Recipe Page
Here you will find details of any really popular recipes from any of our scoial events and work days. It is also a forum for sharing any good ideas for vegetable gluts! I'll start the ball rolling with some of my own favourites. Please email in more (a link or a copy is fine).
Elderflower Beer
While you're bringing the water to the boil, squeeze the lemon juice into a bowl with the elder florets and sugar. Pour the boiling water over them, cover them closely and allow the mixture to infuse for two hours. Stir in the yeast and ferment in a warm room for one week before straining into a screw-topped flagon. Store in a cool place for a week, after which the beer will be ready for drinking.
[Take from a BBC web page, which has many excellent uses for elderflowers]
I used the caps and yeast provided in the kit from E-Z Caps (and didn't use any nutrient)
- 0.5 litre (one pint) of elder flowers (not pressed down)
- 4.5 litres (eight pints) of water
- One lemon
- 454g (1lb) of sugar
- Brewers' yeast and nutrient
While you're bringing the water to the boil, squeeze the lemon juice into a bowl with the elder florets and sugar. Pour the boiling water over them, cover them closely and allow the mixture to infuse for two hours. Stir in the yeast and ferment in a warm room for one week before straining into a screw-topped flagon. Store in a cool place for a week, after which the beer will be ready for drinking.
[Take from a BBC web page, which has many excellent uses for elderflowers]
I used the caps and yeast provided in the kit from E-Z Caps (and didn't use any nutrient)
Rocky Road Crunch Bars
[From various Nigella cook books and her web page]
- 125g soft butter
- 300g best-quality dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids), broken into pieces
- 3 x 15ml tablespoons golden syrup
- 200g Rich Tea biscuits
- 100g mini marshmallows
- 2 teaspoons icing sugar for dusting
- Melt the butter, chocolate and golden syrup in a heavy-based saucepan. Scoop out about 125ml of this melted mixture and put to one side.
- Put the biscuits into a freezer bag and then bash them with a rolling pin. You are aiming for both crumbs and pieces of biscuits.
- Fold the biscuit pieces and crumbs into the melted chocolate mixture in the saucepan, and then add the marshmallows.
- Tip into a foil tray (24cm square); flatten as best you can with a spatula. Pour the reserved 125ml of melted chocolate mixture over the marshmallow mixture and smooth the top.
- Refrigerate for about 2 hours or overnight.
- Cut into 24 fingers and dust with icing sugar by pushing it gently through a tea strainer or small sieve.
[From various Nigella cook books and her web page]
Courgette Cake
Cake
[Source]
Cake
- 250g butter, broken up into pieces (at room temperature)
- 250g (1 cup) caster sugar or brown sugar
- 4 eggs
- 350g (3 cups) self raising flour
- juice and zest of 1 an orange
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp mixed spice
- 350g (3 cups) courgette (zucchini), grated
- 50g (1/2 cup) walnuts, roughly chopped
- 80g (1/2 cup) sultanas
- 125g cream cheese
- 50g unsalted butter
- 300g icing sugar
- juice and zest of 1/4 orange
- Courgette Cake: Grease and line a 25cm deep cake tin with baking paper. Preheat an oven to 180°C.
- Place the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time while mixing until the eggs are well incorporated.
- Sieve the flour with the cinnamon and mixed spice. Fold in a 1/3 of the flour, followed by 1/2 of the orange juice and zest, repeat this using the remaining flour and orange, so that all the ingredients are well combined.
- Stir in the courgette, walnuts and sultanas and incorporate well.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and place on the centre shelf of the preheated oven. Leave the cake to cook for around 1 hour or until the cake is firm to touch (if preparing 2x20cm cake tins, reduce the cooking time to 30-40 minutes). Turn the cake out on a rack and allow to cool.
- Orange Cream Cheese Icing: Beat the cream cheese and butter together until creamy. Gradually beat in the icing sugar and orange juice and zest until you have a smooth creamy icing. Spread over the cooled cake. If you have prepared 2x20cm cakes, spread the icing over the top of the one and sandwich the two cakes together and then cover the top and sides of the cake.
[Source]
Parkin
This is a traditional northern cake eaten at Bonfire night along with other treats such as Bonfire toffee & potatoes baked in the bonfire ashes. It can be eaten as a hot pudding straight from the oven, with custard, but it is best kept tightly wrapped in foil in an airtight tin for at least two weeks so that it become sticky and chewy. This is my family's recipe, and is at least 150 years old.
