Yorkshire Teacakes. I remember these from when I was young. They would always be available, stored in a large wooden breadbin. I´d have one on a morning with a cup of tea (Yorkshire of course), it would be spread thickly with butter and my Mum would always joke if I´d like a bit of teacake with my butter (as opposed to the other way round).

We had a visiter once who asked if he could have one of those fruit breadcakes! To which was retorted “Dun’t tha knaw t’ difference a’tween Yorksher teacakes and breadcakes lad? Nay lad, tha´s no Yorkshire lad, tha´s not!”. Bless.

A Yorkshire Teacake, unlike a plain breadcake, is a slightly sweat bread endowed with dried fruit and sometimes citrus peel (although less rarely). At home we would always have them toasted next to the fire, spread thick with butter and served with a cup of finest Yorkshire tea.

Ingredients

½ lb plain flour

1 tsp of salt

1 oz butter or block margarine

1 oz fresh yeast (or equivalent dried yeast)

1 tsp of caster sugar

2 oz seedless raisins

1 oz sugar

½ pint whole milk

Method:

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl and rub in the fat, put to one side

Cream together the yeast and sugar – if using dried yeast, follow manufacturer’s instructions

Stir the fruit into the flour, make a well in the centre and add the creamed yeast and some of the milk

Start to mix gradually bringing more flour down into the mix and adding milk as necessary until a soft dough has formed and all the flour incorporated into the mixture

Cover with a cloth and leave in a warm place until doubled in size – for about an hour

Turn out on to a floured work surface and knead for about 5 minutes, divide into 6 pieces kneading each into shape, and roll out until about half an inch thick

Cover and leave on the greased baking sheet to prove until double in height, and with a spongy texture

While teacakes are rising, preheat oven to 220 degrees Celsius

Bake for approximately 15 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool

A few years ago my mother and I were trying to think of a twist on the traditional christmas cake – during the process this is something we played with – using dried tropical fruits finely chopped in place of some of the more traditional fruits. It was a moderate success. This year we tried again, and have improved the recipe marginally. Each time it gets a little better – but here is the current recipe.

One point of note, and I stress this to everyone who is making a traditional christmas cake – preparation of the fruit is everything, especially with mine or my mothers cakes. We believe in detail – so ensure that all sultanas and raisins are washed, dried and halved, removing any stems or damaged fruit.  I hate the thought of unwashed fruit, even if it does come from a packet marked prepared. Drying is essential to avoid a soggy, sad cake with all the fruit at the bottom. Also check other dried fruit to ensure they are good quality.

Ingredients::

8 oz plain flour
1½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp ground mixed spice
¾ tsp ground ginger
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
¾ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
¾ tsp sea salt
1 oz candied peel – lime only
1 oz glace cherries
3 tbsp dark rum
3 tbsp limejuice
1 tsp of vanilla extract
6 oz softened butter
6 oz soft dark brown sugar
3 large eggs – room temperature
1 oz desiccated coconut, or 2 oz fresh
3 oz seedless raisins
3 oz golden sultanas
3 oz dried papaya
3 oz dried cherries – quarter
3 oz dried pineapple – unsweetened

Preparation of Fruit

Raisins and sultanas – these should be washed, dried and halved, removing any stems or damaged fruit. Check other dried fruit to ensure they are good quality.

Preheat over to 140 degrees Celsius

Sift flour, baking powder, ground mixed spice, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, nutmeg and salt into a baking bowl, put aside

Chop the candied peel finely and place in a bowl, along with the glace cherries, rum, lime juice and vanilla extract, cover and leave until required, then transfer to a liquidiser and blend until fairly smooth

In a separate bowl, cream together butter and soft brown sugar until pale in colour and smooth, beat in eggs (one at a time) adding a little flour with each egg

Stir in sieved dry ingredients along with prepared fruit and desiccated coconut. Add the candied peel/spirit/cherry mixture to the cake and continue mixing, test for dropping consistency. It should drop off the spoon in a few seconds. Continue mixing until mixture “shines”. If the cake is too dry, add a little milk

