Getting a soaking

Jackie’s Tea loaf

I’ve often been asked if Grandma has a cake recipe where you soaked dried fruit overnight. Yes - Grandma regularly soaked raisins, sultanas and currants overnight to make sure they were plump.

View over Loch Linnhe

Here’s a recipe from Jackie at the Huntingtower Lodge near Fort William in Scotland. Jackie serves her Tea Loaf to her guests as they arrive at her wonderful boutique B&B. Jackie and Chris are so welcoming and our room was absolutely stunning with amazing views over Loch Linnhe.

Jackie’s Tea Loaf

1lb/450g mixed dried fruit

7 oz/200g soft brown sugar 

(N.B. I used 4oz/110g sugar for a reduced sugar content)

½ pint/10 fl oz/275-300 ml cold tea

1 egg beaten

9 oz self raising flour

Put the dried fruit, sugar and tea in a bowl and leave for 3 hours or until the tea is absorbed. (I left it overnight and it worked well). Beat in the egg and the flour. Pour into a 2lb/1 kg loaf tin. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C (Fan 160C)/Mark 3/350F for an hour to an hour and a half. (I found 1 hour was enough.) Allow to cool on a wire rack.

I’m pleased to say that it didn’t rain when we visited Scotland this time so we didn’t get a soaking! Many thanks to Jackie for sharing a fabulous recipe. 

 Enjoy Jackie's Tea Loaf! Would you like a slice?

A very versatile Orange cake

Grandma said that her Orange Cake recipe was a “very good cake”. It's a great cake for summer so it’s Recipe of the Month at  Tim & Jane's Tasty Flavours stall.

Orange Cake

5 oz (175g) butter

5 oz (175g) caster sugar

3 eggs

5 oz (175g) self raising flour (sieved)

Grated zest of 1 orange

Strained juice of ½ orange 

  

Preheat the oven to 180°C, Mark 4, 350F. Line the base of a 20 cms /8 inch cake tin with non-stick baking paper. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Beat the eggs and add a little at a time, adding a dessertspoonful of flour with each egg. Fold in the remaining flour, orange zest and orange juice. Put the mixture in the cake tin and bake for about 25 minutes until it starts to shrink from the sides and a cake skewer inserted into the centre comes away clean. Place on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn the cake out onto the rack and leave until cool. 

Decorate with Orange slices, Icing sugar & Orange zest, Butterscotch pieces, Orange Butter Cream or Candid peel. 

Grandma often decorated it Orange Butter cream filling  just like I did with the Olympics Orange Cake for my Gamesmaker team mates in 2012.

Use soft brown sugar instead of white caster sugar to make an Orange & Butterscotch Cake as I did for the Jubilee celebrations. 

I hope you enjoy this versatile cake. Do you think it could be one of my 5 a day? 👍

A Perfect start to Father’s Day

Delicious Wheaten Bread 

Still thinking what to do for Dad on Fathers Day? Here’s a recipe from a neighbour to get his day off to a great start. The family has routes in Northern Ireland and this recipe is a firm family favourite with every generation including the youngest members. It’s a delicious Wheaten Bread made with Soda bread flour and wholemeal flour and has a moist, nutty texture. This recipe makes 2 small loaves.

Wheaten Bread

12 oz/340g coarse wholemeal flour

8 oz/225g soda bread flour (or use strong plain flour with 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda)

4 oz/110g caster sugar

2 tsps salt

3 fl oz/75ml olive oil or 3 oz/75g soft margarine (or a mixture)

1 egg

1 pint/20fl oz/575ml buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 180C (160C Fan), Mark 4, 350F. Mix all the dry ingredients together. Add the wet ingredients and mix well together. Divide the mixture between 2 greased tins (or line with loaf tin liners/greaseproof paper). Bake for 35-45 minutes.

Mix well

 Healthy start to a perfect Father's day

It’s delicious served with butter or toasted for breakfast.  You can add seeds, nuts or dried fruit. I tried it with dried apricots. Indulge Dad with this healthy treat – he might even start making it himself! Tell us  if you have a regional recipe to share …

A Twist of Lemon

Lemons are my favourite fruit for home baking whether it's a Lemon cake, Lemon pudding or Lemon biscuits as I love their tangy flavour.  Penny gave me this simple tray bake recipe for Spiced Lemon and Walnut Bake to add to the Recipes page. I’ve tweaked her original recipe by reducing the amount of sugar and adding more cinnamon and an extra twist of lemon.

Spiced Lemon and Walnut Bake 

110g/4 oz plain flour

1 level tsp baking powder

2 level tsp ground cinnamon

1 level tsp ground nutmeg

110g/4 oz rolled oats

50g/2 oz walnuts finely chopped

175g/6 oz butter

110g/4 oz brown sugar

2 large eggs

½ tsp vanilla essence

Finely grated rind of 1 lemon

Juice of 1½ lemons

3 tbsps milk (if needed)

Preheat the oven to 180C, Mark 4, 350F. Cream the butter and sugar and beat until light. Lightly mix the eggs with vanilla essence, lemon rind and juice and beat into the creamed mixture a little at a time. Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the rolled oats and chopped walnuts. Fold in the flour mixture, along with the extra milk if needed to make a soft consistency. Place in a greased tin measuring approximately 25 cm x 18 cm/10 x 7 inches or a square tin approximately 20 cm/8 inches and smooth the top with a palette knife. Bake in the centre of a moderate oven for about 30-35 minutes until golden brown.

