Cauliflower pasta

This is a simple and very satisfying dish. Also very easy to make. The anchovies melt down into the oil and mix with the cauliflower to make a tasty sauce. It doesn't look like much, but it is delicious. 

The recipe gives enough for four people but I find I can share with one other, happily sharing eating a whole cauliflower, just reducing the amount of pasta by half. 

Cauliflower pasta 

Ingredients 

1 cauliflower 

250g penne 

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 

1 tin anchovy fillets in olive oil 

1 fresh chilli (sliced) or generous pinch of dried chilli flakes 

2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped 

ground black pepper 

Method 

• Take a large frying pan and pour the oil from a tin of anchovy fillets into it, put it on a low heat, put the garlic and chilli along with a few grinds of pepper into the oil to infuse for a few minutes 
• Don’t add salt, as the anchovies are already salty 
• Fill a large pot with water and bring to the boil, put in the cauliflower whole or in pieces, and cook the cauliflower until cooked or about 5 minutes, then pick out the cauliflower and set aside, saving the water to use for cooking the pasta 
• Keep the water boiling and add the penne, while the penne are cooking finish the sauce. 
• Add the anchovy fillets to the pan 
• Add the cauliflower and stir and mash them into the oil then cook for 5 minutes, stirring in some parsley, adding water from the pasta cooking liquid if mixture seems to be getting dry. 
• Once the pasta is cooked, mix into the pan with the cauliflower. Season to taste, sprinkle over the rest of the chopped parsley, then serve.

Fast cooked flattened chicken

I like recipes that work, recipes that you can follow with confidence and get the result that has been described. 

Flattened chicken is one of those. It is a recipe by Marcella Hazan, with a dash of eccentricity by me. It is a spatchcocked chicken with a light lemon and pepper marinade. In itself it's perfect. This weekend I will be trying a variation... hoping not to break the spell.

More to follow. 

instant apple tart

It is very easy to make an impressive tart quite quickly - in this case a visit to a family member who is recovering after a hip replacement. When you are in hospital, or on a journey, it is especially nice to have the time punctuated by a mouthful of delicious food. In this case apple tart.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 packet ready rolled puff pastry
• 3 or 4 apples - I used 4 small Cox apples - cored and quartered
• lemon juice (3 tbsp or juice of 1 lemon)
• caster sugar

optional: butter, custard

METHOD

Set the oven to 200C or equivalent

prepare two baking trays with baking parchment

• finely slice the apples and sprinkle with lemon juice 
• cut the pastry into two pieces - put onto lined trays
• score around the edge of pastry with a knife
• if you are using custard, spread a thin layer of custard inside the scored lines
• spread the apple evenly over the pastry, inside the scored lines
• fold up the edges, pinching the corners of the pastry
• sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of caster sugar over the sliced apples
• if you are using butter, dot pinches of butter over the apples

bake for 20 minutes

Kofte to everyone

Just had lovely lunch of wrapped kofte made by David, with houmous, salad and yoghurt. His recipe includes pine nuts with pork and beef. It reminded me of jzz bzz kofte, which I must make again soon, to eat with tahini sauce and rocket.

curried scrambled eggs

When the day before's cabbage and coconut curry winked at me as I bumbled about the kitchen,  instinctively I made myself a strong cup of tea instead of coffee. I sat a split leftover naan in the toaster on low, to warm, rather than crisp, and got out the non-stick pan and turned on the gas.

The two chickens that remain with us are laying well, considering the variations of the weather and the winter short days - I can only remember one day when there hasn't been at least one egg and mostly there are two. Thank you Ginger and Tallulah.

One recently laid egg went into the pan, preceded briefly by a little butter. On top of that went three heaped tablespoons of the curry, and then I stirred like mad, turning the heat down to low. Result: breakfast heaven, a curried scrambled egg sandwich in a nan, eaten over a plate, so that the cascading contents (each bite at one end spilling something out the other) could be scooped up later. Recommended: gulps of builders tea between mouthfuls.

I almost wished for a hangover, so I could be even more grateful.

This would work with any leftover curry, but I think it's best with a dry curry. The leftovers I used were a my version of an earlier takeaway carrot, cabbage, coriander and coconut curry. I'll post that later.

