Well that was Christmas...

After what seems like a month or so planning and baking it's all over in a flash. I found the above photo on our camera. Hubby took it on the 23rd, you can see me rushing around and the chaos of the cottage in the run up to Christmas. It also makes it look like our cottage is huge, trust us it isn't.

This year Hubby & I spent Christmas with my parents Oop North. As a pressie for my parents I offered to buy the turkey. 3 days after Christmas and 3kg of turkey later, plus a multitude of variations on a turkey theme it is eventually finished. The same can't be said for the Christmas ham which is going to be reincarnated into a ham & leek pie later this evening.

Christmas started when we arrived on the afternoon of Christmas eve and the men cracked open the smoked porter from Burton Bridge Brewery this was soon followed by a trip to the local to hear my brother busk. Incidentally anyone one in and around Southport during the week run-up to Christmas would have heard my brother and his brass-instrumentalled-mates belting out Christmas tunes. Us women stuck to the good old Baileys. Once the obligatory cuppa was out of the way Christmas day started with a peach schnapps and champagne cocktail made by little sister who in plaster due to a disagreement with the piste while snowboarding a few days before Christmas. Late afternoon we sat down to a traditional turkey roast dinner with all the trimmings plus the Guinness Christmas Pudding I made back in November. It had a stronger taste of cloves this time, but I imagine this is due to me maturing the pudding for a bit longer this time around. The last of the alcohol to be tried was the Haw Brandy and Apple & Blackberry Gin we made after one of Hubby's foraging adventures back in October. It was filtered on Christmas eve and both produced such beautiful, pure drinks. The gin went down particularly well and we'll certainly be making a batch of it again for next Christmas.

Santa certainly came up trumps this year. Along with the Made in England rolling pin I also was lucky enough to receive lots of wine, a Hotel Chocolat discovery box, a set of Homepride flour tins and from Hubby not one but 2 trips to River Cottage. The first being the famous Valentines Feast, the second - a place on their bread making course. I was truly shocked when he announced where he was taking me. We must think very similar as his early Christmas present was Pig in a Day with Hugh and it just so happened we booked each others pressies within a few minutes of each other and spoke to the same events coordinator. I can't wait to visit.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

The past year in our little cottage has been a busy one with lots of cooking and foodie discoveries and I hope 2009 continues the same way. The next week or so is busy with family, friends, food and fine wine so I wish you all a fantastic Christmas and raise your glasses (or cup of tea) to a superb new year.

Baileys Coffee Cream Pots

My love of Baileys, is well known. Not just for drinking it, but also cooking with it. My Baileys Cheesecake is one of my most requested desserts and highest google hits. Hubby's late great-Aunt was a woman very much after my own heart as they only thing she would put in her coffee was Baileys, no matter what time of day it was. A coffee called Baileys Blitz also fueled my university days.

Last week Baileys contacted me asking if I would like to try some of their new Baileys with a Hint of Coffee plus have a go at some of their recipes created by James Martin. Me being one to rarely pass on the opportunity to try a new alcohol or dessert recipe I jumped at the chance. It came at the perfect time as I had just finished my most recently bottle of Baileys and was trying to work out which Supermarket had the best deal for a bottle of it.

Hubby doesn't like coffee so rarely do I cook with it, even if it is one of my favourite ingredients. As I'm now on my Christmas break I took the opportunity to get up early (in reality far too early) and set about making some Baileys Coffee Cream Pots for myself as I knew it would take 6 hours to set.

After a lot of impatient waiting (and watching some quite frankly dire daytime TV) the 6 hours eventually passed, just in time to get a photo before the sunset. I have to say it was the perfect dessert for me. Creamy with a generous coffee hit. To often am I disappointed in restaurants with their coffee flavoured desserts as the coffee hit is never enough for me but this was spot on. If I could have 2 puddings on Christmas Day this would be my coffee course...now that's an idea 2 puddings...sorry I digress.

The only very slight alteration I had to make was the fact I didn't have any instant coffee in the house so instead used Lyons Coffee Bags that are usually reserved for our camping trips. If you would like to see the lovely James Martin make this dessert along with the accompanying shortbread click here

Baileys Coffee Cream Pots
Makes 6 ramekins

5 egg yolks
80g caster sugar
260ml milk
260ml double cream
5 tsp instant coffee granules
100ml Baileys with of hint of Coffee (or normal Baileys)

1) Preheat the oven to 150oc. Whisk together the egg yolks and 40g of the sugar.

2) Put the cream, milk, coffee and remaining sugar in a heavy based saucepan. Gently bring to the boil. When it has reached a boil take of the heat and stir in the Baileys, then add the whisked sugar & egg. Quickly stir then strain into the ramekins.

3) Place the ramekins into a deep roasting tin and pour boiling water until it is half the way up the ramekins. Bake for 25-30 until they have a slight wobble.

4) Chill for at least 6 hours before eating. Serve straight from the fridge.

The Christmas Fifty

Andrew at Very Good Taste has launched his festive food list. How many have you tried? I was quite pleased with how many I managed to tick off. If your unsure of any of the foods visit Andrew's blog and there is links to the different foods.

Here’s what to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve tasted.
3) Place an asterisk after all the items you’ve cooked/prepared.
4) Optional: Cross out anything you never want to try, or add an exclamation mark after anything your really want to try.

You’re also welcome to post a link to your version of the list here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk.

The VGT Christmas Fifty

1. Crystallised or candied fruits
2. Egg nog (and I never want to try again!)
3. Bûche de Noël, or Yule log
4. Rum balls*
5. Bebinca
6. Roasted chestnuts*
7. Cavallucci
8. Tourtière
9. Uszka
10. Port & Stilton
11. Hallaca
12. Roast goose
13. Lefse
14. Sugar plums
15. Romeritos
16. Pinnekjøtt
17. Hot toddy
18. Christmas cake*
19. Tamales
20. Sorpotel
21. Panettone
22. Candy canes
23. Pasteles
24. Speculaas
25. Makowiec
26. Christmas pudding*
27. Stollen*
28. Figgy pudding
29. Lebkuchen*
30. Turrón
31. Mince pies*
32. Wassail bowls
33. Buñuelos
34. Pio Quinto
35. Marzipan fruits*
36. Mulled wine*
37. King cake
38. Christmas beach barbecue
39. Cola de mono
40. Lutefisk
41. Kutia
42. Pizzelle
43. Dominostein
44. Cranberry sauce
45. Pfeffernüsse*
46. Satsumas or clementines
47. Pumpkin pie
48. Smalahove
49. Nut roast
50. Brandy butter

Chocolate Stollen

As I've mentioned before, some of my childhood was spent living in Germany and I have very fond memories of celebrating Christmas there. During the last few years German Christmas Markets have been springing up in cities over here in the UK. Nothing like the Christkindlmarkets in Berlin, but it's a good start. The biggest Christmas markets here take place in Leeds and Birmingham. We visited the Birmingham market Saturday evening and it was heaving. Unfortunately I was so enthralled with the whole experience I forgot to take photos.

