Comfort Food #15: Cherry Cake

Image from Sainsbury’s

 

This Comfort Food post is a little bit of a strange choice for me because although I love cake, I am not a fan of glacè cherries at all. Furthermore, because there is a Christmas element to this post, I suppose it would have been more ideal for December, but watching Mary Berry show viewers how to make the perfect cherry cake has inspired me. So cherry cake it is!

 

Image from deliaonline.com

A cherry cake is traditionally a sponge that contains halved or quartered red glace cherries, which is then topped with icing, flaked almonds and more glacè cherries. Even though a freshly baked cherry cake is not my idea of bliss due to the use of ghastly glacè cherries, they most definitely do take me bake to childhood Christmases back in the 1980s. When my sister and I were younger – before we were joined by our two other siblings – Mum used to bake an array of baked goodies every Christmas. In fact she used to bake so much, there must have been more than enough for the entire neighbourhood! Of course one of these bakes included cherry cake which was one of Mum’s favourites.

Image from bbcgoodfood.com

 

Even though I’ve disliked glace cherries since I was a very young child, I did like Mum’s cakes, so I would always have a slice – and just picked out the cherries. But what was most memorable about these cakes was that, we always had a slice of cherry cake after we got home from midnight mass. So cherry cake -offending glace cherries or not – always bring back happy memories of Christmas, midnight mass, and Mum’s large-scale baking!

Image from nigella.com

But even though I have mixed feelings about cherry cake, I know that most people, like Mum, absolutely love it! It is a very old-fashioned, very traditional English cake which I’ve been told is usually linked to Easter. It’s a very versatile cake and fits the bill for just everything: picnics, afternoon tea, lunch boxes, bake sales and it is the mainstay of traditional tearooms, not to mention one of the most popular cakes to be baked among the Women’s Institute. And although it may sound simple to make, quite often it isn’t as the cherries are notorious for sinking to the bottom of the cake. However people have their own methods for preventing this from happening. One of them being to rinse of the sticky syrup from the cherries before dusting them with flour. Delia Smith believes n mixing two-thirds of the cherries into the cake mixture before poking the remaining third through the top of the cake just before it goes into the oven.

Image from goodtoknow.com

 

Don’t get me wrong, I do love cherries just not glace cherries. But I’m wondering if I can substitute the glace cherries in the cake for dried, fresh or tinned cherries. I’d definitely have no problems with eating it then! But despite my reservations regarding cherry cake, nothing can take away the fact that cherry cake is a very memorable part of my childhood and evokes memories of Christmases gone by…

So here’s a recipe for cherry cake from Mary Berry for a traditional cherry cake. Try it and enjoy!

Ingredients

200g/7oz glacé cherries

225g/8oz self-raising flour

175g/6oz softened butter, plus extra for greasing

175g/6oz caster sugar

1 lemon, finely grated zest only

50g/1¾oz ground almonds

3 large free-range eggs

For the decoration

175g/6oz icing sugar

1 lemon, juice only

15g/½oz flaked almonds, toasted

5 glacé cherries, quartered

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2. Grease a 23cm/9in bundt tin or savarin mould with butter.
3. Cut the cherries into quarters.
4. Set aside five of the quartered cherries for the decoration later.
5. Put the rest of the quartered cherries in a sieve and rinse under running water.
6. Drain well then dry thoroughly on kitchen paper and toss in two tablespoons of the flour.
7. Measure all the remaining ingredients into a large bowl and beat well for two minutes to mix thoroughly.
8. Lightly fold in the cherries.
9. Turn into the prepared tin.
10. Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes until well risen, golden-brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
11. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out and cool on a wire rack.
12. For the icing, mix the icing sugar together with the lemon juice to a thick paste.
13. Drizzle over the cooled cake using the back of a spoon, sprinkle over the toasted almonds and reserved cherries.

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Yay! My First Farmhouse Kitchen Cook Book!

In a my previous post about the iconic cookery program, Farmhouse Kitchen, I mentioned that there were books available which accompanied the series, and that I would dearly love get hold of these. Well I’m very pleased to announce that I’ve been able to do just that. I am now the proud owner of Farmhouse Kitchen, Book One – and I am thrilled!!!

My new book!

WHERE DID I FIND IT?

I was just walking down a busy high road, minding my own business as I always do, when I saw a book in the window of a second-hand bookshop that stopped me in my tracks. On closer inspection, I realised it was the first book in the Farmhouse Kitchen series. There was no question of me purchasing the book. I rushed in and grabbed it before you could say rough puff pastry. And it was mine for the grand sum of £1.49. I just couldn’t believe that someone would want to part with a little piece of television history – not that I was complaining of course! And it was still in great condition – in fact it barely looked as if it had been used.

The show’s opening credits

SO WHAT’S IT LIKE?

