Everyone needs a simple recipe for a dessert that can be whipped up at a moment's notice when unexpected company drops by, or even just when you want a dessert, but don't want to have to go to the shops.



This fits the bill on all counts. It's quick and easy to do. It can be whipped up at a moment's notice because it uses ingredients most people keep in their store cupboards all the time, and you won't need to go to the shops!



It's a deliciously rich date and nut cake which creates it's own lucious toffee sauce while it bakes. Each warm mouthful brings you all the flavours of a sticky toffee pudding without any of the angst and work that making a real sticky toffee pudding involves!



Actually I'd call this a scrumdiddlyumptious doddle! (Don't worry if you are not fond of dates, you can use 3 to 4 apples, cored and chopped (leave the peels on) instead! Of course then it's actually an Apple Walnut Pudding.) It's also very low in fat, having only 1 TBS of butter which when divided amongst 6 people amounts to about 3/4 tsp a piece! (We won't talk about the cream which you are going to pour on top when you eat it. If you don't talk about it . . . well, it doesn't really count does it??? shhh . . . )



*Date and Walnut Pudding*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

This is an old fashioned, economical pudding, very similar to a sticky toffee pudding with a cake on the top and a lucious toffee sauce on the bottom, which forms while the whole thing is baking.
It's very easy and quick to make.

4.25ounces of plain flour (1 cup)
7 ounces granulated sugar (1 cup)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
125ml of milk (1/2 cup)
5.25 ounces chopped pitted dates (1 cup packed)
4 ounces chopped walnuts (1 cup)

Topping:
7.5 ounces soft light brown sugar (1 cup packed)
500ml of boiling water (2 cups)
1 TBS butter

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a 10 by 10 inch square baking pan, or a deep round dish, 9 inches in diameter. Set aside.

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Stir in the milk and briskly mix together until smooth. Stir in the dates and nuts. Spread the batter into the prepared baking dish. Heat the brown sugar, water and butter together in a saucepan until it comes to the boil again. Pour this carefully over top of the batter. Immediately place into the heated oven and bake, uncovered, for 1 hour, or until the top is golden and the sauce is bubbling up from underneath. Serve warm with or without pouring cream, custard or ice cream.



There are some delicious Grilled Lamb Chops with a Mint and Coriander Sauce cooking over in The Cottage today.

What a lovely week we have had weatherwise. I have so enjoyed all the sunshine and warmth. A true Indian Summer week, the likes of which I have never experienced over here before. It's been a real treat! We've been out and about most days, which is also a real treat!



Almost as much of a treat as this tasty cake that I baked up yesterday afternoon! I had some berries in the fridge that I had bought the other day and wanted to use up . . . and decided a tasty cake was the best way to do it!



We love almonds and we love berries . . . the two together are heavenly. Especially when combined in a cake which is blissfully moist and buttery . . . and yet light at the same time . . . and absolutely stogged full of sweet/tart berries.



I chose to use blackberries and raspberries this time, but either one is lovely on their own, as are blueberries, or even all three together. Currants are also very nice. I love the crunch of the flaked almonds on top . . . it adds a wonderful texture.



You could have this with cream of course! We had it plain . . . but I may have another piece later on with some cream . . . and why not! Life is for living! (And I did rather do a lot of walking today!)



*Autumn Berry & Almond Cake*
Makes one 9 inch cake
Printable Recipe

A real family favourite. You can use any berries you have in any combination you like, alone or a mixture. I love to use raspberries and blackberries.

140g ground almonds (1 2/3 cups)
140g butter (2/3 cup)
140g caster sugar (3/4 cup)
140g self raising flour (1 1/4 cups)
2 large free range eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
250g of berries, fresh or frozen and defrosted (about 2 1/2 cups)
2 TBS flaked almonds
Sifted icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a 9 inch deep. loose bottomed cake tin and line the bottom with paper.

Cream together the butter, ground almonds, sugar, flour, eggs and vanilla in a mixing bowl until evenly mixed together. Spread half of the mixture into the prepared tin. Top with the berries. Dollop the remaining half of the batter over top and roughly spread it out as best as you can. (I wet my fingers and use them. This seems to work best) Sprinkle with the flaked almonds.