Cook for 1 hour and 45 minutes, checking after 1 hour and covering with greaseproof paper if the cake is browning too quickly. To test to ensure it is done, put a fine clean skewer into the centre of the cake – if it comes away clean, then the cake is done and can be removed from the oven

Do not open the door for the first hour of cooking, as it will sink

When cooled brush lightly with rum, wrap in greaseproof paper and store in an airtight container in a cool dark place. This cake will improve with age. Brush the top and sides (lightly) with rum once per week

Feeling the cold this winter? Are you like thousands of Brits and completely snowed in? If so, then this is most certainly a recipe for you!

I love a lamb hotpot when the winters start to really set in. Of course my family have always traditionally served this with Yorkshire Pudding, but these days I find it far too heavy and tend not to combine the two. It is lovely with a great chunk of homemade bread. Incidentally this is also my first entry written with Windows Live Writer. I will let you know how it goes!

Ingredients:

1 lb neck of lamb
2 large onion
2 stalks of celery
1 small white turnip
2 carrots
4 medium potatoes
6 oz pearl barley
Chicken stock
Sprigs of thyme and bay leaves – place in a muslin bag
White pepper
Parsley leaves

Preparation:

Preheat an oven to 160 degrees Celsius

Peel the onions, halve and thickly slice

Peel and cut celery stalks into 4 pieces – diagonally

Peel the turnip, carrot and potatoes and cut into chunks

Place the vegetables and pearl barley into a casserole dish, put the neck of lamb on top then add the thyme and a bay leaf in a muslin bag tied with string

Pour in sufficient stock to cover the meat and vegetables then season with white pepper and salt

Bring slowly to the boil

Skim off any impurities

Cover the top of the stew with a circle of greaseproof paper, then a lid

Put into the lower part of a preheated oven for two hours

Remove the casserole lid, greaseproof paper and muslin bag

Sprinkle over the chopped parsley and gently stir

Check seasoning and adjust if necessary

My family would make dozens of Mince Pies at Christmas, and we would often give them away as gifts to our friends, family and neighbours. As a result of course Christmas just would not be Christmas without a mincepie. Obviously my mince pies have evolved a bit since my Grandma´s recipe – she believed in mass production over quality, whereas I strongly believe in this case – less with more filling is better than more with a thin spreading!

But first, here is my recipe for traditional mincemeat.

Ingredients:
2 oranges and 2 limes – finely grated zest and juice
½ lb cooking apples
6 oz candied peel
2 oz flaked blanched almonds
¾ lb raisins
½ lb sultanas
¼ lb currants
¼ lb fresh cranberries
½ lb vegetable suet
½ lb soft dark brown sugar
2 tsp ground mixed spice
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
A little freshly grated nutmeg
6 tbsp Brandy (or other spirit – to taste)

Prepare the fruit:
Wash the raisins, sultanas and currants, check for any damaged fruit or stems and discard. Place a clean tea towel on a tray, put on the fruit, cover and leave overnight to dry
Finely chop the candied peel
Halve the raisins, sultanas and halve the currants if they are too large
Wash, core and finely chop the apples and place in acidulated water (lemon) until ready to use

Place the citrus zest and juice, apples, candied peel, almonds, dried fruit, cranberries, suet, sugar and spices into a large bowl, thoroughly mix, cover and leave for 12 hours

Pre-heat the oven to 110 degrees Celsius

Cover the bowl loosely with foil and place in the bottom of the preheated oven for 3 hours

Remove from the oven and stir occasionally during the cooling process

Prepare the jars:
Wash in mild, soapy water
Rinse in hot water and dry
Place on a tray in a pre-heated oven set to 110° Celsius, leave 5 minutes to sterilise the jars

When the mincemeat is cold, stir in 6 tablespoons brandy (or other spirit of your choice), pack into the jars, cover with wax discs, seal and label with date made, contents and use by date (best eaten within 12 months)

Store in a cool dark pantry, larder or cupboard

I realise every daughter says this but my Mum does the best Christmas Cake. Its the most devine thing I have ever tasted, and it wouldn´t be Christmas without it. Served on its own, or with a slice of Wenslydale Cheese… its marvellous. Its uniquely her own because she does a rather unusual thing with the cherries – she puts them in a blender with the brandy and candied peel and whizzes them! It adds the most wonderful flavour to the cake, and it is a tip I would heartily recommend.

