Miss Havishams Valentines Cookies...

Rich dark chocolate biscuits with sweet fondant icing

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, but not everyone is looking forward to its arrival. I personally am not a huge fan of all the pink, red, glitter and giant stuffed animal clutching fluffy hearts with embroidered messages of undying love.

Indulge your own bitter heart with these gothic valentines cookies to mark the day, Miss Havisham style. Put on your old wedding dress and eat these in your decaying mansion. They will be a lot tastier than your dusty old wedding cake, all the time being careful to stay away from naked flames.

Ingredients
50g unsalted butter (3 1/2 tbsp)
50g soft light brown sugar (4 tbsp packed)
1 TBS golden syrup
110g plain flour (1 cup plus 1 3/4 tbsp)
20g cocoa powder (not the drink mix, scant 3 tbsp)
(I used Cadbury's Bournville cocoa powder)
pinch salt
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 to 2 tsp milk
Rollable fondant icing to decorate.
A little icing sugar and water mixed together to make a paste.

Preheat the oven to 150*C/300*F/ gas mark 3. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment paper. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the golden syrup until smooth. Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, salt and soda together in a beaker. Sift this into the creamed mixture. Add the milk a bit at a time, until you get a soft even dough. It should be a bit crumbly, but be just coming together. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface or onto a large piece of cling film and press until it comes completely together.

Roll out with a lightly floured rolling pin about 1/4 inch thick. (I rolled mine out between two sheets of cling film so that I did not have to use a lot of flour.) Cut out into shapes, heart or others. Carefully lift onto the prepared baking sheet with a metal spatula, leaving some space in between the biscuits.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, then remove from the oven. Carefully lift onto a wire rack to cool completely. Roll out the fondant icing very thinly and cut into similar, slightly smaller piece of fondant icing. Stick the fondant to the biscuit with the icing sugar paste and leave to dry. Paint, stencil or stamp cold, black hearts onto each cookie or decorate as desired. Fester in your own unhappiness or plot your revenge, while enjoying the biscuits with a nice cup of tea.

say it with flowers...

Creamy Butterscotch Flowerpots

Valentine's is a day for lovehearts and flowers... and sweet treats to eat. My days of exchanging cards are well behind me, but the two small budding romantics in the house like to mark the occasion. I made these sweet little pudding pots for one of the girls birthday party last year and have been requested to provide them again for a flowery Valentines dessert. They are delicious and easy enough for even small children to do much of the work. A layer of chocolatey cake covered in creamy butterscotch mousse and topped off in more crumbled chocolate cake, my kind of gardening.

I prefer to use Avonmore  Double Cream. This is the equivalent of what you lovely American visitors call 'heavy' cream. In general when you are whipping the cream, it will whip better if you add a pinch of salt and when sweetening whipped cream, adding the sugar when the cream is mostly whipped will trap more air in and get you a higher volume. Adding the sugar at the beginning results in lower volume.

This is the chocolate cake recipe I used but any chocolate cake will do - even shop bought. You can also use crushed Oreos, just throw them in a food processor and pulse until they look like sand.

You will need some very small flowerpots (ceramic or plastic) straws, and fresh cut flowers. Also some jelly worms to aerate the soil, very important. Snip the straws so that they are about 1/2 to 1 inch shorter than the top of the pots

Ingredients for the pudding
75 gram(s) butter
100 gram(s) brown sugar
300 ml Avonmore Double Cream
2 egg white(s)
2 teaspoon(s) caster sugar

Method
Combine butter, brown sugar and 100ml of the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves; set aside to cool. Whisk remaining cream to soft peaks and fold into cooled butterscotch mixture. Whisk egg whites and caster sugar to soft peaks. Fold meringue into cream and butterscotch mixture, then divide between 6 flower pots (or serving glasses, dishes). Refrigerate until needed.

Then simply fill the ends of your pots with chocolate cake put a layer of pudding next with a straw in the centre to hold the flower, I made mine when I had lots of sweet peas so those are I used, but anything from the garden is fine. I do recommend a quick google search to make sure your choice of flower is not highly toxic and remember to tell the children not to eat the flowers. Put plenty of worms, boys especially like them, mine were from the Natural Jelly Company. Top off the pots with your crumbled chocolate cake. Refrigerate until needed, popping the flowers into their straw holders just before serving. Happy Valentines day :)

pecan pie muffins...