This A5 book which contains just under two hundred pages, has a scene from a nineteenth century Yorkshire Kitchen as it’s front cover. The old Yorkshire Television logo is also on the front cover- a logo I’d seen many times during my childhood and I was surprised to find that I actually miss it (I need to get out more!) The book’s synopsis explains that:

Farmhouse Kitchen Book One includes traditional country recipes for everyday soups, main courses and puddings as well as preserving and pickling for the store cupboard.

So not much for fans of pulled pork or Piri-Piri chicken then! And for those who are used to huge colour photos in recipe books, this one may seem a little stark as there’s not much in the way of pictures except for the odd few illustrations – and absolutely no colour at all. It might put some people off but I didn’t mind at all. It had a very nostalgic vibe and reminded me of many of the recipe books my mum used to own.

Dorothy Sleightholme’s successor, Grace Mulligan

THE CONTENTS

Open the book, and there’s a brief introduction from the show’s presenter, the late Dorothy Sleightholme. There’s also a footnote explaining that all the recipes in the book – over four hundred of them which have been derived from the recommendations of Dorothy and the show’s viewers- have all been prepared by Dorothy herself. Now that’s a lot of food prep!

The book is divided into twelve chapters with everything from pies and pastries to pickles and preserves to homemade wine, beer and pop. The culinary theme Farmhouse Kitchen is based on good hearty, country-style cooking and traditional British fare – and the book stays true to form. There are recipes for Lancashire hot-pot, Cullen Skink and steak and kidney pie. This book doesn’t necessarily do food trends but there’s a touch of the exotic from Italian inspired recipes such as risotto and minestrone.

Food trends may have changed over the years but there are still plenty of recipes in this book which are still relevant today. And I was delighted to see a recipe for good old Baked Alaska! However, there were a few I don’t think I’ll be trying: pig’s kidney stuffing, Kidneys in red wine sauce, stuffed hearts… no thank you!

Many of the recipes in Farmhouse Kitchen have been devised by Dorothy and there are even a few named after her. But there are also recipes by the lovely Mary Berry as well as, of course, recipes that have been sent in by the shows viewers.

Book Two: What I’m hoping to find next!

I’m having a great time going through this book and will be making some of these dishes soon. I’m delighted to have found this book and so far have kept it hidden from my mum for fear that she’ll soon make it part of her recipe book collection. I’m on the lookout for  Farmhouse Kitchen Book Two but in the meanwhile, here’s a recipe for another one of my childhood favourites, baked bananas, taken from my latest most prized possession!

BAKED BANANAS

PREP: 5MINS

COOK: 15MINS

SERVES: 4

Image from Tesco Realfood

 

INGREDIENTS:

4 bananas

Lemon juice

2oz. desiccated coconut

2oz.  little rum (optional)

METHOD:

1. Lay peeled bananas in a lightly buttered, shallow, fireproof dish.
2. Sprinkle with lemon juice, then with coconut and sugar mixed.
3. Add shavings of butter and a sprinkling of rum (optional.)
4. Bake at Gas4, 350ºF for about 15mins.
5. Serve with custard or cream.

Love those old school measurements!

 

Comfort Food #14: Peach Melba

Image from http://www.saveur.com

 

 

Summer is on it’s way out, and along with it some of my favourite fruits which I will not see for another year. Two fruits which I love and have been readily available these last few months are raspberries and peaches – two reasons to love Summer! Needless to say our refrigerator has been stuffed with these fruits, as well as other seasonal goodies, which I’ve put into puddings, fruit salad, or eaten them just as they are.

Image from creative-culinary.com

 

As both raspberries and peaches are the chief ingredients of a peach Melba, it wasn’t long before thoughts turned to this retro pud. As a child I was very familiar with peach Melbas because they were EVERYWHERE! Not only was my mum a huge peach fanatic, but it was also served up in restaurants and at dinner parties; featured in the recipe section of magazines, and appeared on cooking shows. Peach Melba was as common a dessert back in the ’80s as panna cotta is now.

Image from http://www.guardian.com

 

But as with many of my childhood desserts, the dish which Nigella Lawson rightly describes as ‘summer on a plate’ went from being everywhere to disappearing without a trace. Even Baked Alaska made an appearance on The Great British Bake Off this week!

Peach Melba is such a delicious dessert which I hope (please, please!) counts towards your five-a-day. Peaches and raspberries are a gorgeous combination and it’s a great way to make use of the two fruits are  in abundance at the moment. It’s just a shame everyone’s forgotten about it!

Image from taste.com.au

 

SO WHAT IS PEACH MELBA?

The peach Melba is a simple, well-known, classic dessert. This creamy, cool, and fruity pud consists of vanilla ice-cream, peaches and a raspberry sauce – in some ways, a kind of ice-cream sundae.

