It's hard to believe, but one year ago today I started The English Kitchen! What a great year it has been! I've cooked tons of food, baked lots of cakes, moved my home and kitchen, and worked my way through hundreds of delicious recipes.



I've had roughly a half a million visitors, from every corner of the globe, which is just fabulous!! I have really enjoyed getting to know some of you a little better, and all the feedback which I have received has been just wonderful. It's always nice to know you are appreciated! And I want you to know I appreciate all of you right back!!



I think anniversaries always call for celebrations, and celebrations always call for something tasty and delicious to eat! Wouldn't you agree???



Something rich and decadent of course, and you just can't much more decadent than a tasty Banoffee Pie! Once sneeringly called "The Staple of Middle Class Dinner Parties" by the Daily Telegraph, I think this tasty dessert has ridden the wave of criticism, and come out on top, a winner in every sense of the word!



At one time it was considered to be more than trendy. Now it is seen as pure comfort food. I don't know many people that don't like it! Quick, easy and oh so very deliciously scrummy . . .



Imagine a tasty, buttery digestive biscuit crust, stogged full of lucious toffee and sliced bananas, slathered with a rich topping of lightly sweetened double cream . . . and a final sprinkling of chocolate bits and sprinkles . . .



Every forkful is a celebration, truly. At least that's what Todd said, and I do so trust his opinion.



You can make your own toffee for the filling of course, but . . . why bother when you can get exactly the same thing in a tin, with all the hard work already done for you? I'm into comfort cookery, not extreme sports . . . truly.

Sometimes it's ok to cheat. Delia said so. I trust her opinion too. So there . . .




*Banoffee Pie*
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe


A tasty little creation invented in a restaurant called the Hungry Monk, near Eastbourne in 1971. Digestive crumb base, toffee filling, sliced banana, whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles. What's not to like?

For the crust:
60g butter, melted
300g oaty biscuits, crushed until fine
(In America make a graham cracker crust, using 1 2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar
and 1/4 cup plus 2 TBS of melted butter)

Filling:
3 medium bananas, peeled and sliced
397g tin of Carnation Toffee
(approximately 2 cups dulce de leche)
350ml of double cream
(1 1/4 cup heavy cream)
1 TBS honey

To garnish:
chocolate shavings or sprinkles

Make your crust by mixing together the crumbs and melted butter. Press into a 9 inch tin or line the base of a bowl. Set aside in the fridge to chill for about half an hour. Dump the toffee into a bowl and loosen it with a fork. Spread it over the chilled base. Arrange the banana slices over top of the caramel. Whip the cream and honey to soft peaks. Spread over top of the bananas. Sprinkle with the chocolate shavings or sprinkles. Chill for several hours before cutting into slices or spooning out to serve.

Note - the original recipe from the Hungry Monk uses coffee powder on top.



In honor of my one year bloggiversary I am giving away to one lucky reader a copy of the delicious cookery book, Just like mother used to make, by Tom Norrington-Davies. This tasty book is a celebration of home cooking and just jammed full of good old fashioned British comfort eating and family classics. To get in on the fun just leave a comment at the end of this post! I'll be drawing a winner at the end of the week, so spread the word.

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!

Eleven a.m. and I am longing for custard creams. I don't drink tea or coffee, but still partake of the wonderful British tradition of elevensies . . .




That well earned (or not) break in the morning where you sit down with a nice hot cuppa, a moreish nosh or two and put your feet up for a few . . .



There is not a biscuit in the house, except perhaps for a few broken digestives in the bottom of the tin . . . I eat those, but . . . as good as they are . . . they are not custard creams . . . and I want custard creams . . .



Out comes the scales, bowls, and measuring spoons. There is nothing for it but to make my own . . . I know I can do it.

I am like that little train that keeps on chugging up the hill . . . I think I can, I think I can, I think I can . . .



Not quite custard creams, but in some ways similar. I may even like these better . . .

Not too sweet, but short and buttery, with just the faintest hint of custard in the moreishly scrummy biscuits . . . the custard flavour coming through in that luciously rich filling.



mmm . . . a mightly tasty crumbily scrummily delicious mouthful. I can't stop at one . . .

and neither will you.



*Custard Buttons*
Makes about 20 double biscuits
Printable Recipe

Deliciously short and buttery with a lucious cream centre, tasting of custard. Fabulous!

6 ounces plain flour (1 1/4 cups)
3 TBS custard powder (you want the stuff that comes in the cardboard
container, not the sachets you add hot water to, you want proper custard powder)
1 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 ounces unsalted butter (4 1/2 TBS), cut into bits
2 1/2 ounces white vegetable fat, such as Trex or White flora (4 1/2 TBS Crisco), cut into bits
3 TBS icing sugar, sifted
1 large free range egg

For the filling:
2 ounces unsalted butter (4 TBS)
1 TBS custard powder
4 ounces icing sugar, sifted (1 cup)
few drops of hot water if necessary

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 5. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment and set aside.

Whisk the flour, custard powder, baking powder and sugar together in a bowl. Drop in the butter and vegetable fat. Rib into the flour mixtue until you have something the consistency of sand. Beat the egg lightly and then stir into the dry mixture, mixing it in well.

