Annie's chickeny pumpkin soup

One chicken carcass with almost all meat taken off already
One small/medium pumpkin
Four carrots
1/4 pint double cream
Spices

1. Put chicken carcass in a pan with approx. 2 pints water, salt and a few herbs. Boil for 45 mins or 1 hour. Remove bones and assist any remaining bits of meat to fall off into the water.

2. Peel pumpkin, remove seeds and chop into small pieces. Peel and grate carrots. Place pumpkin and carrots in the chickeny water, and add salt, pepper and "steak spices" (something reasonably hot and pungent) to taste.

3. Boil until pumpkin turns entirely mushy. Add cream, and simmer for a further 5 minutes.

4. Serve with crusty brown bread.

Roasted Pumpkin

Peel pumpkin, remove seeds and cut into approx. 2cm cubes.

Place in bowl with salt, pepper, fresh rosemary, 3 cloves of chopped garlic and 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil.

Shake around and tip into a roasting dish.

Place in moderate oven and leave there for 40 minutes.

Eat.

(This recipe may also be made with beetroot, turnips, squash etc)

Lemon squares

Ingredients:
8oz plain flour
2oz icing sugar
1/4tsp salt
6oz cold butter or margarine
1tsp cold water

For the lemon layer:
4 eggs
1lb caster sugar
1oz plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1tsp grated lemon rind
2 floz fresh lemon juice
icing sugar, for sprinkling

1. Rub butter into flour, icing sugar and salt until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the water and toss until starting to sort-of form a ball.
2. Tip mixture into a lined and greased 13"x9" baking tin and press down evenly.
3. Bake at 180C/350F/Gas 4 for 15-20 mins until lightly golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.
4. Meanwhile, beat together the eggs, caster sugar, flour, baking powder, lemon rind and juice. Use of electric mixer advised.
5. Pour the lemon mixture over the baked base. Return to the oven and bake for 25 mins.
6. Remove from oven, allow to cool, sprinkle with icing sugar and cut into squares with a sharp knife before serving.

Makes 12 large squares, or more smaller ones. Quite convincing as a pudding as well as at tea time.

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.
   

Fondant au Chocolat (version with chocolate)

200g (8oz) Dark Chocolate
3 tbsp water
150g (6oz) Butter
150g (6oz) Sugar
50g (2oz) Plain Flour
3 eggs

Icing sugar to dust

Break up chocolate, place in bowl with 3 tbsp water. Melt using bain marie or microwave. While melting, cream together butter and sugar, then carefully add eggs and flour. Fold in melted chocolate.

Line & grease bottom of large springform tin or equivalent. Pour mixture into tin and bake in preheated oven at 150ºC for 25-30 mins.

When done, the cake should be slightly crispy on top, soft in middle. Cake tester doesn't need to be clean.

Turn upside down and dust with icing sugar. Serve cold or warm with creme anglaise.

Date slices (Jeromy's recipe)

Ingredients:

A Cake mixture

• 6 oz self raising flour (Jeromy says "I use 10 oz")
• 6 oz semolina
• 6 oz butter
• 3 oz demerara sugar (Jeromy says "I use mostly white and a bit of brown)

B Date mixture

• 1/2 lb dates, stoned and chopped
• 4 tablespoons of water
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

Grease a tin, 8" x 12"

Method

1. Mix the B ingredients in a saucepan and heat gently stirring occasionally.
2. Boil it until smooth (2 minutes. Allow to cool.
3. Now do the A ingredients. Heat the butter in another pan with the sugar.
4. When it is melted add the flour and semolina, and mix.
   
5. Press half the A mixture into the tin.
6. Spread the date mixture over.
7. Add the remainder of the A mixture.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes (NB what temperature?)
9. Cool and cut into bars.

Queen Mother's Favourite Cake

I found a tattered copy of this recipe in Grandma's handwriting on the floor of the study.

8 oz chopped dates

Add one breakfast cup of boiling water and 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Allow to stand

8 ozs sugar
3 ozs butter
10 ozs plain flour
1 egg beaten
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 ozs chopped walnuts

Mix all the above.
Add this mixture to the date mixture.

Put in a greased tin, 9" x 12"

Bake at 350º F for 35 minutes

Topping

5 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp cream from top of milk

Mix the above and boil for 3 minutes
Spread on cooked cake.
Sprinkle with chopped walnuts.