College Puddings

College puddings?  Yes, an odd name for these funny, fruity little fritters.  I'm a member of a Facebook group called Lambs' Ears Cookbook Club; last month our book was Pride and Pudding by Regula Ysewijn.  The book is a history of British Puddings, Savoury and Sweet - and there seems to be a lot of suet involved :-)  Fortunately I have bags of suet mix in my freezer thanks to the botched dumplings I tried to make some months ago.  Remember that saga? :-)

But here we have a recipe with suet that worked out just fine - delicious and moreish.  They didn't last long at all.  And I still have copious amounts of suet mix in the freezer, ready for another batch of these plumptious morsels.  I think they're called College Puddings because they were served at an Oxford College for supper, the original recipe appearing in a book by Eliza Smith The Compleat Housewife, 1737.  And still delicious!

cute, sweet morsels

Makes 9-10:

ingredients:

100g./3.5 oz fresh breadcrumbs (bought or homemade)

50g./1.75 oz shredded suet - see Notes below

50g./1.75 oz raw (caster or white) sugar

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

a pinch of sea salt

2 SMALL eggs or 1 large egg, lightly beaten - see Notes below

2 tsp Sherry (or Madeira or spiced Rum)

10g./⅜ oz/ or 1 very heaped tsp currants or sultanas, along with 1 tsp (candied) mixed peel or lemon peel; soaked in a big 20 mL/⅔ oz brandy or rum for 20 minutes, then drained off  (drink the rum - tee hee)

28g./1 oz glacé ginger, chopped finely (optional)

28g./1 oz/4 Tbs almond meal (if needed)

butter and oil for frying

icing sugar for dusting 

Method:

Grab a large mixing bowl, and tip in the breadcrumbs, suet, sugar, nutmeg and salt; give it a good stir to combine

Add the egg(s) and Sherry; if a thin mixture, just mix it all together well.  Regula says this is a dry dough, but will come together with a bit of kneading (my 'dough' was a right old soupy mix)

Leave your dough/batter/porridge to rest for 15 minutes

Fold your currants/sultanas, peel and glacé ginger into the mix

Add the almond meal if needed

Then tease out golf ball-sized amounts, which you flatten slightly (or sling into the pan with a spoon depending on your dough's moisture content :-) )

Heat 20 grams butter and 1 tsp veg. oil in a large frying pan - or just use clarified butter alone if you have that (I didn't)

Fry your balls till golden-brown, and cooked through - see Notes

Serve as a side dish, or with a dusting of icing sugar (says Regula) - I am curious as to what you would serve this with as a side dish :-)

Notes:

It can be difficult to get actual suet (try your local butcher) but as I had mega amounts of suet mix in my freezer I used that instead - so instead of the 50g. of shredded suet, I used 30 grams of butter, and 30 grams of the suet and flour mixture I made up ages ago

As my mixture was so wet, I just used a tablespoon to dollop it into the frying pan, and cooked on each side for several minutes

Regula mentions a similar recipe by William Kitchiner from 1822; he says he prefers them baked in patty pans, so I tried that too.  I put a few in the oven to bake at 185C/365F for about 12-15 minutes - both sorts equally delicious!  But you can feel virtuous when eating the baked version, if that's your jam :-)

Regula actually joined our Cookbook Club, and told us that in her next book, she has/will give grammage for the eggs, as more than one person has mentioned that this was a very wet mixture rather than a dough :-)

first grab some bread

and blitz till you have breadcrumbs :-)  (Or buy some)

gather your ingredients

I used a pastry cutter to cut in the butter and suet mix

stir in the fruit

into the oven they go (there were 3)

frying up in butter and oil

or baked!  I love the heart-shaped one at the bottom

and we demolished the dusted fritters/puddings :=)

Princess Pia wrapping up a couple to take home

© Sherry M.