Bake for 50 minutes, until golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin. Dust with icing sugar and cut into wedges to serve.



Over in The Cottage today you will find some tasty Chili Chocolate Strawberries. Tres, tres . . . scrummy!

This is one of my favourite tea time loaf cakes. It's moist and delicious, even if . . . no matter how many times I make it I have not ever been able to keep the jam in the middle . . . and you know how much we like jam in this house!!



For some reason it always sinks to the bottom, but no mind . . . it's scrummy anyways!
The crumb is very moist and the jam sets it off just perfectly.
You don't have to use black currant jam either . . . you can use strawberry, or cherry, or blueberry. Heck, I've even used Lemon Curd, which is fantastic as well!!



If you want you can dust the top with some caster sugar instead of the icing sugar, or you can even leave it out all together.



Try cutting it into slices and placing them in a bowl, topping with some ice cream and then a bit of the same flavoured jam warmed up and spooned over top.

Absolutely splendiferously scrummy yummy!!! Nom! Nom!



*Lemon and Black Currant Swirl Cake*
makes one 2 pound loaf cake
Printable Recipe

I wish I could figure out how to keep the jam swirled into the cake, but nevermind, it tastes fabulous nonetheless!!

6 ounces butter, softened (3/4 cup)
6 ounces caster sugar (generous 3/4 cup)
3 large free range eggs
7 ounces self raising flour (1 3/4 cups)
1 ounce ground almonds (1/3 cup)
the grated zest of one unwaxed lemon
4 TBS black currant conserve
Icing sugar to serve

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*C/ gas mark 4. Line a 2 pound loaf tin with nonstick baking parchment. Set aside.

Place all of the cake ingredients, with the exception of the conserve, into a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer for several minutes, until smooth. Spread into the prepared tin and smooth the top over. Place the conserve in a line down the centre of the cake and swirl it a bit with a round bladed knife.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until risen and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Note: for some reason the jam always sinks to the bottom. I let the cake cool upside down so that it kinda moves back into the cake if you know what I mean. I wish I could figure out a way to stop this from happening!



Over in the Cottage today, a delicious Pineapple Slaw.

Oh, and I'm also talking about Elevenses in a guest post over on Picture Britain today! Hop on over for some more deliciousness!!

The Toddster wasn't feeling very well this morning. He hardly slept a wink last night and then stayed in bed for most of the day . . . feeling feverish and out of sorts. He is so healthy most of the time . . . in great shape for being 73 . . . when he doesn't feel well, it really worries me.



I wanted to make him something special to try to make him feel a bit better. He loves jam tarts. He loves jam anything. That is a weakness we both share.



So I got busy this morning . . . did some laundry and hung it out to dry whilst the sun was shining. (It didn't take long to disappear! I'm sure it saw me hanging out the clothes and decided to take a hike!)



I puttered around the kitchen and then I made him these tasty Almond Jam Tarts. I was sorely tempted to drizzle some icing over top . . . but I think that would have been a bit much for him, where he wasn't feeling well.



I took him to the Doctors this afternoon and he's on anti-biotics now . . . hopefully they will do the trick. Right now he's enjoying a couple of these tasty tarts with a mug of Horlicks.



There's nothing like some lovin' from the oven' to help a man feel a bit brighter, don't you think? He said it was feed a fever, starve a cold. It might be the other way around . . . but I'm not taking any chances! He is feeling quite a bit better now, which is a relief. ( I do confess . . . I had a few too. ☺)



*Almond Jam Tarts*
Makes 12
Printable Recipe

Delicious tarts, with a Frangipane filling, covering sweet Raspberry jam and topped with flaked almonds. Fabulous!

1/3 pound of short crust pastry
(your own recipe or store bought)

For the filling:
3 TBS seedless raspberry jam
3 ounces butter, softened (6 TBS)
3 ounces caster sugar (7.1 TBS)
4 ounces ground almonds (1 1/3 cups)
2 ounces ground rice (4 1/2 TBS)
1 medium free range egg, lightly beaten

a handful of flaked almonds to top

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5.

Roll the pastry out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into rounds approximately 4 inches in diameter. Line a 12 hole patty pan with the rounds of pastry. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar. Stir in the ground almonds and rice. Mix in the egg, mixing all together well.

