Oats in the North, Wheat from the South by Regula Ysewijn by Murdoch Books

Words and photography

Regula Ysewijn

Carrot cake Carrot cake is loved by young and old. It has its origins in the Middle Ages, when sugar and honey were far too expensive to use lavishly. In those days, carrots were considered a sweet food. During the Second World War, many carrot cakes were made in Great Britain because there was a surplus of carrots. Carrots are, of course, very healthy, which is why the Ministry of Food promoted cooking with carrots and a special leaflet with carrot dishes was distributed. Children became fond of carrots and were even given a thick carrot on a stick instead of a lollipop as the latter were not available during the war. I like to use wholemeal flour for this cake, because it gives the cake more body and it works well with the rest of the ingredients. Although Carrot cake is often made with cream cheese icing or buttercream, I love it with this cashew nut topping because the nuts go beautifully with the carrots and spices in the cake. Feel free to use cream cheese icing or buttercream if you prefer.

For 6–8 people

For two 18–20 cm (7–8 inch) round cake tins

For the cake

Start with the topping. Drain the cashews and pat dry with paper towel. Place in a food processor or blender, add the syrup and blend until smooth. Add the salt and yoghurt and blend until smooth and creamy. Spoon into a small bowl and place in the fridge.

250 ml (9 fl oz) extra virgin olive oil 225 g (8 oz) raw (demerara) sugar 4 eggs 300 g (10½ oz) wholemeal wheat flour or spelt flour grated zest of ½ orange 2 tsp ground cinnamon 2 tsp ground nutmeg 1 tsp ground ginger 5 large cloves, ground pinch of pepper and sea salt 400 g (14 oz) carrots, grated 2 tsp baking powder 100 g (3½ oz) pecans or walnuts, broken butter, for greasing flour, for dusting For the topping 200 g (7 oz) cashews, soaked overnight in cold water or in hot water for 1–2 hours 2 tbsp maple syrup or golden syrup pinch of sea salt

Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F) and prepare the tins (see page 21). For the cake, beat the oil and sugar together in an electric mixer for 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add a teaspoon of flour with the last egg to prevent the mixture from separating. Add the orange zest, spices and salt, followed by the grated carrot. Mix well with a spatula. Mix in the remaining flour and the baking powder until the batter is well combined. Finally, stir in the nuts. Divide the batter between the two tins. Firmly tap the tins on the bench to distribute the batter and remove any air bubbles. Bake in the middle of the oven for 35–40 minutes, then test the cakes with a skewer – if it comes out clean, the cakes are ready. Allow the cakes to cool completely before assembling. If you’ve made the cakes a day ahead, place them in the fridge 1 hour before decorating. Spread or pipe one-third of the topping over the bottom cake layer. Add the second cake layer and spread the rest of the topping over the cake. Decorate with whole and chopped pistachio nuts or marzipan carrots. Place the cake in the refrigerator after assembly if you’re not serving it immediately.

100 g (3½ oz) Greek yoghurt, skyr or coconut yoghurt unsalted pistachio nuts or marzipan carrots

Battenberg cake The first Battenberg cake appeared in Frederick Vine’s Saleable Shop Goods for Counter-Tray and Window from 1898 and had nine panels instead of four. Presumably it became four panels when the big cake manufacturers started baking the cake on an industrial scale in the 20th century. Mrs Marshall, a distinguished cookbook writer, publisher of her own magazine and owner of a store that sold cooking appliances she invented herself, gave a recipe in 1898 for a cake that looked exactly the same but had a different name. She added flavour to her marzipan by adding maraschino liqueur. There are special cake tins for Battenberg cake that yield four bars of cake that you just have to trim. If you don’t have a Battenberg tin, simply make two cakes in separate tins or make one cake in a larger tin and build a dam with foil to keep the batter separate.

For 6–8 people

For a Battenberg tin or a 22 x 15 cm (8½ x 6 inch) cake tin

For the home-made marzipan (or use 400 g/14 oz ready-made marzipan)

It is best to make the marzipan a day in advance. Sift the icing sugar, caster sugar and almond meal into a large bowl and mix well. Soak the apricot kernels in boiling water for 5 minutes, then remove the skins. Using a mortar and pestle, finely crush the apricot kernels and add the rosewater or maraschino liqueur.