Cauliflower soup

I like soup all year round, and in the winter I like it even more. The variety of consistencies of soup is also a delight, minestrone types - mixed finely chopped veg is great, but sometimes what is wanted is a smooth soup. Thanks to hand blenders these soups are very easy to make. When I can't lay my hands on a blender I have been known to scoop out some of the cooked vegetables so that I can mash them with a fork. The mashed veg then lend variety to the texture of the soup, and act as a thickener as well.

This recipe for cauliflower soup is very easy. I use leftover cooked cauliflower, but it would be worth cooking it especially for the purpose. Pureed cauliflower is very smooth indeed, velvety, like chocolate. Ok, I know that chocolate afficionados out there may be outraged, but it really does give the same pleasure when you eat it, at least from the point of view of texture. Mouth feel as it is called by some.

I am not oblivious to the fact that some people don't like cauliflower. Obviously, they are nuts. The low, slightly rooty and a little bit cabbagey flavour is wonderful, as far as I am concerned. I have converted people to cauliflower by cooking it in pieces (steam or boil) and then sauteeing in butter with plenty of black pepper and a pinch of salt. The sound as it rolls around the frying pan is great, the smell is terrific, it looks so tasty, with the little browned patches and when it comes to the taste, it is glorious. Rooty, nutty, peppery, buttery and sweet - and it hardly needs chewing. 

Recipe

Ingredients

a large bowlful of cooked cauliflower

1 onion

1 potato

1 clove garlic

large handful of parsley, chopped

three mugfuls of water/stock

pepper and salt

nutmeg

Method

• Prepare the onion, potato and garlic - peel and chop up quite small - and cook in the water until soft
• Add the cauliflower and chopped parsley, pepper and salt (to taste, but make sure there is lots of pepper) and a pinch of nutmeg, simmer for a couple of minutes
• Blend the lot and serve

If you're greedy and organised you could accompany your soup with a nice samosa and pea fritter, or similar.

Chicken Teriyaki - sticky fried chicken with stickier sauce

I lifted this recipe from Chow, a brilliant website that has all sorts of useful videos and tips. It seems a little obsessed with cocktails, which in my book pander to a fantasy drink cabinet, because reading the list of ingredient makes me bemused. Who has all that stuff to hand? I don’t even keep tonic water. In a moment of enthusiasm three years ago I went out and bought angostura bitters, only to realise that it was just one component part of the cocktail I wanted to make. I never got around to buying what I needed to put the thing together. I fully expect that bottle to last me my whole life, I am sure I will move house several times with it, fondly imagining the times when I will have all the ingredients I need to make the perfect cocktail such as the Boothby, in the house at the same time. Meanwhile, I find myself occasionally unscrewing the lid and taking a little sniff, to remind me what the hell is in that bottle. In saner moments I recognise that this is what might be called a companion ingredient – I keep it for company, rather than for use. No doubt my kidneys are grateful to my maintenance of an aspirational but incomplete cocktail cabinet, and I can still dream. 

Back to food – my pantry ingredients are more regularly replenished – this is pseudo teriyaki but it is not ersatz teriyaki, as it delivers on flavour. The endorsement of the lovely Kitty, daughter who shuns the home-cooked anything, gives it the flavourful thumbs-up. This is a finger-licking dish, as somehow the sauce gets everywhere. The chicken is pan-fried before the sauce is added, it has a gentle heat from the pepper and the sticky sauce is wonderful with plain rice. 

A quick review of teriyaki recipes that might be thought of as more authentic, finds mirin, sake and sugar putting in an appearance, alongside fresh ginger. Some include different kinds of oil and marinading as part of the process. Some like to cook the chicken with skin on, making it nice and crisply, but I use skinless chickens. Simpler and less fat. This recipe substitutes a bit of bashing about for marinading, and uses honey and soy sauce for the teriyaki. I dilute the soy sauce so that it isn't too salty. In total it takes about 15 minutes. I like it with rice, some green salad and sliced cucumber.

