Baking

Bramley Apple Week | Recipe: Spiced Apple Cake

Spiced apple cake recipe

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Bramley Apple Week

The Most Requested Dairy Diary Apple Recipe

Ever since childhood, when summer seemed sunnier, the grass seemed greener and those apples plucked from the boughs of my Grandad’s tree tasted like the most delicious fruit in the world, I’ve loved apples.

Needless to say, I don’t need much encouragement to eat or cook with them. And as it’s Bramley Apple Week this week I am using it as an excuse to bake a recipe that’s been requested on numerous occasions by customers who have lost the original.

Printed decades ago in a very eighties Dairy Diary, the original photograph of this apple cake doesn’t really make you want to dash in the kitchen and don your apron. However, after so many requests, it must be a good ‘un, so I’m going to give it a go.

Recipe: Spiced Apple Cake

Spiced apple cake recipeServes 12
Suitable for freezing
Suitable for vegetarians

Self-raising flour 350g (12oz)
Mixed spice 2 tsp
Butter 175g (6oz)
Soft brown sugar 175g (6oz)
Raisins 225g (8oz)
Egg 1, beaten
Milk 200ml (7fl oz)
Bramley apples 2, peeled and sliced
Demerara sugar 25g (1oz)
Clear honey to glaze

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Spiced apple cake recipe

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1 Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas 5. Lightly grease and line a 20.5cm (8in) diameter deep cake tin.

2 Sift the flour and spice into a mixing bowl. Rub in the butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the soft brown sugar and raisins, than add the beaten egg and milk and mix to a soft consistency.

Spiced apple cake recipe3 Spoon half the mixture into the tin, cover with half the apples and then top with the remaining mixture. Decorate with the rest of the apple slices and sprinkle with demerara.

4 Bake for 1¾ hours (cover with foil if the apples are browning too much) until browned and firm to touch.

5 Cool in the tin for 15 minutes and then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely. Remove lining paper and glaze with warmed honey.

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Spiced apple cake recipe

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Pretty Edible Christmas Gifts

Edible Christmas gifts from the Dairy Diary

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Pretty Edible Christmas Gifts

You won’t be surprised to hear that I give the Dairy Diary as a Christmas gift to many of my friends and relatives.

In addition to the diary, it’s lovely to give something homemade too, showing a little effort and thought. Though it adds an extra job to that list of ten thousand things – I’m sure all you mums out there can relate to that –it’s so pleasurable and rewarding it’s worth it.

This year, I have decided to
make these edible offerings –
all Dairy Diary recipes of course.

A few of each will be wrapped in cellophane, tied with a pretty ‘proper’ fabric ribbon, adorned with a gift tag and delivered to my loved ones.

And my gift to you?

In addition to all of these fabulous recipes, I have included these gorgeous printable gift tags. It’s much classier than my cut-out creations from last year’s Christmas cards! Click here to download the PDF file – Edible Christmas gift labels

 

Oaty Fudge Treats

Oaty Fudge Treats

Makes 36
Time 10 mins
Calories 110 per portion
Fat 3g of which 0.9g is saturated
Suitable for vegetarians
Suitable for freezing

Milk 150ml (¼ pint)
Brown sugar 450g (1lb)
Butter 15g (½oz)
Salt pinch
Vanilla essence ½ tsp
Crunchy peanut butter 175g (6oz)
Porridge oats 110g (4oz)
No added sugar muesli 110g (4oz)
Glacè cherries 75g (3oz), chopped

1 Place milk, sugar, butter, salt and vanilla essence in a pan and bring up to boil, stirring. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat.

2 Add peanut butter and stir, then add all remaining ingredients and mix well. Place spoonfuls of mixture into petit four cases and leave to set.

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Cherry Biscuits

Cherry Biscuits

Makes 12 biscuits
Time 40 mins
Calories 183 per biscuit
Fat 8.4g of which 5g is saturated
Suitable for vegetarians
Suitable for freezing

Butter 110g (4oz), softened
Caster sugar 75g (3oz), plus 1–2 tbsp for sprinkling
Egg 1, separated
Plain fl our 200g (7oz)
Ground ginger ½ tsp
Ground cinnamon ½ tsp
Dried cherries 75g (3oz)

1 Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6. Grease a baking sheet.

