Yorkshire Tea Cakes

I have never really made a lot of yeast based products except some very hard and heavy hot cross buns! I do however make roasted red pepper and garlic bread, but I use the bread maker to knead the dough.

So yesterday I was looking through an old cook book and found a recipe for Yorkshire Tea Cakes and thought I would have a go.

Wow they are lovely, was going to take a pic, but there are only two left (hubby having taken some to work). My only criticism however would be that they were a bit too big and next time I make them I will make them smaller.

The recipe was very easy (the only difficult bit being the kneading).

Yorkshire Tea Cakes

1lb (450g) strong plain flour

1tsp (5ml) salt

1oz (25g) butter

1oz (25g) caster sugar

2oz (50g) currants or sultanas

2tsp dried yeast

1/2 pint (300ml) milk, lukewarm

extra milk for brushing

Firstly sift the flour into a bowl with the salt and rub in the butter. Then add the sugar and fruit and toss lightly together.

Dissolve 1tsp sugar in the lukewarm milk and sprinkle the yeast on top. Leave for about 10 minutes in a warm place until frothy.

After ten minutes I added the frothy milk to the dry ingredients and mixed well until I had a firm dough (you may need a little extra flour)

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and then knead for about 10 minutes (the dough should be smooth and elastic) put dough in a bowl and cover and then leave in a warm place until doubled in size (this took about an hour).

Once the dough had doubled in size, I turned it out onto a floured surface and kneaded lightly again and then cut the dough into six pieces (I would probably do 8 or even 10 next time). Shape them into balls and flatten to about 1cm thick. Then place on a lightly greased baking tray, brush the tops with milk and then cover with clingfilm and leave in a warm place to rise until nearly doubled in size. This time it took about half an hour.

Then put in the oven at gas 6, 200 c or 400 f for about 20 minutes. Once cooked remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

These went down really well. I think when I make them next I will add a little mixed spice or even some nutmeg for a bit more flavour.

Plums, plums and more plums!

I have been quite busy over the last year especially with the children! Although over the last few weeks I have been picking some fruit locally. So far I have made the following;

Blackberry and crab apple jelly

Plum jelly

Plum jam

Damson jam (12 jars!) and

Crab apple jelly

What's next I wonder probably more apple as my neighbour has said I can have the apples from his tree when they are ready, in exchange for a jar a jam and an apple pie, quite a fair trade I think!

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A few photos

Peter, born 25th June 2010, on Ruby's 3rd birthday !

















This photo was taken on Sunday,
Peter is now 9 weeks old !

Its about time !!

So, its been nearly a year since the last post, and what a year its been. Having had a baby boy just 8 weeks ago, I decided it was time to gather some fruit. Firstly, it was plums, and then blackberries and elderberries.

I made two lots of plum jam with a mixture of locally picked plums. Having stoned the plums (not an easy job) I then put them in a large pan with about 4 tablespoons of water and boiled gently until the flesh was pulpy. I started with about 3lb fruit and then added 3lb of sugar. I gently heated the mix (stirring all the time) until the sugar had dissolved. I then increased the heat and boiled the fruit and sugar until setting point was reached (this took about 10 minutes). In the meantime, I had some clean jars and lids in the oven sterilizing.

I then potted the jam into the jars and sealed. This was yummy with the scones I made on Sunday.

Yet more chutney !

We had a last picking of green beans and there were a lot ! So I made some chutney as an alternative way of preserving them.

2lb runner beans
4 or 5 onions
1 1/2 lb brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp turmeric powder
1 1/2 tbsp english mustard powder
1 1/2 tbsp cornflour
1 1/2 pints malt vinegar

Firstly, peel and chop the onions, then slice the beans and boil together with the onions in salted water until both the beans and onions are soft.

Drain the onions and beans well and put back into the saucepan with 1 1/4 pints of the vinegar and boil for about 15 mins.

Mix together the turmeric, mustard and cornflour with the remaining vinegar and then add to the beans and onions.

Boil for about 15 mins, allow to cool then pot into sterilized jars and seal.

Getting Saucy !

Sorry for the lack of updates of late - tomatoes, lovely juicy and ripe, but there are so many...... what to do with them. Well I have made some tomato sauce and this is how I did it;

1.5 kg of ripe tomatoes (I used a mixture of red and yellow)
2 onions, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped or grated
a large handful of basil, chopped
about a tablespoon of dried mixed herbs
salt and pepper
a pinch of dried ginger
200 ml red wine vinegar
70g soft brown sugar

Firstly cut the tomatoes in half and placed them in a large roasting tin with the onion, garlic, herbs, salt and pepper and about 2 tsp of the sugar. Place them in the oven gas 5 /190 C / 375 F to roast for about an hour and a half, gently stirring half way through.

After about an hour and a half the tomatoes should be really soft with some colour to them. Leave them to cool slightly and then liquidise the mixture until smooth.

Place the smooth mix into a saucepan with the remaining sugar and the vinegar and slowly bring to the boil. Stir continually until the sugar has dissolved and then simmer gently until reduced and thick.

Pour your sauce into sterilised jars or bottles and then seal tightly.

This sauce should keep for about 6 months

I also made another version of this sauce but I added 2 or 3 chillies to the tomatoes before roasting, yummy and what a kick !

Right where are the chips ??