While there we there we ate kartoffelpuffen with apple sauce, kirschkuchen and pretzels. I was boring Hubby with all my explanations for the different foods and getting overexcited every time I saw something I hadn't seen in years. I would have had Glühwein but Hubby was driving and I felt a bit guilty drinking again when he was driving. To make up for it the following night we drank mulled cider while putting up the Christmas tree.

One of the popular German Christmas bakes is Stollen, a yeasty fruit and marzipan bread and I've been told it represents a swaddled baby Jesus. I would go as far to say I prefer it to Christmas Cake. When I came across this recipe for Chocolate Stollen, although not traditional, I knew I had to make it. A few years back I made a traditional stollen using a slightly different method which worked well, but not as good as this chocolate version. Technically this was one of the most demanding cakes I've made. It also turned out to be one of the most impressive and tasty cakes I have ever made. Nigella would be proud. I'll be submitting it to Yeastspotting. Now take a deep breath and prepare for possibly one of the longest recipes I have ever posted.

Chocolate Stollen
Green & Blacks Chocolate Recipes

FOR THE DOUGH
100g mixed fruit
60ml dark rum
zest and juice of 1 orange
50g glace cherries, quartered
100g (1 bar) G&B Maya Gold chocolate (or decent dark chocolate), finely chopped
375g strong white bread flour
25g cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg, grated
1 tsp mixed spice
2 tsp dried active yeast (not the fast action kind)
150ml milk
125g butter
50g golden caster sugar
2 eggs

MARZIPAN
100g ground almonds
75g icing sugar
25g cocoa powder
a few drops of almond essence (optional)

FOR DUSTING
40g icing sugar
25g cocoa powder

1) Overnight soak the mixed fruit in orange juice, zest and 30ml of the rum. When you are ready to make the stollen stir in the glace cherries and chocolate.

2) Melt together the milk, sugar and 75g of the butter butter. Leave to cool then beat one egg plus one egg yolk into the milky mix. Keep the spare egg white until later.

3) In a large bowl add the flour, cocoa, salt, nutmeg, mixed spice and the yeast then gently pour in the milk and mix until you have a smooth dough. Knead lightly then place in bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave to rise for 30 min. While waiting for the dough to rise make the marzipan, line the 30x20cm baking tray with greaseproof paper and preheat the oven to 190oc.

4) To make the marzipan mix together the icing sugar, cocoa, ground almonds and the egg you saved from earlier (I love very almondy marzipan so also add a few drops of almond essence). Knead until you get a soft, pliable ball.

5) Melt together the remaining 50g butter and 30ml of rum. On a lightly floured board knead the dough then roll out into an oblong shape about 5mm thick (something I'm not very good at!). Brush with the melted butter and rum.

6) Turn the dough so you have a long oblong (rather than a wide oblong) in front of you. On the top cover 2/3 of the dough with half of the mixed fruit mix. Fold the bottom 1/3 two thirds the way up the oblong, then fold down the top third over it. Much like when you fold a letter for an envelope. Press down the open edges to help seal it.

7) Turn the dough 90 degrees clockwise (a quarter turn). Roll out to an oblong shape again. Brush with the butter and rum then repeat step 6 with the remaining fruit.


8 ) Mould the marzipan into an oblong shape just slightly smaller in length than the dough and half the width. Place the marzipan down the centre of the dough, fold the two sides of dough in to meet one another and place join side down in the lined tin. Brush the top with the butter and rum and bake for 35 minutes.

9) As soon as the stollen is baked, brush with the butter and rum (you may need to reheat the butter & rum it to regain the liquid consistency)and dust with loads of icing sugar and cocoa.

Vegan & Gluten-Free Mince Pies

We are entering one of the dreaded weeks for people who work in education. As one colleague calls is "Nativity & Glitter Week". The kids are on a high, nothing gets done, Joseph gets stage fright, a shepherd will pick his nose then eat it, the recorders are as squeaky as ever and Mary suddenly discovers a penchant for sucking her toes...mid nativity.

Rather than giving presents out to fellow workmates I usually make a batch of festive goodies. As it was Xmas and not all my workmates can eat my eccles mince pies, I decided to have a go at making vegan, wheat-free mince pies. Not only the pastry had to be vegan, but also the mincemeat. It just so happened that the brand of cider & rum I used in the suet-free mincemeat I made a few weeks back was also vegan. This was a new departure in baking for me. Before now the only vegan baking I have ever had the courage to attempt is flapjacks.

The first task was to find a gluten free flour alternative. Sainsburys came to the rescue when I noticed they sold Dove's Farm Gluten Free Flour Blend. I was anticipating me having to make my own flour blend. It has a slightly different texture to conventional plain flour, in a kind of way squeakier. The butter replacement was easy, Pure Sunflower Spread. I've used it in cooking before with no problems and it is readily available.

One tip I picked up while reading around about using gluten free flour is that at first it looks gloopy, resist the urge to add more flour because once it has rested for a bit the flour absorbs the liquid and it magically turns into the right consistency.

I have to admit these mince pies were a triumph. I don't know why I had been so scared about them. The pastry was perfect and my non-vegan friends also really enjoyed them. I'll certainly be making this pastry again.

Vegan & Gluten-Free mince pies
Makes 12

200g Gluten-free plain flour
125g Vegan spread/butter substitute
1 tbsp icing sugar
4 tbsp orange juice
200g mincemeat Suet-free mincemeat (just make sure you use vegan cider. All rums are considered vegan)

1) Rub the spread into the flour until you have the consistency of fine breadcrumbs. Stir in icing sugar, then orange juice and combine until you have a soft dough. Don't worry if it looks too wet at this stage.

2) Press the dough into a thickened disk shape, cover in clingfilm and chill for at least 30 min.

