Month: November 2015

Delicious scones soon gone!

I love scones however they can cause such debate that I think we should get the pronunciation out of the way now. If you say the title of this post so that it rhymes you have got it right. Done!

The next debate occurs when you want to serve them, cream or jam first? The easy way to resolve that is to serve with butter, but seriously what does it matter? I put jam first as I can then pile as much clotted cream on top as will balance. This is probably not a sensible argument, but it’s the one I am going with.

I have tried a lot of scone recipes but I always go back to this one from a Dairy Council cook book from 1975. It is simple, tasty, and doesn’t have that bicarb taste that can spoil scones.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

Scones
Print Recipe
The recipe here is for plain scones, so perfect to eat with jam. If you want fruit scones reduce the sugar to 1 oz and add 2oz dried fruit just before the milk. If you like to measure in grams use 30g per oz. Scones taste best on the day that they are made but will keep for a couple of days. They do freeze well if you want to make them in advance, just warm through in the oven before serving.
Servings Prep Time
8 scones 15 minutes
Cook Time
12 minutes
Servings Prep Time
8 scones 15 minutes
Cook Time
12 minutes
Scones
Print Recipe
The recipe here is for plain scones, so perfect to eat with jam. If you want fruit scones reduce the sugar to 1 oz and add 2oz dried fruit just before the milk. If you like to measure in grams use 30g per oz. Scones taste best on the day that they are made but will keep for a couple of days. They do freeze well if you want to make them in advance, just warm through in the oven before serving.
Servings Prep Time
8 scones 15 minutes
Cook Time
12 minutes
Servings Prep Time
8 scones 15 minutes
Cook Time
12 minutes
Ingredients
Servings: scones
Instructions
  1. Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. I grate the very cold butter into the flour with a cheese grater, and then just finish it off with my fingers.
  2. Add the sugar and mix through. If you are using dried fruit add at this stage.
  3. Using a knife stir the milk into the mix until you get a ball of mixture that leaves the bowl clean. Do not add all the milk at once as different batches of flour absorb different amounts of liquid.
  4. Turn the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface. Bring together until smooth with you fingers very gently. Do not knead or the scones will be tough.
  5. Roll out to 2cm thick and cut rounds using a 5cm cutter. Place on a baking tray and bake in a preheated oven 220C/200C fan/425F/gas mark 7 for 12 - 15 minutes. The scones should be golden and sound hollow if you tap on the underside.
  6. Place on a cooling rack immediately so that the scones stay crisp on the outside, and soft in the middle.
Share this Recipe
 
Powered byWP Ultimate Recipe

Christmas Cake

 

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I love a slice of Christmas cake with cheese on Christmas night, and the smell of the spice when it is cooking, so making one is an essential part of the preparations for me.

I have lost count of the number of rich fruit cake recipes that I have tried over the years considering that I also use the same type of recipe for celebration cakes. One of my favourites is an old Victorian recipe, however it needs making at least 3 months in advance and that isn’t always convenient. So today I am making a last minute recipe that will have matured beautifully by Christmas Day. It is also very simple to make and as much as I love cooking, we all have busy lives. It makes a more golden, less heavy cake than the long maturing recipes. I made this one today and it is on the cooling rack.

This recipe makes a 20cm square cake. I am going to cut it in half closer to Christmas and decorate one half with marzipan and sugar paste, and the other half will be left plain to eat with cheese.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

Christmas Cake
Print Recipe
This cake can be made with any dried fruit that you like as long as you have 600g in total. The recipe already contains glace cherries, and I don't recommend adding any more, but suitable dried fruits are sultanas, raisins, dried apricots, dried dates, dried sour cherries, dried cranberries, candied peel, and anything else you can think of. Personally I don't really like currants but they are suitable too.
Servings Prep Time
16 portions 1 hour
Cook Time
1.5 hours
Servings Prep Time
16 portions 1 hour
Cook Time
1.5 hours
Christmas Cake
Print Recipe
This cake can be made with any dried fruit that you like as long as you have 600g in total. The recipe already contains glace cherries, and I don't recommend adding any more, but suitable dried fruits are sultanas, raisins, dried apricots, dried dates, dried sour cherries, dried cranberries, candied peel, and anything else you can think of. Personally I don't really like currants but they are suitable too.
Servings Prep Time
16 portions 1 hour
Cook Time
1.5 hours
Servings Prep Time
16 portions 1 hour
Cook Time
1.5 hours
Ingredients
Servings: portions
Instructions
  1. Warm the whisky or alternative and mix with the dried fruit, and ginger. Leave to stand for 30 minutes whilst you carry on with the rest of the recipe. If you can do this the day before they will have time to get better acquainted.
  2. Preheat the oven to 160c/140c fan/320f/gas mark 3 Line a 20cm square tin. I wrap the outside with a double layer of brown paper so that the edges don't get overcooked before the middle is ready.
  3. Put all the ingredients except the steeped fruits and cherries into a large bowl. Beat with a mixer for 2 minutes until the mixture is smooth. You can do this with a wooden spoon but it will take a bit longer.
  4. Fold in the fruit and cherries, spoon into the prepared tin, and level. Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes to 1 hour forty five minutes. When ready it will be golden brown, firm to the touch, and an inserted skewer will come out clean. Stand for 10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.
  5. Once completely cold wrap in baking paper and then foil to make a tight parcel, and store until you are ready to decorate or eat it. If you want to (and I do) you can unwrap a couple of times and feed with more spirit. Just add a couple of tbsp each time.
Share this Recipe
 
