Sprucing the Goose

Rhubarb Crumble Cake

Ingredients to make a 23cm round cake: For the cake batter: 115g softened butter 115g plain flour 70g polenta 2 tsp baking powder a pinch of salt 90g golden caster sugar 90g sugar 2 large eggs 100g sour cream ½ teaspoon vanilla extract ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest 300g rhubarb, cut into 3-4cm chunks For the…

Yorkshire Pudding

Growing up in North Yorkshire, this was always served as a starter with thick gravy, before the meat course. Ingredients plain white flour – 4 tablespoons pinch of fine salt one egg, beaten milk – 8 tablespoons (use 50:50 with water if full fat milk) goose fat – 1 tablespoon Method Preheat oven to 240degC…

The Warré beehive

Beekeepers who use Thorne or Paynes for their beekeeping supplies may have spotted a new addition to the types of hive they offer over the last couple of years: the Warré hive. So what is it, exactly, and why all the interest? Émile Warré was a French local priest and beekeeper who, responding to a…

Universal Cobblers

No, this is not my comment on the state of world politics, but a great recipe for a cobbler that can be used to top, well, pretty much any stew or casserole. Thanks once again to the minimalist Mark Bittman for the inspiration. Ingredients – for 8 hungry persons plain white flour – strong white…

Speedy Seedy Bread

This loaf can be made – start to finish – in under 2 hours and so is a god-sent recipe for impromptu meals. I always use wholemeal flour from Lurgashall Mill, just a few miles away. It is good to search out local flour mills whenever you can: generally the quality – -and the prices…

About Sourdough: Hydration

Truly, I am not going to get deep into sourdough bread on this blog. There are dozens of really excellent sites devoted to it and my efforts are very amateur in comparison. If you are a first-timer then the excellent SOURDOUGH LOAF FOR BEGINNERS by Jack Sturgess is a good place to start. What I…

New Zealand Pie

I have no idea why it is called New Zealand Pie. Every autumn it was a firm family favorite when we were kids and my sister found the recipe in my mother’s cookery folder. My version is only slightly modified and runs as follows: Ingredients 60g unsalted butter, soft 120g sugar 1 large egg 2…

“After Four Centuries”

Helen Allingham, who lived very near by, painted cottage gardens, overflowing with flowers and poulated by local subjects. She did two such paintings of this house, both architecturally accurate but with different foregrounds and backgrounds (which she was known to paint in afterwards). However, her third watercolour – “After Four Centuries” – is…

Pear and Blackberry Cobbler

The pears are going to be really good this year and I am itching for them to be ripe enough for salads and eating whole. In the meantime they are a litle hard but ideal for this pudding. Blackberries in abundance too after the hot summer: what better way to end the afternnon than brambling!…

Cheesy Biscuits

Ingredients softened unsalted butter – 150g extra mature cheddar cheese, grated – 180g parmesan cheese, finely grated – 75g plain flour – 180g dijon mustard – 1 tbsp Method Preheat oven to 170degC In a large bowl combine the softened butter with the grated cheeses and mustard. Sieve the flour into the bowl and combine…