A special wedding gift

A special wedding gift

 A few months ago, I made a special Wedding Cake  and gave a copy of Grandma Abson's Traditional Baking book for a family friend to take as a wedding gift for a famous couple, Justine Thornton and Ed Miliband. Ed is the local MP in Doncaster.  I decorated the cake with red ribbon and put a spray of delicate white Yorkshire roses, tied up with a horseshoe.

I was delighted to get a lovely message back from Justine with a lovely thank you card saying ‘We've started eating the cake and it is fantastic!’  I hope they are doing plenty of Grandma Abson’s baking in the Miliband household.

We’re all getting excited about my daughter’s wedding next month and yet another outing for Grandma Abson’s Celebration Fruit Cake recipe. As you need to prepare a wedding fruit cake in advance, I've baked the three tiers and these are now maturing. Once a week, I prick the tops of the cakes and pour a few teaspoonsful of brandy to help the maturing process. During the next couple of weeks, I’ll need to cover the cakes with home made almond paste/marzipan.

How to make Almond Paste

½ lb ground almonds

¾ lb caster sugar

4 tablespoonfuls of lemon juice and 2 tablespoonsful of water

Mix the almonds and sugar together. Add sufficient liquid to make a stiff  paste. You can also add a 1 tablespoon of sherry instead of 1 of the water. You can also substitute half of the caster sugar with icing sugar.

Almond paste ready to put on the cake

Grandma’s baking is a hit with the hens

Afternoon tea with the hens

I don’t remember Grandma ever saying she had been to a 'hen do'. My daughter’s bridesmaids had organised a secret weekend away to celebrate her final weeks of singledom. The destination was a farmhouse on the outskirts of Bath - an idyllic venue for a hen party!

On the first evening, we got dressed up in our best togs for dinner with a glass or two or fizz. After the meal, I got out my saxophone for the girls sang along. It was a great success and one of the girls said that this was the first hen do she been to with a family band!

I’m not quite sure what Grandma would have made of the next day, as we set off to do Burlesque Dancing. The hens got dressed up appropriately with basques, black stockings and suspenders and with teacher, Rachelle’s encouragement learnt the steps to become dazzling Dancing Divas. 

After lunch, it was back to the farmhouse and another occasion to celebrate - my niece’s birthday; we'd made a couple of traditional cakes from Grandma’s book : Victoria Sponge and Chocolate Cake and had afternoon tea around the farmhouse kitchen table. 

Blowing the birthday candles out!

I left for the drive home while the girls got ready for their evening’s partying with a cocktail making session, tapas and the Bath nightclubs. So, huge thanks to my daughter for asking me along and to all the girls for being so welcoming. I’m really looking forward to the big day soon. Now to get cracking with the wedding cake!

Let’s hear it for lemons

Tangy Lemon Loaf

Lemons are pretty underestimated in the baking world. When I was sorting through the recipes Grandma had cut out from magazines, I found one for a really tangy Lemon Loaf. I’m not sure which magazine it came from but Grandma Abson was an avid reader of Woman's Weekly. Once the Monday washing had been done, she would treat herself to a sit-down to catch up on the romantic serials as well as the more practical knitting patterns – we had a whole wardrobe of hand knitted woollen jumpers, gloves, hats and scarves.  The recipes would be cut out and saved to try out later.

Tangy Lemon Loaf

110g/4 oz butter

175g/6 oz castor sugar

Grated rind and juice 2 lemons

2 eggs (beaten)

175g/6 oz self raising flour

Milk to mix

50g/2 oz granulated sugar

Cream the butter, castor sugar and lemon rind until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs. Mix in the flour and a little milk to soften the mixture so it drops off the spoon. Grease a 1kg/2lb loaf tin. Bake in a moderate oven (Mark 4, 350F, 180C) for 45 minutes until risen and firm on top. Prepare the lemon syrup by heating the lemon juice and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Once the cake is out of the oven, pierce the top with a cake skewer and pour over the lemon syrup. Leave the cake in the tin until cool.

This is a great recipe to serve with a bowl of blueberries and raspberries. The lemon syrup gives it really tangy and intense flavour - just the thing for a late summer’s afternoon. 

And here’s another great recipe for Lemon Biscuits. 

Have you got a Lemon recipe to shout out?

Afternoon Tea in London

Afternoon tea in London - what a spread!

Never mind tea at the Ritz, Grandma Abson’s Afternoon tea was served up last weekend in London to the delight of family and friends. The sun put its hat on and came out to shine as we sat in the garden.

