Easy Eccles Cake Recipe

Eccles Cakes got their name from the small town in England where they were invented sometime in the 18th Century. The town of Eccles has now been swallowed up by the City of Salford near Manchester and is now little more than a famous suburb of the larger city. Eccles Cakes are famous the world over and were exported to North America as early as 1818. They are very tasty and surprisingly easy to make. Here is how I made mine.

Ingredients

• 1 pack frozen flaky pastry - defrosted
• Raisins
• Candied peel
• Butter or margarine
• Sugar
• Grated nutmeg

Preparation

• Roll out the pastry to about 1/4 inch thickness
• Using a small tea plate (or similar) mark approximately 6 inch diameter circles in the pastry and cut carefully (if you have one, use a 6 inch cookie cutter)
• Melt a generous tablespoon of butter in a saucepan, then stir in 2 tablespoons of sugar, 2 tablespoons of raisins, 1 tablespoon of candied peel plus half a teaspoon of grated nutmeg
• Stir well then set aside to cool
• Place a tablespoon of the fruit filling into the centre of each circle of pastry them moisten the edges of the pastry with water
• Fold the pastry edges up over the fruit filling and seal around the filling
• Flip cakes upside down on a floured board and very gently flatten them and, restore their round shape using your hands
• Make three cuts across the top of each cake then spread some sugar on top and sprinkle lightly with water
• Place on a baking tray in a pre-heated oven at 400F for about 20 minutes or until the cakes turn a light brown colour

John's Notes
Eccles Cakes are delicious hot or cold. I ate one of mine straight from the oven but if you are planning to eat yours cold make sure you wrap them in cling film to keep them moist.

Blighty's British Bourbon Shortbread Recipe

Shortbread is a light, buttery cookie with four essential ingredients: flour, butter, sugar and vanilla. But it can be made in many different ways to create exciting variations of the basic recipe. Many people love chocolate so I created a "bourbon" shortbread variety that is very chocolatey. But if you really love your chocolate try my double-chocolate or triple-chocolate versions. Here is how I made them.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup demerara sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon Cadbury's cocoa powder

Preparation

• Cream the butter using an electric mixer (butter should be at room temperature)
• Whisk in the demerara sugar and keep mixing until all the sugar has thoroughly blended with the creamed butter
• Add the salt, cocoa and vanilla extract and mix thoroughly
• Slowly add the flour and mix thoroughly until the dough is smooth
• Refrigerate for at least fifteen minutes to firm the dough then knead lightly and roll out onto a floured board
• Cut the cookies to the desired shape then bake at 350F on a sheet of parchment for 20 minutes

John's Notes
Security alert: Unless you live alone Blighty's British Bourbon Shortbread Biscuits should be kept under lock and key. They will mysteriously disappear if left unattended in a family household.

Double Chocolate: As if these delectable treats weren't irresistible enough, try dipping them in melted chocolate to create a double chocolate version.

Triple Chocolate: Can you handle this much ecstasy? Spread half the cookies with Cadbury's chocolate spread; place another cookie on top to make a sandwich, then dip the whole thing in melted chocolate.

Traditional Empire Cookie Recipe

Empire Cookies are a traditional British treat made from two thin shortbread cookies sandwiched together with raspberry jam filling, topped with almond frosting and a cherry. They are very popular indeed and, no wonder, they taste great. Here is how I made mine.



Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar (icing or confectioners sugar)
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• Raspberry jam
• Candied cherries