Pecan pie is one of our favorite desserts. But it uses a heck of a lot of maple syrup and pecans and is a bit of a faff to make unless it's for a special occasion. So here is the next best thing, Pecan Pie muffins. 18 - 20 mini muffins or 10 - 12 regular sized. I prefer them warm from the oven with a little scoop of vanilla ice-cream and without the frosting, but the kids like them with the frosting. Grease and flour the muffin tins well if you are not using lining paper as these can stick quite badly. 

Ingredients for the Pecan Muffins

110g/1 cup chopped pecans

120g/1/2 cup all-purpose flour

240g brown sugar or 1 cup packed brown sugar

160g/2/3 cup butter, melted

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a muffin or mini-muffin tin or use paper muffin liners. In a medium bowl, stir together brown sugar, flour and pecans. In a separate bowl beat the butter and eggs together until smooth, stir into the dry ingredients until just combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Fill each 3/4 full and bake in the preheated oven for approx 15 - 20 minutes depending on size. Cool on wire racks when done.

Ingredients for the Maple Buttercream

250g of butter, 

500g icing sugar

2 tsp maple syrup

Make sure your butter is soft, pop into a bowl. Add your icing sugar & start to mix on a low speed. Once your icing starts to come together increase the speed to medium. Leave for about 10 mins on med-high speed or until it looks like whipped cream, then fold in the maple syrup.

When the muffins are cold, spoon or pipe the frosting on, drizzle with a little maple syrup and scatter a few toasted pecans on top for prettiness.

Hummingbird Cake

Hummingbird Cake is such a lovely name for a cake. The roasting of the bananas gives it the most mellow of flavors, sugary, rich and delicious. Its origins are in the deep South of the USA, full of chopped pecans, crushed pineapple, and bananas frosted with a delicious cream cheese icing. This is a cake for a crowd or a celebration. A winter cake that reminds you of the summer months to come.

Cake Ingredients:
250g flour (3 cups) gluten free or regular
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
225g (1 cup) granulated sugar
225g (1 cup) light brown sugar
3 large eggs
200ml, 7floz (1 cup) vegetable oil
2 teaspoons  vanilla extract
160g (1 cup) pineapple, fresh or tinned, crushed
4 large or 6 medium-small bananas, roasted in their skins. (See below*)
100g (1 cup) chopped pecans

Frosting Ingredients:
175g (1½ sticks) butter, chilled
3 x 8 ounce packets of cream cheese, chilled
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
175 g icing sugar, sifted (1½ cups powdered sugar)
150g (1½ cups) finely chopped pecans

Makes 12 -16 servings

*First roast the bananas in a moderate oven preheated to 180°C, 350°F, gas mark 4. Place them on a lined baking sheet with there skins left on. Bake in the oven for 12 - 15 minutes until the skins are black (the bananas will leak out some juice, this is perfectly OK). Remove from the oven and let them cool until they can be handled. Peel the bananas and mash the flesh in a small mixing bowl. Set aside. Leave the oven heated to 180°C.

Butter and flour 3 x 9" round baking pans. Line the bottoms of each pan with parchment paper. Sift flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt together into a bowl and set aside.
In a second mixing bowl combine the granulated and brown sugar. Add the eggs and stir briskly by hand into a smooth mixture. Whisk the oil and vanilla into the sugar and egg mixture until smooth. Add the flour mixture all at once and fold to combine the mixture fully. Add the crushed pineapple, mashed banana and the pecans.  Stir just until combined, be careful not to over stir.

Divide the cake batter evenly between the three pans and place in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes until cake bounces back to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pans for 5 minutes then turn out onto cooling racks, peel off the parchment paper and allow to fully cool before frosting.

To Make the Cream Cheese Frosting:
Cube the butter and place in the bowl of a standing mixer. Beat on low speed, gradually increasing speed to medium until the butter is still cool but has softened together (about 3 minutes).
Cut the cream cheese into 1 inch strips and add to the butter.  Mix at medium speed until fully combined, and smooth.
Add the vanilla, lemon zest and slowly add the sifted powdered sugar.  Beat until well blended, increasing speed to beat on medium-high for 3 minutes or until the frosting becomes light and fluffy.
Fold in pecans by hand.

Bring it all together:
Place the first layer of cake upside down (the bottom of the cake will be frosted) on the serving plate. Cover with a thin layer of frosting. Place the second layer of cake right side up (flat cake bottom onto the frosting) and frost the top of this layer. Place the last cake layer with cake right side up and use the remaining frosting to cover top of cake and the sides. Allow the cake to stand at room temperature for a while before serving and store any uneaten cake in the refrigerator.  This cake is a little bit nicer when made the day before you want to serve it.

custard creams...

