charity had been pleased to support. Another ‘awesome’ event where we were entranced by the musicality of the young musician. It seemed right to add my Honey and Orange Cake to the wonderful buffet provided by the hosts.

 

Here’s the recipe :

What you need

6oz (175g) butter or margarine

6 level tbsps honey

2 tbsps castor sugar

Finely grated rind of 2 oranges

3 eggs

8 oz (or 8 heaped tbsps) plain flour (sieved)

3 level tsps baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 tbsp orange juice

How to bake

Cream the butter, honey and sugar thoroughly. Add the grated orange rind. Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding a little flour with each egg. Fold in the remaining flour and orange juice. Put into 2 x 7 inch (18 cm) cake tins lined with greaseproof paper. Bake in a moderate oven Mark 3, 325F, 160-170C for approximately 30 minutes.

 

Meryl says : I decorated my cake with a simple butter cream icing in the middle, dried oranges, a sprig of rosemary and a dusting of icing sugar on top. Everyone said it looked and tasted awesome!

From Canada to San Francisco to London, with all its honey goodness, this recipe has travelled across the continents. Long may its sweet success continue!  This is a shorter version of an article I wrote for Yorkshire Bylines.

Memory of a Welsh treat

 
Welsh cakes

A few weeks ago, I went with a couple of friends to Cardiff to see exhibition of Gwen John’s paintings at the National Museum. Entitled ‘Strange Beauties’, the exhibition was a celebration of John’s 150^th birthday and a chance to see examples of her work which are rarely around for the public to see. The exhibition certainly lived to our expectations and we were enthralled by the diversity of her work.

We didn’t get much chance to look around Cardiff as although we went armed with umbrellas, the weather was against us. But we did venture into a glorious tearoom and spotted some local ‘beauties’ including Welsh cakes.  It reminded me that I had a recipe in my collection for Welsh cakes from an uncle who lived in Wales for many years. He always loved baking and would regularly make various cakes for us when we visited.

How to make Welsh cakes

Welsh Cakes are really a cousin of  Scones and have similar ingredients but differ as they are cooked on a griddle or hob rather than baked in an oven. The texture is somewhere between a Scone and a Shrewsbury biscuit.

What you need

8oz/220g self-raising flour

4oz/110g butter + extra for cooking

2oz/50g caster sugar

2 oz/50g sultanas or currants

1 egg

3 tbsps milk

How to cook

Sieve the flour into a bowl and rub in the butter. Add the sugar and sultanas or currants. Mix the egg with the milk and add to the dried ingredients. Mix until the dough is firm. Roll out on a floured board to ¼ inch/5mm thick and cut out rounds with a biscuit cutter (3 inch/8mm approx.).

Traditionally, the cakes are cooked on a bakestone or griddle but you can use a thick based frying pan or skillet. Grease the pan with a butter and het until hot. Cook the cakes for about 3-4 minutes on each side until they are golden brown and slightly springy. Remove from the pan and sprinkle caster sugar over.

Some recipes have various spices such as nutmeg or cinnamon and use any dried fruit such as sultanas, currants or raisins. But whatever you use, they are a simple, quick treat to make and brilliant for a picnic!

I’ll be heading back to Cardiff another time to explore more of Cardiff Castle with its medieval foundations and Victorian Gothic apartments. Bydda i nôl

This is a shorter version of my piece for Yorkshire Bylines.

A Slice of Tradition at Cusworth Hall

Returning to Cusworth Hall, Doncaster recently to help celebrate the 20-year anniversary of The Friends of Cusworth Hall was a delicious trip down memory lane. My own association with the hall and the Museum Service had enabled me to build up my knowledge of heritage baking and learn some new skills, while enjoying every moment! This time, I had been invited to give a talk as part of the celebrations. What a delight to see so many in the audience who had come to hear all about my Cusworth Hall story.

Lavish entertaining in Georgian times

During the mid-18^th century, Cusworth Hall, a manor house), the home of the Battie-Wrightson family, and the Doncaster Mansion House were built. The latter was especially important as a place for corporate entertaining, but similar fine dining would have taken place at Cusworth Hall as well.

I made syllabub and junket from recipes by Yorkshire cook, Hannah Glasse in The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy (1747), for events at both venues to celebrate the Georgians.

The Great Kitchen at Cusworth

Although I was never able to cook on the original range at Cusworth Hall, I spent many happy afternoons demonstrating the sorts of bakes which the cooks and kitchen maids including Eliza Hadrill (from Berkshire) and Ada Briggs (from Lincolnshire), would have prepared. Both of these employees are listed on the 1901 census, together with 11 other servants, a coachman and a groom.

Modern visitors to the Great Kitchen were always intrigued by the various implements on display especially the sugar cutters and knife sharpener. 

 

The golden age of Cusworth Hall 

I did several events at the hall to replicate the Golden age of Cusworth in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. We explored themes like ‘What the children ate in Edwardian times’, and recreated recipes such as Snow Cake and Lunch Cake as well as baking cakes for ‘Servants’ Days’ where it was great fun to dress up as the housekeeper/cook in charge. 