100 g (3½ oz) icing (confectioners’) sugar 100 g (3½ oz) caster (superfine) sugar 180 g (6 oz) almond meal 20 g (¾ oz) apricot kernels 1 tsp rosewater 1 egg, beaten For the cake 175 g (6 oz) butter, at room temperature 175 g (6 oz) caster (superfine) sugar 3 eggs 135 g plain (all-purpose) flour 35 g (1¼ oz) almond meal 1 tsp baking powder natural pink food colouring 3–4 tbsp apricot jam butter, for greasing flour, for dusting If you can’t find apricot kernels, use an extra 20 g (¾ oz) of almond meal and add a few drops of natural almond extract or maraschino liqueur.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the egg and the apricot kernel mixture. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to mix everything well, then use your hands to knead the marzipan. If necessary, add a teaspoon of water at a time until it comes together but doesn’t become sticky. Wrap the marzipan in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature. Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F) and prepare the tin (see page 21). For the cake, put the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add a teaspoon of the flour with the last egg to prevent the mixture from separating. Add the remaining flour, the almond meal and baking powder and mix well. Divide the batter in half and add colouring to one half. Pour the batter into the cake tin, keeping the colours separate. Bake in the middle of the oven for 25–30 minutes. When the cake has cooled completely, cut out 3 x 3 cm (1¼ x 1¼ inch) bars from each colour, making sure they are nicely square and uniform. You can skip this step if you have a Battenberg tin and just trim where necessary. Gently heat the apricot jam. Spread a little of the warm jam on the sides of the cake bars where they will be stuck together to create the iconic stained-glass window effect. Roll out your marzipan to about 5 mm (¼ in) thick. Brush the marzipan with the jam and place the assembled cake on top. Trim the marzipan and wrap it around the cake. Trim the ends of the cake for a neat finish.

Lardy cake Lardy cakes are known in a few regions in England. I came across them in the Cotswolds, where they are smaller and spiral-shaped, and in Oxford, where the dough is folded into a brick as in this recipe.

For 8–12 people

For a 22 x 33 cm (8½ x 13 inch) baking tray

For the cake

Add the yeast to the lukewarm water to activate it. Put the flour, sugar and cinnamon in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook and put the lard or butter on top. Pour half of the yeast mixture over the lard or butter, wait 1 minute and then knead for a few seconds. Add the rest of the yeast mixture. The dough will now be very wet, but don’t add flour – this is how it should be. Knead for 5 minutes, then scrape all of the dough back together. You can also mix and knead the dough by hand.

15 g (½ oz) dried yeast 300 ml (10½ fl oz) lukewarm water 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) strong white bread flour 60 g (2¼ oz) raw (demerara) sugar ½ tsp ground cinnamon 20 g (¾ oz) lard or butter, at room temperature, cubed 5 g (¹⁄8 oz) sea salt 1 egg yolk + 1 tbsp milk, for egg wash For the filling 60 g (2¼ oz) lard 60 g (2¼ oz) butter, at room temperature 50 g (1¾ oz) soft brown sugar 120 g (4¼ oz) raisins 50 g (1¾ oz) currants 50 g (1¾ oz) candied citrus peel For the syrup 60 g (2¼ oz) white sugar 5 tsp water

Let the dough rest for a few minutes and then add the salt and knead for another 10 minutes. Remove the dough from the dough hook and now use your hands to knead the dough in the bowl for 1 minute or until it is a smooth ball – do not use extra flour. Cover the bowl and leave the dough to rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in quantity. Make the filling by beating the lard and butter with the sugar. Roll out the dough to a rectangle about 22 x 50 cm (8½ x 20 inches). Dot the dough with the lard mixture, spread it out with your fingers and then sprinkle the dried and candied fruit over the top. Start rolling the dough by folding a 10 cm (4 inch) strip from left to right and then keep rolling. Push the tips of your fingers halfway into the dough so that the filling and the dough will mix together slightly. Line the baking tray with baking paper. Place the dough on top and let it rest for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). After rising, flatten the dough by patting it with your hands so that it covers the baking tray. Brush the dough with the egg wash. Bake for 30–35 minutes or until the top is golden brown. While the cake is baking, prepare the syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Simmer until all the sugar has dissolved. Brush the syrup over the warm lardy cake. Some people flip the lardy cake over in the fat that is left behind in the tin so it can soak up all that goodness instead of adding a sugar syrup.

Tottenham cake In 1901, pieces of Tottenham cake were given away to children from the London neighbourhood of Tottenham to celebrate the victory of the Tottenham Hotspurs in the FA Cup. The pink icing is traditionally coloured with mulberry juice and sometimes the cake is finished with hundreds and thousands or desiccated coconut. John Kirkland writes in The Modern Baker, Confectioner and Caterer that this is an easy and quick cake for children’s parties and other occasions for which many pieces must be baked in a short time. His recipe is for a giant cake that is made with more than 5 kg (11 lb) of flour, but it is not tasty at all because it contains no egg, and almost no sugar and butter. It clearly had to be cheap to make! The version that I give here is the version that is still sold today – a simple cake, but also delicious. ‘For one penny piece, soft sponge could be bought, mis-shapen, a ha’penny, a feast that was sought. Pink icing with colour from mulberry so red, So sticky, delicious, the people were fed …’ ‘Tottenham Cake’, by Henry Jacobs

For 12 portions

For a 24 x 28 cm (9½ x 11¼ inch) cake tin

For the cake

Preheat your oven to 160°C (320°F) and prepare the cake tin (see page 21).