"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me". 

So said C.S.Lewis and while one small cup of tea a day is plenty for me, I do feel sad when a good book is finished. My real love will always be children's books, the feel of the paper, smell of the ink, the weight of a hardback in my hand, and the charm and colour of the illustrations.

There is nothing quite like a feast of Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl or Edward Lear to keep me happy, except maybe my little people to read them to. A good book demands tea and the accompaniment of a proper biscuit. These are the most proper of all biscuits, the classic custard cream. They are great to make with children as they are so easy, quick and fun. They taste so much better than the packet ones and they are another way for me to use up the big canister of custard powder I have been left with after Aunty Angela's unexpected septuagenarian romance allowed me to purchase the wretched stuff. For those of you wondering, custard powder is basically just cornflour (cornstarch) and a touch of yellow food colouring and can be substituted for same.

Ingredients
Biscuit
100g butter
120g flour
50g caster sugar
2 tablespoons custard powder
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Filling
40g icing sugar
25g or two tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
2 teaspoons custard powder

Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Cream together the butter and sugar, sift in the flour and custard powder and bring together with the vanilla essence until a roll-able dough is formed. Alternatively combine all ingredients in a food processor, and then form the dough by hand.

Flour a surface and roll out dough to roughly 6mm thickness. Press your choice of cutter in to the dough, ensuring there is a duplicate of each shape you cut. Place shapes on a baking tray, greased and floured). Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Beat the icing sugar and vanilla together in a bowl with a wooden spoon. Sift the icing sugar and custard powder together and beat gradually into the butter, and then use to fill the custard creams once they are cool. Place a bit on the bottom of one biscuit, and sandwich with another on top. Once set the custard creams can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week.

roast garlic & talegio bread...

Garlic butter is a compound butter, basically a 'flavoured' butter. These butters are endlessly versatile. A flavored butter acts as a sauce, in essence and any flavoring can be added. Chopped herbs with lemon zest will go great with fish or red wine and shallots with steak for example.

Now, I have never met a cheese I did not like, but Talegio is one (from a very long list) of the cheeses that I love. A compound butter made with Talegio is a glorious thing. It is quite a strong smelling cheese, but its flavour is comparatively mild with a sweet tang to it. When heated, it loses most of its strong smell and is just sweet and salty and delicious. If you can't find any then Fontina is a reasonable substitution and a ripe Brie would do if you were stuck.

Roasting the garlic first gives you loads of garlic flavor without the harshness of raw garlic, and it is delicious on toast as well. You could just add some sliced parma ham, dressed rocket, a nice bottle of red wine and you'd have a one of my favorite easy suppers for two. 

I always make plenty of this butter as it freezes very well, and I do it in small batches. Then whenever you have limited time to make a meal, take some chicken breasts or a pork chop, add this on top and simply bake in the oven for a quick meal with some salad or steamed veg. Or cook some wide ribbon pasta like tagliatelli and toss through a spoon or two in the hot pan pan, finish with some basil and you have a mac and cheese for grown-ups. 

Ingredients

1 head of garlic

300g Talegio cheese – softened

200g butter – softened

1 bunch chives – chopped

Sea salt and cracked clack pepper

1 sourdough loaf - a day or two old.

Method

Roast the garlic first. Preheat the oven to 170ºC. Cut a garlic head in half around the middle and wrap in aluminum foil and put it into the preheated oven. Cook for an hour or so. When done, you'll find the garlic cloves have turned into a soft, fragrant and caramelized mass, that will practically jump out of its papery case. Just squeeze the garlic flesh out or remove with a fork. 

Remove the rind from the Talegio, cut into chunks and mix with the butter and chives. Season liberally with pepper and sparingly with salt. Empty all the garlic flesh into the cheese and butter mix, then mash it around with a fork a little. C'est tout. 

Cut slices vertically into the bread and stuff full to bursting with the butter mix. Wrap tightly in aluminum foil and bake in a hot oven (about 200ºC) for 20 minutes. Remove, unwrap and serve immediately.

christmas rocky road squares

These are plain old rocky road squares with the seasonal adjustment of red glace cherries. The ones pictured here are missing their nuts as they were destined for a school party. These can be made ahead and store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 1 week. Decorate with icing sugar up to 2 hours before serving. Make the Rocky Road as above and freeze for up to a month. Thaw overnight in a cool place and decorate.