Jane's delectable cucumber sandwiches

It was a combined effort to prepare a wide variety of delicious cakes, scones, teabreads and biscuits. My son’s neighbour, Jane, crowned our efforts with fabulous cucumber sandwiches on beautiful trays and brought out her gorgeous cake stands to display Grandma's cakes superbly. 

It’s always fascinating to see which cakes are the most popular when we do these parties. Grandma's Bridlington Cake is a lemon cake which takes everyone by storm, wherever it’s served up. It’s not a standard sponge cake and not made by creaming, rubbing-in or melting methods but the texture is somewhere between a sponge and a meringue. It’s also a versatile cake to decorate. This time, I used homemade lemon curd and a meringue topping with amazing results. I’ve decorated it before with lemon butter cream and glace icing or feather icing. 

There was much talk amongst the guests of the delights of afternoon tea as an alternative to dinner parties. Grandma’s baking recipes are easy to make and leave the host plenty of time to have a leisurely chat with guests. 

Serious debate about Grandma's afternoon tea!

Going for gold

Apple Pie with golden pastry

One of my favourite pastimes is gardening and it suit all moods, whether it’s hacking away at an overgrown shrub, growing fruit and vegetables or simply taking pleasure in a colourful display of flowers in spring and summer. It lifts my spirits when I get out into the garden.

Grandma let someone else take the strain of gardening but she did take full advantage of their efforts, and knew what to do with gluts of fruits and vegetables. Grandma Abson's Traditional Baking has recipes for jams and chutneys as well as fruit puddings and pies. My favourite  is Apple Pie made with her mouth watering perfect Shortcrust pastry.

Last September with much trepidation, I entered the annual competition for our local Gardeners' Association - in the baking section. I baked a Fruit pie, made from Grandma’s tried and trusted recipe. I was over the moon to win gold first prize and collect my winning certificate – this was my first baking competition! Not quite #GBBO but it felt like it - and I hope Grandma would have been proud of me!

1^st Prize for Home made Fruit Pie

Plums a plenty

Clafoutis de prunes : Superbe!

We’re enjoying a vast array of delectable fruits from the local market. One of my favourite summer desserts is the French ‘Clafoutis’. You can make it with cherries but I really like this recipe made with plums called ‘Clafoutis de prunes’. This sounds confusing but I promise that you don’t make it with prunes. You can use Yorkshire Pudding batter for ‘Clafoutis’. 

Here’s the recipe from my French friend, Florence. Grandma liked this as it's a recipe based on a ‘cup’ measurement. No worrying about metric or imperial - gs or ozs. Just make sure you use the same cup for the ingredients!

Clafoutis de prunes

¾ cup plain flour

2 eggs

¼ cup sugar

Pinch of salt

1 full cup of milk

4-5 plums cut into slices

Mix the eggs and flour as for a pancake batter. Beat in the sugar, salt and milk. Butter an oven dish and line with the plums. Cover these with the mixture and cook in a moderate oven for about 45 minutes (Mark 4, 350F, 180C).

Grandma’s tips for YorkshirePudding apply to this dish. Switch to a conventional heat setting rather than a fan oven setting to ensure it comes out light and airy!

Grandma’s on the wireless

Marmalade Spice Cake

Grandma listened to all sorts of radio programmes while she was knitting or sewing - plays and news on ‘The Home’ service, now Radio 4, and music on ‘The Light’ programme, which is a bit like Radio 2 - and she called it the 'wireless'.

This week, I’ve been interviewed on BBC Radio Sheffield and been sharing recipes from Grandma book. Rony Robinson, the presenter asked me about being brought up by Grandma and life on the Railway Station at Bolton on Dearne and of course about Grandma’s recipes and why I was passionate about home baking.

I made Marmalade Spice Cake for the BBC people to try and they told me it was 'Yum Yum'. Here's the recipe :

8oz/225g self raising flour

3oz/75g margarine or butter

5oz/150g marmalade

6oz/175g golden syrup

2 tsps ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsps hot water

1 egg (beaten) 

Pre heat the oven to 325F, Mark 3, 170 C. Grease and line a loaf tin. Melt the margarine (or butter) in the golden syrup in a pan. Mix the flour, ginger and cinnamon. Add the liquid from the pan gradually. Add the marmalade and beaten egg and stir in the hot water. Bake in a warm oven for ¾ hour. 