300 g (10½ oz) butter, at room temperature

Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and make sure that each egg is completely incorporated before adding the next one. Add a teaspoon of the flour with the last egg to prevent the mixture from separating.

300 g (10½ oz) white sugar 6 eggs 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour 50 g (1¾ oz) baking powder 85 ml (2¾ fl oz) milk butter, for greasing flour, for dusting For the icing 350 g (12 oz) icing (confectioners’) sugar 30 ml (1 fl oz) water or redcurrant juice natural pink colouring (if you don’t use redcurrant juice) desiccated coconut and/or hundreds and thousands, to garnish (optional)

Carefully fold the remaining flour and the baking powder into the batter so that the volume is retained. Stir in the milk, a little at a time. Spoon the batter into the tin and smooth the top. Bake in the middle of the oven for 30–40 minutes. Allow the cake to cool completely. For the icing, mix the icing sugar with the redcurrant juice or the water and the pink colouring. Put the coconut and/or hundreds and thousands in a shallow bowl. Trim the cake edges. You can freeze the trimmings for filling Banbury cakes (see page 134). Spread the cake with the icing and cut it into 12 pieces, wiping the knife after each cut. Dip the cake pieces into the coconut or hundreds and thousands or just leave them plain. It is best to eat this cake on the day it’s made or the following day.

Tea loaf This Tea loaf is a Bara brith without yeast – a more modern version of the Welsh cake. The result is a wonderfully moist cake that stays good for days and only gets better with time. It is heavenly when spread with some good butter. This cake is a favourite with my family and friends.

For 6–10 people

For a loaf tin (900 g/2 lb)

175 g (6 oz) currants

Put the currants and raisins in a large bowl. Pour in the hot tea and leave to soak overnight.

80 g (2¾ oz) raisins 250 ml (9 fl oz) hot strong English tea 260 g (9¼ oz) plain (all-purpose) flour 110 g (3¾ oz) raw (demerara) sugar 120 g (4¼ oz) soft brown sugar ½ tsp mixed spice 50 g (1¾ oz) candied citrus peel 15 g (½ oz) baking powder 1 egg butter, for greasing flour, for dusting

Preheat your oven to 150°C (300°F) and prepare the loaf tin (see page 21). Add the flour, sugars, mixed spice, candied peel, baking powder and egg to the bowl of soaked currants and raisins and mix well. Spoon into the tin. Bake the loaf in the lower part of the oven for 1½ hours. Check the loaf after 1 hour and cover with foil if it threatens to get too dark. Serve the loaf with butter.

Grasmere gingerbread Grasmere is a small picturesque village in the hilly landscape of the Lake District in the north of England. Its surroundings are poetic, so it is not surprising that the poet William Wordsworth took up residence here to write. His sister, Dorothy, wrote in her diary in 1803 that she was going to buy gingerbread for her brother in Grasmere. Fifty years later in 1854, Sarah Nelson started baking her version of Grasmere gingerbread, which she sold from her little gingerbread house–like stone cottage just a few yards from the final resting place of William Wordsworth. Now, more than 150 years later, you can still buy gingerbread in the same little house. The name Grasmere gingerbread has since been given a trademark and no other gingerbread can carry the Grasmere name. This led to a gingerbread war about ten years ago, because Sarah Nelson was not the only one selling her biscuits in the area and gingerbread had clearly been made in Grasmere before she began selling it. In the village, there is talk of the Dixon family, who sold gingerbread in the 18th century, and in a book from 1912 I discovered that in the church a few metres from Sarah’s shop, gingerbread was given to the children as early as 1819. They called it Rushbearers gingerbread. (‘Rushbearing’ is an old English church ceremony for which bundles of grass are collected to cover the rough earth floor of the local church. The bundles had to be replaced every year; this usually happened on the name day of the church and was called ‘Wakes Day’. In Britain, there are many bakes connected to these ‘Wakes Days’.) The same 1912 book says that the Walker family baked gingerbread in their small shop, and that in1912 a Mrs Gibson ran a gingerbread store after a Mrs Mary Dixon had been the gingerbread maker there for years. Strangely enough, Sarah Nelson is not mentioned in this book. What is special is that it seems that baking gingerbread was a women’s task, while at that time bakers were mainly male.

For 4 large pieces and 8 halves

For a 20 cm (8 inch) square cake tin

225 g (8 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour

Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F) and prepare the cake tin (see page 21).

115 g (4 oz) soft brown sugar

Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl and rub the butter into the mixture until it is the consistency of breadcrumbs. This is best done in a food processor or blender. The dough won’t come together as with other cookie doughs – it will remain as crumbs.