Ingredients
250g dark chocolate
150g milk chocolate
175g butter
4 tbsp golden syrup
200g Rich Tea biscuits
150g toasted hazelnuts
150g glace cherries (red)
125 g mini marshmallows
1 tbsp icing sugar
Edible things for decorating

Method
Chop both sorts of chocolate small and then put into a heavy-based pan to melt with the butter and syrup over a gentle heat. Put the biscuits into a freezer bag and bash them with a rolling pin to get big- and little-sized crumbs; you want some pieces to crunch and some sandy rubble. Put the nuts into another freezer bag and also bash them so you get different-sized nut rubble. Take the pan off the heat, and add the crushed biscuits and nuts, whole glacé cherries and mini-marshmallows. Turn carefully to coat everything with syrupy chocolate. Tip into a foil tray (I use one 236mm x 296mm), smoothing the top as best you can, although it will look bumpy. Refrigerate until firm enough to cut, which will take about 1 1/2–2 hours. Then take the set block of rocky road out of the foil tray ready to cut. Sieve the icing sugar to dust the top of the Rocky Road. With the long side in front of you, cut into it 6 slices down and 4 across, so that you have 24 almost-squares. Top with festive things, edible or plastic, taking care not to eat the plastic ones.

Adapted from Nigella Christmas

Pear and Cardamom Cake

With the Christmas season galloping towards us - it's good to have a few easy to make recipes up your sleeve that are still smart enough to serve as a dessert over the festive season.

This is a grown up cake with subtle flavors that linger. It just needs a scoop of good vanilla ice-cream or even better, a little quenelle of mascarpone cream. The pear in this recipe works beautifully. It moistens and subtly flavours the cake, complimenting the other flavours. The amaretti biscuits and ground almonds give a gentle note of almond while the coffee and cardamom give an initial burst of flavour before blending gently into the background.

This is an 'objet trouvé' sort of a recipe - from an advertisement promotion for DeLonghi, (hence the coffee I suppose) in Delicious Magazine.  Very pretty on the plate with it's cobweb of chocolate, and it is, indeed, delicious.

Pear and Cardamom Cake with Coffee and Amaretti

Ingredients:
175g softened butter
175g light muscavado sugar
3 medium eggs
50g ground almonds
1 tsp freshly ground cardamom
175g self raising flour
2 tbsp espresso coffee
3 ripe pears, peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks
4 amaretti biscuits, roughly crushed
75g dark chocolate

Method:
Preheat the oven to 190C
grease and line a 20cm loose-bottomed tin
Cream together the butter and the sugar until pale and fluffy
Beat in the eggs one at a time
Fold in the ground almonds, cardamom, flour, coffee, and 2/3 of the chopped pears until well combined
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and level the surface
Scatter the remaining pears and 2/3 of the amaretti biscuits over the top and bake for 1 hour until risen and cooked. If you insert a skewer into the centre it should come out clean
Allow the cake to cool completely
Remove the cake from the tin and place onto a serving platter. Scatter over the remaining biscuits.
Melt the chocolate and drizzle over the top of the cake

apple cuscakes

...thats apple & custard cupcakes

I had to beat this recipe out of Jennie from the Cupcake bakery, It's my personal favorite of all of her flavors. First I held her down and gave her a bit of a kicking. She was not co-operating at all until I tried a bit of hair pulling - then she caved in and gave it to me. I am hoping to get a gluten free recipe from her in the near future and now that I know her weak points our success is almost guaranteed :)

I completely made all of that up - but these are in reality very nice cupcakes. The sponge part is pretty much perfection, but you can skip the custard making and buy a carton without too many ill effects. The frosting can just be dolloped on and still be pretty, a star nozzle is what is usually used, the one pictured here is often called a 'french nozzle' with about 12 points

Makes 12
Ingredients
• 200g all-purpose flour
• 1/2tsp baking powder
• A pinch of salt
• 130g plus 2 tsp butter
• 2 eggs
• 130g light muscovado sugar
• 3 peeled & diced or grated Bramley or granny smyth apples
• About 1 tblsp milk

Preheat the oven to 180 C/350F/gas 4
Sift the Flour, baking powder & salt in a bowl
Put the butter & sugar in a mixing bowl & beat with an electric hand mixer until pale & fluffy. Stop occasionally to scrape down the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Slowly add the sifted dry ingredients & grated/diced apple & beat on low until combined. If the mixture seems to thick add the milk. Divide the mixture between the cupcake cases. Bake in a preheated oven for approx. 20-25 mins or until well risen & skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven & let cool completely on a wire rack.