3) Preheat oven to 180oc. Roll out pastry until it is about 4mm thick. Using a 9cm biscuit cutter, cut out rounds and press gently into a regular cupcake tray. Fill each pie with around 1 dsp of mincemeat.

4) Using the remaining pastry cut out shapes and place on top of the mincemeat. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 min, until pastry is golden. Allow the pies to cool in the tin for a short while before placing on a wire rack.

Pig in a Day with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Hubby is one of those annoying/lucky people (depending on how you look at it) who's birthday is during the Christmas festivities. After him buying me a KitchenAid for my birthday, I knew I had to pull one out of the bag to make his birthday pressie just as special as his present to me.

A few weeks back I received an email from River Cottage making me aware of some dates with Hugh. Dates with Hugh in River Cottage are becoming rarer and rarer so I knew I had to act quick. The Catch & Cook in June course sold out 5 min before I phoned so I went for the Pig in a Day course, meaning Hubby would have to get his Birthday pressie early. He was a tad bit shocked when I announced where he would be going and that he would be meeting his idol Hugh.

So here I pass on to Hubby who has written his own account of the day, also if you are veggie I suggest you don't read or scroll down any further:



The day started when I pulled into River Cottage. You can't park right at River Cottage so took a bumpy ride down into the valley on a trailer pulled by a tractor. When me and my 23 fellow course mates arrived we were shown to a yurt where tea, coffee and delicious brownies were waiting for us. It was a lovely warm welcome. Then all of a sudden my idol of idols Hugh appeared. He shook my hand and introduced himself to me, signed my Meat cookbook then had our photo taken. The photo makes Jules laugh as we look like bosom buddies.

We then headed down to a converted barn for the course which was essentially demonstrating the process and principles of butchering and processing a pig. I don't own any pigs, yet, but would love to in the future and a smallholding mate of Jules has offered us half a pig after Christmas. Along with Hugh there was also the legend that is master butcher - Ray Smith.




It started with half a pig that Ray slowly butchered into different joints while Hugh cooked the various dishes. This was definitely nose-to-tail eating. The first dish to be prepared was brawn as it has to be slow cooked. From behind the demonstration counter Hugh produced a quartered pig's head. I was able to taste the brawn later on in the day.



The first dish I tried was pig's brains. Hugh first poached the diced brain then coated in breadcrumbs and then deep-fried. Curiosity got the better of me and I knew I had to try it. It's creamy and melt in the mouth, not much taste, more texture. This evening Jules & I have debated over whether or not you can legally buy pig's brains. I say yay, she says nay. Either way it's not worth the risk of seeing Jules' reaction if she came home one day to find a pig's brain the fridge.



Next on the menu was devilled kidneys. Again something I have never tried before as I thought I didn't like kidneys, but these were very very tasty. Hugh may have converted me to kidneys. Liver pate was also demonstrated, but I didn't get a chance to try this one.

While the barn was being transformed for lunch we had the opportunity to walk around the grounds. The pigs all looked very happy in the mud and the geese were quite adamant to peck my shoes. I was also inspired by their smokers made out of barrels. Lunch was generous slices of pork served with creamy mash and roasted veg. To follow was pear sponge cake. Very tasty.

The afternoon was hosted by Ray and Steve and was primarily about preserving and processing meat. During the afternoon they demonstrated how to make air dried ham, chorizo and sausages. All of the people attending the course were given some chorizo and sausages to take home. We ate the sausages the following night and they were absolutely delicious. Very different from sausages you usually buy. They were packed with meat, herbs and a bit of sugar which helps the sausages to caramelise when they split.



I found it a really interesting and informative day. On top of the recipe demonstrations they also advised on what knives to use, how to tie a butchers knot, the right questions to ask at the abattoir. It was a lovely chilled environment and you were encouraged to ask questions throughout the day. I will be returning as I enjoyed myself so much.

The Big Knit

For the past few years Innocent have launched their annual Big Knit Campaign where people are asked to knit little woolly hats for Innocent bottles. In turn, for every bottle sold with a hat, 50p will be donated to Age Concern. This year £250,000 has been donated. It's an innovative fundraising idea from a quirky company.

I've been a bit late getting some bottles as they were came out at the beginning of November, but I eventually managed to pick up a few in Sainsbury's. The couple of hats we collected from last years bottles reside on our Bride & Groom Wedding cake topper. Next year I'm planning to send our collection of hats back so they can be recycled. There have been some amazing hats knitted and next year should be more organised and pick up a funky hat.

The culinary equivalent of superglue...

The past week has been a bit of a crazy one. Christmas festivities in school are in full swing and Hubby has been working every hour under the sun to get a project finished in work so it can be shipped. Over the weekend I was back in the Homeland for an annual Christmas Ball at my dad's work and a Victorian Christmas festival in their village. At the festival in amongst the roasted chestnuts and hog roasts we decided to choose mulled Vimto. Bad choice, I usually love Vimto but words cannot describe how awful the a mulled version of it was. It left me wishing I had gone for the hardcore mulled wine after all.

There are some recipes that sit on my cookbook stand for a while waiting for me to get the balls to try them. This recipe for nougat was one of them. I'm not too confident with boiling sugar and always worry about burning myself. Last year when making cinder toffee, hubby dropped the spoon into the boiling sugar, reached in to pick the spoon up and burnt his fingers. Although he put ice on it straight away he could feel it burning for the next 24 hours...ouch.

Now the pronunciation of "nougat" in our house is a bit of a contentious issue. I say "noo-gaar" where as Hubby along, with the rest of his family, say "nugget" as in chicken nugget. I still argue I'm in the right because nougat is a french word.

I have to admit I'm not too sure if I got it to the right constancy. I whisked it until it wouldn't thicken anymore and considering the sugar took nearly an hour to get to the right temperature I was getting a bit fed up with it. It tastes like beautiful nougat and is sticky like anything, but slowly melts in the mouth. Cleaning the bowls after making it is another matter. This stuff is like superglue and sticks to everything and anything. The best tip I can give for cleaning all the bowls/saucepans is to use lots of boiling water. Pour it over the cemented nougat and it will melt away.

Just a warning this involves boiling sugar and it probably not a very child friendly. Be very careful when beating together the sugar and egg, if your mixer has a splash guard use it. Dentists turn away now...