Spoon some jam into the bottom of each pastry shell. Divide the almond mixture evenly amongst the tarts and spread it over to cover the jam. Sprinkle with some flaked almonds.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until nicely browned. Do keep an eye on them during the last 10 minutes or so to make sure they aren't over browning.

Alternately the pastry can be used to line a 7 inch square pan. Spread with the jam and then the almond mixture, smoothing it over top. Sprinkle with flaked almonds and bake as above. Cut into fingers once completely cooled.



Over in the Cottage today, a deliciously easy cake that just looks like you slaved all day . . . Brown Sugar Bundt Cake.

Did you know that my kids came home from school every day to find a freshly baked treat waiting for them?? I'm not bragging or anything, but it's true! It was a very rare occasion when there wasn't something tasty waiting for them when they got off the bus! I loved to bake. I loved my kids . . . I loved to bake for my kids. I don't tell you this to brag or anything . . . it is simply a matter of fact! (With five children, three of them boys, nothing lasted overly long in my house, I needed to bake every day!)



Some days are just milk and cookie days are they not??? There is nothing more inviting when you come into the house than a plate of freshly baked cookies and a jug of ice cold milk. You don't have to be a kid to enjoy it either!



I am one of those who loves to indulge myself every so often in this lucious treat of milk and fresh baked cookies. Ok . . .so my waistline say I indulge myself more than just every so often . . . but . . . meh!



One of my favourite milk and cookie indulgences are these amazing peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. (Now that's a mouthful!) Oh so scrummy . . .
Crisp, peanut buttery, oaty, chocolatey and filled with lots of salted peanuts. These go down so very well with a tall glass of milk. I make em even more moreish by using chopped Green and Black's milk chocolate.



They are my only weakness . . . (shaddup cheeky!!!!)



*Amazing Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies*
Makes about 6 dozen
Printable Recipe

Two of these, fresh out of the oven, along with an ice cold glass of milk. Cookie heaven!!

8.5 ounces rolled oats (3 cups)
1.5 ounces whole wheat flour (1/3 cup)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
7 ounce soft light brown sugar (1 cup packed)
6.7 ounces caster sugar (1 cup)
8 ounces unsalted butter, softened (1 cup)
3 ounces natural peanut butter (unsweetened, 1/2 cup)
2 large free range eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
11 ounces of salted whole peanuts (2 cups)
12.5 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips (2 cups)
(Or use an equivalent weight of chopped good quality milk chocolate with a
high cocoa content, such as Green and Blacks Milk, my preferred)

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Cream together the butter, peanut butter, and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Stir together the flour, oats, baking powder, soda and salt. Stir into the creamed mixture just until combined. Stir in the peanuts and chocolate.

Scoop onto the prepared baking sheets using dessertspoons, leaving at least 2 inches apart for spreading. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown and set. Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Repeat until all cookies are baked. Store in a tightly covered container.



Cooking at The Cottage today, a deliciously old fashioned Potato Pudding! One of my favourite recipes from The Big Blue Binder.

Considered to be one of Cumbria's most popular village, Grasmere sits about halfway down the ambleside area of Lake Windemere. (The most popular of the Lakes in the Lake District.) This is due in large part to the fact that the writer William Wordsworth lived here from 1779 to 1850. It was also sometimes the home of Coleridge and Thomas de Quincy.



There is a lovely museum there where you can read their works and see photos etc. You can also visit Dove Cottage where Wordsworth lived with his sister Dorothy. A very worthwhile place to visit as well.



Another thing that Grasmere is famous for, and maybe even more famous for than it's Wordsworth connections is that it is the place that Grasmere Gingerbread is made! (Since the 1850's) The shop that makes it is tucked into a corner of the churchyard where Wordsworth now sleeps, and unmistakingly surrounded by the delicious smell of baking gingerbread.



The recipe, of course, is a very close held secret, but there are a few versions about, all claiming to be as good as the orignal. Jamie Oliver has a version here. (It looks very, very good too, I might add.) I also found another recipe on the BBC Good Food site, which I have adapted to American ingredients and measurements below.



