Recipe - Date Crumblies

My friend Clare gave me this recipe many years ago, and I used to bake them regularly for the stall and I have no idea what to call them. They are a bit like a flapjack - but not as oaty!

I make them in a 11 X 7 tray

Date Crumblies
200g of dates chopped and simmer with water – just keep adding a little water until it is a thick paste if that makes sense
225g Plain flour (wholemeal is good)
100g Rolled Oats
75g Soft Brown Sugar
150g Margarine or butter

Melt margarine (or butter) and sugar add flour and oats.

Put half into the tin and squash it down - I just do it with my fist, I did try it with a wooden mallet thing but it stuck! Spread dates evenly, and then sprinkle remainder of the mixture over the top as a crumble. Squash it a little bit so it sticks when cooked

I think you could use between 150 and 250 g of dates - really depending on taste.  Clare also said you can use apricots.

Bake 200c – 20 mins cut into 16 or thereabaouts I do 5 X 3 portions so 15. It tastes fab - but I must admit doesn't look as attractive as somethings.  If I have time to start baking again, this will be back on :)  In the meantime you can have a go at making it yourself.

Coconut Ice

I searched around for a recipe for coconut ice and found this one.  


Seems as though there are 2 types one with condensed milk that is more like a 'Bounty'












Coconut Ice

The recipe said makes about 50

2 1/2 floz milk
2 1/2 floz water
1lb granulated sugar
4oz dessicated coconut
1/2oz butter
1/2 teasp vanilla essence
pink food colouring

Pour milk and water into a pan and bring to the boil
Add sugar and butter, heat slowly, stirring until sugar dissolves and butter melts
Bring to the boil. Cover pan and boil gently for 2 mins.
Uncover and continue to boil, stirring occasionally for 7-10 mins or until a little of the mixture, dropped into a cup of cold water forms a soft ball when rolled gently between thumb and finger. Temp on a sugar thermometer should read 116C or 240F
Remove from heat, add coconut and vanilla.
Beat briskly until mixture is thick and glossy.
Pour half into an 18cm (7inch) square tin lined with greaseproof paper.
Quickly colour the remainder pale pink and spread over white layer.
Leave to cool until firm and cut into squares

I have to say I only made 20 squares so not sure why that was - must have been super large.

You have to work quickly with it, and I tried cutting with a knife the first time.  second time I just broke into chunks for a more rustic look

Lemon Drizzle

I decided to bake my usual lemon cake in a square tin which is around 18cm/ just under 8 inches square. I then cut it into 4 portions - I reckon each portion is enough for up to 4 slices depending how big you like them!  Have done the weights in old and new money :)

Don't forget we sometimes have lemons for sale on Ampthill Country Market Stall, check out the facebook page.

4oz 125g Butter or margerine
6oz 175g Sugar (Caster if you have it) 
2 large eggs 
6oz 175g self raising flour 
2 lemons (I reckon 1 big lemon would be enough) 

For topping:
sugar approx 2 ozs 

Oven is at 180c 350f gas 4 

Cream together the fat and sugar, add the egg and beat. Add the grated rind of one of the lemons, and also the juice of the lemon (or half if large lemon). Fold in the flour. Bake for 30 mins. 

So if you are new to baking - for best results, beat the fat and sugar until light and fluffy, you can use caster sugar.  Beat eggs in one at a time.  Sieve flour onto the mix and carefully fold in.

Now there are several ways to finish this. You can melt the sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake whilst warm, spike it first with a cocktail stick. You can mix the juice of the lemon with the sugar and put on the cake whilst warm. You can add lemon rind to the mix too.  Or you could make icing from juice and icing sugar and cover and then add some rind.  Or maybe do the first and one of the others as well, for extra lemony sweetness :)

Quail Eggs

We have been lucky enough to have a few quail eggs each week, for the last few weeks, and I know I puzzled over what you could do with them, so have had a search around to see how long they take to cook and a few ideas how to serve them.


So one blog post I found suggested cooking them for 4 minutes for hard boiled and around 2.5 minutes for soft boiled.  This was to add them to already boiling water.

