Brown Betty

This Brown Betty is a delightful, warming apple pudding and easy to make. The combined taste of the cloves, apple, treacle and sherry is hard to beat and they combine to make a smell make that's heavenly. It’s a dish that can be eaten hot or cold, my preference is for hot, but it’s unlikely I’d turn down a helping of it cold - the flavours seem to grow that longer it's kept.

In our house this was a standard Sunday pudding, my father developed a liking for it cold, cooked in a charlotte tin and turned out, which seems like an unecessary complication. With lots of cream. You could liken it to an Apple Charlotte, a deconstructed one that tastes much better. Unlike a Charlotte that uses melted butter brushed into place, the dobs of butter sit alongside the morsels of apple and make their own way through the crumbs while it cooks. You might imagine, reading the recipe, that it might seem to be a bit dry: it isn’t.

When I was trying to remember the recipe I read quite a lot of American versions, which aren't the same and seem more complicated. I found a reference to 'old fashioned Brown Betty' in a Pan Dowdy recipe, and perhaps our family version takes its molasses (black treacle) from there. You can see that here, and I'll include the version that my father wrote, although I never saw him make it… I've written it out the way I remember making it with my mother.

The quantities are a guide - you’ll probably manage to get everything in the dish. Give it a go. And use Bramley apples if you can.

Dad's write up

Brown Betty Recipe

Ingredients

2lb/scant 1kg apples

1/2lb/250g fresh breadcrumbs

¼ kb/125g unsalted butter

Brown sugar - more than a cupful

Black treacle - about two tablespoons

½ mug/1 wine glass sherry

Several pinches of ground cloves

Pinch Cinnamon 

Method

Set the oven to 170C/Gas Mark 3/325F

Use a deep pie dish

• Peel and core the apple and cut it into bit sized piece

• Generously butter around a deep pie dish

• Scatter a layer of breadcrumbs, then some apple pieces, pinches of butter alongside dustings of cloves and some cinnamon, sprinkle over with sugar and repeat until you’ve used up all the apple - then add one last layer of breadcrumbs

• Drizzle the treacle over in a random way - if you warm the spoon in boiling water and then dry it the treacle will flow more easily

• Pour the sherry over, covering as much as possible 

• Bake for around an hour, or until the apple is completely cooked (test with a skewer)

The cooked dish has a lovely crust - eat with cream, yoghurt, ice cream, or on its own.

pan dowdy

Apple Pan Dowdy
[A TASTING-TEST KITCHEN ENDORSED RECIPE]

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 quarts sliced apples
1/2 cup dark molasses
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup water

Line a casserole with pie crust. Mix sugar, spices, and salt and sprinkle over apples. Fill casserole, add molasses, butter, and water. Cover with punctured pie crust, tuck edges together, press to sides of casserole. Bake in moderately hot oven (425°) 45 minutes, decrease temperature to 325°. When crust has browned slightly and apples are tender, remove from oven.

Take a silver knife, chop up mixture, being sure that the pie crust is thoroughly mixed with apples. If dry or not sufficiently sweetened, add more water and molasses. Return to oven and bake 1 1/2 hours at 325°. Serves 10.

When finished, the pudding will look very much like Old-fashioned Brown Betty. I was told that New Englanders served Apple Pan Dowdy hot with butter. The pudding can be warmed over, in fact it is even more delicious on the second or third day if you can keep it that long.

 

Moist Rich Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

it's not the Holy Grail, but people like it

In my experience gluten free chocolate cake, and perhaps other flavour cakes made with gluten free flour, can taste a bit powdery. This recipe from Dove's Farm, produces a beautifully moist springy cake. This one is made with a sweetened ganache (chocolate mixed with cream), but you could use a normal buttercream.

The recipe uses milk and oil in the place of the more usual butter. It doesn't matter whether you're an experienced cake maker or not because this cake is really a doddle. Just follow it and stir everything when it says to in the recipe below.

The cake keeps well. But there isn't really a risk of that. Enjoy.

Chocolate cake

• 75g cocoa powder
• 250 gluten free self raising white flour
• 325g caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 200ml milk
• 200ml oil
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 125 ml boiling water
• Oil, for tins

Chocolate filling and topping

• 250g dark chocolate
• 250 ml double cream
• 100g caster sugar

Equipment: Three 20cm/8” cake tins, large jug, saucepan and two mixing bowls

Preparation: 

• Pre-heat the oven at 180 C/ fan 160 C/ 350 F/ Gas mark 4
• Prepare the tins, by oiling them or using a baking liner

Method

Cake

• Sieve the cocoa and flour into a bowl
• Add the caster sugar and stir to combine
• Break the eggs into a large jug, add the milk, oil and vanilla extract and beat together well
• Pour the egg mixture into the mixing bowl and mix everything together with a whisk
• Add the boiling water, beating well – this will make a runny mixture
• Divide the mixture between the three cake tins
• Bake for 35-40 minutes – they’ll be springy to the touch and a skewer will come out clean

Cool the cakes for a couple of minutes before turning them out onto a cooling rack.