Nougat
Adapted from Fresh Magazine

680g granulated sugar
340ml (about 1 tin and a bit) golden syrup
60ml clear honey
235ml water
2 egg whites, beaten until stiff in a large bowl
1 tsp vanilla extract
75g dried cranberries
200g mixture of almonds and macadamia nuts

1) Gradually heat the sugar, syrup, honey and water in a heavy saucepan until it reaches 154°C (hard-crack stage)

2) When the sugar has reached the correct temperature carefully beat into the whisked egg whites until the mixture is stiff and waxy. At the beginning of this stage don't worry if it looks a bit like fine scrambled egg in sugar syrup. Keep beating and it will thicken and combine.

3) Carefully fold in the vanilla, cranberries and nuts using a large metal spoon. The metal spoon, rather than a wooden spoon, helps stop the mix collapsing.

4) Pour the nougat into a tin lined with baking parchment. Allow to cool before cutting into squares...or if your nougat is anything like ours a knife won't cut it and we ended up using a meat mallet to bash it with another sheet of baking parchement.

Wikio’s top 20 influential UK gastronomy blogs

For quite a few months now I have been following blog rankings on Wikio. A few days ago they contacted me asking if I would like to publish and exclusive look at the rankings that come out tomorrow. I'm shocked and very pleased to see me at 11 and some fantastic fellow bloggers in the top 20.

1	The Guardian - Word of Mouth
2	FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD!
3	Spittoon
4	eat like a girl
5	DOS HERMANOS
6	spittoonextra
7	Cheese and Biscuits
8	A Slice of Cherry Pie
9	Tamarind and Thyme
10	Kitchen Delights
11	Domestic Goddess in Training
12	Cherrapeno
13	The Wine Conversation
14	Sour Grapes
15	Stonch's Beer Blog
16	Bubble Brothers
17	Greedy Gourmet
18	jamie goode's wine blog
19	The London Review of Breakfasts
20	Apple & Spice

The Good Food Show Haul

Yesterday, with some foodie friends, we headed to Birmingham for the annual Good Food Show. A good time was had by all, though I did get fed up being barged by those trolleys everyone seemed to be pulling around with them. We tasted some very good...and very bad stuff.



Snowdonia Cheese Company - Their cheese are always a fond favourite in our house, especially Black Bomber. We ended up buying: Green Thunder - Mature Cheddar with garlic & garden herbs in a green wax, Red Devil - Red Leicester with chillies & crushed pepper in a red wax Pickle Power - Mature Cheddar with chunks of pickled onion in a purple wax.


Ritter sport - These are another dirty secret of mine. I fondly remember them from when I lived in Germany and go slightly mad when I see them for sale. Yesterday they were selling mixed boxes of their mini bars and they all contained my favourite flavours so I HAD to buy them!



Tea House Emporium This stall was easy to miss, but I'm glad I found it. Their Kalahari tea was beautiful and refreshing and this is the first place I've found tea flowers for sale. Since seeing them online I've been intrigued by them. They look so pretty and delicate. I may be in the Bath area around New Year and will have to pop in.

Fox's Spices - They had a big stall with a gigantic selection of spices. I picked up some garam masala, kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, powdered coconut cream and some pickling spices. They don't seem to have a website, but when I do find it I'll link it here.

White's Toasted oats - I love my cereal. I'm the kind of person who eats a bowl of cereal when they can't decide what to eat or can't be bothered cooking, however I am getting a bit bored of my morning porridge and welcomed a change. I had a bowl of the mixed berries cereal this morning and it was a perfect breakfast.

Pinks meat - Sausage stalls seemed to be in the majority at the show but what made this stall stand out was the lovely staff, yummy sausages. We tasted and bought from Pork & Indian pepper sausages and had them for tea last night with a huge mound of mash...yum, yum, yum!



Belvoir Fruit Farms - Last year I tried some of their Spiced Winter Berries cordial but stupidly never bought any. This year I made sure I did. It's made with elderberry, orange and blackberry juices mixed along with nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves; a fantastic non-alcoholic alternative to mulled wine. This afternoon we went for a brisk walk and a flask of this hot cordial was perfect for warming the cockles.

Focus on Food campaign - On my hunt for companies/resources to help us become a Healthy School I found out about the Focus on Food campaign. In interested in the cooking bus they do and hope to bring it to school.

Rocket Gardens - An amazing company with an innovative idea. I'm hoping to use some of the schools gardening club money to buy a School Spring Garden. I'm also loving their Dig for Their Future campaign.

Wishlist & Twitter

I've decided to get with the times and join Twitter. I'm still working out how to use it and haven't a clue how to search for people who are not in my email contact list. If you are on there let me know! You can follow my twitter down on the left.



Crazy Magpie fan cookbook - Perfect for messy cooks like me as it is wipeable. There is also some other lovely stuff on this website, I especially love the wrapping paper.



Made in England rolling pin - Designed by Kathleen Hills. As soon as I saw this I knew I had to have it. I'm now waiting patiently in the hope that Santa may bring it for me. Never before would I have imagined I would want a designer rolling pin.



Hug Salt & Pepper Shaker - in reality I don't need another salt & pepper shaker in the kitchen, but these are so cute.



Knitted cake decorations - I adore these and just wish I could knit. Although I'm creative and can take up almost anything arty, I can't for the life of me knit. Just imagine a Christmas tree covered in cakes...heaven!



Ribbon Sweets - I was originally entranced by these beautiful ribbon creations back in the summer when I saw them at Chatsworth House. They are designed by Candace Kling and they take me back to my A'level art days when I spent quite a bit of time experimenting with textiles and textures. It makes me wish I could have a room with a huge table, tonnes of storage allowing me to dedicate time to art again.



The Old Oak's Last Dream - OK not food related, but still stunningly beautiful. Again also on my Christmas list. In reality I would love all of the illustrations and they would adorn the walls of my dream kitchen.

Blue Ballet Squash Honey Drizzle Cake

The weather people love to get us (well me)excited about the prospect of heavy snow. So this morning woke up excited like a child at Christmas only to pull back the curtains and find the most pathetic sprinkling of snow, which soon disappeared after a heavy downpour.

Today is Stir-up-Sunday, the last Sunday before Advent and when you traditionally make the Christmas Pudding. Due to a busy diary I made my Christmas pudding a couple of weeks ago, but still wanted to do some Christmas baking this weekend. For the last couple of years I've been making suet-free mincemeat and this year wasn't going to be any different. I often alter the recipe each year depending as to what I have in. This year I used Green Goblin cider and Pussers Rum. The smell while it was bubbling away on the stove was heaven. I've made a promise to myself that I'm going to do Christmas baking throughout December and I've found a recipe for chocolate stollen which is next on my list. Watch this space.