Image from bbc.co.uk

 

THE HISTORY BEHIND THE DESSERT

The dessert was first created in the 1890s. it’s something of an international dessert because it was created in London by a French chef – Georges Auguste Escoffier – in honour of the Australian opera singer Nellie Melba who this dish is named after. Incidentally Melba toast is also named after her.

The muse: Nellie Melba

The original peach Melba is believed to have been poached, skinned, and sliced before being sprinkled with sugar and cooled. This was then placed onto vanilla ice-cream and then drizzled with a sweet, seedless raspberry sauce. Escoffier insisted that the dessert should be served in a silver dish.

The patron saint of Peach Melbas: George Auguste Escoffier

 

But the version we are more familiar with sees the peach halved before being poached in a sugar syrup.

WHEN WAS IT POPULAR?

I know Peach Melba was all the rage in the 1980s when I was growing up until about the early ’90s. I’m sure it must have been very popular in the preceding decades to but it’s hard to determine when it was at it’s most popular as there’s so little information available.

DECLINE IN POPULARITY

It’s not known why this dessert isn’t as popular now as it once was. It’s just simple gone out of fashion just as clothes and hairstyles often do.  It could be that it has quite an old-fashioned image or perhaps it’s considered to be too simplistic and has been ousted by more seemingly sophisticated desserts which everyone now has more of a taste for.

THE LEGACY LIVES ON…

Paul Heathcote’s contemporary take on the classic Peach Melba

Peach Melba isn’t altogether ‘off the menu.’ Some chefs have revamped the humble Peach Melba for the twenty-first century in terms of appearance and ingredients so it’s shaken off it’s retro image. The combination of peaches and raspberries is still very much used in cooking, which isn’t a surprise because the flavours and colours work so well together. So even though the actual dessert isn’t so common now, the flavour profile is still very much evident, and the fact that any dish containing peaches and raspberries is referred to as ‘Peach Melba’ indicates that this classic pud still continues to live on albeit in a different form. So now we have Peach Melba cheesecakes, trifles, pies, tarts, tortes, ice-creams, roulades, martinis, smoothies, sorbets and even a Peach Melba… Baked Alaska!

Peach Melba roulade from bbcgoodfood.com

 

So if you’d like to set your senses alight to the fabulous flavours and textures of a Peach Melba, here’s a recipe for Nigella Lawson’s take on this pud for you to try.

Image from nigella.com

 

INGREDIENTS:

for the peaches

• 750 ml water
• 700 grams caster sugar
• juice of ½ lemon
• 1 vanilla pod (split lengthways)
• 8 peaches

for the raspberry sauce

• 375 grams raspberries
• 25 grams icing sugar
• juice of ½ lemon

to serve

• 1 large tub vanilla ice cream

METHOD:

1. Put the water, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla pod into a wide saucepan and heat gently to dissolve the sugar.
2. Bring the pan to the boil and let it bubble away for about 5 minutes, then turn the pan down to a fast simmer.
3. Cut the peaches in half, and, if the stones come out easily remove them, if not, then you can get them out later.
4. Poach the peach halves in the sugar syrup for about 2-3 minutes on each side, depending on the ripeness of the fruit.
5. Test the cut side with the sharp point of a knife to see if they are soft, and then remove to a plate with a slotted spoon.
6. When all the peaches are poached, peel off their skins and let them cool (and remove any remaining stones).
7. If you are making them a day in advance, let the poaching syrup cool and then pour into a dish with the peaches.
8. Otherwise just bag up the syrup and freeze it for the next time you poach peaches.
9. To make the raspberry sauce, liquidize the raspberries, icing sugar and lemon juice in a blender or else a processor.
10. Sieve to remove the pips and pour this fantastically hued puree into a jug.
11. To assemble the peach melba, allow two peach halves per person and sit them on each plate alongside a scoop or two of ice cream.
12. Spoon the raspberry sauce over each one, and put the remaining puce-tinted red sauce in a jug for people to add themselves at the table.

 

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I was struggling down the supermarket aisle with a shopping basket that weighed more than I do when I caught a glimpse of that familiar packet and did a double take. Blancmange! The dessert my five year old self used to pronounce ‘blank Madge!’ And not just any blancmange either but Pearce Duff’s blancmange. ‘A real classic’ it says on the packet and it is indeed – in fact for a long time it was a cupboard staple. Many a time we’d served it up as a finale to an evening meal and during times when I really wanted to push the boat it, I’d transformed it from humble blancmange into one of the many layers in a trifle. It may be considered a kid’s dessert but we loved our blancmange.

 

Image from labellecuisine.com

 

 

But as with rice pudding, I soon forgot about blancmange and how lovely it was, and found other more sophisticated means to indulge my sweet-tooth. In the last decade or so, I don’t recall anyone even mentioning blancmange let alone whipping up a bowl of the stuff. I haven’t even seen it at a kids party! So blancmange remained a long-forgotten memory… until now.

