Fig and almond cake

 Ingredients

6oz salted butter

6 oz sugar

2 large eggs

4 oz ground almonds

3 oz flour (plain/gluten-free)

⅓ tsp salt

a smattering of ground vanilla beans

a pinch or two of ground star anise

3 oz Greek yogurt

6-9 figs

Method 

1.  Soften the butter. 
2. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Weigh up the almonds, flour, salt, vanilla, spice together.
4. Crack the eggs into a cup and beat them a bit (or just add them one at a time to the mixture if you can't be bothered with this).
5. Alternately add a bit of egg and some of the flour/almonds dry mix to the bowl, until it's all well mixed in. 
6. Mix in the yogurt.
7. Put on the oven, at gas mark 6, 200C
8. Find an 8 inch sandwich tin or flan tin, grease it and line it with greaseproof baking paper
9. Spoon the cake mixture into the lined tin.
10. Slice the figs down the middle to make halves or wedges
11. Arrange the fig pieces on top of the cake
12. Bake in the hot oven for 15 minutes and then reduce the temperature to Mark 3, 170C, and continue baking for 30-35 minutes. Test it with a skewer to see if it comes out clean. 
13. Serve hot or cold with yogurt or cream for pudding, or cold for tea.

Baked Apple Roly Poly

Ingredients

10 oz (275g) self-raising flour
pinch of salt
5 oz (150 g) shredded suet
some cold water
1 lb (450g) cooking apples
3 oz (75g) Demerara or soft brown sugar
2 level tsp ground cinnamon
3 oz (75g) sultanas
Milk and sugar to glaze

Method

1. Turn on the oven to moderately hot, 400ºF, 200ºC, Gas mark 6.
2. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl and mix in the suet.
3. Add just enough cold water to mix to a soft but not sticky dough.
4. Roll out your pastry on a floured board, to a rectangle about 12x14 inches (30x35 cms).
5. Trim the edges and then cut off a strip about 2 inches wide from the shorter side. (What exactly does this mean? I suppose it means that you now have a square 12x12 inches, and a strip 12x2 inches—but see further below for counter evidence to this theory).
6. Peel core and chop the apples (NB chop them small!)
7. Spread the chopped apple over the pastry to within 1 inch of the edge.
8. Mix the brown sugar and the cinnamon together and sprinkle over the apples.
9. Scatter the sultanas over the apples.
10. Fold the pastry edges over the apples on the long sides. (humph, I thought there was no long side any more?)
11. Brush these and both ends with water. 
12. Roll it up from the shorter side like a swiss roll, and seal the ends.
13. Place the roll, join downwards, on a sheet of foil on a baking tray. Push up the sides of the foil to hold the pastry roll in shape. (Hmm I think it is more recommended to put it in a tin with sides, such as a very large loaf tin or an oblong tin).
14.  Gather up the trimmings with the pastry strip, roll into two thin sausage shapes and twist them together. 
15. Brush the roly poly with milk and sprinkle with caster sugar.
16. Place the twist down the centre of the roll and brush with milk. 
17. Make four slits in the pastry on each side of the roll to allow the steam to escape.
18. Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until well risen and golden brown. If the pastry twist browns too quickly cover it with a strip of foil to protect it. (I am beginning to wonder why we bother with this twist of pastry?)

Serve hot with custard or cream, or a hot sweet white sauce. This can be dairy free if you don't glaze it with milk. 

Old Fashioned Rhubarb Pudding

Ingredients:

1 oz butter
Soft brown sugar
8 oz self raising flour
1 tsp salt
3 oz suet
1/4 pint water
1 1/2 lbs of young rhubarb
1 oz chopped candied peel
2 oz currants
rind and juice of half a lemon
4 oz sugar
pinch of ground cinnamon
3 fl oz water

Method:

1. Choose a very large glass or china pudding basin (2 pint basin is not really big enough for this quantity of stuff).
2. Butter the basin thickly with the butter and shake plenty of brown sugar about in it so that it sticks to the butter (or spread them both together).
3. In a mixing bowl, make suet pastry with the flour, salt, suet and the 1/4 pint of water.
   
4. Form the dough into a ball and cut off one third of the ball to reserve for the lid.
5. Take the larger piece and put it into the pudding basin. Pummel it out thin so that it lines the bottom and sides of the basin up to a bit short of the brim. Make sure there are no holes.
6. Wash and trim the sticks of rhubarb and slice them into 1 inch pieces.
   
7. Put half the pieces of rhubarb into the pudding shell.
   
8. Sprinkle over the peel, currants, lemon rind and juice, half the sugar, and the cinnamon.
9. Add the rest of the rhubarb and the rest of the sugar.
10. Pour in the water.
11. Take the remaining piece of suet pastry and knead it out to make a round lid. Put the lid on the pudding and stick the edges of the pastry together.
12. Cover the pudding with a circle of greaseproof paper as if for steaming, tied on with string.
13. Bake at 350º F, 180ºC, Fan oven 160º, gas mark 4, for 75 minutes.
14. Remove from the oven, take off the paper top, turn out into a dish with sides.
15. Serve piping hot with cream or custard.
    