The recipe is one from Grandma’s daughter-in-law, Nellie.  I love this recipe as the ginger gives it a real tang. I make it regularly with Grandma Pat’s homemadeMarmalade although any good quality marmalade will do.

Grandma Abson’s Traditional Baking recipes are going far and wide! 

Yorkshire puddings at the ready

Here in Yorkshire, God’s own country, we celebrate Yorkshire Day on 1st August. The origins of Yorkshire Day allegedly go back to the Battle of Minden during the 7 years' war in Prussia where the English defeated the French army on 1st August 1759. It was said that the heroism of Yorkshiremen from the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry won the day. But it’s also the anniversary of the emancipation of slaves which was put into law in Parliament on this date in 1834, largely thanks to the efforts of Yorkshire M.P. William Wilberforce. A more recent revival of the day came in 1975 from the Yorkshire Ridings Society.

Yorkshire folk are proud to celebrate what’s good about our county and give a boost to all those Yorkshire folk who have to live in exile elsewhere. So we celebrate by eating the world famous Yorkshire Pudding. 

Hannah Glasse

There are lots of stories about the origins of Yorkshire Puddings too.  There’s even a story about an angel giving the recipe to a kindly woman. In the middle ages, they were called ‘dripping puddings’ but the modern recipe is said to come from Hannah Glass, a famous cook in the 18th century, in her book ‘The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy’. The most common explanation is that families used it as a filler to feed children when they couldn’t afford meat. Nowadays, Yorkshire Pudding is often served as a starter to a roast or an accompaniment to a roast beef.

Grandma Abson was an expert in making perfect Yorkshire Puddings. She usually served them with gravy made from the meat juices and Raspberry Vinegar.

Grandma Abson’s Yorkshire Pudding

5 tbsps plain flour (sieved and heaped)

2 eggs

Milk to mix

Salt

Fat or oil for cooking

“Mix the ingredients to the consistency of cream. Let it stand and stir occasionally. Lift a tablespoonful of the mixture to get air in. Heat the fat in Yorkshire Pudding tins in a very hot oven. Pour in enough mixture to cover each base. Cook in the oven for 10 – 15 minutes.”  (425F, Mark 7, 220C).

Grandma’s 10 tips for perfect Yorkshire puddings :

1. Get the fat (or oil) sizzling
2. Get the oven really hot
3. Use Plain not Self raising flour
4. Sift the flour
5. Use a wooden spoon to mix
6. The batter should be fairly runny like cream
7. Best leave the batter to rest for half an hour before using
8. Don’t fill the YP tin more than one third
9. Don’t open the oven door during cooking
10. Serve straightaway - Grandma used to have us sitting at the table waiting!

Meryl says : I use about 4½oz/125g flour and ½ pint/275ml milk. I also find my fan oven stops my Yorkshire Puddings from rising, so I switch to a conventional heat setting to ensure they come out light and airy like Grandma’s.

Enjoy Yorkshire Day wherever you are. 

And lots more of 

 Grandma Abson’s 

Yorkshire Recipes 

Yorkshire Brack

Doncaster Butterscotch Cake

Yorkshire Christmas Spice Loaf

Yorkshire Curd Tart

Yorkshire Drop

Fat Rascals

Lemon (Tour De France/Yorkshire) Cake

Rhubarb Crumble

Rhubarb Tart/Rhubarb Lattice Flan

Yorkshire Parkin

Yorkshire Mint Pasties

Yorkshire Moggie Cake

Life is just a bowl of cherries

I’ve had a request from a Grandma Abson fan in France about how to cope with gluts of cherries, which are growing in abundance in his garden in southern France. Grandma Abson always make good use of gluts of fruit and vegetables in season with her collection of recipes for jams, jellies, chutneys, pickles and puddings.

Over the years, my French friends have given me some wonderful dessert recipes, including one of my favourite one which can be made with cherries.

Tarte aux cerises

Line a tin or flan dish with shortcrust pastry. Prick the bottom with a fork. Stone the cherries. Cover the pastry with a layer of cherries. Bake in a fairly hot oven (200C, Mark 6, 400F) for about 30 minutes. After about 15 minutes of cooking time, pour an egg and milk custard mixture (1 egg to ½ cup of milk) over the cherries and bake until set. Allow to cool and pour over a couple of warmed tablespoonfuls of red currant jelly to make a glaze.