1 tsp ground ginger ¼ tsp ground nutmeg ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) pinch of sea salt 115 g (4 oz) butter, at room temperature butter, for greasing flour, for dusting

Weigh 70 g (2½ oz) of the crumb mixture and set it aside. Press the remaining crumb mixture into the cake tin, using a mini rolling pin or a sheet of baking paper to push the crumbs down firmly. Spoon the reserved crumbs over the top and press very lightly to distribute the crumbs over the surface of the dough. Lightly score the top of the gingerbread, first dividing it into four squares and then dividing each square in half. Bake the gingerbread for 25 minutes, then immediately remove it from the oven. Cut the gingerbread into portions along the marked lines while it is still hot.

Digestives Digestives were developed by two Scottish doctors in the 1830s with the aim of creating a biscuit that could improve digestion, hence the name ‘Digestive’. The most popular Digestives are those made by McVitie’s, which the company began to bake on a large scale in 1892. Digestives were often called malt cookies and the original patent received was entitled ‘Making Malted Bread’. Cassell’s Universal Cookery Book from 1894 provides a recipe for Malt biscuits. The author suggests that the use of ground caraway seeds is a suitable aromatic for people suffering from flatulence, but he also states that any other spices are a possibility. Today, Digestives are one of the most-loved British biscuits, along with Shortbread and Rich tea biscuits. They are also sometimes made with a layer of chocolate, which is great when you dip the cookie in your coffee and the chocolate melts. I rather like the ground roasted pecans in this biscuit but, if you are a purist, feel free to substitute them with more oat flour.

For at least 40 biscuits

Preheat your oven to 200°C (400°F) and line two baking trays with baking paper.

40 g (1½ oz) pecan nuts

Spread the pecans on one of the trays and roast for 10 minutes. Allow to cool, then pulse the nuts in a blender until they resemble coarse flour.

150 g (5½ oz) butter, at room temperature 100 g (3½ oz) raw (demerara) sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp sea salt 150 g (5½ oz) oat flour 260 g (9¼ oz) wholemeal plain (all-purpose) flour or spelt flour flour, for dusting

Mix the butter and sugar together until creamy (use an electric mixer if you have one), then add the eggs, one by one. Add the baking powder, then add the pecans, salt and flours, a teaspoon at a time. It will take a while for the mixture to come together. It will appear very dry at first, but don’t be tempted to add milk or water. Use the dough immediately or leave it in the fridge for 15 minutes. Pat the dough flat on a floured work surface or a sheet of baking paper. Dust the dough with flour to prevent the rolling pin from sticking, then roll out the dough until 5 mm (¼ inch) thick. Use a round cutter to cut out the biscuits. Push the left-over dough back together, roll it out and cut out more biscuits until you have used all the dough. Place the biscuits on the baking trays and prick all over with a fork. Bake in the middle of your oven for 10–13 minutes. After 13 minutes you will have the darker version that I like best.

Chelsea buns Chelsea buns were sold in The Chelsea Bun House in London as far back as 1711. They may be considered the first sweet confection that people ever queued for in masses, just to get their hands on a bun or two. It might not be as modern as a cronut or a freakshake, but the Chelsea bun managed to live through the ages without being forgotten along the way. Today it is still the bun you see most frequently sold in bakeries, although it’s getting some competition from the Scandinavian cinnamon bun. Chelsea buns are made from a rich yeast dough and must have a square shape, with a circular spiral dotted with currants. The pleasure of unrolling them while you eat them and tearing the dough is addictive. The size of the baking tins is important to ensure that the buns touch one another and push each other into a square shape. The trick to making the best Chelsea bun is to roll out the pastry as thinly as you can manage.

For 24 buns

For two 39 x 27 cm (15½ x 10¾ inch) baking tins

For the buns

30 g (1 oz) dried yeast 600 ml (21 fl oz) lukewarm milk 1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) strong white bread flour 120 g (4¼ oz) raw (demerara) sugar or white sugar 140 g (5 oz) butter, at room temperature, cubed 2 eggs, beaten 10 g (¼ oz) fine sea salt flour, for dusting For the filling 450 g (1 lb) butter, at room temperature 285 g (10 oz) raw (demerara) sugar or white sugar 3 tsp ground cinnamon pinch of fine sea salt 350 g (12 oz) currants For the sugar syrup 60 g (2¼ oz) raw (demerara) sugar or white sugar 5 tbsp water caster (superfine) sugar, for sprinkling