People would beg my Mum to make a cake. When she first invented the cake recipe that exists today she´d make one small cake, maybe two for the family. A year or two later we were mixing the cake by hand in a huge bread bowl – turning out 10 cakes for family and friends.

Ingredients
8 oz strong plain flour
1½ tsp baking powder
1½ tsp ground mixed spice
¾ tsp ground ginger
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
¾ tsp salt (not low salt)
3 tbsp – either Brandy / Sherry / Whisky or a mixture
1 oz glace cherries
1 oz candied peel
1 tsp almond extract
6 oz butter or margarine
6 oz soft brown sugar
3 large eggs – room temperature
1 oz ground almonds
6 oz stoned raisins
5 oz currants
4 oz sultanas
2 tbsp milk

Preparation of Fruit
Raisins/Sultanas – to be washed/dried/cut into small pieces, stems removed
Currants – to be washed and dried, stems removed – leave to dry overnight on a clean tea towel over a tray

It is important to pick through the fruit, remove any stems or damaged fruit.

Preheat over to 130 degrees Celsius.

Sift together flour, baking powder, ground mixed spice, ground ginger, ground cinnamon and salt into a baking bowl, put to one side.

Put candied peel, cherries, spirits and almond extract into a bowl, cover and leave until required, then transfer to a liquidiser and blend until fairly smooth.

In a separate bowl, cream together butter and soft brown sugar until pale in colour, beat in eggs (one at a time) adding a little flour with each egg.

Stir in sieved dry ingredients along with prepared fruit, ground almonds and the candied peel/cherry/spirit mixture, adding a little milk if needed.

Test for dropping consistency – mixture should drop off the spoon when tapped on the rim of the bowl – the mixture should “shine”

Cook until done – Use warmed darning needle or skewer to check. If it comes away clean it is done. We don’t do exact times in this house, but will let you know when we cook this next. Do not open the door for the first hour of cooking, as apparently it will sink.

When cooled brush lightly with Brandy, wrap in greaseproof paper and store in an airtight container. Store in a cool dark place. This cake will improve with age. Brush lightly with brandy once per week.

I am celebrating the latest reincarnation of The Recipe Blog with my Grandmother´s recipe for beef stew – a wonderfully warming and hearty stew, perfect for the cold winters of Yorkshire!

Ingredients
1 lb shin beef – diced
Seasoned flour – plain flour, salt and white pepper
2 tbsp beef dripping
2 large onions, quartered
2 large carrots and a half of a turnip, peeled and diced
1 bottle of Newcastle brown ale
10 fl oz beef stock – add more if required
10 fl oz light vegetable stock or water
2 lb potatoes – peeled cooked and diced

Method
Place the seasoned flour into a plastic bag, add the meat and shake to coat, retain flour

Add the beef dripping to a large ovenproof casserole, melt then add the onion quarters and cook until lightly browned, remove and put to one side

Add the beef and brown all over, remove beef from pan, pour dripping into a bowl and put to one side

Return the beef to the pan, adding the onions, vegetables, ale, stocks and potatoes

Bring up the boil, cover and transfer to a preheated oven, cook for 90 minutes

Mix the flour with the dripping and add to a little of the stock, pour into the pan while stirring, return stew to the oven for 30 minutes

Serve with Yorkshire Pudding or Dumplings

Handy tips

A handy tip for thickening stews or gravies in our family is to use Yorkshire Pudding Batter. Traditionally we rarely had a stew that was not served with Yorkshire Pudding in our family. In place of mixing the flour with dripping my grandmother used to make the Yorkshire Pudding batter, and ladle a little into the stew (about half a soup ladle). Then continue cooking the stew. It really added something!