WWI baking – and a chance to bake on site

Cusworth Hall played its part during the first world war. Lady Isabella supported many local events to raise funds for local families affected by the war. Over two days at Cusworth Hall, this time baking in a large marquee, I replicated first world war recipes including Trench Cake and Anzac Biscuits for Doncaster ‘s Life on the Home Front events.

Festive traditions at Cusworth Hall 

Christmas events were always a highlight, and a time when the hall would be decorated. One of my favourites was Stir Up Sunday where we invited visitors to stir up a traditional Plum Pudding. We didn’t manage to make Hannah Glasse’s famous Yorkshire Pie, but we did do our best with pickling and preserving, using Mrs Beeton’s classic cook book Every Day Cookery.

The next chapter …

Over 10 years at Cusworth Hall, I brought numerous recipes to life from Yorkshire Parkin to Yorkshire Curd Tart and the wonderfully named Yorkshire Moggy Cake. I am very proud to have played a small part in the hall’s story. I wish it well on its next journey with the opening of the RHS-partnered Walled Garden.

Here’s to the next chapter in this remarkable place.

This is a shorter version of a piece I wrote for Yorkshire Bylines

A Legacy of Baking

A Grandmother’s inspiration

 I’ve been writing about Grandma Abson’s recipes for 15 years now and how her love for simple delicious baking shaped my own passion for the craft. But today I want to write more about how she baked and her collection. 

Grandma Abson’s treasured collection of Recipes

Grandma Abson had begun her collection of recipes during her time in service in the late 19^th century, but she continued through most of the 20^th century as fashions changed. She wrote them out by hand on scraps of paper, postcards, in old exercise books and tore them out of magazines to create a diverse and cherished assortment of traditional recipes. 

Grandma’s approach to baking

Grandma Abson had a stern, rather Victorian outlook on life and a stout work ethic and developed a practical and resourceful approach to baking. She lived through harsh times, raising her family through the hardship and rationing of two world wars. Consequently, her recipes were often crafted around making tasty food from basic or limited supplies.

Her methods were guided by intuition rather than precise measurements. She would make sure that the ingredients were at room temperature before starting to mix them and sieved flour to give a lighter texture for a dough. Neither did she meticulously weigh out the ingredients, hence there are many references to “a cupful” or “a basinful” in her recipes.

From coal-fired ranges to gas and electric ovens, Grandma adapted to changing kitchen technology, though she always relied on her instincts and experience to judge the perfect oven temperature. Her early years cooking on black-leaded Yorkshire ranges had given her that mysterious knowledge of what was just the “correct heat”. Oven temperatures were not precise with “slow, moderate and quick” as common descriptions. She had a knack for knowing exactly when a cake was ready, using a simple skewer to test for ‘baked’—an old trick that I still use today. 

Why Grandma Abson’s Baking still appeals today

Grandma Abson’s legacy is more than just recipes; it’s a connection to the past, a reminder of the warmth and comfort that home baking brings. Her recipes remain as relevant today as they were decades ago, proving that simple, well-made food never goes out of style. In my family, we continue to bake her beloved Victoria Sandwich, Apple pie and many more, keeping her traditions alive with every delicious bite.

This is a shorter version of an article I wrote for Yorkshire Bylines which you can find here. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Still got leftovers from the festive season? I discovered some Panettone in one of those lovely tins which I had been gifted and left at the back of the cupboard.  So, together with my new season's batch of marmalade, I made a cunning plan. Instead of using slightly stale bread, I adapted Grandma’s  recipe for Marmalade Bread and Butter pudding to come up with a warming pudding to remind me not just of Spain, where the super Seville Oranges come from, but also Italy with its glorious sweet fluffy bread and especially the city of Milan, where panettone is said to originate. 

Marmalade Bread and Butter Pudding (with panettone)

50g/2oz butter

8 slices Panettone

150g/6oz Marmalade

50g/2oz sultanas

2 tsp cinnamon

Zest of 1 orange

350ml/12fl oz milk

50ml/2fl oz double cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 (large) eggs

50g/2oz caster sugar

Nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 180C/355F/ Gas 4. Grease a 1 litre/2 pint pie dish with butter. Spread butter and marmalade on each slice of Panettone. Arrange a layer of panettone, buttered-side up, in the dish, then add half the sultanas. Sprinkle with a little cinnamon and orange zest, then add another layer of panettone, sultanas and cinnamon. Warm the milk and cream with the vanilla extract gently in a pan over a low heat. Beat the eggs in a bowl with the sugar. Add the warm milk and cream mixture and stir well. Pour this over the layers and sprinkle nutmeg on top. Leave to stand for 30 minutes. Place the dish in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the custard has set and the top is golden-brown. Allow to stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Meryl says :  Don’t let the milk and cream mixture  boil - just heat gently until warm before you add it to the eggs and sugar. Serve with crème fraiche, cream or ice cream as you wish. Delizioso - chocolate and orange - my favourite!

You may also like Grandma’s very popular Marmalade Spice Cake,  Marmalade Flapjack or  Clementine and Ginger Cake all with a kick of ginger to enhance the taste. Let me know which you like best. Enjoy!