Ingredients

½ cup soy sauce with ¼ cup water

¼ cup honey

1 ¼ tsp peeled, grated fresh ginger (from about a thumb length piece), grated very fine

500g (about four large boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs) the breasts will need pounding…

Freshly ground black pepper

4 teaspoons vegetable oil

If you like, serve with two spring onions (scallions to some), thinly sliced

Method

• Make the sauce first: Heat through the soy sauce, water and honey, bringing it to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring often until the honey has completely dissolved, about 5 minutes (alternatively use the microwave, for one minute, stirring after 30 seconds)
• Remove from heat and add the ginger, stirring to combine and set aside
• If using chicken breasts, place them on a cutting board and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap. Use a meat mallet, frying pan or rolling pin. Gently pound them to a 1/2-inch thickness. Cut each in half so you have pieces roughly the same size. (If using chicken thighs, no need to pound or cut.)
• Season both sides of the chicken with pepper.
• Heat the oil in a large frying pan over high heat until shimmering and add the chicken in a single layer, and cook without poking for around 3 minutes. Then flip and cook the second side until equally browned, about 3 minutes more.
• Reduce the heat to medium, slowly pour in the reserved sauce, and cook, turning the chicken occasionally to coat in the sauce, cooking through for around another 3 minutes.
• Take the chicken out, shaking any sauce back into the pan, and put it onto a cutting board. I like to cover the chicken with a bowl to keep the juices in.
• Keep cooking the sauce until it has thickened slightly, about 3 minutes more, then turn off the heat.
• Slice the rested chicken crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces and put it on a serving dish. Drizzle over the sauce and sprinkle the sliced spring onions over the lot.

chocolate and vanilla sponge marble cake

one of two cakes, and this is all that's left after a day

Marble cake, the mingling of vanilla with chocolate in random swirls. It looks fancy, tastes great, and is easy to make. Which is just as well, because I keep getting asked to make it. You need a little bit of organisation and two mixing bowls. I like making it in loaf tins, it's easier to slice, and I don't add any icing, there's enough going on without it. Maybe a light dusting of icing sugar, if you must.

I make a large batch, three good sized bread tins, lined with baking parchment. You spoon in some vanilla, followed by some chocolate and maybe a bit more vanilla, then you run a knife through it in a figure of eight. Don't stir it too much, it's nice if the two flavours aren't muddled up too much. The chocolate has a little spike of coffee, that makes it the perfect partner for a demitasse, or something longer if you prefer.

Recipe

makes 3 large loaves - line three large tins with baking parchment (crumple it up thoroughly to make it sit into the tins, or use pre-shaped parchment

vanilla sponge
150g sr flour
50g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
200g fat, marg or butter
150g castor sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp warm water

chocolate sponge
150g sr flour
50g pure unsweetened cocoa (sieved) including 1 tbsp instant coffee
1 tsp baking powder

200g fat, marg or butter
150g castor sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

3tbsp warm water

• put all the ingredients for each sponge into two separate bowls
• beat together the vanilla spone, until well mixed (I use an electric whisk), adding the warm water at the last moment
• beat together the chocolate sponge until well mixed, adding the warm water last
• put three spoonfuls, spaced apart in each tin of the vanilla mixture
• fill the gaps with three spoonfuls of the chocolate mixture
• keep adding more spoonfuls alternately, until the mixture is all used up
• swirl a knife through each tinful of mixture in a figure of eight
• cook for around 30m at 160 degrees, or until a skewer, inserted, comes out clean

marinaded chicken

Throwing together a marinade for chicken for an evening meal, I stumbled on something rather delicious. The principle is simple, to combine sweet, salt and sour to tenderise and flavour meat. It went down very well, so here is what went into it:

2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
1 sachet of wasabi
juice of 1/2 lemon

Add to sliced chicken breast or thighs, cover and leave for at least two hours

Cook on grill or in pan, about two minutes a side - you can thread onto a skewer if you are grilling, it helps make turning it easier. Once cooked, cover and wrap to keep it nice and juicy.

Eat with rice and salad

Hot chocolate pudding with a fondant centre

This is a rewrite of Gordon Ramsey’s recipe for Chocolate Fondant Pudding, from the Channel 4 programme The F word. I followed this recipe and they were perfect. The chocolate flavour was seriously intense, the gooey centre was seriously gooey and the only problem was that they were a bit too big! Perhaps it would have been better to have just one course before. Hey ho. It took dedication, and a fair bit of greed to finish off those puds.

I’ve done a rewrite, making it slightly less bossy, and, I hope, easier to follow.

Gordon says this amount is enough for 9 puddings, either ramekins or foil cases, but I think the size that would suit the eater best is somewhere a little bigger than a small coffee cup, which would make more. Otherwise the puddings are more suitable for sharing, which is nice. They are delicious with ice cream or crème fraiche, and a short strong coffee.