Custard Recipe
Ingredients
• 570ml/1 pint milk
• 55ml/2fl oz single cream
• 1 vanilla pod or ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 4 eggs, yolks only
• 30g/1oz caster sugar
• 2 level tsp cornflour
Bring the milk, cream and vanilla pod to simmering point slowly over a low heat. Remove the vanilla pod (wash the vanilla pod, dry and store in jar with caster sugar to make vanilla sugar). Whisk the yolks, sugar and cornflour together in a bowl until well blended. Pour the hot milk and cream on to the eggs and sugar, whisking all the time with a balloon whisk. Return to the pan, (add vanilla extract if using) and over a low heat gently stir with a wooden spatula until thickened.

Once your cupcakes are cooled core the centre with an apple core & pour in your custard

Custard Buttercream
250g of butter, 500g icing sugar, drop of cold milk (if required), 2/3 tsp custard
Make sure your butter is soft, pop into a bowl. Add your icing sugar & start to mix on a low speed. Once your icing starts to come together increase the speed to medium. I generally leave it for about 10 mins on med-high speed or until it looks like whipped cream. I then fold in the custard as it can cause your buttercream to spilt if added to quickly.

Indian spice cookies

These biscuits definitely pack a big flavor punch due to the blend of Indian inspired spices. Cardamom, saffron and allspice with the crunch of the toasted pistachios combine to create a blend that transforms a plain cookie recipe into a complex and comforting biscuit that pairs perfectly with a smooth pannacotta or lemon posset for a sophisticated dinner party dessert, a nice finish to an indian meal or simply serve with a hot cup of tea.

Ingredients:

1/4 tsp saffron
2 tbsp milk, warmed to dissolve the saffron
6 Cardamom pods
1/2 tsp Allspice
20 pistachios, crushed or coarsely chopped
200 gm (1 1/2 cups) flour
100 gm (1/2 cup + 2tbsp) castor sugar
100 gm butter
A few drops of milk to bind the dough if required

Makes about 20 cookies

Method:
Place the saffron with the warm milk in a pestle & mortar. In a pestle & mortar or coffee mill, grind the cardamom seeds fine powder and keep aside, disregard any husks.

Chop the pistachios into small pieces. A mezzaluna works best. Crush the saffron into a smooth paste using the mortar and pestle. In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the butter and the sugar together. Put in the saffron mixture, cardamom and allspice and blend well.

Put in the flour and form into a dough. If the dough refuses to co-operate, add a few more drops of milk, just enough for it to come together. Preheat your oven to 350 F. Roll the dough on a clean surface. Sprinkle half of the pistachios over it and lightly press into the top with a rolling pin. Cut out with a cookie cutter of your choice. Reshape the remaining dough, roll again and cut. Repeat until you have no dough remaining. Place the cookies on a tray lined with silicone paper and bake for 15 minutes. Cool completely and store in an air tight container.

Rocky Road Cupcakes

One of my new hero's in life is Jennie Brown - a woman who gets up at 5am in the morning to start the ovens and mixers in her cupcake workshop. Aside from her regular lovely cupcakes, it's good news for many people with special dietary requirements. Coming from a family of coeliacs, Jennie knows there is a demand for good quality gluten-free products and has purpose-built a gluten-free room, with separate oven and mixers, in her workshop in Galway. She bakes fresh every day, weighting, measuring, cracking, sifting and stirring every single thing she makes, with any unsold stock at the end of the day going to the Galway Soup Kitchen.

Jennie may also, well be the mad professor of cupcake flavors, it's a surprise what flavors are available every day as she is always working on new ones. Bubble gum, tutti fruti, champagne, candy floss, jaffa cake and cheesecake to add to her established repertoire of victoria sponge, red velvet, cookies and cream, mint aero, strawberry sundae, mars bar and chocolate nutella to name but a very small few.

Her rocky road cupcakes are a firm favorite with my family, so if I can't get to her shop or any of the outlets she supplies, this is the version I make at home.