This year I have well documented the plight of the Blue Ballet Squashes in the garden. A few weeks ago one was roasted for roast dinner and the second has been patiently waiting on the kitchen worktop for us to do something with it. After making the beetroot brownies a couple of weeks ago a fellow blogger pointed me in the direction of another Hugh F-W cake recipe that had appeared in the Guardian and contained butternut squash. I decided that if they cake would work with Butternut, it would work with Blue Ballet squash. Now I used to be a passionate hater of vegetables in cakes, but Hugh is slowly turning me around to them.

After grating 1kg of apples for the mincemeat the last thing I wanted to do was grate some squash. Plus a "squash + sharp knife = ouch" incident from a couple of years ago permanently scared on my thumb, I'm a bit fearful of this humble vegetable. This is when the trusty food processor comes into play and rather than grated squash I used finely diced squash. It produced a very thick cake mix and I was a bit apprehensive that I wouldn't work, but it produced a perfect, beautifully moist cake where the flavours had all combined and the squash had melted into the cake. Absolutely delicious. It would also work well with a orange cream cheese frosting but Hubby has begged me to leave it as it is.



It's a bit of a mouthful when it comes to the name of a cake, but hey ho!

Blue Ballet Squash Honey Drizzle Cake
makes 1 2lb loaf

180g self-raising flour
90g light soft brown sugar
90g golden caster sugar
pinch of mixed spice
pinch of grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
zest and juice of 1 orange
180g butter, melted
2 eggs
300g squash, peeled, deseeded and grated/finely diced
75g walnuts, chopped
50g sultanas
1 tbsp lemon juice
5 tbsp honey

1) Preheat oven to 180oc. Mix together all dry ingredients and orange zest. Then beat in butter and eggs until you have a smooth batter. Gently fold in squash, walnuts and sultanas. Pour into a lined 2lb loaf tin and bake for 50-55 min until skewer comes out clean.

2) About 5 min before cake is ready in a small pan heat honey, lemon juice and orange juice, simmer until it has thickened. When cake is ready take it out of the oven, skewer a few holes in the top of the cake and pour drizzle mix over. Allow to cool in the tin (due to the moisture content of the cake it takes a great deal longer than you expect to cool).

Beef & Butterbean Stew in a Bread Bowl

It seems to be taking me ages to write this post, things are all over the place at the moment. My friend has given birth to twin girls, work has been mad and I've got a stinking cold, which in turn kills my appetite. I have however made Hubby's year by getting him a ticket to meet Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and take part in the Pig in a Day course held at River Cottage HQ. This is preparation for the half a pig my smallholding friend is giving us after Christmas. Hubby, bless him, is so excited!

The inspiration for this dish came from the Dough cookbook Hubby had borrowed off a friend and thought a stew from this months Fresh magazine would be perfect in them. I admit I'm not a huge fan of stews as I find them boring, but this one was different. I made a double batch of the stew so we also had some the next day. The stew tasted even better the day after as the flavours had matured. I never thought I would say this but I would have this stew again.

The bread bowls worked better than expected, however next time I would grease the bowl better or use greaseproof paper to stop the bread sticking. It's been nearly 2 months now since I've been making all of our bread at home and I never thought there would be such a significant difference when I came to taste mass produced bread again. At the weekend we were away and I had some supermarket french baguette, it tasted so sweet and a fluffy nothingness compared to the bread I make at home. My homemade bread is far more filling and tastier!

Bread Bowls
Makes 2 bowls
Adapted from Dough: Simple Contemporary Bread

250g strong bread flour
10g polenta
1 tsp dried yeast
pinch of sugar
1 tsp salt
25g olive oil
320g warm water

1) Activate the yeast in warm water and sugar. Leave for 15 min to froth. Stir the olive oil into the yeasty mix.

2) Mix together flour, polenta and salt then gradually add the yeasty water to make a dough. Kneed for 10 min by hand or 2 min by mixer. Allow to rise for 30 minutes.

3) Lightly oil the outside of 2 ovenproof bowls. Divide dough in half and roll into balls. Roll out each piece of dough into a circle 3-5mm thick. Shape ontop on the upturned bowls and press down to rid of air bubbles. Rest for 10 min.

4) Bake bowls at 200oc for 20-25 min until the bread bowls are golden. Allow to cool for a few minutes before carefully removing the bread from the bowls

Beef & Butterbean Stew
Serves 4
Adapted from Fresh Magazine

2 tbsp olive oil
750g stewing steak
1 onion, finely sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp hot smoked paprika
125ml red wine
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tin of butter beans
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
salt & pepper

1) In a deep casserole dish brown the stewing steak in the oil. Remove from the pan, set aside and fry onions and peppers in pan until softened.

2) Add the rest of the rest of the ingredients (apart from parsley & butterbeans) and simmer on a low heat for 3 - 3.5 hours, until beef begins to fall apart.

3) Stir in butterbeans and parsley then simmer for a further 5 minutes.

The Beginners Guide to Country Bumpkin Life

Living in the country always brings its challenges. Last night as we were settling in for the night, Hubby went out front to put the rubbish out only to be confronted with a river where our drive usually is. The rain had been heavy, but we didn't think there had been enough for the pond at the top of the hill to burst. Thankfully the floodwaters have subsided and hopefully our cottage is safe.

Cue mild panic, knocking on neighbors doors and remaining thankful that we were too lazy to put the sandbags away from the front door after they were delivered a month back. We've lived our little country cottage life for 3.5 years now and it has taught me many things.



1. Wellies - essential for country living, even better if they come in a funky pattern. I do wear my wellies quite a lot and last night amongst the sandbags and floodwater they decided to leak leaving me with a very soggy right foot. I now have my eye on some equally funky coloured Hunter wellies.

2. Candles - come to our house and you'll find them everywhere along with random placed boxes of matches. Power cuts are a regular occurrence, though thankfully not as bad as they used to be. During lengthy power cuts it has been known for all of us to huddle around nextdoor's gas BBQ making cups of tea. Who said the British resilience and love of tea was dead?

3. Mice/voles/rats - I have to admit I'll never get used to little furry friends coming to visit. Thankfully Hubby isn't bothered about them at all Although they may be cute tiny field mice looking for somewhere dry and warm I still don't like them. I'm sitting here on the sofa freezing cold waiting for hubby to return from work as I'm too scared to get near the fire just in case Bob the mouse (our most recent furry friend who jumped out from behind to coal bucket) makes a reappearance.