It used to be made with lard but most people would probably prefer to use butter these days. You can alter the proportions of golden syrup and black treacle to make it darker or lighter, or alter the proportion of flour & oatmeal, but if you use more oatmeal you will need to add a good pinch of baking powder.
Grease & line 9” square baking tin – about 2” deep.
Heat oven to Gas Mark 2
In a large mixing bowl put:
6oz medium oatmeal (not porridge oats)
8oz self raising flour
4 teaspoon ginger, 1 teasp mixed spice, 2 teasp nutmeg
In a jug beat:
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons milk.
In a saucepan melt together:
8oz butter, (traditionally this should be lard but people would probably prefer butter these days)
4oz molasses or dark brown sugar
8oz golden syrup
3oz black treacle.
Don’t let it boil, just warm until the sugar has dissolved. Cool a little then add to the dry ingredients, beat well, then beat in the egg & milk mix. When it’s all well mixed, with no lumps of flour or spices visible, it will be quite wet, like a batter. Pour into the baking tin & bake for about 90 minutes until its firmish. Don’t over bake or it will be dry. Leave in the tin to cool. When it’s cold wrap tightly in foil & leave for about 2 weeks.
[Source - Dorothy]
This is a traditional northern cake eaten at Bonfire night along with other treats such as Bonfire toffee & potatoes baked in the bonfire ashes. It can be eaten as a hot pudding straight from the oven, with custard, but it is best kept tightly wrapped in foil in an airtight tin for at least two weeks so that it become sticky and chewy. This is my family's recipe, and is at least 150 years old.
It used to be made with lard but most people would probably prefer to use butter these days. You can alter the proportions of golden syrup and black treacle to make it darker or lighter, or alter the proportion of flour & oatmeal, but if you use more oatmeal you will need to add a good pinch of baking powder.
Grease & line 9” square baking tin – about 2” deep.
Heat oven to Gas Mark 2
In a large mixing bowl put:
6oz medium oatmeal (not porridge oats)
8oz self raising flour
4 teaspoon ginger, 1 teasp mixed spice, 2 teasp nutmeg
In a jug beat:
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons milk.
In a saucepan melt together:
8oz butter, (traditionally this should be lard but people would probably prefer butter these days)
4oz molasses or dark brown sugar
8oz golden syrup
3oz black treacle.
Don’t let it boil, just warm until the sugar has dissolved. Cool a little then add to the dry ingredients, beat well, then beat in the egg & milk mix. When it’s all well mixed, with no lumps of flour or spices visible, it will be quite wet, like a batter. Pour into the baking tin & bake for about 90 minutes until its firmish. Don’t over bake or it will be dry. Leave in the tin to cool. When it’s cold wrap tightly in foil & leave for about 2 weeks.
[Source - Dorothy]
Salty Cracker Toffee Bars
1 cup butter (210g)
1 cup caster sugar (190g)
approx 130g salty crackers
300g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
nuts, chopped (optional)
This is an American recipe and the crackers should be Saltine Crackers. As these are hard to find here, a good substitute available from big supermarkets is 'Doriano', an Italian brand. Value chocolate is fine!
Preheat oven to 375-400°F (190-200°C).
Cover the bottom and sides of a baking sheet (approx 37 x 27cm) with foil or baking parchment and grease with butter. Place a single layer of crackers onto the foil with no gaps.
Heat the butter abd sugar in a heavy pan, stirring constantly. Bring to the boil and stir until the mixture turns a caramel colour (3 minutes minimum). Pour immediately over crackers. Put in oven for 5 minutes only. Remove tray from the oven and switch oven off.
Pour chocolate pieces over toffee and put tray back in the oven for 5 minutes to soften chocolate. Remove from the oven and spread chocolate over entire toffee surface. Sprinkle over chopped nuts if using.
Put fridge in tray to harden. Break into small irregular shapes and store in container in or out of fridge.
[Source - Jane]
1 cup butter (210g)
1 cup caster sugar (190g)
approx 130g salty crackers
300g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
nuts, chopped (optional)
This is an American recipe and the crackers should be Saltine Crackers. As these are hard to find here, a good substitute available from big supermarkets is 'Doriano', an Italian brand. Value chocolate is fine!