Preparation

• Allow the butter to come to room temperature so that it is quite soft, then beat it with an electric mixer until it is well creamed
• Add the caster sugar and mix again until the sugar is well blended into the creamed butter. Don't make any shortcuts at this stage if you want your shortbread to be light and tasty
• Mix the flour and salt together then slowly add it to the creamed butter/sugar mix as you stir the dough. Keep the dough smooth but do not overwork it
• Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least fifteen minutes to allow the very soft dough to stiffen up and be more workable
• Roll the dough to a half centimeter thickness on a floured board then cut it into circular pieces a couple of inches in diameter with a cookie cutter or the rim of a coffee mug
• Place each cookie on a sheet of parchment paper on a baking tray and bake at 350C for about 10 minutes or until the cookies are very slightly brown (do not overbake)
• Mix the powdered sugar with a very small amount of boiling water to make a firm but not thick frosting, then stir in the almond extract
• When the cookies have completely cooled, spread half of them with raspberry jam and the other half with frosting, then place the frosted cookies on top of the ones coated with raspberry jam so that the jam is in the middle and the frosting is on top
• Finally, decorate each empire cookie with half a candied cherry

John's Notes
The preparation sounds more complicated than it really is. You can make a batch of empire cookies in less than half an hour and they really do taste terrific. If you don't have any caster sugar in your kitchen simply put some regular, granulated sugar in your coffee blender for about 20 seconds. You can use granulated sugar directly, but caster sugar has smaller crystals and makes a smoother mix. Enjoy.

Recipe for Frozen Banana Dessert

How about a delicious dessert with just one ingredient that takes only minutes to make? It tastes like ice cream, but it contains absolutely no dairy products at all. Here is how I made it.

Ingredients

• Bananas (2 per portion)

Preparation

• Peel the bananas and place inside a freezer bag. 
• Put the bag into the freezer and leave until the bananas have frozen thoroughly.
• Remove the bag from the freezer and thinly slice the bananas
• Place in a blender and blend until the banana turns into a smooth, thick pulp
• Spoon into serving glasses and return to the freezer for no more than a half hour
• Eat right away

John's Notes
Make sure you have a blender with muscles, because it is tough job to reduce the frozen banana slices to a pulp. My old blender groaned, growled and complained but eventually got the job done. The process of blending the frozen bananas to a pulp creates a lot of heat which partially defrosts the bananas. That is why I recommend returning the finished product to the freezer for a short time. If your blender is powerful enough to make quick work of the job you may not need to refreeze.

And finally, this is a perfect recipe for using up old bananas whose skins are turning brown. In fact, it works best with very ripe bananas because the flesh of the fruit is very tender.

Chocolate Pudding Surrender Correction

The original version of this recipe distributed to subscribers by email omitted instructions on how to use the gelatin. I apologize. The prepared gelatin is mixed with the other ingredients as the final step before leaving the pudding to set. The recipe has been corrected online: http://britfood.blightys.com/2011/06/chocolate-pudding-surrender.html.

Chocolate Pudding Surrender

Try to imagine what a true, die-hard chocolate lover would order for his last meal. Well this is it. Absolute ecstasy for the taste buds followed by hours of guilt and remorse. No really, if you eat this incredible dessert that I have christened "Chocolate Pudding Surrender" you will hate yourself afterwards (but it will curl your toes with pleasure while you are eating it). Here is how I made it.

Ingredients

• 200g bar of Cadbury Bournville dark chocolate
• 2 medium bars Nestle Milkybar white chocolate
• Coffee Cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 pack Knox brand gelatin

Preparation

• Melt the Cadbury Bournville dark chocolate in a stainless steel mixing bowl over a pan of boiling water
• Pour into a 2-cup measuring jug and stir in enough coffee cream to make up the volume to 2 cups
• Stir in the sugar until dissolved
• Prepare the gelatin as directed on the pack and mix with the other ingredients
• Pour into a jelly mould or four small serving bowls, cover with cling film and refrigerate until set (a couple of hours or overnight)
• Melt the Nestle Milkybar white chocolate and use it to decorate the top of each pudding

John's Notes
Nutritional advice: this dessert will cause you to gain weight. It will squeeze every last drop of insulin out of your body and leave you with deep feelings of remorse and guilt. You have been warned. It will also taste very good and will be worth every inch of guilt that you will feel after eating it.

I can only manage the guilt of one single encounter with Chocolate Pudding Surrender in my lifetime, but if I were going to make it again I would try it with Hartleys Strawberry Jelly mix (use just half a pack) instead of plain gelatin. Enjoy (then suffer)!

