Quince jelly and quince paste

Ingredients

About 2 lbs quinces or japonica apples

Around 3 pints of water for every 2 lbs of fruit 

Sugar (probably two bags of it)

A little vanilla essence if desired. 

Method:

For the jelly:

1. Cut the quinces in quarters and get the pips out and any black dusty bits. No need to peel them or remove the cores. The peel and cores are where the pectin is.
2. Put them in a large pan and add lots of cold water: around 3 pts for 2 lbs of fruit. If you don't have enough water there's not enough jelly and it's too strong.
3. Bring to the boil and simmer until the fruit's tender (this seems to take very little time if they are ripe: maybe 15 to 30 minutes should do).
4. Lay a large square of muslin in a large mixing bowl and spoon the fruit into it. Gather up the corners, tie it with string and hang the jelly bag over the bowl. Leave it to drip over night.
5. Next day, set the bag of fruit aside (we use it for the quince paste).
6. Measure the juice into a measuring jug. 
7. Weigh up sugar at the rate of 1 lb for each pint of juice.
8. Put some jars to warm in the oven.
9. Put the sugar and the juice into a pan, and boil it.
10. Test it to see when it reaches the setting point, by the old fashioned methods or using a thermometer. In my experience it sometimes sets below the jam temperature.
11. When it reaches setting point, remove it from the heat. Skim off the scum if any and save it for bread and jam for tea. 
12. Pot the jelly into the warm jars, and label it up.

For the paste (or quince comfits):

1. Remove the fruit pulp from the muslin bag.
2. Rub it through a steel sieve, in small batches, using a wooden spoon, until it is all rubbed. Wipe the pulp off the bottom of the sieve with a scraper. 
3. Discard the fibrous residue left in the sieve after each batch of rubbing.
4. Weigh the resulting pulp. You should have around 1 lb or so.
5. Weigh up 1lb of sugar for every 1 lb of pulp.
6. Put the pulp and the sugar in a pan. 
7. Heat very gently to dissolve the sugar, and then simmer on very low heat for an hour and a half, until it is deep orange and thick. Add vanilla at the end of cooking if desired.
8. Line the base of a small swiss roll tin with greaseproof paper. Spread the paste into the tin.
9. Place in a warm dust-free place to dry, for about a week or two.
10. Cut into pieces, to serve small slices with cheese or cold meat (as membrillo), or serve in small squares as sweets (medieval comfits) with coffee etc.

Light banana pancakes

Ingredients

One over ripe slightly fermenting banana 

One egg

1 tbsp plain flour (wheat or buckwheat etc) 

A little olive oil or fat 

Method 

1. Mash the winey banana in a large breakfast cup.
2. Break the egg into the cup and stir.
3. Add a spoonful of flour, and whisk it a little.
4. Leave it to stand for a bit. (The longer you leave it the more bubbly it will be).
5. Heat the oil in a large flat non-stick pan and fry small drop scone size spoonfuls of the mixture.
6. Turn once with a non-stick spatula.
7. Serve with fruit and cream or syrup etc.

Good for breakfast or pudding at any time. Can also be taken on picnics.

 

Lemon mascarpone cake (with wheat free option)

 Ingredients:

For the cake

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup plain flour OR 2/3 cup rye flour
• 1/2 cup cornflour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 ounces (1/2 cup) mascarpone cheese
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice (make sure you keep 1 teaspoon of juice for the frosting!)

 For the frosting

• 4 ounces (1/2 cup) mascarpone cheese
• 1 tablespoon icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Grease an 8 inch round tin. Line if you can be bothered and lightly dust with flour (wheat-free if you're doing that version!)

Beat together oil, sugar, mascarpone cheese, eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice until completely smooth. Next, beat in the flour, cornflour, baking powder, bicarb and salt and stir until no lumps remain.

Pour mixture into tin and bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes until golden, risen, and just starting to pull away from the edge of the tin. Check if it's done with cake tester - should come out clean! Cool in the tin at first, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

For the frosting, whip together mascarpone, icing sugar and lemon juice until smooth and thick. Spread over the cold cake.

Shrewsbury Biscuits

Ingredients

6 oz plain flour
2 oz castor sugar
2 oz butter
1/2 level tsp salt
1 egg
vanilla essence

Method

1. Prepare a moderate oven, 350º F or Mark 4.
2. Cream butter and sugar.
3. Add egg and vanilla essence and beat well.
4. Work in flour and salt to form a stiff dough.
5. Knead lightly and roll out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into fancy shapes (approximately 40 biscuits using a 1.5 inch round cutter).
6. Bake on a flat greased tin for 20-25 minutes.

"Recipe for Sweet biscuits"

This is the recipe that came in the child's baking set with rolling pin and cutters.

Makes approximately 18 biscuits

First collect together the things that you will need. Mixing bowl, wooden spoon, pastry board, rolling pin, pastry cutters, baking tray.

(Editor's note: I would advise that you grease the baking tray. The recipe is designed for very small cutters, of three different designs. With larger cutters you will not get 18 biscuits).