We have humane traps and release our furry friends at a place called Percy's Corner, named after the first furry friend we caught. Percy had quite refined tastes only liking to snack on pistachio & Brazil nuts plus...our sofa. More recently the mice have been under the sink. These however have less refined tastes and like to eat candles and washing powder. They are probably having a little rave under the sink high on various domestic products. Forget cocaine, get yourself to Chez Derbyshire and get high on Persil.

4. 2 wet jackets - If I was a hardcore country bumpkin I would have a Barbour jacket, but I'm yet to reach that status so make do with a Craghopper and Berghaus jacket. My old Craghopper is used for the coal bunker/ firk-out-the-drains-to-stop-the-house-flooding type of jobs. And the Berghaus? for everything else.



5. A dog or 2 - Now to be a true country bumpkin you should own a dog, but considering I have a mild phobia of dogs (plus as much as I love walking I couldn't be doing with walking them everyday), we make do with next doors door who keep us both entertained. One thinks he is human and the other eats anything and everything.

7. Lighting a fire - I'm becoming quite a pro at lighting a fire, okay not to the extent of a Ray Mears stylee rubbing two sticks together job, but Hubby is often impressed with the fires I make...as long as Bob the mouse hasn't popped in to say hello. I have discovered that babybel wax (my foodie shame) make great firelighters.

9. Fleecy blankets & hot water bottles - for the time when Bob makes a reappearance and your too scared to go near the coal bucket or when you can't be bothered going outside to fill the coal bucket and make a fire.

A Brilliant Brew

Hubby's family originally come from the home of brewing in the Midlands (incidentally also the home of the evil that is Marmite) and naturally his family know a good ale when they taste one. One of the first pubs Hubby's family introduced me to is also the best brewery in Burton - The Burton Bridge Brewery. Situated near one of the bridges over the River Trent, the pub tied to it has a great cosy atmosphere and a traditional skittle alley upstairs (popular in Hubby's family for parties). On our wedding day we had kegs of Burton Porter it went down incredibly well and in most of our wedding photographs you can spot a glass of it somewhere!

A recent discovery for us, on the beer front, is the various beers available from Samuel Smith Brewery based in Tadcaster, Yorkshire. The only stockists I know of in Derbyshire are Chatsworth Farm Shop and Sound Bites, a great organic, ethical shop in Derby. As I was in Derby on Saturday I decided to pay Sound Bites a visit to stock up on their beers. In the summer I tried their Raspberry beer and this time went for the cherry beer, strawberry beer and Best Ale. Trust me, I would have bought a lot more if I didn't have to carry them back up Babington Lane to the car.

I was first drawn to these beers by the labels, quite different from other bottle labels (yes I'm the type of person who chooses a book depending on how pretty the cover is). I'm yet to try the strawberry beer, but the cherry one was gorgeous. Almost like alcoholic cherry aid. I didn't realise until last night how strong it was; coming in at 5% alcoholic volume. I'm looking forward to the next time I'm in Derby so I can stock up.

Gearing up for Christmas

I can't believe we're only just into November and I'm beginning to seriously think about Christmas. I blame the food mags as they are full of Christmas recipes. The morning started out on a trip to the Westfield Derby. I admit I'm sucker for cookshops and the new Lakeland has opened there so before you knew it I was in there, some how I managed to leave without buying anything. However I can see myself back there before the end of the year.

The Food Hall in the centre has an interesting mix of food outlets. Last time I was there I ate at Pieminister and wasn't particularly impressed so this time decided to try somewhere different. Hana Puri caught my eye, specialising in south-Asian cuisine with the food being cooked fresh on a charcoal grill. I had a a chicken tikka wrap (not feeling adventurous!) that was delicious with the perfect amount of chicken, salad, raita and chilli sauce. Their curries also looked delicious and I will certainly be returning. Just a shame most people were queuing at the KFC a few doors down and missing out on this great food.

Next I was off to Chantry for their Christmas Open Day to quaff mulled wine, taste some great Bitter Sweet chocolates and order the Christmas turkey for my parents and a few other festive treats. I had a time scale to keep as I was also planning on making our Christmas pudding and HAD to be home by 3pm if I wanted to get to bed at some decent hour. I was cutting it fine especially when I realised we had run out of string and had to make a mad dash to the only shop around, a garden centre, to pick up twine. It was that or I would have had to use a shoe lace.



Traditionally I make the Christmas pudding on Stir-up Sunday but socially we are booking up fast and this weekend was really the last weekend I knew I would certainly have a 6 hour slot to steam the Christmas pudding. Plus everyone knows a great Christmas pudding is a pudding that has been matured for a while in a great deal of alcohol.

Last year I made a Guinness Christmas Pudding and as it went down so well I thought why mess with something that is so good and made the same for this year, learning from the mistakes I made last year. This time I made it in the right size bowl, though this did mean I had to make a slight adaptation to the saucepan to get it to steam properly. I did think of putting a silver coin in the middle, but as the pudding is probably going to be microwaved when reheated on Christmas Day I didn't think this would be such a good idea!

It smelt so good as it steamed and turned a delicious dark brown. It's now all wrapped up ready for Christmas Day. I just hope it tastes as good as last years pudding.

Leading the school food revoloution

I had all these grand ideas for blog posts over the last week, but nothing went to plan. First the bonfire toffee turned out to be nothing like what I know bonfire toffee to be and I think I managed to make the stickiest toffee known to man. I think I'll be sticking to my tried & tested cinder toffee.

Then last night I made mini chocolate sponges with Mars bar sauce (thanks to the tonne of mini Mars bars we had after no trick or treaters appeared)but although they tasted good they looked ugly. I really need to master taking good pics in our kitchen at night time. These sponges were to accompany a cracking roast beef dinner I had made. While shopping I picked up some Tracklements Strong Horseradish sauce. I noticed it had been awarded a Great Taste Award this year. My goodness is it strong, but goes perfect with beef. Just use it sparingly!



The poor garden has been looking a bit sorry for itself. The frosts here have started and the garden now gets minimal sun. We've been waiting and waiting for the Blue Ballet squashes to ripen but due to the lack of sun this wasn't happening and decided to cut them from the vine before the frost killed the two of them. Once cutting one open it was a gorgeous yellowy orange inside. The first squash was roasted to go with last nights roast dinner. I'm not a huge fan of squashes as I find them too sweet, but this squash was lovely with an interesting texture not too dissimilar from sweet potato. This however could be because they were not fully ripened. We're planning on replanting the seeds from this years haul next year and my workmate (a good-lifer extraordinaire) has assured me that squash seeds roasted with a bit of chilli and salt are fantastic and are almost as good as pork scratchings.