Filling and topping

• Break the chocolate into squares
• Put the cream and sugar into a saucepan and stir over a medium heat until it’s about to boil
• Pour the cream/sugar mixture onto the chocolate pieces and stir until combined
• Leave to cool, stirring every now and then until you have a thick paste
• Spread the filling over each cake, then stack them on top of each other

Double dark chocolate sorbet

If you want an intensely chocolate experience, then this is the recipe for you. And it's dairy free. I don't know about low calorie since it's got sugar in it, however, the flavour is so good you might be able to just eat a little of it.

There's a debate what to call it, sorbet or granita, sorbet being smoother and having finer crystals. It's a matter of how much you smoosh it up I suppose. I like it with finer crystals. I use the bowl on a stick blender.

If you have any left over, it does keep in the freezer, getting harder and harder the longer it's there, so you will need to break it up again.

The main thing is that this is easy to make and it tastes good. If you want a hit of cold and of chocolate give this a go.

500ml/2 cups/16fl oz dark coffee
65g/2/3 cup/3 oz cocoa powder
150g /2/3 cup/30z granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
85g/3oz of dark chocolate (thats around 4/5 of a 100g bar)

• take a medium sized saucepan, put in the coffee, sugar and cocoa and whisk over a low heat until everything is combined and smooth and the sugar has completely melted.
• add the chocolate broken into pieces along with the vanilla essence and keep stirring until mixture is smooth
• allow it to cool, then pour into a plastic container and put into the freezer, stirring the mixture every hour for around five hours. Then leave the mixture to freeze completely
• take the frozen mixture shortly before you plan to eat it and beat it with a fork to break it up - it will melt quickly
• serve with cream or coffee or vanilla ice cream, it's also good with chocolate sauce

Mary Norwak's Basic Cake Recipe

Aunt Clare lived in a number of picturesque villages through her lifetime, ending up in Cley next the Sea, on the North Norfolk coast. It is a lovely village, and is known by some as Cambridge by Sea, due to the fact that it is so popular eith people retiring from Cambridge. Mary Norwak was a long-term resident and friend of aunt clare, and besides writing many cookery books was happy to share her recipes and her baked goods at many village events.

This recipe is the traditional pound cake, or quatre quarts as they call it in France. Equal amounts of fat, flour, sugar and eggs, and with a strong arm or its electric equivalent, you can make this cake all in one.

I notice that my mum made a note in her lovely writing on the recipe written out by her sister, on the back of an envelope, in the traditional manner. Clare also added a note saying add vanilla and a little water. Mums note says add orange juice and zest for an orange version, and that is my favourite



butter and line 2x7"/18cm tin

set the oven to 170C or equivalent

4oz/110g sr flour
4oz/110g caster sugar
2 eggs
4oz/110g soft margarine
drop of vanilla

Put all together and beat well with electric beater. Put in two tins and bake in the centre of the oven for 20-30m
cool on rack in the tin - remove when cool

variations:
chocolate 1/3oz cocoa/flour (20/90g)/
orange add grated rind/juice of large orange

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

flapjacks

Flapjacks are full of oats and oats are full of great things. What else are oats good for? Porridge. Konjee. Haggis. All these can provide you with oats and oats are brilliant for keeping you full, and counteracting cholesterol.

Oh, oatcakes, you can make oatcakes. Personally, I'd rather eat kitchen towels, a more convenient way to remove moisture from my mouth. I suppose you could use oats to make textured pictures as part of a collage, if you run out of sand and pasta, or indeed together with sand and pasta - although I suspect you would need gallons of glue.

You can use oats as a coating too, instead of breadcrumbs.

Aren't they used as a facial scrub sometimes (with water)?

I've no idea why they get horses/ponies etc frisky, but apparently they do. I've tried it and it didn't work for me. But don't let that stop you.

Anyway, for reasons that would take too long to explain, I've got an awful lot of oats in the cupboard. And it isn't because I've been trying to pep up my love life, or that my pony has died. Now, I hate porridge but my family doesn't, sadly the oats I have in plenty are the jumbo variety, and I'm told they don't make good porridge or rather when used in porridge the slime factor isn't uniform enough or something. I'm not eating it, can't say. So what to do? Flapjacks is the only answer.

I use a roasting tin, lined with baking parchment. It measures 8x12" (20x30cm). So, adjust the quantities according to the size of your tin. Or use a tin the same size as mine.

What is baking parchment? It's greaseproof paper's baby brother, probably the result of space technology, like teflon. It is non-stick. If you haven't got any, grease the tin very well, or use the old stalwart, greaseproof paper, which you should also grease. What's the point of that? It makes the tin easier to clean, and helps you get the flapjacks out of the tin more easily as well.

tip:

1. scrunching up the paper makes it sit easier in the pan
2. using enough paper to reach the edge of the tray makes it easier to get everything out 
3. you can use up the ends of packets of mueslie as part of your flapjacks

Flapjack recipe

Ingredients
200g butter or margarine
100g soft brown sugar
200g golden syrup
500g oats

Set your oven to Gas Mark 5/375/190

Method
Line your baking tin with baking parchment.