I like eating these cupcakes warm, when the chocolate chips and marshmallows are still gooey in the sponge! If you want to ice and decorate you must leave them to cool completely on a cooling rack. I top my rocky road cupcakes with a smear of chocolate fudge icing, and then press all manner of traditional rocky road ingredients into it and leave to set. However you eat them, I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

Cupcake Ingredients
85g butter melted and cooled
225g plain flour
55g Green and Blacks or another good quality cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp of baking powder
115g caster sugar
100g chocolate chips
50g mini marshmallows
250ml milk
A pinch of salt
2 eggs

Method
Preheat oven to 200°and line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and salt into a large mixing bowl.
Stir in your chocolate chips, caster sugar and marshmallows.
Place the eggs into a large jug/bowl and beat lightly, then add your milk and butter and beat again.
Make a well in your dry ingredients and pour the liquid beaten ingredients in, stir this mixture in gently until combined, being careful not to over mix it.
Spoon the batter into your cupcake cases in the tray and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until risen and firm to touch. Leave to cool for five minuets in the tin and then on a wire cooling rack.

Chocolate fudge icing ingredients
100g plain dark chocolate
50g butter
200g icing sugar, sifted

Method
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. (or melt in the microwave for a minute) When melted, beat in the butter until smooth, then gradually beat in the icing sugar to give a soft fudgey texture. Spread onto the tops of the cooled cupcakes and press in your selection of toppings, mini-marshmallows, flaked almonds chocolate chips and a drizzle of melted white or dark chocolate to finish.

Some of the Cupcake Bakery cupcakes - pretty :)

 If you want more information on The Cupcake Bakery, call Jennie on 086 154 3843 or email lovethecupcakebakery@gmail.com.  It's a fun feed to have on Facebook and they hang out on Twitter @galwaycupcake 

Irish Hallowe'en Barmbrack

One of the loveliest traditions surrounding 'All Hallows Eve' in Ireland is the Halloween cake, the barmbrack. It is a sweet fruit loaf that acts as a sort of Celtic fortune cookie. Trinkets are hidden in the bread, well wrapped up, and each member of the family gets a slice. Your future is decided by which symbolic item you get.

The barmbracks of my childhood were either homemade or came from Hickey’s Bakery set snugly in the shadow of the West Gate. These are really lovely, but as with all the commercial bracks now they only have the toy ring. If you are making a homemade version you can add as many of the items as you like. In our house this year I put in two rings after the last door slamming episode when the younger child got the ring and her sister did not. Although if I was to be realistic I could cram the whole things full of rags in light of the upcoming budget, then that should be fairly accurate.

The trinkets include a ring predicting marriage within the year, a pea for a person who would not marry that year. A coin - wealth, piece of rag - poverty, a matchstick stood for an unhappy marriage or conflict. The thimble - spinster and a button for a batchelor.

The bracks can be a yeast bread but I prefer this Darina Allen recipe. Use a nice strong tea and soak the fruit for as long as is recommended as it makes the finished cake nice and light with moist fruit. There are some recipes that call for a bit of whisky or other spirits in the mix, but to my mind that makes it a bit too similar to a Christmas cake. There are enough spirits wandered the earth around that time without adding to their numbers.

Barmbrack
From 'Forgotten Skills of Cooking' by Darina Allen

100 g (3/4 cup) raisins
100 g (3/4 cup) sultanas
100 g (3/4 cup) currants
50 g (1/4 cup) glacé cherries, quartered
50 g (1/4 cup) candied peel or the zest of 1 lemon
300 ml (1 cup) hot, black tea
1 egg, lightly beaten
225 g (1 3/4 cups) self-raising flour
200 g (1 1/4 cup) light brown sugar
1 level teaspoon mixed spice

Put the raisins, sultanas, currants, cherries and candied peel in a large bowl. Pour over the tea and allow the fruit to soak for at least an hour or even better, overnight.

When the fruit is ready, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 450 g (1 lb) loaf tin with parchment paper or a loaf tin liner.

Add in the beaten egg, flour, sugar and mixed spice to the fruit and tea. Stir well until everything is just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin. Bake for about 1 1/2 hours or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool on a wire rack before slicing. This keeps for a week or two in an airtight tin.
Serve sliced with plenty of butter.

banana cream pie

The big, generous, family pie is something the Americans do best. Deep dish fruit pies stuffed full of apples or cherries. Smooth pumpkin or crunchy pecan pie, rich and decadent peanut butter or Mississippi mud pie. This one is my current favorite and possibly the easiest of the lot - the banana cream pie.

