Winnie the Pooh's chocolate pudding (=blancmange)

(For chocolate sauce for puddings, reduce the amount of cornflour to one tbsp per half pint. You may prefer that proportion for the blancmange too.)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

3 rounded tablespoons of cornflour (One tbsp = 1/2 oz)
2 rounded tbsp cocoa powder (One tbsp = 1/2 oz)
3 rounded tbsp granulated sugar (One tbsp = 1/2 oz)
1 pt (or half a litre) of milk
A few drops of real vanilla essence (or use vanilla sugar)
Chopped walnuts etc for decoration (optional)

Method:

1. Put the cornflour and cocoa in the bottom of a measuring jug.
2. Add a little of the milk and create a thick paste. Stir till the dry ingredients are smooth and thick, with no dry bits.
3. Add a bit more of the milk and stir again till there are no lumps.
4. Add about half the milk, so that you have a good wet mixture to pour.
5. Pour the mixture into a 2 pt non-stick saucepan. 
6. Add the rest of the milk.
7. Put over a low to moderate heat and start heating it up.
8. Add all the sugar.
9. Stir carefully to keep it from sticking on the bottom. If it's sticking or turning too quickly for you to keep up, turn down the heat. If it's doing nothing turn up the heat.
10. It will thicken and then boil. Allow it to boil for about three minutes or so.
11. Draw the pan off the heat and stir in the vanilla essence.
12. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, or small glass dishes, or a lightly oiled jelly mould.
13. If serving in dishes, decorate the top with walnuts or other sprinkles.
14. If using a jelly mould, allow to cool until it is firm. Then gently pull the edges away from the mould with your fingers at the top surface; place a large plate upside down over the mould; invert the whole thing, without dropping either the plate or the pudding. Put the plate down on a table. If the pudding doesn't drop out of the mould, lift the mould a bit and coax the pudding out with your fingers, by letting the air in at one side till it flops out.

Sago pudding

Ingredients:

1 pint of milk
2 oz Tesco sago
1 oz sugar

Method

1. Heat the milk in a pan and sprinkle on the sago
2. Bring the mixture to the boil. Then simmer gently for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Remove from the heat, stir in the sugar and serve.

Alternatively (to brown) turn into an ovenproof dish, dot the surface with butter, and bake at the top of a preheated oven for 30 minutes at 200ºC, 400ºF or gas mark 6.

Also good served cold with fruit.

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.

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.