Spotted Dick in a Mug in 5 Minutes

Ah, that wonderfully traditional British dessert whose name inspires titters among those who misinterpret the origin of its name (its name represents a spotty-faced schoolboy; the spots are the raisins).

Spotted Dick can be made the old-fashioned way, by steaming the batter for an hour or so. But, of course, the old way uses a lot of energy. So, here is an alternative preparation method that will let you enjoy lovely spotted dick pudding from scratch in only 5 minutes while also shaving dollars off this week's carbon credits budget.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons plain or all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 2 tablespoons whisked egg
• 1 tablespoon raisins
• 1 dash vanilla essence

Preparation

• In a greased mug, thoroughly mix the flour and sugar then beat in the egg until the mixture is smooth
• Stir in the oil, milk and vanilla essence and whisk thoroughly until the batter is entirely smooth
• Stir in the raisins
• Microwave on high for 3-4 minutes (dependent on the power of your oven)

John's Notes
This recipe is so simple that I wonder why I ever made Spotted Dick the old-fashioned way. I was in a big rush this morning but I still had time to make this recipe for my breakfast! Try it for dessert with Birds Custard (thoroughly mix one teaspoon of Birds custard powder with 1 cup of coffee cream and microwave for 1 minute for the creamiest custard you ever tasted).

By the way, this recipe can go very wrong if you don't measure the ingredients carefully. Especially, do not use more egg than recommended. I tried it with a whole egg and the resulting pudding was heavy enough to use as a ship's anchor.

Soft Ice Cream in 2 Minutes

How would you like to enjoy delicious soft ice cream that takes only two minutes to prepare? No ice cream maker required, just a hand held electric mixer and a freezer! Here is how I made it.

Ingredients

• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1 cup caster sugar

Preparation

• Whip the cream until it forms stiff peaks and is quite firm (use a low speed to start otherwise the cream will spray all over your kitchen; then increase to high speed as the cream thickens)
• Fold in the caster sugar and vanilla essence
• Place in freezer for 20 minutes

John's Notes
The trick with making your own ice cream is to prevent ice crystals forming in the cream as it freezes. This usually involves constant stirring. However, if you whip the cream, the presence of thousands of tiny pockets of air prevents ice crystals forming by providing an insulating barrier. The air pockets also soften the ice cream.

But why doesn't ice cream made this way taste the same as store bought ice cream? Because store bought ice cream doesn't actually contain very much honest-to-goodness real cream anymore!

I found the taste of this ice cream very agreeable. Vanilla is actually my favourite flavour. It is a very expensive and exotic flavour made from plants that only grow in very few places around the world. Why it is so maligned I cannot imagine. But, if you prefer, you can invent your own flavours.

And finally, what if you don't have any caster sugar lying around in your kitchen? Caster sugar is very finely granulated sugar. Regular sugar is too heavy for the whipped cream which will tend to collapse under its weight. So, here is a tip: take regular granulated sugar and give it a spin in an electric coffee grinder! It works like magic. Enjoy.

10 Tips For A Better Sponge Cake

A slice of light, tasty sponge cake and a cup of delicate Earl Grey tea both served from fine bone china on a sunny afternoon, on a blanket by the riverside - if only life could always be like this.

But sponge cakes can sometimes turn out less than perfect. Sometimes they don't rise properly in the oven resulting in a heavy, dull cake. Sometimes the flavour just doesn't tickle the tastebuds the way a really good sponge cake should.

What can you do to liven up a dull sponge cake and make it a mouth-watering treat - even if you aren't eating it by a riverbank in the countryside on a warm, sunny afternoon?

I usually prefer to prepare foods from scratch, but in this case I have used a pack of Greens Sponge Cake Mix principally because it contains real British flour, which is softer and lighter than Canadian all-purpose flour. Here are ten tips that will transform your sponge cake from gateau ordinaire to gateau extraordinaire:

1. Fix that Flat and Make it Fat
Why do sponge cakes sometimes fail to rise properly in the oven? Sponge cake mix contains a leavening agent, and over time, it loses its potency. The solution is to add a teaspoon of baking powder to the mix. You will see the batter bubble with activity in the mixing bowl; giving you the assurance that the cake will rise splendidly in the oven.