Cut into squares, triangles or fingers 
Have you got a recipe to share to keep baking traditions alive?

Chantilly Cake – that’s what I like!

Chantilly Cake

You’ve heard of Chantilly Cream, the vanilla whipped cream for desserts which takes its name from Chantilly, near Paris. Grandma knew all about Chantilly Lace, the handmade bobbin lace from the same French town. And she may have even heard  me playing the hit rock and roll song of the same name on my transistor! 

But what about Chantilly Cake? Faith, who heard about Grandma’s baking when I went to Crowle sent me a version. She wrote : “I am sending this family recipe for Chantilly Cake as promised. It was given to my mother by one of her friends, a Mrs. Kipling from Braithwell. It's an exceedingly good cake!”. And it’s true. It’s an ideal cake for a glorious sunny afternoon tea. It’s very simple to make and keeps moist.

Chantilly Cake

8 oz/225g butter

1 0z/25g lard (or see Meryl’s tips)

8 oz/225g sugar

3 eggs

8 oz/225g self raising flour

2 ½ oz/60g ground rice

2 ½ 0z/60g almonds

4 oz/110g walnuts

4 oz/110g glace cherries

2 oz/50g angelica

1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream the sugar and the fats (butter and lard). Add the beaten eggs. Add the dry ingredients, stirring all the time. Cook for one hour in a moderate oven. (I suggest 180C/160C Fan/Mark 4/350F)

Meryl’s tips :

If you don’t like lard, use butter.

Wash and dry the cherries so they don’t fall to the bottom.  

Use vanilla extract instead of essence for a stronger flavour.

Add a little milk for a slightly softer mixture.

Many thanks to Faith for passing on this hidden gem! If you’ve got a favourite family recipe, please let me know.

A Baking Challenge

Last Autumn I was invited to talk to the Friends of Clifton Park Museum, Rotherham about Grandma’s baking. The Museum boasts a wonderful black leaded Yorkshire Range which was restored in 2005 to working order. From time to time, the Friends show how food was cooked on the range in times past. You won’t be surprised that they ‘challenged’ me to go along and bake with them.

So with some trepidation I went along. I needn’t have worried as the‘Rangers’ were there to give me a hand. The museum staff had lit the fire about an hour before I arrived to get it ready for baking. Penny, Ann, June and Joan all helped me out by keeping an eye on the oven, fetching and carrying water and, best of all, washing up!

Joan had asked me to bake shortbread, so I showed the visitors how to make the mixture by rubbing the butter and flour in a large bowl to make breadcrumbs. Then I added  egg yolks to make a dough. (I saved the egg whites to make some Coconut Macaroons later.) The Rangers took it in turns to roll out the dough and cut into biscuits shapes, topping some with glace cherries and pricking others with a fork to make a decoration. Then it was into the oven for around 25 minutes until baked. 

Shortbread Biscuits 

10 oz/ 275g  butter

1 lb / 450g plain flour

6 oz / 175g caster sugar

1 -2 yolks of eggs

Glace cherries

Rub the butter into the flour and add the sugar. Then add the egg yolks and work into the flour as quickly as possible, making a dry dough. The mixture must be kept dry. Roll out an ½ inch/1 cm thick and cut into rounds. Put a cherry in the centre. Bake for 25 minutes in a slow oven. (300F, Mark 2, 150C)       

Take care with the oven door

I really got into the hang of baking on the Range and the biscuits soon disappeared with the visitors saying they were the best biscuits they had ever tasted! What are your favourite biscuits? 

Down memory lane at the Cake and Bake Show

It was a #caketastic day out last week with a trip to the Cake and Bake Show in Manchester!  

It was trip down memory lane for me, since I spent many summer holidays in the city with my Great Aunt Emma. We travelled from Yorkshire by train to Manchester Central Railway station, and now this former railway terminus has been converted to a major exhibition hall.

Emma's Rock Buns were the best I’ve ever tasted.

What a wealth of wedding cakes, baking ingredients and cake decorating equipment. Indeed, everything you might need to make that glorious creation. 

Celebrity baker spotting in the demo areas

We managed to find a quieter spot for a lunchtime break and try a slice of Bradleys Bakery wonderful Cheese and Onion Pie.

My highlight was to meet @ChrisPBlackburn, the Yorkshire Pudding King from Halifax. Chris was a contestant on ITV’s Food Glorious Food and Yorkshire Pudding Champion, so has a fantastic pedigree where all things Yorkshire are concerned. We had a great #baking #chat and agreed to a Blog post swap later in the year. Did you visit the Cake and Bake Show? 