Powered byWP Ultimate Recipe

Stir up Sunday

Stir up Sunday, or in my family Pudding Sunday, is nearly here, so if you haven’t got a recipe sorted yet, or find traditional recipes too heavy, this is for you. It is always the Sunday before Advent, so this year 22nd November.

Stir up Sunday gets it’s name from the collect read on the last Sunday of the church year

Stir-up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people;
that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works,
may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
.”

For me it is a family tradition passed down through the generations and I look forward to it as the start of the season. Decorations come a lot, lot later, but the smell of Christmas on a dark November day fills me with cheer.

It takes no time to make, just ages to steam. I enjoy the day around the house, fire on, relaxing with a glass of something warming.

 

Christmas Pudding
Print Recipe
This makes a delicious Christmas Pudding, with all of the flavour in a lighter texture than a traditional pudding. It has converted more than a few who didn't like it previously. I like to serve it flamed with brandy and lashings of sweet white sauce.
Servings Prep Time
8 people 20+30 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
5 hours 24 hours
Servings Prep Time
8 people 20+30 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
5 hours 24 hours
Christmas Pudding
Print Recipe
This makes a delicious Christmas Pudding, with all of the flavour in a lighter texture than a traditional pudding. It has converted more than a few who didn't like it previously. I like to serve it flamed with brandy and lashings of sweet white sauce.
Servings Prep Time
8 people 20+30 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
5 hours 24 hours
Servings Prep Time
8 people 20+30 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
5 hours 24 hours
Ingredients
Servings: people
Instructions
  1. Combine everything except the eggs in a non-metallic bowl, cover, and leave to stand overnight.
  2. Next day add the beaten eggs, stir well, and then get everyone to stir and make a wish.
  3. Generously butter a 900ml pudding basin, spoon in the mixture, pushing down well and level. Cover with a double layer of baking paper, and a single layer of foil, both pleated, and tie tightly with string.
  4. Steam gently for 5 hours. Once cool re-wrap with clean paper and foil. Store in a cool place until Christmas.
  5. On Christmas Day steam again for 2 hours before serving.
  6. Half fill a metal ladle with brandy and heat over a gas flame or candle until hot enough to light. Pour the flaming brandy over the pudding, and carry to the table. There should be applause!
Share this Recipe
 
Powered byWP Ultimate Recipe

Flapjack is not a pancake!

DSC_1105

Local names can cause much confusion, as proved by a most animated discussion with some lovely friends. It led me to make both on the same day so that I could post a picture on Twitter. I don’t want this to suggest that I am highly opinionated…..

If you are me, British, or from the Commonwealth, then a flapjack is a sweet tray bake made with oats. If you are American you are apparently more likely to use the term for a thick pancake eaten at breakfast time. I love both, however this division by a common language can lead to culinary disappointments, depending on the time of day.

So as they are so useful for snacks here is the recipe that I use for flapjacks.

 

Flapjack is not a pancake!
Print Recipe
A tray bake made from oats. Use a 30g measure for 1 ounce if you are more familiar with them. The basic recipe can be jazzed up with dried fruit. I like 2oz desiccated coconut with two oz sultanas heated in the pan with the butter mix. 2oz dried cherries or cranberries also work well.
Servings Prep Time
12 pieces 10 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
30 minutes n/a n/a
Servings Prep Time
12 pieces 10 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
30 minutes n/a n/a
Flapjack is not a pancake!
Print Recipe
A tray bake made from oats. Use a 30g measure for 1 ounce if you are more familiar with them. The basic recipe can be jazzed up with dried fruit. I like 2oz desiccated coconut with two oz sultanas heated in the pan with the butter mix. 2oz dried cherries or cranberries also work well.
Servings Prep Time
12 pieces 10 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
30 minutes n/a n/a
Servings Prep Time
12 pieces 10 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
30 minutes n/a n/a
Ingredients
Servings: pieces
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 190C/170C fan/375F/gas mark 5 Grease a tin no smaller that 8"8" and no larger than 9"x12" or the flapjack will be too deep or thin. I use the former so that it is not too biscuit like.
  2. Place butter, sugar, and syrup into a pan and heat gently until melted and smooth. Too high and it will burn.
  3. Take off the heat and add oats and flour. Stir well then press evenly into the tin. Bake for 30 minutes until lightly golden. It will firm up as it cools.
  4. Cut into portions while still warm. Store in an airtight container once completely cold.
Share this Recipe
 
Powered byWP Ultimate Recipe

Copyright © 2024 Cheryl's Table

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