WHAT IS BLANCMANGE?

Believe it or not, there are still some people who don’t know what blancmange is. Hubby, for one, has never tried it. Blancmange is basically a jelly made using milk or cream, thickened with gelatine or cornflour,  and it’s name roughly translates as ‘white food.’ Indeed blancmange is supposed to be white (because, er, that’s the colour of milk!) but I don’t recall ever eating a white coloured blancmange. It’s usually set in a mould – just like jelly – and is served cold. It was traditionally flavoured with almonds but us kids of the ’80s will remember that blancmange was usually strawberry or chocolate flavoured – thus never white!

Italian panna cotta
Image from realfood.tesco.com

It is a lot like set custard, and there are a lot of popular, similar, modern day alternatives such as vanilla pudding in the States; crème caramel; Bavarian cream, and panna cotta, while over in Malaysia, many kuehs style desserts are reminiscent of blancmange.

Malaysian Kuehs
Image from josashimi.wordpress.com

The earliest form of blancmange is believed to have had it’s origins in the Middle East. In the Middle Ages it was considered a meal for invalids and consisted of almond milk, rice, sugar and er, chicken. That’s right, chicken! Thank goodness strawberry came along when it did!

 

SO WHAT HAPPENED TO BLANCMANGE?

I know blancmange was very popular in the 1980s up to the mid-’90s before it started to become obscure, and I’m sure it was consumed quite a bit in the 1970s. I remember we sometimes used to have this served to us as ‘afters’ for school dinner meals. It was always strawberry and it was definitely one of the better puds! And of course it was served at a lot of the birthday parties I went to as a kid, along side that old favourite jelly!

I have no idea why it lost popularity. Of course the introduction of more sophisticated desserts such as profiteroles and pavlovas meant that what started out as a pudding for the infirm wasn’t quite so desirable any more. But surely kids would still have loved blancmange… wouldn’t they?

PEARCE DUFF’S BLANCMANGE

I’d be lying if I said I’ve made blancmange from scratch in the past. I’d be lying if I said I knew how to make blancmange from scratch! But seeing as I’m never going to be a candidate for Masterchef, I don’t need to worry too much about that. Every time, I made blancmange it came straight out of a packet. Not that it mattered because it was delicious. What I loved about Pearce Duff’s blancmange is that you got five sachets in a pack in four flavours: chocolate; strawberry; raspberry, and vanilla. When I bought it after spotting it in the supermarket that day, it cost a measly sixty five pence. I didn’t think you could get anything for sixty five pence these days so it must have been free when I was a kid!

Once I reached my early teens, I started making up the packets myself. I used less milk than instructed as I preferred a firmer blancmange. I often made them up individually but sometimes I used all the flavoured to create a layered dessert. I would sometimes add a layer of banana when making the vanilla flavour blancmange, and I also used to use them as a substitute for the custard layer in a trifle, of which I made a few for my mum’s surprise birthday party – when blancmanges were still en vogue! I’m actually quite certain that’s really the same as the custard sauce that you use to pour over hot puddings but has been left to set, so I’m sure – although I’ve never tried it – that you could use it the same way if you wanted a flavoured custard. Who knew that it could be so versatile?

While researching blancmange for this post (never did I think I’d ever hear the words ‘research’ and ‘blancmange’ in the same sentence!) I also came across another brand of blancmange mix – Brown and Polson. This immediately looked very familiar to me and I tried to remember where I’d seen it – most probably in my aunt’s kitchen cupboard. I haven’t come across it on any of my supermarket travels so I wonder if it’s still available. Hmmm….

MY RECENT BLANCMANGE EXPERIENCE

I excitedly threw a packet of Pearce Duff’s assorted blancmanges into my already heaving basket and then made my way down the aisle as though I was wading through a sea of treacle with a bad back! But I knew it would be worth the effort.

I got home a decided that I’d start with the chocolate flavour (of course!) but in my haste to prepare it, I didn’t bother to read the instructions that I thought I still remembered, and forgot to put in the adequate amount of sugar. The result was truly yuck! I’d served it up to Hubby who was repulsed by his first ever spoonful of blancmange, and he refused to believe me when I told him that it’s usually very nice – once it has been sweetened!