Preparing the moulds is the fussiest bit of this recipe, but don’t stint on it, otherwise your puddings probably won’t turn out.

A rough calculation, per two pots is 50g each of dark chocolate, butter, sugar and flour, one egg and one egg yolk plus butter and cocoa to line the pots.

To make Hot Chocolate Fondant Puddings

Ingredients

·          50g melted butter, for brushing

·          cocoa powder , for dusting

·          200g good-quality dark chocolate , chopped into small pieces

·          200g butter , in small pieces

·          200g golden caster sugar

·          4 eggs and 4 yolks

·          200g plain flour

Method

o    Prepare the moulds, brushing them with melted butter and chilling them, once cold do it again,  shaking off excess and rolling cocoa powder around to coat them

o    Melt the butter and broken up chocolate together over a pan of barely simmering water – the bowl must not touch the water, stir the melted chocolate and butter together until it is well mixed, then set it aside

o    Whisk the eggs and egg yolks briskly (I use an electric whisk) adding the sugar in a slow stream. The mixture will thicken, turn pale and bulk up with bubbles, and you’ll see a trail left as you drag the whisk through the mixture

o    Sift the flour onto the eggs and stir it into the mixture quickly

o    Pour the melted chocolate mix into the eggy mixture a little at a time, beating well as you go, until you have a dark chocolatey batter

o    Transfer into a big jug and pour into the pots, almost to the top and chill or freeze the pots

To cook, preheat the oven to 160C – remember cooking times vary according to the size and shape of the container you are using. The puddings are ready when they have a crust that bounces back when you give it a gentle nudge

From frozen – cook for 17 minutes

From chilled – cook for 12 minutes

houmous

I ate houmous on Samos, but only once, as part of a mixed plate. I was so greedy I didn’t really concentrate on the flavour and texture. I love chick peas, and often make houmous at home. It ends up much smoother than the stuff you buy ready-made, and cheaper. You can also adjust the flavours as you like. It’s worth having a jar of tahini in the cupboard anyway – that’s the sesame paste used with the chick peas.

I’ve given up on food processors too, it makes washing up more complicated. I just use a stick blender.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 can chick peas (400g)

1 peeled clove garlic

2 tbsp virgin olive oil

2 tbsp (heaped) tahini paste

Lemon juice (to taste, fresh is best but you can use bottled, approx 2 tbsp)

Hearty pinch of salt

Method

• Blend everything together until you have a smooth paste.
• Allow mixture to sit if possible, as the garlic flavour deepens.

I like to serve it draped with a drizzle of the best olive oil and a tiny sprinkle of sweet paprika.

Eat

Great with toasted pitta bread, toast or crackers. I like it on a plain digestive sometimes.

Use leftovers to stir into soup or hot rice.

Variations

Add cumin and fresh coriander or roast peppers and sundried tomatoes to the blend.

flattened chicken today BBQ-tastic

This is my recipe for flattened chicken which I like to jump on to get it really flat. I use a board and cut it up a bit first. It cooks in 20 minutes and tastes sensational. Today I'm going to use mixed peppercorns, to give it an extra tang.

chocolate fridge cake

I made some of this over Christmas, in case we got peckish. Hahahahhahahahaha! It was delicious, if I say so myself. And I used salted butter, which I like. I'm not a purist about chocolate though. Oh and I used non wheat biscuits, made with almond flour, and I mixed up the nuts, so my version had almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts.

I made it chunky, which meant it was hard to cut, so remember a small and flat version will facilitate the eating. Not that you'll need any help.

I like it if the two chocolates aren't so mixed up. If you're feeling lazy, just use a few more biscuits and make the milk chocolate one with nuts already in it.

RECIPE

Ingredients

250g digestive biscuits

150g milk chocolate

150g dark chocolate

100g butter

big spoonful of golden syrup (or honey – makes it more sticky)

100g walnuts

50g hazelnuts

Method

o    line an 20cm/8" cake tin or 2 margarine containers with greaseproof paper

o    break up digestive biscuits - I like to smash them in a plastic bag, to contain the crumbs

o    roughly chop the nuts

o    put broken biscuits and chopped nuts into the lined tin

o    melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water, with the butter and syrup

o    stir to combine, allow to cool a bit  and pour over the biscuit mixture

o    press in to make sure all the gaps are filled

o    leave to cool

Eat

Goes well with a stiff black coffee.

