One thing that I love most about the UK is that each area that you visit has it's own foods that are traditional and steeped in history . . . and sometimes legend. Each one being as different as the area that it represents . . . and more often than not, totally scrummy.




Oftimes these delicacies are very simple to make in your own home . . . but don't let the simplicity of the recipe bely the fact that they are totally tasty and scrumdiddlyumptiously good!!



Like these tasty little Welsh Cakes. Short in texture and oh so buttery . . . lots of sweet castor sugar crunch coating them. Not really a cake . . . and yet not quite a biscuit . . . but something in between . . . very close to scone like . . . but flatter . . . sort of like a scone cookie!!

I know . . . lets consider them to be a scookie!! That works for me. Does it work for you???



Why is it that scrummy treats such as these taste fabulous when fresh from the oven . . .
and even more so when dunked into your cuppa . . . herbal tea of course!! Or real. It's up to you to pick your own poison.

I only know these are so yumbo that I can't stop myself from going in for more . . .



*Welsh Cakes*
Makes a lot but they freeze well
Printable Recipe

Popular through Wales, these tasty little cakes were originally cooked on a heated bake stone. Nowadays I make do with my nonstick skillet. Buttery and short and totally scrummy.

1 pound flour
(16 ounces or 4 cups)
1 tsp baking powder
1 pinch allspice
1 pinch salt
4 ounces butter
(1/2 cup)
4 ounces lard
(1/2 cup)
7 ounces caster sugar
(1 cup)
4 ounces seedless raisins
(1/4 pound)
2 eggs, beaten
milk to mix
Caster sugar to sprinkle

Whisk the flour, baking powder, allspice and salt together in a large bowl. Drop in the butter and lard and rub in with your fingertips until crumbly. Add the sugar and the raisins. Beat the eggs and add to the mixture along with a little bit of milk to make a fairly stiff dough. Roll out on a lightly floured board to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Cut into 2 inch rounds with a fluted pastry cutter. Cook on a lightly greased griddle or a heavy based frying pan for about 3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Dust with caster sugar and serve warm.

When I was about 14 years old I had a best best friend called Linda Wilson. She lived right across the back yard from me and was practically an only child.



She did have a younger brother, but she had her own room and didn't have to share any of her stuff with a younger sister like I did . . . She had her very own record player and a little record holder jammed to the brim with all the latest 45 records.



We spent many a Friday evening in her room, dancing and giggling and talking about boys and what we would do when, and if we ever managed to nab one!



Often her mom would bake us a special cake to enjoy called a Wacky Cake. It was a chocolate cake that was mixed and baked all in the same pan. She covered it with a hot chocolate icing that was something like a custard . . .

It was lovely eaten warm . . . with that chocolate ooze soaking into the warm cake . . . all gooey and scrummy.



Unfortunaely I lost the recipe for the topping a long time ago . . . sigh . . . these days I have to make do with buttercream.

Not a hardship, but still . . . I do think of it from time to time and remember how very good it was . . .



We were having the missionaries over for tea and I thought I would take advantage and bake a chocolate cake for them. (Todd had something else) I don't mind baking a chocolate cake when someone is here to share it with me. In fact I rather enjoy it.



Wacky Chocolate Cake . . . baked with no eggs or butter . . . spect that's why it's called Wacky Cake! Sure there are better chocolate cakes . . . but there's only one Wacky Cake, and in a pinch it does just fine!




*Wacky Chocolate Cake*
Makes one 8 inch square cake
Printable Recipe

Wacky because there's no eggs in it and it's mixed right in the pan. Don't let the title fool you though . . . there's nothing too wacky about this deliciously moist and chocolatey cake . . . there's only delicious.

210g plain flour (1 1/2 cups)
200g caster sugar (1 cup)
3 TBS cocoa powder (not chocolate drink mix)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp good vanilla
1 tsp vinegar
5 TBS vegetable oil
250ml cold water (1 cup)

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ Gas mark 4.