Round two with the raspberry flavour was more successful thankfully (though Hubby still refused to try it, which was OK as it meant more for me!) as I remembered the sugar. However it would appear that something quite strange has happened to my tastebuds over the years, because although I did enjoy it, and managed to scoff the lot, I have to say that it did taste quite powdery and artificial. Would I buy them again? Definitely, but not as a regular treat – perhaps for a kid’s birthday party or if ever I need a comforting trip down memory lane! Or I could just learn to make blancmange from scratch…

Totally retro blancmange!
Image from thebuddinggourmet.com

BLANCMANGE TODAY

You may not believe it but blancmange still exists. I was surprised to find that out too. But it’s been revamped and given a cool new image for the twenty-first century. Gone are the garish pink colours with hundreds and thousands on top. These days blancmange tend to be white, or very pale colours such as rose or pistachio, and they come in an exciting array of flavours such as lemon and lavender; cinnamon; chocolate and cappuccino;  passion fruit; almond and amaretto, vanilla and vodka… the list is endless. Not to mention delicious! These days it has stiff competition in the form of panna cotta which has ousted it from the dessert menus of many top restaurants but with amzing flavours like these, I don’t think it’ll stay of the menu for long!

Blancmange as it is today
Image from aegeaneating.com

So here’s a recipe for a gorgeous sounding rose blancmange which has the colour of the original retro dessert but the taste of the twenty-first century. Enjoy!

ROSE BLANCMANGE

Image from pinterest.com

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 gelatine leaves
• 500ml (18fl oz) full-cream milk
• 150g (5oz) white caster sugar
• 1 tsp rosewater or to taste

• 300ml (½ pt) whipping cream
• groundnut or vegetable oil for the mould
• fresh or crystallised rose petals or
• sugar rose decorations see Finishing Touch

 METHOD:

1. Have ready a 1 litre (1¾ pt) bowl or pretty jelly mould.
2. Cut the gelatine into broad strips and place it in a medium bowl.
3. Cover with cold water, soak for 5 minutes, then drain and place in a large bowl.
4. At the same time, bring the milk to the boil in a small saucepan, pour this over the drained gelatine and stir to dissolve, then add the sugar and again stir to dissolve, and then stir in the rosewater and the cream.
5. Cover the surface with clingfilm and leave to cool.
6. Brush the bowl or jelly mould with a little oil, pour in the milk mixture, and then cover and chill overnight until set.
7. To serve, briefly dip the mould into hot water, run a knife around the top edge, place a plate on top and invert it.
8. Tidy with kitchen paper if necessary and decorate with roses.

FINISHING TOUCH

Use bought decorations or make your own crystallised petals the day before. Lay out unsprayed petals on a work surface and very lightly paint one side with a little egg white. Sift over an even layer of white caster sugar until the petals appear frosted. Repeat with the other side, lay the petals on a rack and leave for several hours or overnight in a warm draughty spot (a fan oven with a defrost setting is ideal).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cookery Year: A Meal For All Seasons

When it comes to cookery books, most people can’t wait to get hold of Jamie Oliver’s or Nigella’s latest offering – and I’m no different. But there are no words to describe just how thrilled I was to have recently got my hands on a copy of The Cookery Year by Reader’s Digest. I’ve been hunting around for this iconic cook book for a long time, hoping to add it to my overwhelming collection of cookery books. For me, this little gem is the king of cook books – and an integral part of my childhood.

The Cookery Year as I remember it

From the moment Reader’s Digest published The Cookery Year in the early seventies, it became the cook book no kitchen was complete without. It contained a month by month guide to seasonal produce plus recipes. My mother was the proud owner of a copy from the seventies, and being the strange child that I was, I used to spend hours poring over the pages. I must have been the only five year old who knew what a blini was! It was this book which got me interested in food and cooking at a young age all those years ago, and it introduced me to the delicious summer pudding; the delightful ouefs a la neige, and the flaming brilliant Crepes Suzettes!

My copy of the cookery year

But what I liked most about The Cookery Year were the beautifully illustrated opening pages listing information about different types of fruit, vegetables, cuts of meat, fish and cheese, complete with instructions for preparation and cooking. I enjoyed looking the pictures and once I’d learnt to read, I was also able to find out when certain produce was available and preferable cooking methods though why a primary school-aged child needed to know such information, I’ll never know! Who’d have thought that The Cookery Year could be so educational? Furthermore whenever I played the Name Game, with friends, I was very rarely stuck when it came to the fruit and vegetable category – and I have The Cookery Year to thank for that!

August – my month as it appeared in the 1970s edition

Now my mother’s cook book – the same one I used to look through when I was a child – certainly looks as though it’s been through the wars. Battered and worn, with the cover and many of its pages missing, this book has been well and truly used! I remember Mum used to follow the recipes for some of the cakes that featured in this book and I did make something from The Cookery Year when I was about twelve – orange foam sauce which we served with spotted dick as we’d run out of the milk we needed to make the custard so this recipe saved the day!

