Bring out the best china

Grandma’s Afternoon tea cake stand

A couple of weeks ago, we went to visit the home of Britain’s best loved china, the Wedgwood Museum. I used to go to the Potteries to see my cousins who lived in Stoke on Trent when they were young but I hadn’t been there for many years as they had left that area a long time ago. So this was a journey back in time. I always like to display Grandma’s cakes and biscuits on pretty plates. I still have her 3 tiered cake stand as you can see which was made in the Potteries. It’s just the thing to show off afternoon tea time treats with from the top Coffee Cake, Fruit Harvo on the middle tier, Coconut Fingers and Butter Biscuits at the bottom. 

Fruit Harvo

Coconut Fingers 

4 oz butter

4 oz sugar

2 eggs (beaten)

4 oz plain flour

¼ oz baking powder

6 oz coconut

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, flour and baking powder. Then add the coconut. Mix well and bake in a flat tin in a quick oven for 20-25 minutes. (375F, Mark 5, 190C) Cut them into fingers while they are still warm, and then leave to cool in the tin.

MS Cake Break is all about raising funds to support research for people affected by  Multiple Sclerosis (MS). I’ve been doing talks about Grandma’s baking to raise money for this important charity. 

I did a ‘Meet the Author’ event at Sheffield Central Library.  It’s great fun as everyone always enjoys talking about and tasting traditional homemade baking.

Get busy baking, bring out your best china, make a cake from Grandma's collection and join thousands of others for Cake Break events. Let me know what you bake!

Grandma meets Nigella

Fruit Harvo Bread 

I’m a really big fan of Nigella Lawson, and while doing some research for Grandma's book, I was delighted to find that  one of Grandma’s recipes Fruit Harvo Bread from the original edition of Grandma Abson's Yorkshire Recipes I produced in 1981 had been posted on Nigella’s website. The author describes it as ‘A nice sticky malty loaf, which keeps well’. It’s actually a teabread, made with raisins which you can spread with butter. The writer comments on measuring using cups rather than scales. Don’t be afraid of using cups as measurement. This old-fashioned technique really works. I suggest 1 cup = approx. 4oz/110g.

2 cups wholemeal brown flour

2 cups white plain flour

1 cup golden syrup or treacle

1 cup sugar

1 cup raisins

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Milk to mix

Mix all the ingredients together with milk to a soft paste. Pour into greased loaf tins. Bake in a slow oven for up to 2 hours. (300F, Mark 2, 150C).

Meryl says : It’s worth checking the bake after 1 hr 40 mins as this seemed sufficient in my oven. 

Fruit Harvo Bread ready for the oven

Fruit Harvo Bread ready to eat!

Find more Teabreads on Grandma's Recipes page!