On a more positive note I've discovered a great foodie magazine. I was getting bored with the usual lot of food mags out there at the moment. One particular magazine, of which I won't mention, a few months about was quite an ethical food magazine supporting Hugh and his Chicken Out campaign, then last month were advocating 2 for £5 chickens. The new magazine is Fresh Magazine. After just buying just one issue I've decided to subscribe.

The most exciting news for me is that I've been asked to help lead a healthy food programme in school. Usually the role is given to staff on the Senior Management Team, but due to the size of our school I've been asked to take on the role. I'm going to be involved, amongst other things, finding out why school dinner uptake is only 50%, what parents & kids would like to see on the menus, promoting healthy eating throughout the whole school, introducing more cooking/healthy eating into the curriculum. It's going to be a challenge as healthy eating can be a bit of a contentious issue with both parents and staff, but if my input can make the school a healthier and happier place I'm prepared to put everything into it. I have various jobs to do first, like audits, before I implement anything but if there is anyone out there who can help me or know of companies/organisations/websites who can help with healthy food education please email me on julesatdit AT googlemail DOT com

Adopt a Blogger

A few months back on Dine & Dish put out a plea for both veteran and newbie bloggers to come together for Adopt a Blogger event - Round 2

I was paired with Jessica @ Practically Vegan, a vegan blogger from Atlanta who like me loves Asian food. I was really glad to be paired with a blog that is quite a bit different to mine and I'm looking forward to expanding my vegan knowledge. I have a few vegan friends and always want to know how I can cook for them.

Jessica's gorgeous dog Miso.

If you take a peek at her flikr photostream you'll find some fantastic photos. So to help introduce Jessica & her blog here is a few questions I asked her:

1. Where are you based Jessica? Is it a good location for foodies?

I am based in Atlanta. I believe it is a good location for foodies because there are a bunch of great farmers markets (at least 5 permanent ones and then seasonal ones). It's very easy to get natural and fresh ingredients as well as a wide range of ethnic foods which are all great for vegan recipes.


2. How long have you been blogging and why did you decide to set up a food blog?

I've only been blogging for a few months and not as regular as I would like. Hence my mentor is trying to help me set aside more time for blogging. I started a blog one year after I became a vegan. I wanted to show the world that making the transition really isn't hard and doesn't require a lot of extra money in your grocery bill or time in the kitchen (unless you want to as there are some really fun vegan recipes that are worth the extra time). I wish I had had someone who could have shown me earlier just how easy it was and I'm hoping I can be that last little boost for people looking to become vegan. So the name fits. Practically vegan for people who are almost there, and practically vegan for methods that are more down to earth.


3. What kind of cooking do you enjoy? Do you eat differently when you go out for a meal?

I am very much into Japanese food and I love trying new recipes from traditional Asian cookbooks. If the book isn't vegan I modify it which is always fun. When I go out to eat I have to be careful that my food does not contain hidden animal ingredients. But the longer you are vegan the easier it gets. I still very much enjoy Asian food when I go out such as Thai, Malaysian, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, or Indian food is always good.


4. Where do you find inspiration for the dishes you create?

I love to find recipes that are not vegan from various cookbooks or websites and then modify them to be vegan. I also find recipes from other vegan blogs but my main source is my ridiculous cookbook collection. You can never have too many!!!


5. Can you tell us about four of your most creative or successful dishes that you have blogged?

One of my favorite recipes of all time is spicy tempeh suchi rolls. Its so easy and I usually eat it once a week. I just can't get enough of it and its such a filling meal.


6. Would you blog about a dish that has gone disastrously wrong?
Oh sure I think the blogs should be real. I'm not perfect, neither is the food I make. Its about the trials and tribulations of being a vegan. I think when readers know that your not Ms. Chef of the year they can relate to you more.


7. What do you think are important ingredients of a good blog?

Well first thing is first you have to keep writing. (which is my problem at the moment, not due to lack of subject matter but lack of time). Variety is important, you don't want to bore your readers. Humor is always good to keep it light hearted. And the main thing I think is originality. So many blogs are just regurgitated information from other blogs. Talk about what you know best from your point of view. That is what makes things original.

Beetroot Soup

There is something really beautiful about beetroots. Their colour is out of this world...and they also have the ability to make a right mess of the kitchen. Hubby went a bit mad when buying beets for the beetroot brownies so I had quite a few left over. I wanted to make a hot dish with only a few ingredients. After a bit of searching online I settled on a beetroot soup.

Hubby is obsessed with beetroot. As a child he was known to eat a whole jar of picked beetroot, which in turn caused concern to his poor mum when he started peeing purple...anyway that's another story. Today he reveled in his beetroot themed lunch of beetroot soup and beetroot brownies. Bless him. I promise this will be the last of the beetroot recipes for a while!

Beetroot Soup
Serves 3-4

knob of butter
1 onion, diced
500g beetroots, boiled and diced (approx 4 medium sized beets)
300ml vegetable stock
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 tsp celery salt
150g pot of plain yogurt
black pepper

1)In a deep pan cook the onions in the butter until softened. Stir in the diced beetroot.

2) Pour in the stock, cider vinegar and celery salt. Bring to the boil. Take off the heat, blitz into a smooth consistency then stir in yogurt and a twist of pepper. Eat hot or cold

Beautiful Beetroot Brownies

This week is National Baking Week and to celebrate I decided to make brownies, very special brownies with a intriguing ingredient. My love of baking is well documented. I enjoy it because it is stress-relieving, creative, rewarding, fun and I believe a home-baked good is always better than shop bought.

Hugh is officially a god. If he can turn a humble beetroot into a glorious, moist, rich chocolate brownie he's a god in my eyes. Hey you know what I'm like, I'm always drawn to pink food like a magpie to anything shiny, and if it is pink and glittery...well I'm hooked. The taste was nothing like I expected. You can certainly taste the beetroot, but rather than it being an earthy taste its paring with dark chocolate turns it into a deep sweet taste, not unlike cherries. This has helped conquer my belief of vegetables not belonging in cakes.

