Date & Walnut Cake
Old fashioned Cherry and Almond Cake
Cherry Scones
Homemade Ginger Crackles
Coconut Cake
Mince Pies with Rose Crust Pastry
Lasagne
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Date and Walnut Cake
200g Dates chopped and soaked in
1/4 pint boiling water and a pinch of bicarb of soda
75g Butter or Margarine
75g Sugar
1 Egg beaten
200g Self Raising Flour
100g Walnuts chopped
Cream the margarine and the sugar and add the beaten egg. Stir in the flour with the nuts and lastly add the dates and the liquid, mix well and divide between the tins. Bake 170*c for about 50 mins - an hour. Cool on wire rack.
Lovely and fruity with plenty of crunchy nuts. Freezes well.
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Old Fashioned Cherry and Almond Cake
225g Margarine or Butter
225g Sugar
4 Eggs beaten
225g Plain Flour
half teaspoon Baking Powder
200g Glace Cherries quartered washed and dried
100g Ground Almonds
Cream Marg and sugar then add beaten eggs slowly so it doesn't curdle Fold in flour and baking powder. Add the ground almonds and cherries mix . Spoon mixture into lined tins and bake about an hour for the loaf tin and about an hour and half for the round tin.
Everyones ovens are different and so the timings and temperature may need slight adjustment for your oven.
Its lovely and moist has a wonderful flavour and it freezes well.
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Cherry Scones
450g Self Raising Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
175g Butter or marg
175g Sugar
100g Glace Cherries
2 Eggs beaten
Milk
Rub butter into flour and baking powder until resembles breadcrumbs, stir in the sugar and chopped cherries. Add the egg and enough milk to make a soft but not sticky dough. Tip out onto the worktop and press out until about 1 inch thick, I don't bother with a rolling pin but be gentle with the dough and dont squash out the air, you want them to be light and fluffy.
Cut with a 2.5 inch cutter or a small glass, place on baking tray and brush with the residue egg or milk.
Bake in a hot oven 200*c for about 15 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. I made 17 with this mix
Homemade Ginger Crackles
225gm Self Raising Flour
80gm Granulated Sugar
100gm Margarine
100gm Golden Syrup
2rounded teaspoons Ground Ginger
2level teaspoons Bicarbonate of Soda
Mix all the ingredients together to make a soft dough. Divide into 4 then divide each piece into 6 to give you 24 evenish biscuits. Roll each piece into a ball and flatten with the palm of your hand. Place on a baking sheet allowing a little room for spreading and bake for 20-25 mins 170*c. Place on a cooling rack to crisp up. Keep in an airtight tin.
Coconut Cake
Soak 120gm of Dessicated Coconut in half a pint of milk for 2 hours
225g Butter
225gm Sugar
4 beaten Eggs
450gm Self Raising Flour
Cream butter and sugar, gradually add eggs and mix well.
Add the flour then the milky coconut, mix well. The mixture is quite a soft one.
Divide between 3 lb lined loaf tins and sprinkle tops with a bit of extra coconut
Bake 160*c for about 1 hour. Test with a skewer to make sure they are cooked. Cool on a wire tray.
They freeze beautifully. A lovely moist cake.
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Mince Pies
Rose Crust Pastry
225g Plain Flour
225g Butter or Marg
85g Icing Sugar
85g Cornflour
1 beaten Egg
Cream the butter and icing sugar then stir in the flour and the cornflour until you have sticky breadcrumbs add the beaten egg to bind the mixture together. It makes quite a soft dough. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up. Roll out using plenty of flour, cut out 18 bottoms and 18 smaller tops line the tart tins with the bottoms and add a spoonful of mincemeat. I always use Robertsons (my preference) I find 1 jar does 18 pies. add the tops and just make a little cut with a sharpe knife to let out the steam and so your tops dont blow off :) Bake at 180*c for about 15-20 mins until turning slightly golden. Cool a few minutes in the tins before lifting out onto a cooling tray.
When cool dust with Icing sugar and store in an airtight tin.
225g Plain Flour
225g Butter or Marg
85g Icing Sugar
85g Cornflour
1 beaten Egg
Cream the butter and icing sugar then stir in the flour and the cornflour until you have sticky breadcrumbs add the beaten egg to bind the mixture together. It makes quite a soft dough. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up. Roll out using plenty of flour, cut out 18 bottoms and 18 smaller tops line the tart tins with the bottoms and add a spoonful of mincemeat. I always use Robertsons (my preference) I find 1 jar does 18 pies. add the tops and just make a little cut with a sharpe knife to let out the steam and so your tops dont blow off :) Bake at 180*c for about 15-20 mins until turning slightly golden. Cool a few minutes in the tins before lifting out onto a cooling tray.
When cool dust with Icing sugar and store in an airtight tin.
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Lasagne
Jen over at Stretching the Pennies has asked me to do my recipe for Lasagne I have tried to make it sound simple as she is worried about her cooking skills. You can do this Jen, don't worry, this amount will make you 2 Large ones so you have some to freeze for another meal xx I made 8 portions of Lasagne and 4 portions of Spag Bol with this amount.
For the Ragu/Bolognaise Sauce
1 kilo Minced Beef
2 large onions chopped
2 teaspoons Lazy Garlic or 4 cloves squashed
3 tins or cartons chopped tomatoes
4 handfuls frozen chopped peppers - Asda or Sainsbury sell these
2 handfuls frozen sliced mushrooms - """"""
4 basics Beef stock cubes
1 level dessertspoons Dried mixed herbs
about 20 grinds of black pepper or equivalent
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**Tomato Puree see below
Sweat the onions in a little oil until soft and not brown
Add the mince and brown to seal
Add the rest of the ingredients and enough water to just cover
Simmer until cooked then add 2 good squirts of **Tomato Puree this will add flavour and thicken your sauce.
You can use a slow cooker in just the same way. I do mine on the hob and if the mixture is a little wet then I will turn up the heat and reduce until the sauce is thicker.
This is brilliant for Spag Bol and can be frozen at this stage.
White Sauce
I always make a fat free sauce because I like to add grated cheese, I also make this in the microwave whisking every couple of minutes until a nice pouring sauce then add the cheese.
5 tablespoons Plain Flour
1 litre Milk
Black pepper
if you're not adding the cheese then add a little salt, because the cheese has salt in it I don't add any.
2 handfuls of grated cheese. I usually have this ready in big bags in the freezer, just bash the bag and the cheese will seperate.
Make a paste with the flour and a little milk then add the rest of the milk and whisk
Microwave until you have the right consistency, everyones microwave is different so I don't know how long it will take to cook, just use full power. Keep whisking so it doesn't go lumpy, if it does then whisk away and eventually it will be smooth. Add the cheese and give a quick whisk.
Layer up your lasagne starting with a layer of meat sauce, layer of pasta, I do a layer of cheese sauce in the middle (because thats what we like) layer of pasta, then meat then pasta and top off with a layer of the cheese sauce. Sprinkle a big handful of grated cheese on the top and pop into the oven probably 160*c for a good hour.
2x4 portions Lasagne + 2x2 portions Bolognaise Sauce
I hope this helps, I always feel like I'm trying to teach my granny to suck eggs when writing out my recipes and methods, but this works for me :-) xx
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