A quick and healthy treat!

Fruit & Honey Bars

People often say that they don’t have time to bake. There are lots of things to bake which don’t need huge amounts of prep and are quick to bake. Here’s a quick and healthy treat to make in two shakes! 

Any combination of dried fruits and nuts will do: raisins, sultanas, apricots, cherries, cranberries, dates, almonds, pistachios, walnuts or flaked coconut. *Leave out the nuts if you have an allergy. **I usually leave out the demerara sugar as I haven’t a sweet tooth. I like the tangy taste with adding lemon juice.

Fruit & Honey Bars

12 oz/350g oats

6 oz/175g raisins

*4 oz/110g chopped nuts

5 oz/150g butter melted

**4 oz/110g demerara sugar

4 oz/110g honey or golden syrup

2 tsps lemon juice

½ tsp vanilla essence

Toast the oats in a baking tin at 180C (160C Fan), Mark 4, 350F, stirring occasionally until starting to brown. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Mix all ingredients. Line a Swiss roll tin 10 x 12 inches/ 25 x 30 cms with baking paper. Spread the mixture on top and smooth the surface with a spatula or palette knife. Bake for about 20 minutes at 180C (160C Fan), Mark 4, 350F. Cool and cut into bars.

I hope you’ll enjoy baking them. They're great for a picnic or lunchtime treat.  What would you include as a combination of fruit and nuts?

An Easter Parade of Baking

Here’s an Easter Parade of Grandma’s baking with chicks and chocolate to brighten our mood after the winter months. I'm tempted by these

Chocolate Orange Biscuits 

5 oz/150g margarine or butter

3 oz/75g caster sugar

8 oz/225g plain flour

2 tsps baking powder

3 oz/75g  plain chocolate (chopped into small pieces)

Grated rind of an orange

1 tbsp orange juice

Pre heat the oven to 180C(fan 160C), Mark 4,350F. Beat the margarine or butter until it’s light and fluffy. Then sift the flour and baking powder straight onto the creamed mixture. Add the rest of the ingredients and work the mixture together until you get a fairly stiff paste. Roll out into a floured working surface, about ¼ inch/0.5cm thick. Using a 2 inch/5cm plain cutter, cut out the biscuits and place them on the baking sheets. Sprinkle them with a little extra caster sugar and bake for about 20 minutes or until the biscuits are a nice golden colour. Remove from the oven, leave to cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes, then place on a wire rack. Decorate with a dusting of icing sugar. Paste a tiny amount of apricot jam in the centre of the biscuit and decorate with a chocolate egg.

And there's more...

Try these irresistible Chocolate Brownies

Grandma's easy ‘all in one’ Simnel Cake recipe

Dutch Easter Stick

Indulge in Easter baking and you’ll put a Springtime smile on the faces of your friends and families. Tell me about your baking for Easter....

A Tale of Two (or Three) Chocolate Cakes

Chocolate has been in Europe since the early 17th century. The first mention of chocolate in England was in the mid 1600s when bakers started to add cocoa powder to cakes. Everyone loves Chocolate Cake and yet there are as many variations as stars in the heavens!

At my last talk at Hodsock Priory Snowdrops visitors were intrigued by one of the recipes from the Buchanan family’s own compilation of recipes. The Chocolate Cake recipe dated back to 1885 from Emily, Marchioness of Headfort, great great grandmother of the current custodians of Hodsock. It has a denser texture than modern sponge cakes but is surprisingly tasty.  

Emily says that her Chocolate Cake is ‘perfect but extravagant’

The ingredients : sugar, flour, grated chocolate, butter and eggs and Groult’s potato flour.  

The method : ‘Work the butter and sugar together, then work in the chocolate, add the yolks of eggs and lastly the flours and the whipped egg whites. Bake for 1-1 ½ hours according to the oven’.

Harry gave me his Chocolate Cake recipe when I talked to the Independent Living Group he attends. He makes his yummy cake for the group whenever they meet for Afternoon tea. They love it!

Harry’s Chocolate Cake

4oz/110g butter or margarine

4oz /110g sugar

2 eggs (beaten)

5 tbsps evaporated milk

1 oz/25g cocoa powder

7oz/175g self raising flour

5 tbsps water

Few drops of vanilla essence or extract

Beat the butter and sugar to a cream. Then stir in the eggs beaten with the evaporated milk. Add the flour and cocoa powder. Mix thoroughly. Then add the water and vanilla essence. Pour mixture into 2 well greased sandwich tins. Bake in the oven 180C (fan 160C), Mark 4 for around 30-35 minutes. Allow to cool.

Filling

20z/50g butter

4oz/110g sieved icing sugar

Mix thoroughly and spread on one of the sandwich cakes. Place the other on top. Decorate the top with sieved icing sugar or melted chocolate.

Grandma’s simple version of Chocolate Cake can be decorated with a dusting of icing sugar or cocoa powder or covered with melted chocolate. 

Enjoy baking any of these Chocolate Cakes - have you got a special recipe?