This recipe was featured on River Cottage Autumn last week and has caused a bit of a stir on foodie forums. One thing I did find was that I had to bake it for quite a bit longer than the original recipe, but this is probably because I used a different sized pan.

Beetroot Brownies
makes 16 squares
From River Cottage Autumn

250g 70% dark chocolate
250g unsalted butter
250g caster sugar
3 eggs
150g self-raising flour
250g boiled beetroot, grated (boil your own, or use ready boiled-as long as it's not pickled!)

1) Preheat oven to 180oc. Line an 8x8 In a bain-marie (or using the oven method Hugh uses in the above link) gently melt together the chocolate and butter. Allow to cool for a few minutes.

2)Whisk together the sugar and butter then beat in the chocolate/butter mix.

3)Fold in the flour then beetroot. Pour into the tin and bake for 20-30 or until a skewer come out just about clean. Allow to cool in tin before slicing as it will continue to cook until cooled.

The Fruits of Hubbys Labour

The advantage of living where we live is that there can be an abundance of wild food and many people prepared to tell you their wild food haunts. Since tasting my Father-in-Law's sloe gin at Christmas last year I was determined that this year we would make our own. Well the weather put a stop on that plan as the sloe harvest is really poor this year so had to settle on some other fruits we could forage.

Inspired by Hugh F-W, Hubby set out Ray Mears style to forage for free food. Although there was no sloes he did manage to find the last of the blackberries and a tree heaving in haw berries. Added to the 5kg of apples from Auntie's tree we had a plethora of free food to work with.

A few months back we picked up a copy of River Cottage Handbook: Preserves and today it certainly came into its own!



First to be made was Haw Ketchup. Haws eaten raw are incredibly sour (Hubby can vouch for that!) and you wouldn't expect them to be edible, but with a bit of cooking they can be made into a lovely fruity sour sauce that will be perfect with game. I'm looking forward to trying this with a dish in a couple of weeks.

Haw Ketchup
Makes about 500ml
From River Cottage: Preserves

500g haw berries (Haws), washed
300ml cider vinegar
300ml water
170g sugar
1/2 tsp salt
black pepper, to taste

1) Simmer the haws in the vinegar and water for around 30 min until the berries are soft.

2) Pass through a sieve to rid of stones and skins.

3) Return the juice to a clean pan, stir in sugar and gently boil for 5 minutes. Pour into a sterilised bottle. Keeps for 12 months.



Next was the turn of flavouring some alcohols. If we weren't going to have sloe gin for this Christmas we could at least have blackberry & apple gin plus some haw brandy. The method for both of these flavoured alcohols is the same, all your doing is changing the ingredients. The longer you leave them to steep the better. Ideally they say you should leave them for a minimum of 8-10 weeks. The tasting at Christmas will tell us if they are really any good.

Blackcurrant & Apple Gin

300g apples (2 large apples)
200g blackcurrants
200g sugar
700ml gin

Haw Brandy
225g haws
110g sugar
300ml brandy

1) Pour alcohol into bottle, followed by fruit then sugar. Give it a good shake until all ingredients are well mixed.

2) For the first week shake the bottle to stop the sugar settling to the bottom. After that shake on a weekly basis and taste after 8 weeks. Once it is ready for drinking filter through some kitchen paper/coffee filter. Enjoy!

3-Bean Chilli

Poor Hubby, with a fridgeful of veg and lots of recipes I wanted to try I've inflicted a plethora of veggie dishes on him. First vegetable pie then next bean chilli. The familiar smell of chilli greeted him as he came from the front door and you could see his face literally drop when he noticed it was missing his favourite ingredient, meat. Without the soured cream it's vegan. Although it is a veggie dish the beans help to make it meaty (according to Hubby) I've promised him some proper meaty dishes for the rest of the week!

The recipe is cross between my chilli con carne recipe and a bean casserole recipe given to me by the lovely Fi on a foodie forum.

3-Bean Chilli
serves 3-4

1 onion, sliced
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 carrots, sliced
2 tins chopped tomatoes
100ml white wine
450ml vegetable stock
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 can borlotti beans
1 can cannellini beans
1/2 can kidney beans
salt & pepper

1) Fry onions for until they are beginning to soften in a small amount of olive oil, then add the garlic and carrots. Continue to cook for 3 minutes.

2) Add the wine and reduce for a few minutes. Add stock, spices, chilli. Simmer for 35 min, or until sauce has thickened. Add all the beans and seasoning. Simmer for a further 8 minutes.

Piles of Parkin

Parkin has been on "must bake" list for a while and when Sylvie @ A Pot of Tea and a Biscuit made some for British Food Fortnight I decided I had to give it a go.

Parkin is from Yorkshire and traditionally eaten on Bonfire Night. The principle ingredients of parkin are flour, oatmeal, fat (traditionally lard), black treacle and ginger. Lyle syrups are archetypal ingredients in British baking and the tins are kitchen icons. Black treacle reminds me of cooking Christmas cake with my mum. There was always a fight as to who would lick the spoon clean. As a child I was always intrigued by the lion logo on the tin. Innocent little me thought it was a sleeping lion with stars above it; in reality it is a dead lion with a swarm of bees. No I don't get it either, though wikipedia does go some way to explain it. I perfer to think it is still a lion happily dreaming away!

Black treacle has the ability to be explosive (hence why it tells you on the tin not to open it after best before date and dispose of it). Maybe this is why it appears in so many dishes associated with bonfire night!

I think I may have slightly overcooked it, but with a few days of rest it should begin to go stickier. I was also expecting it to come out a bit darker in colour so next time may use soft dark sugar instead of golden caster sugar. Saying that, it still takes very good!

Parkin
from A Pot of Tea and a Biscuit

125 g butter (if using unsalted butter add 1 tsp salt)
125 g golden syrup
125 g black treacle
125 g golden caster sugar
250 g plain flour
250 g medium oatmeal
4 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg, beaten

1) Preheat oven to 150°C/Gas 2/300°F and line a 10x10 baking pan. Gently heat the butter, golden syrup, treacle and sugar in a pan, stirring constantly until all the sugar is dissolved.

2) In a bowl sift together flour, oatmeal, baking soda, salt (if using), ginger and cinnamon. Make a well in the centre and pour in the melted butter mixture, beat until everything is combined.

3) When combined add the egg and mix until you have a smooth soft batter. If the batter seems to be stiff add 1tbsp of milk.

4) Pour into the tin and bake 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool before removing and cut into squares