When I lived in France in the 1970s as a student, I  bought a jar of Cerises a l’eau de vie (cherries in brandy) for Grandma's Christmas present. She loved spooning the cherries and brandy into a little glass to have as a digestif at the end of a meal or on the top of vanilla ice cream. It became one of her favourite treats when she was in her eighties! 

 Cerises à l’eau de vie

Here's how to do it : Fill a clean preserving jar with firm cherries with half the stalks still attached. Cover with sugared brandy (½ cup of sugar to 5 cups of liquid). Seal and leave for 6 months. 

A votre santé! 

Good old fashioned Afternoon tea

Victoria Sandwich perfect for afternoon tea

Summer weekend afternoons are the perfect time to try out your baking skills with plates of cakes, teabreads and scones to tempt your guests. 

I’ve been doing some teatime research to find out the difference between afternoon tea and high tea. They are both considered to be small meals in themselves and have been popular social activities since the Victorians and in particular, the Duchess of Bedford took delight in serving up teatime treats in the 1840s. The interest in them shows no sign of waning today.

Afternoon tea is generally considered to be served at 4 oclock and consists of a pot of tea, small finer sandwiches (often with cucumber and the crusts removed), scones, teabreads and cakes. These are usually cut into small portions such as squares or diamond shapes.

High tea is altogether a more substantial meal generally around 6 o’clock with a savoury to start such as ham and eggs, crumpets, cold meat, cheese or poached eggs on toast followed by scones and cake as before.

We’re planning a good old fashioned afternoon tea just like Grandma used to serve to the Edwardian family when she was in service. I’ve been making a list of my favourite recipes from Grandma’s book. It has to include Victoria Sandwich, Scones, Almond fingers, Coffee Cake and Bridlington Cake which went down exceedingly well at Grandma's baking book launch. 

Some of the cakes we’re going to make! 

What's your favourite cake for afternoon tea?

Last minute Chocolate mini muffins

Chocolate Mini muffins 

Grandma Abson was always adept at rustling up something tempting when people dropped by unexpectedly. She had this ability to produce delicious homemade baking ‘at the drop of a hat’ from her time in service in the 1900s. At the ringing of a bell, she would be summoned to serve tea to visitors in the Edwardian House, Oakleigh, where she worked as a cook housekeeper. 

Grandma’s recipes generally take no time at all to prepare. So, when last Sunday, a friend, texted to say she and her partner were calling by, I followed in Grandma’s footsteps. My friend adores chocolate so this recipe for Chocolate Muffins is perfect with its double hit of chocolate!

Chocolate (Mini) Muffins

200g/7oz plain flour 

25g/1oz cocoa powder

1 tbsp baking powder 

1 tsp ground cinnamon 

115g/4oz golden caster sugar 

185g/6 ½ oz white chocolate, broken into pieces 

2 eggs 

100ml/3 ½ fl oz sunflower oil 

225ml/8floz milk

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. Line a 12 muffin tin with large muffin paper cases. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder and cinnamon into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar and 125g/4 ½ oz of the white chocolate.  Place the eggs and oil in a separate bowl and whisk until frothy, then gradually whisk in the milk. Stir into the dry ingredients until just blended.  Spoon the mixture into the paper cases, filling each three-quarters full. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the muffins and cool on a wire rack. Melt the remaining white chocolate and spread over the muffins. Leave to set, then dust the tops with a little cocoa powder.

Meryl's tip : I did adapt the recipe as I didn’t have large muffin cases but so I made Chocolate ‘mini’ muffins in smaller cases and cut the oven time by around five minutes.My friend said they were the best chocolate muffins she had ever tasted. The muffins were ready in under thirty minutes.

Have you got a recipe for something quick to bake?

Hitting the right spot with cream tea

View from The Bay Hotel in Coverack

I love holidaying in Cornwall. It’s a gorgeous place to visit. This time we stayed in the fabulous Bay Hotel in a small village called Coverack on the Lizard peninsula where you wake up every morning to see the sea gently lapping on the shore.

There is a vast number of places to visit with beautiful scenery, interesting tin mines, attractive gardens and historic castles and of course you have to sample the Cornish cream teas. This generally consists of a scone, butter, jam and clotted cream, washed down with a pot of tea. It’s the perfect afternoon teatime treat.

I’m baking some Scones to remind me of the glorious Cornish cream teas, using Grandma Abson’s trusted recipe. The sultanas keep the scones moist and the scones have a perfect texture.

Grandma’s perfect Afternoon Tea Scones