2 Cream butter and sugar together in a bowl and beat in egg yolk. Sift fl our, ginger and cinnamon into another bowl and gently stir into creamed mixture. Add cherries and shape the mixture into a ball of dough.

3 Knead dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out to a 5mm (¼in) thickness. Use an 8cm (3¼in) cutter to cut out about 12 biscuits. Place on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

4 Meanwhile, lightly beat egg white. Remove biscuits from oven and brush with egg white. Sprinkle with caster sugar and bake for a further 5 minutes until golden.

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Dainty Iced Gingerbread

Dainty Iced Gingerbread

Makes 18
Time 40 mins plus cooling
Calories 102
Fat 2g of which 1.5g is saturated

Plain flour 150g (5oz)
Ground ginger 1 tsp
Ground mixed spice ½ tsp
Butter 50g (2oz)
Soft light muscovado sugar 50g (2oz)
Milk 1 tbsp
Golden syrup 2 tbsp
Royal icing sugar 150g (5oz)
Edible silver sugar balls to decorate

1 Stir together flour, ginger and mixed spice in a mixing bowl.

2 Put butter, sugar, milk and syrup in a pan. Set over low heat and stir gently until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for 2 minutes. Tip in flour mixture. Mix well to make a dough. Leave until cool enough to handle, then gently knead to make a neat ball.

3 Preheat oven to 180ºC/Gas 4. Roll out dough on a floured surface and stamp out 18 hearts or stars, measuring 5-6cm (2in). Re-roll trimmings as necessary. Transfer to baking sheets lined with baking parchment and bake for 10-12 minutes.

4 Leave to firm, then transfer to a rack to cool. Mix icing sugar with enough water to make a smooth paste. Spoon into a piping bag and pipe dots and squiggles on biscuits. Decorate with silver balls. Leave to set.

 

Happy making and baking everyone!

 

 

 

Stir-up Sunday

Make a Christmas pudding on Stir-up-Sunday

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Stir-up Sunday

Have you heard of Stir-Up Sunday? I think this is such as lovely idea.

It dates back centuries and was encouraged by The Church in its Common Book of Prayer.

It’s not a tradition that I
experienced growing up,
but it’s certainly one that I
would like to start with
my children.

Traditionally, on Stir-Up Sunday families gather together in the kitchen to create their Christmas pudding. Everyone should get a turn to mix, and the opportunity to make a wish. Some put coins in their pudding and it is believed that finding a coin brings wealth, health, happiness for the coming year. We could all do with some of that!

Christmas pudding is usually a mixture of dried fruit, nuts, alcohol and breadcrumbs though early versions, originally known as Christmas porridge, incorporated beef, mutton and wine. Yuk! In 1664, Cromwell, in typical-style, banned it as a lewd, sacrilegious custom. In 1714, George I reintroduced it, thankfully without the meat.

How to make Christmas PuddingThis Sunday is Stir-Up Sunday,
so why not gather in the
kitchen and make a
Christmas pudding with your family?

Here’s the recipe we will be
following from the legendary
Dairy Book of Home Cookery.

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The Dairy Book of Home Cookery has been reprinted and is available to buy now

Christmas Pudding

How to make Christmas Pudding

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Christmas Pudding

Makes 2;
Each pudding serves 8
Preparation 40 mins Cooking 6 hours plus 2 hours before serving
Per portion 452 kcals, 20g fat (7.8g saturated)
Suitable for freezing

110g (4oz) plain flour
½ tsp mixed spice
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
225g (8oz) breadcrumbs
200g (7oz) shredded suet
225g (8oz) dark soft brown sugar
350g (12oz) raisins
350g (12oz) sultanas
50g (2oz) chopped mixed peel
50g (2oz) walnut halves or blanched almonds, chopped
Grated rind of 1 small orange
4 eggs, beaten
50ml (2fl oz) brandy or dry sherry
½ tsp almond essence
150ml (¼ pint) milk

1 Sift flour, spice and nutmeg into a bowl. Add breadcrumbs, suet, sugar, dried fruit, peel, nuts and rind and mix thoroughly.

