Ginger and Marmalade Cake

The thing about having a good supply of home made marmalade, or indeed any other preserve, is what to do with it once you've made it. I do give quite a bit of it away, and it's quite handy for guests in our holiday cottage, but that still leaves a good supply to use ourselves. So this is an easy mix cake that keeps moist in the cake tin, and has a good flavour without the need for icings, fillings and all the attendant sugar calories and effort. It's a versatile recipe, you don't have to be too exact with it, and it's useful for using up odds and ends of things in the cupboard, the last of the golden syrup,

 remains of a jar of crystallized honey, and so on. You can use all syrup if you like, and grated citrus makes a good addition if you have the inclination.

 

Marmalade and Ginger Cake

Stand a saucepan on your digital scales and weigh in
350grams/12 ounces of golden syrup, honey and marmalade in whatever proportions you like
150 grams/6ounces of butter
and warm over gentle heat until just  melted





Put the pan back on the scales and add
9ounces/250grams  of plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
good pinch salt
2 medium eggs
about a quarter pint/150 ml milk

and beat briefly with a hand mixer till smooth. Or a wooden spoon if you are from Yorkshire (ie strong in  th' arm and weak in th' 'ead, Yorkshire born and Yorkshire bred)

Pour into a lined tin, mine was 11" x8"/ 27cm x 20cm

Bake in a moderate oven for about 30 mins till risen and firm.  Try to avoid getting the top too dark.

 

Best Ever Yorkshire Pudding Recipe

Now you may think that this tray of charcoal boulders is less than the post title suggests. But you would be wrong.  They are in fact  Perfect Yorkshire puddings. It's just that they've been in the oven about an hour too long! Yesterday was the only normal day of weather we have had around here for weeks, and when I say normal I mean normal mildly wintry sort of day, but not raining,  I repeat in case you live in Somerset and can't believe it, not raining so we were outside plodding about in the mud, talking to people we hadn't seen for ages, enjoying the relatively dry air,  discussing the floods again.
Then I suddenly remembered  the oven. Aarghh!!

Luckily I made the full amount of the recipe, which does two twelve hole muffin size tins, so I was able to quickly despatch this lot to the chicken run, and bung a second lot in the oven,. And this time I stayed in the kitchen till they were done!

Anyway to get to the point, the recipe is James Martin's recipe as demonstrated recently on BBC1 Saturday Kitchen. I've tried many recipes over the years but this is my favourite. I really tried it because I have a million eggs to use up at the moment, all the chickens have decided to come into lay, and this recipe uses 8 eggs or even 10 if you have some tiny pullet eggs like I have. You get a good flavour, and a spectacular rise, which is really the whole point.  I stuck pretty much to the recipe except the first bit, I just measured everything straight into a pyrex jug and mixed with an electric hand mixer until smooth, then put it into the fridge overnight. Make sure the tins are hot, the combination of smoking hot tin and fridge cold batter really makes the difference I think. All in all a great recipe for impressing the in-laws, or anyone else really. And if you must go off down the garden, take a timer with you.

Classic Yorkshire Pudding

Ingredients

• 225g/8oz plain flour
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 8 free-range eggs
• 600ml/1 pint milk
• 55g/2oz dripping

Preparation method

1. Place the flour and a little salt and freshly ground black pepper into a bowl. Add the eggs, mixing in with a whisk, then gradually pour in the milk, mixing slowly to prevent lumps forming.
2. Cover the bowl with cling film and chill in the fridge overnight.
3. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.
4. Put a little of the dripping in four non-stick Yorkshire pudding tins. Place the tins in the oven until smoking hot.
5. Remove from the oven and quickly fill the moulds with the batter. Return to the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes.
6. Turn the oven down to 190C/375F/Gas 5 and cook for a further 10 minutes to set the bottom of the puddings.
7. Remove from the oven and serve.

Pink Gin and Other Antiques

I love old stuff, (no untoward joke will be inserted here at the expense of Mr Wilkinson, it's Valentines Day after all), but so apparently does everyone else. Again, I'm not referring to Mr Wilkinson here, but antiques programmes - you can't turn on the telly without being regaled by some tweedy suited expert in a bow tie going on about the value of some bit of old tat. Of course I do realise that one person's bit of tat is another's priceless antique, or at least "Vintage Collectable". And as I say I do love old stuff.
I have no idea of the values of things, and I only buy what I like, but Mr Wilkinson and I have a bit of an ongoing issue with what is called de-cluttering these days, so I try to limit myself to buying things that will be of actual use. Trying to go with William Morris "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful" would be my ideal, but you can't help thinking that Anti-Clutterists only read the first phrase,- Have nothing in your houses - and leave it at that! I could never be a minimalist!

So anyway that summarises my excuses for buying these lovely little glasses in a charity shop the other day. I say little, and they are small in comparison to the vast modern wine glasses we all use now, but they are so pretty I couldn't resist them. As I was standing at the counter to pay for them, all of £4.50 in total, the lady behind me pointed out that they were really too small to be of much use, what was I thinking of putting in them, clearly thinking no more than a small sherry when the vicar calls round.
  "Gin" said I,
"No room for the  ice lemon and tonic water though" she said doubtfully,
"Indeed," I said "but if you get your husband (other cocktail wizards are available) to shake it up in a cocktail shaker with ice and a dash of angosturas, then strain it into the glass, it should be just about the right size".
And indeed it is.
Cheers!