Remember not to pour hot mixture into a plastic container - you'll end up throwing it away, or eating plastic.

If you don't have greaseproof paper butter the tin or container liberally, refrigerate and when completely set it should pop out like an enormous chocolate ice cube, without the ice.

dry fried spicy potatoes

This recipe lets potatoes take centre stage. If you're going veggie it is a lovely main dish with a salad, and of course it can be a great side dish as well. The fried spices give a sweet and nutty warmth, and can give a quick pep to a simple meal.

My source recipe, by Madhur Jaffrey, suggests cooking the potatoes in their skins, leaving them to cool and then peeling them. Being inherently lazy, I like to peel them, cut them into cubes and cook them like that. If you follow MJ's instructions you get a lovely waxy skin, providing you use the right kind of potato. This version allows for all varieties.

Other than the potatoes the main ingredients are ginger and garlic.

Use a non-stick or heavy based frying pan.

RECIPE

Ingredients
1 lb potatoes
1" ginger
3 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp paprika or cayenne
several pinches of salt
5tbsp oil

Method

Peel the potatoes and cut into 2cm cubes, boil in water for 5 minutes and drain.
Blend ginger, garlic, lemon juice, turmeric, cumin and paprika together with salt to make a paste.
Heat the oil on a medium flame, adding the spice paste and let it sizzle for a moment.
Add the cubed cooked potatoes and turn the heat up a little.
Stir the potatoes around, letting them get well browned on all sides.

Serve.

not christmas dinner - vietnamese style spicy rice noodles

It's Christmas Eve, and I'm cooking the Christmas meal today. So last night the last thing I wanted was anything heavy. I'd had a luxurious day, fretting about last minute presents and going to the theatre. 


Actually I went to two theatres, at the Barbican I saw Flyboy is alone again this Christmas, a delightfully dark series of tales, performed with a rich musical accompaniment. I was with my own delightful troupe, beautiful daughters of mine, three beautiful daughters of others and handsome husband. Daughter three got over her worries of abandonment, provided the artiste with sweets and won a glow-in-the-dark badge, competitive and Christmas spirit intact and endorsed at the age of 15. The show enchanted all of us - if your'e interested there's info about Flyboy's creator here.


At the Cambridge Theatre I snuck around the back and got some illicit wares from a man wearing much more alluring make up than me. Definitely the better woman. Emerging from Covent Garden tube into Christmas mayhem had made my head spin, but once I had carrier bag accompaniment it all made sense, especially carrying something wonderful from Denise and Dudley.


Back to food. I find chopping calms me down. I was just catering for two, as all the daughters had dispersed. A glass of wine at hand and I set to. 


I love the lightness of Vietnamese cooking. I think I may have become addicted to lime juice. The most complicated thing about this recipe is the chopping, and the result is filling and still light. I used prawn and chicken, but you can use any combination of meat, just don't use too much. I substituted white cabbage for bean sprouts, both because it was what I had at hand and I like cabbage. I didn't have any spring onions, so I did without... but they would have been good, so I've left them in the recipe.


Chicken and Prawn Spicy Rice Noodles


Ingredients
Two nests wide rice noodles
1 chicken breast
10 large prawns
1/3 small white cabbage
1 medium carrot
handful of raw peanuts
3 spring onions
3 spoonfuls chopped coriander 
1 lime
4 cloves garlic
2 tbsp grated ginger
2 tbsps fish sauce
2 tsps sugar


corn or peanut oil


Method

• Soak the noodles in boiling water while you chop the meat and veg.

• Prepare the ingredients as follows, setting each one aside, ready for last minute assembly:
• Finely slice the chicken breast.
• Devein prawns if necessary - I use frozen raw prawns that have been deveined, so I just make sure they are thawed, otherwise they add too much liquid to the dish.
• Finely slice cabbage.
• Peel the carrot and grate on the coarsest bit of the grater.
• Get the coriander ready - chopped as fine as you fancy.
• Peel and chop the garlic, peel and grate the ginger.
• Squeeze the lime and mix the lime juice with the fish sauce and sugar. 
• Chop up the peanuts a bit.