Bakewell Pudding aka Tart

If you feel like an argument, just call this a pudding rather than a tart, or vice versa.  Apparently in Britain there are differing opinions on which it is.  I've used a recipe from Alison Uttley's book Old Farmhouse Recipes, where she says her family back in the late 19th century called it a pudding, "for the tart was really for the pudding stage of the meal."  Either name will do, 'cos it is delicious folks!

sweet and nutty - what do you mean, just like me?:) 

I think this recipe is a little unusual in that it uses puff pastry instead of shortcrust, which most recipes for this dish include.  Alison gives very few directions, including no baking temps. or what size tin to bake it in.  So I have guessed a bit, and checked out recipes on the Net, and a wee bit to my surprise it turned out - well, I have to say it again, bloody delicious!  I couldn't stop Mr P. from grabbing a slice straight out of the oven.


Serves: 12 elegant slices or 8 greedy ones


ingredients:


1 sheet of frozen butter puff pastry

280g. black cherry jam (or your fave)

225g. caster sugar

225g. butter, melted

225g. almond meal - organic and unblanched if possible

2-3 tsp almond extract

7 extra large or jumbo eggs - put all the yolks into a small mixing bowl, and place 2 of the egg whites into another small bowl - i.e. you will need 7 egg yolks plus 2 egg whites, whisked - for this recipe


Method:

Grab a 22cm. (9 inch) round springform tin and butter it lightly

Place the thawed puff pastry sheet into the tin and press down gently to fit it into the edges

Prick it gently all over the base then ...

Put a piece of baking paper over the pastry base and tip on pastry weights or uncooked rice

Now bake for 15 mins. at 185C, then remove the weights and the the paper and bake for a further 5 mins. till starting to go golden

Let it sit and cool while you make the filling

Melt the butter if you haven't already done so

Place the sugar, butter, almond meal and almond extract in a large mixing bowl and whisk it all in together

Whisk the egg whites firmly but don't go crazy - I used a hand whisk as they would have done in the 1890s, so the whites are frothy and whisked but not like a meringue

Whisk the egg whites gently into the almond mixture 

Now spoon the jam evenly over the pastry base 

On goes the almond mixture in an even layer

Bake at 185C for 35 mins., then turn it down to 180C, (cover with alfoil if it's getting too brown) and bake for another 8 mins. = 43 mins. all up (depending on your oven)



Notes:

I divvied up the 5 extra egg whites into 2 small ziplock bags; popping them into the freezer for later use in sorbets etc.

You could use a bit more or less jam; I just happened to have a 284g. jar of jam!

Keep an eye on the tart towards the end; your oven may be slower or hotter than mine:0)

ingredients gathered - including pastry weights on the base of the tin 

pastry baked and ready for the jam and filling 

frothing up the egg whites - not too madly 

gently whisk the egg whites into the almond mixture

thick and gloopy - yum!

slather on the jam me hearties!

pour the almond filling over the jam

just out of the oven, all golden brown and sweet-smelling

yep, someone took a piece already:)

golden, crumbly and very moreish

my nutty almond doodle

Home Made Baking Powder

You know how there are some things you just never, ever would think of making yourself?  Like Coca-Cola?:=)  Though I did find a recipe for it once that called for 30 lbs of sugar!  Well, I was flipping thru a recent cookbook purchase and came across this recipe for home-made baking powder.  I was amazed and intrigued.  Who would ever have thought to do this?  But back in granny's day, they did. 

This is incredibly simple.  Only 3 ingredients, and a bit of sifting.  I am halving the recipe, 'cos I'm just not sure how this will turn out.  And really who needs that much baking powder?  Grannies must have been baking all day every day, back in the day:=)  Alison gives no temperature or timing for the drying-out part, so I have made a stab at it.  As we don't live in the damp environs of Victorian Derbyshire, I think this will be sufficient.

funnily enough, I came upon this ad. for baking powder the other day

ingredients:


110g. (4 oz.) of cream of tartar

55g. (2 oz.) of bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tbs rice flour



Method:


Sift the 3 ingredients into a small mixing bowl

Give it a good stir

Spread it out on a baking tray

Place in the oven to dry at 100C for 6 minutes - the powdery mix should feel warm to the touch

Take it out of the oven; give it another stir and leave to cool down on the tray

Grab 2 mixing bowls and sift the mixture twice

Give it another good stir before spooning into very clean and sterilised small jars

ingredients gathered

sift the 3 ingredients together 

tip into the baking tray to dry out in the oven

give it a good stir and allow to cool

a cornucopia of baking powder 

Now I just have to try it in some baking, and see if it actually works.