Yorkshire puddings, large and small

Ingredients (to serve 4 - 8 people)

4 oz plain flour
1/2 tsp of salt

1 egg
1/2 pt of milk

(or 2 eggs, and enough milk to make 10 fluid ounces with the eggs).

For best results use the liquidiser:
Break the eggs into the liquidiser. Add the milk. Whizz for a bit.
Add the salt and spoon in the flour, a bit at a time.

Blend for 30 seconds.

Alternatively, make the batter by hand:
Measure the flour and salt together into a large mixing bowl.
Make a well in the centre.
Break the eggs into the centre and add the milk (or combine these in a measuring jug first).
Use a wooden spoon to beat the liquid gently at first and then more strongly, gradually drawing in the flour in which the pool of liquid lies, until all the flour has been drawn in and the batter is smooth. Then beat hard to create an airy bubbly batter.

Cooking instructions:
Using either a large roasting tin, or a patty pan with either four yorkshire pudding cups or 12 bun cups, place a little dripping or lard in each cup. Put the pan into the hot oven and heat until the fat is close to smoking.
Pour the batter into the tins (all of it into the roasting tin, or a little into each cup) and return to the oven quickly. Bake in a hot to very hot oven for about 30 minutes for the roasting tin size, or 20 minutes for smaller ones. The puddings should be well risen, light and crisp, but not blackened on the top!

Serve with gravy, with roast meat, or as a pudding with golden syrup, fruit, warmed jam and cream.

Kentish apple tart

Ingredients:

6 oz shortcrust pastry
2 large cooking apples
3 oz sugar
1 egg
2 oz softened butter
rind and juice of one lemon

1. Line a pie plate with the pastry. (We use the pyrex pie plate or a small flan dish)
2. Peel the apples
3. Grate the flesh of the apples into a basin (it's best to leave the apples whole for grating: don't quarter them).
4. Add the sugar, beaten egg, butter, lemon rind and juice and mix well.
5. Put this mixture into the pastry case.
6. Bake at 375ºF, 190ºC, gas mark 5, Fan oven about 170º, for circa 35 minutes.
   

Bread and Butter pudding: an everyday version

Ingredients:

• About six slices of bread, white or brown. Stale baguettes are good but you'll need lots of slices if so!
• Lots of butter (salted variety is best)
• A handful of sultanas, currants or raisins
• Two eggs, made up to one pint with full cream milk
• Two tablespoons of demerara sugar or white sugar
• Spice etc if desired.

1. Butter an ovenproof dish.
2. Cut the crusts off the slices of bread and butter them on one side.
3. Cut them into irregular shapes and lay some in a layer on the bottom of the dish, butter side down. Sprinkle a few sultanas etc on.
4. Lay another layer of bread and butter pieces, butter side up this time, and sprinkle with fruit again.
5. Continue until all the bread is used up.
6. Whisk the eggs with the milk and pour over the bread and butter layers.
7. Leave to soak for an hour.
8. Sprinkle the top with sugar, and a little spice if you like.

Bake for about 35 minutes in a moderate oven, at 350º F, 180º C, 160º for a fan oven and Gas mark 4. The pudding should be bouncy and not too runny in the middle, nor too brown at the edges.
Serve with cream and/or fruit.

Chocolate moussingues aka what to do with gone-wrong-meringue-mixture

What do you do when your meringue goes wrong? You got distracted and whisked the egg whites as if you were making royal icing instead of meringue. Now you've put the sugar in and it's a nice shiny white sloppy consistency. Bother.

Well, providing you still have eggs left, fear not.

1. Put the bowl of gone-wrong-meringue aside and cover. Wash your beaters.
2. Start your meringue again with fresh egg-whites and sugar, reserving the yolks for later, and beat the egg-whites properly this time.
3. When you have time e.g. the following morning, pre-heat the oven to gas 3 and return to the gone-wrong mixture and the egg-yolks left over from the new meringue. Find that scrap of cooking chocolate lurking in the cupboard because there isn't enough of it for any recipe, or mix equal weights of cocoa powder and melted butter. I think I used about 2oz chocolate for 2 egg yolk/white. Melt it in the microwave.
4. Stir the egg-yolks into the chocolate a bit at a time and beat with a fork or electric whisk until smooth.
5. Transfer the chocolate mixture into the ex-meringue mixture and mix well with electric whisk. You will get small air bubbles but it will still be runny.
6. Decant into 4 or so ramekins, filling each one about 1/2 to 2/3 full. Stand in a baking tray and place in centre of oven. Cook for 25 mins or so until set. Serve immediately for best puffed-up souffle-style effect but they taste good cold too.