2. Make it Eggstremely Tasty
An egg is an essential ingredient in sponge cakes; it acts as a binder to give the cake body and keep it firm after baking is finished. But egg also adds flavour and two eggs add even more flavour. Whisk the eggs lightly before adding to the batter to get a smoother mix and add less water than instructed to avoid the batter getting too thin. The batter should be light to help it rise well in the oven; but if it is too thin the cake will not set well.

3. Add a Splash and a Dash
Add a tablespoon of vanilla essence to the batter to give it a delicate aroma and extra flavour. If you are bold you can use other flavourings or food colours.

4. Keep it Low and Slow
The instructions on a pack of Greens Sponge Cake Mix recommend baking your cake for 12 minutes at a temperature of 400F. I recommend using a lower temperature. If you have added extra baking powder to the mix there is a danger the batter will rise so dramatically that it will spill all over your oven before it bakes. Turn the thermostat down to 350F and leave the cake in the oven until the top turns the colour you would like to see when you look in the mirror after a fortnight in the Bahamas.

5. Serve it in Style
Sponge cake can be simply sliced and eaten but there are much more exciting things you can do with it. Here are some ideas:

6. Battenberg.
You will need to bake two sponge cakes; one with red food colouring and one with yellow food colouring. Cut them both into two pieces about an inch square and about four inches long. Stick one red piece and one yellow piece together along their length with jam. Do the same with the other two pieces then stick the two pairs together, one atop the other so that you get alternating colours in the two layers. Roll out some marzipan, spread with more jam and wrap it around your sponge cakes. Bob's your uncle.

7. Treacle Sponge Cake
Warm a generous quantity of Lyles Golden Syrup in a saucepan. Cut your sponge cake into circular portions about two or three inches in diameter and about two inches thick. Roll the cut sponge cake in the hot syrup then serve immediately.

8. Sticky Toffee Pudding
Cut your sponge cakes into the same shape as for Treacle Sponge. Boil half a cup of water with as much sugar as can be dissolved in it until the liquid turns a nice amber colour. Remove from the heat and stir in milk or coffee cream until the mixture turns into a thick, sticky toffee. Pour or spoon the toffee over the cut sponge cake portions and serve immediately.

9. Lemon Sponge Cake
Make a sauce as in Sticky Toffee Pudding, but instead of adding milk, add lemon juice. You could also add lemon juice instead of vanilla essence to the batter before baking the cake.

10. Victoria Sponge
Slice the whole sponge cake horizontally into two pieces of the same thickness. Spread one piece with strawberry jam. Spread the other piece with whipped cream then place the two pieces together as a sandwich. Dust the top of the cake with icing sugar.

Prince William's Favourite Cake

Customers have been flooding into Blighty's Tuck Store for the past few days buying McVities Rich Tea biscuits and Cadbury Bournville chocolate. Why? Because a Toronto newspaper published a recipe for a chocolate biscuit cake that is, apparently, a firm favourite of Prince William. Judging by the quantity of Rich Tea biscuits we have sold, Prince William's favourite cake is being made in many households this week. Of course, I had to give it a try myself; here is how I made it.

Ingredients

• One pack of McVities Rich Tea biscuits
• Two 200g bars of Cadbury Bournville dark chocolate
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg

Preparation

• Whisk the butter and sugar together with a fork
• Melt all the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water
• Break all the Rich Tea biscuits (except one) into very small pieces
• Eat the leftover biscuit; go ahead, be weak, they are good!
• Beat the egg and mix with about half the chocolate over heat
• Stir in the butter/sugar mixture then stir in the broken biscuits
• Make sure all the biscuit pieces are well-coated in chocolate; add more chocolate if necessary
• Press the mixture firmly into a shallow round baking pan and refrigerate until firm (a couple of hours)
• Re-heat and spread the remainder of the chocolate on top of the cake and refrigerate again until cool

John's Notes
Sorry Wills, I am a diabetic and my doctor has told me to lose weight so I skipped the chocolate topping. I whipped up some cream and served my cake with a spoonful of cream instead. By the way, I used the remainder of the cream that I bought for next week's sumptuous recipe (sorry doc, I have will have to lose weight later). If you want to make Prince William's cake the way the prince likes it, and you don't have to worry about your diet, then go ahead, go the whole hog. By the way, the prince has a very good taste in cakes.