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Cover the dough and set aside for 1 hour until it has doubled in quantity. Meanwhile, make the filling by whipping the butter with the sugar, cinnamon and salt until creamy. Preheat your oven to 200°C (400°F) and line the baking tins with baking paper. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to a rectangle that’s about 60 x 95 cm (24 x 37½ inches) and 2 mm (¹⁄16 inch) thick (or as thin as possible). Place the dough in front of you horizontally. Cover the top half with a third of the filling, then fold the bottom half over the filling. Roll over the dough with a rolling pin to flatten it out. Spread the whole surface of the dough with the remaining filling, dot with the currants and roll up lengthways to make a long roll. Cut the roll into 5 cm (2 inch) slices and place in the baking tins with the spiral facing upwards and a little space in between each bun. Bake for 20–25 minutes until the buns are golden brown. Prepare the syrup while the buns are baking by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar has dissolved. Brush the buns with the sugar syrup as soon as they come out of the oven and sprinkle with caster sugar. The buns are best eaten on the day they’re made, but they can be revived in a hot oven for a few minutes the next day or you can freeze the baked buns, thaw and then pop them in a hot oven for a few minutes.

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Belgian buns, 20th century The name of these buns is very amusing for a Belgian like me, because you don’t see them in Belgium at all. The first time I saw these buns at a bakery in Oxford I had to ask the shop assistant what a Belgian bun was and why they think they are Belgian. Of course, there was no answer, because these buns have been sold for more than a century and nobody remembers where they come from. The 19th-century version of this bun is more like a rock cake and you’ll find the recipe on page 114. We do have a similar pastry in Belgium, but it is made with laminated dough and, although it has a modest amount of icing, the glacé cherry is missing. I think Belgian buns look cheerful, and when I see them lying in rows of two in the bakery window, I always have to smile. As there is no strict recipe, every bakery makes these buns from their basic bun dough, and so do I.

For 6 buns For the buns 7 g (¹⁄8 oz) dried yeast 120 ml (3¾ fl oz) lukewarm full-fat milk 275 g (9¾ oz) strong white bread flour 30 g (1 oz) raw (demerara) sugar or white sugar 60 g (2¼ oz) butter, at room temperature, cubed 1 egg pinch of fine sea salt flour, for dusting For the filling 3 tbsp lemon curd 120–150 g (4¼–5½ oz) currants, soaked for 1 hour in water or brandy, drained For the glaze 200 g (7 oz) icing (confectioners’) sugar 3 tbsp water For decoration 3 glacé cherries, halved

Add the yeast to the lukewarm milk and stir briefly and gently to activate it. The yeast will start to foam up in clusters, which means it is ready for use. Combine the flour and sugar in a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook and put the butter on top. Pour half of the yeast mixture over the butter and start kneading. When the milk and butter are completely absorbed, add the rest of the yeast mixture, along with the egg. Knead the dough for 5 minutes, then let it stand for a few minutes (at this point the dough will be very wet). Add the salt and knead for 10 minutes, scraping the dough off the dough hook and side of the bowl if needed, until the dough has come together in a smooth and elastic dough that is not too dry but also not terribly wet. Cover the dough and set aside for 1 hour until it has doubled in quantity. Meanwhile, line a baking tray with baking paper. Shape the dough into a rectangle on a floured work surface and roll it out until it measures about 25 x 35 cm (10 x 14 inches). Spread the lemon curd over the dough and sprinkle it with the currants. Roll up the dough from the short side like a Swiss roll. Cut the dough into six equal parts with a serrated knife and place on the baking tray with the spirals facing upwards. Cover the tray of buns with a light cotton cloth and wrap it in a large plastic bag (I keep one especially for this purpose). Rest the dough for 1 hour or until the buns have doubled in size. Towards the end of the resting time, preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Bake the buns in the middle of the oven for 15 minutes or until light golden brown. Let them cool completely while you make the glaze by mixing the icing sugar with the water. Apply a layer of glaze to the cooled buns and finish with half a glacé cherry. You can freeze these buns before you ice them, thaw and then pop them into a hot oven to revive them before adding the glaze.

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Isle of Wight doughnuts Fritters are another example of how people baked sweets without or before the wider use of the oven. The first reference and recipe for Isle of Wight Doughnuts appeared in Modern Cookery for Private Families by Eliza Acton in 1845. She explains that when the ‘doughnuts are made in large quantities, as they are at certain seasons in the island, they are drained upon very clean straw’. This tells us that these doughnuts were indeed popular on the island, although the first time they appear in a newspaper is 33 years later in the Portsmouth Evening News of May 1878, in an advertisement for a confectioner in Portsmouth (which is close to but not actually on the Isle of Wight) advertising the sale of ‘The Isle of Wight Dough Nut’ in their shop. The Isle of Wight Doughnut must have been around much earlier as Rosa Raine mentions remembering them from her childhood in her book, The Queen’s Isle: Chapters on the Isle of Wight, published in 1861. Raine writes that they are peculiar to the island and that she was given these buns as a child. She tells us they are locally known as ‘birds’ nests’ and when torn open they are filled with a ‘little cluster of plums’, which would’ve been raisins. Eliza Acton uses lard in her pastry and for frying, and while I enjoy using lard when I can use home-made lard or an organic brand, I understand it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Feel free to use butter for the pastry and oil for frying.