Sift the flour and cocoa right into an 8 inch square baking pan. Stir in teh sugar, soda and salt, mixing it together well. Make three wells in the mixture. Into one put the vinegar, Into another put the vanilla. Into the third put the oil. Pour the water over top of all and mix together well with a fork, making sure you get into the corners and everything is evenly moistened and mixed together. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly touched. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack in the pan.

Ice as preferred.

Here is an optional topping, which my friends mother always used to make to serve on this cake.  I had been looking for the recipe for it for years and couldn't find it.  My friend Jan found it and shared it with me today.  It will print out at the bottom of the above recipe. It's absolutely delicious. Just like chocolate pudding!

Life is not easy when you are a chocoholic and are married to a man that hates chocolate. I know . . . it just ain't natural is it? Imagine hating chocolate.

He does like chocolate candy and chocolate ice cream and hot chocolate . . . but when it comes to cakes, cookies, brownies, pies or tarts . . . he absolutely hates them with a passion. Sigh . . .



That means I never really get to enjoy these things at home . . . I mean, I love chocolate, but I am not going to eat a whole chocolate cake all by myself as much as I would like to do so!



Here is the perfect solution. A delicious little chocolate cake that can be ready to eat in five minutes. I kid you not. It's the truth!



Do you know how dangerous this recipe is???



It means that I am never any further away than five minutes from pure chocolate indulgence!!!!



I served it up with a nice dollop of Cornish Clotted Cream . . .



Because I could!



It's supposed to serve two people. OOPS!! ☺



*Five Minute Chocolate Cake*
Serves 2
Printable Recipe

A tasty chocolate cake in a mug, just big enough for two. Dense and fudgy and delicious served warm with cream or ice cream. You will need a large mug suitable for use in the microwave.

4 TBS plain flour
4 TBS caster sugar
2 TBS cocoa powder (not drinking chocolate)
1 large egg
3 TBS milk
3 TBS sunflower oil
3 TBS dark chocolate chips
1/4 tsp vanilla

Put the flour, sugar and cocoa powder into the mug. Give it a good stir to mix with a small whisk. Whisk in the milk, oil, egg and vanilla, whisking together until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Place in the microwave (1000 watts) and cook for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes. Don't worry if the cake rises above the top edge of the mug. This is supposed to happen. Remove from the microwave and allow to cool a bit before tipping out onto a plate to eat. Serve warm with some ice cream or cream. Delicious!

My local Tesco shop had punnets of home ripening plums on special last weekend for £1 a punnet. Normally I don't buy things like that. Mostly because it takes too long for them to ripen and most of the time they don't ripen at all but go bad anyways . . .



I had in mind this plum cake that I wanted to make though and for that I needed really firm plums.



This is a very unusual cake. You make a crumble mixture in the food processor that you use in the base, filling and topping.



Some of the crumbs get pressed into a baking tin and baked into a lovely buttery crust.



Then you make a frangipane mixture with more of the crumb mixture by beating in some eggs and stuff. This you spread over the buttery baked base. Top with some sliced plums and you bake it some more.



The plums get all soft and sweet and the frangipane mixture bakes up around them. Then you add a final topping of the last of the crumbs which you have mixed with some flaked almonds and you bake it a little longer til golden brown.



It's all you can do to wait until it cools to dig in . . . but wait. It's worth it. Trust me on this. It tastes so much better lukewarm than it does hot. (And it tastes pretty good hot!!)



It is kind of like a tart, but also a cake, and a crumble.



It's all three rolled into one scrummy, moreish bake! Oh my but this is some good!



*Plum and Almond Crumble Cake*
Makes 16 servings
Printable Recipe

It's a Crumble! It's a Cake! It's a Crumble Cake! (Pretty scrummy too!)