Strawberry Pancakes for Shrove Tuesday

Today is Shrove Tuesday, also known as Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday. It is the last day before the start of Lent in the Christian calendar. Lent involves some form of fasting or going without fattening foods. So today, as they say in Italy, "mangia bene" (eat well).

Shrove Tuesday in the UK is commonly called "Pancake Tuesday" so what better way to eat well than to fill up on pancakes. Many people pick up a pack of pancake mix at the supermarket ... why? Pancakes are not only very easy to make from scratch, they actually taste better. Here is how I made my delicious Strawberry Pancakes for Shrove Tuesday 2011.

Ingredients

• 2 cups plain or all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 2 Eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
• Sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla essence
• Strawberries
• Light cream

Preparation

• Rub the butter into the flour then add the baking soda, baking powder and sugar to taste
• Beat the eggs into the mix until perfectly smooth, then add the vanilla essence, 
• Slowly pour in buttermilk, beating well until you have a smooth, stiff batter
• Cook slowly on a hot, greased griddle until a light golden colour on both sides
• When cooked, spread with butter, allowing the butter to melt into the hot pancakes, then spread with strawberry jam and stack the pancakes two high on a plate
• Chop a few strawberries, place in a blender with a small amount of light cream and blend on high speed until smooth. The resulting sauce should be thick and creamy. Pour over the pancakes and serve

John's Notes
These pancakes were light and spongy. I left my batter to sit for a few minutes before cooking to allow the lactic acid in the buttermilk to work on the baking powder; I found that really made a difference. The crowning glory of my Shrove Tuesday supper was the strawberry cream sauce. Absolutely delicious; I will be going to bed with a nice full belly tonight.

Strawberry Fool Recipe

You know what they say: "life is uncertain; eat dessert first". Well here is a very simple dessert you can make in minutes. And it tastes oh so good. And it's healthy too. Strawberries are good for you aren't they? And whipped cream? Well it does contain vitamin D and calcium and that's good for you. Here is how I made it.

Ingredients

• 2 cups Strawberries
• 2 cups Whipping Cream
• Sugar

Preparation

• Puree the strawberries and sweeten to taste
• Whip the cream
• Mix equal parts of strawberry puree and whipped cream together
• Bob's your uncle

John's Notes
If you buy local strawberries in season they should be sweet enough without any added sugar. At any other time of the year a little sugar will compensate for the lack of natural sweetness. If you own a juicer or a food processor you can puree the strawberries very easily. I chopped mine finely with a knife and finished the job with a hand blender.

If you can resist the temptation to gobble it all up immediately, your strawberry fool will benefit from being allowed to stand for an hour or so in the refrigerator before eating. How strong are you?

Munchylicious Maltesers Bars

Oh, what the heck, the waistline went boom during the Christmas holidays, it's too icy outside to go jogging, so you may as well let the Devil has his due and forget about dieting until the spring.

That's decided then. Now you can sit down with a cuppa and munch some of these delicious Maltesers bars without guilt.

A customer at the store passed this recipe to me before Christmas; I forgot to ask her name. If you are reading this and it was you, please leave a comment at the bottom of this post. Whoever you are, I have to thank you very much for this incredibly easy and tasty treat. here is how I made it.

