*Chocolate Bounty Cake*
Makes one 9 by 13 inch cake
Printable Recipe
A moist, quick mix chocolate cake, dolloped with a sweet bounty like coconut filling and topped with a chocolate buttercream icing. Delicious! 175g of plain flour (1 3/4 cups) 240g of granulated sugar (1 1/4 cups) 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1/2 tsp salt 4 ounces butter, softened (1/2 cup) 250ml of buttermilk (1 cup) 1 tsp vanilla 3 medium free range eggs 3 ounces good quality unsweetened chocolate, melted For the filling: 1 397- tin of sweetened condensed milk (14 ounce,NOT evaporated milk) 7 ounces of flaked coconut (2 2/3 cups) 1 tsp vanilla Chocolate Buttercream: 2 ounces dark chocolate melted 150g of butter, softened (2/3 cup) 520g of icing sugar, sifted (4 cups) 1 tsp vanilla 2 to 4 TBS milk  Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter and flour a 9 by 13 inch cake tin, shaking out an excess flour. Set aside. Measure all the cake ingredients into a large bowl. Beat with an electric whisk until all the ingredients are moistened, and then beat for about 3 minutes at medium speed. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Mix together the sweetened condensed milk, flaked coconut and vanilla. Spoon over the top of the cake batter, in teaspoonfuls, being carefull not to touch the sides of the pan.  Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the top springs back when lightly touched in the centre. Cool completely before proceeding. Beat together all of the ingredients for the buttercream until light and fluffy. Spread over the top of the cake. Cut into squares to serve. |
Today I baked Todd's favourite Jam Filled Scones. You know we love jam in this house . . . I make no secret of it, and I always have lots of it in the cupboard and refrigerator. I have several varieties that I prefer over others . . . Strawberry being my top favourite, followed closely by seedless raspberry and Blueberry. Cherry jam is also a real love of mine.
One thing that Todd and I are both really crazy about is Jam. We eat a lot of it here. I use it for baking and all sorts, and sometimes when we are both feeling really lazy we have nothing but bread and jam for a light supper. We both really enjoy it and it feels like a real treat. Especially if I have some crusty or homemade bread in the house!
My sister made this recipe that she found on Pinterest a couple of weeks ago and put a picture of it on her facebook page. It looked so good that I immediately wanted to try it myself. We love cabbage and potatoes in this house and the recipe incorporated both of those along with some onions, chicken pieces and bacon! If it's got bacon you just know it's going to be good!
We normally have our Sunday Dinner on Saturdays. Sundays I never have the time to cook a big meal. We spend half the day either getting ready for church or in church and then when I get home, I have phone calls to make to Canada, etc. so Sunday is usually catch as you can.
Saturday is the day I make us a Sunday type of dinner, complete with dessert. Today I treated my husband with one of his favourites . . . the most hedonisticly scrumptious dessert ever . . .
Golden Syrup Dumplings. With lashings of vanilla custard. You just must have custard with a dessert like this . . . or at least Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. It's a given.
Rich, stodgy, and oh soooooo scrumdiddlyumptious!
Very "School Dinnerish!"
Imagine puffy little buttery dumplings . . . poached in a buttery golden syrup and brown sugar sauce . . . spooned all hot and scrummy into a bowl and then covered with lashings of warm vanilla custard.
I know . . . I oughta be ashamed of myself.
*Golden Syrup Dumplings*
serves 8
Printable Recipe
Quick, easy to make and oh so delicious! Lashings of custard or vanilla ice cream are a must!
7 ounces butter (3/4 cup plus 2 TBS)
8 ounces soft light brown sugar (1 cup packed)
4 ounces golden syrup, plus 2 TBS (1/2 cup plus 2 TBS)
400ml of milk (1 3/4 cup)
450ml of water ( 2 cups)
500g of self raising flour (3 1/2 cups plus 2 TBS )
Put the water, half of the butter, all of the sugar and 4 ounces of the golden syrup into a large wide pan. Bring to the boil and then reduce immediately to a simmer.
Warm the milk just a little bit. Place the flour and remaining butter in a food processor and pulse until it resembles bread crumbs. Whisk the warm milk and 2 TBS of syrup together. Add to the flour mixture and blitz until it comes together.