250g COLD butter
8 ounces castor sugar, plus a bit extra for sprinkling
10 ounces ground almonds
5 ounces plain flour, plus 1 ounce extra flour
2 large eggs
1 tsp ground cinnamon, plus extra to sprinkle on top
1 tsp baking powder
6 firm plums, stone and cut into sixths
2 ounces flaked almonds

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/Gar 4. Butter an 8 by 12 inch baking tin and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Place the butter, sugar and ground almonds in a food processor. Pulse them together until the mixture resembles a rough crumble. Remove half of this mixture to a bowl and set aside. To the remaining mixture in the processor, add the 5 ounces of flour and whiz this together until it forms a dough. Tip this into the prepared baking tin and press it out evenly, pressing it down well. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

To make the filling, tip the remaining crumble mixture back into the food processor. Add the remaining 1 ounce of flour, the baking powder, the eggs, and the cinnamon. Whiz until it forms a soft batter. Spread this batter over the cooled base.

Top the batter with the prepared plums and sprinkle with a little extra sugar and cinnamon. Bake for 20 minutes.

Mix the remaining crumbs with the flaked almonds. Sprinkle this over top of the baked plums and return to the oven to bake for a further 20 minutes, until golden brown and the batter and plums are thoroughly cooked. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before cutting into slices to serve.

We had some people over for dinner the other night, as a thank you for all the help they had given us in moving into our new house. I wanted a dessert that was really going to wow them.

Something so incredibly delicious that they would leave our home thinking about it . . . and still be thinking about it the next day . . . in fact I wanted to make a dessert that would have them thinking about it for the rest of their lives!



There is one incredibly delicious dish that I tasted back in 1970 . . . I was on a school trip to Ottawa, Ontario and we ate at the Cascade Restaurant in downtown Ottawa. I had the Barbequed Chicken the first night we were there . . . it was sooooooooooo good, I had it every night for the rest of the week and I have dreamt about it ever since!



That's how good I wanted my dessert to be. I searched through all of my cookery books and finally decided on this recipe. The Tres Leche Cake recipe from the cookbook entitled, "You Made That Dessert", by Beth Lipton.



It did not dissapoint. I have always wanted to try Tres Leche Cake, and now I have. It is one of those cakes, like that chicken I had long, long ago . . . . will have you thinking about it long after you have eaten it and all that is left are the crumbs . . .

My guests really enjoyed it as did we all. ☺



Unlike the chicken though . . . this cake does not have to remain a distant delicious memory, coz here's the recipe. (I heard that the Cascade Restaurant closed down a long time ago . . . that chicken, well . . . tis destined to be a far off tantalizing memory til the day I die . . . sigh . . . )



*Tres Leches Cake*
Serves 12
Printable Recipe

A delicious rich and moist cake absolutely stogged full of three creamy milks . . . Evaporated, Condensed and Coconut milks!! Topped off with some sweetened whipped cream, it goes down a real treat with anyone and everyone!

Cake:
6 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature (12 TBS, or 1 1/2 sticks)
8 ½ ounces of plain flour (2 cups)
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
7 ounces caster sugar (1 cup)
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk, room temperature (225ml)

For the soaking liquid:
12 fluid ounces evaporated milk (1 1/2 cups)
14 fluid ounces sweetened condensed milk (1 3/4 cup)
8  fluid ounces canned coconut milk (shake the can well before using) (1 cup)
1 TBS dark rum, or 1 tsp rum extract

To finish:
12 fluid ounces of double cream (1 1/2 cups)
2 to 3 TBS sifted icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Gas 4. Butter a 9 by 13 inch pan really well and then dust with flour, making sure it is well coated and shaking out any excess.

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. Place the butter into a large bowl Beat it with the sugar until it is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Scrape down the sides and beat again. Fold in half of the flour mixture, until the two mixtures are almost combined. Stir in the milk. Fold in the remaining flour mixture, mixing just until combined. Pour into the prepared pan.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean and the cake is well risen. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes.

Make the soaking liquid by stirring all the ingredients together in a large beaker.