Ingredients

• 100g butter
• 1 230g bar Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate
• 1 300g pack McVities Digestive Biscuits
• 1 carton Maltesers

Preparation

• In a double boiler (I use a glass bowl sitting in the rim of a pan of boiling water) melt the butter and the chocolate
• Using the end of a rolling pin and a large mixing bowl, grind the digestive biscuits into crumbs
• Stir in the melted chocolate and the Maltesers
• Grease a cookie tray and pour in the mix
• Flatten and lightly compress the mix and place in the refrigerator overnight

John's Notes
There are several difficulties that you will encounter with this recipe. I found the following challenges the most tricky:

1. Be very careful not to eat any of the chocolate before preparing the recipe
2. Be very careful not to eat any of the digestive biscuits before preparing the recipe
3. Be very careful not to eat any of the finished Maltesers bars during the night after making them

If you can overcome these difficulties (and - please - don't underestimate the temptation) you will have a tray full of delicious Maltesers bars to eat the next day. Oh, and please be aware that Maltesers bars are entirely unsuitable for breakfast - try to wait at least until you have your mid-morning tea or coffee break

Finally, if you pop into Blighty's to buy the ingredients we will give you - absolutely free of charge - a tin cookie tray that you can use with this recipe (while stocks last).

Printable PDF version of this recipe.

Quick Simple Parfait

Okay, this blog is supposed to be all about traditional English cooking. So, we are deviating a little in this post. This style of parfait was perfected by English people who sailed for the New World a long time ago. If you like, you can think of it as a traditional New English recipe. Whatever it is it tastes very good and only takes a few minutes to make. A true parfait has layers; this one doesn't which is why I called it "Simple Parfait". Here is how I made it.

Ingredients

• Milk, cream or "50/50" coffee cream
• Marshmallows

Preparation

• In a double boiler (as usual, I use a pyrex dish sitting at the top of a pan of boiling water) heat a cup of half milk, half light cream
• When the milk and cream is very hot, stir in a cup of marshmallows
• Keep stirring until all the marshmallows have melted
• Dice some strawberries, raspberries or similar into the bottom of serving dishes and spoon the hot parfait over the fruit
• Decorate the top of each dessert with dessicated coconut, candy sprinkles or shaved chocolate
• Refrigerate and serve when cold and firmly set.

John's Notes
This is a simple yet rich dessert that will appeal to all dessert lovers. Beware, it is high in calories, sugar and pleasure. Enjoy.

How to Make Orange Curd

Orange curd? I was brought up with lemon curd - the sticky yellow jam-like substance you can spread on toast or use to make lemon curd tarts. I have seen jars of lime curd. I bet that tastes really good too. But orange curd? I hadn't seen that flavour before so I made some to see what it is tastes like. Now my life will never be the same again; there will be peace on Earth and ... okay, it just tastes very good indeed. Here is how I made it.

Ingredients

• 3 large oranges
• 6 eggs
• Half a cup of butter
• Sugar to taste

Preparation

• Very finely slice some orange peel until it resembles what you see in a good quality marmalade
• Boil the peel in a very small quantity of water until it is quite soft
• Zest one of the oranges using a fine grater
• Whisk the eggs, butter and sugar together then squeeze in the juice from the oranges and the water in which the peel was boiled
• Cook the mixture in a double boiler (I use an ovenproof shallow glass dish that fits snugly inside the top of a saucepan of boiling water); stir continuously
• As soon as the curd begins to thicken remove it from the heat or you will end up with something resembling orange-flavoured scrambled eggs; your curd should be smooth and thick with no lumps
• Stir in the orange zest and allow the curd to cool
• The boiled peel can be added directly to the curd or used as a decoration on top.

John's Notes
This recipe does not produce anything like an orange version of the hugely popular Robertsons Lemon Curd available in your local British store in Canada. As you might expect, Robertsons commercial mass-production method has produced a very fine tasting spread, but the texture is quite different to a good home-made curd. If you buy some Brandy Snap Baskets this Christmas you can fill them with orange curd, tangerine segments and boiled orange peel. Add a drop of brandy to the orange curd for Christmas - go on spoil yourself.