Bring the liquid back to the boil and drop in dessertspoon size pieces of the dough. Turn the heat down to a simmer again and gently cook for 10 minutes, turning the dumplings gently a few times. You may need to do them in a few batches, so that they don't stick together. Just scoop out the first lot with a bit of the syrup, and place into a baking dish,covering with foil. Keep warm in a very slow oven while you cook the rest. Serve warm, spooned into heated bowls along with lashings of vanilla custard! (Vanilla ice cream is also nice.)
Note: Golden Syrup is very similar to corn syrup but has more of a caramel type of flavour. You could use light corn syrup and add about a teaspoon each of both butter and vanilla extracts for extra flavour.
I've been collecting the Waitrose Recipe Cards for years now. Every month they used to put new ones out and I would dutifully collect the ones that looked delicious to me. I haven't collected them much since I moved back to Chester, but every once in a while I like to dig them out and make something from one of them. Today it was this quick and easy dessert made with blueberries. You all know how much I love them!
I have always been a foodie. When I was really young my mom used to give me her old magazines and I can remember clipping recipes from them. I can still tell you how very delicious a slice of her lemon meringue pie was . . . yellow and transparent, covered in a seemingly mile high pile of sweet and sticky meringue . . . this remembered from lunch time when I was about 8 years old. She used to make my brother a small bowl of lemon pudding instead of pie because she didn't think pastry was good for wee ones . . . and it probably wasn't.
I have made no secret on here of my love of lemons. It's very clear that I can't get enough of them! Todd . . . well, he says lemon is not his favourite thing, but that fact doesn't seem to stop him from indulging in my cakes and cookies . . . it is my dream to have a lemon tree, filled to overflowing with lovely organic and unwaxed lemons . . . sigh . . .
One of the tastes I have come to really enjoy over here is Golden Syrup. A pale thick amber coloured syrup, it is a form of inverted sugar syrup, made in the process of converting sugar cane juice into sugar. Oh, it is soooo scrummy and has a lovely caramel like, almost buttery flavour.
I freely admit that one of my great weaknesses is chocolate . . . and it doesn't seem to matter how I get it . . . candy bars, cakes, biscuits . . . creamy hot chocolate. I confess I am not a fan of really cheap powdery tasting chocolate though. I am a bit more discerning than that. It always disappoints. I do have a passion for Coconut Bounty Bars . . . that chewy coconut filling . . . the milk chocolate coating. The two together are simply bliss.
So that's what I set out to do . . . although it didn't end up exactly as I had envisioned . . . the end result was still rather scrummy and completely edible.
The cake was quite moist . . . and the macaroon coconut quite sticky and scrummy. I had wanted the filling to settle somewhere in the middle . . . but alas, it sunk completely to the bottom.
Epic failure . . . or a wonderful discovery???
I dunno . . . but . . . in any case, here it is!
I am now on a quest. I think I need a batter with a denser texture. Perhaps then the filling will stay where I want it to be. Watch this space!
I have to say up front that one of my absolute favourite flavours has to be ginger. I love it in any way shape or form. It's wonderful, dried and powdered . . . and sprinkled into spicy cake and cookie batters. I love it freshly grated . . . and cooked up into wonderfully fragrant stir fries and sauces. I also like to make a delicious lemon and ginger tea with the fresh ginger root. (It's just wonderful steepedin boiling water, along with the juice and zest of half a lemon . . . and then served with a bit of honey and a great cure all for when you have the sniffles . . .)
Whenever any of the family went to visit my ex MIL Elizabeth you could count on her having made a nice big tin of these delicious gingersnaps. So thin and so crispy and so delicious.
These are so good, so thin and so crisp you could eat them like potato chips. I have done just that in the past when I could do such things.
I can remember one time she told me her mother used to make them with bacon fat or beef drippings.
And so I saved up my bacon fat for ages until I had enough to bake a recipe of them. Hands down the BEST gingersnaps I have ever eaten!
Of course the secret to their amazing crispness is rolling them as thin as you can. Thinner than a quarter inch if possible. It will be worth it.