Recipe is from Alison Uttley's book Old Farmhouse Recipes; a collection of recipes and stories based on her childhood growing up on a Derbyshire farm.  Her mum made everything from scratch, using their own farm produce, eggs, meat etc.  Alison Uttley lovingly took the recipes from her mum's handwritten recipe book, and turned them into this charming collection.  A real family treasure.

you can guess what this is:=)

Jam and Cream Pie - the 1947 Way

I was reading a digital newspaper from 1947 the other day - the way you do, and I came upon this recipe.  In my spare time, I do text corrections of newspaper articles for Trove, the online resource managed by the National Library of Australia.  I often come across amazing old recipes, which give you (and me) a great insight into the social history of our country.

I was surprised to see them suggest using pecans in this recipe, as I thought these nuts had only been brought to Australia fairly recently.  I Googled it, and discovered that we (I mean Aussies) have only grown them commercially since the 1960's.  I certainly don't remember mum using them in her cooking!  I guess they would have been imported and quite expensive back in the day. 

golden and jammy pie

This recipe is from The (Hobart) Mercury 27 May 1947.

Slightly adapted by Sherry's Pickings:


ingredients:



2 sheets frozen puff pastry 

2 tbs semolina or cornflour

1½ cups (490g.) of cherry or raspberry jam - I used black cherry

250g. frozen cherries or raspberries depending on your jam choice

1½ cups (150g.) ground almonds or pecans - I used 100g. pecans and 50g. almonds

1/4 cup (60 mLs) cream 

1/4 tsp almond extract

3 tbs sour cream

1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tbs of white or caster sugar



Method:


Turn on your oven to 200C/400F

Lightly butter a pie plate

Line it with one of the thawed pastry sheets; trim the edges to make a neat circle

Sprinkle 1 tbs of the semolina or cornflour over the pastry

Spread your jam of choice over the base evenly

Tip the fruit over the jam; now sprinkle the other tbs of semolina over the fruit

Mix the nut meal with the cream, then stir in the almond extract

Stir the sour cream, egg yolk and cinnamon together

Now combine the 2 cream mixes

And spread happily over the jam and fruit

Whack on your top layer of pastry; neaten the edges and slit the top a few times

Sprinkle with the white sugar 

And bake for about 25 mins. till lightly golden brown on top


Notes:

As this recipe was published in pre-metric times, I've adapted the measurements.  I found the conversion for a cup of jam was anything from 325g. to 340g.  I used 335g. per cup as my basic measurement for the jam, and that was plenty. 

The recipe says to use puff pastry, so I don't know if they meant homemade but probably not.  I'm sure even housewives in those pre-Liberation days didn't go around making their own.

I didn't bother to unthaw the fruit completely, but I did leave it out for a little while before using so it was somewhat less than frozen

gather your ingredients

I blitzed the pecans myself

Not sure how easy it is to buy pecan meal, so I blitzed my own as I had whole pecans in the pantry.

whack on the jam and the fruit to your pastry base 

the 2 cream mixes

the 2 cream mixes mixed:=) and ready to go on the fruit 

spoon on the nutty mixture

on goes the top layer and the sugar

golden and delicious

yep the filling is kind of runny     

I have to admit the filling gets runny once it's cooked.  But who cares?  It tastes delicious; just let it cool down and spoon up all the jammy wonder.  Mr P. and his staff said it was delicious, runny or not. 

the original recipe 

         my jammy doodle 

Asparagus Forced In French Rolls

I had such fun doing my History of Royal Food course.  And heaps of fun making and eating the weird dishes which were part of it.  I didn't make this one at the time as the only asparagus you could then get was from Mexico.  Mexico!?  So I waited till Spring and now I have been able to use good old Aussie asparagus.  I know it sounds weird and looks kinda weird, but amazingly it was pretty delicious.  

looks cute huh?