For 16 doughnuts 15 g (½ oz) dried yeast 300 ml (10½ fl oz) lukewarm full-fat milk 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) strong white bread flour 50 g (1¾ oz) dark brown sugar ½ tsp ground cinnamon ¼ tsp ground cloves ¼ tsp ground mace 30 g (1 oz) lard or butter, at room temperature, cubed 5 g (¹⁄8 oz) fine sea salt currants lard, beef tallow or oil, for deep-frying icing (confectioners’) sugar, for dusting

Add the yeast to the lukewarm milk and stir briefly and gently to activate it. The yeast will start to foam up in clusters, which means it is ready for use. Combine the flour, sugar and spices in a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook and put the lard or butter on top. Pour in half the yeast mixture and start kneading. When the milk and lard or butter are completely absorbed, add the rest of the yeast mixture. Knead the dough for 5 minutes, then let it stand for a few minutes (at this point the dough will be very wet). Add the salt and then knead for 10 minutes, scraping the dough off the dough hook and side of the bowl if needed, until the dough has come together in a smooth and elastic dough that is not too dry but also not terribly wet. Cover the dough and set aside for 1 hour until it has doubled in quantity. Meanwhile, cover a baking tray with baking paper. Briefly knead the dough and divide it into 16 equal pieces. Take a piece of dough and lightly flatten it on your work surface. Put a couple of currants in the middle, then pull the outer parts in like a purse and gently squeeze the dough together like a dumpling so that it can no longer split open while rising. Turn the dough over so the squeezed ends are on the bottom. It should be nice and smooth on top – if not, flatten it and start again. Place the doughnuts on the baking tray and set aside to rise for 30 minutes. Heat the lard, beef tallow or oil in a deep-fryer or a deep flameproof casserole dish to 180–190°C (350–375°F). Use a slotted spoon to carefully immerse the doughnuts in the hot oil and cook in batches until golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towel while you cook the remaining doughnuts. Serve dusted with icing sugar.

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Steak & ale pies This pie is a real pub classic. If you want to eat it like they do in the pub, then serve it with steamed peas, carrots and thick-cut chips. You can also make these pies with left-over stew – just halve the recipe for the dough if necessary. The variation with Stilton cheese is another example of a classic British pie and if you want to go Victorian style, add a couple of raw oysters to the stew. This used to be the custom to make the meat stretch further when oysters were poor people’s food. Times do change!

For 4 people

For six 16 cm (6¼ inch) pie pans

For the filling 1 onion, finely chopped

Make the filling by frying the onion and carrot in a flameproof casserole dish. Roll the meat in the flour, then add it to the vegetables. Briefly brown the meat, then add the tomato paste and stir until well combined. Deglaze the pan with the beer.

1 carrot, finely chopped 800 g (1 lb 12 oz) beef chuck steak 2–3 tbsp flour, for dusting the meat 2 tbsp tomato paste (concentrated purée) 250 ml (9 fl oz) Guinness, stout, porter or bitter dark beer (or use beef stock for an alcohol-free alternative) 1 slice of bread spread with English mustard oil, for frying For the Steak & Stilton variation 80–100 g (2¾–3½ oz) Stilton cheese For the shortcrust pastry 600 g (1 lb 5 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour ½ tsp sea salt 150 g (5½ oz) chilled butter, diced 150 g (5½ oz) cheddar cheese, grated, or 150 g (5½ oz) butter 150 ml (5 fl oz) water 1 egg yolk + 1 tbsp milk, for egg wash

Bring to the boil, then add the slice of bread with mustard. Stir until the bread falls apart. Cover and simmer for 1½–2 hours. I do this step in a 160°C (320°F) oven, because I don’t like leaving a casserole full of hot food on the hob for so long. When the stew is cooked, let it cool. Make the pastry by combining the flour, salt, butter and cheese in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse for 8 seconds or until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the water and pulse again until the dough forms a ball in the bowl. Remove from the bowl and knead briefly. You can also do this by hand by rubbing the butter into the flour and salt until it is the consistency of breadcrumbs, then add the water. Remove from the bowl and knead to bring the pastry together. Wrap the pastry in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease the pie pans with butter. Set aside one-third of the pastry for the lids. Roll out the remainder on a floured work surface until 3 mm (¹⁄8 inch) thick. Roughly cut the pastry into four pieces. Gently lift each piece of pastry over a pie pan and let it sink into the base. Let the excess dough hang over the edge to help attach the pastry lid. Use a piece of dough to press the edges into the tins. Roll out the pastry for the lids and fill the pies with the cooled stew. For Steak & Stilton pies, crumble the Stilton cheese and add it to the cooled stew before filling the pies. Place a piece of pastry on top of each pie and use a sharp knife to cut the excess pastry from the base and top. Squeeze the edges together so that the pies do not open during baking. You can decorate the pies with left-over pastry. Brush the top of each pie with the egg wash. Bake in the middle of the oven for 40–50 minutes until the pies are golden brown. Serve the pub way, with steamed peas and carrots, chips or roast potatoes. You can also freeze the unbaked pies, and bake them straight from the freezer.