Using a fork or toothpick, puncture the cake all over carefully. Try not to tear it. Pour the soaking liquid over top, in half cup measures, allowing time for the liquid to soak in before pouring on more. Once the cake refuses to take any more, stop adding it. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Cover the top with plastic cling film and then chill for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Just before serving whip the cream and coat the cake. Beat the well chilled cream with an electric whisk until it just starts to thicken. Sift in the icing sugar and continue to beat until the cream just holds it’s shape. Be careful not to over whip. Spread over top of the chilled cake in soft waves. Cut into squares to serve.



Sliced strawberries or mangos are very tasty add ons!

Well, it's taken several weeks, but I am thankfully back online now! All the boxes are unpacked and we are finally settled into our new home. Well, almost settled anyways!

It's been a whole lot of fun trying to cram all of our belongings into a much smaller place . . . NOT! There's been ever so much we have had to get rid of . . .



The first thing was my lovely electric cooker. Yes . . . I don't know why we didn't notice it before we moved in . . . but . . . there was no point in the kitchen on which to hook up our electric cooker . . . only a gas point.



We ended up having to go out and buy a new gas cooker. It was kind of exciting, really!! Todd wasn't too thrilled about it, but as most women know, there is nothing like a new cooker to put a smile on your face!

I wasn't very smart though . . . there was only a small space to fit one in to and I didn't want to make Todd do a lot of extra work by having to trim the counter edge to fit a large one in and so I went for a more compact model that would easily fit.



Besides . . . it was really cute. I just love toast done under a gas grill . . . sigh . . . that was something I had missed the whole time we were down in Kent . . .

Don't you think it's really cute? I fell in love with the gold buttons and handles and well . . . I just fell in love with everything about the way it looked!



It wasn't until I went to bake something in the oven for the first time that I realized . . . it is much, much smaller inside the oven than what I have been used to. I had thought it was plenty large at the shop . . . but when you take the heat shields into consideration . . . I lose about 6 inches off of the inside.

*Note to self . . . don't get too carried away with how something looks in the future, be a bit more practical and take measurements into consideration.



Half of my pans don't fit. They are too wide and you can't get the door shut with them in it. This meant that I had to go out and buy some new pans. Oh woe is me . . . woe is me . . .



It also means that when I bake a double layer cake, I have to have both layers on different racks in the oven. The top layer bakes quicker than the bottom one . . . so I found myself having to switch the racks halfway through the baking time.

Which was rather dumb of me actually as, in retrospect, I could have just taken the top layer out a bit sooner than the bottom . . . which is what I will do next time.



I was in Lakeland buying some new pans and saw these handy dandy pan liners . . . kind of like big muffin pan liners, but for larger pans and for loaf pans as well. I bought some as I thought it would be a lot quicker to use them than to have to trace and cut baking parchment.



It was quicker, but . . . my cake layers ended up being a bit lopsided. What with the combination of me switching shelves halfway through the baking time and using paper tin liners, it's a wonder my cake turned out at all when I think about it.

It turned out fabulous. Each layer moist and perfectly ribboned with delicious swirls of blackcurrant preserves . . . the centre filling of buttercream and more blackcurrant preserves being oh so yummy, yummy.

This fabulous cake went down a real treat! It was the most perfect way to celebrate a new home and a new beginning!




*Blackcurrant Jam Cake*
Serves 8 to 10
Printable Recipe

A deliciously moist cake, with ribbons of black currant conserve running through the sponge layers, and filled with tasty vanilla butter cream icing and more conserve. Scrummy yummy!!