Poultry

Being reunited with this book is like being reunited with a missing piece of my childhood. I thoroughly enjoyed getting reacquainted with this cook book; flicking through the pages; feeling amazed at how much I’d remembered… I came across recipes and photos I instantly recognised. Grapefruit in brandy… scallops served in the shell… turbot with sweetcorn… salad elona… it was as though I was being transported back in time. I also came across dishes I hadn’t heard of in a long time which were extremely popular when I was growing up such as cock-a-leekie soup, melon and prawn basket, Steak Diane and peach melba. And oh my goodness, kidneys! A lot of kidneys were consumed in the seventies and eighties if these recipes are anything to go by. Maybe there are some changes in twenty-first century cooking for which we can be thankful!

Cuts of meat

The edition of The Cookery Year which I have found is from 2009 rather than from the 1970s and even though it’s done it’s best to adhere to the original format, there are differences. The hardback cover of the 1970s edition featured a variety of fruits, vegetables, and spices, artistically arranged and photographed, while the 2009 edition has charming illustrations of fruit vegetables and fish emblazoned across its paperback cover. Some of the photographs inside the book are different to what I remember and some have been omitted altogether. Furthermore some recipes have also been removed such as the delightful ‘bunnies on the lawn’ that I always hoped my mum would make for my next birthday party.

The yummy cake page I remember so well which is missing from the 2009 edition

Just as clothes go out of fashion, so does food and there are some dishes here which probably haven’t stood the test of time. I can’t see anyone serving up tomato ice as a starter or the delightfully named kidney scramble when they fancy a light snack. But there are still a huge number of classics such as chicken pie, tarte tatin, boef bourguignonne, and Lancashire hot pot as well as the famous summer pudding which outnumber the dishes which now seems outdated, so The Cookery Year is still a worthwhile buy. And in any case, any recipes that seem a bit dated can be adapted to modern tastes and to what is now available, or simply stick a ‘retro’ label on it and it will immediately be en vogue again!

Apparently not so common! Well maybe in another time…

It’s also amazing to see just how far we’ve come from the seventies in terms of food. Offal seems to be off the menu in a lot of households and restaurants, thank goodness. Chilli chocolate, salted caramel, pulled pork and many of today’s current food trends didn’t appear to exist then. In the seventies edition of The Cookery Year, peppers, avocados and courgettes were considered ‘less common vegetables’. Fast forward forty years and everyone’s fridge is full of them! And despite there surprisingly being lots of foreign influences, it’s missing a lot of the Thai, Japanese and South American flavours which are so popular today.

I really do think that every household could benefit from owning a copy of The Cookery Year. It really is a must-have book. Those who already have this cook book have said that they’ve never really needed another cookery book as this one has everything they need to develop their culinary skills. It’s perfect for beginners to cooking enthusiasts alike; serious homemakers to those setting up home for the first time; parents and children – I even saw a comment from a lady who said that her three year old daughter sits on the work top looking through the book while her mother cooks. Sounds very familiar! Another mother has said that she uses the opening chapters as a teaching aid about food for her children. There are also menu suggestions for special occasions like weddings, Christmas and dinner parties. To say this book is extremely useful is an understatement – it’s the cook’s bible!

I’m so glad that The Cookery Year is part of my life again. I honestly don’t know how I lived without it for so long. I love the format, the month by month guide, the menus, the advice, the recipes, the illustrations, the photographs – in short, EVERYTHING! However, I’m still going to keep my eye out for an original edition like my mum had. What can I say – I’m so old school!

So I’m going to leave you with the recipe  from The Cookery Year for the orange foam sauce I made many years ago with great success. It really is a delicious, versatile and – if a twelve year old can do it – easy to make sauce. It goes well with most pies, tarts, hot pudding and cakes and even Christmas pudding!

ORANGE FOAM SAUCE

Ingredients:

1 oz unsalted butter
1 orange (grated rind and juice of)
1 all-purpose flour
2 oz superfine sugar
1 egg
lemon juice

Method:

• Cream the butter and grated orange rind and gradually beat in the flour mixed with sugar.
• Separate the egg and beat the yolk into the butter & flour mixture.
• Add the orange juice (made up to 5floz with water)
• Don’t worry if the mixture curdles at this stage, it will become smooth again as it cooks.
• Cook the sauce in a small heavy based saucepan over a low heat, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens and the flour is cooked through.
• Add a little extra water if necessary to keep the sauce to a pouring consistency.
• Remove the pan from the heat and cover with a lid to keep warm.
• Just before serving, beat the egg white until stiff and then fold it into the sauce and sharpen the sauce slightly with a little lemon juice.

 

Comfort Food #12: Brown Bread Ice-Cream

Does anyone remember brown bread ice-cream? Has anyone ever tried it?

It’s way too cold to be even thinking about ice-cream so I have no idea why the first comfort food feature of the year is going to include a recipe that probably won’t be tried and tested for another five months at least!