2 Combine with eggs, brandy or sherry, almond essence and milk. Mix well.

3 Divide between two greased and base-lined 1.25 litre (2 pint) pudding basins. Cover with buttered greaseproof paper or foil. Pleat once to allow pudding to rise. Secure with string, using extra for a handle.

4 Place in a steamer over a saucepan of boiling water and cover. Alternatively, place on a metal trivet in a large saucepan and add boiling water to come halfway up the sides of basin. Add pudding and cover.

5 Steam for 5-6 hours, replenishing water. Remove from steamer, and leave until cold. Cover with foil. Store in a cool place.

6 To serve, steam for 2 hours or replace foil with cling film (puncture film) and microwave on medium-high for 6-8 minutes (depending on wattage).

Recipe taken from The Dairy Book of Home Cookery

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The Romance of Steam Trains

Llangollen Steam Railway

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It’s all getting a little steamy

Steam trains have a certain romantic allure, especially if you sit in a carriage like this one depicted by one of my favourite artists, Eric Ravilious.

Eric ravilious trainI love to sit and watch the scenery go by whilst wondering what it would be like to go back in time and ride by steam during its heyday.

This year saw the 75th anniversary of the Mallard breaking the world speed record for steam on Stoke Bank just south of Grantham, Lincolnshire. And next year it is 100 years since the Flying Scotsman began its infamous Edinburgh to London route, clocking 100 mph – the first ever to achieve this speed. To commemorate this we have a feature on the joy of steam travel in the 2014 Dairy Diary, giving a brief history and lots of info on railway-related places to visit.

Llangollen in North Wales gets a mention
and quite rightly so, it’s fabulous!

Thomas-The-Tank-Engine-Llanglloen

I took the whole family to Llangollen railway last weekend for the fantastic Day Out with Thomas. The children got to ride on Daisy, Thomas and Douglas and well as enjoy Thomas-related crafts and face painting.

Face-Painting-with-Thomas-The-Tank-Engine

I’m not sure who was most excited, the children or their dad and grandad! It was a truly lovely family day out and we even got to enjoy the spectacle of a double rainbow sweeping over the river Dee.

Llangollen-Steam-Railway-Rainbow

For more information on where to ride a steam train visit www.heritagerailways.com or buy the 2014 Dairy Diary. It’s available now!

buy bow

Cherry Biscuits recipe

Cherry Biscuits recipe

Our picnic aboard Daisy include these scrummy Cherry Biscuits from the Dairy Diary.

Us Brits have some quaint customs don’t we?

British cheese rolling custom

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Us Brits have some quaint customs don’t we?

From rolling cheese down a hill to burning an effigy of the bloke who tried to blow up parliament, we can be quite eccentric with our celebrations.

Isn’t it fun though?

Children's-harvest-festival-trailerOn Sunday we went along to my son’s school harvest festival. It begins with all the children climbing aboard a trailer filled with hay bales and being pulled by a tractor around the village clutching their harvest offerings. Isaac absolutely loved it!

Of course, celebrating the harvest is an age-old custom dating back to pagan times.

The harvest festival is traditionally held on the Sunday nearest to the Harvest Moon (the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox). Religious or not, it’s a lovely way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday giving thanks for the food we eat and donating a little of what we have to those who really don’t have much at all.

For our harvest parcel, we baked a
gorgeous loaf of bread from the 2014 Dairy Diary.
It looked quite the pièce de résistance snuggled
in amongst the apples and carrots.

Irish Soda Bread recipe from Dairy Diary 2014

2014 diary recipe for Irish Soda Bread

2014 diary recipe for Irish Soda Bread

 

 

Dairy Diary 2014

The best 2014 diary

 

The Dairy Diary has been the best-selling home and kitchen diary since 1982. The 2014 diary features an A5 week-to-view diary with lots of writing space and a practical lie-flat format. Packed with recipes, information and cook’s tips, it’s essential for any busy home. It is now available for just £7.25 from the Dairy Diary website.

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