Scoop out TBS size pieces of the dough and shape lightly into balls between the palms of your hands. Place about 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Press down with a fork which you have dusted in flour each time. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until well risen and set, but not coloured.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool while you make the filling.

Cream the butter, custard powder and sugar together in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Be patient. It will come together eventually and be lovely. If the mixture still seems a bit stiff, add a few drops of hot water and beat until you have the consistency you are after. Sandwich two biscuits together with this custardy filling and then sit back and enjoy!

I just adore Fennel. It's a lovely vegetable, with a delightfully crisp and crunchy texture and a mild licorace flavour. I could eat it just like an apple. I find it wonderfully refreshing and incredibly delicious . . .

Mind you, I can sit and eat All Sorts by the handful, and would . . . but for my conscience.



Did you know that there are both male and female fennel bulbs??? The shorter squat bulb is the female . . . surprise, surprise! Whilst the taller, more slender bulbs are the males. There is no discernable difference in taste between the two. They're both lovely.



Fennel is lovely braised or roasted. The resulting flavour is very mild and it has a beautiful meltingly tender texture, not at all stringly like one would think. Fantastic with fish, and surprisingly tasty with cheese!



I love it in salads though . . . that is where it really shines, and it is my favourite way of preparing it. Sliced into coleslaws, it gives an intriguing flavour that has people wondering what that additional little flavour it. Chopped and added to a leafy salad, it adds a lovely crunch . . .



Thinly sliced and starring in it's own salad, it is wonderfully refreshingly gorgeously delicious. I like to use both the crisp layers and the fronds. It goes fabulously well with citrus fruits, especially orange, which somehow enhances it's delicate flavour. The additional crunch of richly toasted pinenuts is an extravagent addition and adds another wonderful layer of flavour in this fantastic salad.



I love this salad so much I could eat the whole thing all by myself . . . but I restrain myself and share it with Todd. Once dressed you must eat it immediately.

Not a problem . . .



*Fennel Salad with Citrus*
Serves 2
Printable Recipe

This is a deliciously light and refreshing salad on a warm day.

1 large bulb of fennel
the zest and juice of one lemon
1 navel orange
3 TBS pine nuts, toasted
a splash of olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Trim your fennel, cutting off any shoots, reserving the fronds, and discarding. Also any bruised or tatty looking or wilted outer bits. Cut the fennel bulb in half and cut out the core, discarding it. Slice the fennel halves paper thin using a mandolin, if possible. Place in a bowl. Grate the zest of the lemon into the bowl, along with the zest of the orange. Using a sharp knife, cut all the pith away from the orange, exposing the inner flesh. Again, with a sharp knife, cut into the orange, between the sections, and slice out the flesh into the bowl. Squeeze the remainder of the orange over the bowl, allowing all the juices to fall into it. Squeeze the juice of the lemon into the bowl as well. Chop the fennel fronds coarsely and add along with the pine nuts, a splash of olive oil and some salt and pepper to taste. Toss together and serve immediately.

I guess it is a bit of a stretch to call this a Potato Pizza . . . really.


There is no crust . . . not unless you consider crisp skinned baked potatoes a crust . . . the outsides all crisp potato skins . . . crunchy and earthy . . . the insides all fluffy and meltingly tender . . .



Split in half and laid bare . . . with a deliciously cheesy topping chock full of rich tuna, tangy cheddar, spring onions, zesty pepperonata (from a jar) and salty dry cured olives . . . not to mention a bit of Italian spice . . .

I supposed the only way this resembles a pizza is that it is flattened and spread with a delicious topping . . .



Another way of looking at it would be to call them the most scrumptious, taste bud tittilating, gorgously scrummy, D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S jacket potatoes you have ever eaten!!!

Not to mention very easy to make and the kids love em!



Go on . . . make them tonight. Your family will thank you for it. All you need as a go with, is a tastily tossed side salad!




*Potato Pizzas*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Quick, easy, cheap and the kids love them!

4 medium baking potatoes, washed well and dried
one half of a jar (290g) of pepperonata antipasta
one (225g) jar of albacore tuna in spring water, drained and flaked
2 spring onions, chopped
200g (8 ounces) of strong cheddar cheese grated
(I use the semi skim, no problem)
a handful of black olives, chopped
salt and black pepper to taste
1 tsp Italian Seasoning

Prick the potatoes all over with a fork to stop them from bursting during cooking. Arrange them evenly spaces on a microwaveable dish that you have lined with a double layer of paper kitchen towelling. Cook in the microwave on high for 8 minutes. Flip them over and cook them for another 8 minutes. (Alternatively you can bake them in a hot oven for about an hour. I place them directly on the oven rack and bake at 200*C/400*F Gas mark 6 This is my preferred method.)

While the potatoes are cooking make the tuna topping, and preheat your grill to high. Gently mix the tuna, pepperonata, onions, olives, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning together in a bowl along with about 1/3 of the cheese.

Take the potatoes out and cut then in half lengthwise, leaving them still attached along one side. Open them out like a book and place them onto a baking tray. Pile the tuna mixture over top and scatter the remaining cheese over top. Grill for 5 to 6 minutes, until the cheese has melted and started to brown.