Kentish Lenten Pies

Ingredients
Pastry

8 oz plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 oz butter
6 oz lard

Filling

1 pint milk
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp ground rice
4 oz sugar
2 oz butter
pinch of mixed spice
1 egg
Currants

Oven 375ºF, 190C, Gas mark 5, Fan oven 170º.

1. Reserve a small amount of the milk, and boil the rest with the bay leaf.
2. Mix the remaining milk with the ground rice, and add this mixture to the boiling milk.
3. Cook for three minutes.
4. Add the sugar, butter and spice and leave to cool to lukewarm.
5. When it is cool, add the beaten eggs. But meanwhile, make the pastry:
   
6. Make pastry with the flour, baking powder, butter and lard, and enough cold water to make a firm dough.
7. Line some large patty tins with the pastry.
8. Pour the milk mixture into the pastry-lined tins.
   
9. Sprinkle with currants.
10. Bake for 30 minutes.
11. Eat, hot or cold.
    

Grandma's Chocolate Pudding II (larger quantities)

The family recipe book has some alternative quantities written in. Here's the version with those larger quantities instead of the original. It makes a bigger pudding with the same amount of sauce.

For the sponge:

4 oz Self raising flour
3 level tablespoons of cocoa powder
2 oz butter/margarine
4 oz caster sugar
A third of a cup of milk
a few drops of vanilla essence

For the Sauce (which sinks during the baking)

2 oz soft brown sugar
1.5 level tablespoons of cocoa powder
half a pint of boiling water

a sprinkling of caster sugar

An ovenproof dish of 1.5 pint capacity. Oven 355º F or Gas mark 4

Method

1. Sift the flour with cocoa.
2. Cut the butter into small pieces and ix into the sifted ingredients, with the caster sugar.
3. Stir in milk and vanilla essence.
4. Turn mixture into greased dish, spreading evenly.
5. Mix soft brown sugar and cocoa together and sprinkle over the pudding mixture.
6. Pour over the boiling water
7. Bake at 355º F or Gas mark 4 for 35 mins.
8. Sprinkle the top with caster sugar before serving.

Grandma's Chocolate Pudding I (original version)

For the sponge:

3 oz Self raising flour
2 level tablespoons of cocoa powder
1.5 oz butter/margarine
3 oz caster sugar
5 tablespoons or a quarter of a cup of milk
a few drops of vanilla essence

For the Sauce (which sinks during the baking)

2 oz soft brown sugar
1.5 level tablespoons of cocoa powder
half a pint of boiling water

a sprinkling of caster sugar

An ovenproof dish of 1.5 pint capacity. Oven 355º F or Gas mark 4

Method

1. Sift the flour with cocoa.
2. Cut the butter into small pieces and ix into the sifted ingredients, with the caster sugar.
3. Stir in milk and vanilla essence.
4. Turn mixture into greased dish, spreading evenly.
5. Mix soft brown sugar and cocoa together and sprinkle over the pudding mixture.
6. Pour over the boiling water
7. Bake at 355º F or Gas mark 4 for 35 mins.
8. Sprinkle the top with caster sugar before serving.
   

Peanut butter and apple cake

Ingredients

6 oz butter and peanut butter (about 5 oz of butter and 1 tbsp of peanut butter is what I used)
6oz brown sugar
3 eggs
6 oz flour
2 small-medium cooking apples

Method

1. Cream the butter, peanut butter and sugar till soft and fluffy
2. Beat in the eggs
3. Fold in the flour and mix well
4. Peel and core the apples and cut them into small pieces
5. Stir the apple pieces into the mixture
6. Grease a non-stick tin (2 lb loaf tin is about right). If it's not non-stick you'll need to base line it with greaseproof paper.
7. Bake in a moderate oven for about 45 minutes. The skewer should come out clean when you test it: don't turn off the oven till it's properly done.
8. Allow to cool for a few minutes before turning it out to cool on a rack.
   
9. Serve at once hot with custard or cream, or serve it later, cold, for tea. Store it in a cold place, and make sure you eat it all within a few days.
   

Gooseberry crumble

1 1/2 lbs gooseberries
sugar

6 oz flour
2 oz butter
4 oz sugar

1. Top and tail the gooseberries.
2. Add a spoonful of water and some sugar and bring to the boil or microwave till they are soft. Test for sweetness, and add more sugar if necessary. Don't make them too sweet.
   
3. Put them in a greased dish.
4. Heat the oven.
   
5. Put the flour and butter in a mixing bowl and rub in.
6. Add the sugar. Stir till sugar is well dispersed.
7. Pour the crumble over the fruit.
   
8. Bake in a moderate oven for about half an hour.