The Beauty of a traditional stew is you can add any veggies that strike your fancy.

Derbyshire Pikelets
8 oz plain flour
1 tsp salt
¼ oz fresh (or equivalent dried yeast – if dried follow instructions on pack)
1 teaspoon of caster sugar
1 egg
½ pint whole milk

Sieve flour and salt into bowl. Cream yeast and sugar and add beaten egg and warmish milk. Add the yeast mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix to a thin batter consistency – if too thick, add more milk, a little at a time. Cover and leave to rise for 30 minutes in a warm place until it has doubled in size

Put a teacup full onto a lightly greased frying pan or hot griddle, turning once when set

Durham Pikelets
8 oz flour
1½ caster sugar
pinch of salt
pinch of bicarbonate of soda
buttermilk or sour milk

Mix flour, sugar and salt and add enough milk or whatever to make a batter around the same consistency as double cream. Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in a little aired water and add to batter. Beat well and cook as for the Derbyshire recipe

Put a teacup full onto a lightly greased frying pan or hot griddle, turning once when set

1 lb plain flour
½ pint tepid milk
1 oz unsalted butter
½ oz fresh yeast
1 tsp unrefined caster sugar
1 tsp salt

Pre-heat the oven to 200° Celsius
Lightly butter a baking tray

Cream together the yeast and sugar and stir in the milk
Sift the flour and salt into a bowl
Put the butter into a saucepan over a gentle heat and leave to melt
Add the butter and yeast mixture to the flour and mix to form a smooth dough
Leave the dough to rise in a warm draft free place for 45 minutes
Shape the dough into balls and place on the prepared baking tin
Bake in the centre of a preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes
Serve either hot or cold with butter, homemade strawberry jam and clotted cream

Whilst many people complained about the dinners on offer at their school I still hang on to some very fond memories of ginger puddings, manchester tart and chocolate custard. My school was a very traditional primary school with a extremely traditional take on school dinners.

One of my long standing favourites was always steamed ginger pudding served with lashings of custard. I discovered this recipe sometime ago, and finally got around to making it. My first attempt was not exactly as I remember it – but it was close enough to bring back memories of childhood and ultimately served its purpose as a comfort food.

Ingredients

Serves 6

225g (8 oz) self_raising flour
Pinch Salt
2×5ml spoon (2 tsp) ground ginger
50g (2 oz) margarine
50g (2 oz) caster sugar
2×15 ml spoons (2 tbsp) golden syrup
2 eggs size 3 (large)
2×15 ml spoons (2 tbsp) milk

(1) Grease a 1.2 litre (2 pint) pudding basin

(2) Mix flour, salt and ginger

(3) Rub in margarine and mix in other ingredients

(4) Place mixture in prepared basin, cover with pleated greaseproof paper or foil and steam for about one and a half hours.

Cold weather? Nothing can warm you up [or stick to your ribs] like a traditional british rice pudding. This is my families version which is made richer by the use of evaporated milk.

Serves 4-6
Ingredients

4 oz (110 g) pudding rice
14½ oz can (410 g) evaporated milk
1 pint (570 ml) full fat milk
1½ oz (40 g) golden caster sugar
1 whole nutmeg
1 oz (25 g) butter

1. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 2, 300°F (150°C).
2. Mix evaporated and whole milk together.
3. Place rice and sugar in an over-proof dish.
4. Pour on the milk.
5. Dust with grated nutmeg and place random dots of butter across the top.
6. Place in oven and cook for 30 minutes. Pull out shelf of oven and stir.
7. Put back in oven and cook for another 30 minutes.

Add dried fruits if required. But I am a purist and prefer it without. Occasionally serve with homemade strawberry or raspberry jam.