Printable PDF version of this recipe

Tasty Marzipan Tarts

Many people (myself included) are very fond of the flavour of marzipan. For those who are unclear about what marzipan actually is, perhaps I should explain that it is essentially a paste made from ground almonds. At this time of the year, with the Christmas season firmly within sight, marzipan is often spread on top of rich fruit cakes. A layer of royal icing is added on top of the marzipan to make a traditional Christmas cake.

But marzipan can be used in many other ways. For example, you can roll it up into small balls and coat the balls with dark chocolate to make marzipan candies. I chose to make marzipan tarts; here is how I did it.

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups ground almonds
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 eggs
• Tart shells (buy frozen or prepare from scratch)

Preparation

• If you can get finely ground almonds you can save yourself a bit of trouble, otherwise break up some shelled almond nuts using a rolling pin and finely grind them in a coffee grinder.
• Place the sugar in a saucepan and add about half a cup of water to it then place over heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring the sugar solution to a hard boil and keep cooking until it becomes thick and sticky.
• Slowly stir in the ground almonds and keep stirring vigorously to ensure a smooth mixture.
• Break the eggs into the almond paste then stir in a dash of almond extract.
• Turn down the heat and cook lightly for a couple of minutes.
• Allow to cool then knead with some confectioners (or icing) sugar.
• Lightly pre-bake some pastry shells then fill with marzipan and top with a glace cherry or some candied peel.
• Return the tarts to the oven and cook for a few minutes until the tarts begin to brown.

John's Notes
Marzipan tarts take a fair amount of time and effort to prepare but the result is worth it. A good project for a rainy Sunday afternoon. Enjoy.

Printable PDF version of this recipe

Real Chocolate & Guinness Muffins

Opulence. Love it - life is short! Let's eat. Here is a memorable recipe that embodies the very essence of opulence. I almost feel guilty eating it; well almost. This recipe combines real British chocolate with real Irish Guinness in what would be called small cakes in the UK. Here in Canada we call them muffins. Here is how I made this delicious little treat.

Ingredients

• 200g bar Cadbury Bournville dark chocolate
• 1 bottle/can Guinness
  
• 1 1/2 cups McDougalls plain flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1 pinch of salt
  

Preparation
The Muffins

• Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt together in a large bowl
• Grate 100g of Cadbury Bournville chocolate into the flour and stir
• Soften the butter and beat thoroughly with the sugar
• Add the eggs to the butter/sugar mix and whisk again until smooth
  
• Alternately add flour mix and Guinness and stir until all the ingredients are added and the batter is smooth 
• Grease a muffin pan and pour in the batter
• Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350F for about a half hour (test the muffins by pushing a sharp knife into a muffin. They are properly baked when the knife comes out clean

The Chocolate Sauce Topping

• Using a double boiler (I used a pyrex dish over a pan of boiling water) melt the other 100g of Cadbury Bournville chocolate then stir in just enough Guinness to make a thick sauce
• Allow the muffins and the chocolate sauce to cool then spread the sauce generously over the top of each muffin

John's Notes
You are going to need at least two bottles or cans of Guinness. Before you begin making this recipe pour one of the bottles into a glass and taste it to ensure that it is safe to use in this recipe. If anybody questions why you are drinking one of the bottles of Guinness tell them the recipe says you have to. You should stock up on extra Cadbury chocolate for the same reason. Now get cracking and enjoy; the world could end tomorrow.

Printable PDF version of this recipe.

Banana Bread Pudding

The local supermarket had a great deal on bananas that, while still edible, had an awful lot of grey hair. I needed to use them quickly but I didn't have a lot of time to spare for cooking anything. Then I remembered I also had a loaf of white bread in the fridge. One of my favourite desserts is bread pudding, a dish that is usually made with raisins, "but why not substitute bananas?" I thought. to myself. Here is what I came up with.
Ingredients

• 1 loaf of white bread (stale bread is actually better than fresh bread)
• 1 bunch of bananas (even old, grey-haired bananas)
• Vanilla Essence
• Sugar

