Cameras rolling …….

 The Great Kitchen Doncaster Mansion House

‘Hello, I'm Meryl and I'm going to show you how to make…’ This is how I started filming some of Grandma’s classic recipes. To be honest, I was scared stiff about being in front of three cameras despite the fact that I'm fully at ease demonstrating Grandma’s recipes and talking about her life and baking. So just like Grandma would, I rolled up my sleeves and got stuck in. 

The film crew comprised a team of final year Media students from the University of Huddersfield. They are a great bunch of people to work with; they even did the washing up between shoots and of course tasted the finished products. The production will count towards their final project. We were filming in The Great Kitchen in The Mansion House in Doncaster. 

This is an amazing venue with an old cast iron range not unlike the one Grandma worked with when she was 'in service'. I chose four classic recipes from Grandma's repertoire to show different baking techniques. 

mouth watering Shortcrust Pastry for a delicious Apple Pie.

yummy Marmalade Spice Cake, 

scrumptious Scones 

and a traditional Victoria Sandwich. 

This cake was named after Queen Victoria who died in 1901. Grandma was 14 years old by then and was already 'in service'. Later, Grandma won prizes for her light and fluffy version of this classic sponge cake, which she finished with homemade raspberry jam and butter cream - and we love it just like that today. Here's the recipe: 

Victoria's Sandwich

3 eggs and their weight in each of 

caster sugar

 self raising flour 

margarine or butter

Milk to mix. 

Raspberry Jam 

(Meryl's Tip : If you buy jam, get the better quality, sometimes called ‘Conserve’)

Cream the butter and sugar. Beat the eggs and add to the creamed mixture. Fold in the flour. Add the milk and mix in gently. Put into 2 x 7 inch (18cms) greased tins. Bake for 20 minutes in a quick oven.  (375F, Mark 5, 190 C). Then make the Butter Cream.

Butter Cream

2 oz butter

4 oz icing sugar

Few drops vanilla essence

1-2 tbsps tepid water or milk

Icing Sugar (for dusting the top)

Cream the butter and icing sugar. Add the vanilla essence and water or milk.

When cold, spread the butter cream and raspberry jam on the top of one cake and place the other on top. Sprinkle icing sugar on the top cake. 

Where’s the mic gone?

We've just a couple of sequences still to film then, it’ll be final edits and credits. Thanks to everyone who helped me set this up. Let me know if there are other recipes you’d like to see me bake – I think I've quite got the taste for this filming lark.

Be sweet without the sugar

Mixing a cake with less sugar

Grandma Abson lived though the hard grind of life in service in 1900s. Then she lived through the depression of the 1930s, when she became a widow with two teenagers, followed by rationing in World War 2. So she learnt to be very resourceful in times of shortage. 

Part of her baking philosophy was about turning out something tasty from limited resources. The weekly ration of sugar for an adult from 1940 was 8oz, the equivalent of 225 grams. This sounds quite a lot if, like me, you don’t have a sweet tooth. Sugar was rationed till 1953, so it’s not hard to see why many of Grandma’s recipes use less sugar. In 1953 when the coronation took place, sugar and butter rations were doubled for a short while so people could enjoy a Coronation bake. All food rationing ended in July 1954.

However, Grandma cut down the amount of sugar in her cake, pudding and biscuit recipes and used between one third and one half of the quantity of sugar you might see in modern recipes. She would flavour her baking with cinnamon, ginger, mixed spice and later used honey or golden syrup as an alternative.  

Ginger Cake

I'm following her example and don't overload my baking with sugar and enhance the flavour with spices and natural products. Stay healthy by reducing the sugar. Enjoy your baking and let me know what you’ve baked this week.

Grandma's old Baking Book

‘Have you still got a copy of your Grandma’s recipes?’ has been a regular question whenever I’ve been back to the Bolton-upon-Dearne, where I grew up in South Yorkshire. Shortly after Grandma died 30 years ago, I collated her recipes into a booklet entitled ‘Grandma Abson’s Yorkshire Recipes’ and sold them across the North of England. In fact, they sold like hotcakes.

I’m planning on launching the book again by this summer. Grandma was very proud of her baking, whether it was winning prizes or having family and friends sampling cakes and puddings. Her recipes stand the test of time, they were simple yet scrumptious. I can’t wait to see them in print again. The process has just begun with the manuscript now sent off to FCD  to do the graphics and design. I’ll keep you all posted.

Christmas baking like Grandma used to do

Grandma Abson aged about 16 in 1900

Today is Christmas Day, and I've been busy preparing some treats for the family over the past few weeks and days in preparation for this special day on the baking calendar. I've been particularly busy as I have been setting up my new blog where I will be sharing the baking passion and expertise that I inherited from Grandma Abson. So bear with me as I'm new to this! I hope you'll enjoy these baking tips and stories.

Homemade Mince pies

On Christmas Eve, we had my daughter's fiance and his family over. Grandma Abson's tasty Mince pies are always a really crowd pleaser. They are bitesize so you can enjoy more than one without feeling guilty. I make Mince pies with home made mincemeat and Grandma's melt in the mouth pastry. To make them extra special you can make Christmassy shapes such as stars, bells and Christmas trees out of the pastry on top, and brush them with milk before popping them in the oven. Try them for yourself.

At the end of October, I always make Grandma Abson's Christmas Cake. My tip is to always make the cake at least six weeks in advance so that the brandy  can mature, then just before Christmas, I put the finishing touches - home made almond paste and icing. We are usually too full to start the cake on Christmas Day, so we usually have a slice with afternoon tea and Wensleydale cheese on Boxing Day. 

Grandma Abson's Christmas Cake

Happy Christmas everyone!