I know it seems fiddly and you think you are never going to run out of dough. All the effort is worth it. Truly. Trust me on this.
The thinner the cookie the crisper they are and the more moreish they are. The more they snap when you bit into one.
This does mean that you have to watch them very carefully when they are baking as they bake. Because of their thinness, they can burn in next to no time. So do keep a watchful eye.
The dough needs to be made the night before you bake them. It does make rather a lot (50 or 60) but they do freeze very well.
I do hope that you will make the effort to make and bake these lovely biscuits. Prepare yourself to fall in love. You will fall in love at first . . . crisp . . . bite. I promise.
*Elizabeth's Gingersnaps*
Makes a LOT
Note: There is NO sugar in this recipe as they get all of their sweetness from the molasses.
If you are a Baking Enthusiast and a fan of British Baking you are going to love this new book I wrote, set to be published on the 28th of December (2021)!!! It is available for Pre-order now! From fluffy Victoria sponges to sausage rolls, the flavors of British baking are some of the most famous in the world. Learn how to create classic British treats at home with the fresh, from-scratch, delicious recipes in The Best of British Baking. Its all here in this delicious book!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
Believe it or not this is my most popular recipe of all time (next to the Chocolate Fudge Brownie Cake.) It's lived for quite a time now over on my Big Blue Binder and I thought it was about time I moved it over here so my English Kitchen readers can enjoy it as well.
This is a really delicious oven baked meal that will have your family scrambling for seconds. I guarantee. It's a bit healthier however because it is baked and not fried. There is cheese though . . . but when is that ever a bad thing?
Smoked Sausage was not something that was a familiar ingredient in my home when I was growing up. I had never even heard of it. I discovered it shortly after I moved out to Western Canada as a young Bride . . .and it was love at first bite. Kielbasa . . . Polish Sausage . . . whatever you call it.
Smoked Sausage was not something that was a familiar ingredient in my home when I was growing up. I had never even heard of it. I discovered it shortly after I moved out to Western Canada as a young Bride . . .and it was love at first bite. Kielbasa . . . Polish Sausage . . . whatever you call it.
It's delicious and it's also a very versatile ingredient to have in your refrigerator or freezer. It comes in very useful and means that you will always have a delicious and quick, if simple, meal ready to hand when you want it.
This is something that I used make every so often for my family through the years. It used things that I always had on hand . . .
potatoes, onions . . . smoked sausage, cheese . . . and it went together very quickly, which was a real bonus with 5 growing children and a big house to care for!
Simple, delicious and economical . . . all plus's in a young mum's books! Add to that the fact that my kids loved it, and you had a real winner on your hands.
It's not something I make really often these days . . . let's face it, my aging thighs don't need all those calories . . . and it's probably not the healthiest dish for people to indulge in very often, but as a once in a blue moon treat, and a store cupboard meal, it goes down as a real treat.
Simple, delicious and economical . . . all plus's in a young mum's books! Add to that the fact that my kids loved it, and you had a real winner on your hands.
It's not something I make really often these days . . . let's face it, my aging thighs don't need all those calories . . . and it's probably not the healthiest dish for people to indulge in very often, but as a once in a blue moon treat, and a store cupboard meal, it goes down as a real treat.
It's also very easy to double or halve, which makes it pretty convenient as well.
*Oven Roasted Smoked Sausage and Potatoes*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe
An easy and simple meal that is also economical . . . oh, and pretty delicious too!!
1 package of smoked sausage
(Peel if necessary, and slice into rounds)
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
5 large potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
olive oil
fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
sweet paprika
dried thyme
a handful of grated strong cheddar cheese
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Line a large baking tray (with sides) with several sheets of foil, and drizzle with a bit of oil. Spread the oil out over the pan. Set aside.
Put the sausage rounds, onions and potatoes into a large bowl. Drizzle with a couple TBS of olive oil and season to taste with salt, pepper, paprika and dried thyme. Toss together with your hands until everything is evenly distributed. Pour this out onto the baking tray, and spread it out as much as you can.
Place into the heated oven and roast for 45 minutes to an hour, stirring every 15 minutes or so, until the potatoes are golden brown and tender. Turn off the oven. Scatter the cheese over top of the cooked meat and potatoes, Pop back into the oven a few minutes to melt the cheese. Serve immediately.