Flicking through a recipe book last week, I came across a recipe for brown bread ice-cream and it took me right back to my childhood…

When I was a child growing up in 1980s London, we didn’t have the variety of ice-cream flavours that we have today. Coffee was served steaming hot in a mug not ice-cold in a wafer cone; peanut butter was something we got in a jar and the idea of salted caramel in any form would have been scoffed at (rather than just scoffed!) I suppose there are some advantages of twenty-first century living!

Neapolitan: the ice-cream of my childhood

Back in my day, ice-cream was almost strictly vanilla, strawberry or chocolate with ‘exotic’ flavours being banana or mint choc-chip! Oh, not forgetting the classic Neapolitan.

So it was a huge surprise for me to see recipes for brown bread ice-cream in the women’s weeklies that my mum used to buy. I also used to watch it being made on cookery shows. I was quite puzzled though because I always thought that ice-cream could only be chocolate or fruit- flavoured. How on earth could you make ice-cream out of bread? What would be next ‘ cornflakes? Cheese and onion crisps?

However, now that I’m older and have developed quite a sophisticated palate (so I like to think!) I can appreciate the uniqueness of this particular sweet treat. The caramelised breadcrumbs give a deliciously nutty texture and a toffee – almost fudgy – flavour.

Brown bread ice-cream became available in the eighteenth century after fruit flavoured ice-creams had been introduced but it didn’t gain in popularity until the late Victorian and Edwardian times when it was a privilege of the rich and served as a country weekend treat.

It seems to have declined in popularity over the years though because despite recipes for this ice-cream being readily available, I don’t hear any real mention of it. It has not appeared on the cookery pages of any of the magazines I’ve bought for a good few years; I haven’t seen it on restaurant menus and it has never been one of Haagan Dazs’ one million and one flavours (at least not here in the UK.) It seems to have been very much consigned to the drawer marked ‘forgotten about’ which is a shame because it is a delicious tasting ice-cream. Those who have never tried it, don’t know what they’re missing. Furthermore, despite all the sugar and cream, it can’t possible be an unhealthy dessert – not when it contains brown bread!

the recipe I came across was in a book Traditional Puddings by Sara Paston-Williams. It seems extremely easy to make so I will most definitely be giving it a go. It can be served with brandy snaps and your favourite ice-cream sauce served warm such as butterscotch or chocolate fudge or … salted caramel. However, I also found a recipe from the same book for a hot marmalade sauce which should complement this ice-cream very well.

BROWN BREAD ICE-CREAM

Recipe by Sara Paston-Williams

Serves 6-8

INGREDIENTS:

75g (3oz) wholemeal bread

50g (20z) unsalted butter

75g (3oz) castor/soft brown sugar

4 eggs, separated

115g (4oz) castor sugar

30ml (2 tbsp.) rum, brandy, Madeira

400ml double or whipping cream

METHOD:

• Prepare breadcrumbs by frying in butter until crisp and adding 50g sugar.
• Let this caramelise and then cool completely before crushing with a rolling pin.
• To prepare basic ice-cream, beat egg yolks with sugar and alcohol.
• Whip cream until it holds its shape.
• Add to egg mixture.
• Freeze in a lidded container for about 1 hour.
• Stir in crumbs then freeze again.
• Remove from freezer 30 mins before serving.
• Scoop into glasses.
• Serve with brandy snaps and sauce.

MARMALADE SAUCE

Image from storiesfromthestove.net

INGREDIENTS:

5ml cornflour

Juice of 1 orange

250ml white wine

60ml mamalade

30ml soft brown sugar

METHOD:

• Dissolve cornflower in juice.
• Heat wine, marmalade and sugar in a saucepan until the sugar has dissolved, stirring from time to time.
• Stir in cornflour mixture.
• Bring to the boil, stirring well.
• Simmer for two minutes.
• Serve hot.

Enjoy this very retro dessert!

 

Comfort Food#11: Good Old Rice Pudding!

Image from cookingwithalison.com

 

I love rice pudding – immensely! As a small child, I was quite fussy when it came to food and didn’t really eat it then, but I did get through bowlfuls of the stuff when I was in my teens. It got me through GCSEs, A levels, two degrees, heartbreak and hunger pains – especially when I couldn’t be bothered to cook. Unfortunately,  I was hopeless at trying to make it myself; my one attempt was a bit of a disaster so I stuck mainly with Ambrosia’s tinned rice pudding. Or Marks and Spencer’s if I wanted to push the boat out!  And the shop bought stuff is still as equally delightful as the home made variety.

 

Image from afridgefulloffood.typepad.com

And then I don’t know why but rice pudding just disappeared from my life! I mean I still indulged in the odd tin of Ambrosia but it wasn’t like before when I really guzzled the stuff. I can’t quite remember what happened to my rice pudding addiction. I can only assume it was because my sweet tooth which is in serious danger of overdosing on sugar was tempted away from this simple and humble pudding by more fanciful desserts. It just didn’t stand a chance in a world of salted caramel and tropical fruit flavours!