I don't think I had ever eaten asparagus till I was an adult, and probably even then only from a jar.  My parents were Ye typical British stock kind of eaters - meat and 2 veg, boiled to death.  And yet I remember eating tinned lambs' tongues; our Nanna used to give mum weird care packages which included whole coconuts and pink musk sticks. Oh yeah, not strange at all. :=)  
  

This is a late Georgian side dish, taken from the Housekeeper's Instructor c. 1800. The intent of this amusing little item was to "subvert Nature and engage the intellect". Phew, and there was I thinking it would just make a great Sunday lunch.



ingredients:


2 bunches of asparagus - about 16 spears

5 x 15cm. French bread sticks - or cut a long baguette into 15cm. lengths

30 - 40g. butter 

2 tsp of olive oil

454 mls of cream

3 large egg yolks, beaten with a fork

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/8 - 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

a few grinds of black pepper 

2 level tsp of cornflour

1 tbs (20mls.) water

1/2 cup parmesan, grated 



Method:


Steam or boil the asparagus till tender

Chop each spear into 4 equal lengths and put aside

Cut out the tops of the bread sticks making sure you leave plenty of the sides - like a little boat

Dig out most of the crumb from the sticks and put aside

Carve out a couple of holes in the tops if you wish to create the "small grass" effect; I only did one as an example

Melt about 10g. of the butter in a frying pan till it sizzles

Place the sticks in the pan and let them go golden

Turn them once or twice so they don't burn

Add the oil and more butter as you go

Once the sticks are golden, put them aside till the custard is ready

Grab a medium saucepan and pour in the cream

Add the beaten egg-yolks and whisk them in

Put onto a low heat and keep whisking till it starts to thicken; don't stop otherwise you risk scrambled eggs

When it is looking thick enough - i.e. it leaves a thick ribbon on the surface, add the salt, nutmeg and pepper

Here is where I added the cornflour slurry as my custard refused to go thick - so stir the cornflour and water together and add to the hot custard.  Mr P. was stirring for me, and he said it went instantly thick.  If your custard looks thick enough to you, leave out the slurry

Now take the pan off the heat and stir in the cheese

Gently add the chopped asparagus into the custard mix

Let it cool slightly

Make (or get hubby to make like I did) some alfoil boats for your sticks

Place the bread into the boats, fill with custard, place the lid on top, squish the alfoil around the base so it is all secure

Bake at 180C for about 10-12 minutes



Notes:


FYI - a regular baguette is around 65 cm.

454mls is an old UK pint of 16 fluid ounces which is used in this recipe (UK pint is now 20 fl. oz.)

Use your fave cheese if you don't have parmesan


Bake the crumbs and any leftover French stick in a 180C oven for a few minutes till dried out, then blitz in a processor.  Whack the crumbs in a freezer bag and bob's your uncle for next time you need bread crumbs

ingredients

steam the asparagus  

cut out the tops of the French sticks and pull out the crumbs   

dig out the holes; a bit like a Zorro mask

fry them in butter and oil

throw in the salt, nutmeg and pepper once the custard has thickened  

stir in the asparagus 

ready to stuff the sticks with custard 

into the alfoil boats for baking  

cheesy, oozy and damn fine

my asparagus doodle 

Original recipe Henderson, Housekeeper’s Instructor, c.1800 Cut a piece out of the crust of the tops of three French rolls, and take out all the crumb; but be careful that the crusts fit again in the places from whence they were taken. Fry the rolls brown in fresh butter; then take a pint of cream, the yolks of six eggs beat fine, and a little salt and nutmeg. Stir them well together over a slow fire till it begins to be thick. Have ready a hundred of small grass boiled, and save tops enough to stick the rolls with. Cut the rest of the tops small, put them into the cream, and fill the loaves with them. Before you fry the rolls, make holes thick in the top crusts to stick the grass in. Then lay on the pieces of crust, and stick the grass in, which will make it look as if it were growing. This makes a very handsome side dish at a second course.