Preparation

• Tear the bread into small pieces in a large bowl and mix in just enough water to make a mushy mess out of the bread
• Leave the mushy bread to drain then squeeze and discard any excess water
• Mix in half a cup of sugar and a tablespoon of vanilla essence
• Chop the bananas and stir into the mix
• Bake in an open tray at 375F for about an hour (until the top of the pudding looks leathery)
• Allow to cool and eat it cold as a snack or warmed with custard

John's Notes
I spent about 10 minutes preparing this dish and then an hour later I was eating it with custard. I had substituted artificial sweetener for the sugar (I am a diabetic) but there is so much natural sugar in the bananas that my blood glucose readings were still stratospheric the next morning. If you share my condition or you are on a diet this tasty dessert should be eaten in small portions.

Recipe for Traditional Yorkshire Wilfra Tarts

Wilfra tarts are traditional apple and cheese tarts made in Ripon, Yorkshire in honour of St Wilfrid. St Wilfrid built the cathedral in Ripon in the 7th Century. Every year, during the first week in August, the local townspeople make Wilfra tarts and leave them on windowsills for passers-by to enjoy. A quaint tradition but I ignored that bit and ate them all myself. Here is how I made them.

Ingredients

• Shortcrust pastry
• Apples
• Wensleydale cheese

Preparation

• Prepare some shortcrust pastry (I used suet pastry leftover from last week's recipe) and roll it very thin
• Line the bottoms of a muffin tray with pastry and lightly bake the empty pastry shells until the pastry just hardens
• Peel, core and cook 2 or 3 apples with a little sugar until tender
• Fill the pastry shells with the cooked apple then top with a thin slice of Wensleydale cheese
• Using some more of the pastry, place lids on the tarts then spread a little milk on top of each one and carefully seal the lids to the rest of the tarts
• Bake for about 20 minutes at 375F until the tarts just begin to turn golden
• Allow to cool thoroughly then eat

John's Notes
I cheated. I didn't have any Wensleydale cheese. It isn't always easy to get in Canada, so I substituted Canadian cheddar. I am sure that readers from Yorkshire will be horrified, but by gum, my tarts turned out very nicely thank you very much.

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A Very British Treacle Tart

It is Harry Potter's favourite dessert. It featured in the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as an irresistible treat used by the childcatcher to lure young children into his grasp. It is quintessentially British; it is treacle tart. Treacle tart is traditionally made with Lyles Golden Syrup (which is light treacle as opposed to the "black" treacle used in various cake recipes). It is a very simple recipe that yields a delicious dessert or snack with very little work. Here is how I made it.

Ingredients

• 1 can Lyles Golden Syrup
• 1 pack of McVities Rich Tea biscuits
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon dried ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 frozen pie shell or make from scratch using plain flour, butter and an egg

Preparation

• Crush about half a pack of McVities Rich Tea biscuits into crumbs
• Stir in a whole can of Lyles Golden Syrup. If the resulting mix is too thick stir in a very small amount of hot water; if it is too thin add more crushed Rich Tea biscuits
• Stir in the lemon juice and the spices and mix thoroughly
• Prepare a pastry shell by mixing a cup of plain flour with enough butter to absorb the flour. Lightly beat an egg and mix it into the flour. Add a very small amount of hot water to make it workable then roll out on a floured board. Line a pie dish with the pastry and lightly bake the empty pastry shell until it is just dry
• Spoon the treacle mix into the pastry shell and bake for 30 minutes at 375F

John's Notes
Some readers may be gasping and spluttering by now. "Treacle tart is made with breadcrumbs not Rich Tea biscuits" you may be saying. Of course you are right, but Rich Tea biscuits are made with British flour (which is often hard to get in Canada); they crush very easily into clean dry crumbs that absorb the syrup well during baking. So the next time somebody tells you to use breadcrumbs tell them you know a better way.

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Go ahead, steal this recipe. Share it with anybody. Publish it in your own recipe book. I reserve absolutely no copyright whatsoever. But I would be very honoured and grateful if you would mention that you got it from my Blighty's Britfood Tips blog. Thank you.

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