There seems to a range a recipes out there, where there seems to be a lot of work with a tiny egg, adding them to a raised pie, making them into scotch eggs, but I think it best to keep the simple, this recipe on the BBC site looks simple and delicious for a lovely light lunch.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/smoked-salmon-quails-egg

Have you bought any yet - how did you cook yours, would love to hear.

And then of course like all good things there is a lot of information out there why they are so good for you :)

Benefits of quail eggs

It starts by saying: Quail eggs are packed with vitamins and minerals. Even with their small size, their nutritional value is three to four times greater than chicken eggs. Quail eggs contain 13 percent proteins compared to 11 percent in chicken eggs. Quail eggs also contain 140 percent of vitamin B1 compared to 50 percent in chicken eggs. In addition, quail eggs provide five times as much iron and potassium. Unlike chicken eggs, quail eggs have not been know to cause allergies or diathesis. Actually they help fight allergy symptoms due to the ovomucoid protein they contain.

And another interesting fact the plural of quail is quail.....

Sticky Toffee Pudding

This was a recipe that was given to me by someone on my www.Craftsbycarolyn.co.uk/craftforum and it is great. Ever since I have had the recipe I make it every Christmas and it is my Mother in Laws favourite.


It is so light and moist, and without the sauce almost healthy :)





Ingredients
175g (6oz) dates stoned and chopped
300 ml (10fl oz) water
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
50g (2oz) unsalted butter
175g (6oz) caster sugar
2 eggs beaten
175g (6 oz) self-raising flour
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

300 ml (10 fl oz) double cream
59g (2oz) Demerara sugar
2 teaspoons black treacle


Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4 and grease a 2 lb loaf tin or line it - it was also suggested in the recipe that is work on a 28 x 18cm (11 x 7 inch) baking tin.  I only line mine with a strip the length of the tin, and leave a bit so that I can pull it out.  But the liners are good too, This picture is quite old and I must have used a liner then :)

Boil the dates in the water for about 5 mins until soft (does not take long), I did these in a bowl in the microwave, mash them with a fork then add the bicarbonate of soda. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (I normally start this whilst the dates are boiling), then add the eggs and beat well. Mix in the dates mixture, flour and vanilla essence then pour into the prepared tin. You don’t need to wait until the dates cool down. The mixture looks quite runny but don’t worry. Cook in a pre-heated oven for about 30-40 mins depending on size of tin, until just firm to the touch, it was more like 40 mins for me.

The actual cake will serve around 8 I reckon and the sauce 4 to 5 - as you can see we added a blob of clotted cream on ours, but we also like vanilla ice cream as well :)

It freezes really well and keeps moist for a long time. I just re heat it in the microwave. It is a nice cake on its own and is low in fat! If you intend to serve 8 you will need to double the quantity of sauce.

Savoury Turnovers

We have tomatoes and courgettes for sale on the market at the moment, and they should be available for quite a few weeks now - here is a simple idea to use them.











Roll out a pack of puff pastry (half at a time might be easier), and cut into 12 squares in total.

Chop an onion - red would be good and fry it gently, then add some courgette - diced or sliced which ever you prefer. Put this mixture from corner to corner, and add some diced feta and some sliced tiny toms - make sure it looks attractive at the ends, add some seasoning and herbs.  Fold over the two corners, and seal with milk or egg. I brushed with milk - or for a shinier finish brush with beaten egg.

Cook them for about 15 mins in a fairly hot oven, I always guess these type of things but sure the pastry pack will give guidance.

Bread Pudding

I have always love bread pudding - not to be confused with bread and butter pudding, which I also love, but bread pudding is more of a cake slice.

It is a recipe that has been around for years, made by grandma :)

It is great for using up old bread, or even the crusts, if they are soft.