Image from http://www.weheartfood.com

 

It took Les Dennis’ appearance on Celebrity Masterchef to remind me of how much I’d once loved rice pudding. I wondered if it was still as delicious as I remembered it to be. I mentioned it to Hubby who couldn’t remember ever tasting a rice pudding even once. This comes as no surprise as he’s a fussier eater than I ever was!

Pulut hitam from Malaysia
Image from mommycookin.blogspot.com

 

Only one way to find out. So the next day I took myself off to M&S and bought a large tub of it for myself. Forty minutes after taking it out of the oven, I dug in. It was like nutmeg-laced, creamy heaven on a spoon! It was delicious, warm and comforting… everything a rice pudding should be. They don’t call it comfort food for nothing and it really hit the spot. I wondered why and how I’d gone so long without it. And this classic nursery pud is perfect now that the cold, dark nights of winter are drawing closer.

 

Everyone remembers rice pudding from their school days. Bland milky slop with a blob of strawberry jam in the middle. the best thing about it was stirring the jam into the rice pudding so that it turned pink. Even then I don’t think I took more than a few mouthfuls before confining the lot to the slop bucket. I’m sure this memory has stayed with many people over the years which explains why it may not be everyone’s favourite. Rice pudding has been around since Victorian times but even then it was considered economical, bland, ordinary fare served to infants and invalids. Another common dislike about rice pudding especially baked rice pudding, is the lovely skin that forms on top. Definitely not a firm favourite with me but I know that for some people, it’s considered to be the best bit.

A better looking version of school dinner rice pudding! Image from palattable.blogspot.com

 

However, skin or no skin, rice pudding these days is anything but bland and boring and has come a long way. Cooks are very inventive these days when it comes to rice pudding. Different varieties of rice can be used instead of the classic pudding rice. It can be cooked on a hob or baked in the oven. Egg yolks can be added to give it a more custard-like flavour and consistency. And then there are the million and one ways in which you can flavour your rice pudding. The traditionalists may prefer to stick to nutmeg although vanilla seems to be quite common as well. Bay leaves, lemon zest, cinnamon, dried fruit, candied peel and brandy are also becoming quite popular. In fact I came across a recipe which contained brandy-soaked raisins and was then topped with a meringue before being baked. Definitely sounds like my kind of rice pudding! And I absolutely love Les Dennis’ idea of using mascarpone which is something I’d never heard of but it sounds delicious. All these different ways  of cooking rice pudding means that no two puddings are the same and should help eradicate the image of gloopy school-dinner rice pudding.

Kheer from India. Image from bluejeangourmet.wordpress.com

 

And let’s not forget that rice pudding is virtually universal with so many countries having their own version of this dish. My favourite comes from Malaysia and is known as pulut hitam. It is made using a purple variety of rice. It is flavoured with coconut and a fragrant leaf called pandan. Truly scrumptious. I like the fact that countries around the world are very adventurous with their flavourings using rosewater, saffron, pistachios, ginger, anise and date syrup. It all sounds very exotic and inspiring in giving us new ideas for flavourings.

Baked rice pudding. Image from http://www.evernewrecipes.com

 

I’m so glad I’ve become reacquainted with rice pudding. Now as we’re having cold, wet weather, I like nothing more than curling up in front of a telly with a good movie and a bowl of yummy, hot rice pudding. I think it has something of the cornflake factor – you really do forget how great they taste! So here’s a recipe for rice pudding which sounds scrummy: spiced orange rice pudding. With Christmas fast approaching, I thought it sounded very appropriate. Hopefully after trying this you’ll never suffer the trauma of another school dinner nightmare again!

Spiced Orange Rice Pudding

Image from co-operativefood.co.uk

 

Ingredients

• 150g basmati rice
• 1 litre skimmed milk
• 250ml single cream
• 75g caster sugar
• grated zest and juice of 1 orange
• 2 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 4 cardamom pods, crushed
• You will need a lightly buttered oven-proof dish.

Recipe method

Pre-heat your oven to 160C/gas mark 3.

Pop the milk, cream, caster sugar, orange juice and vanilla into a saucepan and gently bring to the boil over a low heat.

Meanwhile pour the rice into the buttered oven dish along with the nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom and orange zest, fold the spices into the rice.

Pour the hot sweet milky mixture over the rice, cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon after 20 minutes.

Remove the foil and continue to cook for a further 20 minutes until most of the liquid has absorbed into the rice.

Leave to cool slightly and serve with a dollop of your favourite preserve. If you like a crispy skin on your rice pudding you can always pop the pudding under a hot grill with a little dusting of icing sugar until it browns.

Serve with your favourite preserve. Enjoy!