• On a low hear, gently melt the butter/marg in a saucepan. Once it has melted. Add the sugar and golden syrup, keeping the heat low, stirring all the time.
• If you let it bubble it may start to crystallise, and not mix completely with the oats.
• Once everything in the pan is melted and mixed up nicely stir in the oats, until the liquid coats the oats evenly. Stir the oat mixture up well, so that the oats soak up the liquid well.
• Put the sticky oat mixture into the tin, spreading it evenly to the edges and tamping it down, to make it an even depth. 
• Cook for 20-30 minutes, until the surface of the mixture is slightly golden. 
• Take out of the over and allow to cool. 
• When flapjacks are tepid, cut into squares, using a sharp knife. If you cut from the outside edge into the middle, it'll be a cleaner cut.

Don't eat too much at once, becuase you might get tummy ache. Or, live dangerously, and eat it all at once. Or as much as you like. It's your life, your stomach. They're pretty good flapjacks.

If you fancy it you can add nuts and/or dried fruit. Up to 150g in weight should do it.

Apple tart - French rustic meets British bite

Tart made with Wilma's Bramley apples

This is apple time, the apples falling late this year, helped by the recent deluge of rain and ferocious gusts of wind. Since they are so late, the birds and bugs have had first dibs, and a lot of the apples bear scars and scabs that mean they won't keep. Time for some serious baking - apple recipes follow.

The Bramley apple is queen in the British autumn kitchen. With a thick waxy skin, and a characteristic shape, the crisp super sharp flesh gives a flavour that is unbeatable. This apple lends to all kinds of cooking, with the addition of judicious sweetening and spice. It is worth letting it take the lead, by pairing it with a butter laden pastry.

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 underscored the apple flavour, 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 caster 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 
You can use tightly packed plums or apricots as the filling - but here I have used Bramley apples.

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.

1kg coconut to use up

A kilo of dessicated coconut is a lot of coconut, even if you are very keen on coconut. I have no idea why I bought such a big bag. It is about half empty, and the best before date is two weeks away. So the race is on. So far apple and coconut cake and coconut shortbreads are on the menu, the cake is in the oven. I've tweaked it of course. The apples are bramleys, there is more coconut, some milk instead of yoghurt, and some creamed coconut for good measure. Also some topping.

going to need a sharp knife to cut this... and friends over

custard or creme brulee, and how much cream in creme?

Kitty decided to make her signature dish tonight, as the chickens have been laying well, and the eggs are stacking up. As usual nothing is straightforward, she mysteriously decided to try out Nigella's version, sending her dad out for more cream, then panicking because she didn't know if the mixture was thickening. It was. Now it is chilling in lots of pots in the fridge, because it is a stove top pan type custard, rather than a baked custard cooked in a bain marie.

It is quite a neat idea letting the custard set rather than worrying about the wobble factor as your mixture sits and steams. However, Kit's tried and tested recipe - which she forgot was carefully written out here, uses cream and milk. More economic, no need to send dad out for cream.

Ricotta citrus tart, crostata to some

I have just made this tart twice, adapting Carluccio’s recipe a bit. It is really easy, and the result is a very light cheesecake, with a flavour reminiscent of pannetone. The difference between this recipe and a more usual cheesecake is that the eggs are separated and the beaten egg whites give it a lift. I’ve seen it made with short crust elsewhere too, which would make it richer. Also, Carluccio adds the lemon zest after cooking, which gives an extra tang.

I used half a packet of puff pastry and rolled it very thin, and leaving about a one inch overlap, which gets folded over the mixture. Then I put little straps of pastry across, which I think looks good, but a rather acerbic relative (while eating it) said makes it looks like a hot cross bun, clearly meaning not in a good way. Sob.

In the mixture I added a spoonful of marmalade, reducing the sugar a little.

Carluccio says this tart is delicious served on its own or with roasted pears, which I haven’t tried yet.

Ingredients

For the pastry

·         1 x 400g/14oz ready-made puff pastry

·         Plain flour for dusting

·         1 lemon finely grated zest only

For the filling

·         300g/10½oz ricotta cheese

·         200g/7oz mascarpone cheese

·         200g/7oz candied peel roughly chopped

·         125g/4½oz caster sugar

·         6 free-range eggs, separated

Preparation method

1.     Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

2.     Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured work surface to a 3mm/⅛in thickness. Use the pastry to line a 25cm/10in pastry case. Cover with a damp cloth while you make the filling.

3.     In a bowl, mix the ricotta, mascarpone and candied peel with 100g/3½oz of the sugar and five of the egg yolks until smooth and well combined.

4.     Whisk the egg whites in another large, clean bowl until fluffy. Whisk in the remaining sugar and continue whisking until stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed.

5.     Using a large metal spoon, fold the whites into the ricotta mixture, then pour into the pastry-lined tart tin.

6.     Beat the reserved egg yolk in a bowl. Fold in the overhanging pastry and brush with the egg yolk. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, until the pastry is cooked through and the filling has a slight wobble in the centre.

7.     Set aside to cool for two hours, then sprinkle with lemon zest.