This week we are getting busy in the Kitchen with some of our favorite English Puds. Here are three quintessentially British desserts that we have been baking recently. If you are feeling really inspired by our treats from blighty, you can check out some recipes from River Cafe chef Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall. Happy Baking!
Check back in with us next week for our easy peasy custard, treacle and golden syrup recipes.
Apple Crumble
Recipe by Nigel Slater - from A Taste of My Life
Ingredients
- 1kg/2lb 3½oz Bramley apples
- pinch sugar, to taste
- 1 tbsp water or apple juice
- 100g/3½oz plain flour
- 75g/2½oz butter
- 50g/2oz rolled oats
- 100g/3½oz demerara sugar
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
- Wipe the apples and cut them into quarters, then remove the cores and slice each piece in two. Put them into a pan, taste a slice for sweetness and add a sprinkling of sugar accordingly. Add a tablespoon of water or apple juice and cook over a medium heat for about five minutes, until the apples start to soften.
- Transfer the apple mixture to a shallow ovenproof pie dish.
- Blend the flour and butter in a food processor for a few seconds, until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
- Stir in the oats and the brown sugar and sprinkle over the cooked apples in the pie dish. Transfer to the oven to bake for 30 minutes or until crisp and golden-brown on top.
Sticky Toffee Pudding
Recipe by James Martin From Saturday Kitchen Best Bites
Ingredients
- 55g/2oz butter, plus extra for greasing
- 170g/6oz demerara sugar
- 1 tbsp golden syrup
- 2 free-range eggs
- 2 tbsp black treacle
- 200g/7oz self-raising flour, plus extra for flouring
- 200g/7oz pitted dates
- 290ml/10fl oz boiling water
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
For the sauce
- 110ml/4fl oz heavy cream
- 55g/2oz butter, diced
- 55g/2oz dark muscovado sugar
- 2 tbsp black treacle
- 1 tbsp golden syrup
- vanilla ice cream, to serve
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Grease and flour 6 individual pudding moulds.
- Cream the butter and sugar together in a food processor until pale and fluffy. Add the golden syrup, treacle and eggs, a little at a time, and blend until smooth. Add the flour and blend, at a low speed, until well combined. Transfer to a bowl.
- Meanwhile, blend the dates and boiling water in a food processor to a smooth purée. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda and vanilla.
- Pour the date mixture into the pudding batter and stir until well combined.
- Pour the mixture into the moulds and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the top is springy and golden-brown.
- To make the sauce, heat all of the ingredients in a pan, stirring occasionally, until boiling.
- To serve, remove the puddings from the moulds and place onto each of 6 serving plates. Pour over the sauce and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Victoria Sponge Cake
By Mary Berry From The Great British Bake Off
Ingredients
For the sponge:
- 3 medium eggs, at room temperature
- about 175g unsalted butter, softened
- about 175g caster sugar
- ¾ tsp vanilla extract
- about 175g self-raising flour
- 1 tbsp water from the warm water tap
For the filling:
- 6 tbsp good-quality raspberry jam
- 150ml double or whipping cream, well chilled (optional)
- icing sugar, for dusting
Method
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas 4. Grease and line the cake tins with butter and baking paper.
Step 2
Weigh the eggs – 3 medium eggs in their shells weigh around 175g – then use this same weight for the butter, sugar and flour.
Step 3
Put the soft (but not oily) butter into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a food-mixer and beat well with a wooden spoon or the whisk attachment until very creamy and mayonnaise-like. Scrape down any butter mixture from the sides of the bowl with a plastic spatula, then gradually beat in the sugar a couple of tablespoons at a time. Scrape the mixture off the sides of the bowl again and beat well for 1 minute or until the mixture looks very light and fluffy. Scrape down the mixture again.
Step 4
Break the 3 eggs into a small jug, add the ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract and beat with a fork just until the eggs are broken up. Gradually add to the butter mixture a tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl from time to time. If the mixture looks like it might be ‘splitting’ or curdling, rather than appearing smooth and creamy, stir in a tablespoon of the flour with each of the last two additions of egg.
Step 5
Sift the rest of the flour onto the mixture. Start to gently fold in the flour with a large metal spoon or plastic spatula and after two or three movements add the warm water. Keep folding in until the flour is well mixed in and there are no streaks.
Step 6
Divide the mixture between the two prepared tins – if you want to be really precise, use your scales, or just do it by eye, then spread it evenly.
Step 7
Bake for 20–25 minutes until the sponges are a light golden brown, and starting to shrink back from the sides of the tin. (Check the sponges after 15 minutes and if they aren’t baking evenly rotate the trays.) Check that the sponge springs back when lightly pressed in the middle.
Step 8
When cooked, take them out of the oven and run a round-bladed knife around the inside of each tin to loosen the sponge. Leave for a minute to firm up, then carefully turn out the cakes onto a wire rack. Leave until they are completely cooled.
Step 9
If you are using cream, put a bowl and whisk (or whisk attachment) in the fridge to chill.
Step 10
To assemble the cake, set one sponge crust-side down on a serving plate. Using the back of a tablespoon, evenly spread the sponge with the 6 tablespoons of raspberry jam.
Step 11
Pour the cream, if using, into the chilled bowl and whip with the chilled whisk or attachment until it thickens and soft peaks form when you lift out the whisk. Spoon the cream onto the cake and then gently smooth it evenly over the jam. Top with the second sponge, crust-side up, and dust with icing sugar.