Ingredients

2 oz (56 grams) softened butter
2 oz (56 grams) caster sugar
4 oz (113 grams) plain flour
About 2 dessert spoons milk

1. Ask a grown-up to turn on the oven for you and set it at 350ºF (180ºC, Gas mark 3) with a shelf in the centre.
2. Put the butter and sugar in the mixing bowl and mix them well together with the wooden spoon until soft and creamy
3. Mix in the flour and the milk with the wooden spoon until the ingredients are mixed well together. Now using your hands, knead the mixture together, making it into a ball of dough.
4. Sprinkle a little flour onto the pastry board and rolling pin so that the dough will not stick, and roll the dough out until it is about as think as a 10p piece.
5. Using the pastry cutters, cut out shapes from the dough and put them carefully onto the baking tray, leaving spaces between each one. You should get about six of each shape but don't worry if you have more or less.
6. Now ask a grown-up to help you, and remember that the oven will be hot. Put the biscuits into the oven on the centre shelf. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the biscuits are light brown.
7. Take the biscuits out of the oven on the baking tray. Don't forget that the baking tray will be very hot, so use an oven cloth. Leave the biscuits to cool for five minutes. Lift them onto a wire cooling tray and when they are completely cold sprinkle a little sugar on top of them—DELICIOUS!
8. Store them in an airtight tin so that they will not go soft.
9. Now you can tidy up the kitchen and wash up your cooking utensils. Just wipe clean the pastry board and rolling pin; do not put them in the water.

Hot cross buns (the traditional family version from the grey folder)

Ingredients

1 lb strong white flour
1 level tsp salt
1 level tsp mixed spice
1/2 level tsp grated nutmeg
2 oz caster sugar
1 oz fresh yeast (or 1 level tbsp dried yeast)
1 warm egg (beaten) made up to half a pint with warm milk and water, and 1 tsp caster sugar (make sure it's all very nice and warm!)
2 oz melted butter
4 oz currants
1-2 oz chopped mixed peel

For the crosses:

1 oz self raising flour
1 dessert spoon of oil
1 dessert spoon of milk
1 dessertspoon of water

For the glaze:

1 tbsp water
1 tbsp milk
1 tbsp caster sugar

Method

If possible, work in a warm room!

1. Warm the bowl to quite hot
2. Sift the flour, salt, spices and sugar into the warm bowl
3. Add the warm milk and water to the egg and add the yeast (and sugar if using dried yeast).
4. Make a dip in the middle of the dry ingredients and stir in the melted butter and the yeasty liquid.
5. Mix to a soft dough.
6. Turn out onto an unfloured surface, and knead for 5-10 minutes until smooth.
7. Press out the dough with knuckles and spread the currants and mixed peel over the surface.
8. Gather it up and knead it again to distribute the fruit.
9. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a smooth ball. Put it in the warm bowl to rise, covered with a plastic bag.
10. When it has doubled in size turn it out again, flatten it, knead it again, and divide into 16 pieces by rolling the side of your hand across the middle of each piece to force the dough apart at the centre. (The original recipe says make 12, but when it works well this quantity makes 16 large buns).
11. Place the buns well apart on a greased tray. Put them in a warm place to rise (covered with a bag or cloth).
12. Heat the oven to 425º F, Gas mark 7
13. When the buns are risen and all joined up at the edges, apply the crosses: make up the paste for the crosses in a small bowl, and use a piping bag or cone of greaseproof paper to squeeze a tube of paste across each row of buns, and then again at right angles across the vertical and horizontal axes. (If your piping hole is too large and you have 16 large buns, you may need to make more paste!)
14. Bake them in the hot oven for 15-20 minutes (until they sound good and hollow on the bottom).
15. While they are baking make the glaze: heat the ingredients in a small pan on the stove, slowly at first then boil, stirring with a wooden spoon. Draw it off the heat.
16. When the buns are done, glaze them using a pastry brush while they are still hot.
17. Allow to cool a bit, or just eat them immediately.... 
18. To serve, split the bun horizontally and butter it liberally. Split buns can be toasted in the toaster, or whole buns can be reheated in the oven.

Staffordshire oatcakes

Ingredients

8 oz fine or medium oatmeal
8 oz wheat flour (or some non-wheat flour)
1 tsp salt
1 x 7g sachet of dried yeast or 1 oz fresh yeast
3/4 pint warm water
3/4 pint warm milk

Method

1. Mix the oatmeal and flour together.
2. Mix in the dried yeast (or rub in the fresh yeast).
3. Gradually add the liquids and make a smooth batter.
4. Cover the bowl and leave in a warm place for an hour, or cooler overnight.
5. Heat a pancake pan, greasy with bacon fat from frying the bacon.
6.  Use a ladle to pour in batter and spread to about 9 or 10 inches diameter.
7. Flip it over when the bubbles on top burst and the top is set.
8. Finished cakes should be soft, not crisp.
9. Serve with bacon and the rest of a cooked breakfast, or topped with melted cheese etc.