NOTE: I would not use any more than 1/2 tsp of the dried thyme, unless you really, really like the flavour of thyme.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
Thanks so much for visiting! Do come again!
This is one of my infamous Thai Turkey Burgers. We love turkey burgers in this house and I was recently sent a couple of items to help with the preparation from the people at Eddingtons.
First off there was the Prepworks Progressive Perfect Burger Press.
This three piece set is designed to help you create perfect, evenly sized burgers every time. I don't know what your children were like, but when mine were growing up, everything had to be exactly the same, or they would feel cheated. No longer a problem with this delightful press.
- Set includes a removable dimpleinsert, non-skid base and comfort-grip pusher
- The dimple helps burger to cook evenly and prevents swelling.
- This can be used with or without the insert
- This press makes 4.5 inch (11.4cm)/6 oz (170g) burgers
I found it created perfect sized burgers and the dimple in the centre prevented them from shrinking in and swelling up. Great job!
The Burger Press is available from Buy Send with an RRP of £9.49 with free postage.
I was also sent a package of Patty Papers. Dry Wax treated squares of paper perfect for moisture resistance and easy release. As the package says, they prevent meat patties from sticking or freezing together. I have always used cling film and in all honesty these are a lot better than plastic cling film. They seemed like the same papers pretty much that the Grocery Shops use to separate their burgers.
Brand new, these papers are just arriving in the shops at an RRP of £2.99 for 24 papers. Not bad. Barbeque Season will soon be upon us. These will come in very handy then! Available at Good Cook shops and independant stores.
Another nifty article which I have been sent and have enjoyed using over the past couple of weeks is the Oliver Hemming Spice Boy spice grinder.
Available in three colours this award winning design represents an entirely new approach to spice grinding.
It has a uniquely useful and practical mixing and filling bowl that allows the chef to see the mixture before it is ground. With corrosion free ceramic parts that are guaranteed for five years the Spice Boy is suitable for all dried spices as well as sea salt and pepper. You can use the mixing bowl to create fantastic combinations of freshly ground spices and let your imagination run wild exploring the endless possibilities. It is not recommended that you put it in the dishwasher, but it is easily taken apart and cleaned with a soft brush, ready to grind up your next flavour combination.
I love it's sleek appearance and the mixing bowl. I've only been enjoying using it for sea salt and black pepper so far, but I have plans to use it to make my own fresh Garam Masala soon. It works fabulously!
The Spice Boy is available from Proleno at an RRP of £34.95 and is available in red, black and white.
Many thanks to Eddingtons and Miriam from Shrewd for sending me these items. All items were sent for me for review, free of charge, and I was not required to write a positive review.
This old, old recipe is the perfect accompaniment to serve with your Easter Ham or Gammon. Its a bit old fashioned, but it's also very good. Fruit goes really well with the smoky saltiness of Gammon/Ham and this sauce proves that it doesn't have to be pineapple.
I was recently sent a jar of Steens Raw 15+ Manuka Honey and challenged to try one of the recipes that Amber Rose has written which are not only healthy but very easy to make.
I chose to make the Immune Booster Super Berrie Smoothies. Not only was it easy to make but it was incredibly delicious. Especially the Banana part! (and I am not normally fond of bananas)
*The Immune Booster Smoothie*
For two
Steens is the industry leader in Manuka Honey. Raw Steens Manuka honey contains a huge amount of beneficial enzymes. The high NPA level means that the Manuka honey has superior antibacterial and antimicrobial properties, giving it great health credentials.
Steens cold processed honey is 100% pure and sets in it's own natural crystal with all the advantages of natures health benefits.
The rich golden colour, texture, distinct aromas and flavours are testament to the natural processes, freshness and purity of the honey. Unique processing means enhanced health benefits; enzymes and bee pollen are retained in this honey.
Produced by nature in New Zeland and completely natural, each jar is traceable right back to the producer and hive. Their sustainable methods and environmentally friendly production practices have resulted in a quality product which is not only good for you, but ethical and sustainable. To find out more do check out their webpage.
Many thanks to Steens for sending me this. Any opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review.
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