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Blueberry plate pie This is the perfect pie if you like lots of lovely fruit and juices. It doesn’t have a pastry base, so to serve it you simply cut the pastry top and spoon it out along with the fruit. Fresh or frozen berries both work well in this pie. Be sure to experiment with other berries, such as blackberries and raspberries – anything but strawberries will be delicious.

For 6–8 people

For a 22 cm (8½ inch) pie plate

For the shortcrust pastry 250 g (9 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour

Make the shortcrust pastry by combining the flour, sugar, salt and butter in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse for 8 seconds or until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg and water and pulse again until the dough forms a ball in the bowl. Remove from the bowl and knead briefly. Wrap the pastry in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

100 g (3½ oz) icing (confectioners’) sugar pinch of sea salt 125 g (4½ oz) chilled butter, diced 1 egg 1 tbsp water butter, for greasing flour, for dusting 1 egg yolk + 1 tbsp milk, for egg wash For the filling 650 g (1 lb 7 oz) blueberries 20 g (¾ oz) raw (demerara) sugar ¼ tsp ground cinnamon 1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)

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Preheat your oven to 190°C (375°F). Grease the pie plate. For the filling, mix the blueberries, sugar, cinnamon and cornflour together in a bowl, then spoon into the pie plate. Roll out the pastry until thin, then lay it over the berries and cut away the excess. Crimp the edge of the pie well with a fork or make a nice edge with your fingers. Make a cross or a hole in the middle of the pie so that the steam can escape. Decorate the top with the left-over pastry and brush with the egg wash. Place the pie on a baking tray lined with baking paper to protect your oven from any leaks. Bake the pie in the middle of the oven for 40–45 minutes. Allow it to cool for 5 minutes before serving warm with vanilla ice cream, custard (see page 49) or clotted cream.

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Maids of honour Maids of honour tarts are small cheesecakes that, according to one of the beloved legends, were named after one of the maids of honour of one of the wives of Henry VIII. The king had tasted the tarts and was so besotted with them that he locked up the maid of honour so she could bake these tarts for him. Recipes for Maids of honour do not appear in the time of Henry VIII, but sometimes appear in books in the 18th century. In Richmond near London, where Henry VIII lived, Newens The Original Maids of Honour shop has existed since 1850. Here you can still buy these delicious tarts and the recipe is a closely guarded secret. Recipes in old cookery books vary, with some fillings consisting of custard while others are thickened with cheese, almond flour and sometimes even mashed potatoes. This recipe is based on a recipe from the 1792 book, The New Art of Cookery, by Richard Briggs. The original used sweet curd cheese, which is made with fresh milk to which rennet is added. To make this cheese you need unpasteurised cow’s milk, which isn’t available (nor legal) in many parts of the world. The tarts can also be made with curd cheese produced from sour milk or milk that has been soured by the addition of buttermilk or lemon juice. The result is, however, a more acidic filling. I prefer in this case to substitute the curd cheese for ricotta.

For 18 tarts

For a tin with 6 cm (2½ inch) shallow mince pie moulds

For the curd cheese

To make the cheese, start half a day in advance or the day before. Place a clean piece of muslin (cheesecloth) in a colander over a large bowl. Heat the milk in a large saucepan until it reaches 37°C (99°F), then remove it from the heat and thoroughly stir in the rennet. Leave to rest for 15–30 minutes or until the cheese has set (if nothing happens, then you haven’t added enough rennet). Carefully pour the cheese into the cheesecloth. Pour off the whey (you can keep it for baking). Drain the cheese in the cloth above the bowl for 4 hours.

2 litres (8 cups) raw milk 1 tsp rennet For the quick puff pastry 240 g (8½ oz) butter, diced 240 g (8½ oz) plain (all-purpose) flour ½ tsp sea salt 130 ml (4 fl oz) ice-cold water butter, for greasing For the filling

To make the filling, melt the butter, then let it cool and add the cream, sugar, egg yolks, egg, lemon zest, candied cedro and orange blossom water and mix well. Pass the curd through a fine sieve into a large bowl, then gradually add the butter mixture and combine well. Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F) and butter the tart tins.

110 g (3¾ oz) butter

Make the quick puff pastry as on page 137.