I spent ages looking at different recipes and in the end came up with my winning formula:

Bread Pudding
Bake 1 hour in a traybake at 170c
15 oz Bread soaked in
14 fl oz of Milk (can do some water)
3oz Sugar
10oz Dried fruit
2oz or 3 oz margarine - melted
1 egg
I add some Mixed Spice and some nutmeg

Basically soak the bread for at least half an hour, you can leave it for longer overnight in the fridge is fine, mash completely – I use a use mixer to get it smooth
Add everything else and bake - how simple is that.

Line the tin with silicone paper not greaseproof it sticks!

And you should have some nice Bread pudding. I sprinkle with sugar on top. This quantities are very 'loose'!

I cut it into 15, I have also added mashed bananas, and it is nice hot or cold.

Raspberries

The first pickings of raspberries will be available on Ampthill Country Market on Thursday, I love raspberries.  Along with fresh raspberries this week there will be jam to follow in the next few weeks as well.

We had homemade Raspberry muffins at the weekend, that my other half made using a square muffin tin, so thought I would share the recipe with you, delicious with a blob of vanilla yoghurt, or maybe some icecream, or clearly great on their own.  You can do the same with reasberries as gooseberries see here:
http://ampthillcm.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/soft-fruit.html

and of course the summer pudding posted last week:

http://ampthillcm.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/summer-pudding.html

Here is the muffin recipe:

I have a large jug that I always use for making muffins and find it easier to pour the mixture as it is runny, and all muffins are delicious straight from the oven.

200g plain flour
100g caster sugar
50g soft brown sugar
Cinnamon to taste (optional)
2 ½ Baking powder

½ teaspoon salt
90ml skimmed or semi-skimmed milk

80ml vegetable oil

1 large egg, beaten
5 drops vanilla extract
200gms (approx) fruit

• Preheat oven to 200 C / Gas 6 and add paper cases to a muffin tray.
• Measure out flour, sugars, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large jug. 
• Combine milk, oil, egg and vanilla in another jug.
• Stir until just combined (mixture will be lumpy).
• Gently fold in chopped fruit, divide amongst 10 cases, or around that number, cases 2/3rds full.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top, sprinkle with icing sugar when slightly cool.

NB I have cheated and use loganberries in the picture as that is all I had in the garden :)

Summer Pudding

With the abundance of soft fruit in the summer months here is a really easy recipe, and it is even low in fat :)

You need a quantity of fruit, a nice selection is good - but it pretty much works with any combination of:
Strawberries
Blackcurrants
Redcurrants
Blackberries
Loganberries
Blueberries

I like to put something in with a bit of punch like blackcurrants or blackberries, but not too many that it overpowers.

I put all the fruit into a saucepan with some sugar, and a tiny drop of water, I personally think that the quantity of sugar depends how sweet you like things. I heated it up until some of the juices came out, not too much as you want the fruit to keep its shape. I took nearly all of the fruit out of the saucepan and left a bit in the saucepan, I mashed these up and made more sauce.

I then roughly lined a pudding bowl with cling film leaving the edges out, this just ensures it will come out easy.

Then it was a case of using sliced white bread to line the basin. I found a saucer than fitted on top of the basin so that it would squash the contents down. Leaving the slices as complete as possible and just filling in the gaps. The outside of each of the pieces was dunked into the sauce and put back into the basin. Then pile the fruit into the basin so it is full. Then make a sliced bread lid - again dunking the outside in the sauce.  The first time I made this I didn't dunk the outside of the bread into the sauce and I found it didn't seep all the way through.

Then pop the plate or saucer on top so that it squashes it down, and put a tin of something on top to weigh it down.

Leave over night.

The pic is a slice with some clotted cream icecream (not homemade!)

There are loads of recipes on the internet - here is one by Mary Berry it isn't a recipe that needs an exact science - just go with what you fancy, you just don't want too much juice, if you have too much use it to add to serve.

Chocolate chip cookies

So another in the recipe series, don't forget there are always some lovely cakes, cookies and biscuits for sale on the market, and you can always pass them off as made by yourself once unwrapped :). Nice easy recipe although it said that it should make 36 but I think that would be far too small!  so I made 18 from the recipe.