8 ounces plain flour (1 3/4 cup) (245g)
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
284ml of buttermilk or sour milk (1 1/4 cup)
(to sour the milk add a tsp of lemon juice
Or vinegar to the measure and finish with milk.
Allow to sit for 5 minutes before using)
8 ounces caster sugar (226g, or 1 1/4 cup)
5 ounces butter, at room temperature (142g of 10 TBS)
2 large free range eggs, at room temperature
½ tsp vanilla
4 ounces blackcurrant conserve (about 1/2 cup)

For the butter cream:
2 ounces butter, at room temperature (56g, 1/4 cup, or 4 TBS)
4 ounces icing sugar, sifted (114g or 14 TBS)
A few drops of vanilla
1 tsp milk

To finish:
2 heaped TBS of blackcurrant conserve
Icing sugar to dust over the top
Preheat the oven to 170*C/320*F/Gas Mark 3. Butter and base line two 8 inch sandwich tins.

Place all of the cake batter ingredients, with the exception of the blackcurrant conserve into a large bowl. Beat with an electric whisk for several minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl down now and then, until you have a smooth batter.

Divide the mixture evenly between the two tins. Whisk the conserve with a fork until smooth. Dot over the surface of the cakes into 5 dollops on each. Using a round bladed knife, drag and swirl the jam through the cake.

Bake in the heated oven for 35 to 40 minutes until the cakes test done. The top should spring back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted in the centre should come out clean. Remove from the oven and loosen from the tin. Let rest for about 10 minutes before removing completely to a wire rack to finish cooling.

To make the butter cream, place all of the ingredients into a bowl. Beat well with an electric whisk until it is smooth and fluffy.

Place one of the sponges on a plate. Spread the butter cream over top. Top with the blackcurrant conserve, swirling it over a bit. Top with the remaining sponge, right side up. Lightly dust with icing sugar to serve.

There are certain foods that I just have to make each Easter for us to eat here in my English Kitchen. Things like hot cross buns . . .



Baked Ham and scalloped potatoes . . . if I'm in a North American mood, or Roast Leg of Lamb, if I'm feeling decidedly British . . .



Deviled Eggs . . .



Simnel Cakes . . .

There are some foods that are just traditional for Easter Celebrations. My Aunt Thelma always used to make lovely fruit breads for Easter. All yeasty and sweet and stogged full of raisins and candied peel . . . the tops covered with a lucious icing glaze and decorated with candied cherries. We so used to look forward to their arrival every Easter Holiday . . .



These past few years I have adopted the habit of making these delicious chocolatey Easter Crispie Cakes. They're so easy to make, and scummily moreish to eat.



Kids just love them. Adults likewise . . . somewhat reminiscent of the Nestle's Crunch Bar . . . there is nothing to them but good melted chocolate (two kinds) and crisp rice cereal.

Oh, and those tasty candy covered little chocolate eggs of course!!



Bet you can't eat just one . . . and I bet you'll have to make them more than once during the Easter Holiday season. Aren't you glad they're so easy to make?




*Easter Chocolate Crispie Nests*
Makes about 15
Printable Recipe

These are so easy to do and look so pretty when they are finished. I had long heard of Marshmallow Crispy Squares, but never these chocolate delights! What a sheltered life I have lived! I wish I had known about these when my children were growing up. They would have loved them!

50 grams of milk chocolate (I used Green and Blacks organic) (1/3 cup)
50 grams of dark chocolate (again I used Green and Blacks)(1/3 cup)
3 cups of crisp rice cereal
1 bag of Easter mini eggs (you will not need them all, but I am sure you will find a use for the extras, I did!)

Put a pot with some water in the bottom of it on the stove and bring it to a simmer. Break the chocolate up into bits and place it into a glass bowl, large enough to sit over the simmering water. Cook and stir until melted. Take care not to let the water boil. Once the chocolate is all melted and smooth, carefully remove it from the heat and stir in the rice cereal.

Line a bun tin with paper liners and spoon the chocolate cereal mixture in, dividing it equally amongst each cup. Place a few easter eggs on the top of each and set them aside to cool and set up. You can put them into the fridge to do this if you are in a hurry, but it may cause your chocolate to bloom. If you are a patient sort it really doesn't take that long for them to set up out of the fridge, perhaps not much more than an hour or so.