In any case, this was my first opportunity to try out the Gingerbread, having come up here on some threee separate occasions now, and I can say . . . unequivically, without a doubt, it is some of the best Gingerbread I have ever eaten. Somewhere between a gingerbread cookie and a cake . . . it's quite unsual and quite, QUITE delicious! (I have not baked this recipe, but the picture on the BBC Good Food page looked very delicious and quite close to the original!)



*Grasmere Gingerbread*
Makes 12 slices
Printable Recipe

Adapted from a recipe on BBC Good Food.


First mix:
95g shortbread biscuits (generous 1 1/2 cups)
95g oatcake biscuits (generous 1 1/2 cups)
30g soft light brown sugar (2 1/2 TBS packed)
4ml of ground ginger (about 3/4 tsp)

Second mix:
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
40g mixed peel
35g crystallised Ginger (minced)(2 1/2 TBS)
40g oat flour (porrige oats put through a coffee grinder)(1/2 cup)

Toffee Mix:
55g golden syrup
30g treacle
(In North America use a scant 4 TBS of mild molasses instead
of the syrup and treacle)
70g soft light brown sugar (Generous 1/3 cup packed)
55g butter (1/4 cup)

Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Grease a 7x11 inch baking tin. Set aside.

Put the "First Mix" ingredients into a food processor, and blend to a fairly fine crumb. Remove 40g of this, and put in a small bowl (to be used after the baking stage). Put the remainder into a large bowl.

Add the "Second Mix" ingredients to the large bowl. Mix in.

Put the "Toffee Mix" ingredients into a small pan. Slowly bring to boil while stirring. Using a thermometer, slowly heat until the boiling point reaches 119*C. (This temperature is quite critical.) Add this hot liquid mix to the large bowl, and mix in thoroughly. Pour this mix into the baking tin, and smooth down firmly. Bake near the middle of the oven for 15 minutes.

Spread the reserved mixture evenly onto the hot ginger slice, and press down gently. Leave to cool completely and then cut into slices. Enjoy!



If you'd like to read a little bit more about our holiday and see a video I took of the Cumbrian Fells, do hop on over to the Cottage to see more!

Remember this picture from last year??? Yep! It's that time of the year again, the Toddster's Birthday! He is like a good cheddar that just gets better and better with age. He is 73 years young today and doesn't look a day over 63, seriously! It must be all that TLC I give him!

Last year I baked him a delicious Buttermilk Spice cake, which he truly enjoyed, but that really isn't his favourite cake.



Every year I ask him what kind of cake he would like and he always says fruit cake, and so I have fruit soaking in some brandy at the moment so that I can make him one of those, but I also made him his second favourite of all cakes, a Cherry Almond Cake.




It's a delicious family type of cake . . . a teatime cake . . . a buttery rich cake that is chock full of candied cherries and almonds . . . with a scrummy ribbon of marzipan running through the middle of it.



Oh, this cake is just perfect for celebrations of any kind . . . wonderful for tea parties . . . luncheons . . . and birthdays. (Well, if you're a Todd at any rate. I'd still pimp for a chocolate fudge cake myself.)



It's a great cake though and everyone who shares a piece of it loves it. It's not as pretty as a traditional type of birthday cake, but it's what the Toddster wants and so it's what the Toddster gets.



I don't know what I'll make him for supper . . . he has only one request . . . that it not be pasta.



*Cherry and Almond Cake*
Makes one 8 inch round cake
Printable Recipe

This is a delicious family/teatime type of cake. It's dense and buttery and chocker block full of delicious cherries and almonds.

8 ounces butter, at room temperature (1 cup)
8 ounces golden caster sugar (1 cup plus 2 TBS)
4 large free range eggs, beaten
8 ounces self raising flour (2 cups)
8 ounces glace cherries, chopped (1 cup)
4 ounces ground almonds (1 scant cup)
2 to 3 drops of almond extract
9 ounces marzipan (a generous 1/2 pound)
2 ounces flaked almonds (1/2 cup)
sifted icing sugar to serve (optional)

Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F. Butter a deep 8-inch round baking tin and line the base and sides with parchment paper.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in the eggs, a bit at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the flour one third at a time. Fold in the cherries, ground almonds and almond extract, mixing all in until evenly combined.