Set your oven at 190c/350f/ gas mark 5

Weigh out
175g/6oz Plain Flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarb soda
75g/3oz butter or marg

...rub together to form fine crumbs

stir in
50g/2oz soft light brown sugar
125g/4oz choc chips - I just chop up bars of chocolate, it doesn't take long and much cheaper, and have used a mix of plain and milk - the choice is yours

3 tbspn of golden syrup (I make this just over 3 ozs)

This should now bind together to form a soft dough.

Divide into balls and flatten slightly.

Pop in the oven for 12 - 15 minutes

Soft fruit

Over the summer months we have soft fruit, starting with gooseberries this week, thenwe will have redcurrant and blackcurrant, raspberries and plums and greengages.  Each have a short season, but are a real treat and are so local and fresh you really must get down to the market to get some.  Shop local :)

I will post on Facebook and twitter when they are coming in.

For a simple idea for a pudding, serve up on a meringue nest served with icecream or yoghurt, or even cream.  Or crush the meringue nest and stir in fruit with yoghurt or cream.

The gooseberries will need cooking with some sugar first depending how sweet you like things,  the other fruit can be served as they come, or the currants you may prefer to add sugar.  Elderflower cordial is a perfect partner for gooseberries, and it is so simple to make, the elderflowers are out at the moment, and there are plenty in the hedgerows :)

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/531660/homemade-elderflower-cordial

here are couple of sites that will aid you identify it:

http://www.britishlarder.co.uk/elderflower-cordial

http://www.discoverwildlife.com/blog/new-series-how-find-wild-food-part-1-elderflower

Chocolate cake

There are loads of cakes on the Ampthill market every Thursday, but if you enjoy baking I thought I would share another recipe.

Here is a really excellent chocolate cake recipe, I got it from a free cocoa recipe leaflet years ago and it is in ozs not grammes - like many of my recipes - sorry.








Hot Milk Chocolate Sponge

Makes a 7 inch cake
3 eggs
8 oz Caster Sugar
4 oz Plain Flour
2 tbsps Cocoa
2 tspn baking powder
4 fl oz milk
1 oz Margarine

Chocolate Butter Icing:
3 oz butter softened
8 oz icing sugar
2 tbspn cocoa powder 3 tbspn boiling water, mix and cool

Whisk the eggs and sugar together really well until the mixture is thick and pale.  Sift flour and cocoa and fold into egg mixture.   Heat the milk and margarine together (I do mine in the microwave), make sure all the margarine has melted and the milk is hot. Sprinkle the baking powder on top of the cake mixture.  Then pour on the hot milk on top of the mixture and allow to froth up, fold together. Pour into two 7 inch sandwich tins.

Cook at gas mark 4, 180c or 350f, for about 40 mins, cool on a wire rack.

Mix water and cocoa powder, then beat all ingredients together. This should be enough to fill and top the cake.

I often fill with fresh whipped cream, and just sprinkle icing sugar on the top. 

Make a stencil or use a doily to make a pattern with the icing sugar.  I have also drained a can of crushed pineapple and added to the cream....yum yum. 

Perfect with strawberries or raspberries.

Carrot & Fruit cake with honey

Clearly there are lots of lovely cakes on the stall, but I know sometimes everyone wants to bake themselves - so I thought I would share some recipes - I have not made this one before - but was most impressed,  lovely and moist.

Honey is always on the stall, and carrots are available in season.

Put all of this lot in a saucepan (or I did a bowl and pop in the microwave)

125g - 4oz soft brown sugar

6 tablespoons of clear honey (although I reckon set will do)

175g - 6oz of grated carrot

125g - 4oz seedless raisins

50g - 2oz chopped dates

3/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

125g - 4oz butter

150ml - ¼ pint water

and bring to the boil - then simmer for 5 mins, leave to cool

then add:

1 beaten egg

and then mix together thoroughly:

125g - 4oz wholemeal flour

125g - 4oz plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

I used all plain flour this time as I had not got any wholemeal, and it still seem to work.

put the mix in a 23cm (9inch) cake tin and bake for 55 - 60 mins - 180c/350f/gas mark 4