It is not an sophisticated dessert by any means, ripe bananas hiding in a smooth thick custard, but it is very good - I most often make mine on a sweet shortcrust pastry, but a packet of plain shortbread or another plain biscuit or cookie makes it even easier as you won't even have to turn the oven on. This is a favorite with children and people with ill-fitting dentures.

American banana cream pie

For the base
250g plain flour
125g butter, chilled, chopped
75 g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon chilled water

For the filling
500ml milk
250ml cream
1 tin (approx 250ml) condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp cornflour
4 egg yolks
3 large bananas, roughly chopped

For the topping
2 large bananas, thinly sliced
approximately 500ml whipped cream
a little grated chocolate if liked

Make the base:  For the sweet pastry base combine flour, butter and sugar in a food processor. Process until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add yolk and chilled water. Process until dough just comes together. Turn pastry onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until just smooth. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200°C. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to about a 3mm-thick disc. Line a round 23cm tart tin, with removable base or pie dish  with pastry and trim any excess. Place in the fridge for a further 15 minutes to rest.

Cover the pastry base with baking paper and fill with ceramic baking beans, rice or dried beans. Place on a baking tray and bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove the paper and pastry weights, rice or beans, and bake for a further 10 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven.

(For a biscuit base place a medium packet of biscuits in a food processor. Process until they are completely broken up and there are no big lumps visible. Place in the bottom of a deep pie dish between  10" - 12". mix in 2 tablespoons of melted butter, press down with the back of a spoon to line the base and refridgerate for 30 mins.)

Make the filling: Bring the milk, cream, condensed milk and vanilla to a boil. Meanwhile, whisk together the cornflour and egg yolks. When the milk mixture is hot, spoon some of it onto the egg yolk mixture and whisk well. Pour the egg yolks back in the pot and allow to heat slowly while stirring constantly until the mixture becomes very thick - just a couple of minuets should do it.

Mix in the chopped bananas and pour onto the biscuits or pastry shell. Push down any bananas near the top as they will discolour if they are too close to the surface. Place a piece of cling wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming and put it in the fridge for 2-3 hours until set.

To serve: Remove the cling wrap, dollop the whipped cream on top, arrange the sliced bananas on the pie. grate some chocolate over (if desired) and serve maybe with a little drizzle of maple syrup.

easy plum sauce

Plum season is upon us and so, here are two plum sauce recipes. This first recipe is a quick version I make with a jar of homemade plum jam. Bought jam or a preserve with a high fruit content would be perfect as well and cherry jam will do in a pinch. The combination of sweet and sour with a touch of heat makes the perfect companion for spring rolls, wontons, tofu, pork, chicken dishes. To be honest, I think if you dipped a stinky tramp's shoe into this it would make it quite palatable, it's just that good. We most often have it with quick midweek supper of crispy duck and pancakes plus a bowl of fluffy steamed rice - just bring everything to the boil together and serve, it is truly delicious. 

Plum Sauce # 1

Ingredients

1 jar plum jam

2 tablespoons vinegar

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon dried minced onion

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon five spice powder

Directions

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine jam, vinegar, brown sugar, dried onion, red pepper, garlic and spice. Bring to a boil, stirring. Remove from heat.

Plum Sauce # 2

Ingredients

1kg plums

1 onion

4 garlic cloves

1cm fresh ginger

1 chilli (optional)

2 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

1/4 tsp five-spice powder

2tsp sea salt

50ml rice wine vinegar

25ml soy sauce

Directions

Stone the plums, chop them into quarters and put them in a saucepan with a tight fitting lid. Finely chop the onion, slice the chilli (if using) in two lengthways and blitz with the garlic and ginger to a puree in a food processor. Add the onion, the garlic and ginger puree, star anise, cinnamon, cloves and salt to the saucepan along with a tiny drop of water and other liquids to cover the bottom of the pan.

Bring to the boil slowly and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes until the plums are rendered to mush. Remove the cinnamon stick and star anise. Blitz to a puree with a hand blender or in a food processor. The sauce should be a nice ketchup-y consistency by now. If not, boil for a little longer. Cool slightly and pour into pre-sterilised bottles, screw lids on firmly and store in a cool, dark  place.

The colour of the finished sauce will depend on the kind of plum you use, but any variety will do. If you have bought a punnet of plums in the supermarket and they are not nice enough to eat by themselves, they will make a good base for this lovely plum sauce.