Preheat oven to 375-400°F (190-200°C).
Cover the bottom and sides of a baking sheet (approx 37 x 27cm) with foil or baking parchment and grease with butter. Place a single layer of crackers onto the foil with no gaps.
Heat the butter abd sugar in a heavy pan, stirring constantly. Bring to the boil and stir until the mixture turns a caramel colour (3 minutes minimum). Pour immediately over crackers. Put in oven for 5 minutes only. Remove tray from the oven and switch oven off.
Pour chocolate pieces over toffee and put tray back in the oven for 5 minutes to soften chocolate. Remove from the oven and spread chocolate over entire toffee surface. Sprinkle over chopped nuts if using.
Put fridge in tray to harden. Break into small irregular shapes and store in container in or out of fridge.
[Source - Jane]
Baked Rhubarb & Ginger Cheesecake
500g rhubarb, chopped
100g sugar
1 cinnamon stick
40g stem ginger, finely chopped, plus 3 tbsp of the syrup
4 tbsp water
50g butter, melted
175g ginger or amaretti biscuits, crushed
500g mascapone
2 tbsp cornflour
3 eggs
75g sugar
1. Poach the rhubarb until tender with the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, syrup and water. Strain and keep jiuce to one side.
2. Mix the melted butter and crushed biscuits and press firmly into a parchment lined 20cm tin. Chill
3. Whisk mascarpone, conrnflour, eggs and sugar. Fold in the rhubarb then add to the base.
4. Bake for 1 hour at 180C, 350F, Gas 4. Drizzle on reserved juice to serve.
500g rhubarb, chopped
100g sugar
1 cinnamon stick
40g stem ginger, finely chopped, plus 3 tbsp of the syrup
4 tbsp water
50g butter, melted
175g ginger or amaretti biscuits, crushed
500g mascapone
2 tbsp cornflour
3 eggs
75g sugar
1. Poach the rhubarb until tender with the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, syrup and water. Strain and keep jiuce to one side.
2. Mix the melted butter and crushed biscuits and press firmly into a parchment lined 20cm tin. Chill
3. Whisk mascarpone, conrnflour, eggs and sugar. Fold in the rhubarb then add to the base.
4. Bake for 1 hour at 180C, 350F, Gas 4. Drizzle on reserved juice to serve.
Orange Dribble Cake
150 g soft butter
150 g golden caster sugar
2 large eggs - beaten
100g ground almonds
150g plain flour
1 rounded teaspoon baking powder
zest of 1 large orange
1 tablespoon orange juice
75g marmalade
Icing
2 tablespoonfuls icing sugar,
2 tablespoonfuls orange juice.
Set oven at gas mark 4, 350F, 180C, 160C fan oven.
Grease & line a loaf tin.
Zest an orange & squeeze out the juice.
Cream together butter & sugar until pale & fluffy.
Gradually add eggs .
Stir in marmalade & orange zest.
Fold in flour, ground almonds and baking powder.
Stir in 1 tablespoon orange juice.
Put into loaf tin & bake for about 45mins until firm to touch, skewer comes out dry etc.
Turn out of loaf tin after about 10 mins, & cool on wire rack.
When completely cool mix 2 tablespoonfuls of sieved icing sugar with 2 tablespoonfuls of orange juice & dribble over cake. Leave to set for 15 mins.
150 g soft butter
150 g golden caster sugar
2 large eggs - beaten
100g ground almonds
150g plain flour
1 rounded teaspoon baking powder
zest of 1 large orange
1 tablespoon orange juice
75g marmalade
Icing
2 tablespoonfuls icing sugar,
2 tablespoonfuls orange juice.
Set oven at gas mark 4, 350F, 180C, 160C fan oven.
Grease & line a loaf tin.
Zest an orange & squeeze out the juice.
Cream together butter & sugar until pale & fluffy.
Gradually add eggs .
Stir in marmalade & orange zest.
Fold in flour, ground almonds and baking powder.
Stir in 1 tablespoon orange juice.
Put into loaf tin & bake for about 45mins until firm to touch, skewer comes out dry etc.
Turn out of loaf tin after about 10 mins, & cool on wire rack.
When completely cool mix 2 tablespoonfuls of sieved icing sugar with 2 tablespoonfuls of orange juice & dribble over cake. Leave to set for 15 mins.