100 ml (3½ fl oz) cream, with at least 40% fat

Roll out the dough until 2 mm (¹⁄16 inch) thick. Use a 7–8 cm (2¾-3¼ inch) round cutter to cut out the pastry. Use the pastry to line the tart tins and prick each base with a fork three times. Knead the remaining dough back together and continue to cut out rounds. If you’re not cooking the pastry bases immediately, put them in the fridge because the pastry must remain cold.

110 g (3¾ oz) white sugar 4 egg yolks 1 egg zest of ½ lemon, grated 25 g (1 oz) candied cedro, very finely chopped 1 drop of orange blossom water

Fill the tarts with the filling and bake in the oven for 20–25 minutes until they are golden and the filling is a light golden yellow with a golden-brown blush and the surface has puffed up and cracked. Let the tarts cool, but eat them as soon as possible.

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Amber tarts Cookbook writer Mrs Rundell called these Amber pudding in 1808, but Amber tarts are indeed tarts. This used to be made as one large pudding or tart, but it is very nice to make individual ones. In the oldest recipes, the tarts are covered with a pastry lid, but I find they are much nicer without it because you can see the beautiful colour of the filling. Amber tarts owe their name to the beautiful golden-yellow colour that comes from the butter, egg yolks and candied orange peel.

For 6 people

For 8–9 cm (3¼–3 ½ inch) individual tart tins

For the shortcrust pastry 250 g (9 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour

100 g (3½ oz) icing (confectioners’) sugar pinch of sea salt 125 g (4½ oz) chilled butter, diced 1 tbsp water 1 egg butter, for greasing flour, for dusting 1 egg yolk + 1 tbsp milk, for egg wash For the filling 110 g (3¾ oz) butter 30 g (1 oz) candied orange peel 110 g (3¾ oz) icing (confectioners’) sugar 5 egg yolks 1 egg zest of ½ orange, grated

Butter and flour the tart tins. Briefly knead the pastry until smooth, then pat it into a rectangle and roll it out to a thickness of 3 mm (¹⁄8 inch). Use a round cutter a few centimetres wider than your tart tins to cut out pastry circles. Let the pastry sink into the tart tins by gently pushing it down. Trim the edges with a sharp knife to create a neat rim. Prick the base of each tart shell three times with a fork. Freeze for 1 hour or refrigerate for a few hours. Preheat your oven to 200°C (400°F). Crumple up six pieces of baking paper, then smooth them out and place in the tart shells. This will help the paper fit the shape of the tarts. Fill the pastry with baking beads or rice and place in the middle of the oven to bake blind for 10 minutes until the edges of the crusts are coloured. Remove the paper and beads or rice and bake for another 5 minutes to dry them out. Meanwhile, make the filling by melting the butter in a saucepan over low heat without allowing it to simmer. Set aside to cool. Finely chop the candied peel and mash it to a paste using a mortar and pestle. Add the icing sugar to the butter and beat until smooth. Add the egg yolks and the whole egg and beat well, then mix in the orange zest and candied orange paste. Let the filling rest and reduce the oven to 180°C (350°F). Stir the filling well, then pour it into the tart shells. Bake the tarts in the middle of the oven for 10–15 minutes until the filling is set and golden.

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Apple and blackberry crumble My British friend Pete Brown, who recently published a book about the uniqueness of British food, says that crumble is typically British because it’s warm and comforting, a feeling that the British look to create with their iconic dishes. It’s also incredibly easy to prepare and it’s quite subdued but silently proud. It is Britain in a nutshell, or rather, in a ceramic dish.

For 4 people

For a 12 x 18 cm (4½ x 7 inch) ovenproof dish

For the crumble topping

Preheat your oven to 190°C (375°F) and grease the dish with butter.

85 g (3 oz) wholemeal wheat or spelt flour

Combine the flour, oats or spelt, sugar, almonds and salt and rub in the butter. Put the topping in the freezer while you prepare the filling.

60 g (2¼ oz) traditional rolled oats or spelt flakes 50 g (1¾ oz) raw (demerara) sugar handful of slivered almonds pinch of sea salt 80 g (2¾ oz) butter, at room temperature butter, for greasing flour, for dusting For the filling

Stew the apples for 5 minutes with the butter, sugar, cinnamon and two or three of the blackberries for colour. Spoon the filling into the dish, then sprinkle the raw blackberries over the top. Roughly crumble the topping over the fruit. Bake for 30–40 minutes until the crumble is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling wonderfully. Serve the crumble with vanilla ice cream or with Greek yoghurt, skyr or clotted cream. Custard (see page 49) is a classic combination with crumble. I like to make too much and eat the leftovers for breakfast the next day!

300 g (10½ oz) red apples (e.g. cox or boskoop, or a combination of the two), cubed 30 g (1 oz) butter 30 g (1 oz) white sugar ¼ tsp ground cinnamon 200 g (7 oz) blackberries

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