• Drain the noodles, which should be soft, but not pappy. 

• Heat a wok or large frying pan, when it's hot add a few swirls of oil.
• Quickly cook the chicken and prawns, for about a minute. They should colour up.
• Add garlic, ginger and lime juice mixture to the pan and cook for another minute.
• Add all the other ingredients and cook for two minutes, stirring to mix up, but not breaking up the noodles.

Sprinkle with spring onion and serve. Delicious


Tips
If you don't have fish sauce you can use soy sauce, or an anchovy fillet mixed up with the lime juice and a spoonful of water.
You can make a veggie version, using tofu or just substituting the meat with more sliced veg, and adding more peanuts.
If you don't have penauts to hand, use a spoonful of peanut butter, but make sure it breaks up in the cooking, coming across lumps is just unpleasant.

Simple fruit tart

Tart made with Wilma's Bramley apples

The pastry of this tart is buttery, crunchy, like shortbread and flavoured by an unexpected addition – alcohol. The alcohol cooks off, so eating it won’t get you drunk, other than on pleasure. I usually use tightly packed plums or apricots as the filling - but here I've used Bramley apples.

Betty’s original recipe used Calvados, which lent a hint of apple, but any strong alcohol will do. I’ve tried using rum, brandy and vodka, although I prefer something with flavour. 

Since I've run out of Calvados I used rum in this tart

This rich pastry seems to resist getting a really soggy base from the abundant fruit juices. Cook it shortly before eating if you like the base of the tart crisp, or prepare it ahead and enjoy the slightly soaked-in flavour. Of course, it’s delicious either way.

Recipe
for two 8"/20cm tarts


For the pastry:
500g plain flour
300g unsalted butter
100g castor sugar
2 egg yolks
1 coffee cup of strong alcohol


For the filling - per tart
two tins of apricots
or
1kg/2lb+ of fresh fruit, stoned or peeled and cored 
 I usually use tightly packed plums or apricots as the filling - but you can use apples or pears


Method

• cream butter and sugar together
• add egg yolk, beat in until combined
• slowly add alcohol, beating all the time - if it happens to start to separate add a spoonful of flour
• add in sifted flour a little at a time
• if the mixture becomes slightly dry add water to combine into a ball

• allow mixture to sit for at least an hour - best in a plastic bag in the fridge

• roll out half the pastry and line well buttered tart tin - if it cracks patch with scraps
• crimp the edge with your fingers and trim of surplus - I like a nice fat edge

• pack fruit in tightly - fresh fruit is great, but you can also use tinned apricots
• sprinkle liberally with demerera sugar or failing that granulated sugar 

• cook for 45m at gas mark 4/350 F/180 C

• eat hot or cold 
• great with slightly sweetened creme fraiche, cream or ice cream

Tips
Don't stress too much about how the fruit is arranged, just make sure there is plenty of it, packed tight.


Try using the pastry recipe to make wonderful shortbread.

Either

Roll it into a fat sausage, wrap and chill for an hour, then cut slices with a very sharp knife.
lay out on lined baking sheet and prick with fork
cook for 15-20m gas mark 4/350 F/180 C

Or              

Just bundle it up, wrap it and chill, pinching off pieces of the mixture and flatten into discs with a fork.

Sticky date cake

Delicious sticky date cake, egg free, fat free

20 stoned dates

1cup milk

¼ cup water

¾ cup demerera sugar

¾ cup wholemeal flour

1 ½ tsp bicarb

Small pinch salt

Fat to butter pan or use baking parchment

Butter or line the pan. I used a  buttered 10” Bundt spring-form cake tin (round cake tin with a hole in the centre and a removable base).

Set oven to Gas Mark 5/375C

Put dates with milk and walter in a pan, and bring to the boil. Take off heat and set aside. 

When cooled put soaked dates with sugar in blender and blend to fine paste.

In pan mix together sugar and date paste with cooled milk and water.

Stir in flour, pinch of salt and sifted bicarb.

Mix well and pour batter into prepared tin.

Cook for 25 minutes – when cooked cake is firm to the touch. A skewer inserted comes out clean.

Leave to cool before removing from tin.

Makes a lovely sticky cake.

For variety add:

Handful of walnuts

Stem ginger, cut into pieces (if you add syrup reduce sugar in recipe) husband likes this, but I think it gives a strange soapy taste