Spoon half of the batter into the prepared tin.

Roll the marzipan into a 7 1/2 inch round. Lay this on top of the batter in the tin. Spoon the remainder of the batter over top.

Smooth over the top of the cake with the back of a spoon and then sprinkle the flaked almonds evenly over top.

Bake in the preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours, covering with foil after the first hour if it appears to be getting too dark. The cake is done when it shrinks away from the sides of the tin and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin for 20 minutes, before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

Optional: Dust with icing sugar to serve



Over in the Cottage this morning there are some delicious Chicken Fried Pork Chops!

One thing that I really missed when I moved over here to the UK was Hummingbirds. I always had a hummingbird feeder hanging by my window back home in Canada. I used to get quite a few of them too. They were so much fun to watch. Sometimes they would fight each other . . . their aerial dances were so beautiful to see, and quite amazing!



When we lived down south I was quite certain one day that we had a hummingbird in the garden. It flew from the honeysuckle at the side of our cottage over to the honeysuckle that was growing in the hedge at the back of our place. It flew just like a hummingbird and I was sure it was one . . . except it was a dull brown, but no matter . . . I thought perhaps it was a European variety or some such. I watched it for a good five minutes and was so excited to see it. I could hardly contain myself when I went into the house to tell the Toddster.



I was mistaken. It was not a hummingbird at all . . . it was a hummingbird moth, and I am not the first one to make that mistake . . . it is quite a common occurance over here in the UK. Moths in the daytime that act just like hummingbirds! In truth, I was every bit as excited to see a Hummingbird Moth as I would have been to see a Hummingbird! Funny how that goes!!



Of course that has nothing whatsoever to do with this lovely cake! When I told Todd it was a hummingbird cake, he looked at me like I was all doolally! I was quick to tell him it was not made from hummingbirds . . . no!



Just made of things that one might find in the countries where hummingbirds winter . . . things like bananas, and coconut . . . and sweet pineapple too.



It's very moist and oh-so-delicious. Each bite is quite quite lucious. The Toddster quite enjoyed.



Make sure you drain the pineapple very well for this, saving the juice of course . . . if the fruit is too wet the cake will be too heavy. Do use very ripe bananas too . . . if they aren't ripe enough, you won't get a good balance of flavours I topped mine with toasted coconut, but you don't have too. I just thought it would look prettier. Kinda like a hummingbird . . .



No Hummingbirds were harmed in the making of this cake.



*Hummingbird Cake*
Makes one 9 inch square cake
Printable Recipe

Moist and delicious. Moreishly scrummy!

450g tin of crushed pineapple in syrup (2 cups undrained)
210g plain flour (1 1/2 cup)
105g self raising flour (3/4 cup)
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
pinch salt
200g soft light brown sugar (1 cup packed)
45g dessicated coconut (1/2 cup)
2 large overripe bananas, mashed
2 large free range eggs, beaten
180ml of vegetable oil (2/3 cup)

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*C/ gas mark 4. Butter a 9 inch square deep pan. Line the base with baking parchment. Set aside.

Drain the pineapple well, reserving the syrup. (Really press it to get out as much liquid as possible.)

Sift the flour, soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt and brown sugar into a bowl, mixing well. Beat together the eggs, banana, vegetable oil and 60 ml (1/4 cup) of the reserved pineapple syrup. Stir this mixture into the flour along with the pineapple and mashed banana using a wooden spoon. Stir in the coconut. Spread into the prepared baking pan.

Bake for about 40 minutes, until well risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let stand in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. When cooled spread with the cream cheese frosting.



*Cream Cheese Frosting*

30g butter softened (2 TBS)
60g full fat cream cheese, softened (4 TBS)
1 tsp vanilla
240g of sifted icing sugar (2 cups)

To make the frosting beat together all the frosting ingredients until light and fluffy.

This cake will store for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. If you don't want to use cream cheese frosting you can make a simple glaze type of frosting using some of the pineapple syrup and some icing sugar, enough to make a drizzle. Just pour on top of the warm cake and leave to set until completely cold.



Over in The Cottage today, some delicious Pancakes! (made with sour cream!) These were always my eldest son's favourite ones when he was growing up!